Closet Elementary Remake

As I posted in my last blog, I bought a new table. I had no need for this table. But it was a solid table and 4 chairs for $30.00. I figured I could find a use. The chairs very nearly matched the ones we already had. Two of our dining room chairs were being used in the school room. So now we have enough chairs for everyone at the table. I put the other two chairs and the table in the school room. The table will be used for larger projects that usually have us on the floor. The school room has a new look. I like it!

Thrifty Thrifterson

My mess.

So our little town has a great new facebook page. It's called Trash and Treasure. I think it should be called Trash to Treasure, but whatever. It's basically an online yard sale. I've sold some stuff and bought a few things. I've given away a lot as well. The other day I bought two small brown mirrors. I covered the glass with packing tape as my blue tape was missing, again. I spray painted them and made a huge mess of my hands. They turned out really cute!

Before

After.

After

 I've been in search of Mason jars of all sizes for a few projects. A friend gave me a few and this is what I came up with.

Before.

During

After

 I'm into fabrics right now. I've been installing them into wood hoops. I have plans to embroider the edges and make them a bit cooler, but for now, they just hang like this.

 I found a few cute mini-hat boxes at a yard sale today. I like the way they look.

Shane also found a big puffy Redskins jacket. I'm bummed he was with me, it so would have been a Christmas present :)

I got a table and chairs for $30.00 on the fun site! I broke it down to $6.00 bucks a piece. The chairs match what we already had. Two of our chairs were being used in the school room, so now we have enough chairs at the table for everyone to eat at the same time. I used the table and the two extra chairs in our school room. I figure it would be good for projects that are bigger than the desks. Also, it's made a nice gathering place for Johnny and I, we're kind of hidden in there! :)

I posted an "in search of" post for this bowl. My mom has one and won't part with it. It was quite funny, after the post about 4 other ladies said their mothers had similar bowls and also wouldn't let them be passed down.

Closet Elementary.

I love my little one room school house. I just hate that it's in my room. I like "my" space. Stay out of my room! But, how can I say no to a request to get a book to read, crayons to color with, or animals cards to look at. Our school room was once a back porch. The previous owners of our home closed it in to make a large closet and sun room. That beautiful sun room that I fell in love with is now my school room! It's a great space, perfect for us and all of our stuff, but it's access point is my bedroom. Okay, enough whining. Our first week has gone very well. There's been a few grumbles, but as usual, I point out that they only have to work for a few hours and get the afternoon to play. The new school year here has the last bell ringing at 4pm. I think there's drama because they know their friends are still on summer break. They love it during December when we basically take the whole month off and their friends are still in school. They do not like it the other way around.

We've been catching up on some of the units that we didn't finish last year. We are edging our way out of Colonial American and into the Revolution. We made barrels like apprentices and tradesmen. We're working on crowns of the Kings and Queens of the time. We're also learning Roman Numerals. (and I do mean we, I don't know them all) We are diagramming sentences until we want to cry of boredom. I did have to point out to my boys that sometimes things are boring and you just have to do them anyway. I don't want to make everything a fireworks show. Sometimes, for certain things, life is boring. That said. *insert whiny voice* Diagramming sentences is booorrrriiinnnngggg. We're reviewing math facts as we move into division and fractions and learning subtraction. For art we've been learning how to draw plants and trees step by step. They impressed me. I have no artistic talent, so the fact that the plant resembles a plant is a gold star in my book. 

Math of the floor.

Reading time in bed!

Doesn't look comfy to me, but that's where he reads.

Sam is blowing me away. I had his whole week planned and he finished on Wednesday. I'm going to have to order him a true curriculum, I think. He's going to go through the standard Kindergarten workbooks quickly. He knows much more than I thought he did. I guess his little sponge brain was soaking up stuff last year!

He's proud of his neat desk!

Also, I have to brag on myself. I have a really bad habit of not doing school for the day if my morning has interruptions. Our afternoons are just busier and Johnny gets home earlier in the summer, and I just don't want to do school later in the day. Yesterday, we have court, doctors appointments, drop off appointments, Cub Scouts, and a dinner out (for me). I still managed to get our whole day done! (I did push art back until Friday). I realize it's only the first week, but I was proud of myself for sticking to the schedule I made!

I think that's it from us for the week. We're using a block system, so next week we'll be focusing on Science instead of History. The boys are excited!

All the things I can't say.

source

I have a story to tell. It's an amazing story of God's love. It's a story that will make you cry, scream out in anger, and jump for joy. It's a story of triumph and the amazing healing powers of love. It's a story of the beautiful hearts of strangers. It's my story, it's our story, it's his story and it's her story. And I can't tell you any of it. Oh, I pray one day I can scream it from the roof tops. Tonight, I have to seal my lips and make my fingers be still. Just you wait, it's going to be good!

