Tuesday, November 24, 2015
Saturday, November 14, 2015
Sunday, November 8, 2015
Dang Saturday, you rocked
My man got him a sweet one in Montana today. Hello jerky!!!
The girls and I spent time attempting to get a handle on the leaves. Fall has fallen... All up in my yard.
Molded pumpkins don't burn so well and this poorly made fire pit that previous owners built is useless lol. Time to raze it and put in a big ole swing. 
After hours spent chasing us around the yard, my little man was wore out...
Foot surgery next month looks like I get my Myrphy man back and Max will go on the road with dad... Trading dogs, but they make us happy.
Thursday, November 5, 2015
Did u say college?
Today with my oldest kids first college visit....
Turns out she in the school which is about an hour away are great match 
Thanks to how cool things are now she'll be doing a concurrent enrollment finish out her senior year at Home school and her freshman year at the local college same time.... Whew this momma is a wreck but excited at her opportunities
Monday, October 26, 2015
Busy morning....
We're going over the play are town homes going Maddy (Princess too) in English today she says it's the most boring thing ever so next play we are changing it up to the raven by Poe, hopefully creepy will be more her style
Murphy is happily in the oil field working with daddy and I'm spoiling Max ridiculous
This morning was our first attempt to start a fire it did not start so will be spending the rest of the day researching how to start a fire
Using talk to text so I can blog on my phone new era of blogging
Monday, October 19, 2015
Scared but Praying
We just submitted the application for my oldest to attend her first full fledged missions trip. To South America... this summer. Without us. She'll be spreading her wings and flying. She will be supervised by a very capable church team that does missions all over the world.... but she's my baby. I just feel so strongly that I need to help her achieve her goal of serving. She has wanted to do missions for some time now and each time, we find some reason to say no. This time, we are saying yes. It might not work out... but her application is in and I'm walking on faith. I'll not stand in the way of God using her to spread his love. That said, oh please pray for her.... she'll be 17.5 at the time she goes... but in some ways, she's 60 so I'm trying not to let seeds of doubt stand in the gap. Watching her serve God would be the biggest blessing...
Once again, Dave is cool and calm while I'm the weirdo freak out person... oh this marriage of mine is a wild ride.
Once again, Dave is cool and calm while I'm the weirdo freak out person... oh this marriage of mine is a wild ride.
Tuesday, September 29, 2015
Saturday, September 19, 2015
Tuesday, September 15, 2015
Saturday, September 12, 2015
Hello Blessings
Oh blessings truly come in different sizes and shapes. I'm watching my girls grow and settle. It's such an amazing site. It's not easy but I will take my troubles over anyones'. The oldest is stretching her wings and doing well. She's learning to adult well. She's to the point where she's full on juggling homeschool full time in the mornings (five subjects) and in the afternoon she is down at the community college carrying an A plus in her pre-nursing class. If she stays on task, she'll be a state certified CNA in March and able to get on the wait list for the BSN program at the college. English has always been a trouble spot for her but doing the online class where she paces herself and turns things into for grading.... well she's doing well. American History is her best subject, shocking both her and I. Now if she could get over the hump in chemistry and make that association between logic and the lessons, she'll be golden.
The younger one is really finding out who she is. Turns out, she's determined not to quit. As one of nine in her entire grade, she gets alot of attention at school and she's working ahead. Robotics club has been a blessing for her. Her gym class is set up for only girls, they run. The rest of the girls are cross country and while my kid refuses to be seduced by the perks to the dark side... aka: cross country team..... she is stepping up in PE class. It's her last class of the day....and get done my kid makes me proud. The first week of school she'd casually get off the bus and climb up the driveway, come through the door then collapse on the floor and crawl. Bless her heart, they run. Every day. She refuses to let me write a note, so she's been working her way up and now can run a mile a day during class. She's Dave's kid. She hates running with a passion and talks a good game but man, she works hard to work her way up from last place. It's been five weeks since school started and we had to go buy new school clothes this weekend, she lost two sizes. I'm packing protein and carbs galore in her lunch but she's getting taller and thanks to her PE class, leaner and meaner. I really enjoy buying her shirts that call out her hate of running though lol.
Dave is really doing well. Since I drove up and brought Max home with me, Dave has been able to focus on work. He's getting closer and closer to being done with this project. He has worked out a deal with corporate where he works from our house here at the lake one week a month too so that makes him even more of a rockstar to me.
