Woo-Hoo! God Bless Pope Francis on his Installation Day and Happy St. Joseph's Day! It's a solemnity, so you have to eat dessert. Seriously. We're planning waffles for breakfast and a YouTube replay of the installation Mass for this morning. To see what we've got...

My Minivan is a Rolling Civics Classroom: 7 Quick Takes III
--- 1 --- A quick lesson in SCIENCE . . . The Flat-tailed Horned Lizard looks like this: to blend in perfectly with his surroundings. The Chapman Zebra looks like this: to momentarily confuse its predators by motion dazzle. Frankie looks like this: to...
The Secret Truth About Why I Homeschool
A pretty standard response to "regular" people finding out that I homeschool is, "Wow, you're amazing, I could never do that." I never know how to respond in person. So I'm going to do it here instead. I'm going to let you all in on a little secret....
I Was a Good Guy THIS WHOLE TIME: 7 Quick Takes II
--- 1 --- My sister and her two little girls are visiting from Iowa this week. Hooray for cousins! Is Frankie finally surrendering? I doubt it. My sister's baby likes to really rub it in by being super-smiley and charming AT ALL TIMES. The...
Why We Wii
I have to preface this by saying I don't "get" video games. I don't play them myself. Not since my dad and I conquered Myst anyway. If I'm going to sit down and stare at a screen for two hours I at least want to have a blog post to show for it. I have...
Notable and Quotable
Hey All, For today, you get a roundup of how things sounded around my house this week and the important lessons we learned. 1. I am not an acceptable substitute for Julie Andrews.Anita (3) in the car: "Mom, could you not sing? I'm trying to hear Mary...
The Myth of Me-Time
Thanks to Diana for sending in A READER QUESTION! It still counts if I know her in real life right? What things usually look like from where I'm sitting. So, the question is: How do I take care of myself in general, and specifically during the homeschool year? The...
Homeschool Holiday
Our "School Table" up until yesterday And mom and dad can hardly wait for school to start again . . . Well, it's happened, school has started again. But, as a homeschool mom, I have to say that my perspective on school vacations may be a bit different than the folks...