Blast From The Crazy Past: A Jump Back To 2005

Welcome to memories...my memories....welcome to a Blast from my Crazy Past!

I was digging around and found this blog post from 12 years ago!

The girls would have been 10 months, 2 years old, 5 years old and 7 years old...

I LOVE MONDAYS! Really!!!

Mondays are different around here: We do not give our girls school work on Mondays as they volunteer with their grandparents at a local rest home and Lil Mr goes to preschool. So it is perfect for catching up on the little things that build up over the weekend or finishing up projects from Saturday.

Today was no exception. I dropped Lil Mr off at preschool then ran to the post office to get some stamps and also get hollered at by some random stranger who was not having a great day. That was pleasant. Then it was homeward bound with the vision of the two projects I wanted to finish dancing in my head.

The first was to reclaim my son's room. He is very good about putting things away, he likes everything in it's spot or he starts twitching. ( Reminds me of his dad.... :P ) However, if he has a friend over, things don't always get put away before said friend leaves. Then I see this glazed look come over him and he just dumps everything. Probably part of the Sensory Processing Disorder. So...to make it easier on him, I gave away a big sack full of toys that he really doesn't play with as well as a stack of books. Then I put up some of the toys like his blocks, Legos and Little People. This left his cars and trains to play with. The others can be pulled out when he wants to play with them, but  are out of the reach of  friends. Looks MUCH neater in there. We also moved out his big dresser he wasn't using and put in a smaller one. I have to say that it warmed my heart when he came home and saw his room. I pointed out where his shoes go and he said, "Wow, thanks, mom! Where do my socks go?" Too cute!

On hubby's lunch break we ran to Home Depot to get a few little things and off to Joann's to get another panel of muslin for my dining room curtains. When we got home, hubby put up my curtain rod, fixed the doors on my corner cabinet and changed out the hardware on the doors. The result was amazing! (Pics below.) While he did that, I scurried to my craft room and got my curtains sewn up. Was pretty simple to do but did take a couple hours.

All in all, I am really happy with how the dining room is turning out. It's taken a couple months, slowly but surely. It started with being wild and crazy by painting the dining room table and chairs. I moved some furniture around in the dining room. Hubby also moved the piano out of the dining room and into the living room. Then Saturday, hubby painted my dining room a beautiful creamy white color while I finished painting the corner cabinet. I have just two more things I want to do to finish it: I want to get a  cool "vintage" window and make a chalkboard out of it. I am also looking for a nice English or French countryside picture to hang on one wall.   I am pretty picky about what I will spend. I don't like spending more than I have to, as I would rather make things myself! However, a painter I am NOT. My poor parents tried giving me classes in middle school and let's just say...I am not talented in that area!

Anyway, there are some pics below. I hope you enjoy them and have a great night!

New hardware for a lovely old piece. Found out that this corner cabinet has been in our family for over 45 years.

Doors are secure and it is finished!

To save money, I waited till the outside panels of material went on sale for 60% off!
Then I only bought 3 yards, cut it in half and added muslin panels in the middle.

That long dresser was in my son's room. We brought it in here and turned it into a buffet.
Then I was going to put that little dresser out in the shed and hubby had the
great suggestion to put my cookbooks on it and walah! (Also known as "voila"! I just like my non-words!)

Back To School Traditions...

Whether you home-school or not, every family tends to have some back to school traditions. We have several that we do. Some are more consistent than others. Here are a couple:

One that has stayed on for the past several years is buying new shirts for the first day of school combined with the tradition of taking First Day pictures throughout the day. Some years we have matched, some years we haven't. Here are last year's First Day Pics and Shirts:

 Bob

 Fred

 Mac

 George

 Lil Mr

As you can see, each kiddo has their own unique style of what they choose for their First Day of School! The kiddos have been asking the past couple days when we are going to get their new shirts and I can tell that will have to be taken care of this week! After all, there is LESS than a week till school starts!!!

So what are your family's First Day of School Traditions?

Learning about goats!

Last Thursday or Friday, my cousin announced that their goat had twin kids! So Saturday morning, we headed out to see the goats! We learned alot about goats, drank goat milk and of course ooh'ed and ah'ed to our heart's content. Here are some pictures:

Mac and the little boy goat.

George with the little girl...

Bob with the little boy...

The daddy....

