Farm Shopping

It all began last year when we happened upon a "farm-for-sale" sign on the way home from a summer day at the lake and then drove past a small farm with a lovely little creek with horses grazing and thought "hmmm....". That, I think, was the beginning of a dream. We've spent time reading lots and lots on farming and asking lots and lots of questions from people more experienced (which doesn't take much) in farming and animal husbandry than we. Slowly we began talking farming. Slowly we made plans to slowly look at a few farms and decided to try to sell our cabin to finance our little farm dream debt free and slowly move into moving.

We are in no hurry - we made sure to tell our friend/realtor this and so how it happened that on our first day of official farm browsing we happened upon a lovely little farm with three wild meandering creeks and solem old red barns nestled in a little valley and with a name of it's own like it had fallen out of the pages of Country magazine, I'll never know.

Now, I must be honest, there is work to be done on this pretty place but, as Sean reminds me, one can always improve upon a house but you can't much change the shape of or add to the land. The house is the song Stayin' Alive in house form - the nineteen seventies alive and well in orange shag, newsprint wallpaper and yellow linoleum - yellow and orange being the primary tones of the decor with some pink and blue shag thrown in for good measure. But under all that is good wood floors, I'm confident.

It might fly fast and be sold before we're prepared to buy and then we'll know whether it truly was meant for us or not. In the meantime I've posted our little piece of Adirondacks on craigslist and if you happen to know any such persons hankering for a pretty piece of wilderness, do send them my way, won't you?

Cleaning without Toxins

I've written before here and here about the cleaning products I use in our home and recently I was offered some Shaklee products by Mariliz to use in our home. Researching the products, I liked what I read. No perfumes, non-toxic, safe for my kids....

The Shaklee cleaner comes with one bottle of Basic H2® Organic Super Cleaning Concentrate, a VERY economical little bottle. This makes 48 gallons of cleaner for your home! It came with three separate spray bottles for mixing different cleaning solutions: an All-Purpose spray, Windows and Mirrors, and De-Greasing cleaner. Easy to follow directions on the bottles make for easy mixing of the very concentrated solution with water. I'm talking like a droplet to a quarter teaspoon of concentrate for one bottle of cleaner.

The first thing I noticed using the Glass and Windows cleaner was how nice these spray bottles are! Much better quality than the dollar store spray bottles I usually use around the house. Windows were streak free and clear... well, at least momentarily - I do have a house blessed with children.

The Degreaser became my go-to bottle for spills on the floor, splatter around the stove, and water marks from our hard water around the sink. The all-purpose cleaner worked well too, I just preferred the cleaning action of the Degreaser for my busy household.

The Scour OFF worked wonders in my nasty sink (oh be honest, yours gets that way too sometimes). Shiny! I can't wait to scrub down the old tub upstairs with it.

Also this great microfiber cloth came with the set, which I was skeptical about having *done* microfiber cleaning cloths. I need more of these. They take off everything without scratching and minimal scrubbing.

My only complaint with the Shaklee products is probably their biggest selling point - no scent! I like a lemony clean scent lingering in our home post-cleaning. Not a problem though, I just add a drop of lemon essential oil to my bottle of Degreaser. :)

Bottom line: Shaklee has some fabulous cleaning products, safe for your home, scent free. To enjoy your own Shaklee cleaners, visit this woman's sweet blog or the Shaklee webpage here.

Though I was sent these products to review, I was under no obligation to give a favorable review and what you have read is my honest opinion of them.

Sewing a Bathing Suit

Last year Eleanora chose the fabric for her swim suit and described to me what she wanted it to look like: a dress with sleeves and shorts underneath. I ventured into the world of swim suit making, not loving the choices available in stores or online, either finding them too skimpy or, at the other extreme - ugly and modest.


Here's what she chose this year. She wanted no sleeves - fine by me as we don't believe bare arms are immodest, a swirly *thing* on the front and a skirt "down to her knees". She chose the fabric which came from etsy.com. It is bright and bold and completely *her*.