I'm juggle writing for all these papers, redoing my furniture pieces and wrangling kids. Max keeps me so very busy. He's truly a velcro dog and needs to be with me constantly, I have no idea how Dave managed to keep sane and working with him. Now that we are finally settled in, I love our home here. Tomorrow I'll try to do a whole post on the updates Ive been working on the house....
For now, I'ma go finish bleaching my towels and get busy putting potato soup in the crockpot for after church lunch. It's in the 70's here so it's lovely. I've enjoying the hell outta my hammock.
Hugs.
The younger one is really finding out who she is. Turns out, she's determined not to quit. As one of nine in her entire grade, she gets alot of attention at school and she's working ahead. Robotics club has been a blessing for her. Her gym class is set up for only girls, they run. The rest of the girls are cross country and while my kid refuses to be seduced by the perks to the dark side... aka: cross country team..... she is stepping up in PE class. It's her last class of the day....and get done my kid makes me proud. The first week of school she'd casually get off the bus and climb up the driveway, come through the door then collapse on the floor and crawl. Bless her heart, they run. Every day. She refuses to let me write a note, so she's been working her way up and now can run a mile a day during class. She's Dave's kid. She hates running with a passion and talks a good game but man, she works hard to work her way up from last place. It's been five weeks since school started and we had to go buy new school clothes this weekend, she lost two sizes. I'm packing protein and carbs galore in her lunch but she's getting taller and thanks to her PE class, leaner and meaner. I really enjoy buying her shirts that call out her hate of running though lol.
Dave is really doing well. Since I drove up and brought Max home with me, Dave has been able to focus on work. He's getting closer and closer to being done with this project. He has worked out a deal with corporate where he works from our house here at the lake one week a month too so that makes him even more of a rockstar to me.
I'm juggle writing for all these papers, redoing my furniture pieces and wrangling kids. Max keeps me so very busy. He's truly a velcro dog and needs to be with me constantly, I have no idea how Dave managed to keep sane and working with him. Now that we are finally settled in, I love our home here. Tomorrow I'll try to do a whole post on the updates Ive been working on the house....
For now, I'ma go finish bleaching my towels and get busy putting potato soup in the crockpot for after church lunch. It's in the 70's here so it's lovely. I've enjoying the hell outta my hammock.
Hugs.
Sunday, August 23, 2015
Homeschool and Paint Fumes
Homeschooling my high schooler is def interesting. Luckily for me, we are using a Christian curriculum that is internet broadcasted which allows me to just help her when she has a question but the teachers teach her and they grade her. Brilliant... takes the heat off of me and I just love it. I can just help my kid and supervise. Chemistry is touch and go but the other classes are just rocking along! Proud momma. I was initially worried that removing her from the traditional classroom would be a crazy experiment but so far, the opposite. She sets up her own schedule.... harder classes in the morning and the easiest at night. It's pretty fun watching her work her way through. She's really enjoying the nursing classes and tomorrow she will wear her first set of scrubs... oh lord but you know I'ma take a million pics of that lol.
So since I have plenty of free times, I'm working on more furniture. I freaking love love love it. A little local shop has carried my first two pieces so it'll be fun to see how they work. Whether they sell or not. I can't wait to see. But for now, I'ma keep working on my projects. The problem is that I'm tempted to keep it for myself. I redid a desk and I've kept a desk... made it my own lol. Then I did a bureau then I kept the bureau. Crap. So I went ahead and decided no more... I'ma keep going and I'm going to not keep anymore. Or maybe I'll get rid of a piece if I keep a new piece, lol.
Just finished an amazing weekend of spoiling Dave.... hard to put him back on the plane but what a blessing this trip was. This morning when the rain took a break finally, we all got out in the yard... us girls attacking a huge overgrown funky bush that is eating half my yard and Dave was changing light bulbs in the security lights and helping me rake up the gravel .... living on a hill means every time it rains, our gravel runs down into the road and further across and down into the neighbors yard. I like them but frankly I don't want to share my gravel .... urgh. Does anyone know about pervious concrete? I need to get some of that to mix into my gravel driveway so I can fix that.... actually I'm going to start taking quotes on asphalt to get my driveway done next spring. Until then, I'm gonna keep raking my shit out of my neighbors yard. Urgh.
