messenger bag flames

Finally done! This messenger bag has been in the works since September. When the little brother started teething, life became crazy.

I had a few minutes to attach the lining today and my son is thrilled!!

Check out the details! There is an interior pocket that is not pictured for putting his library card on the inside or some extra cash for those late fees too! Oops!

My son designed this! I just did the sewing! The strap is an old belt I got at a discount from goodwill because the buckle was smashed. Finally found the perfect project for it.

litter box

Had to come up with a solution as this cat makes a mess missing the litter box!

You can see how disgusting the yellow box is on top. Eww!

I didn't have a sharp enough knife, but the cat is small and this is working beautifully. We just take the top off to clean it up.

NO MORE MESS!!

Missing Home

A little homesick for California as we settle into our country life here in Mississippi.

I had this plain onsie that needed something so I just took a sharpie and wrote on it.

Do Not Pull

     We have tried everything we can think of to get this boy to stop pulling on the curtains. We use them for transitions into our sunroom that has a desperate heating and cooling system than the rest of the house.  I've even TAUGHT him how to come through the curtains gently. STILL HE pulls on them and has loosened the rods from the wall.

SO, the only thing that has finally worked is having him make his own sign and put it up at eye level near the curtain he uses the most.

He has only done it one more time since he made his sign. It's been 2 weeks. YEAH! He was pulling on them 10 to 15 times a day. GEESH! Sometimes the simple things are the best things!

Birthday Doll

Birthday present for my husband's boss' little girl. I hope she likes it.

Pattern by bitofwhimsy on Etsy.

Whipped this up in the morning. I cut the pattern out last night, sewed her up before lunch. My oldest son helped fill her arms and legs with stuffing. He was so proud to say that he helped make her!

Her blanket only took me 10 minutes. 10 MINUTES!  I can't believe it! I loved sewing again. Oh how I have missed it!

SHE WAS WELL RECIEVED!  The first thing the birthday girl did was cover her up with her blankie. Adorable!

Body Parts Art

Today, our Bible lesson led us all over the Bible exploring different body parts. We talked about how God wants our eyes and ears to glorify him. How our lips and hands should serve him. How our feet are beautiful when they spread the Good News! (I couldn't resist sticking my feet in my 8 years old's face!)

Thanks again to pinterest! We traced his hands and feet, drew a circle for the head and connected it all. So fun!!

Homeschooling: Codes

This week, we are exploring codes. Here are two that we used to write a letter to Auntie.


We will mix letters and numbers tomorrow.  Possibly for a letter to cousins or Grandma.

We are having so much fun together. The struggles are overcome by the fun and laughter and getting to know each other better! (Keep reminding me of that!!)

word of the week

I thought it would be fun to share part of our week with my Facebook family & friends.  I started posting our "word of the week" on FB and have gotten some great sentences to share with my son. He has to come up with his own first!

Since we moved half way across the country, it's also a way for family to connect with him!

At first, I wrote it for him, but a friend picked up on the idea and had her daughter write it out . She then took her picture, so I did that too!

We also make Daddy guess the word at dinner by being very obvious and silly. It helps my 3rd grader remember the meaning if we are goofy about it. I sometimes tell him what do say at the table, but he has it on his own the next day after our little game with Daddy! I love it!

Math Project

Again, thank you pinterest!

We modified this game to be for multiplying. We are currently working on memorizing the 3 times tables.

Roll the dice. Multiply your roll x 3 as fast as you can. If you have to "figure it out," you don't get to move your person up. If you get it right, move your person the number of spaces that you rolled & draw those long legs!

My son had so much fun memorizing! And that boy competitiveness got to shine through in a positive way!

Art project

I am trying to do an art project every Friday. Something fun but that takes more than 5 minutes; something involved.

I was afraid this first one would be a flop, but my son got totally into it. Thank you pinterest!

His is the bottom one. I kinda got into it too! We tried not to paint the same color next to itself.

Then we used these pictures to decorate his school binder that has clear plastic for the front and back.  SUCCESS!

Homeschooling: the beginning

Homeschooling has begun! We just finished week 3 and I am both excited & going crazy. My 8 year old has been inspired & agitating also. What a rollercoaster!!

Mostly, I feel like we aren't covering enough material, but we are able to go into such depth that he will remember the material much longer than breezing through it in public school.

We are committed for this school year but I do hope to work next year so we'll see.

Here is our first project together. We made a tree that we will add leaves to as he learns new concepts and reads more books.