Family Treasures

In recent months my mom and her siblings (all six of them!) have been dealing with the challenges brought by my grandmother's Alzheimers and dementia. She's been slowly getting worse for a while, but it seemed like last Fall everything hit top speed. In the past month they were able to move her into a wonderful assisted-living facility--one that my dad's mother also lived in before her death last year. She seems to be settling in well there, even though the first couple of weeks were a little bumpy. My mom and her brother and sisters have had the task of emptying out Grandma's house. So they have been slowly sorting things and choosing treasures to take home and share with the grandchildren. I have been blessed to be able to give a home to several of those treasures, which makes me very happy! I love antiques and especially when they have a special family connection. I thought I would share some pics of two of my favorite treasures.

a lovely old Windsor chair

a table that belonged to my Great-Grandmother

I've loved the chair for a long time and hoped that someday I would be able to have it. Now it is my computer desk chair and it's wonderful! The table was a surprise--it seemed that no one else had room for it or wanted to move it (it's very heavy). So my sweet mother said "Lora will take it!" and she and my dad graciously brought it all the way to Alabama from Arkansas. I'm thrilled, of course! Maybe another day I will share some of the other (smaller) treasures that I've been entrusted with.

To see some more people's treasures you can check out "Show & Tell" at There Is No Place Like Home.

The Making of an Egyptian Death Mask

We are learning all about the ancient world this year with Story of the World I and loving it! We've been learning a lot about Egypt, of course, which is completely fascinating. Most recently we have studied the New Kingdom of Egypt, which includes the story of King Tut. So we decided making an Egyptian death mask in the style of King Tut's would be a fun project. First since it was too cold at the time to paper mache in the garage (it probably would have frozen instead of dried-ha) and it was too messy to do it in the house, we decided to pick up a couple of cheap craft masks at Hobby Lobby. Next we cut out cardboard shapes to complete the shape of the death mask, attaching them with hot glue. Vince even put a little detail on the *beard* with the hot glue per The Princess' request. Then the kiddos started to paint them with this metallic gold tempera paint. It worked okay for the cardboard, but would not coat the plastic of the mask. We thought maybe a second coat ...

One Way I Refresh During the Summer as a Homeschool Mom

As our homeschool takes some time off this summer, my mind almost never stops thinking of and planning ahead for the upcoming school year. This is probably because I'm Type A and an obsessive planner...lol Whatever the reason, I do enjoy this season of planning. But I also need to be refreshed as a homeschool mom. Homeschooling can be incredibly exhausting and all-consuming. It's not easy and it's a lot of responsibility. And I take that very seriously when I am researching curriculum and planning toward the next school year. So also taking some time to rejuvenate and refocus myself is very important. How do I do this? Each summer I take some time to read something inspiring and motivating that speaks to me as a homeschool mom. Some of my fave reads from past years--that I have nearby on my shelf and refer to often--are Educating the Wholehearted Child, The Well-Trained Mind, The Charlotte Mason Companion, A T...

Arkansas' Crimson Clover

One of my favorite things about Spring is the crimson clover that grows along the highways and interstates here in Arkansas. I say Arkansas because this is where I first grew to love it. We actually saw some in Mississippi on our way here and I saw it in our town in Alabama for the first time this year. But it spreads like that, each year it grows and looks even more beautiful. I'm not sure who decided to plant it in the medians of the interstates , but it was genius! It seeds itself and just comes back more lush the next year. I always want to take pictures, but of course it's almost always in the median of a very busy interstate~which is a little dangerous for photography. However, the other day I found the perfect patch of it on the side of a not-too-busy highway, so Vince obliged me and pulled over:) Isn't it beautiful? I just had to share it with you...

my blessed life

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