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Dr. Bonyfide, Science Books: A Timberdoodle Review
This was the year that I knew our science would take a giant shift in the Wildwood Halls of Ivy. London started high school which means the rules all change and there is a particular order and type of science that she has to cover. She’s taking Biology this year but I didn’t want to have all of the kids take high school biology because, of course, my elementary students couldn’t keep up with that. We’re still doing a weekly Nature Study together because it’s important to me, but this year I decided to have London take biology and Bergen and Mosely (7th and 8th graders) are trying a…
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Five Finds Friday (Bergen is very funny, a chance to help and a really great documentary)
It seemed like I had a little more time to do things this week. Oh, that’s right. It was our rest week from school. Of course I had more time to do things. Today the kids and I and some friends went on a dual purpose outing – a field trip and an interview for Travelers Rest Here. The couple was a fantastic pair of humans beginning this charming and exciting tea farm. They shared about their lives as I asked them questions and I was impressed slash overwhelmed slash in awe of all they have thus far accomplished and we all looked to be about the same age.…
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An Afternoon at The Glade
One of my favorite parts of small-town living has always been the community aspect. I love knowing the people who bake my favorite loaf of brioche bread and having the coffee shop owner as an actual friend. I like seeing people I know when I drop my (overdue) books off at the library and having a chat about our weekend plans. When we order our crepes they are generally accompanied by a hug. It’s a genuine privilege to work together with my kids to pick up trash along the biking and walking trail we use routinely. It’s an investment that pays off in a myriad of ways, both personal…
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Beautiful Coloring: A Timberdoodle Review
School is back in session and I haven’t even snapped one single legitimate back-to-school photo for some reason. Maybe because not every kid is always dressed in photo worthy attire at the same moment. Or because our first days have been sort of anti-climatic. (This morning I started the day out by artfully dropping a glass bowl full of hummus – shattering the glass across the entire kitchen floor. Despite our careful clean up both Bergen and I have received glass splinters in our feet already today. It was even hummus that I used real tahini in so it tasted top-notch. I don’t know which made me more sad…
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Five Finds Friday (funny lyrics & tea & feather earrings)
It’s been a full week. Sometimes you can judge my busyness by the number of blog posts that I am able to send out. This week I think I only wrote two. Of course, sometimes the opposite is true. Sometimes I take the time to write a blog post instead of doing laundry or sweeping the floor or planning school or going to bed on time. So – basically what I’m saying is – no one knows. You can’t tell anything. It’s all a guess. I’m not even sure myself. What does it even matter, really? Besides, it’s Friday and so here we are. funny Misquoted…
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Burt’s Bees Meets The Grove And Some of It Can Be Yours
Way back when I had more babies than teenagers I found out about Burt’s Bees. I loved their products before I was on the Facebook and the Instagram and before I was writing blog posts and when I was living on a sweet farm in the Virginia mountains. I was using Burt’s Bees products back when I had to use my own voice out loud to people to tell them how much I loved what Burt’s Bees sold. Their chapsticks and their baby lotion. Their bath gel and their body lotion. I also always liked their packaging. I’m not even sure why. (I even remember registering for…
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Five Finds Friday (there’s jam and a johnny cash shirt)
I told you we “officially” started school this week. And we did. But we also hiked Black Balsam in North Carolina (or what I like to call Middle Earth or the mountains in the Sound of Music or what my friend Sarah who hiked with us called Darcy’s land from Pride and Prejudice. The point is – it was other-world pretty.) and we also spent a day swimming at the ever-satisfying Lake Jocassee. So, yes – we did school. But we also saw some magical spots and I was reminded that, although I dream sometimes of living somewhere else, where I actually reside is full of beauty and charm. Anyway…
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More than a day camp – but also a day camp (and also a break for you local mamas)
Maybe it was three summers ago. That’s sounding about right. My friend told me about a day camp that her daughter started a handful of years earlier with several of her friends. Back then the three girls were not that much older than the campers themselves but they were creative and they were clever and they were ambitious. Bekah, Maggie and Bonnie were looking for a way to help out their friends’ families, for something to do during the summer and for a way to earn a little extra money. They offered a three day camp meeting at one of their homes. Three days where parents could…
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Coming Soon to a Stage Near You
A goose. A maid’s daughter. A Persian man. A Hebrew woman. And soon an ant and a family living in communist Russia. These are the roles that my children have had in their years of stage experience with the Logos Theatre in Taylors. Our family first heard about The Academy of Arts and their theatre quite a few years ago when we saw an advertisement for auditions for their production of The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. Finn auditioned back then and we went through months of rehearsals and held our breath and wondered what the final result would actually look like. It looked like magic.…
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Spring Scents Can Be Yours – A Grove Collaborative Giveaway
It’s been a few months since I’ve been able to offer a Grove Collaborative giveaway. If you’re new to Grove Collaborative – it’s a website that works like an online pantry sort of. You sign up for an online subscription and you pick the products that you use regularly – or that you want to buy in general. You’ll get an email each month to alert you that your order is being prepared. At that point you can either allow your order to come as it is, you can push your order back another month or you can change your order to new items. (Lots of choices there.) My…
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Five Finds Friday (why I screamed & cute tassels)
This week has felt unusually speedy because Mosely and I have been gone for two days of it – belated birthday adventuring. I’ll share more about that but this morning I am up early (for me) and typing and catching up on emails and feeling the weight of business ownership and the drag of fighting off a cold or whatnot all week because – I tell you what – ain’t nobody got time to stop for that. Also, the state of the laundry in this house is atrocious. We’re down to using beach towels and I won’t even comment on the unacceptably low number of clean undergarments. But –…
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Five Finds Friday (boots (what?), kettles & ice skates)
Every week, the feeling never changes. The week was both slow and fast. At the same time. Reminds me of a quote by Oscar Wilde – Does anyone ever realize life while they are living it? FUNNY Amazon Prime is not funny. It’s fabulous. And recently our family has met a new friend through Amazon Prime called the Firestick. It’s not funny either. No – it’s also fabulous. It’s probably been out for ages, what do I know about anything having to do with technology? The iCloud confounds me and I can never even find my charger cables, let alone download anything properly. How do I…
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January’s Grove Collaborative Giveaway – it’s a good one
I can’t believe I almost forgot about this post! I’ve been so busy with this and that, when I looked at my calendar for yesterday I noticed that I almost missed a really great Grove Collaborative Giveaway. This one is legitimately too good to let pass by, so I’ll just start right in with the specifics. Grove Collaborative is an online company – a store of sorts – that specifically carries home products, stuff for cleaning and washing and scrubbing and tending, you know. But also bath and beauty products too. (I guess the same tending and cleaning and scrubbing – but of your body and your…
