Homeschool Adventures | Amy Scott's Thoughts

Back to School 2023 September 11, 2023

Filed under: Amy's Bookshelf,Family Time,Homeschool Adventures — Amy Scott @ 2:46 pm

We came home from our Rocky Mountains road trip on a Friday and then promptly started school on Monday. While it worked for us, I don’t necessarily recommend such an abrupt end to summer. Jeremy came home and went from 0 to 110 mph at work. The boys went from care-free, adventure mode to all the responsibilities of school and home life. There was a bit of whiplash, as you might imagine. The good news is each year we homeschool, the beginning of the school year gets easier. It’s like muscle memory. We find our groove and pick up where we left off.

We have fully embraced the back-to-school lifestyle and the change of seasons. I know fall technically doesn’t begin until September 23rd, but we came home to fall in more than one way. The weather has already shifted and the vine maples outside my front window grow a deeper shade of red everyday. Our calendar has quieted down some with the focus on our new routine. We had one last prep meeting for co-op last week and we are set to start our new co-op year tomorrow. The boys are excited and so am I! At the start of September, I transitioned the front door to our fall décor. Hints of orange and maybe even a few pumpkins have found their way indoors as well.

It’s a joy to get back to baking. I’ve made cornbread to go with chili on a cool, cloudy day. Since we missed the fair while on vacation, I came home craving fair scones. I made a batch and paired them with seedless raspberry jam. I made brownies for a dinner that got canceled, so we ended up working on the large pan for about a week. It was no hardship to make those disappear. This weekend I made my first loaf of pumpkin spice bread. Now before you marvel too much about my baking skills, I used mixes for all the baking I’ve mentioned. It’s been a treat to indulge in some semi-homemade goodies. The house gets that delicious smell of something baking in the oven and the treats themselves have felt right with the change of season.

This month I introduced Owen to The Chronicles of Narnia, which are a personal favorite of mine. I remember my mom reading these books to my sister and me as children. It’s a joy to pass these stories on to the next generation. Thankfully, Owen is loving them as much as I do and he is flying through them. As he finishes a book, we’ve allowed him to watch the movie version. So far we’ve seen The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and Prince Caspian. He is currently reading The Voyage of the Dawn Treader so another movie showing is right around the corner. Once he reads The Silver Chair, I’ll pick up the BBC version that I watched as a kid. We don’t often watch movies, so it’s been a fun treat to do something out of the norm. I also shared The Little Mermaid with the boys on Disney+ this week. Owen got into it. Graham not so much. I’m trying not to be too disappointed.

So, that’s the update! We’ve been munching on goodies, reading books, watching movies, working on school, and prepping for co-op. September is always a wild month for Jeremy. He is starting a new program at work that is taking up a large portion of his focus. When he isn’t working, it’s archery elk season, so he has great plans to be in the woods as often as possible for the next few weeks. I feel like I’m keeping the home fires burning as I send him out to wherever his busy September leads him.

It’s good to be home and to be in our autumn routine!

First day of school flowers from my mama!

Graham loves the smell of books. His new textbooks smell super good right now, according to Graham.

So fun to do a book and movie comparison!

Enjoying the inflatables at church during our all-church, outdoor gathering

It’s always neat to mix it up and have church outside!

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Summer Camp 2023 August 13, 2023

Filed under: Children's Ministry,Family Time,Homeschool Adventures,Simply Me,Travels — Amy Scott @ 1:51 pm

Wow, we’re almost halfway through August! Sorry I went radio silent there. August has been a different month. After two months of hosting all the playdates and pool parties, we hunkered down at home the first week of August as a rest/prepare week. Even though we had no company or out of the house plans, it was a hugely productive week. Jeremy was prepping for directing a full 7 days of kids camp and I got all the prep work for the school year done. I’ve filed our intent to homeschool with the school district, officially planned the 1st quarter of school, and printed our first day of school signs. I am as ready as possible to start the school year at the end of the month. Woo hoo!

