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Jayna Fielder

@jaynafielder

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Wife, Blended Family Mama of 3, Creator of @thefielderfiles, Homeschooler, Lover of Jesus, Gardening, Sourdough, My People, ☕️, Food, 🎶 , and 💃🏼

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Today we stepped into history at Avoca Museum, and I have so much to share tomorrow.

But tonight, I’ll leave you with my favorite little bit of whimsy from the day:

Thomas Fauntleroy’s dog had a habit of napping right in the middle of the staircase. So when the house was designed, Thomas had the architect create a special spot along the stairwell balcony just for his beloved pup.

(Meanwhile, I was imagining it as some grand place to pause while guests admired your fancy Victorian dress. 💃🏼)

Our guide told us that rumor has it the spoiled pup STILL preferred his treasured spot on the stairs.

And while it’s a really cute little nook, that special spot meant more taxes.

They loved that dog enough to add square footage to the house AND pay taxes on it.

If that isn’t puppy love, I don’t know what is. by @jaynafielder

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3 days ago

Sometimes my bread turns out pretty AND delicious.
Other days it’s just edible. Today it’s both! 🥳🍁 by @jaynafielder

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4 days ago

When you buy your son a pocketknife, he might carve something he is not supposed to…

Wednesday, I walked into Evan’s room to help him move his dresser and discovered that he had carved something into the top, then tried to scrape away the evidence.

I asked what happened.

“I don’t know.”

I knew he knew.

So I took a deep breath, looked him in the eyes, and gently said, “You have a choice. You can tell me something that is not true and hurt the trust between us, or you can be honest, own what happened, and we can fix it together. I will always love you, no matter what.”

He nodded and stared at the floor, hands in his pockets. After what felt like forever, he looked up.

“Can I write it down? It’s embarrassing.”

I nodded, now wondering what this child had carved into his dresser.

He returned with red cheeks and a handwritten confession.

I read it and tried not to laugh. I will keep the carving private, but I could not hide my grin.

“Oh, buddy.” 🤭”Maybe try paper next time. Or a tree.

He apologized. We hugged.

“It’s okay. We all do silly things sometimes,” I told him. “I am so proud of you for telling me the truth.”

Then we made a plan. Once it cools down, Evan will help sand the top and stain it again. He will learn a new skill, put in the work, and hopefully remember the lesson.

I think the carving was worth the lesson.

Yes, he messed up and, for a moment, tried to hide it. But when given the choice, he chose truth.

This time, it was a dresser. Something we can laugh about, sand down, and stain again.

Later in life, the mistake may be bigger and the truth harder to say. I hope he remembers that he can come to us with red cheeks, nervous hands, and an embarrassing truth.

Because don’t we all learn some things the hard way?

Sometimes we make a mess. Sometimes we need help repairing it.

And sometimes a damaged dresser becomes the place where a child learns that consequences, forgiveness, laughter, and love can all exist in the same story. That the truth is safe here. That grace does not erase what happened, but love was never in question.

I cannot think of a more worthwhile mark to leave behind. 🫶🏻 by @jaynafielder

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9 days ago

Yesterday, I learned a valuable lesson from a fellow homeschool mama.
She had just delivered a meal to a mama walking through a difficult circumstance. She told us she hadn’t had time to make anything.
Years ago, she might have stressed over the “right” meal. She recalled rushing to make something homemade and arriving frazzled.
But this time?
She walked into Aldi, picked up a frozen lasagna, French bread, and a whole cantaloupe.
And she showed up.
She made sure that mama knew she was seen, loved, and prayed for. She gave what she could in that moment, then showed up for her own family at homeschool group, too.
I sat there thinking, “She’s quite literally a genius.”
Because how often do we want to show up for someone, but convince ourselves that what we have to offer isn’t enough?
We don’t have time for the homemade meal or perfect care package. We don’t have enough time, money, energy, or whatever else we think the moment requires.
So instead of offering what we can, sometimes we do nothing at all.
But a frozen lasagna, bread, and a cantaloupe said:
I see you.
I love you.
I’m praying for you.
You matter enough for me to show up.
And it was enough.
Period.
She loved her friend without emptying herself to do it. She still showed up for her family and had space to enjoy the gathering.
And it just so happens that her name is Joy, and it was chosen well. 👏🏻
Joy reminded us that the value of what we give isn’t measured by how much we exhaust ourselves to give it.
Sometimes our best looks homemade.
Sometimes it looks like a frozen lasagna grabbed from Aldi on the way.
Both are valuable because both say, “You matter to me.”
And the beautiful irony? While we were doing a lesson with our kids about lifting others up, Joy was living it out right in front of us.
She gave us the real-life example. Thank you, Jesus for bringing these families into our lives!
So if we’re wondering whether what we have to offer is enough today, maybe we can all take a lesson from Joy.
Give what you can.
Love people well.
Show up.
And leave enough room to receive a little joy yourself. by @jaynafielder

