May 2026 Thrift Hauls

Posted on May 27, 2026 by treeoflifemama

This was my first haul, at Provo DI, the second week of May.

Some new spring clothes, shoes, and books!

I got the baby clothes for my new granddaughter, born on Easter Sunday. (She lives in TX but I got to travel recently to see here for the first time, see over here, scroll to the bottom past my story of my missionary son.) I got books for my mom for her Mother’s Day gifts, that’s the top row of books, except Laddie. That one was for me to keep. (If you’ve never read Laddie, you are in for a treat. The author is Gene Stratton Porter. Go here to learn more about Laddie.) These are the books, from left to right in the top row for my mom:

–Seeking the Best Gifts

–Refuge and Reality from John Groberg about the blessings of the temple

–Journey Beyond Life (my mom loves books about NDEs)

–Feelings Buried Alive Never Die (turns out my mom already had it)

-(a book I can’t identify the title of any more from the picture, sorry, and my mom is currnetly in Brazil so I can’t ask her to go look at it and tell me)

–Angels Round About by Lorie Nicholes (historical fiction about the LDS Church in WW2)

Then for me: Laddie, a book of the quotes/teachings of Joseph Smith, arranged alphabetically by topic, and The Christ Who Heals, by Terryl and Fiona Givens. Brother Givens was my missionary son’s institute teacher before he left on his mission.

Then some new piano music songbooks: the Book of Mormon Heroes by Janice Kapp Perry and the purple and white Family Songbook of Faith and Joy. I talk about them over here. Then the Emily Belle Freeman Christ-centered Easter Book! I no longer have to check it out from the library every year! Yay! I review it over here. I love the veggie print crocs and the brown sandals. I have been wanting some brown and some navy casual shoes for summer so these fit the bill nicely.

The book that is hard to see because of the glare in the top photo is the one below. A new picture book for Thanksgiving! I’ve checked it out from the library two years in a row so I’m thrilled I have my own copy. I’m adding it to my collection which I read from for homeschooling and use as fall/harvest decor, as shown here.

It’s hard to see the shirt at the very top of the top photo as it’s all rumply, so here it is below. It’s a Gap button-down shirt with tiny cherries printed on thin white and blue stripes. So cute and summery! Even though it’s long-sleeved, the fabric is cotton and light weight, and I can roll the sleeves up.

Then the shirt that’s on the upper right in the top photo is this one below: white with aqua blue polka dots. Another cute one!

I’m so thrilled to find this drawing book. It is similar to drawing books I’ve checked out from the library over the years. I’m learning how to draw realistically (see here and here). Now with this book I can learn to draw in a cute cartoon-y way. I love learning both styles.

This image from amazon below shows some of the many fun pages in the book.

I surely felt blessed by the first haul above, but I hadn’t found any capri pants. It suddenly hit me the next week how badly I needed some new capris. I realized I was about to go on a trip to Dallas TX where it would be hotter than in Utah, and I only had long pants. Memories of my trip to Dallas a year ago in mid-May, walking around feeling hot, haunted me. So off I went thrifting the second week of May to the Provo DI again.

It was fun to see a homeschooling mom friend there while I was shopping, to chat with her and see her new grandbaby she was carrying. Anyway, in the photo above you can see what I found: I got two new pairs of capris, a Little Golden Book of Bambi, and a dress. That’s the blue floral print thing. I know it looks like a top but it’s long enough to be a dress. The dress part is covered by the pants. I wore it the next day with beige leggings. It’s super cute! It reminds me of the Pioneer Woman aesthetic.

Ok that was a nice little haul, but I wanted a few more capris. So I went to the Springville DI right after this Provo trip. I felt blessed to find the ones below.

I also found this pretty yellow top with a flower applique below. I spotted it hanging high on the wall across the store, and then made a beeline to it. It turned out to be much cuter that I expected! You can’t see it below, but the neckline is scalloped, as well as the hem. I love scallops! I love that I can wear it with any of the capris above.

So mission accomplished! More new spring/summer clothes to refresh my wardrobe. Of course I wanted to look at the books and did. With these three cute things above, I stumbled upon a post-Easter collection of goodies. They all look like they could have been in an Easter basket! I just told you about the pretty top. Now to talk about the books. Even though one of the books is for Christmas, it’s Jesus Christmas-themed and not secular-Christmas themed (yes, sadly that’s possible) so it fits in with the Easter book, which is Jesus-themed not Easter Bunny-themed! These books don’t dodge the reason for each respective holiday. The Christmas book, with the pastel blue and yellow color scheme, fits in with the Easter book’s colors. I just love seeing these two books next to each other! It’s like they were meant to be in this photo together. The Christmas book is a Tasha Tudor book, called A Book of Christmas. Not only is it illustrated by Tasha Tudor…but, on top of that, it’s a pop-up book!

So lovely and wondrous! I was so surprised and thrilled to find it! All the pop ups and tabs are intact! I look forward to making the reading aloud of this book a family Christmas tradition with my grandchildren, hopefully on Black Friday. It was only $2! See some of the inside below. So, so, so darling! I love the little Advent Calendar double page spread. God was definitely sending me thrifting angels this day!


This was definitely what Ramona Zabriskie of Wife for Life calls a dazzle for my heart! I’ve put it in my Christmas picture book box. Maybe I’ll even forget about it and be doubly dazzled when I open up the box after Thanksgiving at the end of this year!

Then I got the Legends of Easter Treasury. It is a compilation of the three stories, as shown on the back cover, pictured below. I already had The Legend of the Easter Egg, which is included, and now I have the others and don’t have to check the out from the library.

The next day I went to all-day mentor training for my homeschool co-op. I gave into the bagels and cream cheese and cookies served, even though I still to this day usually eat keto. I confess, sometimes I am weak and give in to the temptation of evil high carbs. I later regretted that! I got home from the training and started packing for my trip to Dallas the next day. I tried on the pants that I had bought the day before and was so shocked to find out I didn’t fit any! (I hate trying clothes on in the store. I just hold them up to my body and eyeball it, take them home, try them on. If they don’t fit I take them back with the receipt and get an exchange.) This was a serious predicament!!!!

I was leaving on a plane in less than 24 hours and desperately needed some pants that allowed some circulation, not my boot-length jean Pioneer Woman jeans I’d been wearing all winter and spring. I’m not big on shorts, I prefer capris, which go past my knees. As I mentioned earlier, I could not bear the thought of going for walks with my son and his little family in his cute Dallas neighborhood in sweltering heat in sweltering jeans. My husband and I visited a year ago at the same time so I had vivid memories of how hot and humid the middle of May is in Dallas.

So I rushed over to the Orem Savers before it closed at 8. Just like the miracle of the dusty blue shirt I had over here when I went there three years ago desperately seeking a shirt for my teen daughter for her brother’s wedding. We were leaving in two days to drive to TX. (For some reason 4 out of my 5 sons have lived in TX at some point.) I found something! I found a pair of white capris that fit and were half off ! $3.49, for some reason. My thrifting angels were in over gear for sure! Praise the Lord! I’m pleased to report that on my last day of the 4 day trip, after reigning in my eating for three days, I was able to fit into one of the other pairs of capris that I brought. Alas I don’t have a photo of the miracle white capris, I’m too lazy to go take it now, just know that I’m enjoying them and definitely feel grateful to God and humbled by this miracle.

