Words to Live By

Each new quilt is my favorite and this is no exception.  I think I like this one especially because, there was no pattern or plan when I started.  I had about 15 orphan blocks (blocks left over from another project) and tubs of scraps.

I like to make words so I made "Love" the same size as the other squares and it grew from there with friends pitching in to give me word ideas.  I've always made rectangular quilts, but this one said it wanted to be square.  It's 58x58 finished.  I pulled all my coordinating scraps to make the piano key border which really made it come alive.  There are little pieces of every quilt I've made in this quilt.  That makes it really special to me, getting to revisit all of those projects and the people that I love that they were made for.

This quilt also really spoke to me for the quilting.  I did my up and down wavy "finger" stitch on the outside border.  The inside border had a diamond pattern so I followed it with wavy lines.  For the inside, I did a fun curly loopy stitch.

This quilt is going to a charity auction for The Smallest Gifts which supports families through the grief of losing a baby.

And now I'm on to my next two quilts: a paper pieced string quilt for a special someone and a 1st year baby clothes quilt for a sweet friend.  After that, I have a Tshirt quilt to make for a friend's son's Christmas present and a Yoda quilt to make for the Cade-man.  And then...maybe I'll start on the quilt I have planned for my bed!  It's going to be a busy fall y'all!

Disney Bound

We are heading out on vacation soon. I want us to have matching shirts for Disney pictures, but I don't want to spend a fortune on them. I've had this idea pinned on Pinterest for a while now. I cut Mickey heads out of parchment paper and ironed them onto the front of $3 Joann's shirts. Them we splattered, sprayed, and dotted bleach all around them. I think they turned out pretty well. I also have another set of shirts to appliqué Mickey Mouse on with Jaelyn's machine.

Family Canidae - Read All about It

We just finished a unit on members of Family Canidae AKA dogs. Have I mentioned I love our science book this year? We did a fun science experiment to see just how much people rely on their eyes over other senses. I made a bowl of lemon jello and a bowl of lemon jello dyed red. Smell, sight, and taste, the kids all guessed wrong on the red bowl even though they both tasted the same.

Allie's Diorama Presentation

Jaelyn's Diorama Presentation

Caden's Diorama Presentation

I read the first two books in the Half Upon a Time series to the kids over the summer. They are so much fun. We read the third together as our first chapter book. This was a fun little project this week to wrap it up.

My Latest Project

I have a friend who's hosting an auction to raise money for her charity. This is my contribution. I started with orphan blocks and scraps. It took me a little while to figure out what I wanted to make. This quilt is one of the first ones that sort of told me what it wanted to be, if that makes any sense at all. I'm going to name it "Words to Live By." I can't wait to get it on my frame and quilt it.

Week Two Down

Wow, homeschooling 3 takes a lot more time than 1.  I am going to have to be on my toes to stay ahead in my planning and preparation.  I'm also learning my time after school is very limited for the things I want to do.  I've been working on a sewing project in the afternoons for two weeks now and I'm not that close to being done.  I need 8 hours in a row :).  And that's with Dan home helping out with meals and grocery runs.  He starts back to work on the 25th.

All of that said, I think we are already into a good rhythm with our schedule.  I'm adding the last subject next week, but already I can see us moving faster through the subjects.  I am going to have to make an adjustment to spelling for Caden.  Jaelyn thrived under Spelling Power last year, but it's very frustrating to him.  You call out words for 5 minutes each morning.  The kids only study the ones they miss and they are added to the list for the next day.  Caden must have more of my perfectionism than we thought.  It's sooo upsetting to him to miss them.  He needs a list on Monday to study and then test on Friday just like a traditional school.  Homeschooling is great because I can accommodate what he needs; while also giving Jaelyn and Allie a system that is working great for them.

I do find myself worrying that they aren't going to learn what they need compared to a structured school, but when I logically think about, they are probably getting more.  They are getting individualized teaching.  We are studying things they want to study, reading books they want to read.  Last year, I loved that Jaelyn took ownership of her learning.  I would like to add in an art period one day a week...maybe just using art books from the library and recreating a famous piece of art, and I also need to figure out music.  Music is not my thing.  Allie and Caden want to take guitar lessons.  I also haven't found active activities yet.  Well, we signed Caden up for his first year of baseball, but I haven't signed the girls up for anything. Jaelyn doesn't care about continuing gymnastics.  Allie says she'll take dance when I ask, but she doesn't seem too excited about it.  Once our co-op starts, they'll have 2 hours a week of sports through it.  I also need to get more active.  We should throw in a PE period a few times a week and get out and move!

I worry what will happen as the kids hit high school.  It's only two years away, and we'll be here in the same county one not so great high school.  Will we keep homeschooling and do the tougher subjects online?  Will they go to public high school?  Will they go to private school?  That's borrowing worry from tomorrow, but my brain just can't stop :).

In other news, our vacation planning is coming right along.  I can't wait to visit home (it's been 21 months for Dan and 15 for me and the kids).  My parents visited us twice in Woodbridge, but we haven't seen anyone else.  Then, we'll continue on to Disney.  The last time we went Caden was 3 and cried if we even mentioned taking him on anything.  Dan or I took turns sitting outside the rides with him.  This time will be totally different.  Jaelyn and I have been busy making shirts on her new machine...

First Week of School

We started school officially on Monday.  We did reading last week and I did some placement testing, but it wasn't really school.  I wasn't sure what to expect with three personalities and three ability levels on Monday, but the week actually went really well.  Don't get me wrong, Jaelyn was a snoot about reading, Caden cried over writing, and Allie did a whole lot of bouncing (did I mentioned their old doctor messed up her ADHD prescription?  We are short a month and can't get into our new doctor until the end of September), but it sort of worked.  We all read together first thing.  We are reading the last book in the Half Upon a Time series (so much fun if you haven't read it).  Then the kids did math, spelling, and journal writing pretty independently (love math lessons on the computer.  After lunch, we did science and history.  We are studying zoology for science. I think it's going to be a lot of fun.  Right now, we are watching an American Revolution cartoon series called Liberty Kids.  When we are done with it, we are going to do World Geography.  Last year, I could wing it if I had to with Jaelyn, but with 3, I'm going to have to be much more organized.  I'm predicting a great school year!

Today's "try this" in science was about camouflage and natural selection.  It didn't quite work like the book said, but it was still fun and the M&Ms in our habitat are now extinct.