Lego Man

 What is it about boys and legos?  They are somehow innately connected in a powerful way.  Cal could play forever with Legos.  And where he wants to go is dependent on the amount of legos available to hime. 

Take speech therapy.  Cal used to hate therapy.  Until Miss Katie brought in legos.  Now he can't wait to go back to see her. 

It's kind of strange really.  :)

 This is Cal.  In his room almost every day.  Every minute of every day.  Notice what is to the right of him?

 Yep, that's right.  It's a lego table!  Isn't it neat?  I scored this puppy at a garage sale for $15.00.   I thought it was a steal.  As you can see Cal uses it to store all of his junk rather than actually building things.  Which means we have to walk all over legos on the floor, all the time looking at this lego table which could so nicely house all of his creations.  But I digress...Moving onto creations:

 This is one of Cal's creations.  Does anyone know what this is supposed to be?  His imagination is so cute to me.  Love, love, love it. 

 And then there is this...this I can see is a horse.  I love how he can make things up and build them. 

 Here's something that is so funny to me!  He loves to build and rebuild little men so here he built a little see-saw for them...isn't that the cutest thing?

Here are the little guys playing with the playground equiptment.  They apparently are very small as Cal told me they can't get their underpants back up when they go potty so I need to "stick around" to help as he put it:)  Love that boy!

 

So there's our story of legos...taking over our lives!  Just kidding.  We feel so lucky to have found something that Cal loves to do!



Wide Open Spaces

What is it about these children that I love so much?

This isn't a particularly good picture.  But I love pictures of them side by side where I can compare their features. 

This past weekend we went to an Arts Festival.  We had such a great time but the thing I loved the most was the weather.  There was a gentle breeze and one of those skys that just reminds you of the awesomeness of God...huge puffy clouds floating through a piercing blue sky.  Love. 

They are just getting so big and so grown up.  I can't believe how much I love these two. 

And believe it or not but I hardly ever have the intention of dressing them alike.  Somehow it just happens that they coordinate.  I dress Emma and Nick dresses Cal and we somehow always come out of their bedrooms with kids who are dressed in coordinating outfits.  It's weird I tell ya...

just weird

The Nutcracker

This past weekend Emma auditioned to be in the Nutcracker in our city.  While there are several large ballet company's in our area, the Nutcracker is put on by the biggest and most prestigious. 

 

This audition was something that Emma had no idea she was even doing until that morning and I must tell you, from a mother's stand point it could not have gone worse! 

 

Earlier in the week I had gone through Emma's things and realized she had 1 pair of ballet tights and no leotards that fit! 

 

So the night before her audition we had an event to go to but I managed to frantically make it to the store and buy a leotard.  I mean, we were running in and out of the store!  I found one I REALLY liked but bought another one just in case. 

 

In the morning I went to dress her and couldn't find her tights anywhere!  I was going balistic!  What on earth did I do with them?  I had had them in my hand just days before and then suddenly they were gone!!!

 

Nick found them in her t-shirt drawer.  While I have no idea whose fault it is, I have a pretty good guess...mine!!!

 

I went to put her leotard on her and it was huge!!!  Thankfully I had bought the backup and that one fit! 

 

The final piece of the puzzle were her ballet slippers.  She had worn them last year in her class and they had been huge!  The "stellar" mother I am didn't think to try them on and lo-and behold, they were WAY too small!  I had Nick cut out the elastic band that runs around the piping on the top and luckily they would at least go on her feet...they were so small!!!  I felt terrible for her but assured her she would have them on for just a couple of minutes. 

 

I threw her hair in a bun and we were off! 

 

Good thing her audition was close!

 

When we got there, I could not believe how many girls there were!  There was practically no where to sit and we finally found a place...on the floor!  We had to fill out an application, include a cover shot of her, and even paid just to have her audition.  It all seemed kind of over the top to us po-dunk people.  I was so nervous; Emma didn't really seem to care.  I was nervous though, because, what do you say to a little girl who doesn't get a part?  I just didn't want to see her upset.

 After waiting for what seemed like forever they FINALLY called her in with the rest of the litte girls her age.  They were horribly behind schedule.  We waited and finally some girls started to trickle downstairs.  But no Emma.  We waited, and waited, and waited.  Still no Emma.  So Nick went upstairs to look for her.  And he caught her in the audition.  Isn't she just adorable! 

 Here she is again.  Looking back I figured that the girls who came down first survived the first round of auditions, were made mice and then sent downstairs.  Emma was undergoing a second round of auditions...so proud of that girl!