My grandson petting a neighbor’s cat. He’s my second grandson with curls! You can bet I was wearing my miracle capris on this walk!

I also got DK’s version of A Christmas Carol the same time I had the miracle of the white capris. I love all the sidebars with explanations. Even though I have a ton of Christmas picture books including those shown below

I didn’t have any ACC picture books until I got this one. It was also half off like the pants for some reason, only $1.49. What a deal!

I did not do any thrifting in Dallas, as I didn’t have any luggage space to bring stuff home. Otherwise I would have. I can’t remember why I went back to DI after my Dallas trip. For some reason I did, but I’m blanking at the moment. I didn’t find what I was looking for, but I found more books and one small game. The photo below shows what I got.

The I love you, Norman Rockwell, Valentine and snowflake books are for my hygge wintry/Valentine’s Day picture book collection for reading and decorating. Then I got some Christmas books. I remember one of my homeschool mama friends in AZ raving about Glenn Beck’s The Immortal Nicholas. The Arnold Friberg Christmas book was just begging me to take it home. I might give it to my mom. I love his classical art style. The Galilieo for kids book is for when I teach LEMI’s Pyramid Project next school year for my new co-op. I taught it this past year in my home. For the class I’m supposed to demo one science experiment a week. This book will give me great ideas. Then I got got a fun family card game and a Brain Box for our dinner time card/quiz games. Whew! Another great haul! I’m feeling abundantly blessed!

Imagine the wintry picture books on my ledge shown below, sitting above my winter pom pom and heart garlands. That’s where they will go. So yummy!

I love to get these books on my window ledges as soon as I take Christmas stuff down. These decorations make me look forward to life after Christmas, aka January. Last winter I had to round out my collection with books from the library. Hopefully I’ll find enough as I thrift year round that I won’t need to this coming January.

Believe it or not, I went thrifting again, this week, the last week of May. Usually I don’t go every week like I did this month of May, but I had a tragic accident where the lid of my crock pot shattered just last Monday, Memorial Day. So I went thrifting to find a replacement crock pot. I really just need a new lid, but getting a used crock pot at a thrift store will be cheaper than buying a replacement lid online, with the shipping charge on top. I did find a crock pot but the lid was too big. Darn. It actually wasn’t a real crock pot it, it was a GE slow cooker. But of course I had to look at the other stuff.

Here’s what I brought home…

I found the cute shirt above for only $3, which also reminds me of the Pioneer Woman vibe. I can wear it with my white capris and my aqua capris, and navy blue or blue jean capris. The Paint by Sticker book was only $1.49! Only two pages were used. I’m tucking it away to pull out on Christmas Eve when I want to discuss the names of Christ with my Immanuel Wreath after dinner to keep the grandboys occupied at the table. Then a cute interactive Christmas board book for only $1.49 and another winter picture book for the aforementioned collection. It’s not just any winter picture book, it has a feature where you hold the book up to a light and see hidden animals appear on the page. So fun! I’m looking forward to reading this with my grandboys. Those four things above were less than $9 total!

I decided that $5 was too steep for a thrifted book!

Savers had more stuff there but I knew I needed to reign in my desires for my budget’s sake, so I left the following things behind even though I really wanted them: a Jan Brett winter picture book (the Three Snow Bears), another winter picture book by Nancy Tafuri, three Christmas picture books, a Dinesh D’Souza book about Christianity, a picture book about the Provo City Center temple, and a puzzle book for adults. I’ll find them again if God really wants me to have them! Especially if I look on addall.com.

That’s it! I’m feeling so blessed! Happy thrifting to all! You can find so many fun, useful, beautiful treasures!

Want more thrifting inspiration? Go here.

Posted in easter, fashion, frugal decorating, homemaking, thrifting, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

God Will Work Wonders Among You- The Wonders I’ve Felt Recently: a Report on My Missionary Son, a Visit to My New Granddaughter, and More!

Posted on May 24, 2026 by treeoflifemama

I saw these gorgeous irises on my walk home from church and choir practice today. I’m so grateful for beauty all around me! So much beauty in nature abounds!

This week in the Come Follow Christ study, we read from the book of Joshua. I love the verse from Joshua 3:5:

“And Joshua said unto the people, Sanctify yourselves: for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.”

One of the questions to ponder in the study guide is “How has the Lord done wonders in your life?”

I just love that question! Here’s how I saw the Lord work a wonder among me today and this past week.

First, a story from today. Just this morning in sacrament meeting (church congregational meeting for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) I was asked to report on my missionary son, if there was a time at the end after the two scheduled speakers. This was a big surprise! I had been previously asked to do it next week on Sunday 5/31. I was prepared though by the Holy Spirit for this. Early Saturday morning, I woke up around 4 AM and didn’t fall back to sleep right away. As I lay there between full wakefulness and full sleepful-ness, I felt the Holy Spirit tell me an outline for my sacrament meeting talk that I thought was going to be in two Sundays. So in the 7 minutes or so I had after I was invited to speak, I fleshed out my outline in my journal/notebook/planner that I always bring to church. Turns out, there was about four minutes left for me to squeeze in my talk.

The Lord had prepared me for this opportunity. That’s a wonder! I didn’t know I would be asked to speak but the Lord did. That’s why He gave me an outline in my sleep. I felt such peace when I got the outline and knew it would be perfect.

Interestingly enough, the Holy Spirit gave me that scripture from Joshua above for my talk today as the first point in my outline. Here it is again:

“And Joshua said unto the people, Sanctify yourselves: for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.” Joshua 3:5.

One of the wonders in my life is that my son is on a mission.

So here’s basically the rest of the talk I gave today. I added some parts I didn’t have time to include this morning.

As I pondered the question “How have you seen the Lord work wonders among you?”, referring to Joshua 3:5 in the Come Follow Christ study guide, I thought of my missionary son. Almost every day I marvel at the miracle that he is on a mission.

It was four years ago that he told us he wasn’t going on a mission. This broke my heart. A month or two after that he moved out of our home, to live his last year of homeschool high school at my brother’s home, because he didn’t like living by our family rules. I agreed to this, even though I wasn’t happy about it, because I felt the Holy Spirit telling me it was OK, to let him go. The Lord sent me comfort in the form of the Holy Spirit and a ministering brother.

During this time I prayed my heart out, every day, that my son (affectionately nicknamed “Cowboy” on this blog) would have a change of heart and turn towards Jesus.

Three years ago this coming month of June, Cowboy was living in Texas, having gone there to sell pest control for the spring and summer. I thought this was a totally bad, bad idea, back in February 2023 when he told us his plans, especially because he was going to go with a friend who was only 16. I thought the two of them living/working together was a recipe for disaster. I couldn’t do anything about keeping my son from going as he was 18, but I so wanted to tell my friend, the mom of my son’s friend, not to let her son go. But when I prayed about this God told me to be OK with all of it. So didn’t protest my friend’s decision to let her son go with my son and be roommates and co-workers in TX.