Last Sunday, Jeremy took off for kids camp. He directed two camps in one week. Camp One was Sunday through Wednesday and Camp Two was Wednesday through Saturday. Our church joined Camp Two, so I had a few days of single “momming” at the start of the week before joining Jeremy at camp. I had my permanent crown placed last Monday which means I’m done with my summer of dental appointments. Praise the Lord!

Owen went to camp last year while Graham and I stayed home. Graham wasn’t old enough to be a camper and we wanted Owen to be all-in on the camp experience (and not feel torn between family nearby). It was a great experience for Owen, but a hard experience for Graham. He missed Owen terribly. As the director’s family, we get the option of tagging along at camp and we decided to take it this year. Graham slept on an air mattress in Jeremy and I’s cabin while Owen bunked with our church boys. Next year, Graham will be old enough for the full camp experience. For his first camp experience, Graham got to choose when he wanted to participate and when he wanted to chill out at our cabin. We’ll see how he handles the full schedule next year. One of the highlights of camp was going with the cousin. Two of my nephews joined the fun and we’re hoping for even more cousins next year. The kids would tell you that cousin time, the lake, and the snack shack were their favorite parts. Owen took the chapel messages to heart and we had some good conversations as he processed what God was doing in his life. It was fun to watch the kids enjoy all that camp had to offer.

To raise money for a missionary family, the kids got to turn Pastor Jeremy into a human dog. What does that mean? The leaders sprayed condiments of ketchup, mustard, and relish and then the kids stuck hot dog buns on to Jeremy. He was a good sport about it all… but what a mess! The stinky “hot dog” laundry is washing as I type. It was the last load to run… I put it off for obvious reasons. We are unpacked and ready to rest!

One more highlight, Graham lost his first top tooth last night. It was wiggling before we left for camp. A few foods made it bleed and that freaked Graham out. He doesn’t do well with blood. At camp, Graham was super concerned about what foods might bother his tooth. I’m glad it’s out now so he can eat whatever he wants again. Done with the drama!

That about covers this mid-August update. We are enjoying these last few weeks of summer vacation before the school routine starts up again. School is almost here, but we have one last hurrah planned before we settle down. I’ll keep you posted!

Splurged on mini murphs while Jeremy was away.

Packed and ready to go! These kids were hyped up for camp!

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Zipping Through Summer July 30, 2023

Filed under: Family Time,Homeschool Adventures,Travels — Amy Scott @ 2:16 pm

We are two-thirds through Summer 2023 and it’s zipping by! It’s crazy to think that we are less than a month away from the start of school. We have plenty of adventures between now and then so school oddly feels like a lifetime away and right around the corner. Very mixed feelings here!

For now, let’s focus on wrapping up July. It’s been a fun filled month! Each week has had it’s own unique set of adventures. After my last post, we visited the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium. Our local library gives out free zoo tickets with their summer reading program. My whole motivation for doing the reading program is for my kiddos to get those free tickets. Graham enjoyed the big cats – the tiger and the clouded leopard. Owen loved the budgies and puffins.

Last week was another dentist appointment for me. I had my crown prep and temporary crown placed. While I spent hours hanging with the dentist, the boys had piano lessons and adventures with Nana & Papa. The kids definitely had more fun than me that day… but I’m one appointment away from being completely done with these dental shenanigans. I’m grateful that there is a light at the of the tunnel.

Hosting has been a big part of our summer schedule. We love having friends over to play in the yard, run through the woods, or swim in the pool. We’ve done our best to be the summer party place and I feel like we’ve succeeded. This week we hosted a playdate, a co-op planning meeting, and a family dinner with friends. The co-op planning meeting was kind of a big deal for me. We had 26 people over and that is our largest group since the pandemic. We kept the party outside and entertained the kiddos with yard activities. The co-op moms were able to sit down for a few hours and plan out the whole next school year. It was a super productive meeting! I’m really excited for this coming year at co-op!

