Never Say Never ~ part 2 ~

As I mentioned before, I've learned the hard way about the old saying, "never say never". 

My husband and I were NEVER going to homeschool our children. We both went to public school and we felt that if our parents thought it was right for us, then it must be the right way. We always made sure to buy a house in an area with the best schools (Lindale ISD has great schools) and we NEVER thought of doing things any other way...until now. 

It all started in September of this school year. The girls were off to a great start in second and fourth grades. They had amazing teachers and the sweetest friends. We were not having any problems, but they suddenly began asking if they could switch to homeschool. They felt like they didn't have time to do the things that they enjoyed around the house, between school and after school activities. This really got me thinking. I was spending at least an hour and a half every day in the car, dropping off and picking kids up from school, which meant their three year old brother was in the car that long every day, too. 

We started researching, talking with family and friends who homeschool and praying. And praying. And praying. This was a huge decision that required much thought. Meanwhile, the girls kept asking and asking for this change. My sister-in-law who homeschools and another good friend both suggested that we read The Well-Trained Mind, which I found very helpful. 

Finally, we decided that if the girls really wanted to be homeschooled, we would go for it. Choosing curriculum can be overwhelming, but after much research, we decided on a plan that we feel is best for our girls. We are using Sonlight for Bible, History and Geography and Reading/Language Arts, Saxon for math, Answers in Genesis for Science and Mavis Beacon for keyboarding. My mom, who used to teach high school Spanish, is coming twice a week to give Spanish lessons and we are continuing piano lessons with Vanessa Chisler Piano Studio. We will also continue having horseback riding lessons and participating in Destination Imagination.

The girls will be able to participate in the East Texas State Fair Academic Rodeo, thanks to a local homeschool group that is allowed to register for events as a school. 

So, we started the 2015-2016 school year planning to NEVER homeschool...

And here we are now, "back to school" after the Christmas break AT HOME. 

I told my mom that she needed to get me a list of everything I said I would NEVER do, because now's the time! 

Never Say Never

I've heard this saying my whole life, but NEVER has it had more meaning to me than this year. I'm almost afraid to use the word again!

I was NEVER going to have an inside dog....until now. It all started when my oldest daughter made a Christmas wish list for her Mimi. She said that she wanted a dog, but that she knew she probably couldn't have one, because  "Momma says no inside dogs". 

Upon hearing about this wish, I began asking her questions about why she wanted a dog. As I listened to her, I suddenly had the overwhelming desire to give that baby a dog!

When I approached my husband about the subject, he stared at me in disbelief and said, "Well that was unexpected!"  After thinking about it for a few days, Josh finally decided it would be alright. 

So, Mimi began the long process of finding just the right dog.  With a little girl who suffers with asthma and has had to spend weeks on a rescue inhaler after a sleepover at a home with dogs, we knew we had to be careful. This daughter has spent quite a bit of time at a good friends house who has a Coton de Tulear (Coton). This never seemed to affect her asthma, so we asked the friend for the name of the breeder of their dog. After a lengthy process and Mimi being "interviewed" extensively by the breeder, she was finally able to go pick up a puppy. 

Then came the planning process for the biggest Christmas Eve Gift my children have ever had. Mimi worked hard to keep the surprise and make it a magical moment for the kids. I think that she felt the efforts were worth it!  The reactions were priceless. 

So here we are, loving a sweet little dog IN the house ❤️

Stay tuned for part two of my "Never Say Never" story!

Mistle"Toes"

 

One of my favorite Christmas ornaments is my little Mistle"toes" that I made when my little boy was a baby.

 

To make your own, use two packs of green oven baking clay from a craft store, flattened to the size of the baby's foot.  Press the foot firmly into the clay to make a good impression.  After you have the impression, use a sharp knife to cut around the edges of the impression and an ice pick to make a hole in each heel.  Follow the baking instructions on the package of clay.  After baking and cooling, use a hot glue gun to glue the feet together, making sure to match up the holes.  Add some tiny red berries or a little red bow to decorate and put some jute twine through the hole to hang.

 
Now you can reminisce on how tiny your little ones feet once were each Christmas!

Flip or Flop ~ Modern Country Style

Today, Josh and I had our very first open house on our very first "flip" house.

This is a goal that we have been working toward for a while now. Figuring out how to get a house, finding a house that was a great deal, buying the house, finding a great contractor and getting it fixed up and ready to be a great home took effort!

I even had to have an assistant at the closing. 

Here are the exterior before and after pictures.

 

All of the paint selections are from Sherwin Williams. The main exterior color is Network Gray. The trim is Pure White and the shutters are Black of Night. I wanted the door to be a modern accent color, so I choose Raindrop. We also made the porch light and house number into a modern country design. 