What a big surprise Cowboy gave us when he announced over the phone, from TX, in June 2023 “I’ve decided to go on a mission!”

Cowboy had been talking to a friend at church that day as the friend gave him a ride home. The friend was a returned missionary who told my son that going on a mission was the best thing he had ever done so far in his life. He encouraged my son to go on a mission too. Cowboy took this to heart as this RM had a similar background to my son. He prayed about it and felt God telling him to go. So he began preparing. Almost two years later my son left to go on his mission, to one of the states of the USA. English-speaking. This is truly a wonder and a miracle!

For months I had been praying that somehow my son would have a voice he respected and admired reach out to him and encourage him to go on a mission. My mother’s prayer was answered!

In Cowboy’s first area, he was asked to learn and speak Haitian Creole. This was a big surprise. He wasn’t asked to speak this when he got his mission call. Enough immigrants in his area were speaking Haitian Creole that the mission leaders extended this call to him and his companion. This lasted for a few months and then the mission leadership changed on July 1. The new mission leaders decided against this for various reasons so this call was rescinded.

My son was called to transfer to a small town after that, several hours to the south. He was in this small town for five transfers. (For the uninitiated, a transfer in LDS missionary lingo is about 6 weeks. Usually missionaires change locations at every transfer.) My son felt like he had been forgotten by the mission leader when he was left to languish in the same town for 5 transfers (30 weeks so almost 8 months). But he kept working hard, knocking doors and contacting people, preaching about the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. He also gave away many copies of the Book of Mormon Another Testament of Jesus Christ. One bright spot is that a member of the branch where he served gave him and his companion some really nice gym equipment, to stay in the elders’ apartment. Cowboy loves weightlifting. He even did it competitively before his mission, so this was a huge blessing to allow him to resume his passion during a trying time.

We got a letter from a member of this branch just a week ago. (Can you imagine, a hand-written letter? Hardly anybody does that these days!) Brother A. took the time to write and send this. He is a counselor in the branch presidency. He said that he was said that Cowboy had been transferred. He said he would miss his bright shining light, and that Cowboy was a hard worker. He also said that the little town where Cowboy served is a “hard row to hoe” in terms of doing missionary work for the Church, as most people are Southern Baptist. Yet despite the hardship, Cowboy persisted. Brother A. told us that his own grandson is about to go on a mission and he hopes that his grandson will be just a good a missionary as Elder Shumway.

Of course this just brought tears to my eyes. To think that four years ago he was dead set against going on a mission, and now he’s not only on a mission, but is working hard and warranting a glowing report, worthy of emulation!

Right now Cowboy is in a new area (he finally got transferred) where it is easier to preach. The people are more educated, have better jobs, and are more open to learning about the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. He got word that one of the people he found in the previous area where he had labored for so long has come to church and is now on date for baptism. So a seed he planted is bearing fruit!

That is how the Lord has worked a wonder in my life and in the life of my son.

We can all have wonders in our lives as we engage in the work of salvation and act on the invitations given to us in the scriptures and by the Holy Spirit. The ongoing restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ is truly a work and a wonder for all of us. In the name of Jesus Christ amen.

OK here are a few more wonders from my life this past month.

A new granddaughter! As I blogged last month here, she was born early Easter morning! A baby sister for her older brother, who I visited two years ago right after his birth, when I saw the total eclipse. A week ago, I was in Dallas again, soaking up all the newborn feels I could. I got to be there for her baby blessing, given by her father, my son. She wore the same dress my two daughters each wore when they were each blessed. As it is whenever I hold a new baby, I marvel at the tiny soul with the tiny eyes, tiny nose, tiny lips and chin. She moved her tiny little hands and gazed at the ceiling with those deep eyes of blue that speak of eternity. Occasionally I could get her to look at me. With new babies, I always wonder what the baby is thinking, and how amazing that a new soul is on the earth. And to think that every second new babies are being born. Life truly is a miracle and a wonder.

-I found two amazing songbooks at the Provo Deseret Industries, when I went thrifting for baby girl clothes for my new grandbaby.

First, this one.

This book has 15 new-to-me songs about heroes from the Book of Mormon Another Testament of Jesus Christ. All by master songwriter Janice Kapp Perry! (I will do a full thrift haul report later this week. May was a very good month for thrifting!) I have been playing these on the piano and love them. I wish all my kiddos still lived at home and I could have them sing these songs with me.

Second, this one.

Oh, my!!!! This book is oh so, so, so fun! I went to D.I. to look for girl baby clothes, tis true, but of course I had to look at books too. I have a small space of emptiness on one of my shelves that is waiting to be filled. I remember thinking, “Oh it would be so delightful to find another Reader’s Digest songbook. I hope I do!” In the past two years or so, I have found four: the Children’s, the Popular Classics, the Great Music’s Greatest Hits, and the Family Songbook (the green one below), to add to the Christmas one I got for my 16th birthday. They are all so fun!

At first I didn’t find any. I kept looking..

and then…I found one! This was the Lord working a wonder in my life for sure!

It is similar to the green one I already have, that I also found thrifting, shown below.

They do overlap with some songs. Most of the songs though I’ve never seen before. I feel like doing a YouTube channel just to play the music in this book on the piano and share it with y’all. But I don’t want to deal with getting copyright permission and all that legal jazz so this summary below will have to do.

This book has so many oldies but goodies. All songs about faith in God. I love the vintage illustrations, so 70s! I have been playing one or two after every session of exercise. They totally motivate me. Here are some of the titles:

-“Somebody Bigger Than You and I”

-“Day By Day”

-“Happy Trails”

-“If I can Help Somebody”

-“In the Garden”

-“I Heard a Forest Praying”

-“Make Someone Happy”

-“My Cathedral”

-“I Found the Answer”

-“Daddy Sang Bass,” see versions above and below. Yeah, I love me some good Johnny Cash! What a sweet song about family music creating rich memories and building faith in God and heaven.

In short, I feel extremely blessed to find these two books. They just add a lot of delight and dazzle to my everyday life. I play a song in the morning to wake people up, a song after an exercise session, and then a song at night. I fantasize about getting my whole family around the piano to sing these. As they have left the nest it’s harder to make that happen so alas, I will be patient for that.

So those are some wonders in my life lately. My cup runneth o’er! I’m dealing with lots of hard stuff too so these wonders are indeed tender mercies to help me get through, praise the Lord. I’d love to hear some of yours!

Posted in come follow me, Family life | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

10+ Fun, Easy, Cheap Things to Do With the Kiddos this Summer, All Screen Free!