 FINALLY she came downstairs with her little envelope.  I don't think she had any idea what the envelope meant.  Don't you just love the staircase?  This is where I took ballet too and I loved it.  The building is an old, old school and it is just perfect for a ballet studio.  I think there are four floors of nothing but ballet rooms. 

Don't you love her little bun and her little leg warmers?  She is just so adorable! 

When she finally came to me with the envelope, we opened it up and found out she had been accepted as a lamb!  We are so proud of her.  And if I am thinking right, she will be on stage with the shepherdess and will do a little routine with her...does anyone else know? 

We are so excited for her!  We have to sign an official contract and send it in this week.  The girl will end up practicing two hours a week...that's a lot for a 6 year old! 

Cube Console

Nick made the workboxes which I talked about here.  And since he is amazing he started taking orders on what else I needed.  One of the things I really wanted was a central place for all of the supplies. 

 

Last year the kids had their own sets of supplies in their desks.  It went well part of the time and the rest of the time I listened to this:

 

I can't find my orange colored pencil. 

 

Cal borrowed my blue crayon and won't give it back. 

 

I can't find my pencil sharpener...

 

Ugh, it got old.  There had to be another way!   I also had these cute bins with no where to really keep them and binders and things that just had no home. 

 

 

 So Nick came up with this!  Isn't it just darling!!!  We homeschool on the third floor and the windows are pretty close to the floor.  I believe this console kajigger is only 13 inches high but I love that it fits so snuggly underneath the window.  I also like that there is now a buffer between the children and the window.  While the kids are very well behaved and we've never had any scares or anything, there's still something that just freaks me out about kids around a window 3 stories up. 

Anyway, the cube shaped bins hold papers and flashcards.  The binders on the left hold all of the kids' school work that they have completed.  The magazine holders hold...tada!!!  Magazines!  Shocking, I know!  But it helps me to keep track of all of the curriculum catalogs, "mailbox" classroom magazines, and the like. 

 Here's our pencil holder and a smattering of what nots in the other side.  These were at Hobby Lobby last year.  I fell in love with the colors and prints in the pattern.  I think they are actually gardening things and not for the office.  The above is a set of pots with a handle in between.  But it works.  And I love it.

 Our globe which was mine when I was a girl.  Did you know that one year I actually asked for a globe for Christmas?  What kind of nerd asks for a globe?  It was something that just didn't have a home in our classroom.  I stole this firetruck from Cal's room and it now is our glue stick holder.  Love vintage wood toys like this truck!

 Is there anything better than school supplies?  Just looking at all of the colors and options makes me smile.  How fun!  In the picture above you can see that this is a strawberry box...love that I thought of this idea.  We had a strawberry box that we just never used and I love using it in this way. 

And finally had to include this.  Last year to make the time go by faster Cal would randomly glue things together.  Or tape them.  He would  have stapled them if I had let him, I'm sure.  This was one of the things that he made.  Isn't it cute, a little snowflake?  It actually looks like a snowflake!  Proud of that kid. 

So there's a little tour of what Nick made for me.  It's just perfect, he's perfect, and life is perfect.  So blessed!

Sleep Deprived and Loving It

Yesterday was our second day of homeschool.  Already I am exhausted.  We schooled at Panera, picked up Cal, had a quick lunch, continued on with school, and then had some quiet time, which consisted of laundry and cooking and cleaning.  After quiet time was over we headed out to walk the dog, then came back home to get some more cleaning done and make dinner.  After dinner we took the kids to the nearby riverwalk to ride their bikes, and then it was home to put kiddos to bed.  Usually I am kind of happy after putting the kids to bed because that is when alone time with Nick starts. 

N to the No last night.  Last night I tucked the kids in feeling like I was just getting started.  As I had to get things put into workboxes for today, pack up our school bag to do school at therapy, rearrange the books on our new bookshelf (totally not necessary I was just trying to be psycho apparently), pay bills, clean the kitchen from dinner, and on and on and on....

I feel like I am buring my candle at both ends.  There's just no way that I can wake up at 4:00 in the morning and try to go to bed at midnight.  I don't think it's going to work. 

On top of that my adorable annoying husband loves to snore, so when I do go to bed about 50% of the time I cannot sleep at all.  Every morning after a night of no sleep because of his ridiculousness I am fed the same lie..."I'll go to the doctor and get some help."  But it has not happened.  Ugh. 

