Schedules & organization ~ a little tweaking here & there

Recently I’ve been cutting my time on the computer, little to no phone daily and started a schedule that gets school done usually before 2:00! So this has left little time to blog & connect/keep up with friends but I have been wondering how everyone’s school year is going. So far ours is going OK. There are the stressful moments but we’re getting through! I’m hoping that the schedule (which I just started Tuesday) helps the chaos we call life around here! And gives me more free time for myself and to get some art & photography back into my diet. I know what you’re thinking, I know I’m not the most organized person but I have a couple kids that really need this structure. As much as it’s driving M & me a little crazy, I think it’ll be good for the oldest & youngest. I just have to tweak it a little here & there to make it work for all of us. It is helping us to get everything done that I want to get to in our day and yet still have time for everyone to breath a little! Everyone seems to be enjoying this. Well, after M’s initial meltdown.

I’ve also started French, geography and art with the girls. We needed more fun in our school days, which is what we’ve been lacking for a while now. Next I’d like to add nature journaling ( I think we’ll all enjoy this ), but I’m waiting for the weather to break! I’m just not one to enjoy hanging out in full 90 degree sun. Right now for geography we’re doing a study of Holland (the book was written when it was its own country) as we read Hans Brinker or The Silver Skates. For art today we did a study on the Limbourg Brothers on their “Book of Days” that was commisioned by Duc de Berry. The girls are making a “Book of Days” calendar themselves so this is going to be an ongoing study til we’re done. And I definitely think I’m gonna be joining in this project myself! Today the girls got their outline finished & we copied off enough for each month of the year. M also did some thumbnail drawings of what she invisioned for most of her months. She still has a few to go but each month includes at least one fairie. The issue I’m coming up against is that the other two seem to have that perfectionist, OCD type personality that makes them want everything symmetrical & perfect. I really need to work on getting this out of them so they can just enjoy the art!

J & I have started cleaning out the greenhouse & removing some of the cinder blocks on the floor. We gonna use the area where we cleared the blocks as beds to plant in. I haven’t yet started any soil blocks as the temps are still way too hot to plant cool weather veggies in the greenhouse. I’m hoping this goes well and I continue to learn what I need to accomplish my goals since it’s something I really enjoy doing. I also plan on trying a few other things in there just to see how they winter over. I did have every intention of digging up my stevia (after harvesting it of course) and potting it up in the greenhouse to winter over. The problem is that J mowed it down while we were off visiting family. No stevia this year. I can’t completely blame him for this and honestly ~ I’m over it

I also found an interesting article on organizing recipes here. I think this and a home management binder will be my next big projects. I’ll plan on posting as I make the home management system. I’ve found some really great ones out there and even tried one once. The problem was that what looked great & worked for other families just didn’t suit us so I’ll definitely have to put my creative juices to the test on this one. It’s useless to have a “great” system if you never pick it up!

I’m also on the prowl for some neat craft ideas to do with the girls. Maybe even a few sewing projects. We’ll see how the sewing goes. We try but, well, you know . . . I do have a couple of bags of corks that a lady saved everytime she opened a bottle of wine. I think I’m gonna start with a cork board but am still deciding on the shape I want it to be. Hopefully I’ll have enough so the girls can work alongside me & make their own. If not, I may just have to look the lady up & see if she has anymore corks that she’s saved since then. Or enlist people I know to start saving theirs. The problem is that apparently they are no longer all made out of cork but some are made of plastic.

Since we’ve cleared out, cleaned up & rearranged the house it has been much easier keeping it clean & presentable. I have to admit that some organization does make life smoother for everyone! I’m trying, I really am. It just comes a little slower for me than for most. I guess I tend to have M’s attitude that too much of this scheduling/organizing can be stifling. I think in the end it just comes down to how you view it and maybe even how you let it dictate. It’s a great tool but not an end all. Sometimes you have to throw caution to the wind and enjoy a little spontaneity! Some of us just enjoy doing this more than others

where I am ~ random thoughts

I know it has been quiet around here lately. There’s been a lot going on here. And in my head too! Actually I’ve been trying to calm/quiet myself enough to just listen to the Lord & what He’s trying to tell me. I must warn you ahead of time – this is gonna be a very random post. It may not even all mesh together but like I said its random. The random things going on around me & inside me.