Our big outing for this week was a visit to Mt. Rainier on Friday. Jeremy is adamant we must visit Mt. Rainier every summer. It’s not truly summer unless we spend a day at the mountain. Last year’s mountain mission was mountain goats (and we found them). This year we were on the lookout for marmots and we succeeded in our mission! The kids got so close to one marmot they could have petted it. We saw lots of marmots including baby marmots. We also saw ptarmigans with chicks. The boys love seeing new creatures and identifying animals. While the hiking was beautiful and the animal enjoyable, I appreciated our stop at the Paradise Inn for treats and a rest. We talked about how neat it would be to stay there someday. Just another spot on my travel bucket list.

That wraps up this installment of Amy Scott’s Thoughts. I’m looking forward to my monthly book post tomorrow! I’ve been re-reading favorites this month and I can’t wait talk about books with you. Summer reading is meant to be extra fun, right? I’ll see you back here soon with all my bookish thoughts to share!

Perfect day to pull out the Slip’N’Slide

Nothing like an 8am game of badminton in pajamas and rain boots!

Taking a break with treats at the Paradise Inn

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The Unofficial Official Start of Summer May 30, 2023

Filed under: Family Time,Homeschool Adventures,Travels — Amy Scott @ 1:40 pm

I realize that the official start of summer isn’t until June 21st. We’ve unofficially (but officially) started our summer! The boys wrapped up their school curriculum last week and we are now in summer mode. It feels good to have 36 weeks of school completed and in the record books. We don’t ever fully break for summer, though. We just scale back our school over the summer. This means the boys will do about 30-60 minutes of school work about four days a week. It’s a super flexible schedule and keeps their minds engaged over the summer months. In the past, we’ve done between grade workbooks as a our summer school, but we’re changing it up this year. Graham will continue to focus on his reading program and Owen will do a slow start of his school books for next year. The goal is for Owen to be roughly two weeks ahead in all his subjects by the start of our school year at the end of August. Graham might also get ahead if he is motivated. We’ll see!

It’s really been too long since I last updated you on the happenings of our crazy crew. Oops! You’ll find that I’m short on words today and heavy on pictures. The recap of our life looks something like this… Jeremy went out of town for a men’s conference. The boys had a sleepover in my room with a movie night. We got pizza and visited Silver Lake, the Mt. St. Helen’s Visitor Center, and Seaquest State Park in Castle Rock, WA. Grandpa & Grandma joined us for that adventure. We got donuts one day and went down to the empty church parking lot for bike riding and scootering. We had a cavity-free dentist appointment. We wrapped up school and co-op on the same day. We visited NW Trek with family to celebrate my nephew becoming a teenager. We visited our sweet GG (Great-Grandma) and the boys got to share their love of birds with her. We’ve a had sunny park playdate with friends. We’ve also had friends over to swim in our pool. The weather has been sunny and dry so we’ve been outside often. It’s been delightful! May has been a lovely month!

Here is the recap in pictures!

Movie night and sleepover in Mom’s room while Dad is away

Papa Pete’s Pizza with Grandpa & Grandma

Birding at Silver Lake with Mt. St. Helens in the background

What a wonderful view of Silver Lake and Mt. St. Helens

When your driveway is made of gravel, sometimes you have to find some pavement to ride!

Cheers to summer! I gave the other co-op moms a small appreciation gift for the end of the co-op school year.

End of school rewards: Graham rediscovered Ryan toys and Owen selected a 6.5lbs. bird book!

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Hints of Summer May 17, 2023

Filed under: Family Time,Homeschool Adventures — Amy Scott @ 2:32 pm

Okay, maybe the word “hints” isn’t the most accurate. It feels like summer is here in the PNW. We are experiencing a heat wave and it has me completely fooled into thinking it’s summer… right now. With just a week of school left, the weather is messing with my head. It’s making me want to ditch the books and head outside for all the adventures. Now, don’t worry, we will finish and we will finish strong. I might have already printed our “last day of school” signs… I was so tempted to use them on Monday, but I didn’t give in. Only 5 school days left. We can make it! Hooray! Summer break is right around the corner!

