Well, it’s been nearly a year since we started homeschooling.  I’ll admit I’ve been through all the emotions: happiness, confusion, bliss, hopelessness, desperation, joy and acceptance.  A wise friend told me that the only way to get through it was to change my perception.  My children, and the situation at public school certainly aren’t going to […]

We were sick just a few weeks ago.  Just a little cold virus.  It took a while to make its way through the whole family.  Then just as we were all getting better, another one came.  I am really glad I had these dried elderberries stashed away.  Using this video, I made some elderberry syrup.  […]

The Monkey Family spent the last week in Florida’s panhandle, visiting with family and recharging our batteries.  The Boy and The Girl spent several days with their grandparents, and The Daddy Monkey and I had our first ever kid-free getaway, in seven years of parenting.  It was pretty nice.  The photo from Friday’s this moment […]

Day two of my personal retreat was just as good as day one, in its own way.  In the morning, The Daddy Monkey took the kids to his parent’s house for a swim, and I had a quiet house all to myself. Inspired by yesterday’s meditation retreat, I took the morning to clean and declutter […]

Having had such a difficult time lately, The Daddy Monkey suggested that I “take the weekend off.”  With that in mind, I made a commitment to recharge my own batteries and restore my sense of balance over this weekend. I began by getting some much needed acupuncture on Thursday evening, to help soothe my over-taxed […]

I’ve been carrying this sweater with me everywhere.  Row by row, I had the entire body of the sweater finished and bound off.  It was time to start the sleeves when I realized I’d made a huge mistake. I was pretty proud of myself for not having a total meltdown when I made the discovery. […]

Homemade organic blueberry jam. Our new veggie patch, which is still a work in progress. My first ever visit to the feed store. So much fun! Reading, reading, reading. Knitting this sweater.  For me. Clouds. Flame vine in full bloom, and full of bees. Baking gluten free chocolate chip coconut donuts for my (almost) seven […]

Yesterday, as the Daddy Monkey was tucking the kids into bed, I stepped into our back yard to enjoy a glass of wine and watch the three small owls that have appeared every evening for the past few weeks. Each night at dusk, they call to each other, fly from tree to tree, and eat […]

Yet another beach photo.  But–it is a photo of a different beach.  I love that my children get to know all of the beaches in our area.  They always want to know which one we are going to, and each has its own perks.  This one happens to be the closest to our home.  We […]

It’s hard to believe that summer is already upon us.  In some ways (the culinary ones), I am delighted that summer has arrived.  Temperatures in the mid-90’s make me not so glad that summer has arrived. It’s about this time of year that I begin to get twitchy, thinking about how much worse the heat […]