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Mother Culturing: Fourth Quarter 2025 + New Year Resolutions

22 minute read
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What we need is a habit of taking our minds out of what one is tempted to call “the domestic rag-bag” of perplexities, and giving it a good airing in something which keeps it “growing”… Is there, then, not need for more “Mother Culture”?

“MOTHER CULTURE” PARENTS’ REVIEW – VOLUME 3

God moves in a mysterious way,
His wonders to perform;
He plants his footsteps in the sea,
And rides upon the storm.

Deep in unfathomable mines
Of never-failing skill,
He treasures up his bright designs,
And works his sov’reign will.

Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take,
The clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy, and shall break
In blessings on your head.

Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But trust him for his grace;
Behind a frowning providence
He hides a smiling face.

His purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding ev’ry hour;
The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flow’r.

Blind unbelief is sure to err,
And scan his work in vain;
God is his own interpreter,
And he will make it plain.

Light Shining Out of Darkness by William Cowper

January is easily the busiest month of the year in our family, so the last quarter of the year sometimes feels like the calm before the storm. I especially revel in those last two weeks of December when we don’t have any school planned (except math. always math.) and I cling to that quiet. But now, here we are in January and settled quite firmly in the middle of the chaos. It’s all good, though! These are good things, and they are temporary. At least that’s what I keep telling myself. 🙂

Singing with the residents at our local assisted living facility

We were pretty well established in our new school routine when the fourth quarter began in October. We began the month with our homeschool group’s first visit to a local assisted living facility, modeled after the ideas shared in this episode of The New Mason Jar podcast. We visit them once a month and sing songs, read poetry and scripture, and, of course, bring art to share with them! We learned on that first visit that this is actually a memory care facility, so they often don’t remember us or that we’ve been there in the past, but we’ve slowly been getting to know the ones who come regularly, and it has been a great experience for the kids and us moms as well.

The image at the top is from our annual trek to The Crags (C’s arm and a Gray Jay), which we usually do in late September but didn’t get to until October this year. I love this hike. It’s especially perfect in the fall when the aspens are changing.

At the end of the month, the families of our homeschool group were invited to spend the weekend at one family’s cabin, so we headed down to southern Colorado for it and had a great time! I continue to be so, so thankful for this community we found in 2024. It has been very life-giving for us.

At the beginning of November, my husband and I celebrated our 21st wedding anniversary with lunch at a local restaurant (that serves gluten-free crab cheese wantons!), mini cakes from a tiny local bakery that specializes in gluten-free baking, and our annual trip to the golf course where we got married. Aw. That month, my son also spent a week with his STEM/Aerospace class building a remote-control plane, which he got to fly at the end of the week.

We spent most of Thanksgiving feasting together at home, but shared dessert with friends at their house in the afternoon, which was a great way to spend the day!

In December, we drove up to Denver to see the Camille Pissarro exhibition at the Denver Art Museum. My husband and I actually went up there for a date in November, so I got to see it twice, which is not a bad thing! We went on two different Tuesday nights, and the first time we nearly had the entire exhibition space to ourselves. The second time it was a little more crowded but not nearly as bad as I’ve experienced in the past when visiting in the daytime (especially for Monet…that was rough). I’m hooked on Tuesday nights at the art museum! The pictures above are the closest I get to selfies, but I managed to get two with paintings in my Camille Pissarro Picture Study Aid and, of course, one with a slightly different translation of my quote. 🙂

Christmas was, again, spent together at home, and I was so glad for the quiet! We spent the day before and the day of reading and eating chocolate, and just resting after a hectic year. And of course, the week after had me reflecting on the new year and goals I’m adopting for myself, which I’ll talk about next!

