Top 5 Homeschool Happies

Though Summer is generally not something I get excited about, I do really look forward to what is coming next - AUTUMN!  And what comes with Autumn, but a NEW SCHOOL YEAR!!  Yes, I am one of those nerds that loves school. SQUEE!

Thing # 1: Anna just finished up her third grade year at her beautiful and amazing Waldorf school!!  Those of you who have been with me for a while know that when I started this blog, Anna was homeschooling.  We were able to get her into an incredible school for 3rd grade, and she loved every minute of it.  Waldorf is such a beautiful and effective way to teach and live, and I am so grateful that Anna was able to experience a real Waldorf school for a while.

We are moving to Texas, though, and the availability of such a unique education is limited. Texas is known for amazing schools that value kids and education, with great teachers to boot. (Hi Laura!!)  It is a great system, but it isn't the approach that I think would work best for Anna. Beyond that, Anna has a lot of sick days due to food sensitivities and allergies that leave her feeling yucky, and Texas has a strong truancy law.  In order to allow her body to heal according to it's own schedule (and not the school's), and to continue a more hands-on and creative education, we are going back to homeschooling.

Thing #2: I am so excited about going back to homeschooling!!  It's the nerd in me, really.  I'm ordering books, making out lesson plans, and sharpening pencils left and right (no really - it's a sickness).  I could probably write my own book on all of the things I am planning and learning and reading!

I'm making my own curriculum based on state standards to ensure she's getting what she needs and mastering needed skills.  I'm taking those standards and turning them into lessons that she can really get into and apply to real life.  Be watching in the coming months as I share some of what we're going to do.

Thing #3: Anna is loving handwork this summer!! One of the amazing things about Waldorf education is their focus on creativity and handwork. I was about her age when my grandma taught me how to crochet. I remember spending summers at my grandma's feet with my brother and cousins as she taught us how to use nothing but our minds, our hands, and a hook to turn string into something truly beautiful.

Just this very morning Anna asked if she could make me something and whipped up a pencil holder for me out of her own creative mind and without a pattern.  (Pencils... the girl knows how to get to my heart!)  Though she looks rather serious here, it is only because she was in deep concentration as she worked diligently on my gift.  She just ran in from our front porch and showed me yet another creation. This time it was a coin purse that she made for her Mammy (my mom) just to make her smile.  Have I mentioned how much I love her giving spirit?  I feel so lucky to have this little one in my life.

Thing 4: Violin lessons!!  Anna's school last year gave them free violin lessons as a part of their musical education.  She is doing incredibly well with it, and we are going to continue this at home, practicing often.  When we get to Texas, I am hoping for her to join a homeschool orchestra if it is not too far from where we will be living.  By joining the orchestra she will continue to get an hour and a half lesson each week, and have the opportunity to perform twice a year.

To be honest, I want to learn violin too!  There are some incredible lessons and tutorials available on YouTube for free that I plan to take advantage of.  I bought Anna's violin from Amazon, and plan to get one for myself as well.  Though they may not be professional grade, to this layman they look absolutely gorgeous and sound beautiful.  Here's the link to the one we bought, in case you might be looking for one too.  It comes with a case, a tuner, a set of extra strings, and resin for less than $50!

Thing # 5: Last but not least, I am thrilled that Anna will be starting her third year as a Girl Scout this fall, and she will finally be a Junior.  We found a wonderful homeschool troop where we will be moving, and plan to join them.  She just Bridged from Brownie, and I couldn't be more proud.  She earned a ton of wonderful patches, but even more exciting are the lessons she's learned and the many incredible memories she made with friends.  If you are on the fence about joining Girl Scouts, I cannot recommend it enough.  It is only $15 for the entire year, and with a wonderful leader like Anna had this year, it's worth every penny and then some.

I am so excited about this coming Autumn.  We are going to be doing some preschool work with my spunky Gunner-boy, which I will also share.  My beautiful Abbi-girl will likely be going to a specialized day school for Autism, though that may take some time, so we'll be working with her too.  While Anna's education is the only one that requires this kind of structure and planning from me, I am incredibly happy and blessed to be able to spend extra time with each one of my babies, helping them explore their worlds!!

Easy DIY Laundry Detergent for only $0.04 per load!

Last year I made my own laundry detergent using the grate-and-boil method, and after slicing open my hand on the grater and an hour inhaling soap fumes while cooking it, I swore I would never do it again.  I was over-the-moon ecstatic to find an option that does not require grating or boiling, and leaves my clothes clean, soft, and smelling amazing, while still saving a bundle. 

One of my biggest hangups with homemade detergent is the smell. I love laundry that really smells lovely, and most homemade detergent is at best scent-free. I think I could probably camp out in the laundry aisle of the grocery store and just live there until my dying days and be happy. When I came up with this idea to incorporate fabric softener into my homemade detergent, I was beyond excited.

Are you ready for the recipe? Here we go! 