I know, I’m a gardener, and today I was down in my garden thinking my life is much like this. When I’m slipping or falling my heart is full of weeds that consume and overtake it. Until you cannot see the good fruit that is there in the mist of it. When I’m on the right path my heart is like the well-tended garden. You can look out from the edge & see all the lush and juicy fruit without stepping foot inside. I guess the hope is this: it is hard to weed and some of those weeds will fight with all their might to stay grounded right where it is. Trust me, I’ve cut myself on weeds & drawn blood before! BUT no matter how hard they are to pull out there’s always a way to get them out. Sometimes it takes a shovel, sometimes it takes a tiller and sometimes it just takes someone with more strength.

Be careful what you ask for. You see, when you ask God to help you by revealing the sin in your life He does! It can be gut wrenching at times but it needs to be done. This is what I’ve been working through lately. Or I should say God and I have been working through. It hurts. It hurts me to hurt Him by having these sins in my life. And it hurts Him to see me sin like this. Honestly, it doesn’t matter how “big” or “small” the sin as people say. And I always wonder why people categorize sin as big or small? Sin is sin. That’s just what it is!

We’ve been working on staying solid with our school. So far so good. A little disruption here and there but we still need to roll with those too. I’ve changed up the way we’re doing some things this year. I’ll let you know how it goes in the end.

We should be moving the girls back into their rooms within the next week. Hopefully this will be by Sunday but I want to be realistic here. They are excited. J and I are excited. We’re all sick of living like this! I do have to give my hubby some props here though, he works fast and does a great job. There are a lot of men who cannot do these things. And some who can but won’t I’m excited to organize their rooms (or at least the younger two’s).

I finally pureed my pumpkin that we got from the garden. I think we actually did pretty well. I also roasted the seeds. The girls made a pumpkin pie. It was the first time we’ve ever made it from fresh pumpkin rather than pumpkin out of a can. It was really good!

We’ve also been working on finding good bread recipes that we all like. So far I have found a white bread recipe that J likes, well we all do but he’ll only eat white bread! I finally got a friend’s recipe for multigrain! I have literally been asking for years! Years. Seriously. And yesterday my oldest made a french bread recipe out of a book she was reading. We all really liked it so I’d have to say it’s a keeper too.

M’s reflux is really getting to her again. I’ve had to change her whole diet and we’ve got an appointment with the doctor soon. She’s been doing well sticking to what I tell her she can & can’t have. She’s not handling her sister telling her she should or shouldn’t have this or that though! We’re working on holding our tongue! Everything around here is a work in progress. But at least we’re progressing!

Our Week So Far

I am so thankful that this week has been going much better for us than the past few. God is so good & so faithful & through all the trials I see His hands.

For all those wondering, my sister is doing well and will be fine once she recovers. She’s still in pain, which I’m sure is normal, and has a bit of trouble eating due to the fact that they cut through a muscle in her head. Thanks for all your prayers and well wishes.

Sunday we got everything put back into the back room. J is currently expanding bedrooms for the girls. Its going much better (and quicker) than I anticipated. The initial mess only lasted a short while. They’re gonna be much bigger than the previous bedrooms and better planned out. I’m excited to go into the younger two’s room & organize! And clean out!

We started school yesterday and it actually went pretty well. I realize that not drilling addition, subtraction w/ the little one & multiplication & division w/ M was a big mistake but we’ll get back to where we need to be. Its a learning process for me too. You’d think I’d learn by now but, to be quite honest, I enjoy a break sometimes too!

We finally got some much needed rain yesterday evening. We ended up without electricity for a few hours. Thankfully, I already had dinner done before this or we would’ve been driving through somewhere! I made one of our new favorites, chicken fried rice. I found a pretty good recipe online and so this was the second time I made it. A friend recently gave me a pressure cooker. She got a new one & this one has steam coming out where it shouldn’t but it sure worked fast compared to the pan method I’ve been using to cook my rice! I can’t wait to try beans in it!

