I moved (blogs that is)

Head over to the new house...

Oh Shoot a Monkey

Busy Bees!

We have had such a busy few weeks. We've moved! We've been talking of combining households with my mother for quite some time, and the time was right. Technically the move might be over, but this is the hard part... unpacking! I've been running from sun up to sun down trying to get things organized and sorted (as well as having a bit of fun!) It's a very daunting task to have everything unpacked. And, if we didn't plan enough to do in these first few weeks we scheduled to have new carpet installed at the end of the week. My neglected blog will be neglected only for a bit longer. Once the house is put together and I can breath again I'll share some pictures of what we've been up to. The highlight... a new craft area in the basement! Since DH works from home he has half of the basement as his home office which left the other half open for the claiming. Shelves and fabric and paper, oh my! We're thrilled. Now, to just get everything done so that we can actually use our fun new space!

More to come...

What we've been up to...

First, lessons. We are always doing lessons. Well, mostly. ;) The point system is working fabulously.

Next, my mom had surgery yesterday so that has taken up the last few days (prep, surgery, today will be getting her home and settled.) Praise the Lord she made it through safe and sound.

Crafty things are happening, too. I'm hoping to take a good bit of photos today after I get my mom settled. We'll have a few quiet days (ok, at least one) helping her recovery so I should be able to get some good photos up. I've made some simple sewing additions to the felted purse from last week, altered a journal for my gift book, started a project book, used my embosser on a few things, started a Christmas gift for my daughter (yes, this early, and you'll see why when I share the pattern!), and a few other things like some kitchen cooking craftiness.

But, to hold your crafty interest here is a peek at my new favorite waiting room past time. I popped a few of these podcasts onto an mp3 player and crocheted while my mom was in surgery. Wow it makes for a relaxing wait for someone like with occasional anxiety issues. If all else fails, surround yourself with artistic thoughts, right? Not only does Sister Diane give a fabulous podcast, but you can also find links and project information to go with that episode. I listened to three yesterday afternoon, and I can't wait to have time to go through the links for those archived podcasts. Check out the podcast index link in the right column at http://www.craftypod.com/

More later on my favorite crafty website finds, this week's farmer's market trip, and the all time best spinach artichoke dip that I've had in my life (and yes, it's vegan to boot!) I have posts swimming in my head. I just need time to get them here!

Our new point system...

My kid is an interesting combination of personalities. She's both a free spirit and a perfectionist. She's an immersion learner that gets scared (or turned!) off by too much structure, though if she doesn't have some structure her ADD takes over and she gets frustrated. She just can't seem to let go of checking those boxes. If one doesn't get checked it doesn't matter that she's three weeks ahead in science. All that matters is that she's one day behind in history. Add in an exercise ball as a chair, and it makes the day interesting and fun.

A while back I posted about getting myself disciplined, organized, etc this year. This is one of those ways that I hope to pass it along to the kid.

In January, I read a post on Judy Wnuk's blog titled, "Homeschool Resolutions?" I linked it so that I could make sure she got great credit, but for some reason her website won't load! Just know that this wasn't an original idea. I just simply took a good one and made it work for us. Why re-invent the wheel when there is already one sitting there saved in your Bloglines account? :) After looking at this for months I decided to (finally) sit down and work out our own points system. I'm really hopeful that this will work for my daughter. Rather than assigning a daily points total I am giving her a weekly points goal. I'm trying to teach her about not only time management but also about scheduling her responsibilities around her events. At 12 years old I think this is a good skill to start using. Since she loves to fully immerse herself in a subject there are times when she will dive into history for four days straight without coming up for air. She gets more accomplished in those four days than she would have in two months of doing history twice a week as scheduled. Hopefully knowing that she can still accomplish all she needs to while having the flexibility that she thrives on will help. (Not to mention that it will go nicely with the way we want to handle high school!)

Here's a glimpse at her point system by subject. Each subject has the option of a project that she gets approved by me. These are just starting points. I tried to make some specific to her, though I also gratefully borrowed some of Ms. Wnuk's ideas. Rather than give you the entire lengthy list of choices I'm just going to include two for each subject. If you'd like a copy of my list please leave me a comment. I'll email it over to you!

Total Weekly Points Required: 25

Math: 5
Language Arts: 12
History: 5
Science: 5
Fine Arts: 5
Foreign Language: 5
Elective: 5+
PE: 10
Health: 3
Bible: 4

1 choice = 1 point

Math: 1 math lesson; 30 minutes of math software or website (mom approved, once per week)

Language Arts: 1 CWG (Christian Writer's Guild) assignment; 30+ minutes reading from current literature selection

History: 30+ minutes research on chosen topic or project work; 1 detailed notebook page

Science: 1 science experiment (including written observations and conclusions); 30+ minutes reading and/or discussion on a chosen science topic

Fine Arts: faithful work on a specific art or craft; 1 music lesson

Foreign Language: 15+ minutes language practice through games, website, etc; 15 minutes written, reading, or conversational practice

Elective: 1 home ec project; games focusing on concentration or critical thinking and/or game theory; learning a new craft/art (above and beyond the weekly fine arts requirement)

PE: 1 riding lesson or dog walk; 30+ minutes of outdoor play (bike, roller blades, skate board, etc.)

