Beauty in the Ordinary
featuring: the Erin Condren Teacher Planner I enjoy reviewing some of my favorite planner systems around this time of year! But I feel like reviewing a fresh new planner, while hopefully inspiring, can’t show you all of the potential and the usefulness I’ve found in its pages. And in showing you, it is NOT my hope that you’ll feel as… Read More
Here we are, at the end of another school year, and smack in the middle of a month of new planner launches. As we’re wrapping up a year, we’re also starting to consider what comes next! I have always loved the possibility in a fresh new school year! Almost as much as I love a bouquet of fresh pencils and… Read More
Anybody feel like a giveaway? May 7 is Teacher Appreciation Day! Educators, the work you do matters! So to celebrate, I’m giving away a brand new Simplified Teacher Planner and magnetic page marker to one lucky educator! You must be an educator to enter this contest – home educator, education support staff, early childhood educator, secondary education – all educators… Read More
Well friends, every year we await the new launch of the Erin Condren planner lineup, and the 2019 lineup is finally here! I’ve got the brand new coiled LifePlanner and its sister, the LifePlanner binder system – all so you can look at the detail and check out the prices and info BEFORE you shop! These planners and all the… Read More
In the world of lesson planning, I must admit – I am particular. Having been a home educator for 18 years has taught me to appreciate a few key elements of lesson planners and lesson planning in general. After all, with 5 kids, I’ve taught Kindergarten 5 times, 12th grade twice now, and all the grades in between for a… Read More
As we round the corner from Easter and the beginning of spring into summer my calendar is full! I can hardly believe I’m wrapping up our 18th year of home education! We’re about to graduate our second child and send him off to college. Our first grand-daughter is 7 months old and the most adorable drop of sunshine ever! And… Read More
Here we are again, at the start of spring and staring at all the potential around us! The weather is glorious and our schedules are beginning to fill with all the activities and priorities that come with a new season! This time of year is a time of new potential in so many areas, and to meet that need planner… Read More
Recently, I had the opportunity to pop over to the Erin Condren blog and share some of my favorite spring cleaning tips! Head on over to check it out! I wanted to share a few more of my favorite spring cleaning resources with you in case you’re starting to get your spring cleaning game together! Simply Clean by Becky Rapinchuk… Read More
February is here. Any homeschooler knows what that means. Burnout season. I choose to view it differently, and after 18 years of homeschooling, this February time of reflection has come to be one of the most important times of our year for considering some of our habits, routines and spaces anew – and refreshing! By February, here’s what is usually… Read More
Several years ago I wrote a set of Physics based lesson plans for middle school students based on a course I built for my son (at the time he was 10 – he’s now 18 and about to graduate!) – if you’d like to wander down memory lane you can read that post here. Then, three years ago, I updated… Read More
I wanted so much to start this post as a narrative, one that holds your hand and winds its way through my story sharing the shadows and surprises and leads you, along with me, to a place of discovery and peace. But the truth is, my diagnosis with an Autoimmune Disease was a bit of a shock. And the past… Read More
Look around – on desks and counters and tables across the world there are beautiful, shiny, new planners – all full of the potential and possibility of a blank canvas. The days we anticipate, goals we hope to accomplish, lists waiting to be listed, the season we live, responsibilities and duties folded in with fun and relaxation – it all… Read More
Several years ago, when my children were still quite young and I was eager to find any connection I could to the rich treasures I knew to be woven into the liturgical year, a dear friend of mine shared her knowledge of a resource which illuminated so much of my path, Around The Year with the von Trapp Family by Maria August Trapp. Maria!!! Whom I fell… Read More
Can you believe another year has flown by? It seems I was just here…just sitting down to consider 2018 – our goals, plans, hopes, and prayers. And now, I’m sitting down to consider 2019. So many wonderful things happened in 2018 – so many blessings to be thankful for. I find (and maybe you do, too) that the faster and… Read More
Here we are again, knocking at the door of the beginning of a new Church season – Advent – which begins in less than a month on December 2! Every year, for the last 8 years, I have been building an Advent and Christmas Planner and sharing it. In truth, this planner has been in existence longer than 8 years,… Read More
Can you believe that summer is nearly over? I can’t! This has probably been our busiest summer ever! So many great opportunities, pool time, and then lots of work to set up lesson plans and schedules for the kids! As we settle into new routines, it’s a great time to consider those planning tools we use to help us steward… Read More
Summer is winding down and I’ve been busy wrapping up summer projects here and there and preparing for our 17th year of home education! Wow! Where does the time go? With my last post, which many of you receive by email, it was evident that my blog had been hacked. I apologize for the nonsense that came with my post!… Read More
Setting up the Erin Condren Teacher Planner is always a joy for me! I love seeing the pages in front of me and imagining how I can use them and how they will serve us in the coming year. A planner is simply a tool. Some planners are better tools than others, but they all function as a lever to… Read More
Happy summertime, friends! Here in the deep south it is blazing hot – which means pool time! I know some of you keep rolling with homeschool all through the summer, and I’ve done that before, too – why not, after all?! The weather is so painfully hot – make hay while the sun is shining, my mom would say. But… Read More
As another school year wraps up I like to sit back, reflect on what worked over the year, what didn’t, and take a look at my plans with an eye toward the coming year. After 17 years of home educating, I’m more convinced than ever that you better bring the right tools to this game! I loved my Erin Condren Teacher Planner… Read More
Ask anyone – especially any parent – DVD organization can be a nightmare. We start out with a slim, cultivated collection of DVDs representing only the most uplifting and delightful and then…somehow…Alvin and the Chipmunks slip in there. And then one day, you realize that DVD and Blu-ray cases are taking over your home, your car, and your travel bag…. Read More
The new Emily Ley Simplified Planners and all the new accessories launch May 2 this year for the Academic Year planners (August 2018 – July 2019), and the Calendar Year planners (January – December 2019) launch in September of 2018. Many of you know that I am a huge fan of Emily Ley, her company, and her planners. And this… Read More
Every year, in early May, Erin Condren releases her new Life Planners for the year. With over 1.5 million Life Planners sold and 1 million followers, that date is eagerly anticipated. Erin Condren fans voice their delight at having a quality planner with thoughtfully considered details and beautiful accessories in a paper planner system. I count myself among those that… Read More
Conference season really kicks into swing this summer, but many of us could use a little shot in the arm and friendly encouragement right about….now! In February. For home educators, February is historically a season fraught with second-guessing, perhaps a slump in motivation, or even an impulsive desire to change every single book and curriculum that was on the schedule… Read More