It took about ten minutes to sketch, twenty to cut out and an hour to sew it all together. The fabric cost about $8.

Wood

We burn wood for heat. Every spring a log truck drives up our road, takes out a few sagging telephone lines, and delivers a truck load of wood to our house. Our home is about 4,000 square feet and we run two wood stoves, one at each end of the house. The wood for an entire fall, winter, and spring costs us as much as one month of oil heat would cost so the savings are immense, and nothing beats the coziness of wood heat and a pot of stew set on top of the wood stove to simmer.

In previous years we stacked our wood out under the trees and tarps for the winter and had to venture out into the cold for firewood when the stash in the garage ran out. Last year Sean obtained a permit and built a woodshed onto the back of the house and we fill it to the brim with wood. This year we ( read: Sean mostly) will chainsaw the logs into eighteen inch sections and then split them with the wood splitter. The wood is then carried to the woodshed with the tractor. Our kids are expert stackers.

We were cleaning up the woodshed and stacking the leftover wood from last winter when inside a hollow piece of wood, we found a cozy little mouse home, stuffed tight with feathers and corn. Smart little mouse.

This year Sean is trying something new that we read about, cutting the green logs and stacking them on pallets and then wrapping the pallets with plastic wrap, making a greenhouse effect inside and drying the wood more quickly. So far, so good. It really does heat up under that plastic wrap.

So how much wood does it take to heat our home? 35-40 face cord.

Wowsa week

Last Monday Addie began puking and snuggled all day. Tuesday 5 yr old Eleanor began running a fever and moaning with a headache. The next day she complained that it hurt to swallow and a peek into her throat revealed ulcers. Wednesday Annaliese (10) started feeling off, same thing, throat ulcers. Friday Aiden spiked a fever and today Andrew. Coxsakie virus has been no fun this week on top of the heat and I am so thankful that it has run its course, well, almost... I'm assuming tonight will be the last of it for Andrew with a restful recuperation day and sore throat tomorrow.

This week I am thankful for the love of a husband. Single parenting right now would stink and hugs to all you mamas who do this alone. I'm thankful our kids don't have strep throat. I'm thankful for our trial of netflix for taking little minds off their hurts and making them smile and for good storybooks. I'm thankful for room air conditioners and kids piled camping out in the living room because it is 101 and for cold washcloths on hot foreheads. Since the garden is brimming with beans (and weeds), I'm thankful tonight for pantry shelves filled with pretty quart jars of wax beans and Roma beans and mango salsa, canned with prayers today while I missed church. Again. I'm thankful that His mercies are new every morning and that He gives rest to the weary and I'm looking forward to a restorative week!

Wall Decal Winner

Congratulations to Joy of Journey91 for being random.org's winner of the wall decal!
Please send me your address at the contact link at the top of the page.
Have a great night everyone and thanks for playing along!
Hannah

On Body Image

I started dieting when I was ten.

And stopped when I was twenty-one.

For eleven years I tried to fix all that perceived was wrong with my body.

I could not pay to have my crooked teeth straightened or banish my regretfully red hair but I could make sure my one pair of jeans in 7th grade kept fitting. The women around me were always dieting or talking about calories and I remember the one day an older boy told me my only pair of jeans were too tight. A junior high growth spurt I perceived as fat.

I thought the women in my circle of life were beautiful until they did not think it themselves. And if they weren't beautiful, how much uglier I must be than them, I thought.

There was a heavy emphasis on looks while I was in private and public schools. I woefully allowed my physical education teacher to pinch the skin at my waist and measure it and, tongue clicking, declare me at 30 percent body fat. I stayed after school every day all year working out in the gym with my girlfriends and ran track and played soccer. But I was so out of shape, I thought.

I weighed in at the massive (sarcasm here) amount of 12o pounds and stood 5'4".