Posted on May 23, 2026 by treeoflifemama
Photo Credit: Nataliya Vaitkevich at pexels.com

As a mom, are you dreading summer? Or you excited about having a blank slate of relatively free time? Whatever place you are coming from, this list may benefit you. These activities will help your children have some structure and rhythm to long summer days, which minimizes meltdowns and tears. My ideas cost little money and involve no screens. They are sustainable practices that you can default to for any day at home. As fun as they are, not every summer day can involve swimming pools and amusement parks, especially if you have lots of littles. These ideas come from my 32 years of mothering 7 children. Take what works for you and leave the rest, as they say in La Leche League.

  1. Use a Morning Basket. Go here to learn more.
Photo Credit: maryannjohnsoncoach.com

2. Use a Spark Station, as developed by Mary Ann Johnson. This is such a wondrous thing, especially if you homeschool. If you don’t homeschool, you can use it on days when your children are home all day and you want to encourage a love of learning outside of school. Not just in the summer but all the time. If you do homeschool, this is something to use as part of your homeschool day to encourage wonder and the practice of academic skills on a daily basis, year-round as well. Start now and continue on with it in the fall when your new school year starts. Go here to learn all the details. The Spark Station involves 5 rules from Mary Ann Johnson so that children keep engaging with it. How fun for the current season to fill it with things that have to do with summer and the great outdoors. Below are suggested topics/types of items. I’d add to it whatever else your children are interested in learning more about. Remember, you can get the books from your public library, and some libraries have games and educational toys for circulation as well. So filling the Spark Station doesn’t have to break the bank.

If I had under 10s, I’d also add in some fun colorful things to encourage phonics decoding, handwriting, and math skills like dry-erase books, Learning Wrap Ups, flash cards etc.

3. Spend time outside. Listen to the 1000 hours outdoors podcast for motivation. Start tracking your time, as a family, or encourage your children if they are old enough to individually track their time. Maybe even have an awesome outdoor event when you reach the goal.

My nature journal does not look like this, LOL. This is one from a friend. I aspire to create such a beauty!

4. Start/continue nature journals. I started one decades ago and wished I had kept it up. Iv’e been very sporadic with it, as shown by my latest entry below. I’m going to pick it up this summer! Listen to this podcast as you drive to our outside destinations.

5. Have each child make up a Daily Dozen, Daily 6 or Daily whatever number you want chart/list of things to check off every day to do before free time. These are daily chores that are important to keep the home running plus individualized activities to acquire more knowledge and skills. This prevents the “summer slide.”

Free time is allowed (screen time, time with friends, free play inside or outside) after these things are done. Here are ideas:

-getting ready for the day personally (make bed, morning prayer, dress and groom, eat breakfast)

-reading from your core book/scriptures on own

-math (the same program you used during the school year or some other program to keep math skills fresh)

-logic and puzzle solving skills. For example, do one page a day of Sudoku or a crossword puzzle book, or one or two challenges a day from some solitaire game, such as those from ThinkFun or SmartGames.

-sustained silent reading, see #7 below. Ask your children, “What books do you want to read on your own? What are you interested in learning more about?” Show them the lists over here, let them pick out some books, and put them on hold at your local public library or buy them. Then get them each their own inexpensive basket from a thrift store to hold their books in their room.

-music making skills

-physical fitness skills

-art producing skills (drawing, painting, sewing, dancing, crafting, acting, etc.)

-same chore everyday to bless the family (emptying dishwasher, loading dishwasher, cleaning counters, laundry, sweeping, cleaning a room, etc.)

-act of service to bless people inside or outside the home

-weeding the garden

Depending on circumstances you could even have each child have their own morning basket, or funschooling basket, which you keep inside the Spark Station, to be used only when the Spark Station is open. (For me when my children were all at home, the Spark Station was open generally between breakfast and lunch after we did math in Mathusee, about two hours.)

Photo Credit: Sarah Janisse Brown YouTube Channel

Find inexpensive baskets at thrift stores, Hobby Lobby, or Ross, one for each child. Fill each basket with things relating to their Daily Dozen: books, a harmonica, lap harp, flash cards, kits, games, puzzles, songbooks, handicrafts, etc. The Thinking Tree Press has great books to guide children’s studies. Above and below from Sarah Janisse Brown, creator of Thinking Tree Books, are two videos showing basket contents for a teen girl and a ten-year-old boy. In each example, a homeschooling handbook/journal from Thinking Tree Press guides the contents for the funschooling basket.

6. Plant a garden and tend to it daily. Translation: assign each child to weed in it for a certain amount of time, and work along side them.

7. Read aloud to your children for at least 5 minutes every day. If this is a new thing, start at 5 minutes and add five minutes each week until you are reading 15 to 30 minutes or more, whatever works for your family. You can do this during Morning Basket time, while the kiddos are playing with items from the Spark Station, while they do dishes, while they are weeding, in addition to the popular bedtime. (I’ve used all those times.)

8. Have a quiet reading time period right after lunch as a chance to regroup and refresh and give mom a break from supervising (relatively speaking of course) with her own quiet time. This is when babies and toddlers nap, and older children stay in their bedrooms reading books on own, or listening to audiobooks while playing with quiet toys. (Hello Yoto player!) Watch Sarah Mackenzie of readaloudrevival.com explain the concept above.

9. Visit Little Free Libraries on a regular basis, such as once a week. Go here to see the map and plan a route, visiting however many you want in your allotted time. Then end up at a park with a blanket and snacks under a tree to read from the books you just got and share what you learn

10. Make a list of hikes you want to make with your family and friends. Do a different one each week.

Photo Credit: from my friend Marie Hinckley’s journal

11. Make a list of playgrounds/parks to visit as a family with or without friends on a weekly basis, packing a picnic lunch, lawn games, books and your nature journals, and sketching/coloring/painting supplies.

12. Make a list of places within a 1-2 hour drive from your home (or whatever your limit is) that involve water: lakes, reservoirs, springs, hot springs, waterfalls, ponds, creeks and streams. Do an internet search and talk to friends and family to scout these out. Visit a different one each week, every other week, or month, as your schedule allows. Let the kiddos explore while you sit and read a book and sketch in your nature journal, and/or explore with them.

Photo Credit: singlemomonafarm.com YouTube Channel

13. Have a weekly visit to the library. Don’t plan anything else after you come home. This idea comes from Marcie Holladay of singlemomonafarm.com. Bring home your books, sit around in a shady spot or cuddle on the couch inside and have a reading party for a set amount of time. Share what you are learning. You can expand this idea so it lasts through dinner time with substantial finger food and plenty of napkins and wipes to keep fingers clean so they don’t damage library books.

14. Engage in a summer reading program. Public libraries often offer this. Go here for one from redeemedreader.com, and Jennifer Flanders has a page here of reading rewards programs.

15. Go letterboxing. I detail all about that here. It’s like a treasure hunt!

16. Get this summer bucket list from Jennifer Flanders over here for more suggested summer activities.

Happy summer!

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Summer Morning Basket Ideas

Posted on May 22, 2026 by treeoflifemama
Credit for Images Above and Just Below: Blossom Schoolhouse YouTube Channel

If you don’t know what a Morning Basket is, go here. Let’s talk about ideas for a summer morning basket. These are are more for ages 8 and up. If you want ideas for under 8 scroll to the very bottom of this post. I love using Morning Basket time to share a sense of wonder for all that is good, true and beautiful. It’s just such a fun, sustainable way to share poetry, art, science, history, and more, all while snuggled on the couch, or now that it’s summer, somewhere outside enjoying the fresh air.

