My children are 16 and 14. They follow their own passions for most of the day, after we finish school essentials. When I hear complaints about public school, they usually go along the lines of, “It’s such a waste of time.” So true. Homeschooling surely is efficient, so it allows children time to study what they really want to focus on. My son, building a computer from scratch For instance, my son decided to build a computer from scratch this semester. At co-op, he took a class in Computer Architecture and Design. Under the guidance of his teacher at co-op, my son worked on this project so di ..read more

My children have spent Spring Break in Nashville for TeenPact for the past few years. They love TeenPact and they immediately want to sign up for next year’s camp. However, they feel tired by the end of the week. Downtown Nashville, on the way to TeenPact Therefore, I decided to give them Spring Break the following week, when they are at home. They can pace themselves, relax, and only work on co-op homework plus music, exercise, and a hike. Spring Break for me means I get to focus on my endeavors away from the kids. My husband and I get to go on lunch dates and walks. We all need a change of ..read more

Have you ever heard of The Sinks in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park? It is a splendid waterfall. Next to it, you can go on a spectacular hike called Meigs Creek. The Sinks waterfall in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park The kids and I joined our friends last week for a hike there. We crossed several creeks until we came to a wonderful lunch spot. After the picnic, we just hiked back to the parking lot. It was 36 F but sunny, so we enjoyed it and warmed up while walking. Spending time in nature really helps our relationship with each other and with ourselves. Have you noticed how ..read more

Many of you know me as a homeschool mom and blogger. Some of you may have also read my books or my newspaper columns. Today I would like to introduce you to my business, Smoky Mountain Soaps, LLC. Don’t we all have a side hustle? What is yours? Please let me know in the comments. I have always loved the idea of natural soap, cosmetics, and candles. A few years ago, I went from the idea to the making of it. Some of our products: lavender soap, bath salts, and oatmeal soap You see, my grandmother used to make lye soap in the 60s and 70s. I grew up knowing that soap making is not just something ..read more

Our daughter has taken harp lessons for a year and a half. Every year, her teacher invites several of his students to the Blount County Public Library around Valentine’s Day, to perform in front of about 200 people. Our daughter played on a Wurlitzer harp from the 1930s, on loan from her teacher. This yearly concert started almost twenty years ago as the brainchild of Bill Robinson, a violinist and retired orchestra director from Maryville. The program lasted about an hour and checked all the boxes: it was free, lovely, ethereal, inspiring, and educational. The public came out in droves this ..read more

Recently, I visited a business in Sevierville and saw a cute sign next to their coffee machine. It read, “Rise and Grind.” Witty, right? Just do it. Rise and grind and homeschool. Rinse. Repeat. This is the time of the year when homeschooling feels like a grind. We are still hibernating, so energy levels are low. Motivation to grind daily in math is low, too. The beautiful thing about homeschooling? We have the flexibility to let the children follow their interests. So what if we skip math today? She read half a book, practiced her harp, and hung out with friends at co-op. The same goes for ..read more

The beginning of another calendar year only means one thing for a homeschool mom: the beginning of the second semester. The weather has kept us inside and so we have been working on our books, but we also made it out once for a hike. My son at Panther Creek State Park With so many events canceled, we simply took this new schedule and made the best of it. The kids must learn flexibility at some point or other. We hiked at Panther Creek State Park. The temperature was low that day, but it was sunny. We had lunch in a beautiful spot. Our daughter at Panther Creek One of our friends brought he ..read more

The Princess of Wales lead me to Mary Berry because I saw a clip of the both of them baking together. As I researched who Mary Berry was, I learned they call her the Queen of British Baking. My copy, purchased from McKay’s, a used bookstore in Knoxville, for $8 Next thing I knew, in one of my visits to a bookstore, I spotted a cookbook by Mary Berry. When you open yourself up to a certain concept, the road veers  and steers you in the right direction for the next step. You just have to take the first step. Providence will supply the next and the next. Lately, I have been gathering cookb ..read more

Marc Bittman and I go back about two decades. As a newly engaged young lady, I was walking through Michaels with my fiance, looking for wedding favor ideas and other fun things. In a $5 bin, I found Marc Bittman’s classic How to Cook Everything (affiliate link) and bought it. It served me well because I was learning how to cook with eggs and cheese. Previously, I only knew how to cook everything vegan. Great for anybody who wants to master the grill As I learned who Bittman was – the food editor of the New York Times – and how he wrote an entire series on “how to cook everything” – I grew ve ..read more

Arianna Huffington wrote Thrive to advocate for the third metric of success: a life of well-being, wisdom, wonder, and giving. In this world, there are two metrics of success: money and power. But if in the pursuit of your first (or hundredth) million you drive your health into the ground, go through divorce, and get estranged from your family, what have you really accomplished? Redefining success Huffington preaches the gospel of sleep, meditation, and self-care. Her audience is made up of Type A personalities who brag about how little sleep they got at night. She tells them to go take a na ..read more