So since I have plenty of free times, I'm working on more furniture. I freaking love love love it. A little local shop has carried my first two pieces so it'll be fun to see how they work. Whether they sell or not. I can't wait to see. But for now, I'ma keep working on my projects. The problem is that I'm tempted to keep it for myself. I redid a desk and I've kept a desk... made it my own lol. Then I did a bureau then I kept the bureau. Crap. So I went ahead and decided no more... I'ma keep going and I'm going to not keep anymore. Or maybe I'll get rid of a piece if I keep a new piece, lol.
Just finished an amazing weekend of spoiling Dave.... hard to put him back on the plane but what a blessing this trip was. This morning when the rain took a break finally, we all got out in the yard... us girls attacking a huge overgrown funky bush that is eating half my yard and Dave was changing light bulbs in the security lights and helping me rake up the gravel .... living on a hill means every time it rains, our gravel runs down into the road and further across and down into the neighbors yard. I like them but frankly I don't want to share my gravel .... urgh. Does anyone know about pervious concrete? I need to get some of that to mix into my gravel driveway so I can fix that.... actually I'm going to start taking quotes on asphalt to get my driveway done next spring. Until then, I'm gonna keep raking my shit out of my neighbors yard. Urgh.
Saturday, August 15, 2015
Proximity
I spent today shopping with my daughters and my sweet mother in law. We had hair cuts scheduled and then we needed a few things for school clothes. The idea that my mother in law would be coming along for the ride was amazing to me.... and oh my mercy.... this is really the first time we have lived close to family and I'm just humbled by the joy. I have my mother randomly dropping by after work this evening to look at a piece of furniture I picked up to work on.... just dropping in. Before, we scheduled for weeks and months to get time together and now we are 12 minutes from each other. If you can feel the emotion in the room? Then we are on the same page....
God has amazing amazing timing and I'm so blessed.
God has amazing amazing timing and I'm so blessed.
Friday, August 7, 2015
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO seriously
I broke down and cried. I don't cry alot. It's just not in my bucket of usual. I'm busy serving my family. My girls are busy as hell. My oldest is really digging in for four subjects right now. She's kicking ass but chemistry may make her pull her hair out. Little one is almost ready for seventh grade which starts next week but honestly puberty is making things a little oh so stressful right now. Lord have mercy. I just can't even. So I just share some chocolate with her and hug her. Last night we just cuddled up and read next to each other.
Max is settling in good. With daddy working crazy hours, he needs our attention and love. He's so precious. He's such a hot mess. We play and he loves our big family room. He literally runs a big lap around the couches with her toys and babies. I'm really happy watching Murphy and him play and enjoy sharing a space.
My art is another day. But I launched a tshirt line that frankly scares me. But we will see how the first shipment sells.
BUUUUUUT I cried.... because I received a call from a state paper that I had sent some of my columns to previously. The editor read some and they want to carry my column. This editor is over multiple papers in the state.
God has so blessed me. When I started writing my little column last year it was such a blessing and surreal to see my words in print. I cried then too. Then when I had to leave and they wanted to continue carrying me. Little teary there too. God is so good to me. I promise to keep using my column as a place to give him glory and write honestly about how I see things.
Very blessed.
Max is settling in good. With daddy working crazy hours, he needs our attention and love. He's so precious. He's such a hot mess. We play and he loves our big family room. He literally runs a big lap around the couches with her toys and babies. I'm really happy watching Murphy and him play and enjoy sharing a space.
My art is another day. But I launched a tshirt line that frankly scares me. But we will see how the first shipment sells.
BUUUUUUT I cried.... because I received a call from a state paper that I had sent some of my columns to previously. The editor read some and they want to carry my column. This editor is over multiple papers in the state.
God has so blessed me. When I started writing my little column last year it was such a blessing and surreal to see my words in print. I cried then too. Then when I had to leave and they wanted to continue carrying me. Little teary there too. God is so good to me. I promise to keep using my column as a place to give him glory and write honestly about how I see things.
Very blessed.
Monday, August 3, 2015
Roadtrip 12,348.3
Friday, July 24, 2015
I'm kinda a mess
So here I sit and look over my work. I know that I have my hands full but as always I have managed to think of a great idea.... and I have to get it out of my head while I can. I've already launched a store so instead of doing the business side of things right now... I'm doing the creative side. I accepted a space in someone else's store and am putting together my own inventory. My way. I have always wanted to refinish furniture and have the room/space and creative lease to do so and so I have. Started that is...
