Tag Archives: About the House

Atop the Table

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So, for the past ten months we’ve been crammed around our six foot table.  Okay, well, it hasn’t been ten months.  Bryant has only been eating upright for around five months or so…so it’s been five months.  Even so, we were a bit crammed before he joined us.

See?

Yep, Bryant’s off in the corner.  Mark’s squeezing in for space with Ceili Rain.  I squeeze in with Liam.  Zoe fights with Josiah for elbow room.  Dinner time was quite interesting.

We were blessed with our last trip to Ge and Granddaddy’s, however…with an auction find of a table!

Yes, it looks small, but it has two leaves and with the sides out, it’s seven feet long and a few inches wider than our previous one.  And, we also got the chairs that match it.  Six to be exact!  And, we found two more very sturdy chairs to replace our kitchen chairs that were falling apart. I was excited!  And the style was perfect.  All the larger tables I had looked at (both new and used) were way too formal.  We have an eat-in kitchen.  That’s it.  Formal just doesn’t go with an eat-in kitchen area.  At least in my opinion.

Now, please, don’t freak out.  The table and chairs had a beautiful stain on them, but it was peeling in places and something had to be done.  After researching the furniture (it’s Heyword Wakefield, c. 1989), I realized that, given the proper facilities and  if I chose for children not to be anywhere near it, I could sand it down, refinish it and sale it for a lot of money.  I know this. And after sanding it down in upper 90 degree weather, I still knew it.  But I also knew that I had not the time nor the place to do that.

So, I did the next best thing.  I painted it.

And I got help too:

Those are paint shirts…please don’t think I let my boys run around in shirts with extra head holes.

In my quest to find the perfect colors to paint it, I discovered a great idea.

Tinted chalkboard paint!  I know it’s cheesy but my kids love to draw, write, and talk!  What better way than to have a chalkboard table top.  Yes, it’s a little messy but it cleans up well.  I’m sure at some point we’ll have to recoat it.

To make the chairs match the table, I painted the slats with chalkboard paint. So, when company comes (and I remember), I can give assigned seats!

We also added a checkerboard (okay two, I misread the google post and made the board twice as long as it should have been).  That checkerboard has already been the scene for many a battle!  Do you see my jars?  Old glass food jars (cleaned, of course).  The jar on the right has buttons…aka our checker pieces…and they work well too.  The other is full of chalk.  Note to self:  When using a light colored chalkboard paint do not use dark black or brown on the chalkboard…it’s the dickens to get up.

Confession time:  I was really iffy about the tan on the top.  However, we’ve had a white table top before (see above) and it is not pretty when it comes to stains.  So, I went with the tan.  And, as it turns out, I really like it.

Ceili Rain is enjoying it too…she just has to learn that chalk, and only chalk, can go on the table!

Here’s some FYI:  There are a few types of colored chalkboard paint.  We used the tintable that Rustoleum makes because I could purchase it locally.  To do the tabletop and chairs, I used one can of paint with a little left over.  It can be tinted in thirteen different colors.  Not sure why you can’t pick from a color swatch, but that’s something for a seasoned veteran of chalkboard paint to ask, not me.  Oh rolling it with a small nap gives the best finish.

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How Does Your Garden Grow???

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These are a month later, but here nonetheless!  Mid May I realized our travels were done and I had not planted my summer garden!  Agghhh!  Last year, Papa was a big help in teaching us how to garden.  Now, with me not pregnant or with a newborn, I wanted to venture out and try my hand at it on my own. 

Anyway, at church we were discussing not having tomatoes, and our pastor’s wife mentioned she had seen tomato plants for fifty cents a piece.  I kid you not!  I was stoked and so were several other ladies.  That afternoon, I trekked to Lowe’s and bought thirty-six plants.  Not all for me though.  Those would never fit in my Little Garden Spot.  I kept six and handed out the rest to those who had asked for them but couldn’t make it there.  I also wanted to try my hand at other things.  So, I picked up an okra plant (I really wanted two but I only found one), and two banana pepper plants (I really wanted a squash but they were all gone).  Oh, and two blueberry plants.  Thus, completes our summer garden. 

Mainly, that’s it because that’s all we had room for.  Our Spring garden is still going.

We’d heard that the potatoes were ready to pick when the plants flowered.  We noticed they were flowering and when we went to plant the summer we decided to check on the potatoes. 