For the past four years I was up MULTIPLE times with Cal as he couldn't sleep.  We started him on medication that helped his sleep in June. 

In July Nick started to snore. 

Ah, pure bliss that month of sleep I got (read my dry horrid sarcasm here). 

So slowly but surely these guys in my life are trying to kill me.  Some type of old chinese torture technique I suppose.  Or nazi. 

That's what I get for marrying a man of German descent. Oh great. 

Cause of death? 

Lack of sleep.  Hahaha.  They'll dance on my grave.   It will be some type of Oktoberfest celebration, I'm sure. 

Anyway, where was I?

Oh yes.  So two days into school and I am already exhausted.  My solutions have been to hire a cleaning lady.  Or to run away from home.  Maybe both.  Irony always gets the last word my friends. 

Sorry, this makes no sense.  I am tired.  And I think my shoes are tied too tight.  My brain is sending all of my blood to my feet in an effort for them to not be cauterized or something.  If I knew how to do spell check on this new computer I would spell check cauterize.  But I don't.  And my blood is in my feet. 

So now if you'll excuse me I'm going to go teach my children.  I'm sure you're glad that I am in charge of their education right about now, right? 

 

Preschool & Panera

Cal goes to preschool 3 days a week now.  I am so excited for him.  He gets so happy when he knows he gets to go see his buddy, Adason and his teachers. 

 

I love having him go to preschool.  It is a nice break for me to concentrate on Emma and her school work.  Next year I will be teaching them both so I am considering these years as homeschool buffers, easing me into schooling with one child at a time. 

 

The only problem that arises from Cal's preschool is the time that is lost in driving.  It takes 20 minutes to get to and from the school so that is 40 minutes lost in driving round trip that we could be spending in school. 

 

While it may not seem like a lot, we already are going later in the day than last year, and I just don't want to have to tack on an additional 40 minutes onto the end of the school day if I don't have to. 

 

The solution?

 

On the south side of our city there is a shopping plaza with a couple different cafes and restaurants.  So I am pretty sure that we are going to be doing school there!  Last year we did this a few time but not consistetly! 

 

The best thing though is that Nick has time off each week.  So according to my nerdy calculations, the most times I will ever have to take Cal to preschool and do school with Emma is two.  Only two times!  And sometimes it is only one!  So I can totally do this!!!  Right?  Right!  Excuse me as I give myself a pep talk right in front of you! 

 

Anyway, so my plan is that we will break it up between Starbucks and where we went today...Panera!  I love Panera!  I've been going low carb lately so it was killer not ordering one of their ginormous bagels schmeared with cream cheese.  But I was good.  I got a coffee.  And a lemonade for my daughter.  At 9:00 in the morning :)  

 

 Here is what Emma worked on...

 Here is what I worked on...

I worked on this too... Hazelnut coffee with cinnamon, a splenda, and skim milk...yummy!

So that is how we are making homeschool work!  I am so blessed by Emma and  her ability and willingness to do school wherever.  I'm not so sure that this will work next year with two of them, but we will see.  And if it doesn't, it's nice to know that I won't have to. 

What other places do you "home"school?  Do you Panera-school too?  :)

Well We Survived

Yesterday was our first day back to school. 

We muddled through.

Emma is six but we have her a grade ahead so she started second grade!  Ah second grade...the good old days where you got to learn cursive, multiplying, and all the other fun stuff. 

Cal is four and started his last year of preschool before becoming a kindergartener...or first grader like his sister (pronounced SEE-ster here) did.  He passed the Kindergarten entrance exam at the age of two...does that make you entitled to skip a grade?  We shall see I guess. 

The children had to be woken up earlier than usual.  Not that we let them sleep in any glutonous amount of time, but they do usually sleep in until about 8.  The 7 am wake up time was not welcomed.  I remind them that the bus would pick them up at 7:23 A.M. if we went to public school.  Down the street.  In the dark.  So we'd have to be awake a lot earlier if we did that. 

We had baked oatmeal with blueberries.  I used this recipe which I loved however the remaining 75% of my family complained about the bananas.  Next time I think I'll try it without those.  :/  Weird banana hating people. 

Anyway, we all took Cal to school together as a family and then when we got home Emma and I hightailed it up to the classroom for school.  We had such a great time! 

This year we are having to go longer in our day to get everything done.  Last year we could be done before lunch.  This year we are going to have to go back up for a couple of subjects after we eat.  It's not bad at all, just differet and takes some getting used to. 

