Hello there, friend! Grab a tea and get cozy… here’s what we are chatting about in this little space.
Where we chat the things we need to keep close: our faith, our own learning, and how to find beauty in the ordinary.
Find it all intermingled– keeping, learning, and living– just like our life. (And yours.)
Your space to grab resources, encouragement, and ideas in your homelearning journey.
Where you’ll find stuff I love to read, use, buy, and give.
What living simply and naturally looks like for us.
Where you’ll find our family in our groove: living, learning, reading, making food…
“What if we stopped celebrating being busy as a measurement of importance? What if instead we celebrated how much time we had spent listening, pondering, meditating, and enjoying time with the most important people in our lives?”
I’ll be honest; there have been times that I have no longer recognized myself. The work of Motherhood had– and still sometimes does– completely taken over, and I was forgetting what I loved.
I got lost in the grind of motherhood, instead of seeing the joy it offered me.
I couldn’t find time for me, or God, or any of the habits I used to have or the creative outlets that energized me.
All work and no play makes Momma a dull woman. And a sad one. And a cranky one.
We say we would sacrifice everything for our kids, and we do. But in the process, what message do we send them? What message do we send to our little girls that all a wife and mom does is clean and run errands and not have time to stop and enjoy even the little things? What message do we send our boys? That women are meant to be in the home and cook and clean and nothing else? And while we can learn to embrace those necessities of homemaking and still be happy— it’s important for our children to learn that our value isn’t in what we do. It is who we are…
And Whose we are.
I’m on a path to remember who I was and find who I am now– with the improvements of the heart and character that the sanctification that homemaking and motherhood is working in me. I want to be the best version of who I can be to accomplish what God wants from MY life and in the lives of the people that live under this roof with me.
We are essential, fellow momma. YOU are essential.
YOU are worth keeping, just as much as your house. Don’t get lost in your list and your laundry.
Our calling is so much higher than clean clothes.
We are the keeper of His testimonies, in our hearts, and in our homes. 💛
“The word school is derived from the Greek word schole, meaning ‘leisure.’ Yet our modern school system, born in the Industrial Revolution, has removed the leisure—and much of the pleasure—out of learning.” Greg McKeown
Learning NEEDS leisure. We input input input… and our brain needs time to process and meditate and GROW and ferment what we put in there. The leisure allows the percolation of CREATIVITY, and we are thankful for the communication of it in our home and world– through music, art, speech, innovation, story and more!
A large part of my Instagram feed is about how we “schole” with our eclectic version of a literature-rich, Charlotte Mason-inspired home learning life. I would love for you to explore my posts as well as my Insta profile to check out my Home Learning highlights! (They give you more of a day-to-day!)
Click on the picture to go to A Gentle Feast and learn more.
(I have a post coming soon on why it is such a great fit for our family.)
Essential Speaking: Communication Classes & Coaching
Before I was a homeschool momma, I got a couple of degrees in speech, traveled nationally as a debate judge and coach, and taught collegiate communication courses.
I keep my foot in my communication background by teaching speech and debate once a week to homeschooled high schoolers in my community, and have recently started to branch out a little more online.
If you are interested in seeing what is currently being offered, feel free to click on the pictures below to learn more about course offerings and our online coaching club or drop me a question in the contact form below!
Essential Living
Our family is gradually shifting the way we live.
We decided that preventative, natural health care was the way to go for us years ago… and since then, we have gradually been simplifying how we live and what we consume. Like most families, pandemics and economics and all.sorts.of.other.things have caused us to re-evaluate not just what is important– but how much is important.
And maybe most of all, how much we know how to create/do/make for ourselves is important.
I don’t know where this journey will end for us. But I do know it is one that I’m delighted to be on and continue to learn from every day.
Click on the Living button to see the collection of ideas, recipes, and lessons our family is learning as we live simply and naturally.
(For more information about what started shifting our thinking and our living, just keep on scrolling.)
New here? Welcome!