I’m still picking tomatoes, although due to the recent lack of rain and extreme heat they’re smaller than usual. They still make a pretty mean salsa and I’ve been canning as I go. We’re also getting other produce, again in smaller quantities but we won’t complain! I’m very excited that even though I have never sprayed our peaches the tree is loaded! They are speckled on one side of the skin but if you cut the skin off they’re fine. And they are sweet, man are they sweet! We’ve also been picking some apples off the tree that hangs over the our fence from the horse field. Today we plan on picking, freezing & canning if there’s enough. We’ll see.

I think I’ve decided to take the easy road this year with winter gardening. I plan on just growing them in the greenhouse whenever I get around to it! That will also help me to leave the ground clear to work it, however we end up deciding, more than likely with the lasagna garden method. My oldest is great at planning things out & as she proved this year she’s good at planning out a garden too. I plan on enlisting her help in planning next year’s garden. I think that’s one of the great things about being a family ~ using everyone’s strengths to work together!

Recent Random Things

I’m starting to think maybe my blog should have something in the title to do with randomness, huh?! Anyway, I know its been a long time. Here’s the random things that have been going on around here recently (and some recent random pics):

Ash has learned to sew, which is a big YAY for me because now I don’t have to be called upon for all her sewing needs. When I say she learned to sew I mean she learned to thread the machine and deal with most of its problems. One problem we’re still trying to work out is getting the tension right. I think I need to take a day and figure it out. This, of course, means my eyes end up spaced and I’m not thinking clearly by the end of it all! I’m not exactly a seamstress!

The homeschool Christmas market came and went. It was good. This year the kids made everything all on their own. I didn’t step in at all, which was a bit hard but I learned to just leave the room. They enjoyed it and learned a lot working together. They made some really neat and impressive things this year too.

standing on the floor of the greenhouse to be

J has started building a greenhouse out back where the girls’ playhouse used to stand. He chose to tear the playhouse down but somehow the girls think it was my devious plan?! According to them I tell him what to do and he just does it. How far from the truth they are! If it were only that easy!

My youngest is now the big 7!

We celebrated quietly at home together.

Her sisters decorated the house and bought her an umbrella and pink slippers.

We bought her some hair accesories and gave her money (which is what she asked for).

J & I finally broke down and went and had our eyes checked. I already needed glasses for driving but my prescription was from about 6 or 7 years ago. I did need a stronger prescription but not much. J now needs glasses for certain things too and so I guess the first signs of getting old are now upon us.

Went to a mom’s homeschool Christmas party the other night, which was great fun! Food, fellowship and the always loved elephant gift exchange. I actually ended up with a nice tea set which we love! And needed! These girls have chipped/broke most of the dishes in this house in recent months. Including tea cups.

Sick Days

Here are a few pictures of things going on in the house while we were sick. These are of the girls painting.

Weekly Wrap

So, our week is almost over and I can truly say I am exhausted! Not sure what has made me so unbelievably tired, maybe its the rain? We had a pretty good week though. Everyone is pretty much staying on task, a-hem. Ok, I have a child struggling a bit to stay on task but we’re getting there.

We took a nice hike with some other homeschoolers yesterday up a mountain. I really think I could live on a mountain! Not one with roads leading up to my place though, you’d have to hike to stop by. I think that would keep it down to just good ole’ friends who really came to sit a while and enjoy our time together. Its a good thought, huh?

Ash has started her yearly card making early this year hoping to have more people interested. So far she seems to be doing well. I’m proud of her! One thing I’ve always wanted to instill in my girls is the sense of entrepreneurship. I think that’s important, especially if they may want to stay home with their kids someday. They’ll need to know how to make a little money here and there.

M & Ash are both now asking for blogs. I guess I’m gonna learn how to set one up pretty soon here. As soon as I can get the fog out of my mind and think a little straighter. They’ve picked out the names (which I currently cannot remember to save my life!) and are thinking about what they want it to be like. My little one wants one too but I think she’s just not spelling good enough for even her favorite aunt to follow along, no matter how hard she tries (her aunt that is)!

