Life on the Home Front: Last Full Week of April

One of the highlights of my week was using Queen Elizabeth's birthday as an excuse to convince a child to bake a cake and to sit down and enjoy it with the kids. The beauty of the scene made me so happy, and so did the sugar and tea. 

I've been working on figuring out how to paint this garden all week. Attempts 2 and 1 pictured. Expecting more attempts this coming week! The lockdown is helping me to find a little time most days to practice art!

I've kept my sewing machine set up in the front room behind the little couch kids sit on to watch movies. This way I can get in a little sewing each evening while we watch an episode. One evening this week I sewed a few custom masks for family. The masks are improving -- these had adjustable wiring for over the nose, and an extra pocket to slip filter material in, which I now hear that stockings (hose, whatever you call them) are some of the best filter materials out there!

 I did our grocery shopping on Friday, including some for Michael's mom. Bedding plants were on sale! I got to pick out ones for my mother-in-law's front baskets.

We had a wonderful family hike mid-week in a local park (Eagle Creek, the free part). The wildflowers were amazing. I especially enjoyed the Virginia Bluebells.

I'm surprised how I've gotten into recording my little "Nature Nibbles" episodes several times a week. It's been fun to share spring as it blooms with everyone. (If you aren't on Instagram and Facebook, you can find them on Youtube -- just search for Heather LeFebvre.)

Laura and I are starting a new tradition on Friday afternoons -- baking, gardening, and watching our own movie. This week we watched the 2016 version of Pollyanna, which I thoroughly enjoyed, probably because of the lovely English village it was set in.

Laura and I got a bunch of flower seeds planted in our garden. The colors of spring are so lovely right now: blue, gray-blue, chartreuse green, baby pink, purple....

And now for the weekend! We have a birthday to celebrate. See you next week!

December 5

I had a delightful treat today that was unexpected. Taking Rachel through the Starbucks drive-thru after a doctor appointment I decided to order a decaf Holiday Spice White Flat (almond milk) despite the fact that any sort of coffee gives me a headache. It was so delicious I couldn't believe it! I refused to let my mind dwell on the cost of the thing and instead focused on the gift it was. It made me think of the spiced hot chocolate at Williamsburg and it lasted the whole way home. (Even better: I never got the headache!)

Back in our Christmas school we buckled down and moved on to Martin Luther and the age of the Reformation. Luther was a big fan of Christmas. He preached many Christmas sermons and wrote several Christmas carols. We read part of one sermon aloud today and will continue with more this week. I found these in Martin Luther's Christmas Book. We also sang his carol "From Highest Heaven I Come to Tell." Incidentally, we sang a lovely 12th century carol yesterday which is a new favorite: "The Friendly Beasts." I will go back and add it to yesterday's post. Here is a quote from Martin Luther:

"Oh, we poor people that we should be so cold and indifferent to this great joy that has been given to us. For this is indeed the greatest gift, which far exceeds all else that God has created. Yet we believe so sluggishly, even though the angels proclaim and preach and sing, and their lovely song sums up the whole Christian faith, for 'Glory to God in the highest' is the very heart of worship."

After lunch I jumped from the 16th century to the 19th and immersed myself in the world of Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Bronte for a few hours -- prepping for my class. I stayed in the same time period this evening as a friend and I went to see "The Man Who Invented Christmas." It was terrific! Just the thing to go along with our Christmas studies (must take the kids!) and it was funny how the world of Dickens overlapped with that of Charlotte Bronte by means of William Thackeray (Thackeray is an annoying critic in the movie and was the same for Bronte in real life.) Can't help geeking out about history just a bit. Anyone who likes to write, or wants to be a writer, will enjoy this movie and the way Dickens went about creating A Christmas Carol.

Please note: this post contains affiliate links.

All the Rage

The Runner from Ravenshead is ALL THE RAGE at our house right now.

The movie is a story similar to Pilgrim's Progress and is entirely acted by kids (from one family). It is very well done (i.e. professional) and our kids have watched it twice already, memorized the lines, and spend hours reenacting.

So, if you are looking for another good, clean, video for children -- this is it!