I started with a desk I found that was falling apart. It's now my desk and I'm so freaking proud of the way it turned out! Then I picked up an old wash stand and a vanity. The vanity is done and ready for waxing and I started the first coat on the wash stand tonight. I can't tell you how good it feels to wash the paint and wax and saw dust off my hands at night before bed. We are making some crafts to go in there as well and I'm designing a line of shirts.... because I can. I pray that I'm not in over my head and if I am, well we will see how it goes. If I fail, I'll end up with some cool stuff out of it for myself. :) The sky is the limit.
So homeschool is going well. Chemistry is a rough start for her but she's getting there. English is going well. She's adjusted well to homeschooling again and I love that she's in complete control of her schedule. I don't have to remind her to do her work... she gets up and gets on the work at some point each day. She plans her day around what she has to do for each class. The drive is her, not me. Thankfully!
Both girls are currently awaiting results of a celiac test. Praying for God's will but it would be an answer to various ailments that don't go away.
Dave and Max are working hard as usual. Thank goodness for Facetime!
I started with a desk I found that was falling apart. It's now my desk and I'm so freaking proud of the way it turned out! Then I picked up an old wash stand and a vanity. The vanity is done and ready for waxing and I started the first coat on the wash stand tonight. I can't tell you how good it feels to wash the paint and wax and saw dust off my hands at night before bed. We are making some crafts to go in there as well and I'm designing a line of shirts.... because I can. I pray that I'm not in over my head and if I am, well we will see how it goes. If I fail, I'll end up with some cool stuff out of it for myself. :) The sky is the limit.
So homeschool is going well. Chemistry is a rough start for her but she's getting there. English is going well. She's adjusted well to homeschooling again and I love that she's in complete control of her schedule. I don't have to remind her to do her work... she gets up and gets on the work at some point each day. She plans her day around what she has to do for each class. The drive is her, not me. Thankfully!
Both girls are currently awaiting results of a celiac test. Praying for God's will but it would be an answer to various ailments that don't go away.
Dave and Max are working hard as usual. Thank goodness for Facetime!
Tuesday, July 14, 2015
Intro to Homeschool - Griswald Style
So we have fully started our homeschool adventure. My oldest starts her pre-nursing program this fall and she'll be going from noon to 3:00 each day for that which means that she will be doing homeschool in the mornings. She has already begun her three hard classes and is doing well. She is definitely showing me that she can handle the scheduling. The materials are laid out in a way that she has a certain amount of work that is required each day. I love this about using Alpha Omega. It's christian based but also it's completely compatible. The information that is in the curriculum is honestly information that the kids should be getting in classes.
The really hard part of this is that last year I taught. Until that, I really didn't understand. I was completely surprised at the amount of time that was lost in the classroom. Teachers are freaking rockstars! Seriously. I have listened to my children talk about the classroom disruptions and the discipline issues with students. Until you sit in that class, you don't get it. A school system that had no separation of special education and student grouping is very politically correct... everyone has the same advantages true. Yet your class gets bogged down by playing catch up and making sure that the people as a whole are grasping the materials. The kids that nail it in the first shot are sitting there bored out of their minds.... the discipline issues are ridiculous. So I'm taking her homeschool. I wasn't sure if I made it clear earlier or not why I was moving her into the homeschool until graduation. There you go, I'm determined that she will have a great basis to build off. So she is already working through Literature/English 3, Chemistry and Algebra 2. We will add American History and Civics to that later in the season. She is completing the amount of work and making good grades while being totally self directed. I'm super freaking proud. The best part is that AOP curriculum is that the materials are all graded. This means that it takes the burden off me to score her which is hard as a parent. She is being graded on a consistency with other students in the same curriculum.
As we are working, I'm also trying to challenge Duchess (also known in real life as Meri). Our move to the lake has put us firmly in the school district that I wanted. When we bought this house last year, we considered the school district when we bought it. It was hard honestly knowing that the nearest high school was so far from us, another reason we are homeschooling my high schooler, but up until 8th grade, it's a real jewel. A small class system and the reality is it will challenge her. Woohoo.... but since I'm already doing summer school through AOP with one, I put my youngest in Spanish. She got to pick any class and she wanted to learn SPanish so we started that. SO far so good.
