The Big White Farmhouse

intentional living, little by little

No.443: Last Week at the Farmhouse // Egyptians, A New Bathroom & So Much Rain

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The bathroom tiling is done!  I am so pleased with the workmanship and attention to detail; it looks awesome.  Now for my part – the painting!

My home project for the week was organizing our medicine cabinet.  Cooler weather is on its way, so I’ve been restocking our cough drops and cold medicines.  In between school and all of the other tasks of the day, I took a few minutes to organize everything into inexpensive bins…and even added labels.  Who even am I right now?  P.S. Don’t look too closely at the rest of the house – it’s not nearly as tidy.

I spent hours on Saturday working in and around the garden, pulling out more of the summer garden, amending soil and planting more of the fall seeds.  We had heavy rainfall early in the week and it completely wiped out some of my more tender seedlings, so I’m trying again!  I also started laying cardboard around the outside perimeter to kill the grass and get ready for topsoil.  I’ve got big plans for a cottage flower garden look next spring.

School highlights:
+ We’re learning about Egyptians in history and this week’s topics were hieroglyphics and mummies.  Nile project update: the grass grew!
+ My 8th grader is following Mater Amabilis’ Twentieth Century History plan this year and really enjoying it.  I like that they’ve included a wide variety of sources to tell the story of the time period (like first person narratives.)

No.441: Last Week at the Farmhouse // Plants Make Me Ridiculously Happy

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The biggest news of the week is that Sophia’s bathroom remodel is underway.  We hired out for the demo and tiling (a friend of Mark’s is a contractor) and I’m so glad we did.  What would have taken us forever, they knocked out in just a few days.  We will still have to paint and do a few more cosmetic-type things, but I’m so, so excited to have that room functional again.   

I went on a quick date with Mark to Home Depot to pick up grout and came home with $20 worth of houseplants.  The way to my heart isn’t through fancy jewelry or handbags, but definitely plants, ha!  I picked out a big dieffenbachia, which turned out to be poisonous for dogs so now lives in my bedroom (where Lucy’s not allowed).  I also got a pothos for the bathroom.

I started pulling out some of the summer garden and the spent wildflowers in the front beds – bittersweet, but also deeply satisfying.  I have learned SO much this year and am already planning what I’m going to do differently next year.


School highlights:
+ In order to keep the kids away from the construction, I brought out one of my secret weapons: a bag of balloons.  Good for everything from a science demonstration to PE class!  I blew up a handful and the little ones were happy in the basement for over half an hour, creating all kinds of games.  We had our share of popped balloons along the way, but definitely still worth the $2.
+ I’m really liking our new elementary science curriculum so far: Elemental Science’s “Earth Science & Astronomy for the Grammar Stage” curriculum.  This week, we finished a paper mache Earth model (after learning about the continents) and did an experiment about currents.
+ After a few years away, we’re back with Story of the World for elementary level history.  The kids made a model of the Nile, following the directions from the Activity Book.  Can’t wait to see the grass grow in the next few weeks!

No.438: Last Week at the Farmhouse // A New School Year Begins!

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The first week of school is done and it actually went better than expected!  In seven years of homeschooling, I’ve learned that the best thing you can do right off the bat is to find that routine, that steady flow of the day.  When the kids know what to expect and what is expected of them, when I can get even a tiny grasp on chores and other responsibilities…the days then become smooth and productive.  There will always be hiccups and small changes (life!) but the general routine is what keeps homeschooling from feeling like total chaos.

