A Two Year Wait

I waited until I could wait no longer. We put our tile floors in two years ago this spring. I scrubbed my floors on my hands and knees yesterday because with 3 kids and dogs sometimes a mop just isn't enough. While down there I could not stand to look at my unfinished floors any longer. You see when we put in the floors we decided we wanted heftier baseboards not just the standard construction grade that was there. D and a friend did the floors and D said he would put back in the baseboards. As you can tell by my title in two years it still was not done. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my husband, and he does so much around the house for me. Sometimes however he forgets the last 10%. So after a two year wait I took matters into my own hands. I put those blooming baseboards in myself. Now to do the rest of the down stairs....yeah we had hardwood put in too over a year ago every where else and those baseboards are unfinished too. I LOVE YOU D, know?!


And here is a quick picture of Bain on the left and Piper on the right, just because I think they are cute. They have become the best of friends. They are our his and hers dogs. His he uses for duck hunting, mine just cause she is feisty and cute and plays well with the kids. Bonus both are groomed dogs, which means minimal to no dog hair in the house!!! After having a husky this is a requirement of all animals that might reside in my home.

Have a great weekend!!!

Finished

Here is the doll for Lillian. I made her all flesh toned so that she can have removable clothes. I think she looks a bit like Lucy from the Peanuts. I hope she loves her though. I also gave her an outtie belly button. My fingertips are sore from the small hook I had to use, but other than that, it was a very easy pattern to follow

Gift

I am working on a gift for my girlfriends little girl. This is the Vicky doll from Pepika. I am modifying it a bit so that Lillian can take her clothes on and off. I also opted for french knot eyes instead of the plastic ones she suggests. I just love the nose detail. I will be sure to post a finished photo before Tripp gives it to her on Sunday. I also got the hats finished that I was working on at Starbucks. I am working on a great hexagon granny afghan to use up some of my excess yarn. I am making it for our bed. I need to post a photo of it, I work on a few at night before I go to sleep. Hopefully I will have it finished before the year 2010. I am on a crocheting roll.

On a side note, by artisan bread didn't turn out as great as I was hoping for. I am starting all over again with Mac Aurthur organic flour. Will let you know how it turns out.

Hope you are having a great day!!

Small Moments

My girlfriend LeAnne and her family welcomed a new baby boy into the world on Thursday. I am pleased to introduce Carter Owen. He is beautiful, his hair is unreal and he smells like heaven. Oh how I miss little baby parts. You guys are awesome!!



I had a quiet mid morning today. I indulged in some crochet at the local Starbucks. I of course had my usual Iced Chai. It was great to sit for about 45 minutes of undisturbed crocheting. Check out my hook, it is bamboo. My parents got me a whole set for Christmas. They fall into a close second place to my husbands surprise gift of a family photo book he put together all on his own that I LOVE immensely. If you have never crocheted with bamboo before I can't recommend it enough, they rock! Mom got mine at Joanns sizes e-k. Did I mention I love my bamboo hooks??

Artisan Bread

*my "mother" just after stirring in the flour and water for the day.

I just got the current edition of Mary Janes Farm magazine. I love seeing it in my mailbox. This issue is all about bees. I am now intrigued by beekeeping. I am starting to do research on how to keep a hive. For those of you who do not know, I live in a community with an HOA, that I loathe by the way. I think if it is behind my 6 foot privacy fence and doesn't stink or make any more noise than the neighborhood dogs it should be fair game. Please refer back to this post. Needless to say we will be getting our girls back in just a few short weeks. Oh Happy Day! And now to make them love me even more I am wanting to get a beehive. Oh I know my husband just loves when I have new plans.

Okay now that I have gotten totally off subject let me tell you about the bread recipe they have featured. It is a no-knead artisan bread that takes 1 minute a day and 5 minutes on Saturday. You let it sit on your counter and scoop 2 cups out on Saturday to make your bread. What I love is that all you add is organic flour and distilled water. You do not need to add yeast because with the organic and distilled it is able to naturally create its own. When you go to make your loaf of farm house bread the only other thing you add is 3/4t salt and 1t honey a little more flour and that's it. This is my first attempt, so I will keep you posted on how it turns out.

Garden Journal

So blogging twice in one day usually doesn't happen but I just had to share my find today. After school this morning I had a few hours to go off on my own. I got to spend a few hours just perusing around Barnes and Nobles which was a total treat. Then I went to Michaels to satisfy my addiction to yarn. While there, in the dollar bins I found the above Garden Journal for 5 bucks. It is perfect. It has calendars, planting grids, garden notes, photos, and wish list notes. It also has pockets on each tabbed section for slipping little pieces of papers or empty packets. It's great!!!!

WIP

My clutch that I am working on for the upcoming cruise my amazing hubby is taking me on. I'm not sure I am loving the green. It seemed much more mellow last night when I was working on it. Today in the morning light it is quite neon. Still debating...

