As The Next Generation is Home Educated {...another slice of life...a regular Thursday in this 'hood...}

Remember this?

Beauty really does spring from broken places.

There were some dark days in my 22+ year home educating career.  There were some dark years.  But we also had so, so many days like this:

My iPhone buzzed about ten minutes ago.  This is going on, next door, even as I type.  My daughter Hannah sent me the above little video clip of her going over Timothy's memorization assignment for this week - today, she happens to be including Timothy's cousin (and my very enthusiastic grand-girl) Aidyn Esther.

I die.  I die from pure delight, I resurrect, then I die again.

These moments are what makes having a career in teaching your own children at home so, so worth the cost.

My #UnstyledLifestyle House REALLY DID Get Featured on a Design Blog {...a major design blog...}

 I promised I'd tell you which design blog was going to feature our home.

Then, I forgot to tell it here.  I announced it on Facebook and Instagram, but forgot to announce it right here, where it all began.

{hint:  please consider this your invitation to join me on one or all of my other social media channels.  I would love to see you there!}

So.  Remember this post?  My "Unstyled Lifestyle House Tour For No Real Reason"?

In that blog post, I practically bragged on the fact that I have never-no-never been invited to participate in one of those "Holiday House" virtual house tours at Christmas time...you know...

...the blog hops.

Not once.

And I really didn't {and don't} care.

But as fate would have it, Gabrielle Blair over at Design Mom actually invited me to submit photos of our home for her weekly design feature "Living With Kids - Home Tours".

Apparently the sort of lifestyle we have, living with one of our grandbabies for two years, followed by living right next door to the same grandchild {and we will quite possibly be living two doors down from two of our other grandbabies by the end of this summer!} is fascinating to many folks...

...and I do have to say - I am living a dream I have not earned and do not deserve.  Hashtag blessedforsure.

Back to being invited to share our home on a real, true design blog.  I gotta tell you, the #unstyledlifestyle of that initial, silly blog post, became a "work-my-behind-off-to-style-my-unstyled-lifestyle" project.  A flurry of house cleaning and fresh-flower buying ensued upon learning that our home would actually be featured on - of all places, Design Mom.

Only THE website I have been "fan-girling" for at least two years!

I was over the moon, and still am.

You can find the shots of our home, and my interview here.

Meanwhile, please enjoy the "outtakes"...the shots that didn't make the cut for the feature piece:

Up In The Air So Blue {...the things my preacher can do, in no time flat...}

I mentioned it this afternoon.  That's all I did, was mention it.

I mentioned the fact that it'd be fun to have a wooden-seat swing, down there under the silver maple.

This evening, right before dinner, The Preacher went out to his workshop.  I heard the noise of the power saw and something else.  In less than an hour, this is what I was called outside to see:

And then this may have happened:

I was all, like, "Hey kid.  Get off my swing."  (not really)

How do you like to go up in a swing,
Up in the air so blue?
Oh, I do think it the pleasantest thing
Ever a child can do!

Up in the air and over the wall,
Till I can see so wide,
River and trees and cattle and all
Over the countryside--

Till I look down on the garden green,
Down on the roof so brown--
Up in the air I go flying again,
Up in the air and down! 

Robert Louis Stevenson

A Bit of Digital Flower Pressing {...not all Displayed Treasures are analog...}

...so I created the above image in under 30 minutes, after The Preacher and I spent a perfect evening shooting wildflowers in Cades Cove.  Well.  We shot wildflowers, and I also included a few weeds - because I love dandelions when they reach their fluffy and even spent stage.  

I am having so much fun preparing for my FREE online mini-intensive, "Displayed Treasures - Analog 'Pinning' as Art and Lifestyle".  Yes, the idea is to set some limits on our screen time, and the screen time our children are given.  

But for all the technology lovers {like me}, let me take a moment to reassure you that though we will spend some time with beautiful "analog pinning" ideas...

...there will also be a bit of digital delight thrown in, just for fun.  

Hey, if it will get us all outside, I am all in, aren't you?

I'm excited to tell you that I am working on a screencast, intended to teach you how to easily put together a wildflower {or seashell, or tree leaf, or tree, or animal, vegetable, or mineral} mini-poster, much like what you see above.  

Just something fun you can create, to save and re-live a little bit of the feeling of those moments when all your senses were engaged.  Your kids - the ones old enough to be using the computer - can follow along and learn as well.

Stay tuned right here for the official launch date.  Announcements will be forthcoming...

I Re-stocked Most Items in the Shop {...just in time for Mother's Day...}

Thank you so much for your support, when you gift-give. It means this world to me, as well as all artists...

"We Don't Need Church Bells..." {...of children and church life...}

One thing I have always been aware of, is the profound affect church life has on children.  

In the best of ways.