It’s truly a lovely way to begin the day. But don’t get hung up on the time of day you use it. It can also be used in the afternoon or evening. If used in the morning, you can use it to gently transition you and your children from sleep to wakefulness. Or use it during breakfast time while the kiddos are eating (after you’ve eaten earlier since you will be reading/talking and not eating yourself) or use it after the breakfast dishes are done.

What’s most important about a Morning Basket? Two things:

1. Being consistent in using it most or many of the days of the week

2. Using it to cultivate wonder and connection.

If you see glazed over eyes or resistance, switch out the contents until you see a spark in your child’s eyes. Let them pick out instrumental music to play softly in the background. If hands are fidgety and you are not eating food during this time, have some fidget toys, coloring/drawing/activity books that don’t take much thinking, or handicrafts available.

OK, let’s talk about some books and games to put in your Morning Basket for summer. If your children are younger, definitely don’t use all these ideas. If your children are older, than they may have the attention span for all of these ideas I list below. You know your children best of course and can plan accordingly. Feel free to add in the things you and your children love to learn about.

-Start with today’s date and what happened on this day in history. I like to do this year-round for the start of Morning Basket time. The books above and below are sample resources, the one above geared more for younger folk and the one below for older, since it’s black and white and has few pictures/illustrations. Be prepared to edit on the fly as you read aloud the events, according to the sensitivities and attention span of your children.

-Tell a scripture story (you can use the scripture story books sold by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints here. If you want to get fancy and it would appeal to your young children, use the flannelboard figures collected over here. That’s a link to the website of veteran homeschooling mom of many, Montserrat Wadsworth. She has links there to all the flannelboard stories published by the Church in the Friend magazine, and they are already colored! So amazing! Thank you Monteserrat! (Decades ago when I was a young mom of 3, my sweet sister-in-law printed the black and white figures out, colored them, and mounted them on flannel, and put them all in a bag with a little flannelboard, for a Christmas gift to me. I can only imagine the hours she spent coloring these figures to make this gift of labor and love. We are so blessed by technology these days to save time coloring such things!)

-Read one contemporary faith-in-God promoting story from the Church magazines. Read for free online here or in the Gospel Library app on your phone, subscribe for hard copy issues here. I have some of the stories organized in monthly/seasonal themes in my free devotionals ebook here. The Friend is for children ages 3-11, For Strength of Youth is for ages 11-18, and the Liahona is for adults.

-Sing a hymn or seasonal song, and/or learn the history of hymns, one a day. The Mr. Pipes books make it fun. (My devotionals ebook here has gospel-themed songs arranged by seasons and holidays)

Image Credit: Sheri at ourlifehomeschooling.com

-Do memorization work, yay! (This is a reminder to me to get back to doing with this with my son.) Watch a video by my friend LaDawn Jacob about the benefits of memorization below.

+scripture memorization, where you work on memorizing one scripture together (LaDawn Jacob’s free scripture collection is here). Then whenever you let your child use an electronic device later in the day and week, have them recite the scripture before they get to use the device.

This book is also a great guide for memorization.

+poetry sharing and/or memorization (go here for LaDawn Jacob’s free poetry collection).

Here’s a video above that talks about all the interesting things you can memorize with your children, thanks to Sheri of ourlifehomeschooling.com (I love watching her videos, she has such a peaceful, joyful and calming spirit.) Then over here is a list from Pam Barnhill of things to memorize. Pam tells how she does memory work in her homeschool below.

-Read one classic picture book a day. You get bonus points of delight if you read something that fits in with the season (summertime themed picture books are here, and then I have some patriotic picture books displayed here)

-Read a patriotic story from the book above or below. If your children are younger, than skip the one above. The one below is better suited to younger children.

This video below shows a ton of fun American patriotic resources for a summer morning basket.

-Learn from a page or two a day from a book about nature, such as one of those below.

-Study a card or a page a day about the night sky.

Read one or two pages a day about a National Park.

I’ve found some of these at thrift stores.

-Play a short card game like Professor Noggins games, Laurence King nature-themed bingo or card games, or a math or word game to sharpen those language and math skills.

Do a Mad Libs/Ad Libs/Fill in the Blank game to learn/review grammar. When I was young, I loved doing these, laughing uproariously at the results. They come in all sorts of summer themes: camping, animals, National Parks, etc. Keep a pencil in the basket to go with it.

End your Morning Basket time with a summer-themed read aloud of a chapter book, go here and here for suggested titles. If you aren’t used to reading aloud, start with 5 minutes a day and gradually lengthen the time. Reading aloud picture books and chapter books is the best part about homeschooling! Go here for more reading aloud resources here on my blog.

Photo Credit: Marcie Holladay of singlemomonafarm.com

Happy Morning Basket time to you! It’s one of the best parts of homeschooling, but you don’t have to homeschool to enjoy it. You can use it regardless of where your children attend school.

P.S. Moms can have Morning Baskets too. Go here to see some of those.

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Seeking Heavenly Mother Through Divinely Revealed Sources in This Dispensation

Posted on May 17, 2026 by treeoflifemama

What is the truth about Heavenly Mother? These videos below and the book above explore what God has revealed in this latter-day dispensation. I’m super excited to get a copy of the book above, which is mentioned in the first video below. I know Valerie Hudson Cassler from my La Leche League Leader days. She used to be a professor at BYU as well as a La Leche League Leader, when she lived in Utah. Now she is a professor at Texas A&M University. (See her website here.)

It’s so important we get the truth about women right, which is that women are worthy of respect just as men are worthy of respect. We are all children of Heavenly Parents. Women are not second-class citizens. It has been so easy for women to feel this way because of the way we have been dismissed, disrespected, and discriminated against, probably in large part because of they myths about Eve. I remember growing up in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, wondering why girls didn’t have a scouting program in the church when boys did. It was certainly easy to feel second class because of that reason by itself. I don’t have an answer for why the gap existed. I am thrilled that the Church finally let go of sponsoring a pack or troop of the Cub and Boy Scouts of America in every unit.

Eve did not make a mistake when she partook of the fruit. Go here for more about that. To receive the highest degree of glory, women and men get to work together as partners. It is a glorious thing to be a mother and a wife, an equal partner with a husband in creating a marriage on earth as a nucleus of creative exalted glory for eternity. My heart grieves for all women who are not treated as equals in their marriage.

Dr. Hudson Cassler tells a little bit of her story here. Below is an excerpt from that article:

“After decades of studying LDS doctrine concerning women (and carefully distinguishing it from LDS cultural understandings and practices, which in quite a few cases contradict that doctrine), I have been liberated as a woman from the erroneous and harmful beliefs about women that haunt those raised in Abrahamic traditions. How remarkable and in some senses ironic it still seems to me to have experienced “women’s lib” by conversion to Mormonism!”

