Power Tools!!!

What an experience I had yesterday!  I got an idea that I wanted to try and make something.  So off I go.  I worked very hard, with my Nathan right by my side.  This was the first time I used power tools by myself.  I was having so much fun!  I called Mark to ask him a question about his drill. He sounded worried, I've often threatened to build stuff before, and he's politely told me not to, because if I didn't know what I was doing, I'd get hurt.  Well to make a long story short, I got "my project" almost complete.  I didn't get cut, I didn't saw my arm or leg off!  The only thing I did do was get a little bit of friction burn on my finger, because I didn't have the drill bit in correctly!  But mind you , I got my project done.  There was a price to pay though.  It was probably around 95 degrees or so, nice and warm.  So in went a lot of sweat equity, my back was a little tight last night when I went to bed!  I am not gonna post any pictures yet, because I want to wait and post the finished product.  I've still got a little bit of finishing work to do.  But I did make a sign with some of the scrap wood that I had left over.  Again inspired by the wonderful world of Pinterest, I came across  this post and thought I'd give it a try.  You see I'm not the best at coming up with ideas, but if I see something that I like, I'm not afraid to give it a try.  Here's what mine looks like.

This pretty much sums up my day yesterday.  I had to pray that what I was doing would turn out, and imagine, dream, work and of course laugh!!  Mark did come home and was pleasantly surprised to see that I had actually built something with only the help of a 3 year old!  Just hard headed and determined. I will hopefully finish my project later this week and post the finished project.
 While working on this it reminded me of my faith.  God has given me "power tools" in life.  Have I been determined to use those tools, or am I afraid to use them?  Good question.  I think at times I've used them, maybe kinda like I did the drill with the wrong bit.  God gives us gifts and talents how are we using them? Some of those gifts maybe like a few of the tools I used yesterday, they hadn't been used in a while, and their batteries needed charging, or some of their pieces were missing, and I had to search until I found them, and some where even misplaced all together.  My prayer today is for God to help remind me of the gifts and talents that He has blessed me with and to help me use them for His glory!

DIY maxi skirt

I came across this post on pinterest a couple of weeks ago.  I LOVE long skirts and I instantly said "I want one".  So off to Hobby Lobby I go searching for jersey knit.  I found some grey and this lime green!  I will confess, I had my mama help me with my grey skirt, (I don't have any pics of it yet).  We also made one for my daughter.  I'll try and get her in hers and post some pics...  This Saturday morning I pulled out my sewing machine and went to work....  I did modify mine a little, I didn't add the ruffle.  I love it, but just didn't think I could get mine to turn out, drum roll please...................

and another shot......

I am by no means a sewer, I've made a few things in my lifetime, usually with my mama right by my side, she sews a lot better than I do. 

Trail Guide to Learning Arrives!!

It was almost like Christmas in July yesterday.   The UPS man arrives with our package from Geomatters (Trail Guide to Learning, Paths of Settlement) yesterday around 6:30!! Annagrace and Nathan were soooo excited (I was too).  We took the box to the kitchen table, Nathan literally crawled onto the table and was digging in the box like it was Christmas.  I told him this was school books for Will and Annagrace, he said they are for me too!!  He's 3 and thinks he's as big as his 12 and 10 year old brother and sister.  We took everything out of the box, the books were separately wrapped, so it was like opening  a present!  I couldn't get any pictures because they were opening them so fast!  We looked through all the books and resources, it looks like it's gonna be an exciting year!  This is just a little snip of some of the books and materials we received.

 

 

I got up this morning first thing, made my coffee and lit a candle and sat down with our POS materials...

I as able to really get a good look at what our year will be like.  I'm very excited.  I am sure that I'm gonna need to get the middle school supplement for my 7th grader.  I'm just going to spend a little more time digging through the materials.  Just gonna try and organize my materials for now. 

 

Summer Fun!!

Oh what to do on a rainy summer day.. ??  It seems that every afternoon this week we've managed to get a bit of a thunder shower.  Annagrace had a couple of friends over today,  we were planning an afternoon trip to the pool...... well the clouds rolled in, and what did I have on my hands... 3 young ladies...."we're bored"....... Watching it rain for a bit, noticing that we didn't have any thunder or lightening.... They come to me, "Can we go outside and play on the slip and slide, it's not thundering or lightening."... Sure go for it....  Well I take a peep outside looking for the girls on the slip and slide, so I could send Nathan out for a while. Well they aren't on the slip and slide!  I look out the back window and they've found the mud!!   They started their fun in the mud!  Well it just happens that the mud is on a bit of an incline.  It was quite funny watching them try and climb the hill in the mud!!  I grabbed my phone and snapped a few shots of them in the mud!  They all had a great time as the rain came down while they splatted in the mud!  When the rain stopped, they made their way to the slip and slide to "clean the mud off"!  The joys of being a child!  Playing in the rain and mud, what a carefree way to spend a rainy summer afternoon!! 

While writing this, it reminded me of how in life sometimes, all we can see is the rain and the storm.  Sometimes even in the middle of the storms of life, we need to find the mud and stop and enjoy the moment!  Knowing how God loves us and wants us to be joyful.  Sometimes in life we have a hard time finding joy!   A challenge to myself and others; Where is your joy?  Is life hard right now, are there somethings in life that seem really difficult?  Are you feeling alone?  What storm are you walking in right now?  Take a moment and look for that little mud pile!!  Sometimes we do have to let go and be childlike in some ways!!  A favorite verse comes to mind... "The joy of the Lord is my strength" Nehemiah 8:10... So maybe we need to muster up some strength to make it through our storm!!  Oh.... where is that mud?  

Getting school together

I've had the opportunity to download the 1st Unit for Trail Guide to Learning, Paths of Settlement.  I chose to just order the e-book format for the 1st unit.  Since this will be our first year doing the unit study type approach, I didn't want to go overboard and order a lot of books and materials.  I'm excited about what I'm seeing so far.  Will not really know how this will fit for our family until we actually start school this year.  I know it's going to be a challenge for us, because with change there always comes challenge.  My UPS box with the books and core materials should be here tomorrow!  I'm excited, of course it's always exciting to get a box from UPS!!   I will keep you all updated as I go!!

Curriculum 2012-2013

Just placed my order for next years curriculum.  We are going to try something totally new this year for us.  We are going with Geomatters... Trail Guide to Learning, Paths of Settlement.  This is a unit study approach! This is an all inclusive curriculum, only have to add Math.  I'm really excited about this.  I will keep you posted as to how it works for my family.  With a 7th and 5th grader at this point... and a 3 year old in the mix.  Click here for more info about this curriculum. 

On a journey....

I decided to begin another blog, since it's been almost a year since my last post.  I'm now going to try and include my homeschooling adventure along the way too.  Much has gone on with our family...  Will is knocking on the doorway of 13, Annagrace is 10 and little Nathan is 3 and full of energy.  We are in the process of pursuing adoption with Alabama DHR. That's another story within itself.  I will blog about it once I can. Our homestudy is in progress now.  I will not be able to elaborate much on that subject once we have children placed with us, due to the privacy of the children, UNTIL we officially adopt them!!  We do not know who we will be adopting, we are in the "waiting" process now!  Once our homestudy is approved we will be matched with child(ren).  Once they are placed with us, we cannot legally pursue adoption until they are in our home for atleast 3 months.  So due to legal issues I will not really be mentioning our adoption until it's all over... so hang with me!!  It may be several months before I'm able to really mention it in web land!!!