New Year Goals

Food

I am changing my diet a little bit in the new year to help with some health-related issues. Aside from that, however, I don’t have any specific new goals in this area other than to be better about following the meal plan and just accepting that I have to make supper every day, even when I don’t want to. 🙃

  • Plan To Eat – I’ve been using this to meal plan, keep track of recipes, and make grocery lists since 2010. Last year, I spent some time organizing my recipes, adding tags, and getting rid of the ones we don’t like, and that has helped streamline my meal planning process even more!
  • Nourishing Meals – We are big fans of nearly all of the recipes we’ve tried from Alissa Segersten (she has also written two of my favorite cookbooks). I was hesitant to sign up for this at first because I try to keep subscriptions to a minimum, but she was having another sale at the end of the year. Since we don’t eat out often, being able to find healthy, real food recipes for nearly any occasion, amount of time, cooking method, and diet (especially now as I try to change my eating habits for the “Health” category below) out there that I have confidence we’ll like has been a huge time-saver for me.
  • Everything Worth Preserving I use this book to find different ways to preserve food, especially when we have a garden, have joined a CSA, or Azure Standard is having a sale on bulk produce. This year, as with the last few years, I really want to can more, especially soups and ready-made meals!

Health

It was a good year of walking and hiking for me, and I definitely want to continue doing these things and add in more movement with these resources:

  • Strava Two friends introduced me to this app that tracks my physical activities like walking, hiking, and (new this year! see below) exercising. I don’t have a fancy watch that tracks health markers (those can be connected to Strava), but the app can track distance, elevation gain, moving time, steps, average speed, and max speed, which are fun facts to have. For other exercises, I essentially just use it to record how long I work out and how often I do it. I’ve found it very encouraging to be able to look back over the previous month and see how many times I got movement in! (I use the free account, so the paid account might offer more trackers than what I listed here.)
  • Nourish Move Love The same two friends who told me about Strava also told me about this site which offers many, many free workout videos. (The two friends are a good influence on me.) I hate working out. I’ve tried to do it in the past, mainly either pilates or yoga, and I manage it for a week or so and then quickly workout myself off the bandwagon. When I feel like I have so.many.other.things that I need to get done, it just feels like a huge waste of time. However….. with the onset of perimenopause, I have definitely had reason to pause, and the trajectory in which I see the shape of my body going has been very discouraging. I’ve been walking in the mornings regularly for over a year and a half now (and hiking regularly longer than that), but that hasn’t been enough to curb the effects of a slowing metabolism. So, at the end of December, I grabbed my cute little 5-lb weights and began her 30-Day Beginner program. While I can’t say I necessarily enjoy it, I feel good after I’ve done it, and even with all the other things on my task list, I haven’t regretted the time spent helping myself become stronger and healthier. I also really like Lindsey as an instructor. I appreciate that she gets sweaty, and scrunches her face up and says, “I’m out,” when she’s at her limit during a specific exercise, but is also very encouraging. I can look at her and think, “I’d like to be able to lift 25-lb weights in both hands up above my head,” and feel like I can get there. Hopefully I can keep it up!
  • Apple Notes I know this seems random, but I still wanted to mention it in case it’s inspiring to anyone else! The two friends from above, plus another friend and I, are keeping each other accountable for healthier eating and moving habits in the new year (we actually started in December, and that was brutal) through a shared Apple note where we check off various health-related goals (movement, whole foods, no sugar, water consumption, etc.) every day. I think knowing I get to check something off that other people will see has been very motivating and probably helps with the hatred of working out I mentioned above.
  • Move Your DNA I mentioned this book last year too and it continues to be inspiring to me. It made me rethink movement as a whole and instead of seeing it as a burden (“what a pain it is to carry the full laundry basket all the way down to the washer!”), I see it as something that is beneficial to my health (“I get to carry the full laundry basket all the way down to the washer! what other kinds of movement can I get in?”). I keep the ideas in mind as I go through my days, and it has definitely inspired me to be more intentional about moving in general.