And this is where Zoe learned that potatoes grow under the ground.  When I dug my hand in and pulled up the plant she totally freaked out and thought I was just tearing up the plant and angry.

And we did get a few potatoes but, well, you can see in the pictures the size of them.

Zoe was proud of those baby potatoes.  Me, not so much.  So, in keeping with my hands on learning style, I put the plants back in the ground to see if some of them would get bigger.  Since we only had three and we’re all learning.  What can it hurt???

I’ll give them a few more weeks and see where we are.  I also need to run out with my camera and get a couple more pictures.  The tomatoes are looking great!

Want to see how other gardens are growing?  Check them out at Smockity Frocks!

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Skirt Issues

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So, around Easter time, I was ready with a pattern and some gorgeous fabric to make a skirt for me.  Unfortunately, my gorgeous fabric was found before the pattern and I didn’t even think to take into account the embroidery already on it.

With less than two weeks until Easter, I was sitting on my floor with my fabric spread out brainstorming what to do.

Then I hit the internet and searched and found a great website about how to make a skirt using your favorite skirt.

It was so great, I can’t find the website now.

But, let me tell ya this, if you’ve made a skirt before, then it’s a piece of cake to make.

Here’s what I did in a nutshell.  I took my  most favorite skirt of all time (found at Goodwill no less).

Isn’t it gorgeous…and because of all the beautiful colors any top will go with it!  It’s a great skirt.  I’ll cry when I’ve worn it so much and it just falls to pieces.

Anyways, I folded it in half.  And cut out two panels following along my favorite skirt (on the fold of the fabric)

This was a learning experience because I’ve never done borders on fabric before.  I did goof a little but now I know.

After that, I just sewed it like a regular skirt.  I added the zipper in on the side and some lining to help with the modesty issue.  It’s linen fabric and a little thin.

I wish I could get step by step instructions, but honestly, I have no clue how I did it.  I followed some of the tutorial I found online and used some wisdom gained from sewing zippers with lining. 

And I goofed on it a little but not so much that anyone will notice.

Oh, do you want to see the final results?

That’ll come tomorrow!

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Merry Christmas…to me :)

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As a Christmas present to me in 2010, Mark gave me a block of wood and cement.  Which meant, I was finally getting the deck I’ve been longing for.  His parents came over shortly after Christmas and his dad helped draw out plans for the deck. 

And now the time is here…it’s being built.  Although we had parents who had wanted to help, their schedules got ahead of them, so Mark is doing a lot of the work on his own.  We’re hoping to have Papa come and help with the finishing touches soon though!

So here’s the progress…

Before (Yes, I actually remembered a before!)

 All children were removed from steps before building began.

Laying over in that heap of pillows is my new patio furniture (okay, it’s new to me).  I was able to purchase it for under $100 from someone who was moving out of the country.  The table was a little rusty so that meant I got to get creative!  I’ll share my finished project soon!

Back to the deck…
Here’s what it looked like at the end of April:

Starting to frame it out.
And at the end of May:

He hasn’t put the decking on…that’s just the plank so we can get out into the backyard (can anyone guess what my boys will be playing tomorrow?).  But, the framing is done and the joists are in!
I still contend that I’m married to a Super Man!  He did all of this himself!  Please also keep in mind that he is working on this when he gets home from work and then on days off…which have been very few with all of our other activities and traveling going on….told ya…Super Man.

His goal before Papa comes is to get the decking down (and he’s hoping to enlist a friend one afternoon so it goes quickly) and then have Papa help with the railings and steps (and I’m hoping they can work in a built in bench too).

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In and Out

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So, last week we finished up our school year.  And this week we’re taking it easy.  Ya know, just relaxing and hanging out before we start back up.  Not doing much…whatever.

I am more busy now than when the kids are actually doing school.  Zoe announced Sunday that her church dresses were shrinking!  I think she’s just secretly taking growth pills.  So, we traipsed to the fabric store, found a (what I hope) is a simple pattern and picked one up for Ceili Rain too.  I really need to just replace my dryer since the girls’ clothes keep shrinking like this.