Mother’s Day weekend was a fun one! On Friday, I selected our activity of the day as a way to celebrate Mother’s Day. I requested a visit to the historic waterfall highway outside of Portland, OR. Jeremy and I started visiting this highway of waterfalls when we were dating and it’s been a place we’ve returned to many times. It’s a family favorite! Multnomah Falls is the most popular waterfall on the route and now requires reservations over of the summer tourist season. My goal was to visit it before permits became required at the end of the month. We stopped at Multnomah Fall first and then we did a new hike to Ponytail Falls. If you hike to the top of Horsetail falls, Ponytail Falls is beyond it. The trail takes you behind the waterfall which was a neat experience. We all enjoyed seeing a new sight and hearing the powerful pound of the water in the crevice behind the waterfall. We also hiked down to Bridal Veil Falls before heading off to lunch and errands in city. It was a beautiful day to visit one of my favorite places with my favorite people.

Saturday and Sunday, we celebrated Mother’s Day with Grandma and Nana. It’s a blessing to be close to our parents and to have such wonderful grandparents in our boys’ lives. We enjoyed Chinese food take-out with my mom and had our first BBQ of the season with Jeremy’s mom. Usually, Memorial Day is the unofficial kick-off to summer, but I would say Mother’s Day weekend took that title this year. On Saturday, the kids ran through the sprinklers around our house. On Sunday, they had their first swim in the pool. It was a weekend full of sunglasses, sunscreen, water fun, and time with family. Full on summer vibes here!

With the school year quickly coming to a close, so is our co-op. We had a field trip last week were the boys learned flower pounding and floral arranging. We brought home lovely flowers and art to display. Yesterday was our final day of classes for co-op. The kids wrapped up nature journaling and PE. Our family gave a presentation on birds and I handed out a sweet “tweet” (bird cookies) to the class. We will get together next week for a end-of-the-year celebration and then break for summer.

I realize we have another full month of spring ahead of us, but the weather and the end of school are giving off strong hints of summer. These hints look like good times with family and friends and smell like sunscreen, chlorine, and briquettes. I’m daydreaming of the summer days ahead. They’re almost here!

Excited to borrow the birding backpack from our local library!

Sweet tweets! My contribution to the family bird obsession is cookies.

On top of the world on our hike up to Ponytail Falls.

The smell of the wildflowers, the view, the green – all made this hike amazing!

First time being door greeters at church on Sunday morning.

Giving a science presentation on birds at co-op

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A Few Spring Things… May 4, 2023

Filed under: Family Time,Homeschool Adventures — Amy Scott @ 2:08 pm

We find ourselves in May and the PNW has actually had a few warm and sunny days in the last week (today, unfortunately, is not one of them). I’d forgotten it was spring and that May was right right around the corner. We saw quite a few snowflakes in April which left me feeling like Washington State was Narnia under the reign of the White Witch – always winter and never spring. As the calendar and the weather changed, it dawned on me – we are here! The end of the school year is in-sight. Our summer schedule is coming soon and the weather has finally decided to shift seasons! Hooray! Each sunny day sets my mind to scheming… What great outdoor adventure can we have next? It’s finally time to head outside!!!

As you can see, I am excited about the change in weather and the promise of a schedule change soon. Homeschool moms are just as susceptible as teachers and students to the call of the end of the school year. I hope the next month holds many fun, outdoor adventures. Let me share a few we’ve had over the last week or so. Fishing season is now open and the boys have gone out numerous times. A nearby lake is stocked with tagged fish that have prizes associated with them. The chance of catching a fish is exciting enough, but add a prize on top of that! It’s highly motivating. Sadly, the fish haven’t cooperated. The lack of fish catching hasn’t dampened the spirits of the fishermen.

Our co-op is doing a unit on nature journaling right now. This week, they dissected tulips. Last week, they dissected barn owl pellets. I learned that owl pellets aren’t poop, but actually the regurgitated contents of the owl’s stomach. I’m not sure which I consider more gross. Owen loved dissecting the owl pellet because of his fascination with birds at the moment. Graham was happy to watch. The boys are also doing soccer as a part of co-op. So far their “team” has won each game and they are really enjoying this activity. We’ve never participated in youth sports before, but if this enjoyment of soccer continues, I might just add soccer mom to my title as well.