I cut out sugar, I cut out chocolate, I cut out meals, I drank water, became a vegetarian, walked to school instead of taking the bus...

When I realized men thought I was beautiful in a bikini, I wore one. Skin was beautiful so I shortened my skirt and short lengths. It cheapened my lot but made me feel good about myself.

Being the mama of a ten year old daughter now, and having three daughters, my stomach turns at the thought of them having the thoughts that I did at their age. We use the word beautiful but we put more emphasis on the word healthy in our home. Their papa tells them they are beautiful and loved and asks them for whose glory they are beauteous. "For God's glory..." they answer. They have been asked from birth and know. We have taught our children to choose foods because they are healthy, because they help our bodies fight infection and germs, because they give us strength to run and play, because they were raised nutritiously and kindly...

And so a word of caution to the mamas. Your little girls are watching. They are listening. If you hate your nose or hate your hair and they have been God-given the same genetics, they will learn to despise from you. What is beautiful and precious will be disdainful to them. If you use the word diet and cut out nourishment to like yourselves more, so will they. If you critique what you see in the mirror or ask your husbands if you look fat, they will critique and question their own selves.

I stopped warring against my body when I was twenty-one, the year our daughter was born and it was a huge relief. In the past ten years I have gained and lost the weight equivalent to a large grown man. My body has been stretched and pulled and swollen and full and empty but I've never felt to comfortable or contented in my own skin though it would take a whole lot of photoshop to make it purty enough for a fashion magazine.

It is all skin and flesh; it does not determine my value or worth. I don't read fashion magazines anymore, though I like fashion and love beautiful clothing because every time I would browse through one I got up feeling gross about myself. It cost my spirit too much.

Who we are as women and the value of our lives is not in our dress size or shape of a feature or crooked or straight teeth. Our value comes from being created in the image of God, from who He says we are (loved, beautiful, precious, valuable) and from living a life that glorifies Him.

The danger of poor image of self is not that it is something superficial or that we've been deceived by the devil, but that it is something that takes our eyes off of Jesus and stops us from glorifying Him with our lives.

“Let your beauty not be external - the braiding of hair and wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes - but the inner person of the heart, the lasting beauty of a gentle and tranquil spirit, which is precious in the God’s sight.” 1 Peter 3:3-4

Your Story

The story that God has given you is important. It needs to be shared. The hurts in your life that He has healed will bring healing to folks all over who are still heart aching and needing to be filled with His love.

Your story is uniquely yours. I thought about this the other day in the context of my own life. I was raised for the first eight years with two fighting parents both present at home and the next ten years by a single mother. My younger sister, however, was quite small when our parents split and so her experience is mostly being raised by a single mother, no father present. Though we are sisters with the same parents our experiences are so different.

(Aiden (6) feeding Addie her milk. He is so gentle and affectionate with her.

And from birth she has done that leg-up thing while she nurses.)

The same goes for the story of our family. Our family story is unique. The ways that God has taken us and worked in the lives of two crazy kids and brought about stability and function to His glory is uniquely our story. A few times people have assumed I grew up with a functional, privileged life and I've been able to share our story. I've even been in circles and have heard the verse quoted about the sins of the fathers being visited upon the next generations, heads shaking, tongues clicking - some poor unsuspecting family being talked about who has fallen on rough times. And I share our story, and how that scripture refers to those who don't know the Lord, not those who are striving to be walking, talking, knowing Him. People can't argue against your testimony. It is what it is.

(The Black River, where we are headed again today, this time with inner tubes to lazily float and splash.)

When I share my story, I am publishing the works of the Lord because nothing we are today that is good is of our own merit or to our own glory. I have no desire for fame and I feel the heaviness of the responsibility behind offering advice from what I've learned along the way. At the same time, as an older woman, I am called to teach and in this story sharing I hopefully am.

What is your story?

(psst... don't forget to scroll down and sign up to win an awesome wall decal!)

