If you haven’t been following on social media, you might not know that our family just began an exciting new adventure! My husband Daniel cut back his hours to part-time at the distillery (he makes and blends whisky) to become a full-time homeschooling parent and I am a full-time self-employed writer and creator. I know many of you have been following for years and years, so I want to … [Read more...]
35th Birthday Musings
I'm 35 years old today and feeling like some good old timey blogging. Not the shareable with viral potentional kind of blogging. Just the old fashioned here's what's going on in my brain type blogging. I'm writing this from my own hotel room: the best birthday gift imaginable for a homeschooling mom of four living in a tiny house and working from home six months in to a global pandemic. My … [Read more...]
The World Needs More Gilberts
This is a guest post by my dear friend Tyler Blanski about what one of my favorite literary heroes can teach us. - Haley The world needs more Gilberts. The fictional (and admirable!) character Gilbert Blythe of the L.M. Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables series seems to capture so many virtues that can help men succeed in their vocation to fatherhood today: he gives a standing ovation for … [Read more...]
A Very 2020 Kids Summer Reading List
If there's one thing that has helped me keep my sanity while being cooped up over the past two months, it's our daily book time and seeing my kids deepen their love of reading. Because I've been getting lots of requests for book suggestions, I thought I'd share a few of our very favorites from our shelves (newly reorganized, thanks to quarantine angst)! I've found a lot of joy in sharing … [Read more...]
Looking for Marmee: Childhood Trauma, Cancer, and How Little Women Changed Our Lives
If all goes as planned, on Christmas Day my mother and I will show up at the movie theatre with my six-year-old and eight-year-old daughters to see Greta Gerwig’s new adaptation of Louisa May Alcott's classic novel Little Women. It will be exactly twenty-five years (to the day) since I watched the 1994 film with my mom when it opened in theatres. This upcoming cinematic rite of passage has … [Read more...]
When Jesus Gives You a Dog: Ode to Olaf
Wednesday morning our beloved Goldendoodle, Olaf, followed one of the children outside but must have run off instead of following them back into the house. He was hit by a car and died almost instantly. I saw it happen out the window out of the corner of my eye and screamed. Daniel ran outside to scoop him up and try to rush him to the vet. But the sweet little puppy was already gone. He was … [Read more...]
Beyond Magnolia: The Carrots Guide to Waco
My family has lived in Waco a total of 9 years (5 in the college years and then 4 years since our return to Texas!). Since we first moved here in 2004, so much has changed. Waco has recovered from decades of struggle and grown by leaps and bounds during our time here. It has become a destination town! I get asked all the time for recommendations of what to do during a trip to Waco and now with … [Read more...]
The Molly Weasley Method of Home Decorating
After my recent house freakout (We need to move! Wait! Nevermind, I love this house!), I’ve spent a good bit of time rearranging and tweaking our home. I’ve thought about what we need in each room, what improvement would make it what we need to be able to fit a six-person homeschooling family into this 3/br 1/bath 1250 sq ft house for the next few years. I’ve been reading about the concept of … [Read more...]
When Enough Is Found Through Your Own Front Door
I’m not moving. "Um, okay. I didn't think you were," you might say. The funny thing is, as of a week ago this statement would have been a huge surprise to me. Because I had this idea, see. Two weeks ago I woke up in the middle of the night and decided we needed to buy a new house. One bathroom for six people is too hard. Three bedrooms and no where to host guests? Impossible. … [Read more...]
What I’d Tell My Past Self on My 34th Birthday
It’s my birthday weekend. I’ll be 34 on Sunday. I don't think it feels much different than 33. Will 35 feel different? It sounds more serious somehow. Birthdays always make me feel like doing some reflection. What have I learned? How have I grown? What has surprised me about life this year? I think if I could tell my younger self something, Haley in her early 20s, it would be this lesson: … [Read more...]