SUPPLIES:

Recycled Bottles (drink bottles work great for this)
Funnel
6 Tbs Borax
6 Tbs Washing Soda
3 Tbs Blue Dawn Dish Soap
1/3 cup Downy Unstoppables (or your favorite fabric softener)
Water

DIRECTIONS:

1. Fill a bottle a little less than half way with HOT water from the tap (not boiling water -remember this is no cook).
2. Add the Borax, Washing Soda, and Fabric Softener.  (If you have sensitive skin, or want to skip the fabric softener you can - the recipe will work otherwise just as well.)
3. Shake, shake, shake for about a minute.  You want to incorporate the ingredients into the water and get the Downy Unstoppable beads to start dissolving.
4. Fill the rest of the way with HOT water from the tap, making sure to leave a little bit of head room at the top of the bottle.
5.  Add in the Dawn Dish Soap.
6. Shake, shake, shake for about a minute more to disperse the Dawn and get those Downy beads moving again.
7. Go back and shake again every few minutes until you see the Downy beads have completely dissolved.
8. When you are ready to use it, shake the bottle once more to incorporate all the ingredients (they separate when sitting), and then pour about 1/2 cup into your washer with your clothes like you would any other detergent.  You can use this in a HE washer as it has very low suds.  Just make sure to use a smaller amount.

COST BREAKDOWN:

Box of Borax (4 lbs 12 oz): $3.38
Box of Washing Soda (3 lbs 7 oz): $3.24
Med Bottle of Blue Dawn (24 oz): $2.49
Downy Unstoppables (19.5oz) : $5.97 (I actually got mine much cheaper on a sale at Target, so keep your eyes open)

Total Cost: $15.10

The bottle of Downy Unstoppables is the smallest, allowing for 7 gallons of detergent, so we will do our math based on that number, though you will have PLENTY of leftover Dawn, Borax, and Washing Soda for future detergent.

$15,10 divided by 7 = $2.15/gallon.
There are 16 cups in a gallon, so 32 loads worth in each gallon.  That makes each load a total cost of 6.7-cents.

If you calculated it based on the amount of products actually USED for 7 gallons....

Borax - 1 lb, 5 oz used  ($0.93)
Washing Soda - 1 lb. 5 oz used ($1.23)
Dawn - 10.5 oz used ($1.06)
Downy Unstoppables - whole bottle used ($5.97)

Total Cost of products USED: $9.21
Total Cost per Gallon: $1.31
Total Cost per Load: 4-cents
Total Loads in 7 gallons: 224

If you are using an HE washer, you will need even less soap per load, bringing your total down as low as even 1-cent per load!!

Have fun and let me know if you try it!! :D

Found Some Treasure Today

Today I found some truly remarkable treasure. I was merely sorting through things trying to prepare for our upcoming yard sale, and I stumbled across hundreds of handwritten recipes, literally generations old.

When I got married back in the year 2000, my Mammaw (that's my grandma, folks) gave me the recipe box on the left, filled with hand-written recipes from the many women there in TX who touched my life growing up.  It is a treasure that I hold incredibly dear to my heart, especially because most of those people are now gone.

On the right is another recipe box that I came across today as I was sorting through things for a garage sale.  I didn't recognize it, and thought it might have been something I bought years ago from a garage sale or thrift store.  When I opened it up to take a look, it took my breath away.  It is filled with hand-written recipes from my ancestors, dating back to my great, great grandmother.  They are noted with names and the year they were written at the top, and have obviously been well loved and well used.

It was absolutely breathtaking to thumb through these, written out by women decades gone, and recognizing some of the recipes as ones that I ate in my own family growing up.  There is a strange and beautiful connection that happens with food and tradition. I cannot wait to someday pass these on to my own daughter, and watch her carry forward the legacy of generations of kitchens before us.

As if that wasn't enough, I found some other special cookbooks that I had all but forgotten about.  The first here is one called "Fort Sill Entertains" and is filled with recipes, memories, and Menus from the Spouse's Club there at Ft. Sill.  That is the base where we were stationed as hubby served nearly 7 years of his Army career.

I met many of the most incredible women I have ever come to know during my time at Fort Sill. It has been years since I've seen many of them, but we stay in touch, a bond of sisterhood and friendship that spans both space and time.

Next is a church cookbook from the First Baptist Church in Seguin, TX.  My grandma's recipes are published in here along with many of the other women that served as role models, friends, and honorary family in my growing up years.  Many of those recipes are for meals that we shared in the courtyard at the church, during an Ice Cream Social or at a Sunday Banquet.  Even just reading about them takes me back to hot summers when I would go and visit and the sound of hymns as I listened to the rumbling baritone of my grandfather's singing.