Sisters

I wonder if when they are grannies they'll be sqeezing in their backsides together in one chair, chit chatting about anything and everything the way they do now, talking about clothes and play acting and coming up with questions to stump me. Sisters. I have two of them but we aren't close like I'd like and so I marvel at the little tight knit relationship of our girls.
Do you have siblings and do you enjoy a close relationship with them?

Completely and totally random

It is 11:09 pm and as I sit in the dark here nursing Addie I thought I would see if blogging from my phone is possible, which now I see it is. This morning, picking Addie up when she woke, I realized that she is allergic to avocado, her hair matted with dried vomit (yes, lovely, I know) and herself sort of dull and clingy, more clingy and I-so-need-my-mama-ish than usual with ongoing stomach upset all day. Addie has only vomited once before and also that time was following eating her avocado, which she loves. So she and I hung out all day, no naps and it is hot. Meanwhile I feel as though I haven't stopped perspiring all day and I am so very much behind on house things that I would like to do before my in laws arrive and our yard is a tangled overgrown field, which, living on the country would be just fine except for the fact that we have an over achieving lawn just across the way, with manicured diagonal lines carefully clipped. Our poor neighbors are stuck with the hillbillies with poultry and pig snorts and wild eyed children running. But we ate a happy (albeit tired) wild eyed bunch. Well, at least this redheaded mama is tired.
Blogger won't let me upload any of my highly entertaining photos from my phone, so guten nacht ( autocorrect wanted to make that gutenburg nacho). See you on the other side more rested.

Discipline Part Five - Strong Willed Child

I have been thinking for a while about writing on the subject of raising a strong willed child. Those of you who truly know us, know exactly which child I am speaking of. He is that strong willed, wired completely different from a compliant child, ready to take on anyone at a moments notice.
We recently went away overnight for our ninth anniversary and some very brave, very brave, friends offered to take our four kids overnight. Well the little strong willed fellow had a time out while there for something I don't recall and told Pastor Sam that when his Papa came back, he'd give Pastor Sam a big spanking!
Sean said to Sam afterward, "I bet if you didn't know us, you'd think that little boy was never disciplined..."

1. Disciplining a strong willed child is a whole nother ballgame.
Consistency is key. I've discovered that our small one has a constant need for boundary checks. I think his little mind must be constantly re-evaluating his world and wondering if everything is still the same.
2. Strong willed children have a need for power and appreciation.
We see our son at his best when he is given a task that only he can do. For example, he'll empty the entire cart of wood for the wood stove by himself. I would never expect any other three year old to empty a cart of firewood, but our son thrives on doing this, volunteering himself for the job. (He's also the size of a five year old). He also loves to add the water to the juice concentrate by himself and put clean dishes away.
We have a tradition of buying watch of the kids an ornament after Christmas each year to date and put away for when they have their own homes. This year, when our small strong willed one realized he had his own, he walked around the store with it saying, "I'm in charge of this. I'm in charge of this." Over and over, eyes gleaming.
Realizing that our son is wired this way, I'm learning to take advantage of it by giving him a set list of things to accomplish that are only for him to do. He gets upset if someone else intrudes on his helping territory.
3. Don't take the constant struggle for control personally.
This is a hard one for me as the Mama and I have to remind myself that as long as I am seeking God's will, praying for my son, and accepting my need for more patience with this child, I am doing the right thing.
4. Don't get shoved on the guilt wagon.
Parents with easy-going compliant children will not understand your situation. You'll get discipline suggestions, dirty looks, rolled eyes, and upturned noses. They place guilt and shame by insinuating that if you raised your child like they raise theirs, then your child wouldn't act the way they do. It's just their way of patting themselves on the back as parents.
5. Learn to ask questions and give options.
While sometimes I do need my son to do exactly as I ask, giving him options when I can helps a whole lot.
"We need to get dressed and brush our teeth now. What would you like to do first?"
"This morning you can have oatmeal with raisins or without raisins. Which would you like?"
Asking questions and giving options like these lets strong willed children have a sense of control.
I also have organized his clothes and drawers by outfits so that he can pick out his own clothes in the morning.
6. Strong willed children need to know what to expect.
Clearly lay out the path leading to a discipline or correction for them.
"Honey, if you throw yourself on the floor and scream when I ask you to _______, then that is showing me that you need help obeying. This is how Mama is going to help you remember to obey the first time."
Then acknowledge their feelings: "I understand that you want to play with your cars right now and so we'll find time for that later. Right now, it is time to obey and help Mama with what I've asked you to."
7. Pray constantly.
Seriously, this is how I survive. With four liner prayers through the day. "God, give me grace." "God, give me wisdom." "God, help me here."
Serious "give me" prayers but I don't think God minds regarding the welfare and raising of our children.
Blessings,
Hannah