So interesting right? That’s to whet your appetite for what’s in the videos below with presenter Annalee Hawley.

I’ve put the Latter-day Media YouTube Channel summary that’s featured on YouTube below each video.

Summary of Part 1:

“PART 1 (of 3 Parts) Are there deceits to the Doctrine about Mother In Heaven? Or were there misdirections in a culture? Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are unique in knowing that we have a Heavenly Family of origin, as well as Heavenly Parents that we knew in a Pre-mortal world! How glorious this doctrine is! No matter the trials and fractures we experience in this life, we ALL BELONG to Heaven, through our Savior Jesus Christ. Isn’t it interesting that in every language and culture, that our Earth is Female (not that we believe Mother in Heaven IS the earth), but why would she not be included in our Earth Schooling, and in Nature (MOTHER NATURE…yes, in EVERY CULTURE)? These are questions perhaps for another time, but we hope you enjoy a foundational presentation on several aspects we DO know about MOTHER IN HEAVEN. Do we realize that when we pray to “Elohim” (plural for God our Father AND MOTHER) that our Eternal Mother is INCLUDED too? Pray with that in mind, knowing that we all were PRESENT IN THE COUNCILS OF THE GODS….with our spirit-Eternal PARENTS and all the great and noble souls who agreed to come to this Earth in order to 1- Gain a physical body (like our Eternal Parents have), 2- To grow and progress, and to 3) “Experience CREATING our own families, as we all are The Family of God (even if we don’t know it yet. Think of all the great literature that suggest we are ALL joint-heirs in a great Family Trust – Dickens, Bronte Sisters, Jane Eyre, Cinderella stories, David Copperfield, Oliver, just to name a few)… “

Summary of Part 2:

“What do we know about our HEAVENLY PARENTS & FAMILY?
Annalee sets forth important doctrinal points about MOTHER IN HEAVEN, distinguishing where many MYTHS have arisen about her, and what questions have caused women of the Restoration, and perhaps ALL WOMEN concern at times. This topic touches on IDENTITY, HISTORY, and DOCTRINE vs. Ideological differences over time from a perspective of Restored Truths in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.”

Summary of Part 3:

“Do you feel left out of the important telling of REAL HISTORY? Do you wonder about your true identity, hidden from most human beings in so many ways? Fear no more. We have ALWAYS had Divine modeling and connection to our Divine origin. As always, we notice there is ORDER in the Universe and on this Planet we call our home and Earth School. If you wonder why you are here, where you came from, and where you are going, this Series by Annalee Hawley is not only instructive, but inspiring. Keep an open heart, but seek for wisdom. There are many who would deceive (many with good intentions). Let’s see how we can seek for our own ‘Divine Blueprint’ and claim it. Ask for guidance. Clarity counts.”

Want to learn more about Mother in Heaven? Go here.

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Books, Music and Thrifting Inspo for Spring Mother Culture

Posted on May 13, 2026 by treeoflifemama

I had hoped to blog about my Splendid Spring Mother Curriculum by now. I enjoyed a Merry Christmas Mother curriculum as seen here, and a Wondrous Winter one, shown here. I haven’t shared my spring one yet. In the meantime, I’m sharing today about some lovely music and books to add more sparkle to your springtime days, especially if you are homeschooling. This is the most wonderful time of year as the standard public school year winds down and whatever classes we are doing that are tied to that schedule wind down as well. It’s a great time to make a new schedule for your personal learning!

The video below by Olivia Grace Cook shows some books similar to Anne of Green Gables for your spring reads.

Here are the books mentioned in the video.

She recommends all the volumes in the Emma M. Lion series.

I have read most of these books, and the ones I haven’t read (the two castle books and the horse book) have been recommended to me by people I trust so I recommend those too. The Emma Lion Vol. 1 ended too abruptly for me with an unsatisfying ending, but it’s part of a series so the first book was just an intro to her story. I have read Vol 2 and Vol 3 and enjoyed those more. They are all the rage right now. The video above recommends the whole series (9 so far with more to come). The Susan Branch books are a trilogy. They do show a couple living together without marriage and then the heartbreak that comes when the relationship falls apart. I review some of Susan Branch’s cookbooks here and here. These cookbooks are a delight to read!

I’ve enjoyed most of those books above as they are “girly” but none of the them show a mother in the trenches, finding joy in ordinary marriage and mothering/homeschooling life.

So I add to those books above this one below as a super great, inspiring read for homeschooling moms. The author, Sarah Janisse Brown, shows the joy that comes from pursuing chaste, Christian-based courtship, marriage, and motherhood. She has accomplished so much: being a teen model for Seventeen magazine, being homeschooled as a child, marriage, motherhood to 15 children, including adoption of 5 from Ukraine, homeschooling the 15 children, helping her oldest daughter with dyslexia, writing books, owning and running a successful business publishing her books, and public speaking. Now she is running for Congress in Indiana. Amazing! To think that she failed third grade!

Read more about Sarah here.

Now how about some lovely music to listen to while you read? Here is some springtime-themed music below. When you hear it, you will feel like you are frolicking with Peter Rabbit in a garden. I’ve been listening to it as I do a drawing lesson each morning with the book below while my 16 year old son does his math in Mathusee. So dreamy!

Is it time to get a few spring/summery items of clothing, decor, or books? You can get those things for a fraction of the cost at thrift stores. Here is Rachel, of the Sweet and Simple Home YouTube Channel, with some thrift hauls for spring and summer.

I can’t mention spring culture without including a book about gardening. So here’s a gardening book, by the gardening/farming/homesteading pro William DeMille. Go here to watch a video of him presenting some of what’s in this book.

Lastly, here’s another book for your spring mother culture, appropriately called Mother Culture, by Karen Andreola. I’m hosting a random giveaway of the book this month of May 2026. Go here to read my review and enter the random drawing of the giveaway.

Happy spring to you!

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A Tribute to My Mother and All Mothers Everywhere with Encouragement to Carry On

Posted on May 10, 2026 by treeoflifemama
Image Credit: Alleksana at pexels.com

Happy Mother’s Day to all mothers and mothers-to-be! Where would we be without mothers? We wouldn’t be here. They are so indispensable to life. Fathers too of course. Ideally, they are a team.

Here are some memories of my mom with some videos that give inspiring counsel for mothers or show inspiring stories of mothering.

Some of my favorite memories of my mom are the following:

-when I started kindergarten I remember my mom curled my hair often the night before school and then styled it the next morning to look wonderful with her artful touch.

-she also sewed almost all of my clothes for the first few years of my public school career. I have fond memories of the different jumpers, tops, and dresses she sewed for me. I felt like a princess going off to school with my beautiful hair and clothes.

-when I was 5-7 I had to have a series of doctor visits culminating in a surgery, where I was hospitalized for 2 weeks. My mom always coached me through theses visits and procedures, including injections with needles. I remember her distracting me one particular time in a doctor’s office, telling me to look at the USA map on the wall as the needle was about to go in, asking me where Nevada was. (Nevada was her home state.) I felt such a calming presence with her there.

