Hello, Reader.

LORD willing, by the time you receive this email, my family and I will be enjoying some warmer weather south of the border. We are heading to the Caribbean, but as I plan to take a break from screens while we're on our cruise, I'm queuing this week's email early to send while we're gone.

I know the main holiday most of us associate this time of year is Valentine's Day or maybe even President's Day -- I'll likely send a separate link list for both those February holidays -- but the coming month has much more to celebrate in the meantime. Enjoy!

Free resources for you this week:

• Feb . 2 - Groundhog Day - eat Groundhog pudding cups & try our Groundhog Word Scramble​
• Feb. 6 - Eat Ice Cream for Breakfast Day - study says a morning scoop aids concentration
• Feb. 12 - Abe Lincoln's Birthday - we have lots of kid-friendly ideas to help you celebrate
• Feb. 20 - National Muffin Day – bake a batch of blueberry, raisin bran, or egg muffins​
• Feb 25 - Let's All Eat Right Day - a good time for making healthy swaps for snacks & meals

What I'm reading this week:

I've had Jennifer Pepito's book, Habits for a Sacred Home, in my ever-increasing to-read stack for over a year, so it's one of the first ones I tackled after deciding not to buy any new books in 2026 until I finish the pile (or until September, whichever comes first 😉). In this beautiful book, Pepito walks readers through the process of writing a mission statement tailor-made for their own family. She's an avid reader herself, and it shows through her writing. She weaves together verses from Scripture, stories from history, and details of her own past experiences to craft a wonderful volume of encouragement for wives and mothers who want to cultivate a Christ-centered home life.

On the podcast this week:

No new podcast episode again this week, so here's another from the archives:

Loving Life at Home: Episode 83 ​HOW TO CULTIVATE CONTENTMENT​ So if you’ve ever found yourself fixating on your problems, stewing about things over which you have no control, or struggling to “rejoice in all circumstances,” here are my best, Bible-based tips for learning how to be content in all circumstances. Listen Now

Progress on last week's goals:

I accomplished almost all my goals last week: I ✅ packed for our cruise, ✅ went over lesson plans with the daughter who planned to sub for me at co-op (classes have since been cancelled due to icy weather), ✅ wrote out lesson plans for grandkids to work on while I'm gone, ✅ cleared off my closet desk, ✅ packed several fun craft projects to work on during our trip, ✅ began new drawing course with Abby (❌ although I haven't written a review yet), and ✅ made serious progress on tidying the messiest corner of our garage (but ❌ didn't finish organizing the costume buckets, mainly because I ended up raiding them for theme-night dinners aboard the ship 🥸).

Personal goals for this week:

• enjoy the remainder of our time in the Caribbean
• drop my mother off in Dallas after our cruise
• gather tax receipts for my hubby
• finish putting away/ organizing costumes
• record a new podcast
• review that new art program
• finish 4 new pages in my Bread of Heaven devotional journal

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Thanks so much for all your help! I'll be back next week with more links, reviews, and resources. If you have any special requests, please let me know. 😊