Discipline Part Four - Trying vs. Training

I think I stole this thought from Pastor Mike, but I'm not sure because the t.v. in the church nursery wasn't working on Saturday night and so I only caught a wee bit with wiggly children while standing in the back of the church.
I also listen to sermons online to make up for missing weekend sermons so I'm not quite sure where the quote came from.
But the phrase trying vs. training stuck with me, wherever it came from, and I've been thinking about it this week.
What view do you take?
When faced with something new or difficult do you take the view that you'll try it? Or do you take the view that you'll train for it and accomplish it?

I thought it was a great thought and I've been applying it to my life at home as a homemaker and as a Mama. I've been asking myself if I view my work with our children as "trying to teach them" or as "training them to do the right things". There is an obvious difference.
Trying leaves the results open ended and with an easy clause of "oh, I tried".
Training implies actual consistent effort and improved results over time.
Am I trying to make the littlest one use the potty? Am I training her?
Are we trying to learn how to read around here or are we training him how to read?
Am I trying to be more organized and disciplined or am I training myself to be more organized?
What situation in your life can you apply this "trying vs. training" to?
With my neighbors - am I trying to show them the love of God or am I training myself to do so by making actual efforts and doing strategic things to reach out to them?
I think that once we view things as training instead of just trying, we tend not to have a hopeless mindset when they take time or more effort than we expected.
Anyway, its been something good to mull over while cooking and cleaning and doing endless laundry in between teaching division and reading Ivanhoe with the wee ones.
The sun was out yesterday and we all had squinty eyes after our long dark winter. The brightness was spoiling us.

Have a sweet day!
Hannah

Discipline Part Three - What about Tantrums?

I always give a little giggle (or snort?)when Cultivating Home receives comments on how peaceful and serene our life is. It is a very happy life but hardly ever a quiet one. And every once in a while our little Spark decides to liven things up a bit more and let us know just how he feels about whatever is happening contrary to his will.
I am in no way an expert on the subject but here is what works for us.

1.) Remove the audience.
If we are in a public place we take the wee one away from the public. Whether this means leaving a cart full of groceries and letting the clerk know you'll be back in a while for it or a pile of library books on the counter.
If at home, putting the child in his bedroom away from siblings and letting him know he can come out just as soon as he uses his self control...
If the child tries to give himself an audience again, we pick him up and put him back in the room.

2.) We are big on teaching self control.
Before the tantrum ever happens we are always teaching our kids that God wants them to have self control and Mama and Papa want them to use self control. This applies to whining, yelling, arguing, and tantrums and a bzillion other things in life.

3.) Cut it off before it gets bad.
Pick a nice time to have a quick talk with your little one, maybe while you are cuddling on the couch or during bath time. We say, "Little Spark, you know how sometimes you get so mad that you want to yell and throw yourself on the floor? Well, you are getting to be much to big to do that so mama and Papa are going to help you use your self control. The next time you try to throw a fit, we are going to tell you to get up real quick and use your self control. I want to see how quick you can get up and do it, okay?"
The next time the tantrum starts, do this and congratulate the kiddo when he does get up and uses his big boy self control!