Recording what is working so far, for posterity’s sake:

  • I rise around 6-6:30, drink my coffee, read my Bible, start a load of laundry and get the dough going in the bread machine.  Then I hop in the shower, dress and eat breakfast.  During this time, the kids trickle downstairs, eat breakfast, get dressed, and sometimes watch a cartoon.
  • At 8:30, we all meet together in the kitchen to divvy up the day’s chores from The Confident Mom’s Household Planner.
  • At around 8:50, I have a mini meeting with my two middle school boys, go over the assignments/reading of the day and then send them off!  They pick different quiet places throughout the house and will typically sprawl out while reading and head to a table for written work.
  • At 9:00, we do kindergarten!  We start with TJ because he will otherwise relentlessly bug me for his turn.  This is the time we work on his math, letters and read aloud.
  • I take a quick break to switch laundry and put bread dough in pans for their second rise.
  • At around 9:15, my elementary students (K, 2nd & 4th) all meet at the school table for our group subjects like science, history, art and geography.  We do these altogether and just toggle the amount of work depending on grade.
  • I take another quick break to switch laundry again, put bread in the oven to bake for lunch and check in on big boys.
  • At around 10:15, we split up.  My 2nd and 4th graders do their math on the computer with Teaching Textbooks, so while one is on math, I work on the individual subjects of the other, like language arts.  With Mark home full time right now, he’s taking on their catechism and they love that special one-on-one time with him.
  • This takes us to about lunchtime and we break from 12-1.  This used to be our household quiet time but now that my kids are older, we just kind of hang out and relax.  It’s like a midday siesta minus the nap.  (Although I sometimes could go for one, ha!)
  • After 1:00, we finish up any work we haven’t completed yet.  If they work diligently and we don’t have any big projects, we easily can be done by early afternoon.  Sometimes we get in the kitchen and bake something at this time, or they play, draw, play guitar, get outside, etc.  On Fridays, we take a nature study hike through our back woods.  


100 Little Things Update: I checked off the first two tasks on my new list!
+ Get Lucy a new dog bed. (#57) – This technically breaks goal #100, but I found a reasonably priced dog bed and it was a Lightning Deal too!  Lucy cuddled right in, so I’m calling it a success.
+ Buy myself a pair of snow pants. (#79) – This one is random for late August, but my thinking is that I would pay less if I bought now versus later in the fall.  I ended up finding a secondhand pair, like new, for only $9! 

On the Nightstand: I just finished The Woman at the Window by A.J. Finn.  Still working through Charlotte Mason Companion by Karen Andreola, Gaining Ground by Forrest Pritchard and Saint John Paul the Great: His Five Loves by Jason Evert.

Recipe of the week, A is for Applesauce Muffins:

Applesauce Muffins
adapted from Mom to Mom Nutrition


2 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 egg
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 tsp. vanilla


Preheat the oven to 375.  Combine the dry ingredients together in one bowl and the wet ingredients in another.  Add the wet to the dry and stir until combined.  Scoop into muffin tins and bake for 20 minutes.

No.437: Last Week at the Farmhouse // A Flat Tire & the Last Days of Summer Break

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What a week!  It started with a flat tire.  Simple enough to deal with, right?  Oh man, it turned into a fiasco.  We tried to remove the tire so we could put on the spare and drive to the mechanic, but it would.not.budge.  For two days, we tried everything, bought a few supplies to lift the SUV better, watched all the tips and tricks on Youtube, but to no avail.  We ended up calling a tow truck (to the tune of $100) and having to replace the one tire since it was too big of a hole to patch.  Since we were at the mechanic anyway, we decided to get Mark’s car inspected and were told that he needed all new brake pads to pass.  Later in the week, I checked our propane levels on a whim, only to discover that it was muuuuch lower than we thought and had to quickly make an appointment to fill the tank.  Money’s just flying out the window at this point.  
Other than that, it was a flurry of final school planning and project finishing as we prepare for our school year to begin on August 17.  The kids won’t admit it, but I think we’re all ready for a little more structure in our days.  I’m especially praying for a smooth transition as we begin – I’ve got five students, from 8th all the way down to K this year!