The only thing that Cal had to say about his day was how apparently disgruntled he was after "some boy I don't know" cut in line.  Boys...they don't have much of a knack for details, do they? 

So that's a little about our first day back to school.  Hope everyone else had a great first day back too!  Are you all starting back to school now or have you been back for some time?

Vote Now: Outfit Combo



So I need your opinion pleae!  Not that I am winning any awards for fashion or anything but I always like to think I can at least manage to dress myself in a way that will not invoke laughing.  Snickering and the like. 

But here I am with a fashion question.  In the Spring Nick and I are going to get our pictures taken.  Our 10 year anniversary is coming up so we want to do something really special.  For those of you who don't know, we don't really have wedding pictures.  Or any nice pictures of just the two of us.  So we are going to have a photo shoot with just us and then some family ones, and then some of just the kiddos.  I am so, so super excited.

So excited in fact that despite it being 6 months away, I am already planning away.  Mainly because we are going to get our pictures taken by this amazing vintage photographer, Annie.  She's good friends with a good friend of mine and I just couldn't be more thrilled.  You can see her work here.  See, what I mean?  Amazing! 

So anyway, I am looking for a vintagey dress that I will just love.  I've found this one I am thinking of buying:

 

 

 

 

Source: shabbyapple.com via Lindsay on Pinterest

What do you think?  It's called the "North Shore" dress and is from Shabby Apple.  Love their site and if you haven't heard of the site, don't say I didn't warn you...their site is addicting!  I could spend hours on it imagining the soirees I would have with all of these dresses.  Anyway, the dress... which I figure is appropriate seeing as I'm Hawaiian and all :).  So this is the dress I am planning on cutting off arms and legs to buy. 

And here comes my fashion question.  Drum roll please...

I know, the suspense is just killing you, right? 

My question is, can I wear that dress with these shoes? 

Source: kohls.com via Lindsay on Pinterest

I already own these shoes, so if I didn't have to go out and buy new shoes too, that would be swell.  And in case you haven't noticed...I kind of have this thing for pink.  I like to incorporate pink into my outfit at least somewhere.  And I know, I know...they kind of look like stripper shoes.  But I bought them at Kohls, not poledancing r-us or something. And if you think mine are glam, my sister has the pair that is norhing but the glitter on the heel.  Oh, lalala :)

I think they would be cute but maybe I am wrong.  And if I am wrong, I would love for you to advise me on what kind of shoes I should buy.  The polls are now open to vote and share your opinions! :)

A Peek inside Emma's Room

Don't you just love little girl's rooms?  I know I do.  They always seem to be kind of magical.  There are so many things to see and do that it is always fun for me to just linger and check everything out. 

 

Now that Emma is getting older (how and when did this girl get to be 6?  I have no recollection of this!!!) I love going in and just seeing how she's rearranged stuff.  She's gaining her own sense of organization and of doing things.  So here's a little peek at her room: 

 

Emma and Calvin playing with Calico Critters.  Do your little ones play with these guys?  We love them so much but geez a lou are they pricey.  Salty.  Minty.  Moving on. 

Love that the Calico Critter house has lights that turn on!

This is the Calico Critter's kitchen

And their living room...

And dressing room and bedroom.  Oh, la, la.

I love seeing a highchair ready to feed a baby a cupcake and neon worm.  Yum, yum.  And who doesn't love feather boas in the background? 

Emma's nightstand is always a smattering of hodgepodge fun.  Today we see Ariel's shoes and a pencil...too cute!

She also keeps her baseball trophy on her nightstand.  Our girlie is super proud of this and we are super proud of her. :)

Here's a shot of her vanity...stick on earrings tucked behind a bottle. 

Here I am taking a picture...hi!  Love how she's hung a necklace :)

If you ever wonder if Emma has enough shoes the answer is a rosounding ...YES!  We have so many shoes!  I am somewhat of a shoe fanatic! 

Here's her toybox...someone needs to clean!  Good thing it's a three day weekend!

I love making bows which means Emma has WAY too many bows.  Well, according to my husband she has too many bows.  According to me, she doesn't have enough!  Here are just a few of her corker bows and the such.  There are many, many more!

Emma's fishing trophy and a picture of her fishing...love <3 p="p">

Love this Norman Rockwell picture...it looks just like my Emma (you can click to enlarge)

And finally we have her picture/paper/whatever holder that her cousins gave her.  We stick odds and ends in there that we like to see...thank  you notes, chuck e. cheese photos, sport shots, first trips to the dentist papers and the like. 

