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The Big White Farmhouse

intentional living, little by little

February 13, 2015

{around here} Week 06/52: Week of 2.9.15

A collection of our ordinary days, recorded every week.  At the end of the year, I’ll publish them into a keepsake to treasure.

Around here, I have been:


struggling.  Why is February so rough?  I am still feeling like I can’t catch up.  When I focus on one area of life, another one lacks.  Comes with the territory, but it’s hard.  I hold myself to an unrealistic standard and need to extend myself a little more grace.  

wrestling with social media.  What do I share?  How much do I share?  Are my photos good enough?  Are my stories even good enough?  I’ve intentionally stepped away this week in order to try to figure it all out and while I haven’t come to a clear conclusion, I do know I still want to be a participant for now.  Too many good things have come from it.

reading Overcoming Dyslexia and Everyday Sacrament: The Messy Grace of Parenting. 

feeling excited about homeschooling again.  Watching D struggle made me question my abilities, but lots of research, the support of many online friends (who have dyslexic children who are thriving!) and our new reading program have really given me hope. 

working on new product for Big White Farmhouse: soaps, bath salts and small gift sets!  All of them smell so good!   


listening to the boys talk about tattoos(?!):
D: Uncle Bud says they use needles.  NEEDLES.  Nuh uh, no way.
J: I think I’d get a purple Power Ranger.
M: Uncle Matt says it doesn’t hurt that bad.  I want “LEGO” on my arm right here.

singing the ABC song over and over and over again.  We’ve been singing it everyday in Kindergarten and it’s now become Sophie’s favorite song.  “Again, again, mama!”  And don’t you dare try to change to Twinkle, Twinkle.  

homeschool notes:
+ After trudging along for way too many weeks, I finally switched our history curriculum to Story of the World.  We all love it so far!  This week, we talked about Ancient Africa and listened to folktales about Anansi the spider.  We also drew Anansi using a video from Art for Kids.  


February 11, 2015

{around here} Ten on Ten: February 2015



My second attempt at Ten on Ten!  In case you haven’t heard about it, on the tenth of the month, you take a photograph an hour for ten consecutive hours.  Like the first time, it was just a typical day for us.  The weather was dreary and cold.  TJ has a little cold and has been a little fussy and clingy.  Looking back at these quickly snapped photographs, our life looks a bit boring, but I think I’ll appreciate the little details more down the road.

ten on ten button

February 9, 2015

{cookie project} No.003: Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

I recently found a big can of pureed pumpkin on clearance at Target and it quickly made its way into my cart.  Last fall was full of newborn baby goodness and I wasn’t in the kitchen much.  Besides my go-to Pumpkin Chocolate Chip cookies, most of the pumpkin recipes I found on Pinterest went unmade.  


Better late than never!  On a dreary day in the dead of winter, I made Pumpkin Snickerdoodles.  They were soft, puffy and incredibly delicious.


THE RECIPE
The recipe I used is from Nikki at Seeded at the Table.  You can find the recipe here.

{Cookie Project Archives: Nos. 001 & 002}

February 6, 2015

{around here} Week 05/52: Week of 2.2.15


A collection of our ordinary days, recorded every week.  At the end of the year, I’ll publish them into a keepsake to treasure.

Around here, I have been:


spending half of the week as a single parent, as Mark was away on a business trip in California.  Thankfully, the days went relatively smoothly and I tried to add in a few fun things to pass the time.  

watching the documentary, Tiny: A Story about Living Small.  I found the process of building your own little house (around 100-200 square feet) really intriguing.  And while that would never work for a family of seven, it does make me think about how much square footage we actually need versus what we think we need.      


laughing at Sophie as she becomes a little comedian.  I will ask her, “Who’s my girl?”  She will reply with “Daddy?” or any male family member and then laugh hysterically.  


celebrating Mark’s birthday.  The kids and I gave him a smoker to accompany his grill and he cannot wait to try it out this weekend.  Lots of delicious ribs and brisket in our future.


reading Overcoming Dyslexia and It Was Me All Along: A Memoir.   

making baby steps of progress in D’s school.  We got our package from All about Reading and have done the first three lessons.  D LOVES it.  That excitement alone is worth the purchase.  

cleaning up a storm around the house.  It feels so refreshing to place unneeded things in the donation box!  Clutter is definitely one of my triggers when it comes to overwhelm and anxiety, so I’m happy to be doing something proactive to combat that.  

exercising with a mix of running and Insanity workouts.  The scale may not be moving, but I’m feeling strong!

homeschool notes:

  • We learned about the Great Wall of China and M made his own out of Lego.
  • M recently found the Boxcar Children series and is currently in book #2, Surprise Island.  He wants me to read along, so I’m hoping to catch up soon. 

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