I am sure there have been busier months in the history of our family, but I would be hard-pressed to name one. May was FULL as we wrapped up our school year, geared up to start up school AGAIN next week, hosted family for Mother’s Day, and fit in field trips, awards ceremonies, and more before heading to California for two weeks. I’m grateful for a moment to pause and reflect on the many highs of this month before those memories get locked away in the vault.
|| READING LATELY ||
I didn’t have too much time to read this month, but did fit in a couple of very enjoyable historical novels including this mystery with a Cuban setting and this fascinating look at a pair of individuals who have always intrigued me. I really liked this cat-and-mouse thriller but was not a fan of this romance that did not live up to the synopsis or the hype.
I listened to two nonfiction audiobooks this month, including this must-read memoir and this insightful take on current parenting and cultural trends. This book on classical education came at just the right time as I gear up for our coming school year. And speaking of school, the kids and I read this childhood classic; it was a reread for Charleston and me, but new for the twins who liked it quite a bit. I’ll be reviewing all of these titles in a Quick Lit post next week.
|| LISTENING LATELY ||
A few podcasts that informed or inspired this month.
Everyday Educator—From Homeschool to Road School!
The Alisa Childers Podcast—#376 Top Bible Scholar Debunks TikTok Bible Myths | Dr. Dan Wallace
Practice Makes Parent—Principles Over Prescription Parenting
Focus on the Family with Jim Daly—Coaching Boys to Develop Healthy Respect for Girls
|| MONTHLY KID-ISMS ||
CHARLIE-ISMS:
+ “If we went to school instead of being homeschooled, our family would feel like Israel’s Divided Kingdom.”
+ “Sully and I looked up the word crush and it means a strong and foolish liking. One, I’m insulted, and two, with that definition I technically have a crush on my Switch.”
+ “Mom, how are you wearing that jacket and you’re not hot? You’re impressive. You may be impressive in quirky things, but you’re still impressive.”
SULLY-ISMS:
+ “Earth is the biggest planet in the world. But NOT the solar system.”
+ As we walked out of a store without making a purchase: “Are you allowed to do that? Leave without buying anything?”
KALI-ISMS:
+ “If you have braces when you die will you have braces in Heaven?”
+ Charleston: “Nico never really did a bottle did he?” Kali: “I saw a picture of one time Daddy milking him.”
+ Bringing a top to me, asking to remove the price tag: “Can we take off the name tag for how pricey it is?”
NICO-ISMS:
Our Little Man has been so much fun this month! His personality is exploding. He repeats everything we say and chatters on about everything he sees, in phrases now and not just words; his verbal skills are off the charts. He is a social butterfly and makes friends with everyone he sees, saying hello and waving, and he is insanely polite: he never misses an opportunity to say thank you (including after every time I take his picture)! He loves climbing and exploring, enjoys all things nature (water, animals, flowers), and is an absolute cuddle bug.
+ One of my favorite moments with him this month was at my parents’ house: when Nico saw their porch goose, he said “Hi Deborah” since he always says hi to OUR porch goose Deborah when we walk through the front door. I told him, “that’s not Deborah, it’s Hilda.” For the rest of the trip Nico would wave and say “Hi Not Deborah” or “Bye Not Deborah” every time we walked through the front door.
+ The kids taught Nico to chant, and now he chants whenever he gets excited about something. It’s so funny to see him run up to us saying, “Dinner! Dinner! Dinner!” or even “night night! night night!”
+ Nico says, “hi neighbor” every time someone ties their shoes. I finally realized he got this from Daniel Tiger who ties his shoes before greeting his “neighbors.”
|| HAPPENINGS & HIGHLIGHTS ||
Kali had her American Heritage Girls Court of Honor, where she earned several badges and got to “cross the bridge” from Pathfinder (Kindergarten level) to Tenderheart (1st-3rd grade). She had a really fun year with her troop and is looking forward to growing in her participation as a Tenderheart next year!
