August Fields

school

the journey of homeschooling has been rewarding in every way.  i treasure each and every moment with my children…honestly.

we have been homeschooling for four years now.  the kids and i have shared laughter, quiet moments, tears, frustration, joy, hugs, holding hands, smiles and winks.  we sing outloud, dance and twirl.    i wouldn’t trade my ordinary day at home for anything!

i am so so thankful to be able to pray with the kids throughout the day.  we pray when we hear an ambulance, we pray when we’re wrong, we pray when someone is hurt, we pray when we need patience, we pray thankfulness for all we have, we pray for devastated countries, we pray that God would keep us humble.

pinkalicous party

my sweet dancy turned seven.  i love you so much dancy.  you are full of life, honest, hard working, you put others before yourself, and you love Jesus.

pinkalicious is currently a favorite book around here.  we are also in the midst of winter so snowflakes abound.  this is how we came up with a

Pinkalicious Snowflake Party!
pom poms are martha stewart that i picked up on clearance and walma*t for $5.00! 🙂
adorable cupcake toppers are from the TomKat studio .  i ordered the printable pdf files.
the water bottle labels and crayon box labels are from Big Day Creations.  
sweet girl.  your sweet smile and bright eyes light up the room!
pink was everywhere!
craft time!  i purchased these little boxes for .99 each at michaels and gave all the girls
glitter, stickers and pom poms to decorate them.
i love you dancy.  happy birthday. 

“old door” shopping for the school room

i embarked on an adventure in search of an old door to hang in our new house for the school room.  it’s one of those ideas that i’ve had in my head for a long time and when i would come across old doors i’d say “oh, that one would be great” or “love that!”  but never actually made the purchase.

well the time has come.  the trim carpenters are working in the school room now and needed a door to be able to case the doorway.  sometimes i just need a deadline.

i went downtown to a salvage store because i knew they had a “basement of doors”. literally.  take a look.

 this picture times five should give you a pretty good idea of what i was up against.

thankfully, they were organized by type.  i wanted one with glass. so i went to the “door’s with glass” section.

there was this one.  gorgeous.  divided glass, panels, super heavy.

another one, very similar.  sooooo pretty!

hmmm….then there was this one.  single pane of glass (which is what i wanted). not rotting away (bonus).

this one went home with me!  can you see all the pencil scribbling on the right side?  it was meant to be for the school room.  once i clean it all up, i’m sure some day the pencil scribbles will be back. 🙂
i also really like how the glass is set a little lower than you typically see.  the door knob is set lower too.
i picked out some old black hinges, screws and door knob.
so here is the new old door to our school room!  i would love to add some etched glass title to the glass.
maybe “school room” or “school”.  we’ll see 🙂

our family room now

i’ve decided to share some pictures of the house we live in now. we have loved living in this house and making this home for the past 8 years.
this is our family room. when we moved here the entire house was a pinkish tan. we tackled this room first and painted it a dark red. it was pretty but we like to paint so about a year later we painted it this yellow. all i remember is the color is called ‘Oolong’ i don’t remember who its by.

i have rearranged the furniture in this room SOOO many times! i think though, that this set up is my favorite. the white lamp is a favorite thrift store find….i have yet to replace the drum shade (this one is yellowed) but i did not know they are so expensive! if anyone has an INexpensive source for lamp shades please share 🙂
the brick wall was a favorite feature that i really liked when we first were looking at this house. it makes this room so cozy.

the huge window on the mantle, i found at an antique barn in shipshewana…. i remember carrying it down two flights of stairs to pay for it and that baby is heavy! i had the intention of hanging it on a wall with black and white pictures mounted behind the glass…but alas, i never got to it and having it on the mantle has kind of grown on me 🙂

friday favorites

here are some more of my favorite things 🙂
1. bubber. hank received this for christmas and its so fun! it sticks way better than moonsand but is not as sticky on the hands as playdoh. i suggest buying the kit with the tray…our rule (for the little ones) is to keep it in the tray. 🙂

2. ravensburger puzzles. sturdy box, sturdy pieces and they have a huge variety. they carry kids (50 pieces) up to adults (1000 pieces and more). if you’re going to have puzzles around the house i highly suggest investing in ravensburger puzzles. you’ll know what i mean once you have them! you can buy them online but our local barnes and noble carries them as well as most high end toy stores.
3. smartwool socks. if you have snow by you these should be keeping your tootsies warm! once you wear these socks you’ll be hooked! again, local shoe stores or sporting good stores may carry these socks. they are a bit pricey so i ask for them as gifts 🙂