So there's a little taste of our home.  Hope you got your girl fix if you're an all boy family!  She has so much more stuff (dress up clothes anyone?) but that's all we have time for today...we have to go clean out a toy box now :).

Happy Labor Day!

New Workboxes

In homeschooling there is a system called "workboxing".  I am not a pro at this at all but basically the jist of it is that each subject is in it's own little tub.  It's a way for kids to see how much more they have to do and what they have to work with.  If you have more questions about how the workboxes can work, check out this page.  It's Sue Patrick's page and she invented the workbox system...pretty smart cookie :).

Last year the thing that I really didn't like was Emma's one question she seemed to ask all of the time:  "Are we done yet?"  It was like being on a really long car ride with her asking if we were almost there.  A long car ride...every.single.day.  Not so fun. 

So this year we are going to try workboxes.  I have high hopes so hopefully it will go well.  This system will help her visually see what is left.  No more having to ask Mommy.  I have "DONE" labels on the back of her tubs so when she is done with a subject she can flip it around and see which one's don't say done yet and which ones already do...hopefully evoking a feeling of accomplishment for her. 

Emma has 6 workboxes and Cal has 6 too.  We are pretty sure that we will be homeschooling him but I still want to check out how his attention span is doing and his ability to listen to me and stay on task.  This will be a way for me to put 6 activities together for him and then evaluate how he does.  I am not going to be giving him 6 worksheets or anything, but there will be fine motor skills, handwriting activities, and fun stuff.  Hopefully he thinks it's neat and will stick with us. 

I read Just Laine's website over the summer and fell in love with their workbox system.  Thankfully her and her husband put together a tutorial of how to build it.  You can find that on her site here.  It was so detailed and Maw-velous!  It even had instructions on how to have the sheet of wood cut at the store in the most efficient way...loved it!!!  What a Godsend their family is to us...we never could have done this without her blog.  So thank you so much Laine and husband!

The bins are from Ikea.  Ikea has this system where you can pick what bins you want and how much but their system was over $200.00!  So I bravely approached Nick with the plans from Laine's site.  I figured it would never get done.  Not because he's mean or lazy or anything, but because the guy is working ALL of the time!  And he is alway busy.  He has to compensate for a little wife staying home, yo.  So I figured this would be a back burner kind of project!  To my surprise it only took him two weeks!  And he built me another shelf system too (I'll show that to you some other time).  I am amazed at what a talented husband God gave me.  If Nick doesn't know how to do something, he figures it out.  It's just amazing.   He really has God given abilities and I am just so thankful for him. 

Anywho, here's a look at my new workbox system...eek!  Im so excited!

 This is the system...isn't it neat?  It's painted with Dutch Boy's "Clam Island" door and trim paint...all of the trim in our house is this color, well, because we are in love with it!

 Here are all of the labels.  I made these on word and it was pretty super easy.  I took them to United Art and Education to be laminated.  It was crazy cheap to get them laminated there.  Something like 25 cents per foot or something.  Seriously, if you have one of those around and need something laminated, go there.  I know lakeshore laminates too, but I'm not sure of their prices.  Those are the only educational stores around us...do you have others?

 Here's the front of one column of bins and the backs of others.  See?  They'll just flip them around when they are "done" and it will say "done".  Okay...done saying done :) 

 One of the other reasons I am so excited is that the workboxes are going to hold all of my junk.  It's just amazing to me how much stuff we have accumulated in the past year of schooling.  These are stored in...

This bin!  Ha!  Pretty self explanatory! 

When we bought bins we bought big bins for storage and little bins for the kids school work every day.  I am so happy that we did because I still have one empty big bin and already our classroom looks much more organized.  Granted all of the books are still around, but what the bins are good for are all of the things that just weren't uniform in shape...all of the math manipulatives, the english games, the supplies for science experiments, the art supplies that are uber expensive and aren't just for anytime.  Basically all of the stuff that was coming  out of their boxes and toppling all over the floor.  Now they all have their own little home in our home.

In the next day or two I'll take pictures and give you a little tour of our classroom.  And please let me know if you have any questions about the workboxes.  Or if you have any other educational stores around you in other parts of the country let me know!  I love these kinds of stores and would love to shop them online or the next time we are on vacation!  :) 

two days

Nervous and scared. 

Not really sure why. 

Well I do. 

Because school starts in two days!  Two days!  In two days our lives are going to be turned upside down while I smoosh emma's face into the floor with my shoe and try to cram as much paper into her ear as I can. 

