Crocheting Up A Storm

So, my latest and not so greatest hobby has been crocheting. For me, it's been very hard. I am usually really good at figuring out how to do craft pretty much anything. But for crocheting, nope! It's been a huge learning curve for me in so many ways. BUT...I think I found what I enjoy crocheting and I want to thank All About AMI. She posted a great tutorial that was easy to follow and detailed enough that I could figure it out! So, thanks!! Here is the project that I attempted and didn't to bad on, if I must say so myself!

First Day of School

 

First day of school went GREAT! I couldn't be more happier with it! It wasn't too hard but still challenged her. We did math, Reading, Writing, Art, Music and Bible. All with in 2 hours. Could it be so??

Above is H sitting at her desk coloring. This was after all of her school work was done.

Below she is at the computer watching/listening to a man playing a Soprano Recorder and coloring a worksheet of a girl playing the Soprano Recorder. This was part of her music work.  Later on, she got her Harmonica and made up a tune called, Fly, Fly, Butterfly Fly. Find Your Own Dream. It was just a super fast tune.  :-) Cute though.

Happy 1st Birthday

 From this:

 To this in one short year:

 

Happy Birthday my sweet and fun little girl!!

Homeschooling

So, I am starting school tomorrow with Hannah. Most of me is a excited and I have been looking forward to it. Then there is a part of me that is sad to start, mainly because I need to be the teacher and I need to be on and I need to be prepared and I need to teach my child school. The toughest thing is that it is rare that I get a break from kids. As I write this, one is awake...

On the bright side, I get to be with my kids all the time. I get to teach them and see exactly what they are learning. How cool is that!? 

I will be using My Father's World and Christian-based curriculum. There are SO many resources on the internet to compliment this curriculum along with other bloggers who use it and actually post week by week with pictures of what their kids did. I hope I will be doing the same. I want to post our journey of homeschooling this year. I have taken, oh, about a year off since Gianna has been born to not blog. But it is time. So, hopefully you will see more of what we are doing in our little home!

My New Favorite Picture

I just love the look on both of my girls. Hannah....silly, beautiful, sweet Hannah....and then Gianna, cute, sweet, strong, determined little Gianna. I love these girls!!! No matter how hard it gets or how much sleep I am not getting or whatever issue we are dealing with, these two light up my life! (Oh and the guy that is holding her hand is pretty special too!)

Finally...A Family Picture!!

This is one picture that happens very rarely since I am the one that takes the pictures...but here it is!! A family picture!

Fireplace Painting

 This is our faux fireplace before we painted it. It's hard to tell but the shelves on the side were a medium brown color. My husband kept getting on me about painting the shelves and I dug my feet until I couldn't do it anymore. Shelves are awful to paint, in my opinion. You have the top, bottom, and sides of each section. And of course, one coat didn't do it.  So, it was double the torture.

Since taking the picture I rearranged the mantel just a little bit. To me, it was looking a little busy. 

On the right side, I want to have a cluster of candles in different sizes but will wait on that a little but. A couple of items I got at yard sales. The books on the left give me so much joy. Such a simple thing but I think it adds warmth to it. 

The actual fireplace is a black/brown. I didn't want it fully black so I chose the brown color (which is hard to see unless you are standing near it in person). I then purchased Martha Stewart's Glaze paint and LOVE it!! I chose silver but since our house has more warm colors, I am thinking about changing it to her Pottery Glaze line.....we'll see. But for now, it is a nice change and it works. :-)

Tape Resistant Name

This project was super easy and fun for Hannah. We used Finger Paint Paper and Blue Paint Tape. She just spelled out her name with the tape and painted over it. Then when dry, she peeled off the tape...Wah La!!!

A Spring Wreath

 This is my wreath inspired through Pinterest, of course! 

I used a copper pipe insulation cover thingy. Sure wish I knew the name. Then covered it with light brown yarn. It took a long time to cover it because I am a perfectionist! Making the flowers we super easy. I actually got the tutorial off of Craftaholics Anonymous. She also has a great tutorial to get rid of the extra strings of glue that linger when using a glue gun. 

So, I did this wreath about 2 months ago and just posting it now. It is actually time for me to design another one. I want to use peacock feathers this time!!

Eggs For Breakfast

 Since becoming vegetarian, which I loosely practice now, I really learned to dislike eggs. If you think  about it, it is pretty gross. I won't get into that now because this is for a new love of eggs that I have now. My friend, Genelle, introduced me to a Google Group called Nourishing Foodies, and I have bought 8 dozen eggs through them. 8 dozen!!! And they are amazingly good! Almost too good, like chocolate...sort of. These eggs are from a farmer and they are organic, free-range, grass fed chickens. The yolks are orange, not yellow! And the shells are gorgeous. Every time I make eggs for the family, I notice how beautiful they are and I just had to take a picture even though my dear hubby thinks I am a quack (no pun intended) for taking pictures at odd times.

Aren't they beautiful!!??