We attended a homeschool day at Westcave Preserve, which is less than two hours from our home. We left Nico with Luke and my mother-in-law, and my father-in-law joined the three big kids and me for the trip; we loved having him! Our hike was led by two awesome guides who taught us all about the flora and fauna of the area, the ecology of the canyon, and the history of the preserve. We listened to bird song, spotted a snake and other wildlife, and studied the various trees and vines. I learned a ton, and the hike itself was spectacular, beginning in a savanna and taking us one hundred stairs down into the canyon where we had breathtaking views of the grotto. The grotto—with its vibrant leafy canopy, mossy rocks overgrown with ivy, and waterfall trickling into the pond below—was one of the most surreal sights I have ever witnessed; walking along the grotto and through the cave felt like stepping into a fairy tale! Our entire tour group simply could not get over the beauty of this area, and I was left in total awe of God’s creativity as we see it in His creation.
We wrapped up our school year on May 7, with our little trio graduating from Kinder and 5th grade! This was our sixth year of homeschooling, and while some aspects of this year were extremely difficult (homeschooling with a toddler underfoot is no easy feat), I would still call it our best year yet! In addition to creating many wonderful family memories this school year, we had some great academic achievements. We memorized A TON (the first chapter of the Sermon on the Mount; multiplication facts through the 15s; 161 events in the historical timeline; definitions for each part of speech; Latin conjugations; and dozens of History and Science facts). As a family, we read through eleven novels (favorites were Holes [Charleston], Bridge to Terabithia [Kali], The Giver [Sully], and Understood Betsy [Mom] and explored the Renaissance period in History. This year Sully and Kali learned how to add and subtract and write, and Sully became a fluent reader while Kali is well on her way. As for our big 5th grader, Charleston excelled in his essay writing, mastered sentence diagramming, became a fluent typist, and began studying algebra. This was Kali and Sully’s first year joining Charleston at Saints (sports program) and they had a blast! This was also our family’s first year in a Classical Conversations community, which was the absolute highlight of our school year; our only regret was that we didn’t join sooner. I can’t put words to the gratitude I feel that I get to be my children’s teacher and the lead learner in our home. Here’s to another great year!
Mother’s Day was a sweet day of celebration with my kiddos. I woke up to a gratitude scavenger hunt of sorts, with post-it notes scattered around the house, each written by one of the kids thanking me for different things (one on Kali’s bed thanked me for helping her make her bed, one on the fridge thanked me for cooking, one on the garage door thanked me for driving them places; Sully tried to stick one on my belly thanking me for giving birth to them!). We all attended church, where we grabbed a family pic at the photo booth and I received the journal gift that was given to each mom. We came home for presents and the most thoughtful cards from Luke and the kids. I spent the next several hours cooking, and that afternoon, Luke’s sister and parents came over for lunch (beef stir fry, roasted sausage and potatoes, garlic knots, rice, salad, fruit, and jello salad, plus appetizers), playtime on the water bounce house, and thumbprint cookies and an ice cream sundae bar for dessert. We ended the day Facetiming my Mom. What a blessing to both be a mom and to have other moms in my life who are deserving of celebration!
We watched our boys receive awards at their Trail Life Court of Honor. Both boys earned several pins, and it was an especially meaningful evening for Charleston, who promoted to the Navigator patrol. (He was the only member of his Mountain Lions patrol eligible to move up, so he got the stage to himself!) I teared up as I watched my boy cross over the bridge and get welcomed into his new group. Sometimes I feel unbearably sad about how quickly my big boy is growing up, but what a joy to see the young man he is becoming.
We spent the last two weeks on our big vacation of summer—our annual trip to California to visit my family. For the second year in a row, we took the truck for the long drive; six of us in the cab is a tight fit (Charleston sits up front between Luke and me), but we need the truck for the extra bed space. The kids were all fantastic on the drive. Day One was 12 hours on the road, ending in Wilcox, Arizona; we only needed a couple of bathroom/gas stops, since we packed all of our food and ate in the truck. In Wilcox we stayed in a tiny house at the cutest KOA. We arrived with plenty of time to enjoy the campground and eat dinner (heated up oatmeal packets) and we got a decent night’s sleep, cut a little short since the sun rose so much earlier in Arizona than it does for us in Texas. Despite having had a later night, the kids were up and ready to go before 5 in the morning!
The second day of the trip was a lot less driving as we were only going a few hours to Yuma, Arizona, to spend some time with Luke’s grandfather. He is 97 years old and still sharp as a tack, and the kids had a lot of fun with him—especially Nico who wanted to hug and sit on his lap and play! From Yuma, it was on to Palm Springs were we got an awesome deal on a night at a resort-type hotel. I wish we had gotten to spend more time there, but it was great to have so much space and a full-sized table that could seat all six of us for our takeout dinner of Chipotle!