Okay, while that may not be quite how I get things into her brain, it does often times feel like that needs done.  Desperate times call for desperate measures. 

Last year (for those of you just now tuning in) was my first year of homeschooling.  Boy was I wet behind the ears!  It was good in that we are all still alive.  It was bad that I had to learn as I went how things were going to go.  We all were kind of frustrated and irritable at times of the year.  I lost my patience a lot.  Emma refused to participate a lot. 

We seemed to get better though and succeed towards the end of the year. 

Every year is going to be a challange.  A time of getting them back into the groove and ready to have some fun.  Hopefully it will be oodles of fun and we'll learn so much and I will be super duper laid back. 

But I know some times I won't be.  Some times I won't be so nice.  Some times Emma won't be so cooperative.  And in those times I pray I can still be her light.  Her light to point her to Christ.  To be her hero.  To be her best buddy.  Because in the end, that's what I really want. 

But when I look at this huge school year on our horizon I again feel nervous and scared.  Nervous and scared that I'll make the same mistakes.  That I'll fail.  That I will be ashamed. 

But that's why God gives us faith.  Why He died on the cross.  Because those sins of mine from last year. Those times when I didn't show love.  They're gone. 

Zilch.

Nada. 

Can't be found.

Blank canvas waiting for us to paint. 

And so in two days I will pick up the paintbrush and paint us a new picture. 

A picture of 2nd grade.  Hopefully there will be no tears.  No smears.  Blameless in His sight.  And if I mess up and tear a corner or a huge gash in the canvas, I can paint a cross and start again.  It's because of Christ's cross I can even pick up a paintbrush and start anew.

Our Monthly Grocery Shopping Trip

Well I think I've mentioned it in passing.  We've talked about it.  But I thought that I would finally write and tell you all about our monthly shopping trip. 

 

We started this at the beginning of the year.  When food prices were jumping and that horrid business of that gross pink stuff being in your ground beef came up. 

 

There had to be a better way. 

 

Just had to Jerry.  Just had to. 

 

We are HUGE proponents of shopping local.  We love it.  We live it.  We try our best.  But we live in a big city.  One where fresh food doesn't just jump out at us.  Sure we have Farmer's Markets but not a lot of people hacking up cows for us to buy. 

 

So we decided to visit the Amish.  Or the Amo's as I like to call them :) 

 

Please understand that this is not a "run out and grab something" kind of trip.  For us, this is an all day trip.  One that means we are driving a lot.  We try to make the most of it...meaning we do our best to arrange our shopping on a day when Nick's mom can take the kids.  It's just a lot of shopping for them.  What kid wants to go grocery shopping?  Let alone a trip where you are shopping for nothing but groceries at several stores that require a lot of driving. 

 

I've had people ask me this so I think it's only right...we do go shopping other times.  But we do this shopping at the beginning of the month (or preferably at the end of the previous month) so we're ready to rock and roll.  In this shopping trip we are getting the main portion of our groceries.  Think frozen foods, meats and cheeses that can be put in the freezer, canned goods, and cleaning supplies.  We also buy some produce but just for the week we are in.  Every week we still run out and spend about $20.00 on fresh fruits and veggies, milk, and oj.  But this monthly shopping makes things so much cheaper and easier.  I can somewhat plan for a month of cooking based on what is in my freezer.  And it is so easy to break out the stand mixer and make something with the kiddos on a rainy day if I know I have a huge stash of baking supplies ready and waiting. 

 

So onto our trip...

 

The first store we always go to is Rentown.  Sorry I forgot to take pictures.  It's between Bremen and Nappanee if you need to get there.  There are signs...drive around and I'm sure you'll find it :)

 

They have cheese and other products but the thing we go there for the most is cheese.  Is it worth it you ask?  Well, here's my thinking.  They usually have at least 2 or 3 cheeses on sale for 1.99 per pound.  That's cheaper than the kraft bags you buy and those are 8 ounces if you are lucky!  So trust me on this, it is worth it.  Things I also like to buy there are brown eggs (usually on sale for .99 a dozen), butter (1.99 a pound), peanut butter (10.00 for 6 pounds).  Nick really likes their ham salad and german bologna if you are lost in everything that they have to offer.  They also sell Lehman's mints that are our FAVORITE!!!   and they are a pretty good price.  In these stores you have to look at EVERYTHING!!!  They are always changing prices.  Sometimes you'll get a good deal here on one thing...other times it's best to just let it go.  Also, they have mixes of all kinds of stuff.  While I've never tried too many of them, I do get their cake donut and raised donut mixes.  My one key tip is to get the pamphlet on the shelf with it about how to use it.  Otherwise it's a little hard to figure out! 