I know you out there doing it all, juggling life, family, business, home and all the pressures of our modern society… and someway, somehow, trying to take care of everyone’s health in the middle of it. I’m the same. And along the way my husband and I found simple, convenient, safe and effective alternatives that have revolutionized our home and wellness. “Hold up,” you say, “I don’t have time to figure out something new and learn how to use it.” That’s the best part. We (our whole wellness tribe!) are not going to suggest something to you and then wave as you walk away to figure it out on your own. Oh no, we’re a community. A place to belong, learn and get answers. Meet the informed, awake, savvy and beautiful healthcare of the next generation.
If you need a little bit of a “crash course” of essential oils, click on the images below to learn more!
(don’t know where to start? here’s a few of my favorite bundles…)
First up, can I introduce you to some of my favorite wellness combos? Of course, if you want your own customized wellness package, I’d love to sit down (in person or virtually) with you to discuss your concerns and needs. Just text or email me, and we will totally set something up. (Contact info down below!)
Click on the image to see what I personally packaged for these special bundles!
May Recipes!
Finding ways to release stress in our lives is essential to our overall health, and essential oils can help us do that on a daily basis! Create a calm, stress-free atmosphere in your home, car, office or anywhere you wish with a diffuser and a few calming oils. Diffusing is a great way to create a peaceful, uplifting environment, and these blends below are perfect for that.
Our diffusers are running 24/7 in our homes, supporting our immune systems, respiratory systems, emotions, cleansing the air and making things smell happy and inviting all at the same time. Join us this month as we diffuse these favorite blends for love and connection!
You can also easily transform these blends into roller recipes and sprays!
To make a 10mL roller from any recipe: triple the number of drops to make a total of 35-45 total drops, add a carrier of choice (we love V-6 Vegetable Complex) and you’re good to go!
To make a 2oz spray from any recipe: double the number of drops to a total of about 25 drops, add a splash of witch hazel and fill with filtered water. Spray on upholstered surfaces, bedding, rugs, anywhere you want to freshen!
Join us this month as we diffuse (and apply!) these favorite healthy blends!
For May, our Gathering is all about…
Not sure if oils and supplements are up your alley right now, but just want to learn about wellness with a bunch of like-minded people? Our Gathering Wellness group is right up your alley! Each month, we tackle topics like healthy eating, fermenting foods, gardening, making our own food, gifts, personal care items… and more!
For online access to May’s topic, please join us in our event group! Videos will be posted this month, with me and several others chiming in about fermented foods, how they help with wellness, and how to make them at home!
Back in 2014, a friend introduced me to a way of natural living that I never had really heard of before. You see, my mom was a nurse. My grandfather was a general physician turned hospital board member. “Natural” ways to prevent and support? Those were things of the past.
I can tell you story after story about these natural products and how they work. How they, experience by experience, researched article by researched article, gradually transitioned me from disbeliever to skeptic to dabbler to “believer.” It started by getting the toxins out of my home and has turned into so many things: a wellness lifestyle for my family… a community of awesome like-minded friends across the country… a major reason why I can concentrate on my other more essential essentials.
If your interested in learning more about supporting your home, joining an awesome tribe, or just wanna click on something to procrastinate from doing laundry a few minutes more, peruse this page. Click on the pics. Drop me a line.
I’d love to chat.
Wanna connect?
Whether you have some questions you’d like answered, or just want to introduce yourself, I’d love to meet you!
This classic poem from the 1800s is a great way to walk through the seasons with descriptive language. I currently have my 3rd and 4th graders in our co-op memorizing this. The rhymes bounce between common and unpredictable, and the imagery really creates a sensory experience with each month. The Months by Sara Coleridge January …
Let me start off by whispering an admission that I hope every Charlotte Mason, living book loving, nature studying person won’t hate me for. I really don’t like Burgess. There. I said it. I tried. I really, really did. But when I noticed my own kiddo’s interest dissipating, despite my attempts to enliven the words …
So my firstborn: she loves drawing. While I would read our stories, she’d draw away, creating portraits of her favorite characters and scenes. My buddy joined us this year in formal studies… and he needs his hands busy. I’m totally fine with him doing his mad matter and blocks to listen, but he wants to …
embracing essentialism 