Now I have to share something with you. My frugal self discovered a great deal when computer shopping. I wanted to get my kids a desktop computer that could easily handle everything they could throw at it. I'm freaking loving it. So digging around I ordered an HP that was labeled as opened. Meaning the packaging was damaged and it was repackaged and sold at a 45% discount. HELLO. I was able to get twice the computer for the amount I had budgeted. The only drawback, was waiting for it to be delivered. But I recommend doing your research!
If you think of anything in my area that would be a great field trip, let me know. So far, we have scheduled a big trip over Spring Break for the Washington DC tour and we are hoping to get to the WWII museum later this month when we hit up a concert. Again, we find ourselves making our own way but the Lord is good and has blessed us so!
Peace out girlscouts.
The really hard part of this is that last year I taught. Until that, I really didn't understand. I was completely surprised at the amount of time that was lost in the classroom. Teachers are freaking rockstars! Seriously. I have listened to my children talk about the classroom disruptions and the discipline issues with students. Until you sit in that class, you don't get it. A school system that had no separation of special education and student grouping is very politically correct... everyone has the same advantages true. Yet your class gets bogged down by playing catch up and making sure that the people as a whole are grasping the materials. The kids that nail it in the first shot are sitting there bored out of their minds.... the discipline issues are ridiculous. So I'm taking her homeschool. I wasn't sure if I made it clear earlier or not why I was moving her into the homeschool until graduation. There you go, I'm determined that she will have a great basis to build off. So she is already working through Literature/English 3, Chemistry and Algebra 2. We will add American History and Civics to that later in the season. She is completing the amount of work and making good grades while being totally self directed. I'm super freaking proud. The best part is that AOP curriculum is that the materials are all graded. This means that it takes the burden off me to score her which is hard as a parent. She is being graded on a consistency with other students in the same curriculum.
As we are working, I'm also trying to challenge Duchess (also known in real life as Meri). Our move to the lake has put us firmly in the school district that I wanted. When we bought this house last year, we considered the school district when we bought it. It was hard honestly knowing that the nearest high school was so far from us, another reason we are homeschooling my high schooler, but up until 8th grade, it's a real jewel. A small class system and the reality is it will challenge her. Woohoo.... but since I'm already doing summer school through AOP with one, I put my youngest in Spanish. She got to pick any class and she wanted to learn SPanish so we started that. SO far so good.
Now I have to share something with you. My frugal self discovered a great deal when computer shopping. I wanted to get my kids a desktop computer that could easily handle everything they could throw at it. I'm freaking loving it. So digging around I ordered an HP that was labeled as opened. Meaning the packaging was damaged and it was repackaged and sold at a 45% discount. HELLO. I was able to get twice the computer for the amount I had budgeted. The only drawback, was waiting for it to be delivered. But I recommend doing your research!
If you think of anything in my area that would be a great field trip, let me know. So far, we have scheduled a big trip over Spring Break for the Washington DC tour and we are hoping to get to the WWII museum later this month when we hit up a concert. Again, we find ourselves making our own way but the Lord is good and has blessed us so!
Peace out girlscouts.
Tuesday, July 7, 2015
Civics for the win
Today we started teaching civics at home to my girls. While I'm only officially homeschooling Prin but since Duchess is always looking over my shoulder I'll just teach her too. I've outlined my goals for this class. We are covering a full semester worth of civics and government... I'm not gonna lie, I'mm excited. This is a favorite subject of mine.
So to start it off, we are reviewing what it means to be a citizen. Did you know there is an official citizen almanac? Yeah, google that. It exists and frankly most people have no clue what it means. I'm starting with a series from the 80's, that's right.... Schoolhouse Rocks.
After reading the entire constitution, we start tomorrow by breaking down the steps that brought the Constitution to life. Wish us luck. I'm most excited about a series I just bought.... a six hour mini series on America. Yes!
So to start it off, we are reviewing what it means to be a citizen. Did you know there is an official citizen almanac? Yeah, google that. It exists and frankly most people have no clue what it means. I'm starting with a series from the 80's, that's right.... Schoolhouse Rocks.
After reading the entire constitution, we start tomorrow by breaking down the steps that brought the Constitution to life. Wish us luck. I'm most excited about a series I just bought.... a six hour mini series on America. Yes!