Friday was a beautiful day and our family adventure day. We visited the Nisqually Wildlife Refuge, outside of Lacey, to do some birdwatching. Owen was very professional with the binoculars ready and his birding checklist in hand. Owen can give you a detailed list, but I will just say we saw many birds. It was a lovely morning for a walk and we all got our first sunburns. Oops! We tend to forget the glowing orb can burn you. We haven’t gotten use to it being around.

Jeremy spent part of the weekend getting his garden ready and tending to the yard. The grass has woken up and apparently needs to be mowed… often. I’m thankful for a hubby who loves taking care of the yard. I’m not an outdoor chores girl. I’ve come to appreciate nature walks and the benefits of fresh air, but that hasn’t extended to gardening. I feel like keeping the kiddos alive is enough for me. Asking me to keep plants alive feels a bit too extra to me.

We checked out a birding backpack from the library and we hope to put it to good use over the next few weeks. It has a couple pairs of binoculars, an assortment of bird books, a couple local plant charts, and information on where to go birding in our area. I have a few outings in mind for May that should get us out on trails and birding at the same time. I’ll need to temper my expectations. I’m aware that my kids + binoculars = a slow walk. Patience will be key. Hopefully, we’ll catalog many birds while we enjoy the backpack.

Okay, those are a few of the spring things we’ve experienced over the last week. Not to be too redundant, but I’m thrilled it’s May! The countdown is on for the end of the school year and there are plenty of good times to have before we switch to our summer schedule. Woo hoo!

Science experiments are a favorite part of our school week.

Their faces accurately express how they felt about the barn owl pellets!

A few little birds found their home with us…

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Easter Week April 14, 2023

Filed under: Children's Ministry,Family Time,Homeschool Adventures,Simply Me — Amy Scott @ 1:19 pm

Easter week is always a big one for our family. Jeremy is a children’s pastor and Easter is the biggest Sunday of the year. Lots of preparation goes into making Easter Sunday the best one ever. Thankfully, Jesus’s resurrection makes it the best Sunday ever, regardless of our human efforts. We love to make holidays special, especially for the boys. We love all the activities, gifts, and fuss. But we also realize that new Easter shirts, bunny ears, chocolate, and plastic eggs have nothing to do with the true meaning of Easter. We can live with both/and. We can have both the celebration of our resurrected Savior and the springtime activities.

The Thursday before every big Easter event, our family spends the afternoon down at the church helping to prepare. This means moving prizes and gifts into place so we can give them away over the weekend. For as long as the kids can remember, they’ve helped us prepare by moving Easter baskets and setting up the church for other children to enjoy. It’s a PK (pastor’s kid) tradition and they love it. They are so helpful and so enthusiastic about the weekend to come.

Our house turned into the hub for all the Easter activities. On Friday, I decided to make sugar cookies. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to use my bunny and egg cookie cutters. Saturday, we hosted an Easter weekend celebration with my parents. We had a pizza lunch, gave the boys their Easter baskets, and did an egg hunt. Later that evening, we colored Easter eggs. We often get asked why we do so much on the Saturday before Easter. With Jeremy working a good portion of Sunday, this allows us to get all the Easter festivities in without jamming them into the latter half of Sunday. It allows us more time as a family without feeling rushed.

Easter Sunday, the boys and I went to the late gathering at our church. This was the time that Jeremy needed me to assist with Children’s Church. Before church, I made the boys take their obligatory Easter Sunday pictures. They are good sports and put up with my mini photo shoot every year. After church, we had the Scott clan over for egg hunts, playtime, and a meal together. It was a full afternoon and evening of Easter fun with family.

The bonus of being a ministry family is getting the day after Easter off. It was a big week leading up to Easter and an even bigger weekend. Having Monday off is a nice rest to look forward to after so much activity. We decided to take our boys to see The Super Mario Bros. Movie. It was after spring break in our area and we figured going during school hours would give us a less crowded experience. We opted to see the movie in Olympia at the mall. They have “luxury loungers” at this theater. We all got a kick out of putting our feet up and leaning back to relax and watch the movie in style. We haven’t been to the movies as a family since Frozen 2 in 2019. It definitely felt like a special treat.