Cleaning/Organization/Chores

I need to overhaul our cleaning routine again, as I think what we have now is unrealistic. I’ll keep doing as much of it as I can, but most likely won’t be able to really look at it at least until the Charlotte Mason Educational Retreat is over in February (January is always a busy month because of that), or when we finish our school year in June. I’ll use these resources to do that:

  • Toni Hammersley’s The Complete Book of Clean and The Complete Book of Home Organization (she also offers a free Home Organization Challenge every January) I’ve used these to help make my cleaning routine more thorough and find different ways to keep our home organized and clutter-free. I have found the schedules she offers especially helpful.
  • FlyLady I used this system off and on for several years before coming up with my own routine based partially on this (especially the idea of “zones”) and on the Hammersley books above. I appreciate how encouraging Marla is! It looks like they now offer an app, which is intriguing and maybe something I’ll experiment with this year.
  • Clean Mama I have used Becky’s schedules in the past as well. I always turn to this site and The Complete Book of Clean when looking for ways to clean specific items or areas in our home.

Finances

This won’t be changing much other than a renewed goal to follow our budget more closely with these resources:

  • You Need a Budget (also the book) By God’s providence, we have been debt-free (aside from our mortgage) since at least 2008, and YNAB has helped us all along the way to keep our finances in order. Because of how flexible it is, I also use it to keep track of my business budget. Their rules are excellent to keep in mind, no matter what stage of budgeting you’re in:
  • Give every dollar a job (which is the essence of budgeting)
  • Embrace true expenses (instead of setting wistful goals that aren’t realistic)
  • Roll with the punches (move money around as needed when you overspend what you’ve budgeted in a particular area)
  • Age your money (try not to spend your paycheck right away)
  • Simple Money, Rich Life: Achieve True Financial Freedom and Design a Life of Eternal Impact I read this book from Bob Lotich at SeedTime a few years ago and found it very inspiring. I use YNAB for the practical side of budgeting, but I think this book is excellent for the “why” behind being good stewards of our finances in the first place, and what to do with the money we have.
  • FreedomFiler This is the filing system that helps me keep all of our paperwork purged appropriately and in good order so I can find important documents when I need them.

Spiritual

Last year, I mentioned that I decided to “read through” the fruits of the spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) and found books that I thought would work well for each fruit. Here are the books:

I’ll continue plodding my way through these books in my morning reading time. I only finished two last year, so it’s probably going to take me quite a while to finish this list, but since patience is one of the fruits, this is not a bad thing.

And now on to the recap!

Read (or Finished Reading)

For Me

Shades of Light by Sharon Garlough Brown. I struggle with anxiety disorder, and it was particularly acute last year for various reasons. I saw this book recommended in a few different places with rave reviews for those struggling with anxiety, so I thought I’d give it a try, but I didn’t care for it.

The Raphael Affair by Iain Pears. (For the Art Book Reading Challenge.) I so wanted to like this one as it’s about art history! and is a mystery! and is the first in a series of art history mysteries! And it was interesting, but fell a little flat for me. I won’t continue the series.

The Happiest Man on Earth by Eddie Jaku. (With the moms of our homeschool hiking group.) This was so moving. Though he had every right to, he did not write it with the voice of a victim. His continual reminder of kindness and how important it is was so inspiring.

Life Without Lack: Living in the Fullness of Psalm 23 by Dallas Willard. I enjoyed this one very much and found it inspiring as well. It got me into the habit of praying Psalm 23 when I’m feeling particularly anxious, and that has helped. I also adopted the practices of daily prayer he mentions toward the end of the book to embrace faith, death to self, and love. I highly recommend this one.

Triggers: Exchanging Parents’ Angry Reactions for Gentle Biblical Responses by Amber Lia and Wendy Speake. This was a good way to start my days, as I listened to it on my morning walks, and it reminded me to be more intentional in my responses to the kids. I think it would’ve been exceptionally helpful when I was a new parent.

All the Beauty in the World: The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Me by Patrick Bringley. A friend gave me this for my birthday, and I enjoyed it so much! My husband and I visited the Met back in 2002, and it was so interesting to hear more of the “behind the scenes” stories of the museum. It also made me think that maybe I’d like to be an art museum guard one day as well.

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. (For the Tea & Ink Society Classics Reading Challenge.) I checked to see what I was missing from my various reading challenges in November and saw this recommended for the “Medieval or Renaissance classic” category. I started pre-reading it a few years ago for my son, but decided to wait until he was older, so I didn’t finish. This time, I got to the end, and it was….interesting? It’s amazing how many different Arthurian stories, and variations of those stories, there are.