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16 days ago

🥚Are you an egg sinker or an egg lifter?
That was the question I asked our homeschool group this morning.
We’re reading The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place, and this week we discussed fifteen-year-old governess, Penelope Lumley.
Penelope arrives at Ashton Place with very little. She has only a few dresses, a pair of shoes, and a trunk full of books. But she brings things nobody can pack in a suitcase: intelligence, creativity, compassion, integrity, kindness, and pluck.
Then she discovers the three children she’s been hired to teach have apparently been raised by wolves.
They howl. They growl. They chase squirrels. But Penelope doesn’t respond with fear. She observes them, speaks gently, and meets them where they are.
Then she begins to build them up.
So we paired our discussion with a little SEL Science:
We dropped an egg into plain water and watched it sink. We talked about how unkind words, exclusion, embarrassment, and failure can make us feel like we’re sinking, too.
Then we stirred the water into a little tornado. The movement carried the egg upward, but when everything became still again, it sank.
Then we tried something different.
One by one, the kids read Scripture or encouraging words while we added salt.
And slowly... the egg rose.
Yes, there was science happening, because the salt increased the water’s density.
But I wanted them to see something bigger: Words have weight, too. We can use them to push someone down or help lift someone up.
So I asked, “Do you want to be an egg sinker or an egg lifter?”
Then we practiced it through teamwork with a relay race, Capture the Flag, and Secret Missions to encourage, include, help, listen, and occasionally howl like a wolf.
Did every kid fully understand the magnitude of the lesson? Probably not.
But they practiced it.
And that’s why I love learning by bringing stories to life.
We can read about kindness. We can memorize Scripture about kindness. And then we can get outside and practice being the people Scripture asks us to become.
Read it. Talk about it. Live it. This is Abide. 🫶🏻 by @jaynafielder

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17 days ago

🥹This photo popped up in my memories today and reminded me that I hadn’t shared about Hailey starting her new school year on Monday.
Fourteen years ago, she was the little girl standing in the school hallway with her backpack almost as big as she was, ready for another first day. And now, she’s walking into a classroom from an entirely different perspective. 🫶🏻
Hailey Grace will be student teaching this semester in Mrs. Lee’s Pre-K classroom at New London Academy. She’ll be working with a class of 12 little ones through December, and on Monday she got to meet a handful of them at Open House.
We are so proud of her and so excited to watch her grow through this final season of student teaching. And I already know she’s going to be a good one. Not simply because she knows how to write lesson plans or teach the standards, but because she’s already thinking about the children behind them.
She’s thinking about what each child might need from her. She’s already making plans for how she can meet them where they are, how she can create things that will help individual students learn, and how she can make her classroom a place where each little person feels seen and successful.
And I think that’s where some of the very best teaching begins. It’s not about asking every child to fit into the same little box. It’s noticing who is standing in front of you and being willing to meet them there.
It feels a little surreal looking at this picture today. The little girl carrying the Hello Kitty lunchbox is getting ready to carry the responsibility of teaching someone else’s little girl or boy.
What a privilege it is to watch your children become who God created them to be.
We are so incredibly proud of you, Hailey Grace.
Here’s to your last semester as the student, and the beginning of becoming Ms. Smith!🍎 by @jaynafielder

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a month ago

Turns out happiness as an adult still comes from playing outside with your friends and family…St. Mary’s Wilderness was beautiful this past weekend! by @jaynafielder

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a month ago

We started our 7th year of homeschooling last week. I’m pretty sure Charmin is happy about it. by @jaynafielder

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a month ago

Things That Made Me Smile Today:
We finally picked up Evan’s swim ribbons, which turned into an impromptu photo shoot. Three ribbons for third place. Four ribbons for fourth place. Somewhere between the poses and the silly faces, he flexed his arms, and we all celebrated that this season didn’t just build a swimmer. It built confidence... and a surprising amount of muscle. Zack is so proud if you can’t tell. 😂
Hailey has been working on a beautiful beaded chandelier. It’s going to be so pretty in her space!
In the garden, I harvested my first ears of sweet corn. It somehow felt bigger than three ears of corn.
A misshapen tomato that made me actually giggle, and beside it a grape-sized Mexican cucumber, tiny enough to disappear in the palm of my hand.
And when I look at all of these things, I realize they have something in common.
They were all cultivated.
The things we nurture often grow quietly, almost unnoticed. Then one day, we step back and realize they’ve become something beautiful. 🫶🏻
Thank you God for a day filled with evidence of growth. by @jaynafielder

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2 months ago

Thank You, God, for the rain!
Today’s haul isn’t even finished, and our dining table is officially disappearing beneath tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, squash, and beans.
But can we talk about these Richmond Green Apple cucumbers? 🥹🥒
I planted them because they sounded fun, but I wasn’t prepared for how adorable they would be. They look like tiny little watermelons on the vine, and when you slice them open, they make the prettiest little flower shape. They’re crisp, sweet, and might just be my new favorite cucumber.
So... what do I do tomorrow after church?
Clean my house...🥒 Or pickle all the things? 😂
I’m leaning toward pickles. by @jaynafielder

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3 months ago

We got the results from Monday’s swim meet against Falling River today, and we’re so proud of Evan!
He swam four individual events and finished with four personal bests!
50 Butterfly: -6.06 seconds
50 Freestyle: -1.84 seconds
100 Individual Medley: -1.68 seconds
50 Breaststroke: -2.42 seconds
One of my favorite things about swimming is that every race is an opportunity to compete against the person you were yesterday.
Evan, you beat the version of yourself that swam those races before. That’s what great athletes do. They keep becoming a little better every time they jump in the water. Four races. Four personal records. We are one very proud family. Always cheering you on man! 🫶🏻 by @jaynafielder

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3 months ago

I’ve never been one to love surprises, but this one was so much fun to help pull together.
It truly was a group effort by all of the girls, and I loved watching everyone’s ideas come together. The decorations were the perfect hodgepodge of colorful, quirky, and completely Kelly. Every little detail reflected the people who love her most.
Worth every secret. 🎈
Two to 21, two more to go! by @jaynafielder

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3 months ago