We’ve also got birthday presents to purchase (all total, there are about 16 birthdays we “celebrate” between May 1st and September 1st), plants to plant and dig up (I planted potatoes this year and the flowers bloomed which is supposed to indicate they’re ready), a house to clean, swimsuits to sew (for me…finished up Ceili Rain’s yesterday and it is Cute with a capital C), sewing repairs to make…

Okay, I could go on and on.  So, to celebrate our week “off,”  my blogging will be few and far between.  And I won’t apologize for it either!

I really am grateful I am so busy with these little ones.  God has truly blessed us!

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Bumps Bruises and Burns…Oh My!

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Last Monday night was date night.  And this is how it started…
Sunday, I’m a little queasy and not feeling quite right.  Mark felt the same on Saturday but after a few hours felt better and chalked it up to being out in the heat working.  We both dismiss it and decide to continue with our plans to go out.

Monday rolls around and I still don’t feel too well.  Mark’s a little queasy at this point but we both are determined to celebrate our 15 year dating anniversary. 

I decide to get fancy and actually cook on date night.  After the designated time in the oven the chicken wasn’t done, it was after 5 and I still had to feed Bryant.  I got Bryant “tanked up” ran to the closet to get dressed and left Mark to keep an eye on the chicken. 

As I’m trying to get ready, I heard a yell and thud and lots of commotion in the kitchen followed by Bryant’s cries.    I run in to see Zoe holding Bryant and Mark trying to get to him.

Bryant was sitting at the play kitchen having a good ol’ time.  Mark went to check on the chicken in the oven.  When he pulled it out (it was in a 9X13 dish on top of a cookie sheet), the cookie sheet slipped and tilted and the baking dish bumped out and fell on to the floor…and slid across the floor towards Bryant.  It slid, ya’ll.  Bryant was sitting a good distance away from the oven too.  Upon our examination, we thought he may have been burned on his leg.  That was not the case though.  But we didn’t find out until the next day.

While all this is going on, Liam yells at the top of his lungs and comes running down the hallway.  I think he’s just frustrated about something (because that’s the kind of kid he is) and sent him back to his room to cool off.  Bryant gets calmed down and I head to the closet to get myself ready.  Liam finally walks in while I’m putting on make-up and announces,
“I’ve got my self-control mommy.”
“Oh good babe.  What’s wrong?”
“I fell and hit my head on the metal thingy on Ace’s bed.”
 Believe it or not, I did stop what I was doing and give him a hug and talked to him quickly.  He was good to go.

About five minutes later we’re waving goodbye to the babysitter and the kids.  I hugged Liam and he flinched.  I rubbed his head and, sure enough, he had a goose egg on the back of his head.  He said it hurt but we checked for signs of a concussion and he had none.  That kid’s got a hard head.

Mark and I tried hard to have an enjoyable date.  And we did…when we weren’t moaning about how bad we felt or running to the bathroom. There’s no telling how many people we infected that night!

Tuesday morning dawned with me even more sick than before.  I got Bryant up to nurse him, in between bathroom trips, and noticed a nice blister on his hand.  He had not gotten burned on his leg but on his hand.  Since he had his nine month check up that day, I saved my call in to the doctor for another crisis.

Doctor B said it was a 2nd degree but it wasn’t deep, nor large enough to warrant a trip to the burn center.  They did their best to wrap it with gauze and treat it in house.  And we were told what to look for for an infection.  I was told to keep it wrapped up to prevent infection.  Dr. B also reassured us that those accidents happen and relayed a story of her toddler standing beside her and grabbing the iron that was a safe distance away.

And now I ask, do you know how to wrap a baby’s hand and how to keep the bandage on?  Because I do…now.  Here’s my secret:

See ya gotta wrap the gauze between his thumb and pointer finger.  And then around and then between his pinky and fourth finger and then around and then between his fourth and third finger and then around and then tape it.