The Song of the Lark by Willa Cather. (For the Tea & Ink Society Classics Reading Challenge.) I’ve read four Cather books in the last three years, which was completely unplanned, and while I wouldn’t say she’s one of my favorite authors (The Death of the Archbishop was especially hard to get through), I’m glad I’ve read her work. This one was slow to start, then got very good, then got tedious. I know I’m in the minority, but I didn’t like it as much as O, Pioneers!.

In Search of God’s Will: Discerning a Life of Faithfulness and Purpose by Trevor Hudson. This was on the Renovaré book club list for October. I didn’t sign up for the book club itself, but decided to participate from afar. I appreciated many of the points he brought up, and they made me think about aspects of my faith in different ways.

The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy. (For the Tea & Ink Society Classics Reading Challenge.) Another last-minute read for the classics challenge! As I said in my year-end reading post, this was depressing but profound, so basically Russian? 🙂

Frank Mechau: Artist of Colorado by Cile M. Bach. (For the Art Book Reading Challenge.) I had never heard of Frank Mechau before reading this book, but I’m so glad I learned more about him! His later style is very appealing to me, and I plan to visit the local places where his art is still on display.

Village School by Miss Read. I picked this for myself for Jólabókaflóðið. It wasn’t my first choice, and I thought it might be a little boring, but I was pleasantly surprised!

The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol. 2 by Beth Brower. “I am not going to read any more of the Emma M. Lion books because they’re just so popular and everyone is reading them.” – Me, August 2025. I really did say that to the other moms in our hiking group, as so many of our mutual friends are reading these books, and I was, admittedly, a little annoyed at seeing them constantly pop up on my Goodreads wall (which is ridiculous in and of itself). I am gladly eating crow now, though, as I too have been sucked into Miss. Lion’s world. I read the first book earlier in 2025 and found it entertaining, but didn’t feel like I needed to keep going, especially as I have other books I really want to read. But later in the year, another friend suggested the audiobook versions, and they are perfect to listen to when I’m cooking supper or driving somewhere by myself or doing chores around the house—a fun little diversion.

For (or With) the Kids

The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo. I had never read a Kate DiCamillo book before this one, but I’m so glad we started! All three of us really enjoyed this one, and it inspired us to read more by her.

Mr. Midshipman Hornblower by C.S. Forester. I picked up almost the entire set of these books at a used book sale in October, when a friend insisted I get them, even though I had never heard of them (they are recommended for AO Year 9). I’m glad she did. 🙂 I pre-read the first one for my son, and we will definitely be continuing the series.

The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander. This was my Jólabókaflóðið pick for my son. Lloyd Alexander was a favorite author of mine when I was in elementary school, but I never read the Prydain Chronicles. The first book was fun, and we look forward to the others!

The Illyrian Adventure by Lloyd Alexander. This was my Jólabókaflóðið pick for my daughter. Another series from Alexander that I did read when I was younger and enjoyed very much. It’s funny to think that I read these books when they hadn’t been out long, and my daughter is now reading them 35 years later when they’re antiques. 🙂

Ishtar’s Odyssey: A Storybook for Advent by Arnold Ytreeide. I’ve heard of these books before, but never looked into them until two friends (same as above) recommended them for Advent. We enjoyed gathering each evening before bed to read the next installment of the book during Advent, and I tried to incorporate some of the food suggestions he offers at the beginning of the book throughout the season as well. I hope to go through the Lent book this year.

For School

I’ll write more about these in my school year-end recaps in June.

This Country of Ours by H.E. Marshall.

Coriolanus by William Shakespeare. (Still one of my favorite Shakespeare plays.)

Currently

I’m currently reading The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Keeper of the Bees by Gene Stratton-Porter, Metabolism Repair for Women by Lara Briden, The Poetry of Robert Frost, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction: Discipleship in an Instant Society by Eugene H. Peterson, and The Listening Life: Embracing Attentiveness in a World of Distraction by Adam S. McHugh.