So often this happens… After a big week with lots of effort, someone in our family gets sick. This year it was me. I developed a sore throat Monday night and I’ve been batting it all week. After two tele-health visits, I started an antibiotic last night to treat it as strep throat. This was supposed to be a full week with a co-op field trip and a playdate with friends. Instead, I’ve spent a lot of time trying not swallow. Advil and salt water gargles have been my best friends. Skipping school wasn’t an option with our commitments this month. I masked up and homeschooled the best I could with a weak voice. Not ideal, but I didn’t want to get my kids sick. Being a homeschool mom makes illness difficult. Jeremy helped with the boys when he could, but there was no substitute teacher to call in. I’m hoping the antibiotics take effect soon so I can move forward with our upcoming plans. Our April plans are a bit “extra” this month and I would hate to miss more than we already have. You can’t plan for these things and you can’t control them. Whatever happens, I have peace. I’m doing the best I can. Sorry to end with the bad news after a post all of all sorts of goodies. Hopefully, the next time I write you, I’ll be well with adventures to share!

The boys helping move Easter baskets into the Children’s Church classroom for Sunday.

Happy Easter! He is Risen! He is Risen, Indeed!

The boys did an egg hunt with the cousins and then the adults got to do an egg hunt as well.

Ready for *The Super Mario Bros. Movie*!

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March Moments March 13, 2023

Filed under: Family Time,Homeschool Adventures — Amy Scott @ 2:53 pm

It seems like a lot has happened since I last sat down to blog. Nothing major, but all the ups and downs of everyday life. Let’s dive into the all little moments that have made up the last week and a half. I have so many things to share!

On Friday, March 3rd, Jeremy decided to clean up a hand-me-down fish tank in hopes of upgrading our kitchen counter fish experience. Owen’s betta, Sunny, relocated to Owen’s room to make space for the larger fish tank. On Saturday, Jeremy and the boys went on a fish finding quest. They each came home with a fish and the grand fish adventure began. We prepared the boys for the fish might not to survive the experience. We knew acclimating to a new tank can be difficult. This was true for Sunset, the fish Owen picked. (Did his name possibly lead to his demise?!)

On Friday, March 10th, we went on another fish finding outing and came home with four elephant ear guppies (which I wanted to name after the sugary fair treat). It turns out Barry, Graham’s fish from the week before, thought the guppies were a tasty snack. (Could it be their name, like Sunset, got them in trouble? Elephant Ear – seems possible). Since Barry was too aggressive, we had to let him go. At this point, two of the four guppies have passed. We blame Barry-related trauma. This leaves us now with three fish in the tank – Jeremy’s fish (Sharky) and two guppies (Cinnamon & Sugar). We knew acclimating fish to a new tank and finding good tankmates was a challenging process. Our losses haven’t been a surprise. Our hope is slowly to get our tank to around 7-10 happy fish. I wonder how long that will take at the rate we’re going?

The fish situation has had it’s highs and lows. Co-op was a bright spot last week with a pajama movie party. We also enjoyed a playdate with co-op friends and a dinner/game time with family. This weekend was a mix of moments. Some good, some not so good. On Friday, we postponed plans with friends because they were a little under the weather. Turns out, Graham would have had us canceling those plans anyway. By Friday evening, it was clear that Graham had a tummy bug. Usually, he sleeps off tummy troubles and they last less than 24 hours, but this flu held on! On top of that, Thursday into Friday we had a windstorm that knocked out power in the night and disruppted our sleep… Then Graham’s tummy troubles had us up in the night multiple nights in a row… And then add daylight savings! Our sleep has been so off!!! Thankfully, Graham perked up yesterday afternoon and is now 24 hour symptom free and back to his normal self.