OK, so I put all my pics from the hike on flickr but now can’t seem to figure out how to get them on here. When I figure it out I’ll post them. Right now, I’m really tired. ~Goodnight~

This Week

Well, we’ve started what is quickly becoming another busy week. Its ok though, we seem to like it that way once in a while. Yesterday we finished up school a little after lunch. We then had some homeschoolers over to teach them how to make prickly pear jelly. I think it went well. I’m not the greatest teacher because I’m not precise with much. I think she got it though and hopefully they’ll enjoy the jelly.

Today & tomorrow just school and library and house work (which never ends). Trying to keep on the books and the girls this week. We have two, yes I said two, field trips this week. Everyone is excited about it. I’ll try to take lots of pictures and post some.

Thursday is a hiking trip and Friday a musuem. I’m so excited to be able to get the girls out of the house more this week!

I also (finally) have the Lasagna Garden book waiting for me at the library. I’ve been on the list for a month or more! I’m excited to get started on my garden for next year. I know that we don’t know for sure that we’ll be here but I like to plan like we will ~just in case. And if we’re not, someone else will be blessed by some nice soil waiting to have veggies planted.

Have so many ideas for different things on the tip of my brain its just finding the time and energy to get them done!! Still trying to make the time to take some fall pictures of the girls. Have to make our cough syrup, cough drops, and eczema cream too. Get to some drawings that have been in my head for a while, print out pics, and the list goes on and on and . . .

Nice weather, gardening and some jelly pains

Well, the weather is finally cooling down around here and we are v-e-r-y thankful for that. Its been nice using the oven, opening the windows and just relaxing out on the porch.

We are officially on our 3rd week of school, I think. And today was the first day I felt we were actually getting into a good groove. I’ve started everyone out with the basics and have just been adding more to their plates as we go. Devotions/Bible before anything else definitely makes our day go smoother. We used to wait until lunchtime just to get through our school day quicker. Honestly though that didn’t work very well and everyone is handling the day better when we’re in the Word first thing. If we don’t do it first thing the kids start stressing and arguing!! I know, most of you are like “Duh” but I have a pretty thick skull sometimes! I’m learning!

We have started clearing out the garden. Took out the spent plants over the weekend. We still have some tomatoes, peppers, cucumber, beans, birdhouse gourds out there. We also have a few volunteer watermelons growing out of one of the compost piles. We’ll see how they turn out, so far they’re looking pretty good. A few days ago we planted some cauliflower and broccoli plants out. I still need to get some lettuce planted and maybe some snow peas. I also need to figure out where would be a good place to plant my garlic this year. Still pondering that one.

I made some kudzu jelly last week and let me be the first to say that this is the one jelly that stresses me out to make! It is such a pain to get to set up. I think this is the last year I’m making it. Seriously. I will be making some prickly pear cactus jelly soon though, which is one of our favorites.

Still have a ton of tomatoes & peppers in the kitchen that were recently picked. Tomorrow I plan on making J more salsa. That is the one thing I didn’t make a lot of this year. And the one thing that I know needs to be made. We go through 1-2 jars a week throughout the year!

Haven’t been taking too many pictures lately but want to start making it more of a priority. I’ll try to have some posted soon. Until then. . .

planes, change and a sign

Sunday I saw a man holding a sign saying Jesus Loves You. You see, I had just received the call that my child & the group she was with had to be taken off their plane because of a “mechanical problem”. As I sat in the car driving down the interstate toward the airport trying to think positive thoughts my mind raced with fear. All I could do is quietly shoot a prayer up asking God to be with me & them and take these thoughts away. I looked up at an overpass and saw the man standing on it holding this sign. I knew then they’d be OK.

Ash had a great time on her trip!! She can’t wait for the next one, which is years away. I, however, am happy that its not for a few more years, lol!!

