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:

celebrating Our Lady’s birthday with friends.  The kids created little triptychs, decorated cupcakes and sang Happy Birthday.  It was simple and sweet and a good reminder to incorporate more of the liturgical year in our everyday.


laughing (as usual) at Sophia.  Every week, she says something new and hilarious!  Her latest is a hand-on-the-hip, big sigh as she tells me, “He bossin’ me ’round.”  It’s never particularly true and she blames everyone from TJ up to M.  She also tries so hard to keep up as her brothers talk about Lord of the Rings or the Hobbit.  I hear her excitedly offer, “Bilbo Baggins!” every.single.time.  


reading Loves Does and I just started the latest choice for the Inspired Reader’s Book Club (more info on Book #3 coming next week!).


receiving a box from Stitch Fix and for the first time, I kept all five pieces!  I did sell one top on a Stitch Fix B/S/T Facebook group, and I’m iffy about the necklace, but the other three pieces (along with the 25% off discount) made the deal too good to pass up.


starting the Beta phase for T25.  Definitely harder than the first phase, but I like it.  Speed 2.0 is my favorite.

selling (or at least trying to!) unneeded things around the house.  I started adding some baby clothing on Kidizen (find me there at Big White Farmhouse) and I’ve put a few items on our local yard sale Facebook group too.  


working in bits and pieces on Big White Farmhouse.  We launched a handful of new items for fall (gather towels in four colorways and lip balms) and I’m getting ready to order for the Christmas season.  I still haven’t figured out how to add in regular “office hours” to my week yet, but every little bit helps me get closer to my goals.


planning a new part of our learning: open-ended unit studies.  With a science or literature-based “spine”, we’ll be exploring everything from sharks to The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.  I want to incorporate all kinds of learning: art projects, cooking, a combination of fiction and non, videos, experiments and field trips.  I’ll introduce the topic and then the kids will take the lead.  I’m excited to see what we all can learn.  Next week, we start on bats!       

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:

having a hard week.  Between adjusting to a busier schedule, having cranky kids, struggling to fit in all of my commitments, horrific news stories, crazy hormones and car trouble, I am beat.  TJ is into everything and I can’t seem to get ahead of the household chores either.  I’m so thankful for a long weekend to sleep and catch up.   


starting our new soccer season routine.  Practices are twice a week, back to back, which means quite some time on the soccer field!  The little ones have been troopers.  I’m brainstorming some surprises to get for them to pass the time.    


watching Reading Rainbow on Netflix.  I thought the kids might think they were hokey, but they love the show!  In the first four episodes, we learned how bowling balls are made, about the benefits of composting, how to make a comic book and that we’re never too old to learn something new.


buying new fall pajamas for the little kids.  The big boys have decided that they’d just like to wear sweatpants and a shirt to bed now and that makes me a little teary.  Where did these big kids come from?!  I’m compensating by buying these and these and these for Sophia and TJ.    


finishing up the first phase of T25.  I absolutely love this program.  I love that I am seeing results in a time frame that works for a homeschooling, small business owning, mother of five!  If I can do it, anyone can.

reading Love Does for me and Pippi Longstocking as our school read aloud.


loving how Sophia says her “f”s as “s”s.  Her family is her “sam-ly”, she loves “shench shies”, and she hurt her “singer”.  Like the boys, I know I will blink and she’ll be saying all of these words correctly, so I’m eating it up for now.      

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:


taking an unscheduled break from my camera and the blog.  Last week was so good, but intense and I guess I needed the time off to re-energize!  Looking back on the photos, though, I’m so glad I participated in the project and I’m sure I’ll do it again.  I love the idea of creating visual time capsules.  

preparing for a busy fall schedule.  I’m holding my breath and getting ready to hold on tight!  Our days will be full with soccer, church commitments and a homeschool co-op, but I’m hoping organization and communication will help make the days less frantic.  This week, I focused on meal planning and ordering what I need on Jet.        


reading The Journey of our Love.  I also finished See You Later, Gladiator as a read aloud with the kids.


loving sweet Sophia as she held her drawing behind her back and said, “Close yours eyes, mama!….Su-prise!”


working just a little on Big White Farmhouse.  With school back in session, I’m still struggling to figure out how to fit everything in and BWF has unfortunately taken the back burner the past few weeks.  This week, I was able to get a handful of sewing drawers up and I’m hoping to catch up with the rest of my vintage finds this weekend.

listening to the McNeely’s at His and Her Money.  After a long conversation about dreams and goals for our future, Mark and I are more committed than ever to pay off our remaining student loan debt and start aggressively saving.  I’ve been staying motivated by watching their YouTube videos and listening to their podcast.  Their enthusiasm is contagious!


watching TJ turn into a toddler right before my eyes!  His birthday is in three weeks and I just can’t believe how fast the time went.  He is walking, babbling up a storm and loves his Daddy fiercely.  He is such a blessing to all of us.