Reading Challenges Results

Overall Reading Goal36/36
Personal Reading Goal34/36
Tea & Ink Society Classics Reading Challenge9/12
Art Book Reading Challenge4/6

Read all about what I read in 2025 here! Or follow along with my reading adventures on Storygraph!

Commonplaced

Some favorite quotes from this quarter’s finished books:

Life Without Lack

  • “A life without is a life in which one is completely satisfied and sustained, no matter what happens. No matter what happens! It’s not merely a matter of gritting your teeth and hanging on. It is a matter of real provisions directly from God to you.”
  • “When you’re betrayed, abandoned, lied about, and scandalized; when you are sick with a fatal disease; when your finances are going down the drain; when you see your loved one walk through the doorway of hell; that is the moment to trust. And in trusting you will know God.”
  • “When we look at what Christ did for us on the cross and keep that at the center of our vision, there are not many things that will bother us, or even matter at all. When we realize that Christ went willingly to the cross on our behalf, trusting in the greatness of his Father, it casts a transformative light on our own suffering. That’s what Job saw. Job beheld the greatness of God.”
  • “One of the fundamental changes that takes place as we move from the faith of desperation to the faith of sufficiency is that we take our minds off ourselves and place them on God… We cannot truly see ourselves until we see God, but as long as our eyes are fixed on ourselves, we cannot see God. We must focus on God if we are to know the sufficiency of God.”
  • “Human desire is infinite by its nature; it cannot be satisfied… Desire is infinite partly because we were made by God, made for God, made to need God, and made to run on God. We can be satisfied only by the one who is infinite, eternal, and able to supply all our needs; we are only at home in God.”
  • “Our aim under love is not to be loving to this or that person, or in this or that kind of situation, but to be a person possessed by love as an overall character of life. Our responses to the specific occasions when we are to act flow out of our overall character. I do not come to my enemies and then try to love them; I come to them as a loving person. The good tree bearing good fruit… Such love is holistic, not something one turns on or off for this or that person or thing. Its orientation is toward life as a whole. It dwells on good wherever it may be found and supports it in action. Love is nourished by the good and the right and the beautiful.”
  • “If you’re going to make biscuits, bless them. They will taste better.”

All the Beauty in the World: The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Me

  • “…that sanctifying Vermeer light…”
  • “Too many visitors think of the Met as a museum of Art History, where the object is to learn about art rather than from it. Too many suppose there are experts who know all the right answers and it isn’t a layman’s place to dig into objects and extract what meaning they can. The more time I spend in the Met, the more convinced I am it isn’t a museum of art history, not principally. Its interests reach up to the heavens and down into worm-ridden tombs and touch on virtually every aspect of how it feels and what it means to live in the space between. There aren’t experts about that. I believe we take art seriously when we try to discern what, at close quarters, it reveals.”

Made

Food

We cut back a lot on eating out this quarter, so a great deal of cooking was done, but nothing much out of the ordinary. Other than freezing a few meals and making stock, I didn’t do any major food projects. I hope to get back to periodic once-a-week cooking after the Charlotte Mason Educational Retreat in February. But that reminds me that I need to batch-cook a few meals before then for my husband and daughter to have while I’m gone!

Project 333

The last week of December included my Project 333 day, and I went through my wardrobe again, purged, and came up with about 36 items to serve me for the next few months. I used Christmas money to get some new Xero shoes, but for the most part, my winter wardrobe was a repeat of my fall wardrobe, which is fine, since wearing what I have doesn’t cost any money!

Moved

Morning Walk
Snowy Hike with our Homeschool Group

I continued walking 1.5 to 2 miles a few times a week in the morning, though I didn’t realize how many days I skipped until I looked at the charts below. I think it was mainly due to busyness, poor sleep (I generally don’t walk if I haven’t slept well the night before), or snow. I don’t usually shy away from weather, but if thick snow is falling in the morning, walking is a little less appealing. Our hiking group also didn’t meet over Thanksgiving or Christmas break, and I usually walk with friends while my daughter is at her weekly gym class, but that ended in early December, so I missed those default activities that are usually an easy way to get movement in. I did, however, begin weight training at the end of December as I mentioned above! Here is what the quarter looked like:

January is already looking better, so hopefully I can keep this momentum.

