When I read the Squidoo lens, Interesting Facts About George Washington, I thought of the moms I know who are considering homeschooling their little ones, are beginning to think about curricula, and “how” they plan to homeschool their children. The lens reminded me of the methods I’ve used to homeschool my girls. I’ve taught […]
Homeschool
Downton Abbey, Connections, and The Strap and Crap
Highclere Castle (Downton Abbey), photo source: Richard Munckton My family and I have been watching Downton Abbey. You know, the exceedingly successful British television series produced for PBS Masterpiece. I finished watching the 3rd season over a week ago and let me tell you, I was hooked. I couldn’t wait to watch it at every opportunity. I […]
A Frugal Noodle Kugel and Mark Zuckerberg
What does a frugal noodle kugel have to do with Mark Zuckerberg? It all started like this: I woke up this morning thinking, “What’s for breakfast?” The idea of a noodle kugel came to mind. My intention was to get rid of the leftover egg noodles from the previous night’s meal. I had […]
What is a Geisha?
“What’s a Geisha?” asked my twelve-year-old daughter at the breakfast table the other morning. “Hmm” I thought, “do I really know what a Geisha is?” I responded vaguely, as I wasn’t completely confident about my knowledge on the subject. Not wanting to give misinformation about the centuries old Japanese custom, I Googled the question. […]
The Game of Life
Like 175 million other people worldwide, I recently joined the social networking website, Facebook. Besides luring my own friends, I pestered relatives, and my grown-kids high school friends to join me in snooping on one another. It’s was a hoot, and for the first couple of weeks, I was hooked. After mentioning in my status bar that […]
Division More Fun Than Hiking
One morning, around the breakfast table, I was reminded of a comment my daughter M made about her preference to do a page of long division than to take a hike. This is a pretty strong statement, considering the mention of division may turn her from Miss Jekyell to Miss Hyde. For a moment, […]
Hoar, Ghosts, and Pits! – Avalanche Workshop
Avalanche Workshop Begins After much anticipation, we arrived at Whitefish Mountain Resort’s base lodge. We were early for our avalanche safety workshop, and explored the brand new lodge. When we went outside again, we saw a ranger standing around a bin of snowshoes. This must be our guide we thought. The K. family was there […]
A Story Teller
“In each case I am telling a story—I think of myself as sitting around the campfire after a day on the trail, telling stories that I hope will have the members of the audience, or the readers, leaning forward just a bit, wanting to know what happens next.” – Stephen Ambrose Grandpa Davey and I […]
Cataracts – A Bedtime Story
One of the joys of motherhood is having one’s children gather in the bedroom and lounge around on the bed. My tots and teens have often engaged me in conversation this way and I’ve always felt it created a special bond between us. While the girls and I were tucked under the covers last night […]
Economy
Somewhere between starting dinner and mopping the floor, I decided to write this article. And somewhere between the big kids and the girls, I dreamed that my husband and I would eat dinner out every night, as in the routine of Regis Philbin. Hasn’t happened, partly because we enjoy fresh seafood, which is hard […]