Someone recently shared that they felt the temperatures in East Tennessee was something like Powerball: just random numbers thrown out in no particular order. And it’s been so, so true. Highs of 30, 45, 61, 25, 58. My kids— especially Simon— have been so confused getting ready to go out for morning chores, let alone getting dressed for the day. The laundry basket has muddy snow pants and filthy shorts in the same load. What season is this, exactly?
Well, it’s been a baking season, for one. With my blood sugar numbers in hand quite nicely, I’ve been able to sneak a bite or two of some treats here and there, and have given full reign to my usual tendency to bake anything that sounds cozy in the cooler weather. Having a fantastically stocked pantry has been so much fun this winter! We’ve had double chocolate muffins, chocolate chip muffins (I recommend using coconut oil to keep these more moist), lemon cake with a buttercream frosting and candied lemons, cranberry breakfast cake, and so much bread. The house smells wonderful and I love seeing the delight on all these faces— even my husband’s.
We purposed to cut back drastically on shopping, and I realized with a shock yesterday that we’ve only needed to restock fresh produce twice since the beginning of the year. It’s changed the way I menu plan (“shopping the pantry” means needing more flexibility rather than structure some days), but hasn’t left me scrambling in the morning to come up with a dinner option. I keep a running list of meals I can pull together from what I have, and choose from those the day before. It’s not quite as organized as I’d like quite yet, and we may revert to twice monthly planning once Decimus arrives, but right now it is working quite well and has us rotating our bulk stock nicely!
School has been a beautiful balance this week. Christopher took the kids to a wonderful exhibition of the work of Albrecht Dürer at the beginning of the week. Art has been a great joy as we’ve begun the Great Artist strand at CC, and have dug into the works of Picasso and Grandma Moses and Georgia O’Keeffe. There’s been lots of time for those winter outside hours Charlotte Mason recommends as well:
If the children are to have what is quite the best thing for them, they should be two or three hours every day in the open air all through winter, say an hour and a half in the morning and as long in the afternoon. (Home Education, page 85)
Jude read “the longest story I have ever read!” to me this week, as well. And Simon, still fascinated with Native Americans, is deep in revelations about the Trail of Tears. I suppose I could try to drag him ahead to the early 20th century, which is where we are technically in studying the flow of history right now, but he is clearly learning so much with such passion right now that to interrupt it would be a shame. He will hear about suffrage and robber barons again later. Right now, he is educating us all on some very unsavory facts about Andrew Jackson that we should probably hear.
We began a new bedtime read-aloud, too. If you haven’t read the four previous Growly books, let me recommend them to you. The latest release, Winter (affiliate link), is off to a promising start. All five of the kids at home enjoy listening to these adventurous little tales and deciphering the natural wonders the characters encounter. Christopher is reading Finding Zasha (affiliate link) to them as well, but it is a much heavier read as it deals with the perils of WWII. It’s a prequel to a book they enjoyed last summer.
And speaking of my husband, he is off on a new adventure of his own. Thanks in part to the changing face of missions around the globe, and at the encouragement of many wonderful, godly mentors, Christopher has returned to school for a second Master’s degree. God opened several doors quite obviously wide, all at the same time, making a clear path for an MDiv. We aren’t 100% sure what God’s plans are for using this, but are willingly walking along and eagerly anticipating more opportunities in the future. It’s simply amazing how much has shifted in the landscape of ministry and missions in just one year. “See, I am doing a new thing,” seems especially appropos right now!
So here we are. Nestled in for the final weeks before Decimus arrives. Officially, we should meet this little one in 32 days! We are beginning the slow make ready of anticipating bringing a baby home. So many precious friends have sent lovely gifts to welcome this little one! I am speechless. It is so easy to look around at the anger and frustration we hear so much about these days and feel that love has lost its fingerhold in the hearts of man. Let me assure you that it’s not true. I have seen and felt such a sweet outpouring of love these past weeks! A little handmade bonnet. A box of soft bamboo washcloths. A packet of diaper pins. A casserole and huge bag of homemade cookies. And so much more. So much love. So much hope. I’ve said all along that while we were surprised by the timing of this surprise pregnancy, God did not haphazardly choose to send a baby to a middle aged couple. He was purposeful. This little one has given so many people a welcome distraction from so many negatives vying for their attention already… and he or she hasn’t even been born. That fact is both humbling and amazing. Yet again, we say thank you to all who have joined in rejoicing with us.