-also in my young years ages 5-12 I saw my mom paint and create beautiful art. That set an example for me, cast a vision for me, and inspired me to be an artist. I drew a lot of pictures when young then put drawing aside to focus on other interests as I went through jr high, high school, and college. But that creative seed she planted in my heart by me watching her is finally blossoming forth as I’ve delved into learning to draw for the past 18 months or so. Eventually I will get into painting. I also always knew my mom studied art in college and graduated from college. Knowing that she graduated from college cast another vision for me to graduate from college, which I did.

-I remember living in Illinois when I was about 4, and it was that week between Christmas and New Year’s. I remember my mom playing with my older brother, who was 6, using a Batman toy and other action figures on the couch in the living room. That cast a vision for me to be OK with playing with my own children. I wish I had played more with my own children but felt like I hardly had the time, so I’m making up for it more by playing with my grandchildren.

-my mom read aloud to us. I remember her reading the picture books above and below, among many other books. When I was 8-9 we lived in upstate New York. My mom read aloud Little Women to my sisters and me at bedtime. That planted a seed in my heart for that book and others by Louisa May Alcott. (I have blogged a lot about that love, see all my posts here.)

-I remember helping my mom in her kindergarten class as an aide, getting high school credit, for my whole senior year. She has always had a special love for little children and helping them learn. It was fun to see how she organized her classroom and how much those little children adored her.

-My mom (and dad) paid for piano lessons for years starting in first grade, off and on till I graduated from high school, and violin lessons when I was in high school. I never knew she could also play the piano until I was a teen, because they were so busy with work and family responsibilities. (Then when I was an adult, mother of 5 maybe, I discovered that my dad can play the piano too!) I enjoy creating music to this day on piano, violin and organ, and credit for my parents for paying for my lessons. I am not a natural at music and would not have picked up on it on my own without lessons.

-I remember camping at Yellowstone with my family when I was about 10. I remember being inside the tent and my mom was setting up sleeping bags and cracked some kind of joke. That was the first time I realized my mom has a sense of humor.

-My mom has helped me out after the birth of each of my children, often being there in labor to give me moral support. It was so fabulous to go be there last August when I assumed that role and watched and helped my daughter during her labor and childbirth, and then babysit my older grandchildren afterwards, just like my mom did for me.

-When I was in the throes of young motherhood, homescholing in Layton UT with seven children at home my mom would randomly offer to come visit and help out with my kiddos. She has babysat for me through the years at her home too. I so much appreciate the breaks she gave me.

So thank you mom for guiding me through the years and helping me so much when I became a mom!

Mothers have so much influence by setting down habits for their children for life. I’ve never wanted to be a CEO of a company or any other high-powered career outside the home when my children were young because I knew I had all the power I wanted for eternity being a wife and mother. I have enjoyed being joint CEO with my husband of our family, with the high-powered career of being a Queen and Mother in my home.

Here are some mothers I spotlighted last year who have made tremendous difference as mothers, following the natural seasons of a mother’s life.

Here is my review of one of my favorite inspiring books for mothers, A Lantern in Her Hand.

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Alan Osmond’s Funeral and a Tribute to Him

Posted on May 7, 2026 by treeoflifemama

As a Gen Xer, I am old enough to remember the Osmonds, watching them sing and dance on TV. I’ve always loved their music and have fond memories of the Donny and Marie show. I never had the Donny and Marie fashion dolls (like Barbie dolls) but some of my friends did.

Hey I never knew about the Jimmy doll! Photo Credit: ebay.com

Watching the Osmonds reminds me of my childhood and the tame, peaceful way the world was compared to now. Sure, we had Watergate and Vietnam in the 70s but that’s nothing compared to now! So I’m sad that Alan Osmond, the oldest brother of the performing group, recently passed away, due to complications of multiple sclerosis. Here is his funeral below and then some videos below showing fun memories of him and his family. He and his brothers were the original boy band.

Alan’s younger brother Donny conducted the funeral. I have always loved watching Donny just because he’s kind, talented and good-looking, same as his brothers. But Donny was the cutest, just sayin. Everybody loved him or they were jealous of him for those reasons. I was too young to have a crush on him but have always admired him. It’s funny though that I ended up marrying a man close to his age. My sister saw Donny once at ToysRUs in Orem 20 years ago so that made me envious. She said he was wearing a purple sweater. If you know anything about Donny that makes sense.

I could go on telling Donny stories, but this is about Alan. Here is a video of Alan’s sons practicing a song for their dad’s funeral. So sweet!

Some of these boys made up the Osmonds 2nd Generation. Here they are in a Disney TV pilot.

It’s so wonderful that Alan and his wife Suzanne Pinegar Osmond created a family life of 8 sons who continued on with his legacy of music. 8 boys, wow! I just continue to marvel at that! They each speak at the funeral in the top video above.

This video below of Alan dancing and singing Stevie Wonder songs with his brothers and Cher is so fun and so 70s! Those colors and those pants, oh my!

Thank you Alan for your legacy of living a testimony of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, singing beautiful harmonies with your brothers, charitable fundraising with your Children’s Miracle Network, and offering wholesome, showstopping entertainment, including the annual Stadium of Fire in Provo UT. Here is Alan’s story and testimony of Jesus Christ below.

Want more of the Osmonds?

Go here for the story of Alan’s mother, Olive Osmond, giving a copy of the Book of Mormon Another Testament of Jesus Christ to the Queen of England. At the same post you can watch the funeral of Alan’s brother Wayne, just scroll down to the very bottom.

Go here and scroll down to the middle of the post for Donny talking about playing Joseph and the coat of many colors on Broadway. He also mentions, in the video below at the 45:28 mark, of the parallels between him and Joseph. That’s so fascinating.

Osmondmania, forever! RIP Brother Alan!

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Wanted: Woman Warriors for Christ! Join the Fight to Stand for Liberty, the Sanctity of Life, Truth, and Morality with Merrilee Boyack and other Latter-day Saints for Life

Posted on May 3, 2026 by treeoflifemama

Here is a call to action for all seekers, believers, and defenders of truth. I encourage all to watch these videos and join the fight to stand for morality, liberty, life, light, and Christ. These videos all feature Merrilee Boyack. She is one of my favorite nonfiction authors. (I read her book The Parenting Breakthrough years ago as a young mother. It totally revolutionized my life, giving me the mothering spine to enforce chores done by the children. That resulted in a much smoother, joyful mothering life. I also enjoyed her book about marriage.)

In the first video below, Merrilee shares the horrific fact that in the USA we have 200,000 elective abortions happening a day! This is the greatest evil of our time.

What can we do about this? We can start by talking about with others to raise awareness. She refers to an article here about Latter-day Saints shutting down conversations on abortion by saying, “We can’t talk about that, it’s political!” She explains what to say when people say that. “It’s not political, it’s doctrinal.” Elder Neil L. Andersen brought up this same phrase in a General Conference talk a year ago, which you can read here.

I appreciate her emphasis that we as women have a unique moral compass. She quotes President Russell M. Nelson from this article here.