4.) Consequences, disciplines, corrections...
However you prefer to label it - every tantrum needs a consequence and restoration. The restoration comes with hugs and prayers and the kiddo apologizing to whoever is around for losing his temper. Lots of love here. Oodles of loving. Encouragement that the kiddo is big enough not to have to throw fits when he's upset, that he can use his big boy (girl) words to talk about what is wrong. You will love the response when you walk hand in hand back into the library to pick up your books and small one apologizes to the librarian. You'll need a spatula to scrape their jaws off the floor. Not many kids are taught to apologize, I guess.

Then the consequence. A loss of a privilege works great. What is your child's currency? Do they love dessert? Maybe the consequence for throwing tantrums in your home is no dessert. And I'm bad, real bad. That night, I'll take extra care to make a beautiful, luscious dessert. Oh, yes, I'm bad. I always tuck aside a portion for the wee one but he has to wait until the next day to have it. So I'm only half bad, right?

We've been lucky enough never to have any biters, scratchers, etc. so I have no wisdom to offer there. We have been kicked and hit. Putting the child by himself, on his bed until he calms down usually works. I'll usually sit in the doorway, quietly praying and thinking about how someday we'll laugh together over these times. The kiddo can see me and I'm close enough that its not a bother to get up and put him back on his bed if he gets up before he's settled down. If you have a child that hurts himself or herself, I'd consult your physician.

For more professional parenting wisdom:
Cloud and Townsend
Family Life Today
Focus on the Family

Discipline Part Two - The work of a laborer

Early mornings, looking out over the wheat fields,

the words Jesus spoke thousands of years ago quickly come to mind,

"the fields are ready unto harvest but the laborers are few".


And my heart turns to the application of these words in my own life.
Am I up for the work of a laborer?

Are there enough moms willing to take up the work

of hard labor in the fields around them?
I won't lie.
I'm tired.
The days are looong,

potty training two toddlers,

after visitation toddler aggression...
and the nights seem even shorter with trips to the bathroom

and pillows cushioning my round middle.

But again, am I up for the job of a laborer in the position God has called me to?

Many times I want to shake my head no, and many times during the day

I fail at being a diligent laborer.

These six kids are the field God has given me to invest in.

This home, this marriage, this life, these friendships

- all surrounding me are the field I'm to be laboring in.

Am I doing the daily work of a laborer,

sowing into their hearts goodness and strength

and the discipline that will make them strong, steady adults?

I want to.

But like any farmer with good intentions, follow-up in live actions has to take place.

The wheat languishes in the fields around us;

I cannot follow this example in the lives of our children.

And so I strive to be diligent in the small things,

tender in voice,

attentive in care,

patient in discipline.

And major in the big things,

time for me and God in the morning,

generous love,

quick forgiveness.



On my chalkboard in our dining room is my daily reminder.

Annaliese has it memorized now and someday,

no doubt, she too will rely on it as a mother.

"Come to me, all ye who labor and are heavy laden

and I will give ye rest.

Take my yoke upon you and learn of me,

for I am meek and lowly in heart

and ye will find rest unto your souls

For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Matthew 11:28-30

Discipline Part One - Patience and Gentleness

At one time or another, if you're a mama out and about with a large group of children, and you're not screaming... or yanking them about... and don't look as if your eyeballs are about to pop out - you'll hear something sugary along the lines of "oh, you must be so patient so have so many children" (this follows the question inquiring what daycare you are from). Or perhaps you've heard something similar to: "I could never have ____ children, because I don't have the patience for it", and have wanted to encourage the woman at hand that she can mother children and doesn't have to feel like a helpless or impatient woman. Maybe you've said those words yourself. Either way, I'd like to kindly shine a little light on the subject of patience and gentleness as it applies to mothers.


