I’m starting a new monthly series. I love taking a daily review of my day in my journal, but I also love reviewing my month, because often times the days fly by and a month comes and goes without any real acknowledgement of the blessings that it has brought. I don’t know about you, but it’s often easy to dwell on the negative things and forget the good unless I intentionally record and remind myself. I’m going to organize this by categories, that way if a category doesn’t intrest you you can speed on by and go to one that does. Enjoy!
General Life
To celebrate for this month:
Both of my big kids were baptized this month! I was so proud of them for taking this step and making their faith a public declaration.
Something to let go of:
We had a lot of illness this month. Not the kind that really took us down, but the kind that just lingers on and on and never really leaves. I can get so tired of hearing people sniffle and snuffle. When you have so many kids it does take forever to get rid of regular colds no matter how many good pratices you have to keep things clean and keeping everyone’s immune systems healthy. I also figure we are still in a new germ pool having moved this past year, so our bodies are still adjusting I think.
Homeschooling
I’ve been really pleased by my schedule this year. I made a choice early on to break our week up with a lighter scheduled day in the middle of the week so that the grind of academics doesn’t wear us all out. This has proved to be a real sanity keeper for me and mine. It’s been my watchword this year to have more joy in our school, and this fun day has been a huge part of making that happen.
Also, we chose to attend a program for homeschoolers that provides some supplemental classes. We don’t seem to have a lot of homeschoolers in our immediate area and this program has provided community, social outlets, and even friendships for us as we settle into this new area. Such a blessing.
Gardening
Anytime you move, it’s always a delight to watch and see what pops up in your new yard. I’m almost at the year mark, so spring is the last season I need to observe before I’ve come full cycle here. We went ahead and planted tulip bulbs last fall because we all love them and I knew where I planted them didn’t have anything else growing. But we also discovered some daffodils on the shady side of the house that are trying to come up. I may move them to a sunnier spot. We’ll see. Also, I have a forsythia bush and that makes me all kinds of happy. Now that I know it’s there, I’m going to force branches next January to have a little color in the house.
Cooking and Canning
This isn’t the season for canning, but I did use a lot of my canned goods up this past month, and that feels good, to be really using what I’ve stored up and not just having it collect dust on a shelf somewhere. I’m keeping track so I know how much I have to can for this coming season as well.
Something I haven’t gotten into here too much is our special diet needs. Most of us in the house are gluten, dairy, and egg free. I cook in a way that suits our needs. To celebrate, this month I made our traditional rainbow cake for the first day of spring. It did make us miss our friends in Vermont who have celebrated with us for the last couple of years, but it’s a tradition I didn’t want to abandon. We will make new festive memories here too, I’m sure.
Reading
I’ve been reading a lot this month. I’m always reading along with the
podcast. This month we finished The Road by Cormac McCarthy. The monthly mystery Post After Post-Mortem has been fun to listen to as an audiobook. I love British accents! We continue to read Kristin Lavransdatter as the slow read in their membership level. This book is a profound novel and will be one of those that affects me for years to come.I’m also enjoying reading a series of short stories by L.M. Montgomery that I found at a library book sale last month. These are the perfect thing to read right before bed.
Art
I’ve complete a couple of art journal pages this month and that has been good for me. I’m learning how to find the time here to get these done and even though I worry that my inspiration has all dried up, there is still something flowing out.
I’ve been participating in the #100dayproject by taking sky pictures everyday. You can go back to my archives and see the past weekly posts (called Sunday Skies) on those, but this has also proved to be such a mood booster. I’d love to figure out a way to incorporate my photography into my mixed media art, but that will take time.
I’ve also begun a new larger canvas piece. I have a usual rhythym of not feeling any new art pieces are ever coming to me ever gain all through the holidays and most of January. But I hang in there because almost always by the time I start the #100dayproject my creativity is flowing again and I am off and running. Progress on this piece feels slow and frustrating at times, but I look forward to seeing what come of it next month.
Wrap-Up
Phew! If you’ve made it this far, thanks so much for hanging in there! My normal posts are much shorter in keeping with a busy life, but I’m hoping by being more personal here you can find something to relate to. My heart is always to encourage others in their own busy life. Here’s to April and all its delights!