Some of My Favorite Things – March & April 2026
Weather
I don’t think we saw more than ~ten days TOTAL of snow, or even more than two weeks-to-a month of below-freezing temperatures, all last Winter. While I know that could be bad for next Summer (because of the lack of water from the little snow we got), I nevertheless couldn’t get enough of all the Spring- and Summer-like days we have been getting since the Winter. It made being outside a tremendous joy; it was sunny, warm (or at least comfortable), and there were so many neat activities that the weather let us take advantage of.
On the flip side, I planted tulips last November expecting THE “frost” to come a few weeks later.. Well, I don’t think it ever came? But the beauties did start sprouting in February (which freaked me out as I was fearing a series of bad snowstorms..that also never came) and blooming in March. Most are now full-size and I smile every time I look at our flower bed. I’ll soon be planting sunflower seeds (we had ginormous sunflowers last summer: they were maybe 10-12′ tall) + a host of other annuals and perennials. Last year we (OK, I because this flower bed is my other baby) ended up with such a pretty wildflower and sunflower meadow, and I look forward to seeing what it’ll look like this year.
Turns out I do have a knack for gardening, which is par for the course for the typical mom in my neighborhood. (Only they’re much older experienced than me, but it’s never too early to start :).)
Homeschooling
Is it OK if I gush about homeschooling every month? Because I can’t help it. In March, after recovering from our February flu (though my pesky cough didn’t get the memo until mid-March, yay), I saw that I was perhaps doing too much, the feast felt too plentiful, so to speak. The more I read about homeschooling, the more I became convicted in the importance of doing some things later and when the kids were ready than when I thought it’d be best.
Now our son picks out most of what we do in a homeschool day. He’s still young so I know this will change as the years progress, but I don’t want the kids thinking I’m the “expert” or that they have no say in what we go over, because then I’ll be behaving like the teachers I vowed to keep them away from.
Just recently he asked me what the temperature of the Moon was (he’s been interested in it ever since watching the Artemis launch) and I had no clue! It’d have been so easy to just ask my phone but instead I went to our trusty Space volume from the Childcraft* series of encyclopedias, physically turned to the section on the Moon right there with him, found the bit about the temperature (did I get lucky?), and read him that it can be both really hot and really cold.
Yes, both of us actually researched something face-to-face WITH A BOOK! This whole homeschooling thing suits us pretty well, I’ll say. I love being able to show the kids the power of physical books.
Oh and did you know the Moon is actually a planet? Apparently, when a planet orbits another, the former is the latter’s SATELLITE. So the moon isn’t just “a moon” or a satellite but its own planet, apparently. How did I just find all that out in my 30s?!** Had it not been for a child’s curiosity, I’d have gone my whole life not knowing that.
*This should be its own item on this list but suffice it to say, I grew up with the Spanish equivalent of the Childcraft series, which is called El Mundo de Los Niños. It’s SO wholesome that I knew I wanted it for our family because it has the answers to almost everything. I’ve been hunting down a copy for years so imagine my surprise when I found both versions on eBay AND for a sane price!
** This version is from the 90s, so at first I wasn’t sure that this fact hadn’t been disproven (RIP “planet” Pluto) but Wikipedia seems to agree, so I’ll go with that.
Blog revamp
Well, do you like this blog refresh? I can’t get enough: it’s so dainty and feminine, and yet so functional and multifaceted. Though I’ve changed some things, it’s really based off a new Restored 316 theme that I couldn’t wait to practically hug when it was released. My previous theme that I had for many years was also a Restored 316 creation, and while I’m probably its biggest fan still, I didn’t think there could ever be one that fit my blog, my goals, my What-Ifs, and my aesthetic better than the one you see here.
I didn’t think I ever wanted to create an ebook, for instance, but the theme inspired me to create one. (As I write this, that ebook is currently SO close to being finished!) I didn’t think I wanted a password-protected Freebies Library like some neat creators I admire have, but now I have one, too. It has phone backgrounds, prayer calendars, and I have plans to continue adding more and more :D!
Because while it’s true this site is purely my hobby and something I do on my free time for fun, it’s also true that I want it to look like I care deeply about it. In the end, I know I may not make (much) money off it, and I’m legitimately OK with that, but why not treat it like it could?
On a related note, I went back to Asana, a tool I used in my Corporate America days for keeping track of projects. It’s been helping me significantly to manage this revamp and my new offerings. More importantly, it’s helped shift my perception from keeping this site as a hobby whose To-Dos I’ll get to when I think of them.. to a hobby whose To-Dos are well-organized and prioritized. I seem to be not as lackadaisical about it, and that feels good.
“Music Class”
I don’t recall mentioning it before (?), but I added a program called Making Music, Praying Twice (MMPT) to our homeschool this past (school) year, and to say that it’s been delightful would be an understatement. it’s something we’ll definitely do now year after year: it’s that good.
MMPT isn’t meant to turn kids into little musical prodigies or classical music connoisseurs, but it is meant to teach them about music patterns, rhythm, keeping a beat with your body and instruments, and of course, the lyrics to some beautiful hymns and just as beautiful and/or funny songs, nursery rhymes, and poems. It’s both basic and thorough, if that makes sense.
The way it’s organized is based on the Church’s liturgical calendar, and every season (Advent & Christmas, Ordinary Time, Lent, etc.) there are new song rotations. There’s one CD (you can also get the MP3s but we prefer physical copies) with songs for each season and along with showing ways to introduce/teach/experience the songs, the Teacher Guide also includes music sheets with lyrics (which are also included in a separate Song Book), suggested schedules, and so much more.
Aside from sharing the same Opening Song and Closing Song (albeit with a different rhythm according to the season), no one two days are alike as each day has its own schedule or order of songs and what to do for each. (E.g., Sing Here Is The Church; bring out the shaky eggs for Tingalayo or use other instruments for Ain’t Gonna Grieve Our Lord No More, and so on.) There are songs in other languages, too. Our youngest asks for “Music Class” every day, which is such a joy to witness!
Singing nursery rhymes to a child develops so many aspects of language, rhythm, and imagination. …
Let’s not lose our own sheer pleasure and joy of sharing sounds and our grown-up amusement at the silly thoughts expressed in these old words, arranged by who-knows-who and sung while holding hands, just so children can laugh when they don’t even know what they are laughing at! They just know Mother is amused!
The housewife preserves and protects this gladness. Daddy surely will play “Trot-trot to Boston” with his babies, just for the fun of it. It’s Mother who makes the peaceful place for the merriment, and sings to them when he has trot-trotted off and won’t be home for a while. They give the gift of their own enjoyment to their children.
–Leila Marie Lawler, “Nursery Rhymes: Useful, but mainly, delightful“
I don’t recall doing something like this growing up (although I was in Choir from Elementary School through my Junior year in High School), but I still managed to be quite musical with an excellent ear for rhythm, and I love singing the harmony in various songs (even those for MMPT). Somehow this comes naturally to me; it must be my Latin American upbringing and the fact that music is in (most) Hispanics’ blood. But our kids are half-Alabamian so I may need to work a bit harder at this with them :) and hope that I can foster that sense and appreciation in them as well. I think MMPT (rather than the popular Composer Studies common in Charlotte Mason-esque homeschooling groups***) can be a fantastic, easy, natural, and FUN aid for that.
***NO offense meant to those who live and breathe Composer Studies, of course. I’ll leave it at that.
Excited for the warmer temps and the fun times ahead!