I strive more in our home, and pray more, for a gentle spirit, rather than a patient one. If I am allowing my child to smack me over and over or tug on my skirt and holler while I'm talking or yank items off the grocery shelf, then I am applying patience in an inappropriate manner. If I'm patiently observing behavior than hurts themselves or others (even in the long run), I'm dosing out the same inappropriate patience. Inappropriate patience runs rampant in our society. Dare I say, especially among parents?
Patience in not losing our tempers and patience for childishness is, as mothers, invaluable. Patience in allowing what will harm (short term or long term), whether because we've bought into the idea that every child deserves an unbridled freedom of expression, or because we simply don't *know* what to do to teach our children, is detrimental.


"Let your gentleness be evident to all," Phil. 4:5


I want to be a mama remembered for being gentle. When applying inappropriate patience and ignoring unruly behavior seems like an easy option (it usually is), I want to be the mother that instead quietly scoops up the child and takes them aside for a talk or appropriate discipline. James 5:8 speaks of being "patient and standing firm", a description I love. Lord, help me to be a mother that stands firm in gentleness and appropriate patience!

Discipline Introduction

We have six children in our home that are ours for good and for keeps and have had three other precious little ones here for seasons as God sent them (foster babes). The more I learn about parenting, the more I realize how little of an expert I am. I do get asked a lot of questions all the time, probably just because of our family size and because our kids are generally (yes, generally) kind and polite.
Over the next five days I've pulled together some posts I've done in the past on the subject of discipline in a Christian home that I hope will bless you and give you some ideas to impliment in your home. As always, please check everything and anything you read on parenting and make sure it lines up with the Word of God. My little disclaimer on the sidebar goes for this too - Sean is a leader in our home church, but my ideas are my own and may not be representitive of our church's.

Time

There he sits,

open palms rubbing down his knees

as he waits for her

red lipstick

and pink rouge on her wrinkled cheek

cart creaking through store

someday son,

that will be you - life deep and full

of heart memories

waiting there

for your grandma-wife in nylons

us, but faded ghosts

I wonder

what rivers will etch and carve time

spring up years later

your Papa's

reading Words at breakfast table

tow-head boy listening

or will I

and my freckled hands reach to you

just as I do now

will you draw

from a deep well of years full lived

satiated peace

this man, you,

miracle child of my warm womb

did you live life well

did you love

and laugh at the moon while you farmed

furrows in dark time

I will wait

Papa's hand in mine just around

the corner of time

for you.

Sponsor Information

I am very excited to announce that I have openings for sponsors for Cultivating Home, as I am sitting and typing this, feet up on the ottoman, babies napping ~ enjoying the rare quiet and still house.

Over the last few blogging years, I've been blessed to receive and review a myriad of great products that have benefited our family and home via blogging. As I've been asked about sponsor space, here is the inside scoop all typed out so I can tuck it away into the sidebar for those who are interested. Sponsors of Cultivating Home will be carefully approved and monitored by my husband and I, will be in line with our beliefs and will be for products or services we do (or would) use ourselves.

Here is our special rate for sponsor space:

125x125 sponsor ad is just $1.75 CPM, with an average monthly page view of 20,000 is about $35 a month.

300x300 sponsor ads are just $3.00 CPM with this introductory special and include text links at the bottom of each of Cultivating Home's posts linking to your website or etsy storefront.

Sponsor posts, a post highlighting your company, business, or product is competitively priced at $40.

As always, if you have a product you would like to see reviewed on Cultivating Home or would like to sponsor a giveaway, I'd love to chit-chat with you via email. You can contact me with the link at the top of the Cultivating Home page.

And now business aside and back to our regular programming....

The Farmer's Museum Cooperstown, NY

The Farmer's Museum and Fenimore Art Museum in Cooperstown, NY recently held a discovery day just for home educating families like ours. Families from all over central NY attended and we had a great time, as we always do when we visit the two museums. You can see some of our previous visits here, here and here.