 

We usually grab a soda and a snack and then settle in for our drive to...

 

 

 Martin's Butcher in Wakarusa.  This is off of 19 and again, there's a big sign.  This is the front of the butcher...

 And here's the back of the butcher.  See?  I told you...fresh.  :)  Just don't think about it!

 Here are some pictures of the price boards.  I am in no means saying that they have the cheapest prices in the world, but I am saying that they are VERY comparable to the super market.  But here you are getting grain fed beef, that is local and without chemicals.  And trust me, the taste is amazing!  There is definitely a difference.  If you decide to come here all of the time because you love it, you can pick up their business card.  It has an email address and you can email them your order so it will be ready for you...easy-peasy!

 I love stores that without appology's serve our King.  Love!

 While on this jaunt we see a lot of buggy's.  I love the Amish people and their simple ways of life. 

 They have the biggest gardens!  I love these flowers!

 I took this picture as Nick was driving about 70 miles down the highway, so I missed the house that the other side of the clothesline is hooked up to.  A pretty impressive system if you ask me :)

After driving we arrive in a whole new county!  In Shipshewana!  Here's the flea market

I love how you drive a while from home and you find different kinds of houses...cabins...whatever

Shipshewana has charming little shops all clustered together...love that!

I love tree canopied little places to walk between buildings...so secretive and fun.

In Shipshewana we go to this place, E & S Bulk foods.  We LOVE this place!

Throughout the entire store there are these little toys up on shelves above that they collect...so cute and nostalgic.

Check out the truck with the boat pull along behind Nick.  Here you can see Nick checking out the bulk foods.  I didn't take any other pictures inside because there were Amish everywhere!  And Amish people do not like having their pictures taken.  So out of respect I didn't pull the camera out anymore.  If you go to E & S, you need to know that you never know what you are going to find.  This time I didn't find everything that I was looking for.  Last month I found a case of greek yogurt for $3.00. I think it made it .17 a container!  For a long time they had Starbuck's coffee for $3.78 a bag!  Can you believe it???  This was the first month they didn't have any, and I gotta tell you, my heart sunk a little.  But oh, well.  That's the name of this game.  Maybe sometime they'll have it again...

On the way to go get the kiddos from Nick's mom we stop at this place that sells eggs.  It's the back of an Amish Family's house.  See the cute sign?

Here are those hard working chickens!  The first time we went here it kind of scared me to go here...I didn't want to just walk into someone's house!  But it's okay.  They have a little room with eggs, money, and cartons.  You just fill up however many cartons you want.  Then you pay on an honor system and write how many you are buying...they have scratch paper for math which I think is super cute!

Here's my husband filling up our cartons.  They have honey and other things too.  I love this because it so exemplifies a Proverb's 31 woman.  This sweet amish woman is selling eggs and honey on the side to help her family.  How awesome!

And this has nothing to do with anything except that I'm still trying to figure out the new camera...eek!  Boy do I love this man!  So glad I get to be his girlfriend.  He's so cute!  He'd look super tough if he could ever manage to not have a little smirk on those big lips :)

 

So there it is.  If you have any questions I didn't answer, feel free to ask!  I'd love to help with whatever you need :)

We're working on it

As Nick and I get older and deeper into our marriage, one thing is also true: the children are getting older.  Meaning they have more activities, have to be at more places, study more things and just overall need more of our time. 

For some reason I thought that this would be backwards by now and we would be savoring more marital time together.  However that seems to be the opposite. 

This often time makes me upset. 
Grumpy. 
I feel like our marriage is failing.
We aren't putting enough work into it. 
We aren't trying hard enough. 
Our marriage is in the crapper.
We are failing. 

Nick it totally a "if we're sitting still, we are doing okay" kind of guy.  I am completely a "if we aren't moving forward, then we are sliding backward" kind of girl. 

These two do not mesh well together. 

At all. 

Today was undoubtedly a hard day for us.  We were blessed with an entire day of just the two of us.  True, we had errands to run, but we had plenty of time for fun together too.  We started the morning fighting.  Ugh. 