Last amongst my treasures for today is the American Woman's Cookbook.  The book itself is in poor shape, but there's a part of me that loves it all the more for being so.  Someone should love it- it's lived a long and valuable life, right? Published in 1957, this book is filled to the brim with recipes, guides, ads and coupons.  It is a treasure trove and a snapshot of life nearly 60 years ago.  The pages lay flat when you open the book, which tells me it has been used over and over and over again.  As I thumb through the recipes I wonder what this book has seen, how many tables it's recipes have graced as families have built memories together over new and old traditions.

Do you have any special recipe books, or family recipes that mean something special to you?  Please comment below and tell me all about them.  I would absolutely love to hear about it.

Her Family Tree

Two years ago I made a birthday promise to paint something for my dear friend Kim once she got into her new house.  She decided that she wanted to have a tree on her living room wall to display her family photos on, as though they were hanging from the branches. She moved in a year ago, and today I was finally able to go over and get it done for her.

 We spent the afternoon chatting and watching Jon Taffer rescue bars across America while I painted.  She told me stories about the people in her family as we hung them up on her tree, and watched as her display came to life.

It's things like this that make me grateful to have a paintbrush in hand.  Furniture is pretty, and I love to do a nice canvas painting once in a while too.  This though, holds up the people that mean the most to Kim, and for that I'm honored to have been able to paint it. <3

The Artist's Gift

After 40 years away from the craft, my amazing and incredible artist of a mother took to painting again so that she could give me a custom piece of her own hand.  I can't believe with talent like this, that she hasn't picked up a paintbrush in decades.

She managed to capture the stars, the glow of the warmth inside the cottage, the texture of the vines and the grass, as well as the gorgeous stone on the building (which, by the way, is based on some of my favorite French architecture). With this stunning piece hanging in my room, I can go to sleep each night imagining that I am gazing out of that upper floor window, surveying the beauty of the french countryside by moonlight. <3  I cannot ask for more than this, the precious gift of my artist mother. <3

Bread Box Charging Station

So, I am fairly convinced that my family keeps Apple in business.  Okay, okay... Samsung too.  We're equal opportunity techies.  I honestly couldn't tell you how many different phones and tablets we have cycling around this house, but that fact alone tells me there's most likely too many (though I don't see that changing anytime soon).  That said, we ALWAYS have something charging, and usually several things at once.  It isn't the most beautiful thing ever to see cords and tablets everywhere.  We've tried containing the mass charging to the bathroom so it is out of sight, but even that winds up completely taking over the counter.  Time to get creative! 

When I was at Good Will a while ago I spotted this beat up roll-top bread box, and thought it might be just what I was looking for.  It was 50% off and I paid about $3 for it after tax, so I figured it couldn't hurt to give it a shot and see what I can do with it.

The first thing I did was give it a good wipe down, and then I got right in there with the Kukui stain and finish from CeCe Caldwell's Paints.  I was concerned that with the roll top it would be particularly difficult to get into the nooks and crannies, but I was happily proven wrong.  This was one of the easier projects I've done, and I truly do love it.  As always, I am amazed at what a little bit of stain and finish can do to really make something look new!  This is going to look so beautiful sitting on my kitchen counter.  Unless I tell them, no one would know that inside of that gorgeous box is a pile of technology charging away.

Next we are going to cut a hole in the back of the box through which we can feed the cord of a surge protector.  This will mean that only one cord will be coming out of the box, and we will still be able to charge multiple devices.  There is plenty of room in the box for multiple devices to fit in there at once.  Hooray for beautiful organization at last. <3

Mirror, Mirror, On the Wall

Well, okay it's not on the wall yet, but I couldn't resist.

Hubby and I haven't had a mirror in our room for a LONG time, and I knew I wanted one once we moved.  I had been on the lookout for a nice one with good design elements for some time, and finally found what I was looking for.

This project started out with a mirror that I found at the thrift store for $5.99.  Not bad for a piece with nice bones like this.  Unfortunately, I am not a fan of gold in my own home, so I knew I wanted to dress it up to match my style.

Hubby and I have decided that we want to do turquoise accents and rustic decor in our bedroom, so I thought I would start there and see where it goes.  I picked up some CeCe Caldwells Paints (Beckley Coal and Santa Fe Turquoise), and got myself to work.

One of the things I absolutely LOVE about CeCe Caldwell Paints is that you do not have to sand before you paint!  It sticks, it stays, and it goes on usually in one coat.  I can't imagine having to sand all the little crevices and curves on the frame - that would have been a nightmare.  This stuff is the hero of paints, truly!

I started with a basecoat in the Beckley Coal, and dry brushed the Santa Fe Turquoise over top on little areas to highlight it without being overpowering.  That also helps it play into the rustic aspect of things really nicely!  Then I finished it all off with two coats of CeCe Caldwell Endurance Finish, and vuah lah!

All finished and ready to go up on the wall once we get to the new place.  Kevin jokes that I need to paint a ghost on the glass, because it's "just that kind of mirror."  I think I'll leave her as is. ;)  Isn't she pretty? :)