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:


starting our first week of school!  We eased in with only a few subjects each day, but I was so proud of the kids’ enthusiasm and best effort.  It was nice to get back into a routine again and the days have just flown by.  We celebrated a successful week with milkshakes (which I sadly didn’t have…stupid Whole30).  


having significantly less screen time, which surprisingly feels great.  Less Facebook, less Instagram, less Internet rabbit holes.  When I do go online, I try to go in for a purpose and then get out.  No mindless scrolling and refreshing pages.  I do feel like I’m “missing out” a little, but on the other hand, I’m feeling a lot of peace with being in the here and now.    


reading Better Than Before.


completing one and a half weeks of T25 and I love it!  Mark had to stop due to a nagging prior injury (and after going to the doctor has been told he has a bone spur in his foot and may need surgery!), but M has been by my side every single workout.  The workouts are hard, but not impossible and I feel great at the end.  Can’t wait to see how my body changes after 14 weeks.      


cheering on TJ as he took his first steps!  Bittersweet.


eating platters of grilled chicken or ham, cheese and fresh tomatoes from my garden.  SO good.


practicing using the self-timer on my camera in preparation for next week’s Week in the Life project.  I’d like to get more pictures of myself in the flow of our days, but this should be interesting: the kids are like weird moths to a flame when they know the camera is on.   


receiving new product for Big White Farmhouse.  It was a fun week to check the mail; we have new plush animals, wooden rattles and even more fall season surprises to come!


getting a head start on Sophie’s fall wardrobe with an order from ThredUp.  I found her two pairs of pants, two dresses and even a Christmas dress!  I only had a few minutes to peek for me, but I know I’ll be back to work on my fall wardrobe as well.


crying as D said, “Mamma, you know what I love about you?  You are beautiful, you smell good and you have a great smile.”  I’ve been a bit too critical of myself lately and his honest words just about broke me in two (in the very best way, of course).  These kids don’t care about the extra 15 pounds I carry or the very limited wardrobe I currently wear.  They just love me for me.  Out of the mouths of babes…how incredibly humbling.

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:


starting T25.  On a Tuesday.  I’m done choosing the “right” day to start something, so Tuesday it is.  The workouts are hard, but manageable and even fun.   Mark and I (and even M) have been doing them together first thing in the morning and it has been a great beginning to my day.


eating clean and finally on week two of Whole30.  I’ve done this before and knew what to expect, so it was a little like childbirth: you know it’s going to hurt, but it’s worthwhile in the end.


enjoying Brain Games on Netflix with the kids.  The show is educational and entertaining and we have learned a lot.  (Note: I would suggest skipping the episode on fear.  I previewed it and determined it was WAY too scary for my kids.)


taking care of D as we found out he has double ear infections.  He feels so much better now that he’s on antibiotics.


setting up our new birdfeeder!  It is acrylic and sticks directly to our window.  We are still waiting for the neighborhood birds to realize it’s there, but hopefully we’ll have some visitors soon. 


stitching like a mad woman!  I set a personal deadline to finish Sophie’s “girls” by the time we started school and now we’re only three days away!  Hoping I can finish up this weekend.  (Finally linking up to Erica’s Summer Stitching Stash Blast #11 too.)


watching TJ all the time.  He is climbing stairs, dancing to any and all music, loves peek-a-boo, and hits and throws everything in sight.  He also does a full cross-body waving thing that I’m crazy about.  I love this age.


buying Do a Dot markers for the little kids.  They have been a little jealous of all the cool books and supplies the big boys have been receiving for school, so it was fun to tell them that this package was theirs.


laughing at Sophia and her adorable and hilarious comments.  A few of her latest: “I a goose!’ (meaning: she’s a silly goose), “I go to bed in…um, thirty years!” And my absolute favorite, asked every single evening as I start getting ingredients out: “We cookin’ family dinner, mama?”

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:


watching TJ get into all.the.things.  He is everywhere and making all the messes!    


ordering Focus T25 (through my blog friend, Katie – she’s a Beachbody coach) and hoping it will help me out of my exercise rut.  A combination of things have made it hard to do my usual: too hot outside, impatient baby, husband working unpredictable hours.  I’m so ready to finally get this sad, postpartum body back in gear.  I’ve got 10ish pounds still to lose!


reading Everything I Never Told You (I can’t put it down!) and Better Than Before.


starting on a holiday prep plan for Big White Farmhouse: what to buy, what supplies to stock up on, etc.  It’s overwhelming and exciting all bundled together.

thinking about returning to regular school days in two weeks, maybe?  We’ve been out since mid-May and I think it’s time.  The kids have been actually asking to do math and history!


planning to finally paint my office this weekend, the first project on my to-do list.


watching American Pickers as I multi-task and work on the computer at night.  That show both fascinates me and puts me to sleep.