Health: 1 chapter plus discussion in current book selection (for example, the current book is The Vegetarian Times Vegetarian's Beginner's Guide); 15+ minutes research on a current health topic

Bible: Read/discuss the daily Torah/B'rit Hadasha portion; 15+ minutes word study

Any field trip will earn 1 point in the related area of study. Some projects might earn more points than others, or may cross over into other subject areas. Ah, the beauty of unit studies! There is a lot of flexibility written in. As I mentioned, these are only a few examples from each subject area. I'm very excited to see how this changes over the coming weeks. I'm expecting minor changes, but hopefully we have the major structure correct. It should work with the current unit study that we are using Amanda Bennett's Horse unit) or those that we've been dipping into and will dip into again. We're also planning on using Linda Coates' Far Above Rubies combined with Diana Waring's materials, The Teaching Company materials, etc. It should all work together beautifully.

I hope that this helps spark some ideas for someone. And, hopefully the original blog post that lists the original system will soon be available again!

Calling all quilters...

I grabbed a few quiet moments today to go through my various crafty blogs that I follow, and one linked me to a fabulous blog called Diary of a Quilter. Check her out! Her work is simply stunning.

Check out her basket quilt. I love teal and orange. The combination is just so pretty for spring. Up here in the Midwest we could still use a good quilt these days even if the calendar does say spring. These are the colors that I would love to have in my bedroom. The blues are so calming to me, while the oranges are so energizing.

And, definitely check out Mr. Roboto. Please, please be sure to click on the photo to enlarge the details so that you can pick up on the design of the prints. They are too cute! I need to check out her etsy shop to see if she has some of this or if I can find the print anywhere. It would be perfect for our little grandson as his mom loved astronomy (and who doesn't like robots!)

Her I-Spy quilt is too cute. I've been wanting to start quilting. I even took that into consideration when I purchased a new sewing machine in December. I have all of these beautiful quilting stitches waiting for me to learn how to use them. (Yep - machine quilting. I don't know if it is true or not but it seems so much easier to me than quilting by hand. One new art at a time.) I have to say that her photos and these I-Spy quilt blocks have made me want to start. Actually, I am. I'm determined! My goal was to start Christmas presents early this year, so if I learn to quilt now I might have a hope of getting a quilt done for the kids. :grin: If anyone has any great advice please let me know! I've had a stack of miscellaneous fabrics collecting for when I learn to quilt "one day" as well as a stack of books that I would pick up whenever I found them at thrift stores, library book sales, etc. I'm excited!

Go ahead and visit her blog, drool on the keyboard when you see how talented she is, pop by her etsy shop, and enter into her giveaway extravaganza for some really pretty goodies that three lucky winners will take home. Even if you don't quilt, go peek anyway. I truly am taken with her quilts. And, she thrifts!

And no, I'm not just posting for an additional entry in her giveaway. I had already thought about posting about her pretty quilts as soon as I saw the first basket quilt. The giveaway is just a bonus! ;)

MSCE: Cards!

I'm cheating a bit with this entry. It's short sweet, and to the point.

Yesterday, I made cards. For Christmas my mom - who rocks with handmade cards by the way - gave me a great bag full of various card making supplies. I love it. I decided that since I didn't feel well sitting with card things at the couch armed with my kid's artist lap desk would be good. It worked. I made a birthday card for my mother in law that looked so pretty! The blank card is a nice, warm cream with added strips of lacy ribbon (two patterns, one in teal and one in brown.) I added a portion of Proverbs 31 (and her children arise and call her 'Blessed'). I love clean, simple designs. That's the good news.

The bad news...

I forgot to take a photo AND then sealed the envelope. This is what happens when you craft when you are under the weather.

Wednesday's MSCE was a bit more nonexistent. We found around lunchtime that the refrigerator wasn't playing by the rules. After an entire afternoon of shop vacs and tools, dh saved the day! It's still in the middle of the kitchen in case he needs to get behind it tomorrow. (It's a very tight fit into our small cut out - the house wasn't designed well. Not. At. All.) It is fixed which means no additional bill to replace it. Woo Hoo! After, I spent the evening catching up on all of my favorite crafty blogs. One of these days I'll get around to posting my favorites. If you'd like to see some great creativity, take a peek at the MSCE participant list to the right.