But that’s not all.  All no!  That is not all.  The final touch…

A glove.
Oh, let’s just say it’s our tribute to the late “great” King of Pop!  And let me tell ya, that glove can, in no way, hinder this little man from climbing, eating, and doing other 9 month old things.
If that wasn’t enough.  Tuesday found us praying hard for our family and friends in Alabama.  We also praised God when one of the larger tornadoes missed our family by about five miles.
I’m not done.
Thursday night, Ceili Rain and I were playing.  I was laying down and she was in front of me.  She threw her head back (as only a toddler can do…full force of her body behind it) and whammed into my front tooth.  Luckily she didn’t catch the edge…just the main part.  So, no damage was done to her.  Just amazingly unbelievable pain to me.  After much calling and waiting, I was able to see a dentist on Friday and learn that it was just badly bruised and to be easy with it the next few days.  
I’m not done.
After returning from the dentist.  I was visiting with Tracy, who braved my children for a little while.  Zoe was downstairs doing cartwheels (a newly acquired skill).  We were up in the kitchen or somewhere.  We heard Zoe scream and run.  I went after her and she was laying on her bed hyperventilating.  Upon inspection, I found a nice gash in her side.  One of her cartwheels landed her on the wooden toy box and left a large scrap on her side.  Mark checked it out and we both noticed it wasn’t deep so we bandaged with tape and gauze and went on.
That night I went to take the tape off and saw red all around it.  We both panicked.  First thoughts, it’s blood…that much blood is not good, maybe we should take her to the er to have it stitched up.  Second thoughts, it’s a rash.  Zoe’s allergic to tape.  And finally, realization.  Zoe was wearing a pinkish red shirt.  The lint from the shirt stuck to the tape.  Phew!
And that was what we did last week.
On another wonderful note, we are over the stomach bug and it doesn’t seem to have taken anyone else hostage.  
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Homeschooling Young ‘uns (4 and 5 years old)

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Sorry it’s taken so long to get back on this.  It was a great, busy, and sickie Resurrection weekend.

Soooo, I’ve given you all the juicy details on how we school our little ones under four.

For the over four crowd we have two main goals:
1.  Teach them to read.
2.  Increase their critical thinking skills so that they can read easier and learn easier.

Here’s what we do.

We teach phonics.  Specifically, I’ve been successful (all of two times and now with the third) with Abeka phonics.  It’s structured (which I need) and it’s Christian (well, as Christian as it can be when it’s teaching a says “a” as in apple).  Oh, and it typically only takes 15 to 20 minutes a day to do.

I’ve found that it’s easier to wait and start phonics when my kids have learned to recognize all their letters.  Although, Abeka’s phonics does teach letter recognition.  I also look for readiness signs in things they do:  recognizing letters on signs, pretending to read a book, sitting with a book and actually turning the pages (not ripping them out), coloring in the lines, drawing bodies when drawing people (not just heads with arms and legs coming out of them).  And, I can usually see those things happening around 4.  So, we start up Abeka’s K4 phonics.

And I’m mean, since I always have someone who is coming up about to use it, I don’t let the kids write in the readers or other activities.  Which means, I’ve gotten my money’s worth out of it.  So, there’s a money saving tip for ya!

If a child’s just not ready, we’ve experimented with other things.  I have flashcards that they use to recognize letters.  These can be done with an older sibling or with me cuddling up on the couch.  We work through letter craft sheets.  And we continue to work on our skills of listening and sitting and “doing school.”

Mark and I both feel that once our children learn to read, they are ready to learn just about anything.  Being that we have reading in our blood (my mom’s an English teacher, Mark’s mom’s been a librarian), reading is just that important to us.

We also see how important it is to develop the kids critical thinking skills.  It really is useful in problem solving and pretty much every activity known to man.   I love Developing the Early Learner to help us with that.  It’s a set of four workbooks that work on developing different fine and gross motor skills on a preschool level.  We’ve used it successfully with two kids.  Liam has gone through it, but may go through it again after a break or maybe not at all.  His brain is definitely wired differently than his older brother and sister so we’ll just wait and see.

Once our kids turn four or five we add in Saxon Math K.  It’s really written on a kindergarten level and the children seem to enjoy that time.  For math readiness, I look for a  lot of the reading skills as well as some number reasoning skills.  I also look to see if they can count past ten and recognizing numbers.  If they can do those things, then we’re good to go.  Liam started Math at four and has picked up on it quickly.  Ace started at four and Zoe started at five, so they are in the same math even though they are in two separate grades.  It’s awesome not having to teach a ton different maths although that may change in the future depending on how quickly or slowly they pick up on things.

All told, a four or five year old in our home spends about 30 to 45 minutes of their day “doing school.”  The rest is spent in constructive play and doing chores, etc. 

I read at breakfast and lunch and expect all the children to sit at the table while I’m reading.  It’s good practice for worship and when we need to sit still and listen.  I’m praying, they pick up on a thing or two while they sit!

