Homeschooling

The Great Wall of Prayer

May 19, 2013

full wall It’s the two story wall that leads up to our homeschooling room. It’s a big wall, and I was having a tough time determining how I was going to make it pretty. It was too large of a space to leave it painted the neutral wall color throughout our house, it bored me. I knew it needed something fun. We ascend and descend those stairs at least 20 times a day; and on one of those many trips, it hit me. Yep, that’s gonna be a chalkboard wall of prayer. My husband said, “You’re weird.” I said, “I know, I can’t help it.”We painted the entire wall with chalkboard paint using a two story ladder, a level, an overhead projector, and chalk; and we now have a place to write down our prayers that we bring boldly before the throne of grace. You know you can do that, right? No tipping toeing into His presence with small requests. You can be bold. You should totally have a chalkboard wall too. I’m certain of it.

We hung empty gold picture frames (I’m a picture frame hoarder), so each of us has our own space to write requests.

So now when I sit with the girls at our table, my view towards the stairs is a better one. It makes me happy.
And completely changeable whenever I want it to say something else. I love that. For now though, I’m sticking with asking for mercy. And if you are ever not sure what to pray for, take it from Thomas, just pray for trains. Always pray for more trains.

A few answers to questions you may ask:

-I used chalkboard paint from Home Depot, nothing fancy.

-I did not season the board like everyone in the universe says you must do before you use it the first time. There were two reasons for this. One, the wall was too big and I refused. Secondly, as long as I wipe off the chalk with a wet rag as opposed to a dry eraser, I cannot see any “ghost lettering” that people say will be left behind. It wasn’t an issue for me at all.

-The print font I used is called Barocca Monograms, and the fancier letters I free handed on my own after looking at a few online that I liked. The font of our names is written in Brush Script.

I will most certainly paint another surface in my house with chalkboard paint. I’m irritated it took me this long to do. Be brave. Be bold. Go do it. You will love it.

Filed UnderHomeschooling, My House Tour, Stuff to paint 6 Comments

Raising Baby Chicks: the good, the bad, and the ugly

April 17, 2013

It all started with that awesome Superbowl commercial. Do you remember the one about farmers? I think they were advertising a truck or something, that part didn’t stick with me (which I suppose doesn’t make it such a great commercial); but I remember the images and the words. I cried. My husband almost cried, and in our temporary state of loosing our minds we were all like “We need a farm so we can grow stuff and raise farm animals.” Kevin was jokingly like, “I have built stuff, made babies, and now I need to grow my own food and raise cattle.” I got all into it and thought we would start with hatching chickens in an incubator. That seemed like a safe introduction to farm life.

We cared for those eggs, we turned them 3 times a day, and on day 21 we sat in great anticipation for the precious new yellow chicks to break out into their new world. Grant it, they are meat chickens, which means they have about 8 weeks to enjoy their world before they greet their end, but we never intended on telling them that. Day 21 came and went with no evidence of any fruit from our labors. But then as day 22 came to a close, a few cracks started appearing and my kids freaked and permanently pressed their faces to the incubator to watch the miracle unfold.At first it happened just like it was supposed to, and we were giddy. Our harvest came in the form of perfect yellow fluff balls of cuteness. We. could. have. died. hardwoods My girls were instantly little mothers caring for their chicks, and their main job was keeping their brother out of the chicken box.But then reality moved in like a black cloud over this house that was beginning to dream of life on the farm. Just when our pride was puffed up as full as the yellow feathers on the breasts of the chicks; the fall came, and it hurt. After 10 successful hatches, the next 15 turned ugly. The cover of the “Hatch Your Own Chicks” brochure, pictured happy, smiling children holding precious baby chickens. At no point was there a picture of a mother “doing the humane thing” and placing a baby chick in the freezer so that it would die peacefully, while her children cried in the other room. I have no words. We have all been scarred for life. And for those of you who are gasping in horror right now, and getting ready to unsubscribe from my blog, I promise you, it was the kindest thing we could have done for these chicks.

Despite our trauma suffered, I learned much about the process. Too much. And this family will not be moving to the country anytime soon. My sweet Caroline told me, “Mom, I don’t think I will ever do this raising baby chicks project with my own kids.” And there you have it. talking

Filed UnderA mother's heart, Homeschooling 9 Comments

Meet Marlin

February 12, 2013

They wanted the homeschooling room to have a pet. They were pulling for some kind of disgusting rodent that would inevitably escape it’s cage and force us to evacuate the home. I refused. But then we were walking through Walmart and they saw some fish, and I said “OK fine”, and we put one in the cart. I wanted to name him Moses. They wanted to name him Marlin, which is appropriate because they tell me I act like Marlin from the movie, “Finding Nemo”. It’s not true, I am not nearly that neurotic. I reluctantly agreed to the name, because it is after all, one of my favorite movies. And while we are on the subject, have you ever noticed the answers to almost all life questions can be found in that movie? I can’t tell you how many times I am able to answer a question, or give advice, based on what I learned from Nemo and all his friends. It’s weird. And do you know what else is weird? This fish kind of acts like a dog. When you approach it’s bowl, it swims up and greets you. What fish does that? It just floats there staring at you, and honestly, it really looks like its wagging it’s tail. He kind of seems needy for attention, which I like as much as I am annoyed by it. All that to say, I wanted you to meet Marlin, the needy, dog-like, freaky fish, before he goes belly up. And Marlin, just remember, if we ever accidentally pour you down the drain while attempting to clean your bowl, and you somehow manage to miraculously get past the garbage disposal, all drains lead to the ocean. Good luck.

Filed UnderHomeschooling, I was just thinking 5 Comments

Our Homeschool Room

February 4, 2013

It’s my new favorite room in the house, and it’s the one we have waited on the longest to be complete. Do you remember about a year ago, we tore our roof off the house and went up with a higher pitch.

We framed in our new space.I frustrated my husband with ridiculous inspiration pictures from Laduree in Paris. Laduree-NYC

And then he took awesome to a new level and made it happen for me. The girls and I spend our days together here, and it’s about as good as it gets for all of us.

The portraits I painted of the girls finally have a home.

Their bedroom is almost complete too, and here is a new abstract I painted for their space. It’s still drying.
back of island

Each of the girls have a side of the room. Ella’s:

Her desk:

Caroline’s side:

And her desk:

Thomas has a place to sit too:

There are lots of fun, kid-friendly nooks. The dry erase board that all three love to use:We read and learn about Jesus here:

I paint here:

The girls paint too, but no oil for paints for them. Not yet anyways:

Maps and timelines:

Lots of places to sit:

When I was a little girl, I would line up my Cabbage Patch Dolls and stuffed animals in my room and play school. I was made to teach, and now I get to do it for real, with my own children. God is good. We were 6 months late completing the project, but it was totally worth the wait. Hope you love it like we do.

Filed UnderDream Rooms, Homeschooling, My House Tour, Stuff to paint, The Second of the Remodel: The Addition 19 Comments