On the Blog

New in the Shop

Nature Sightings

There is definitely a lot less to add or check off in my lists books this time of year, but I did manage to add a few things:

Fourth Quarter New Wildflowers

Fourth Quarter New Birds

And we forgot to put the bird cam out for most of the quarter, so I don’t have any new bird photos from that. Hopefully next quarter!

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Rebecca graduated summa cum laude and first in her class with a bachelor's degree in art history from the University of Colorado Denver. She has been homeschooling her two children (B, age 15, and C, age 12) using Charlotte Mason's methods since 2016. She enjoys the freedom found in a Charlotte Mason education and the fact that it not only nourishes the minds, hearts, and souls of her children, but hers as well.

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7 Comments

  1. Wow, what a post! I love reading what YOU are reading and all the other “life” that is happening. Thank you for posting, you often give so many excellent ideas for others to embrace – books, adventures, family life – very inspiring.

    Reply

  2. I did the same thing with the Emma M. Lion books! I read the first and it was fine but my queue is just so long… Yet, I picked up book 2 and now I can’t stop! Book 5 and counting.
    I also picked up the Rescue Artist you recommended about art theft and found that one a fun read – plus I now appreciate Evard Munch more than before.
    Thanks for all the suggestions!

    Reply

    1. The TBR stack problem is real. I have no hope of reading mine before I die. But it’s not a bad problem to have. 🙂

      Reply

  3. I always love seeing your compilation of what you’re learning and noticing during the year. It reminds me that little things–a walk here, a visit to a museum there, a few minutes reading every day–really do add up to a full and rich life.

    I started the Nourish Move Love workouts last summer after never ever being able to stick with strength training before and I am hooked. She’s so encouraging and gives me motivation based on things I actually value (aka: not a bikini bod). And hopefully this is encouraging, but I have seen changes in my muscle mass! Keep going!

    Reply

    1. Oh, that is so encouraging, Joanna! Thank you! I fell off the bandwagon last week just because of several deadlines I had looming and didn’t have time, but I’m determined to climb back on today. Thank you for that encouragement!

      Reply

  4. I have recently joined the Emma Lion bandwagon and I am not disappointed at all. I was hesitant at first for the same reason you mentioned, haha! I am intrigued by All the Beauty in the World and am adding it to my Art Book Challenge that you’ve inspired me to work on this year. I read Triggers 2-3 times within the span of 2 years after I started having anger outbursts towards my son when my second child was born. It was humbling and a bit scary to see the anger rise up in me so quickly at times since I never would have categorized myself as an angry person. The book was helpful along with chatting with a mentor/counselor friend at church about specific issues. I am so glad you mentioned The Tale of Despereaux. I read that probably around 15 years ago to my youngest brother when he was 8. It was such a sweet bonding time with him. Now I need to revisit it with my own son. I think he’d love it.

    I love that you keep track of new birds you spot during each quarter. I use my Merlin Bird ID app to keep track of new birds, but could try to involve my kids more in this as well by adding it to each of our natural journals. Maybe having a Birds List on a page with a tab for quick reference.

    Your blog is such a delight to this (Y-1) AO mama. I have printed your free prints for our art rotations and they have been such a sweet addition to our kitchen/homeschool space. I just recently put up the Fragonard prints up late one night and swooned at them for a while. The next morning, my 6-year old son noticed them right away and zeroed in on The Swing, saying it reminded him of a scene from Disney’s Tarzan when Jane is swinging on a vine. I had seen somewhere online that a Tangled scene also appears to be inspired by this print, so it was a fun, impromptu way to introduce Fragonard before officially starting our art study. He thinks his last name is funny, so he dubbed him Mr. Frog Man. Poor Camille Pissarro was Chameleon Posteuca (my maiden name) the whole first term. Whatever helps him form a relationship with the artist, right? haha.

    Reply

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