Will this look different when Bryant comes on up and is four and five?  Probably!  Although, maybe not…it’s just a wait and see and the beauty of homeschooling is that I can change and adapt to the specific needs of my kids!

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15 Years Ago..

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Giveaways going on now!  Don’t forget to sign up to enter here and here. 

Fifteen years ago today, I had a first date with a very handsome man (okay, boy, he was sixteen).  When our date was over, I knew I was going to marry him.  

Fifteen years later and I’m still dating that very handsome man!  I’m so blessed to call him my husband and father of my children.  I love him more each day.

And now the story:

Our first date was my senior prom.  Yep.  We say do it big and pretty or go home!  He asked me about month before the prom.  By then, I had already picked out my dress and was either going with the man (yeah, I don’t want to talk about that) that I was dating or go with a group of friends.  I was leaning more towards the friends anyway.  However, Mark sort of asked me in his homeroom class (which happened to be my mom’s class) in a rather non-chalent way.  I responded nice and calmly.  And then ran to tell anyone and everyone I could.  I was thrilled!  I wanted to date him seven months prior and he pretty much refused (in his nice way) since I was what he considered to be “hippie.”  Hehehe, little did he know…

And, it being 1996, and me being “not normal” I went for a nice low key dress.  Long and flowy but not over the top, weighng a ton with sequins.  No, not for me.  In fact, my dress was a bridesmaids dress!  When I picked it out, the lady at the Bridal/Formal dress shop was quite confused about why I wanted it and how to order it since they had never done a single dress order before.  The next year, non-sequined prom dresses started popping up everywhere!  I’m such a trendsetter.

To make prom even more fun, we basically went with a group of friends.  It was a blast.  We traveled an hour away to eat supper (a tradition when we were in high school) and we got stuck in the restaurant because tornado warnings were popping up everywhere.  That just meant we could all hang out and talk and laugh and make fun of each other.  

I remember Mark calling his dad (on his “bag phone”) to get permission to bring me home a little later so we didn’t caught up in the storm.

And the funny thing was, the theme for the prom was Wizard of Oz.

Either way, he swept me away with my dozen roses and his charming smile and gentlemanly ways!  It was definitely one of the best nights of my life!

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Homeschooling Young’uns (Birth to around 4)

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Giveaways going on now!  Don’t forget to sign up to enter here and here. 

I’ve had several moms approach me recently to ask about homeschooling little ones.  So, here’s my “How We Do It?  Homeschooling Little Ones” blog post.

The short of it:  For any child under the age of four, we play.  That’s it.  That’s their curriculum.

That doesn’t mean I sit down with them all the time or that we just play with all sorts of gadgety toys.  No.  We play house activities, blocks, trios (which are sort of like legos but not really), dolls.  Some things they play by themselves and lots of things they play with their brothers and sisters.  And, some things are with mom.  We use play-doh, moon sand, and dirt.  On really fun days we break out the “oobleck” and have at it.  Typically up until they can actually communicate with more than two or three word sentences, my children stick close to mom and dad.  So, they get to “play” our chores, like cooking, washing dishes, laundry, etc. 

Oh and most importantly, we read.  And read.  And read some more.  Did I mention that we read???

 This would be our fiction side.  And not all the books are there.  We have books all over the house.  Bedrooms.  Check.  Bathrooms.  Check.  Living Room.  Check.  Kitchen.  Check.  Even in the van.

And this is our non-fiction side.  Oh, we keep board books on the bottoms of both sets of shelves for the little ones.

I read while they wander.  I read while they are sitting in my lap.  And now, with the big kids, we read at breakfast and at lunch.  From the time our kids breathe on their own, we are teaching them how to enjoy books!  Mainly because we enjoy them too.

And yes, by the time they are four they know their colors, shapes, and are starting to recognize numbers and letters.  I’ve actually noticed they do all that earlier with the more kids I’m teaching.

So, what happens after four?  Stay tuned…
In the meantime, I’d love to introduce you to my most favorite place to purchase fun stuff:
Timberdoodle!!!

Our latest favorites from them include:
Cuisenaire Rods (we haven’t gotten too much into using them but it’s coming soon)
Wedgits (a Ceili Rain and Zoe favorite)
miniLuk (the kids haven’t gotten too much into this, but I think it’s pretty neat)

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