Trying something....

A few years ago, I made a paperpieced black and white quilt.  (I'll have to dig it out out of the closet and take a picture.)  My husband loves it, and it's his winter time blanket, whether when watching tv, or at night in bed.  It was fun collecting the fabrics for it.  I only used black or white printed fabrics that had cats on them.  (Not fair to describe, but not post a picture...I will do it, I promise!)

Well, I haven't been feeling overly crafty, lately. I've been over-consumed (is that even a proper use of a word?) with homeschool research and wiped out from the horribly hot summer.  And, twice a month, I clean for someone for money, so cleaning my own house for free (without the added bonus of getting to do it start to finish with no interruptions, and knowing any little cleaning I accomplish will be destroyed within hours, if not moments) has been more difficult to face.  So...no crafting, a horribly filthy house, a demanding bored 4-1/2 year old who is tired of being so cooped up from the heat, a body that is screaming for heat relief (not to mention weight gain from lack of exercise because of the...well, my complaining makes that obvious...horrible heat). 
BUT - last Sunday (already a week ago?), I pulled out my sewing basket.  Ignored the clothing that needs repairs, and pulled out fabric and paper patterns to work on another paper pieced quilt.  The difference - since I don't have a working sewing machine right now - is that I'm (gulp) attempting this by hand sewing it.

I think it'll be cute - it's going to be a baby quilt, whenever I finally am motivated enough to finish it. 
Here is one finished block:

'Til Later!

School Starts Monday!

The schools in the area we live in start on Monday, August 22nd.  A couple of our friends start kindergarten this year.  And, for the first time, my daughter has asked if she'll be going to the big schools like they are, when she goes to school.  Obviously my talks with her about homeschooling haven't really sunk in. Good to know, so we can continue the conversation about it.
For the past many many months, I've been researching curriculum for when we do start Kindergarten. I've finally decided - we will do My Father's World.  I was able to look through a binder of student kindergarten work at the homeschool convention I went to earlier in the summer.  LOVE IT!  I don't know if we'll keep that curriculum going, after kinder, but I'm excited to try it out. 
After I made that decision, I did a lot of researching online for preschool worksheets and learning how to make lapbooks, as you can see in the previous blogpost.  That moved onto some worksheet packets I downloaded from http://www.homeschoolshare.com/ and http://www.1plus1plus1equals1.com/.  I put each themed packet into envelopes:

After I got all of these organized, I tried to figure out how best to make a lesson plan.  My brain pretty much froze, until I stumbled across http://www.preschoolpalace.org/.  That got me over my planning block, and I was able to use the curriculum on this website to help with the lesson plan for us.  I'll be using some of the things from preschool palace as well as workbooks we already have, worksheets I've printed, and the worksheet packets I organized into those envelopes.  Also, being a big reader, making our lessons very literature driven and literature rich, I am using the Grade 0 reading list from http://www.amblesideonline.org/.  We went to the library, today, and came home with books to start our school year off, based on the ambleside list:

While we were at the library, Izzy picked out her bedtime storybooks.  Can you tell her favorite topic, still?

Now, I do realize that as ambitious as I feel about what we'll accomplish with preschool work, the best thing for Izzy's age is learning through play.  So there is no pressure for her, and I'll keep the pressure on myself to a minimum.  I want learning to be a fun and life-long pursuit for my sweet girl!

'Til Later!

Children's Museum

Thursday, we went to the McKenna Children's Museum in New Braunfels, TX. We went with friends, who were treating us for my belated b/day celebration.  It was very fun. I hadn't gone there with my girl since she was a toddler and could play in the 3 and under area. She's gone with her aunt, but I just haven't made the trip with her a priority.  We had a lot of fun, though.  She will be too old for it, probably, in another year or two.  But, it's still a fun and imagination boosting excursion, for now. We'll have to go back.

unfortunately, after this, my camera battery died.  Ah, well....just know it was a really fun time :)  A nice way to close out summer.  School starts here on Monday. 

'Til Later!

Long Time No See

Yes, yes....while I love to read blogs, writing them is obviously a difficult thing for me.  Ah, well....
So, to catch up anyone who cares:
Our beautiful garden - a total bust due to our drought and water restrictions.  We were skipping showers and baths and only washing laundry once a week...but we were getting very stinky, and with as little as the garden was producing, I decided better to smell good and not have people avoiding us.  I got tired of fighting the birds for my few cherry tomatoes, anyway.
But it sure was pretty when it started, wasn't it?

This summer has been super hot here in Central Texas, as it has been in so much of the country.  Triple digits for weeks in a row, and no relief in sight, per the weather forecast tonight.  yay....