Absent

I have totally bailed on my blog. Since the last post it has been a flurry of getting ready to start our new school work. What a difference an organized curriculum makes. I know they are not for everyone and they might not even be for us forever. Right now though, where I am on this homeschooling adventure, it was totally what I needed. I was just feeling so lost. To be honest, I wasn't doing bad on my own. The difference now though is I am reading to the kids and they are enjoying it and engaging in conversations about what we have read. It is great. I do spend more time in the school room, but I love that too. I feel present finally in what is going on. Avery still amazes me with how smart and focused she is. Then when I thought for sure that Keegan was not absorbing any of it and I was ruining him for later learning, he pulled another trick out of his hat. He sat down yesterday and decided to do math. He counted the objects and wrote the number for how many of each. I was blown away. I didn't even know he could recognize that many numbers. He doesn't like to perform for me. Since he is not quite 5 I have not pushed school time on him, cause technically he doesn't need to start until he is 7. I figured he would catch on when he was ready. Who knew he had been listening all along!!!

Virtues

Do you know how they say "Patience is a virtue"?! Well let me just state that this is one place I will probably never be virtuous. I ordered my Sonlight curriculum last monday, and it was suppose to be here TODAY. Well it is 8:07pm and still no box. I have been pacing like someone waiting for a baby to come and have come to the conclusion that the box is not coming today...

On to my thoughts for this year. I wander over to Skylark once in awhile to see what words of wisdom she might have to say about homeschooling or God or both. Well she posted a great post about focus and a list that followed about what to (let me interrupt this post to say it is 8:13pm and my package just arrived!! The Lord wanted me to realize when i feel like I can wait no more sometimes I still need to wait for his timing not mine. I told the fedex man I could hug him.) focus on in the following year. Follow the link to read her words but what I got out of it was that I need to be content with what God has given me in my life. Not to make resolutions for things I do not have, but learn to be happy with what I do. At least that is what I took from it, you might see something different all together. So here is her list that I have printed out, laminated, and stuck on my fridge to read daily.

These verse topics are referenced (with much appreciation) from a Mars Hill Seattle Women's Event.

My role and duties entail:

Child rearing~ Genesis 1:28 "God blessed them and said to them "Be fruitful and increase in number, fill the earth and subdue it.'"
Training and Teaching Children~ Proverbs 27:8 "She speaks with wisdom and faithful instruction is on her tongue."
Making sure my husband is welcomed (and I would add cared for, honored in general)~ Proverbs 27:8 'Like a bird that strays from its nest is a man who strays from his home.'
Caring for the Diet and Nutrition in my home~ Proverbs 31:14-15 'She is like the merchant ships, bringing her food from afar, she gets up while it is still dark;she provides food for her family and portions for her servant girls.'
Stewardship and the management of our resources~Proverbs 31:16 'She considers a field and buys it; out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.'
The Clothing of my family(physical and spiritual through prayer)~ Proverbs 31'When it snows, she has no fear for her household, for all of them are clothed in scarlet.' I have found that this is 99% preparation and planning for me...
Home Decor and organization-creating an atmosphere where relationships can flourish~ Proverbs 31:22 'She makes coverings for her bed; she is clothed in fine linen and purple.'
Hospitality Acts 5:42 'And everyday, in the temple and from house to house, they kept right on preaching and teaching Jesus Christ.'
1 Peter 4:8-10 'Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another...be hospitable to one another without complaint.

I think this is a pretty awesome list. It is something I am striving for in the upcoming year!! Now I'm off to open my BOX!!!!!!!!!

We're Back in the Saddle Again...

** I obviously need to work on my food photo technique.

Happy New Year!! Today we started our second half of the year. We took a month off for Christmas. What I thought would be a fun relaxing time turned out to be too long I think. I will reevaluate the time span next year. There is a lot to be said for a consistent routine. I do not care if you are sending your child off to public school or homeschooling, that first day back is a huge relief. The kids just function better when they know what will happen next. I am "patiently" waiting for my new Sonlight curriculum to arrive. It should be here tomorrow. I bit the bullet and bought the box curriculum. I know my limitations and while planning our first half of the school year was exciting this past summer, I was dreading having to figure out the rest of the year. Maybe when they are all at school age I will feel a little more eager, but for now I will give the generic box school a try. Can't wait to have that box in my hands though because we are only doing math and a supplemental reading comp while waiting its arrival.

So in the spirit of getting back into a routine I also restarted using menus4moms(which explains the random food picture above). I have become quite lazy with dinner these days and I have to be honest, lunch also. It can be a big challenge to come up with a variety of meal choices for dinner let alone throwing lunch planning into the mix. So this was our first meal of the week from the lovely free meal planner that they send you weekly. Keegan ate two plate fulls and nothing was left when he was done. I realize that my kids must have been craving the same thing. There is only so much drive thru you can take til you get burnt out. So for dinner tonight we had cheeseburger pie, cottage cheese with pineapples, and salad. It was a nice change. Check out the site I promise it takes a lot of stress off not needing to come up with your own meal plan, and they even give you are shopping list to make it that much easier.

I hope you all had a great holiday season and are looking forward to what the New Year might bring. For me it is bringing a new focus in my life. I hope to share it with you tomorrow.