Even with an unexpected illness this weekend, Jeremy and I tag-teammed some fun into Saturday. I got up early on Saturday to meet a friend for a cookie adventure. There is a local cookie shop only open on Saturdays and it’s hugely poplar – like long lines outside the shop until they sell out for the day. A friend and I have both been waiting for the hype to quiet down before trying Sweet Dough Cookie Co. It seems that isn’t happening so we decided to brave the line together. We got warm drinks and chatted while waiting. Our diligence paid off and we were fourth into the building! I was able to get seven delicious cookies that were a bright spot in a rougher-than-expected weekend. When I got home from my morning cookie adventure, Jeremy took off for an afternoon of golf with his family. We certainly felt bad for Graham, but we were glad that our weekend plans didn’t completely change. Mom and Dad need to have fun with friends/family every now and again!

Okay, that was a lot! So many little moments to share, but when added together make for an adventurous March! We are staring down the second half of the month and it promises to be full of epic moments. I have a conference coming up this weekend and then the following weekend is Jeremy’s birthday. The next few weeks will be our normal, somewhat quiet weekday routine so that way we can spend our energy on big weekends. I’m always trying to find a strike a balance with good margin. Calm weeks is a good trade off crazy weekends!

Acclimating the guppies while Barry lurks below waiting for a snack!

Visiting Sweet Dough Cookie Co. with a sweet friend!

These cookies were a bright spot and special treat this weekend!

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A Few Snowy Days March 3, 2023

Filed under: Family Time,Homeschool Adventures — Amy Scott @ 10:00 am

The last week or so has been filled with snowflakes. Some stick, some don’t. Sometimes we get a dusting. Sometimes we get a few inches. While I always welcome snow, I wish these brushes with snow could have consolidated into one good dump of snow. We have yet to reach my desired depth – the grass completely covered! Jeremy joked he should have mowed the grass so it was short and my dream would have come true. Ha! It probably would have worked. There is just something about little pieces of grass poking out that ruin the visual effect for me. Despite it not being blizzard conditions here, the snow has been fun. I love snow on trees and in February we made three snowman. Jeremy helped with the last one. It’s a giant snowman and even though it was made on Monday, it’s still standing today (Friday).

Other than snow days, we’ve been out and about with church, co-op, dinners with friends, and playdates. March will be a social month with more playdates and dinners on the calendar. I’m attending a conference with a friend this month and it’s also Jeremy’s birthday month. The winter hibernation is coming to an end. Spring is near! As much as I’ve enjoyed the cozy, inside vibes, I’m also ready for more time outside. Walks in the sunshine. Kids catching tadpoles. Longer days. Each season has it’s simple pleasures. I chuckle as I type this because there is a dusting of snow outside my window. I might be getting ahead of myself!

Below is a collection of our snowy day pictures and a few others from around the house. In my last post, I mentioned that February had Groundhog’s Day vibes. A lot of the same over and over again. It seems fitting that most of my photos from February are snow days with just a couple inches of snow… on repeat. Enjoy!

Our February 22nd Snow – the boys got some “sledding” in before church!

When Daddy helps make a snowman with day old snow!

Owen’s Savannah Grasslands Biome Project

Our backyard on Wednesday. The shade really keeps the snow!

Our backyard this morning! The snowy days keep on coming…

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The Quiet of Winter February 22, 2023

Filed under: Amy's Bookshelf,Bible,Family Time,Homeschool Adventures,Simply Me — Amy Scott @ 3:28 pm

At the risk of sounding like a hermit, I’ve felt the pull toward hibernation in these winter months. Let’s just say, the damp weather and lack of daylight make outdoor adventures less appealing this time of year… Thanks to inflation, indoor adventures are also less enticing. Gas prices mixed with raised admission costs have kept me from pursuing new experiences. Instead, I’ve felt a strong desire to snuggle in and be cozy at home. We’ve kept soup stocked in our fridge and baked goods on the countertop. I’ve struggled with “blog-able” content because I usually share what neat things we’ve been up to over the course of a week. It would seem that our whole month has felt a bit like Groundhog’s Day. A lot of the same, over and over and over again. I’m not complaining about it! I’m a big fan of routine and margin on the calendar, but it’s not glamorous, that’s for sure.