The interior was a big job. All new flooring throughout, new cabinetry and trim, new fixtures and everything painted were items on the punch list. 

Inside, the wall color is Mindful Gray. The trim is Pure White and the cabinets are Mineral Deposit. A couple of the bedrooms were painted a deep purple, so this was a big transformation. 

The bathroom was almost a complete redo.

I am really excited about the bathroom tile!

We had a family morning of cleaning today before the open house. The girls cleaned all of the windows and swept the floors and the sidewalk. We even got a little bit of work out of our three year old. 

Everyone was rewarded with a trip to Donut Palace!

Overall, it was a great day!  I hope this can be a happy home for a family very soon!

Make Your Own "Chalkboard" Ornament

Last month, I saw these ornaments at Bealls in Tyler. I thought that they were really cute, but didn't want to spend $6 a piece on them. I decided that I could make my own. 

I looked for black shatterproof ornaments (who wants glass ornaments in a house full of kids??), but couldn't find any at a reasonable price. 

Finally, I found these clear plastic ornaments at Walmart for $.97 each; just my price!

All I needed was a can of black satin spray paint and I was ready to make my own black ornaments. 

First, I removed the silver ornament toppers to keep them from being painted. Next, I found a piece of cardboard and placed push pins into it to hold the ornaments upside down for painting. Then, it was time to paint. 

Once the paint was dry, I replaced the silver ornament toppers and the ornaments were ready to be decorated with my white chalk pen. 

I had a basket full of these black ornaments at a Christmas party for my girls' Destination Imagination team. Each of the girls on the team got to decorate an ornament to take home as a party favor. Sadly, I didn't get any pictures of the girls at the party (which is so unlike me; I must have been very distracted that night).

At the end of my ornament project, I had ten ornaments for about the same price that I would have paid for two of those I had seen at the store. I'm pretty pleased with the outcome!

Love to Decorate: One Wreath ~ Three Ways

I found this great wreath at Hobby Lobby at the end of August. I was instantly drawn to it's sparkly simplicity. 

For the two fall wreaths, I used a cream and grey chevron burlap ribbon for the hanger with a natural burlap bow.  

The first occasion that I needed to decorate for was a gender reveal party. I found some sweet, little boy and girl silhouettes on Pinterest and added them to red and teal burlap ribbon. Then I made the "boy or girl" pennant sign and strung it across the middle. 

Once the reveal party was over, it was time for a fall wreath. I really tend to be a "less is more" kind of girl, so I just wrapped a felt leaf garland around the wreath. 

Now that the Thanksgiving holiday is over, it is time for a Christmas wreath. I decided to change the cream, gray and natural hanger ribbon for some gold glitter chevron burlap ribbon. Then I wrapped a red berry garland around the wreath and "voila", all ready to welcome guests for the Christmas holidays!

So there you have it, one wreath, three ways. It is still to be decided if there will be new life for this wreath in the new year. Who knows what will greet guests at our home in 2016. 

Homemade Cornbread

At my house, the way to make sure a meal is a winner is to serve it up with some good, old fashioned, homemade cornbread, just the way Mammaw used to make.  This is the savory cornbread recipe, not a sweet one.  And bonus, it is gluten-free, so the celiac sufferers in our family can eat it, too!  We have cornbread with stew, jambalaya, soup, and lots more.

I am NOT a fan of cooking, so trust me when I tell you this is easy, almost as easy as opening up a box of Jiffy and whipping it up, but SO much better!  Only 6 ingredients  and an iron skillet needed.

1 cup Buttermilk
1 Egg
2 tsp. Baking Powder
1/2 tsp. Salt
1/4 tsp. Baking Soda
1 cup Corn Meal

(I like to save used baking powder cans to keep salt and soda in, because it makes it so much easier to measure out.  And it keeps my cabinet more organized!)

 

Pre-heat your oven to 425 degrees.  Then place your iron skillet on the stove on medium-high with the bottom covered in corn oil.  Let this heat up while mixing the batter.

I am all for using the least amount of dishes/bowls/etc. when I cook, to cut down on clean-up time.  So, I use my quart sized measuring cup to mix the cornbread batter.  First, measure out the cup of buttermilk.  Then add the egg and beat in well.  Next, I stir in the baking powder, salt and soda.  Last, stir in the cornmeal.

By this time, the oil in your iron skillet should be sizzling and your oven heated up.  Pour the batter into the iron skillet.  The hot oil is what gives you the crispy bottom on the cornbread.  Take the skillet off of the stove and place into the oven to bake for 22 minutes.

Serve hot from the oven; good plain, even better with butter!  YUM!

And don't forget, DO NOT wash your iron skillet with soap!