I was thinking yesterday how fast things change. Somedays it seems like just yesterday I got married … went to college … had toddlers … moved out of state … and the list goes on and on and on …

Throughout the years I’ve gained friendships and lost some too. I’ve had family members walk away from me and I’ve had to walk away at times too. Life is too short for a lot of this but some of these things need to happen and through them we learn and grow. Does some of these things sadden me? Absolutely. But one thing I do know is that God is working through all of these situations and I need to just lean on Him during the tough times. I also need to lean on Him during the good times, which is one thing that we sometimes forget.

We are getting everything ready to start school tomorrow. We’re pulling out and dusting off our books and arranging our bookshelves. This year I just want to focus on the things that God leads us to learn. You can’t go wrong if your focused on Him!!

Today I am canning banana peppers, green beans and making some homemade bread and butter pickles. If I have time I plan on making some more spaghetti sauce, if not I’ll have to get to it tomorrow. I have finally learned that it is OK if I can’t finish the list I’ve made for myself that day. That things can be done tomorrow and to stop beating myself up over it.

Its a nice sunny day outside and I’m happy for this day that the Lord has given us

Busy, busy days

I’m not sure why but it always seems, or at least for the past few years, that as the school year comes to a close we get so unbelievably busy its unreal! I have been going in five different directions for days now. I guess its good to be busy sometimes though, it keeps you motivated. And on your toes. Personally, I generally do a lot better under the stressful situations than I usually do during the calm, drawn out ones.

We took the girls to Charlotte to a kids museum, Discovery Place, on Sunday. To be completely honest I was really impressed. We spent about three hours there and probably could’ve stayed longer had we all not been so hungry. Getting out of Charlotte was another story altogether! I hope to post some pictures of that trip very soon!

Now that this school year is ending its time to think ahead to next year and figure out what worked, what didn’t and how we can improve. I usually like to sit down and get the girls’ input to see what they really enjoyed and what they really didn’t. I want to add in more arts oriented things next year. We are planning on taking the month of June off and then we’ll figure out how we’re gonna work July and August. I hate giving them the entire summer off! It makes it so hard on me when we start back up again. I truly feel for the public school teachers that have no choice! Although, I’m sure that they secretly enjoy some off time like I do.

I’m also trying to make some changes in the way things are run around here. As any of you that know me well know, I am a very disorganized person. Not that I don’t try, it just doesn’t come naturally to me. At all. I don’t want to be one of those super anal people who can’t handle anything out of place (think Monica from friends). I know people like that. They make me nervous to just be around. To me that would be like living in a prison. But I also don’t want to go to the other extreme, which would probably be an easier transition for me (I’m being honest here! Not that I’m proud of it!), and be one of those oober (yeah, that’s right, oober) laid back people who just move a pile off the couch to have a clean spot for company to sit. I guess I’m always moving the “clutter” of whatever is no longer in use out of the house but for some reason it never seems to help enough. So this makes me think that it more than just “clutter”. Hmmm. . . That maybe, just maybe, dare I say it? There’s that dreaded disorganization word again!! I can’t seem to get away from it! And I can’t seem to bring enough of it into our lives to give us that nice middle ground that we need. Anyone know of any good books on this subject?

On a lighter note, our worms seem to have settled into their new home and I’m haven’t heard any complaining coming from the bin for a while. I quit feeding them daily and put a layer of dry newspaper on top, which seems to keep them from trying to escape. I think toward the end of June is when the three months will be up & I’ll start moving everything to one side and add new bedding on the clean side. This way hopefully they’ll move to the clean side when I start only feeding there and I can take out my vermicompost. I have had any of that wonderful tea that they talk about though?! Did see a pretty cool, but very ugly green, and quite expensive for my taste worm bin system at Target on Sunday. I just thought it was funny to see there but neat that its catching on.

The garden, well, it seems to be kicking my butt some days! Weeding is quite a difficult task when you have so many long rows! I’m hoping to find a better way to keep the weeds at bay. I’m reading that the more compost worked into the soil the better as far as weed control. We just don’t put out enough compost for the garden. I need chicken manure! And lot of it! I still have to get out there and plant a few more seeds and have to get the rest of my seedlings in the ground along with my herbs which are doing pretty well.

Well, its off to bed and up early tomorrow for what promises to be another busy day!