Welcome to my online diary. I hope you enjoy these short glimpses into my real, ordinary life.
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Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025
It’s been a full week here in Ohio, including our first snow day. Of course, my kids had school anyway after they shoveled our driveway.
I also had to lead co-op STEM class with only a week’s notice, subbing for the other team. My teaching partner suggested a Christmas-themed lesson, and we decided to teach binary digits with a candy cane coloring page. I also found a great resource on Teachers Pay Teachers for Christmas-themed tangrams. Thanks to my daughter’s Cricut Maker 3, I was able to cut 100 tangram puzzle sets accurately and relatively quickly.
Our two middle children competed in First LEGO League with their team. While they didn’t advance to the next round, their robot performed well, and they had the opportunity to present a group project in front of a team of judges. Although they’re disappointed not to have moved on, the silver lining is that our family calendar now has more margin for the next two months than it would have otherwise had.
We also discovered that our youngest suffered a concussion from a collision with his sister. We’re adjusting his school schedule and activities to try to avoid headaches and rest immediately if one occurs. This is all new to us, but thankfully his concussion does not appear to have been severe. We’ll follow up with his pediatrician this week.
Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025
Today we called my cousin and sang Happy Birthday to her. This isn’t something we’ve ever done before, but she’s been on our minds a lot over the past several months. I didn’t grow up near Tera, and our paths tend to cross only once a year at her mom’s house in Kentucky, but she and her husband had a big impact on our family this year.
For years Tera has offered her home to us if we ever found ourselves in the Atlanta area. When we decided to have our oldest child take the Johnson O’Connor aptitude test, which our family pastor recommends for high school students, we were excited to see that Atlanta was one of our closest testing centers.
I don’t think I knew the full depth that hospitality could take until we stayed with Tera for several days in August. She made us feel so welcome in her home, going above and beyond to see that all of our needs were met. On the day of the aptitude test, she and my aunt watched our younger kids and treated them to lunch and flavored vinegar to serve over ice cream. Tera made every meal that we shared special. We finished our last night with Guesstures and an epic game of Pictionary that kept us up late into the night.
Tera’s extravagant hospitality is a new standard that I hope to live up to someday. At a time when we couldn’t afford a big vacation for our kids, Tera gave us the gift of great memories and family togetherness. I’m grateful to have had those days together and look forward to future trips to visit Tera and her family in the coming years.
Friday, Nov. 28, 2025
Thanksgiving break with family was exactly what I needed. My in-laws have always created a home away from home for us where we can relax and leave the stress of ordinary days behind. My favorite part is always conversation – whether catching up or sharing deeper things. Weather permitting, we’ll get to spend some much-needed time with my family this weekend.
It’s not officially winter yet, and we’re already taking weather forecasts into account here in Ohio. The truth, beauty, and goodness of the Christmas season make the beginning of winter bearable for me.
Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2025
Today was restful yet productive. While the kids enjoyed the day off from school, I prepped food for the next few days, ran a load of laundry, updated my address book for sending out Christmas cards, and updated the meal planning calendar that I use for 2026.
The kids finalized their Christmas lists with me so that we can share them with grandparents and cousins for their gift exchange. We base their lists off of the want, need, wear, read idea, making sure to cover every category so that not all items are wants.
I finished the night with a slow 10K on the rower, perhaps my slowest yet. While rowing, I continued to listen to the second book in the Little Britches series and thoroughly enjoyed being transferred back in time to the early 1900s in Colorado.
Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025
For the first Saturday in seemingly forever, none of us had morning plans, so we watched the first two episodes of This Old House Season 47: Carolina Comeback. While we enjoyed snuggling together in our pajamas, we were reminded of the devastation that hurricane Helene unleashed in the Asheville area. We heard amazing stories of survival and neighbors helping neighbors.
The kids are officially on Thanksgiving break. Well our oldest has a little bit of logic and biology class on Monday, but all other classes are halted for the week.
I, however, have spent most of the day preparing for school. I’ve scheduled out everything for the three weeks of school between Thanksgiving and Christmas. I also began printing out everything we need to complete Passport Project: Ancient Rome, which includes a lap book, scrapbook, audio tours, and optional crafts. I hope to finish my school prep, which includes creating science worksheets, by Monday.
My husband installed a new toilet in our kids’ bathroom, which we had remodeled a few years ago. Unfortunately, the old one leaked into the floor last Saturday night, and he had to remove the toilet, vanity, and flooring. Thankfully, we were able to verify no water damage between the second floor and basement. Had we not moved a wall when we remodeled our first floor bathroom in 2020, the water would have pooled over that bathroom ceiling. Instead, it rode the pipes to the basement and fell safely away from all HVAC and plumbing equipment.
Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2025
We wrapped up our eight-week Parenting 201 class at church tonight with dinner together and a question and answer session. It’s been really great to meet up with other like-minded parents who don’t limit their sharing to the things that are working but are willing to humble themselves and be vulnerable about struggles too.
Every stage of parenting is new and challenging. I’m thankful that our church has a strong family ministry that brings parents together so that we can learn from each other along the way.
Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve gotten to reread Little Britches: Father and I Were Ranchers for the third time as part of our homeschool. It’s a true story that takes place on a ranch near Denver in the early 1900s. Due to some language I choose to edit this book on the fly as I read it aloud, but I am thankful that Sonlight included it in our study of American History. Every time I read it, I know that I will cry, but I love the father/son relationship in this book and the character lessons woven throughout.
I’ve never read the remaining seven books in the series, but I just found an audio version of book two on Hoopla to listen to the next time that I row.
Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025
Life. Family. Friends. Church. Homeschool. Projects.
I think about blogging often, but it sits on the back burner, waiting for me to accomplish everything else on my list first. Unfortunately, my to-do list never ends; it just grows no matter how much I check off.
I have a friend who makes me laugh when she says of distant obligations, “That’s a problem for future Sarah.” I think I spend so much time and effort trying to clear the way to make life easier for “future Rebecca” that I often have trouble living in the moment. I keep telling myself that if I can just get through life’s current demands, it will all be better.
My calendar fills up before I know it with good, worthy things. So I push blogging and other tasks/wants/dreams off to another day/month/year. Because this diary will bring me back to my blog on a regular basis, I hope it inspires me to write more posts on a regular basis.