Back to our homeschool

I've gone back and forth on when to begin school around here. Couldn't seem to figure out the best time to start, but we all seem ready so I guess we're gonna plunge in on Monday. A lot of people think we're nuts, but we like to start early so we'll have time to take some extra breaks throughout the year. Plus, in a few weeks we're planning to head to the beach for vacation. We're so looking forward to it! I've been on a mad dash to get everything ready for our start on Monday. I've been reading curriculum, making schedules, straightening supplies, making lists, collecting books from the library, and much more so hopefully we'll be mostly ready when Mon. morning rolls around. :) I've been rearranging around here all summer trying to figure out the best way to use the two rooms I have for schooling, sewing, crafts, scrapbooking, computer, and playtime. They are at the front of the house separated by the front entrance. One is actually the dining room that we use for a playroom. Now I've decided to put the school table in there. I put it in the corner so that there's still room to play. We'll see how that goes. It is still in the works. I moved my sewing machine into the other room that I used to have the school table in. (Confused yet?) It's so nice to have a place to sew without having to drag everything out. I've actually used it a lot this summer. I wanted to do more, but there's still time in the evenings when the children are in bed. Our children are excited about school. Our 3 year old asked me tonight if we were starting school tonight. So cute! I've been telling her that she's gonna be learning more things and she's so excited! She has a pair of scissors, crayons, little workbooks (that I picked up from the dollar *store), stickers, etc. Hopefully, the excitement will continue...:)

Busy weekend and summer project progress

Well, we're back from my brother's wedding. It was absolutely beautiful! We are tired, but glad to be home. It was busy, busy!

Now about our progress for my summer project list. We're still working on Psalm 1. My oldest has it memorized. My son can say it all with a little help from me. My 3 year old also knows it pretty well. It's amazing to me that a 3 year old can memorize so quickly. She knows the first 3 verses well and can say a little more with help from me. I'm still working on it, but can say a good bit from memory.

Last week my oldest daughter and I worked on a cute skirt. She really wants me to teach her how to sew. She's a very eager learner, but I'm trying to go slowly with her. I showed her how to cut out a pattern and press the fabric, etc. She just watched, but I want her to see what goes into putting something together. She was ready to go play after she realized it took a long time to get that part done. I showed her a little more and then she came and watched part of the sewing process. She was so excited to see her skirt finished. Hopefully, this week we're gonna make a couple of doll skirts together.

We're not doing as much reading as I wanted to this summer, but I'm reading to them most every night and they read books throughout the week. It's hard to believe there's only a few weeks left of summer for us.

Making More Bows

This weekend I made a few more bows and clips. I have a lot of ribbon and clips on hand so I had fun making these up to give away or use for my girls. They're so easy! It just takes practice to figure it out. It did for me anyway. :) There are some great tutorals out there. I enjoy hunting the internet for different ideas. The white bows I made for my little girls to wear in my brother's wedding this coming weekend.

Proverb for the day

"Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised." Proverbs 31:30

Cloth Napkins

Have you ever thought about trying to use cloth napkins instead of paper ones? I've thought about it many times, but never thought it'd work or save much money so I didn't try it. But I kept reading and hearing about how much people spend on paper products and decided I'd try for a few days. While at a yard sale a while back, I found a pack of 4 cloth napkins. I bought them for $1. Well, would you believe - the kids think it's wonderful to use them and each person usually only uses one for the whole day. I am going to make a few more from scraps of fabric I have and hopefully, the only time we'll use a napkin is if they're all dirty. **By the way, if you're thinking that it will require too much laundry it's just not true. All I do is throw them in the wash with the towels and it doesn't require any more work.

Proverbs for the day

"Be not wise in thine own eyes: Fear the Lord, and depart from evil. It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones." Proverbs 3:7-8

T-shirts

Here's a picture of the 4th of July t-shirts I made. Check it out here: http://ourcozynest.blogspot.com/

It's super easy! Just don't look to close at my stitching :) This is the third one I made so therefore this one looks better than the others. :)

I also made the girls some cute and easy bows. I'm having so much fun making these.

Clutter

Clutter...this drives me nuts, but I tend to have lots of it. It's hard for me to throw away things. So therefore, I am constantly in a battle with it. I have come so far in the last several years. I have all the books on how to get rid of things and organize, etc. It's basically a lifestyle change. Today I am spending my time throwing things away and getting rid of junk that's accumulated over the past few months. I'm taking a break from working in the schoolroom/office/sewing room and the playroom. Those are 2 rooms not 4. The school, office and sewing are all in one room. I'll spare showing a picture of my mess. Nobody wants to see that. :)

What I've Been Up To

I am back from my trip with my husband and I'm glad to be home. It's always nice to go away, but it's nice to be home, too! I've enjoyed our summer so far. I've been trying to get my house in better order. It seems like there's never time with school and regular housework. So I've tried to take time this summer while we're on break from school and work on it. The children have enjoyed swimming in the little pool in the backyard and one day they enjoyed getting sprayed with the waterhose.

I've also enjoyed making a few things. I finished up two aprons- one for me and the other for a gift. I made three t-shirt dresses. They turned out cute(at least I think so!) I'd always wanted to try those, but never took the time.

I found several tutorials and combined them to make this dress.

I also found a cute tutorial on making 4th of July t-shirts. I bought some plain white t-shirts for the children about a year ago and never did anything with them. I think they were 80 cents each! When I saw this I knew this is what I wanted to do since I've been wanting to try my hand appliqueing (sp?) Check this out:

http://ourcozynest.blogspot.com

I'll post some pics later today of the shirts and the cute bows I made for my girls to wear with them. I'm having so much fun making bows!