Hello Reader,

Happy May Day!

Our family is in the middle of a long road trip right now, heading to Yellowstone today to hopefully see Old Faithful erupt. Which she has done every 90 minutes or so for centuries. Don't you love that kind of dependability?

That's a character quality worth striving for!

No, I don't mean blowing off steam every hour and a half. 🤯 I mean faithfully doing what God created you to do, day in, day out, without fail. ❤️

For me, that means being the best wife and mother I can be to my wonderful family. Homeschooling my kids. Writing when I can. And glorifying God in everything I do -- including celebrating special monthly holidays like the ones in this week's link list. 🎉

Free resources for you this week:

• May 1 - Frequent Flyer Day – here's how we earn free airline tickets w/o flying frequently
• May 5 - Cinco de Mayo – a great day for enjoying with the World’s Best Pico de Gallo!
• May 10 - Clean Your Room Day – give kids guidance with a Bedroom Inspection Checklist
• May 19 - May Ray Day – these 50 Fun Things to Do Outdoors will help you soak in the sun
• May 21 - International Tea Day – try our High Tea Word Find at your next tea party
• May 25 - Brown Bag It Day – for crafty ways to repurpose paper bags, check out this post
• May 27 - Memorial Day - we offer a wealth of resources for observing Memorial Day

What I'm reading this week:

We've listened to several books during our present road trip, but the most enjoyable so far has been an adaptation of Jules Verne's Around the World in 80 Days, featuring the voices of 2½ dozen talented actors. This trilling adventure story details a time-bound wager Phileas Fogg made to circumnavigate the globe. Would he make it in time, despite experiencing setbacks and delays at every turn? The suspense kept us all on the edge of our seats.

What we're eating this week:

We packed some picnic food to eat on our roadtrip, including a double batch of fudge brownies (minus the gooey icing), and we've been staying in hotels that offer free breakfasts, but at least one meal a day we've been eating out. To get the most bang for our buck, I pick restaurants that either accept restaurant.com certificates or give us five airline miles for dollar spent -- or both!

On the podcast this week:

Loving Life at Home: Episode 42 TRAVELING WITH CHILDREN Over the years, our family has found ways to make traveling with children more enjoyable, economical, educational, and easy. Listen to this week’s podcast for a treasure trove of tips you can use on your next family vacation. Listen Now

Progress on last week's goals:

I had a pretty easy to-do list last week, which made completing it easy: I successfully ✅ memorized Galatians 5:19-25 (and taught it to the kids in the car with me), ✅ made some great memories with my family, ✅ posted vacation photos on Instagram, ✅ added a new Reading Rewards Print Pack to our growing online shop.

Personal goals for this week:

• admire several more National Parks
• visit two more state capitols
• get capitol passport files ready to share
• create another monthly Bible memory challenge for my family
• finish 7 more Spanish lessons with kids and grandkids on the road