The Surly Housewife

10 Things I Have Learned about Grief and Loss

Coping with death and grief, 10 things I have learned.

Coping with death and grief

I started this blog on August 19 in hopes of creating some good karma for the day. My father-in-law died on August 19th, 2004, and it has been a hard day for us ever since. I know it’s just a day, a number, and the 19th doesn’t make him any more dead than any other day of the year. But it’s still brutal. The teens of August are miserable for me. The 19th. It’s the last teen so it seems endless til the day arrives, we grieve once again, and then life seems normal again. read more

Activities and Books for the Letter D

Letter D activities, books, crafts, and ideas for homeschoolers.

Letter D activities for preschool. A fun and hands-on way for toddlers, preschoolers, and kindergartens to learn and practice the alphabet.

My homeschool motto is “child-led, lots of books, and lots of play! If you are looking for a similar style of homeschool, this blog post is for you! I provide a simple and easy way to implement some school work with just one book and one activity you can do with your child 3 days a week.

Our preschool “curriculum” was super simple and followed the “Letter of the Week” format. At ages 3 and 5, we spent about 30 minutes to an hour each day doing a few sit-down activities and crafts. Most of the time they were playing together, but we also read books, went to the library, and spend time with our homeschool group. read more

Homeschool Life, Letter of the Week, Literature-Based Curriculum

Activities and Books for the Letter C

Letter C activities for preschoolers

The first father-daughter day my oldest and my husband spent together was going to the movie Cars 2. And I think for that reason the letter C will always have a special place in my heart. Until the movie Frozen came out, my girls were fully aboard the Pixar train: Cars, Toy Story, and A Bug’s Life were played on repeat!

Our preschool “curriculum” was super simple and followed the “Letter of the Week” format and of course our Letter C would include Cars. It’s one of the many things I love about homeschooling, including things your child loves into everyday learning experiences. Homeschooling a preschooler doesn’t have to complicated or overly ambitious. It’s my motto that all you need is lots of books and lots of play! read more

Food and Drink, Home & Family, Marriage

Healthy Lunch Ideas for your Husband

Healthy lunch ideas to pack for your husband!

healthy lunch options to pack for your husband title image

One of the benefits of being a homeschooling family is no lunches to pack!! In fact, Harley makes lunch for her and her sister everyday for a small fee.

The girls and I may eat lunch at home, but I still have to pack a lunch for my husband. Partly because I enjoy it, and partly so he can spend time with the kids before work. I also have become pretty good at it, so I am going to let you in on some of my secrets to help other parents with lunches for themselves and/or their kids. read more

Book Lists, Hobbies, Self-Care, Surly's Reading List

5 Nonfiction Books for Fiction Lovers

5 nonfiction books for fiction lovers that keep the pages turning!

If you love to read fiction, but need a nonfiction book to mix things up? Check out this post for 5 nonfiction books for fiction lovers!

I love to read. During the summer of 2016, I was really able to catch up on my reading list since my kids wanted to go to the pool everyday. I literally sat in a lawn chair for almost the whole summer. It was glorious. I am an avid fiction reading. I love mysteries, novels, suspense, young adult literature, and so on and so on. But every once in a while, I need to change things up and read an awesome nonfiction book. A book with a great story, excellent point of view, and keeps the reader engaged. read more