Do you ever have these days too?  It's nothing that Nick did.  It's nothing that I did (okay it probably was me!) But somehow we were just grating on our nerves.  I kept telling myself "stop, stop, stop.  Just stop fighting with him!" But somehow did not.  I was annoying and a jerk and a big meanie. 

Finally we had it all out, we talked and we got it out. 

I tell him I scared we're growing apart. We don't have time alone like we used to.  I hate that.  We're going to end up like old people who order meals and then read to themselves until the salads arrive. 

I don't want that. 

I won't stand for it. 

We stopped today to get a shaved ice.  We sat on a glider picnic table. 

Nick brought it up. 

I love you more than you know.  just because the kids are older doesn't change that.  we aren't going to fall apart because we won't let that happen.  we're going to be okay.  Okay?

He made it okay.  He calmed my fears. 

Because whether we are going out of town to work on it or going on our monthly grocery shopping trip together to work on it, we're going to work on it.  This isn't the fairy tale version of love.  This isn't mushy love.  This is the real love.  The love of two people for one another who aren't going to let the life stuff get in the way.  We're going to work on it. 

Homeschool Planner: I made my own

Huge confession here:

 

I have quite the obsession with planners. 

 

I love the possibilities a new planner posesses.  Ah.  I love the crispness.  All of the neat places and slots to fill in. 

 

Last school year I used an amazing Christian Mom planner that Nick's cousin had given me for a Mother's Day gift.  I love her.  Her name is Jodee and somehow she always knows how to make people's day.  I shouldn't say "somehow" because I know how...it's a God thing, totally. 

 

Anyway, I loved it but I was also using a lesson planner and between the two I felt like I was always flipping between the one and the other.  Carrying them around with nothing else felt like I was going to class.  Not to Panera to schedule over chai. 

 

So this year I made my own. 

 

Shocking, I know.  I gotta tell you, it was WAY more frustrating than I thought it would  be.  Figuring out which goes on the front of the page and what will be on the back when  you turn the page was just about enough to put me in a straitjacket.  Fo' real. 

 

Here's a little tour of my planner...come inside:

 

 Here's the front cover!  LOVE it!  I want to eventually put a picture of the kids below the letters, I just haven't found "the one" yet.  I will though.  The front has a clear sleeve on it, so it will just slide in there nicely.  I had it bound at Staples.  Cheap!!!  I couldn't believe it.  I think it cost me $3.00. 

 Here's a close-up of my cover.  Proverbs 31 is my mantra in life.  I want to show the kids how to be a mom and wife for Christ.  I read it often.  Very, very often.

 I went through figuring out how to print off labels for my tags and I am SOOOO glad I did.  Now I have cute font on there!

 LOVE these planner pages I found at Artsy, Fartsy Mama!  She even has different color schemes to use!  

 Up until now I have always printed off my chore charts on a weekly basis.  I use Motivated Mom's lists and I HIGHLY recommend them!  I am such a chart and checker girl.  I get joy from the satisfaction of checking off my to-do's and feeling like I am actually getting stuff done.  So I printed off my sheets so I no longer have to remember to print them off!

 I slipped this sheet of tabs onto one of the tabbed dividers.  Now I can slip them on to something I need to remember...so handy!

 A few months ago I sprained ankle and after weeks of not being able to find EXACTLY what I wanted for my lesson plans, I made it myself.  I was couch-ridden and used the old ruler and pencil method to hack out what I wanted.  Sometime I'll try to enhance it so you can see what all I included.  Above is my first week of school...look at how planned it is. 

 And then we skip to week 5...nary a lesson has been planned.  Eek.  I know it seems lame-o but I can't plan too far ahead lest Emma gets behind and then I am in hot water with the planning ahead. 

 This section makes me the most excited...eek!  It's all together in all of it's glory.  The days of planning on the back of a starbucks napkin are over. 

 Here's what I like to see the most...being organized, I have been recording what I have been buying and need to send, wrap, etc.  I like being able to write "done" next to what I have already accomplished this early in the year. 

 I know it's dumb but I like to make goofy names for my sheets and lists.  That way when I am on the phone, stressed out and trying to find where the dumb post office lost all of my gifts, I can smile when I am writing on my "odd-ball" Christmas list. 

It's the little things.  Am I wrong? 

I like planning for this event...gotta be prepared, right?  Do you have an Ugly Sweater Party too?

 

I absolutely could not have done this without this website.  She explained how to arrange your pages and had oodles and oodles of templates to use.  Love this lady and I don't even know her! 

Do you make your own planner too?  Do you have any other ideas? I'd love to hear them!