When thinking about what to share with you, I decided to write about some of my daily things. My ordinary, day-in-and-out moments. My personality is all about self-discipline and I find that I quietly slip into certain tasks everyday, almost as if on auto-pilot. I’m always intrigued to hear what are the non-negotiables on other people’s calendars. What do they prioritize? It’s the little and sometimes mundane moments that snowball into how we live our lives. If you were to study a day in the life of Amy Scott, here are a few things you would see on repeat.

Making the bed – It’s how I start everyday. The science of starting your day with a productive win works for me.
Getting 10,000 steps – in the warmer months, I strive for 13,000+ steps, but walking the extra 3,000 steps is harder in the colder, darker months. If it’s dry, you’ll find me walking up and down my driveway – often talking with my mom or boys. If it’s wet, you’ll see me walking laps around my kitchen/dining/living room as my family plays or watches TV. If I need space or quiet, you might find me on the treadmill in the garage. How I walk is optional, but walking is not! If I’m walking alone, For King & Country, Switchfoot, or the Hamilton soundtrack are often playing (and I’m singing along). I also use walking time to listen to friends and respond on Marco Polo.
Reading my Bible – I’m not a morning person, so this doesn’t happen in the wee, dark hours of the morning before my family wakes up. It often happens at the dining room table while I sit by a boy working on a homeschool assignment or during quiet time or after the kids have gone to bed. For the last decade, I’ve used the YouVersion app on my phone for their Bible reading plans. I’m about a month away from finishing a Whole Bible in Two Years plan and then I’m going to switch back to reading a physical, print Bible. My sons might read their Bibles on devices as technology advances, but I want them to have childhood memories of their mom with her Bible open.
Journaling – I might not write in my journal every day, but I would say I do most days. My journaling has taken on a variety of forms over the years. I started actively journaling as a middle schooler and it’s a habit that stuck. Not only that, I’ve kept all of those journals. They are in a box in my garage. I thought I would share them with my future daughters, which I did not end up with… so what to do with them… Maybe my future granddaughters will read them. Honestly, they aren’t brilliant – especially the middle school years where I gushed about my crush on JT from N’SYNC. Nowadays, I write about what we’ve been up and how I’m feeling about things. Sometimes it’s just facts, sometimes it’s emotions. I process my world best through the written word. It’s why I love this blog. It’s like therapy for me.
Chores – I’m a tidy person by nature. I do at least one load of laundry a day. I’ll run the Roomba during quiet time or when we are out of the house. You’ll often find me indulging my OCD by wiping down the counters 4 times a day, if not more. I also compulsively fluff pillows. Once I week I have a “house cleaning” day, but I clean as a go throughout the week. I’m not a fan of clutter and I’m a huge believer in every item having a home it returns to after use.
The Fun Stuff – Reading, baking, playing games, soaking in the hot tub! Reading is my favorite hobby and I make time for it daily. Baking happens at least once a week, if not more. Board games on free evenings are a family favorite (right now Wingspan is the game of choice). Also on free evenings, you’ll find our family soaking in our inflatable hot tub before bedtime. Oh! Jeremy and I are re-watching an episode of Once Upon a Time each evening after the kids go to bed. It’s been fun to revisit our favorite show.

Not every day is same old, same old. We love getting out of the house for church and co-op. This last week was book club for me. It’s a highlight of my month. These women have become my village and I love bonding over a shared love of books. We had a snowy start to Valentine’s Day and the kids had a blast at their co-op party. Jeremy and Owen picked up a Heartbreaker pizza and tulips for our family to celebrate. We had a windstorm this week that knocked out our power for four hours in the middle of the night. Some adventures find you even when you aren’t looking for them.

Our calendar has been a bit on the quieter side, but I’m savoring the slow before we head into a busy spring. March will shift our pace of life so don’t be surprised if I cozy on in and enjoy the winter hibernation vibes just a little bit longer. The quiet, slow, and ordinary days can be a beautiful masterpiece. They showcase faithfulness – faithfulness to family, home, community, education, and faith. As my favorite Eugene Peterson quote says, “A long obedience in the same direction.” Oh, how that resonates with me!