My blog is going to divorce me.

I keep neglecting my blog and yet here it waits patiently for my return. Busy stuff. My baby is sick. He's the weird sick, where he's acting perfectly fine except for a cough. He has to have breathing treatments every 4 hours and be watched closely. It's hard to think he's sick when he laughs every time you look at him. I'm praying he'll be fine.

We were at my parents house this weekend. I love my parents, but I really don't like going home anymore. The town is so different. I feel like they've developed it for development sake. There's still nothing to do and no decent shopping. There's no trees, just lots of buildings and bill boards now. Lots of banks. A Walmart, which funny enough is one of the better looking places they've put up. At least they left the trees behind it. I don't know. I guess you can't go home. Good thing I believe home is the people you love and not a place. That must come from being a Navy brat and moving so much. There was no "childhood" home. It's fine by me. And I seem to get really bad allergies whenever I do go visit.

We started school yesterday. First day of Kindergarten for Sam. It was anti-climatic. No sad goodbye. No back to school shopping. No big talks to prepare. He stayed in his jammies, did his work, left and watched his movie. On our "first" day of school, I'm always so grateful that I get to keep my kids home. Sure it's hard and there are days when I would pay for a few hours of quiet and I look longingly at the school bus. Most days, I wouldn't have it any other way. I love being the one to teach them and being there for the "ah-ha" moments!

Our first day went pretty well. Jackson gave me grief about writing his spelling words, that child hates to write. We worked it out and moved on. He asked to do his reading in bed. So into the bed we went, cuddled up and read. I loved that part.

Shane did really well. It's so nice now that his basics are out of the way. He's learning lots and finally reading at level. It took him awhile, but he's there now and doing beautifully!!

So there you are. A quick update on us. All is well. Dear Blog, please stick around awhile longer. I promise to pay more attention to you!

Book Review: Love You More

Love You More: The Divine Surprise Of Adopting My Daughter By: Jennifer Grant.

Have you ever had a plan for your life? Jennifer Grant had such a plan. She would raise her family with a three year gap between each child. We all know the old saying "to make God laugh, make plans." Well Jennifer and her family made God guffaw!

Jennifer starts with a bit of a back story of her life and early marriage. She tells the story of her children's early childhood and toddlerhood. Then one day in church during a baptism of babies, "everything seemed to go quiet around her and I heard a voice...You'll be up there again with your baby." And so began the Grants adoption of Mia.

Grant's wonderful book consists of  just under 200 pages, but is filled with so much hope. The book is divided into 3 parts. Starting the Journey. Waiting for Mia. Learning to Know. Each chapter begins with a short story or facts about adoption. Grant will then go into very personal feelings and emotions of her adoption wait. And what a wait it was.

This is an imperative book for anyone considering adoption, especially international. It is a very honest look at all the 'yucky' parts. It is filled with true feelings from a mother in the midst of having her child living somewhere else. Even her daily prayer "Dear God, please take care of her until I can do it myself", is filled with honest and tear filled hope.

*I was given this book to review by BookSneeze dot com and received no financial compensation for my review.

Alive and Well--Our Week in Review

I'm here. It's been a weird few weeks. We had our child from The Fresh Air Fund from the 1st to the 8th. It was a crazy week. Crazy I tell you. The speech they give you is something along the lines of "they want fresh air, they want to run and play, they want campfires and lighting bugs." So we did all that and more. It was so hot last week, that it was hard to get outside, we waited until the weekend when Johnny was home to do that stuff. During the week, we did stuff like, the movies, bowling, lunch out, Sweet Frogs ice cream, and the pool. Johnny did the outside stuff, camping, hiking, water play, baseball, and all that stuff. We had a great week. He was upset the first night, but after that he was good.

By Friday, everyone was tired and the boys were all comfortable with each other to start acting like brothers. But all in all it was a great experience that we hope to do again next summer. He was so excited about everything we did and declared everything "the best". The best bowling alley, the best ice cream, the best movie theater. If you live anywhere on the East Coast from Canada to Virginia, I suggest you check out the link and see if you could open your home for a week for some fun!

Welcoming the bus. 

Baseball.

This freaked him out a bit.

Love this!

On a hike.

Water fun.

Park Time.

Swimming in Swamp Water.

This WAS NOT posed, we found them like this!

County Fair.

Bowling

Piling on the topping at Sweet Frogs.

Arcade.

Very excited to be at the beach.

The Smurfs

Chick-fil-A Spirit Night.

Another Fair Shot.

Campground Pool.