This is not the momma, somehow I missed getting a pic of the momma.

Yeah....I loved the goats. What can I say? I am a country girl, my heart longs to be there again!

I was really proud of Lil Mr. With his sensory issues, he doesn't usually like to touch new things. But his love for animals won over!

I think this is my favorite pic!

We LOVED the milk! Would so love to have our own milking goats! I hadn't tasted goat's milk in about 20 years. The last experience I had was horrible. But...I am always willing to try again and I was pleasantly surprised! These goats are Nubian and apparently that is the best milk. I had to agree!

I think Lil Mr went back for seconds!

Feeding time. This was the first pregnancy for their momma and she rejected them. 

So our cousins are having to bottle feed them.

Black Lights, Washing Hands and Sin...Also, how I plan some lessons.

We had a fun Science Experiment today. We read a book called: 

It is a fun book about a little princess who doesn't understand why she has to wash her hands so much! After reading the book, I brought out my portable forensic black light. I explained what it was and how crime scene investigators use it to solve crimes and figure out who was in the room and such. 

Then I took the kids into the darkest closet in our house. This was a challenge in itself as most of our rooms, including closets have this little round skylights that light up the rooms. Hard when you are trying to have a room pitch dark!

Anyway, we first looked at all the clothes and saw how some glowed in the dark and were black light sensitive. Then I had them turn their backs while I put some invisible ink on my hands and put marks around the closet. They then took turns finding the fingerprints in the closet. Including some really hard ones!

Then the spiritual application: I talked about how sometimes people think that no one sees them sin. They look around, they don't see anyone. They think that the sin they are about to commit is so small that no one will notice. However, God sees and has a Son who is The Light. And just like the black light, His Light is a special light. Where His Light shines, sin becomes bright and obvious and cannot be hid. When we are sinners and God calls after our hearts, His Son/His Light shines into our hearts and makes those sins, especially the ones we thought were hidden, bright and obvious to us. There is no hiding the sin, it is there for everyone to see. Only the Blood of Jesus can wash away sin!

How I plan some lessons:

While I do plan some lessons, I don't plan them all. I didn't have this lesson all planned out. It started with me looking for a book to read to the kids. I try to find one that has to do with something I am training them in. The little ones still need coaching with hand washing, so I thought, "Why not?". Then I remembered that I had a black light in a forensics science kit that I had no opened yet. So I got the light out, tested it on myself, made sure it was working and all that. I also pulled out the little booklet that talked about what forensic scientists use black lights for and read that. When we got the the closet and we were looking for the fingerprints with the invisible ink, that was when the spiritual application hit me. I thought, "How many kids and adults think that their sin is hidden? That no one sees or cares or knows?". And the Lord brought the rest as I talked to my children about it.  My best tool: being prayed up. When I pray for my kids and how I am going to teach them, the Lord brings the lessons to me just as clear as can be. I pray that this is encouraging to you!!!

Fun Science Day Planned!

Tomorrow I am going to be teaching/(reteaching for the older ones) about Invisible Germs. I have a Black Light that came from a Forensics Kit I bought at Ross several months ago. So while I am at it, I am going to tell them a bit about Forensic Science, Invisible Ink and Black Lights! Should be fun! I will take pics and post later.

Oh and a little side note: I have some videos and other pics I will be putting up shortly. I have less time these days due to some family things I am helping with.

Tests and First Break...

As a result of having a break coming up, today and yesterday are being filled with tests.

 One right after another.

 I am proud to say, that so far, they are passing with flying colors!

So, as you know, we are starting our first year of year-round schooling. Our first break is coming up and I have had different people ask if we are planning our breaks or if it will be complete free time. We won't have a schedule, but we will be doing some specific things. All of our breaks will include this:

• A Field Trip
• A Elective Class (This is a class that is not necessary, but fun and a learning experience.)
• An Home Making Class (These are things having to do with being a keeper of the home.)

During our next couple week of free time, the girls will be having some cooking/baking lessons, an art class (A course by Thomas Kinkade) and a field trip. Our field trip will be going to several art museums in the area and observing different styles of art. 

Our breaks will also include:

• Sleeping in. (Yay!!!)
• Endless hours of playing outdoors.
• Fun and Games.

So while we won't have "book" work or a "school" schedule, but we will be having fun doing some extras that don't get to happen in a regular school day. As well as just simply being lazy!