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I've found so many projects that I'd like to start! I'm not sure how to really keep my projects and idea lists organized. Any suggestions?

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: Composting

Another 2009 list item crossed off! Woo hoo! We are now composting!

We had an addition to the family....

Our big, gorgeous, black composter now resides in our back yard much to the neighbor's dismay I'm sure. (FYI - We live in a neighborhood that typically argues over things like garden tools in the back yard. No one has said a word, but we're waiting...) This link isn't where we bought it, nor is it the price we paid, but it will give you lots of little goodies about our new friend. We have been blessed to find a great local "green living" store owned by the nicest people. I love supporting local families!

Now, when we decided to adopt it we noticed that it's little friend was crying in the corner. Not one to break up a family we had to bring her home as well...

Again, this link isn't to the company that we bought Betty from. (Yes, I named her. When you share dinner each night it becomes a personal relationship, and you can't have a relationship without a name. No laughing. ;) However, this link does have fabulous info on this little model as well as other goodies. I love the carbon filters inside the lit. Honest to goodness we have no odor from the pail (as long as the lid is on!) I'm not sure if it is because we gather everything inside the pail (I mean Betty), or if it is because we eat a plant-based diet, but we tend to fill her every 24 to 48 hours. I've been told that she can hold up without a smell for about a week. We have yet to make that kind of distance from start to finish, but I can say that after 48 hours it's still rosy!

We chose to use BioBags with Betty since dd empties her as part of her evening chores. It makes it a little more enjoyable for her, which is always a good thing. They are fabulous! These handy little bags are made from corn and can go straight into the compost bin/pile with your other goodies. As a perk, they also work wonderfully in the fridge as produce bags! I don't know if they help with the smell from the pail or not, but they definitely don't hurt!

If you live in a suburb, have neighbors up to your nose, or are afraid of the look/smell of it, be thankful that we live in the century that we do because none of these things will stop you. We really love being able to do some good for the earth, the community, and our soon to be little garden. Granted it is early in the season, but we are confident that we won't have any problem with smell or bugs. With the various types of composter bins out there you don't have to have the open pile in the back yard if you choose not to go that avenue. We can't, and we've found an option to fit our living situation. Read up, ask questions, and have fun with it. And, it won't hurt your back none either to have less garbage to carry to the curb for pick up day!

Some fun websites to look at:

163 Things You Can Compost

Dog Waste Composter
Warning: Do NOT put your puppy's poo in with your garden composter. Instead, dig this baby into the ground, add a cute lid - check out the on in the pick - and compost away. We're going to work on this once the weather warms up. Again, I'm sure the neighbors will be thrilled. lol But, back to the earth it goes! And, with three dogs we're very happy to be able to pop the poo into the ground instead of the trash can.

Here's a great list of short, easy to read (and implement) Composing articles brought to you by Earth911.com. I love the way that their website is set up. And, with the attention span that I have half the time it makes for a good quick read. You can also link through other topics that are connected to composting giving it a very holistic feel.

And, ever the homeschooling mom, a little something for the kiddies.

Meet the Greens: Kitchen Composting
(Don't just stop with the composting episode. Stay around a while and learn more. Really cool!)

Here's a great list of links on gardening and composting for kids.

A New Felted Bag!

Ignore the bad photos. It's late, I'm still running a fever, and photobucket wasn't cooperating so I had to go Plan B. Then, blogger didn't want to cooperate with alignment. I decided that I've spent enough time on it, and that this would work. Sorry one isn't turned correctly! It is what it is. :)

This is the creative project that I've been working on lately. I still need to line it, which I will do eventually, but for now it's totally finished as far as I am concerned! I've got some great, soft, fun flannel stored up from a few years ago that will be perfect. It even has the right colors in it, and it was completely unplanned. I'm hoping that I will feel up to sewing this weekend.

You can grab the pattern HERE for your own project list. I deviated from it just slightly using a K hook to get a slightly smaller gauge. I also skipped the tucks on both sides, though I might add them when I line it. I like it this way, but I like it when it is pinned with tucks as well. We shall see how the mood strikes me! I also added a simple little flower to the corner. The flower is felted, though I didn't work it quite as much as the body of the bag. I liked that you could see a few more stitches in the flower to make it stand out just slightly. Hopefully I achieved what I was going for. I'll be putting more photos up on Ravelry. If any of you are over there, send me your user name so that I can check out your projects!

My creative bit for today... attaching the flower and snapping a few (slightly irregular) photos.

I'm thinking of starting some paper crafts next. I'd love to sew. I'm really drooling over some fabric and bag patterns that I've been saving up (and doll patterns for my little sweetie aka granddaughter), but I think that I'm going to hold off till the weekend. My head will thank me later.

:D