We were unable to take a vacation, yet again, this year. And my husband has been working a lot, this summer.  But, Isabella and I have kept busy with friends, some swim dates, a new discovery of a craft day on Saturdays at an education store in north Austin.  We don't go every Saturday - too much gas for us to use.  But, we've been able to go whenever the craft was a theme Isabella is into.  First a jelly fish craft, then an under-the-sea collage (didn't get a picture).  And now she's very excited about an upcoming dinosaur craft.

Here is the jellyfish craft.


Oh, dinosaurs.....wow does my kiddo LOVE dinosaurs!  She can pronounce the most difficult dino names.  She loves to teach anything and everything she knows.  I love listening to her.

A new thing I am trying this summer:

I decided to make some lapbooks to use in our homeschooling.  Thanks to http://www.homeschoolshare.com/ for the ideas/printouts.  I started with Good Night Moon:

Then, of course, my next one had to be about dinosaurs!

Well, that's been about it, in addition to work and just regular lifestuff.  Will try to be better aboug taking more pictures and keeping our blog more current.  In the meantime, stay cool!

'Til next time.

DigiScrapping

One of the things I like to do is digital scrapbooking.  I like to paper scrap, too.  But, I started digi scrapping a year ago, and like doing it, when I have time. Over the weekend, the cord to my laptop broke.  So I thought I wouldn't be digiscrapping for a while, as a new cord is $30 I need for other things, right now.  But, Hubby has a new laptop - faster, more memory, etc....and..............he put my Photoshop elements on it, and said - play away.  So, I did. WOW!  Instead of taking 5 - 10 minutes to save my page, it took less than a minute.  I navigated around so quickly!  It's awesome! 
I'm on the Creative Team for A+ Designs.  The page I played with, yesterday, was to make a page for APD's new kit, Flamboyant. I think it turned out pretty cute for something I did quickly.  What do you think?

If you like the pages/elements, they are available here If you like the template (which is ADP's Round We Go), it's available here

I hope you all had a great Memorial Day weekend!
'Til Later...

Garden Gone Crazy

It's been awhile since I last posted (again! I'm great at composing blogs in my head...not so great at sitting down to type them out).

In the 2 months since we planted the garden, it has gone NUTS! These are the most recent pictures:

We've been enjoying so much lettuce and yellow squash.  And now, the green beans are producing so much, too.  The pea plants look horrible.  We're having a drought here in Central Texas, and some unusually high temperatures.  I've been trying to keep the garden watered as best I can - I use the water I wash the lettuce in to supplement any short waterings I do.  I just dump the water from the rinse bowl into a bucket and haul it out - feels like pioneer times.  Haha!  But, the peas plants get browner and drier.  The funny thing is, the browner they get, the more pods are showing up, and the bigger the peas are getting.  The pods look terrible, but the peas are really yummy - so far, anyway.  Probably won't end up with all that many, but that's okay.

Here is what I picked today - 22 ounces/2 bowls full of lettuce, today, alone!  

See, the peas, once they're out of the pods, look so pretty!

Well, tomorrow is one of the two days I work each month, so it's off to bed I go. 

I hope Memorial Day weekend is a good one for all - hopefully this crazy, tragic weather is ending for the year. Praying so much and so often for those who have been affected by all the tornadoes. 

'Til Later!

My Silly, Sweet, Precious girl

Hubby bought a new weed whacker (okay, probably not the official name, but it's what I call it), as our old one died a sad death (think flames shooting out of motor). Is there anything better than a nice big box?

One day, a couple of weeks ago, our former MOPS group hosted a Pajama Party, in the morning, for the kiddos. We were invited to go, so we did! Though Isabella wouldn't wear pajamas. To her credit, she doesn't wear pajamas when she sleeps, either. She picks out the clothes she wants to wear the next day and sleeps in those. Her own very efficient idea. The first thing the kids did, at the party, was decorate a box for the loveys they brought.

Isabella made sure her flowers had butterflies on them.

After the boxes were decorated and the loveys set into them, it was time for a parade (oh, and notice, even if she wasn't wearing PJ's, Isabella did wear her new slippers):

Later, that same afternoon, Isabella and I headed into the City for a service project with a volunteer organization we're part of. Izzy fell asleep, on the drive up. Since it was a busy morning, and I wanted her happy at the service project, I let her stay asleep on the drive. Normally, this isn't allowed, as we like a somewhat consistent bedtime, and car naps (even 5 minutes) then result in an extremely late bedtime (ie: Mommy ends up going to bed right after Izzy, and there's no time for TV and relaxing with Daddy). Isn't she just precious?

Our service project, this time, was assembling sandwiches at a food kitchen for the homeless. Isabella had a blast, making the sandwiches. All I did was get things ready for her - she assembled all of the ones we made, herself.

After each sandwich was put together, she'd pat it before putting it in the bin. She said she was giving it love, so that the people eating them the next day, would feel the love. Again...isn't she just precious?

Yes, I know...all Mommies feel that way....it's the way it's supposed to be though! :)

'Til Later, Gator!