Best Part of the Day

Lately, one of my favorite parts of the day is cleaning the kitchen after dinner. 

I'm aware of how sad that sounds, but hear me out. 

Tonight, Adele helped me clear off the table, put away leftovers, and hand dry all the pots and pans and put them away as I loaded the dishwasher and hand washed the things that couldn't go in the machine. 

We listened to worship music and sang as worked around one another efficiently. 

This habit of cleaning up the kitchen started with Fly Lady. She says to go so far as to shine your sink every evening. That's a bit too much for me. But I certainly empty mine. I'll only take out the stainless steel cleaner once every week or two. 

Leaving the kitchen clean at night was something I aspired to for years, but it's finally become a very happy habit. 

It makes a difference that I don't have babies or toddlers who demand more time, but instead, I have grown daughters that help. 

And, at this point, it's a real (albeit mundane) joy to work in the same space with them so efficiently.  

Having an empty sink to start your day can make to big difference to your morning. 

It's easier to brew coffee and prepare healthy foods if everything's clean and out of the way. 

The Best Christmas Movie Ever

We have been reading "The Best Christmas Pageant" aloud at Christmas time on and off for ten years or more. It's hilarious and heartwarming. You will laugh. You will cry. 

It was made into a movie, so we took the family to see it this week. Dwayne and I tried to surprise the kids, but they figured it out when we turned toward the theater. We don't do many out-of-the-ordianry things, so I guess we are quite predictable after all. 

It was a great movie! It has a very different pace than most movies these days- much, much slower- but if you love the book, they've honored the book, so you should love this movie. We did! 

Gather and Display Homeschool Work

I like to display my daughters' homeschool work on our mantle. 

I purchased a few display stands, and I use them to display the most recently finished essays, visuals, artwork, etc. 

All the artwork from a certain class goes in the same folder with the newest art on top. 

All the history essays and their visuals go in another folder. 

All the literature essays go in another. 

All the science research reports and visuals go in another. 

This way, by the end of the year, in almost every subject or class, there's a "book" worth keeping and rereading, and as you turn the pages, you step your way back to beginning of the school year. 

Gathering their work into "books" and displaying their work is a wholesome way to encourage healthy pride in their work.  

It also provides a means of accountability.

If your homeschool students know their work will go into a book that they will keep and look at again and again, and if they know others will see their work and engage with them about it, they tend to care more and do a better job. 

This is also a practical way for the whole family to share in what they are doing and continue enjoying their work long after it is complete. 

One of my daughters' favorite things is to go find and read through the book that their older sister has made back when she went through a subject. 

Their dad is usually at work all day, but this way, he can take down their essays at his leisure and read them and discuss the ideas with them when it is convenient or interesting for him to do so. 

Displaying their work, too, is a way to fill our home with "rare and beautiful treasures" like Scripture says. 

Artifacts made by our own hands make some of the rarest and most beautiful treasures in my opinion. 

The mantle works best in our home, but you could choose another location that works better for you if you like this idea and want to implement it, too. 

Homemade Hand Soap with Essential Oils

I bought the Young Living Thieves hand soap once. It was $16, which is almost unbelievable. Sorry, Young Living fans. That's expensive. 

But I had a plan in mind.  I didn't have a soap dispenser like this. So when the soap ran out, I simply refilled the same dispenser with two tablespoons liquid Castile soap, approximately 6-8 drops of Young Living's Thieves essential oil, and 2-4 drops of their Citrus Fresh blend. Then I turn the water on to a trickle and gently, slowly fill up the rest of the space with water directly from my faucet. I put the lid back on securely and turn it over a few times, so that the ingredients can mix. Viola! Homemade hand soap! 

Note: Some people use distilled water. I find that to be "a bridge too far," so to speak. If I had to use distilled water or boil water to purify my water, I wouldn't make my own soap. It's obviously better to use sterile water, but it's not something I am overly concerned with at this point in my "crunchy mom" journey. 

Note: My friend gave me a gallon of Castille soap when she moved a few years ago, so that was a huge blessing. A little goes a long way, so I am still using the soap she gave me.  

I use the same "recipe" for my bathroom soap as well. I purchased the Ever Spring soap from Target once. It was only $3-5, making it much more affordable. I do the same thing described above. I fill the empty container with two tablespoons of liquid Castille soap, then I add 7-10 drops Bergamot and Lavender blend of essential oils. Then I turn on the water to a gentle trickle and fill the space in the rest of the container. I turn it over and back a few times to mix it. 

I'm saving a ton of money on hand soaps by reusing the containers I have and making my own. I also save a ton of time and effort. I can replace a soap container in minutes- no shopping required. 

 

Taylor Leonhardt

We attended the Taylor Leonhardt concert at the Community Coffeehouse in Danbury last night. It was surreal to hear the songs we have listened to for months sung live. Since the girls are guitar students, it was fascinating to watch her play the guitar with such mastery. The Taylor gifted the girls her set list and even signed it! 

How to Do Science Fair At Home

We are no longer a part of our Classical Conversations group, but I still want Adele to complete a Science Fair project for the sake of all the great things she will learn from the process. 

We often buy the cheap bouquets of flowers at the grocery store and have them around the house, usually in the center of our kitchen or classroom tables, sometimes in the hallway like the photo shows above.  

Fresh flowers don't need to be fancy to add an exponential amount of beauty and joy to your home (and homeschool.)

Adele expressed curiosity about the powder we add to the water to keep flowers fresh. 

She wondered what it is made of? 

Could we make our own with stuff around the house? 

Could we make something that works even better than what comes with the bouquets we buy at the store? 

So that's where our research will begin. 

I'm not sure what her research question, hypothesis, or experiment will be yet, but maybe after enough research and information, those things will come forth naturally. 

This is how my older daughter, Avril, went about doing Science Fair. 

She researched something she was interested in at the time (invisible ink) until she had enough information and made enough connections to form a hypothesis and design a custom experiment to test it.