The videos below show what we can do about this evil.

Thank you Merrilee for you tireless dedication to fighting this evil. Here is Merrilee’s site, Abortion Free Utah. Here is the Latter-day Saints for Life site. May all truth defenders everywhere be able to tell our posterity that we did something to stand up to this plague of evil.

If you want to learn one young woman’s story of having two abortions, and then going from working at Planned Parenthood, an abortion provider, to becoming a pro-life mother of 8, go here. Listen to her podcast here.

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Tree of Life Mama’s Book Review and Giveaway: Mother Culture by Karen Andreola

Posted on April 30, 2026 by treeoflifemama
Credit for Images Above and Below: amazon.com

Mother’s Day is less than two weeks away! To celebrate I’m blogging about a wonderful book that is geared towards mothers, especially homeschooling moms. It’s Mother Culture by veteran homeschooling mom Karen Andreola. I’m also doing a giveaway of this book. To enter into the random drawing for the giveaway, please comment in the comments section at the bottom of this post. I will announce the winner on Monday June 1, 2026 around noon MDT. When you make your comment, please include your name and what chapter in the book you are most interested in learning, as shown below in the two images featuring the Table of Contents.

This book is such a wonderful, refreshing gem! Reading from it is like sitting under a shady tree on a pleasant sunny day, minus any annoying bugs; sipping lemonade as you chat with experienced homeschooling mom girlfriends. Actually, I take that back. It’s more like having a slumber party, wait, no… a month-long moms retreat in a cabin by a lake, with other homeschooling moms, eating your favorite food, talking, laughing, learning and hugging. It’s like having a vacation as in the chick lit book Enchanted April, but for homeschooling moms, with no drama, some comedy, some married romance, and a lot of encouraging love to keep on with the homeschooling journey. (Enchanted April is actually mentioned in this book, LOL.) Mother Culture allows you to glean wisdom from the author, who homeschooled her own children in the 1980s and 1990s using the Charlotte Mason philosophy of home education. Now she is a grandmother, which adds another layer to her depth of wisdom.

I was delighted a few years ago to find out that Mrs. Andreola has continued to be a voice in the homeschool world, since my early days of homeschooling in the late 1990s. I bought her first book, A Charlotte Mason Companion, when my oldest was 5, in 1998. Mrs. Andreola continues to write to spread the good news of Charlotte Mason. Astute observers will notice that this book, as shown below, is featured as the top book in the pile to the left of the mother’s elbow on the cover of the Mother Culture book, shown at the top of this post. Mrs. Andreola’s son, Nigel Andreola, is the illustrator. How fun!

ACMC was my first “how to homeschool book” that I ever bought, and I still have it. That book is a primer for parents on how to homeschool the Charlotte Mason way. I view Mother Culture as a companion to that book, maybe a sequel? It shows mothers how to nurture their souls so they can better nurture their children, by using the Charlotte Mason method. I learned so much from the ACMC: knowing the difference between living books vs. twaddle, the power of reading living books aloud, the power of narration, the value of short lessons, the value of getting your child outside into nature, and the importance of establishing good habits for children, among other truths. Charlotte Mason’s idea that good habits are like railroad tracks that give your child a solid foundation to life was in my mind and heart a lot when I was in the thick of mothering my seven children. It helped me to persevere in helping them form good habits. (I’m now at the end of homeschooling, with only my youngest child in the nest.) One of my first homeschooling conferences was in the fall of 1999 that featured a Charlotte Mason expert (Not Karen Andreola). I attended it with my husband and two other couples who are still great friends. We had so much fun that day, such that I have happy memories from that conference. I also joined a Charlotte Mason email support group and felt blessed to have all that guidance. Even though I haven’t been strict about using the Charlotte Mason method as in, I haven’t used the Ambleside Online curriculum or been a faithful nature journaler, I have benefitted much from the CM philosophy. That means I have used the aforementioned truths to guide my homeschooling. So to find this “new,” at least new-to-me book by Mrs. Andreola is such a delight!

Here’s a little bit of what I enjoy about the book:

-the author intersperses her big sister/grandmotherly counsel with lots of interesting stories from her own marriage and homeschooling family life, living in different places, including England, Maine, and Pennsylvania

-the author mentions books and movies that are sure to delight and inspire you. One of them she mentions is Room for One More, starring Cary Grant, which my husband and I watched last week and thoroughly enjoyed. I’m always looking for movies about wholesome family life, and this one delivered. I look forward to watching the other movies and reading the books she mentions.

-the child discipline tips in the book show respect for children and their developmental stages as well as how to establish your authority as mother.

-Biblical scripture is expounded on and shown how to put into genuine Christian living.

-the author writes about how to help siblings become best friends

-every chapter begins with a quote from a classic work of literature, or an author of a classic work

-the vintage line drawings showing domestic felicity are just so lovely. The above image is a sample. They come from Mrs. Andreola’s own collection of antique books.

-the author’s emphasis on wifely and motherly femininity is fun, with her fashion and homemaking suggestions, including the story of designer Laura Ashley

-it’s fun to read about the author’s pleasure in knitting mittens for her children and grandchildren

-the importance of having regular quiet time in your homeschooling day and how to do it

-the importance of “play” for a mother

That’s just to whet your appetite! This book has so much more for you to enjoy!

The images below, again courtesy of amazon.com, show the opening pages of the book.

Here is a lovely video with the author talking about Mother Culture:

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars! If you have a homeschooling mother in your life, this would be such a wonderful gift for Mother’s Day or any day! Pair it with a pretty notebook and some colorful pens for her to keep track of her ideas as she reads the book and she will be thrilled! You don’t have to be a homeschooling mom to benefit from it. It’s a wonderfully charming book that shows what the author calls Charlotte Mason’s Gentle Art of Learning for a happy, cultured mama life. An alternate title for this book is “The Homeschooling Mom’s Guide to Maximizing Joy and Preventing Burnout.”

Mrs. Andreola has also written three works of fiction to show the Gentle Art of Learning in story form. I haven’t read those yet and can’t wait to digest them all! See above and below. They comprise a trilogy that follow the journey of a mom named Carol. You can follow her as she applies what she learns from Charlotte Mason’s book Home Education. Carol desires to love her husband, treasure her children, and enjoy homemaking and home learning.

These books look amazing! How rare to find works of fiction that shows happiness in marriage, homemaking and homeschooling!

Once again, if you want to be entered into the random drawing for the giveaway of a copy of the Mother Culture book, please comment below with a mention of which chapter shown in the book’s Table of Contents (shown at the top of this post) that you are most interested in reading.

Here’s another video featuring Mrs. Andreola, interviewed by Sonya Shafer of simplycharlottemason.com. I hope you glean at least one thing from these videos that blesses your mothering and homeschooling. May it be just the beginning of a wonderful journey resonating with Charlotte Mason’s principles! They are compatible with other philosophies of homeschooling and are truly timeless.

Want more of Mrs. Andreola? Go here for her Charlotte Mason Research site and here for her Mother Culture website.

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