I grew up in a tiny Presbyterian church full of people with gray hair who pulled gum out of my ears, and the same Sunday School Teacher every. single. Sunday.  No one rotated out there - the pastor's wife faithfully taught a range of ages, all at the same time, every Sunday for my entire childhood.  

It was radically life-altering stuff for a troubled little girl who would herself grow up to become a preacher's wife.

There is something sweet that happens - all quiet and hidden - when parents decide to commit to one local church, and go and grow there together.  Continuity is important.  There is a sweetness that only comes with creating continuity - whether you have children or your nest has emptied.  Week-in, week-out, month-in, month-out, year-in, year-out...

...memories are built no other way.

Lives are built no other way.  

The smallest things go a long way in a child's sense of stability - something as "simple" as church services, having the same four teachers in Sunday School, who rotate week by week all year long, and the same person making the pre-church-service announcements.  

I won't go so far as to say that your church life is THE most important constant in your child's life.  But I will go so far as to say that your church life easily ranks in the top five Things Your Child Can Depend On - ranking right up there with their trusty blankie, their parents' unconditional love, a consistent bedtime, and teeth brushing.

Meet Eryn...

She has the most incredible birth story you will ever encounter - but that is another post for another day.

Eryn's momma's name is Vickie, and I got her permission to share a little short something she shared online with our church ladies group.  Here is the cute, cute story, in her own words:

Eryn and I were in Fountain City today, on our way home from school when she heard the bells chime at one of the churches on Broadway. She immediately wanted to know what it was...I didn't realize she had never heard church bells before. I explained that a long time ago that's the way the church let the community know that services were about to begin, or sometimes the church would double as a school and they were used like the bell at her school. So she pipes up and says, "We don't need bells at our church. We have Mrs. Sheila and she doesn't need a bell. She just says (in her best Mrs. Sheila voice) 'Hellooo, Harvest Church!' and we all know we better sit down."

Who needs bells when a familiar friend is always there to let you know it is time to get started worshipping the Lord?

Take your kids to church.  Be consistent.  Let your one life testify of God's great worth, and of His great love for His bride.  And if you want to be really bold, in the words of Eugene Peterson "Go to the nearest small church and commit yourself to being there for 6 months."

Warning: You'll want to stay forever. And God just might be really, really good with that idea.

More than ever before, there's the lie that's gone viral: the lie that says it doesn't matter. Every storybook read, every bath, every song matters. All the work it takes to dress, feed, and take them to church every Sunday...it matters more than ever, momma and daddy. 

It matters precisely because too many so-called "important people" live like church is unimportant.  It matters precisely because the devil is working overtime to tell us it doesn't.

One-Pot Sprouted Grain No Knead Bread {...so, so good...}

I am so excited to share a recipe I've developed with you.  This is my riff on the famous Jaque Pepin's One Pan Bread Recipe.  Only my recipe uses half sprouted grain flour...and that's the extent of my "development" of the recipe.

But that is enough of a tweak to make this one mine-all-mine.

You don't have to completely spend more than necessary on King Arthur's Organic Sprouted Whole Wheat Flour , but it does make this recipe a little easier to digest - however still not recommended for those with Celiac disease.

Here is what sprouted wheat flour looks like:

It is darker and a tiny bit coarser than all purpose unbleached.  Still, it is very soft and easy to work with.

You toss 4 cups (2 of regular all purpose, 2 of sprouted wheat flour) in a hard anodized, 3-quart nonstick saucepan {...you read that right...a saucepan...}
and whisk in 1 heaping teaspoon of yeast, and a teaspoon of salt - do not use coarse or Kosher salt for this recipe.

...add 2 1/2 - 3 cups of filtered water...

Combine with a wooden spoon until all is incorporated.

Then...put a lid on it.

I'm so sorry to annoy you with pictures of every little step - I got carried away with the moody, luscious light in my kitchen today.

Let it sit for about an hour-and-a-half to two hours.  Your sprouted wheat flour needs a little more time to do its first rise than regular all purpose flour would need.

Here is what it looks like, about 2 hours later:

You're going to stick that wooden spoon into it one more time, and "stir it down".  It will deflate.

Next, you stick it in the fridge for hours and hours, or even overnight.  {...not even lying to you...I would never...}

So I've made it a frivolous goal to have a pretty refrigerator interior, when I can.  My nest is empty now, and I am entitled to some pointless frivolity.  When your nest empties, you will be entitled, too.

This.  makes.  me.  happy.

After hours and hours or even after overnight, your bread dough will look like this:

Put it straight {...forthwith...immediately...instantly...} into a preheated 450 degree oven, and bake it for 35-40 minutes.  Start checking it at the 30 minute mark, because mine browned quickly after that.

See how it beautifully pulled away from the sides of the hard anodized, non stick, 3-quart saucepan?  I was a proud Mimi...so proud of this little loaf of goodness...

Try this recipe.  I promise, it will get you baking your own bread again.

{...and thanks in advance for pinning...I am so grateful to each of you...}