I’m always on a mission to prolong the lifespan of our clothing, so I’ve been doing a little mothproofing research.  (This article from Martha Stewart was helpful.)  I’m still on the lookout for hanging red cedar boards, but I did manage to find an etsy shop that sells lavender sachets to add to my closet.  Reasonably priced, cute fabrics and a wonderful seller.  Highly recommend.

On the nightstand: Follow the River by James Alexander Thom, Charlotte Mason Companion by Karen Andreola and Gaining Ground by Forrest Pritchard.  My reading has slowed way down these past few weeks as I can only read a few pages at bedtime before I start nodding off.  
For this week’s baking day, I made a new batch of granola and two loaves of banana bread.  Tried and true, this is our favorite recipe: 
Banana Bread
1 cup sugar
½ cup oil (sometimes I use coconut oil, sometimes unsweetened applesauce)
2 eggs
3 very ripe bananas
2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
(you could also add in a cup of chopped nuts too)

Preheat the oven to 375°.  Butter the inside of a loaf pan and set aside.
Add all of the ingredients one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
Pour into the prepared loaf pan and bake for 45-50 minutes.  I typically bake mine for 45 minutes and then tent with foil for the last 5-10.

No.434: Last Week at the Farmhouse // Strawberry Crumble Cake & a Few New Pieces of Decor

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Don’t ask me how or why, but I finally got my groove back last week!  It felt so refreshing to be buzzing around the house, cooking and tidying and working in the garden, and jotting down huge lists of to-dos.  Not everyone’s idea of fun, but it is so very much me. 
In the garden, we have our first little watermelons growing and still have cherry tomatoes coming out of our ears!  My new zucchini seedling has already emerged, but is looking a little sad after all of the rain storms.  Hopefully it pulls through!  I also created a loose plan for fall crops: broccoli, carrots, brussels and lettuce are on the docket.  We’ll see what happens!  It’s all just one big experiment.
As part of our debt freedom celebration, Mark and I budgeted a little “fun money” for each of us to spend however we choose.  Since the thrift stores in my area have weird hours right now (and the idea of social distancing in these tiny stores seems stressful), I scoured the Internet for vintage pieces instead.  I had an idea of what I wanted and kept searching until I found the right item at the right price.  (Some pieces are insanely expensive!)  I obviously paid more than I would have at the thrift store, but I’m supporting small business and helping the economy, right?  Ha!  Here’s what I found:
  • a tall wicker picnic basket to hold my fabrics and in process quilt (this one, this one and this one are all similar ideas, but different shapes)
  • a small floral still-life painting to eventually be hung in a gallery wall
  • a Farm Journal cookbook from the 1970s that I bought for decor purposes, but actually want to cook almost everything inside! (here’s the same one!)
Sophia’s bathroom renovation is finally moving forward!  We pulled out her toilet last November (!!) with the intention of ripping up and re-tiling the floor and shower, but ran into a few problems…and then COVID.  I ordered the tile this week and we’ll hopefully be able to get this project going by the end of the month.  
I made homemade burger buns for the first time and they were delicious and so easy.  J and I also whipped up a Strawberry Crumble Cake together and while I could only eat a tiny piece due to my dairy sensitivity, it was really good.  I think it would be even better paired with a cup of hot coffee!  Here’s the recipe: 
Strawberry Crumble Cake
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
3 cups flour
1 cup cold butter, cut into pieces
1 egg, beaten
4 cups fresh strawberries, chopped
1/2 cup sugar
4 tsp. corn starch
Preheat the oven to 375 and grease a 9×13″ pan.
In a medium bowl, toss the strawberries with the 1/2 cup sugar and corn starch.
In another bowl, whisk together the sugar, baking powder, salt and flour.  Cut in the butter with a pastry blender or fork until the pieces are about pea-sized.  Stir in the egg to form a crumbly dough.  
Pat half of the dough in an even layer in the pan.  Spread the strawberry mixture on top of that.  Crumble the remaining dough evenly over the strawberry layer.
Bake 45 minutes or until lightly browned.

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