The next morning we got to take the aerial tramway to the top of San Jacinto state park. It was an amazing experience! The rotating tram travels 2.5 miles to an elevation of 8,500 feet, offering jaw-dropping views of the dessert and canyon below. At the top we had lunch at the cafe and did some hiking. Luke grew up camping in these mountains and the kids and I enjoyed hearing his stories about this area.
We began our time with my family at Forest Home family camp, where we got to enjoy the holiday weekend with my parents, as well as my brother and his wife and their three nieces. I’ve been going to Forest Home for more than thirty years! It holds such a special place in my heart and I love that now I get to share it with my kids. They are all at such great ages to enjoy camp; even Nico had fun!
Our time at Forest Home was an amazing weekend of delicious meals, great teaching and worship, and tons of activities for the kids (who had their own programming in the mornings and got their own babysitter who hung out with them in the evenings). This was Charleston’s first year with the Basecamp (youth group) kids and he had a total blast doing big-kid games and participating in their own worship service in the evenings.
The weather was nice with highs in the mid-60s. That made it a little cold to swim on lake day but was perfect for hiking, mini golf, and other outdoor activities. Kali, Charlie and I did the giant swing and the big kids and I all did the ropes course. We spent some time in the craft shack, got icees from the clubhouse, and hunted for wooden nickels.
My brother had a birthday while we were at camp. We also had a belated “839” celebration for my Mom. (We celebrated her 839-month [almost 70 years] birthday in Texas back in March, but the jerseys my dad had ordered for our family photos got lost in transit; glad we were able to recreate the moment for some photos at camp! Plus the matching family jerseys prompted some fun discussions with our fellow campers.)
With camp behind us, we headed down the mountain and visited Luke’s grandma for a bit, then on to my parents’ house in Huntington Beach for a week. We had such a wonderful time with them. We played games galore, went on walks to the park and around the cove, hung out at the pool (the kids, not me, I am a cold water wuss!), roasted marshmallows around the fire pit, and painted pottery at the craft shop of my parents’ friend Deb.
One of the coolest things we did while with my parents was visit Rancho Los Alamitos, a former ranch located in the middle of Long Beach. We were able to tour inside the 18th century home and offices and wander through the stunning gardens, and all of us (kids included) enjoyed hearing the history of this ranch and imagine what it would have been like to live in such a grand home in a unique time in California’s history. I can’t believe we had never been to this spot and we are already making plans to visit again on our next California visit.
Other adventures during our time with my parents included eating a picnic lunch on the patio of my parents’ yacht club, attending a worship service at their church, eating at some favorite restaurants (hooray for Wahoo’s, Flame Broiler, and In-n-Out), visiting the library, hitting up the city park, and taking a ride on their Duffy boat to a secluded beach, where we hunted for shells. I mostly wore Nico on the two-mile walk along the beach, but he got out for a bit and had fun slashing on the shore and finding shells. He was a surprisingly good little vacation companion and made friends everywhere we went this trip.
We made the trip home from California in two days, with an overnight in Las Cruces, New Mexico, and we just got back last night. The drive home was uneventful, minus a stop at The Thing in the middle of Arizona. We’ve seen advertisements along the 10 on our drives over the years and always wondered what it could be. I won’t give away the secret, but will say that it was definitely a fun experience and worth the $10 we paid for our family to tour the exhibit! Nico had a harder time in the car on the ride home, but was cute as a button at every stop!
|| ICYMI: MAY ON THE BLOG ||
What I Learned this Spring . . . from trivia to life hacks to family insights, and more!
Wait. . . am I a tradwife? “I know from experience that being a traditional wife is about so much more than living out a fantasy; it’s about loving my children and caring for my husband and tending to our home—even when I don’t look too great doing it.“
28 Resources That Have Helped Make Our Homeschooling Experience a Success
You Only Know What You Know “I have compassion for others whose experiences were not as healthy or idyllic as my own, but because of my (admittedly privileged) upbringing, those dysfunctional or fractured experiences can be difficult for me to fully understand.“
May is busy for everyone so I am sure that yours was packed as well! What were some highs? What are you looking forward to as we head into the summer months? I have some CC trainings this week, then we will be jumping into another school year, with breaks for swim lessons and VBS this June. Should be a fun one!