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One of the main ways I personally love to pursue the paideia of the Lord here in our home with my children is through the reading, singing, and memorization of Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. To help encourage myself to be diligent in this way, I started a little Instagram page called @sacredpsalmody this year to document the Psalms my kids and I are memorizing each month. I hope to connect Sacred Psalmody here at Joyful Domesticity through a category or tag to make it easy to reference each month’s Psalm. For a couple of years, we have used @happyhymnody to memorize one hymn per month along with many friends. It was my dear friend Elizabeth, who now lives seven hours away, who first introduced me to the wonderful work April does at Happy Hymnody, and I am so grateful. I love knowing that we are memorizing texts and tunes along with those closest to our hearts, even though we are physically distanced from one another. When we do see each other, we can sing together from memory, encouraging and exhorting one another through song for God’s glory.

In our home, we try to start our day with Morning Time (similar to things you might learn from Cindy Rollins or Pam Barnhill), and a main component of this is our singing. My children love singing, harmonizing, memorizing – I literally can’t keep the number of songs below six each day, even when I am trying to do a “short version” of our Morning Time routine. We do the Doxology and the Lord’s Prayer regularly, sometimes a sung version of a creed, at least one or two psalms, at least two hymns, and possibly some other non-spiritual song of some sort (last year we sang lots of Geography Songs and this year we are doing some Ancient/Bible History songs). What a gift to raise our voices together!

Honestly, sometimes I need to preach to myself that IT IS A GIFT. Because these kids would sing at the top of their lungs all day long if their mama would let them. What about yours? I would love to know what songs, psalms, hymns, spiritual songs, and non-spiritual educational or folk songs you love to sing in your home.

What kind of soundtracks do you like to play in the house or while on the road? We love to have JJ Heller, Andrew Peterson, Slugs & Bugs, or Jamie Soles playing on the cd player in the kitchen if there are ever moments where the piano isn’t being played, ukuleles strummed, or voices lifted. Music is central to culture. Cindy Rollins said just recently, in a webinar called Educating the Freeborn, that music is dangerous. And an old pastor friend of ours has long drilled into me that worship is warfare. We must train ourselves in this art, this skill. We must raise the children in our homes to wield this weapon with clarity, creativity, and confidence. We must use music for the pursuit of paideia.

It’s amazing how time passes while life happens. As I write this, I am sitting in a field with my four sons, as we wait for our family’s one sister (smack in the middle of the boys) to emerge from her twice-weekly ballet class. Living out in the country, at least 45 minutes from all the places in town, we have grown accustomed to schooling on the go. While we adore audiobooks on the road, I honestly do not love bringing workbooks and other projects along into car seats and waiting rooms. But at least while the weather holds, we hike or play tag or toss balls instead of keeping our noses incessantly buried in books… which, admittedly, would be the occupation of choice for almost anyone in my home. Even the 16 month old will grab books over toys nine times out of ten.

Which brings me around to mentioning one of the main reasons this blog has gone ignored for an embarrassingly substantial length of time. After over nine weeks of bedrest at home in early 2019 due to a partial placental abruption during my fourteenth pregnancy, I went into labor at 33 weeks. While I have never had easy, uncomplicated, or carefree pregnancies, this one definitely took the cake. After my bedrest was moved to the hospital, my parents stepped up for a solid week of parenting my four kids on their own while my husband stayed at my hospital bedside as I was pumped full of medications to keep our baby boy safely tucked inside. And then with a sudden shudder like a breaking storm, our fifth child was born right at 34 weeks after less than thirty minutes of intense labor. Seth Tyndale was a darling little lump of sugar right from the getgo, but his sweetness was matched by his strength – he only needed breathing assistance for an hour or so. In fact, by the time I was allowed to go join my husband in the NICU with our baby boy, he was already on room air. God was busily answering so many prayers! I spent the next two weeks mostly sitting in an uncomfortable glider beside Seth’s isolette, holding him tucked inside my shirt for as many hours a day as the nurses would let me. I sang psalms to him, prayed with him, put an earbud next to his head while I listened to sermons or the audio Bible in my Olive Tree app. I was determined that this little boy would never know a day where he wasn’t bathed in the words and wonder of his King. We made it home from the NICU in only two weeks, which impressed and surprised the medical workers – but we had worked hard around the clock to help Seth make strides toward home, and had hundreds of people praying. When he was eight weeks old, and exactly 7lbs, Seth had eye surgery because he was born with a special (aka complicated) left eye. His little baby blue needed a few things done, including having his lens removed. So until he is old enough to have his lens replaced, he wears a contact lens in that eye! Changing, cleaning, and replacing his itty bitty contact is not my favorite mothering chore – but we are so delighted by God’s kind gift of optical care and medical progress. One of our most frequent family prayers is for God to bless Seth with good sight, and for us to be faithful as we help him learn to live with contacts and glasses from infancy.

And this is where you would have found me for the last 15+ months as well: bathing my children in the things I know are true, good, beautiful. Strewing their days & ways with books, music, food, laughter, lessons, and conversations around blanketed beds or bedecked tables. There have been painful growth spurts and frustrating external circumstances. But when boiled down to its most essential moments and memorable pursuits, it is easy to see that God is the one who has been bathing my home with His truth, abundant goodness, and tangible beauty.

He is the one who is educating all of us, molding us, filling us. I am joyfully humbled by the realization that I am disciple and student and child right beside my five little gingers.

I would like to find a way to carve out moments to share thoughts and experiences here at Joyful Domesticity again. Not because I think I have anything shiny or unique or eloquent to offer. But because I’m here in the trenches of homeschooling my five kids while seeking to maintain a joyful countenance and a joy-filled home, longing for more moments to fill with my own schole or ways to live out my philosophies of Christian culture… and if you want to share the experiences or join in the conversation, this is the place you’ll find it.

I want to pursue practical paideia and joyful domesticity, and find the beauty in their shared realities. To God be the glory.

He cut 1 tooth two weeks ago.
Then he cut 4 more this week.
And on top of that, he has a cold and an ear infection.
Imagine taking this little boy on an airplane. Hmmm.
Poor sweet boy. We are loving on him lots right now.

Grandmama with the two grandsons.

Isn’t Hannah’s smile absolutely contagious?!

And Noah is probably the most smiley baby I have ever met. Yes, ever.

This picture strikes me: something about the dark green, clear blue, and bright orange. Oh yeah, and purple lips, lol.

I asked him to come over and smile for the camera. This is what I got.

And, lastly, this is where Gabriel hung out today. On Mommy’s back. I can’t post about what we were  making yet, because it’s a gift — but hopefully I will next week. I am pleased with the results. 🙂

Gabriel was playing in the backyard with Mommy and Grandmama — we had a jolly time!

I love this shot. The blurred parts are great, and I love his face. Hehehe. *mwah!*

So then we dampened his fun be sticking him in Mommy’s pumpkin patch.

Which pumpkin shall I choose? Hmm, I think my first choice is the one with legs! lol.

Mommy showing Gabriel that pumpkins are actually pretty nifty creations.

Umm, okay. He trusts me on that one.

Finally a pumpkin smile! It’s not his best smile ever, but I’ll take it. 🙂

This boy loves sticks, and for some reason his favorite thing to do with them is tap the trees. 🙂
The End — obviously. lol.