Make Each Day Your Masterpiece

I have so many stories to tell, so many pictures to share and I'm so far behind I don't know where to start. Pics of Spain, the beach, Little Rock, Chase's "Just Because" party, swim lessons, a date with Grandaddy, "box day", 20th reunion, and a few deep thoughts about marriage, forgiveness and first loves.

I'll just be lame and show the new wall I created in the basement. Believe it or not, the new bedding necessitated rearranging some furniture from downstairs, which left a giant wall empty. For a brief moment, I thought about using chalk paint on the bottom half, but I swore off painting after I primed and painted all the trim, including baseboards, in the entire basement when I was six months pregnant with Ava. (Count 'em, we have no fewer than 8 doors down there, three of them double, sliding doors!) Besides, the super cool train table that their Grandpa built has a flip-top that turns into a chalk table. And, I wanted something I could easily change to suit the season of our lives.

Here's how it turned out:

The black circles are Chalk Dots from Target.  (Does anyone else get excited about this stuff?) I used the excess trim on the square as a little visual interest and added each of the kids' initials, so there'd be no arguing over whose is whose.  The best part is they are repositionable!  The wording above is not, but it is removable without hurting the paint.  There's a whole slew of different sayings at Hobby Lobby.

Having kids has sparked more creativity than I ever would've given myself credit for.  They are my inspiration.  What's yours?

It's His Bedroom, Too!

My poor man has endured a floral bedspread for our entire married life.  Almost every time I've gone shopping, I looked to see if something else might work.  It was all made a little trickier because of the dark purple wall behind our bed and a really terrible floral fabric on an antique loveseat we have at the end of the bed.  I finally found the perfect thing at Kohl's last week.  Charcoal grey on one side and deep lavender on the other.

The set came with a bedskirt which we'll never use because we have a sleighbed.  So, I cut the skirt to pieces and made a window valance, tie backs and even an accent pillow. 

 They were asking $50 for this one.

And, I made this one with a twenty cent piece of felt and a broach from my Grandmother's jewelry box.

Everything was done with a straight stitch, so don't tell me you can't.  If I can, you can!

Happy Father's Day, honey.

Summer Dresses

Our sweet Sammie loves crafty stuff. When we were in Joann Fabrics a couple months ago, she saw this on display:

She asked if we could make matching dresses, "just for the girls." So, she chose the fabric for all of us and off we went.

We got up really early to meet my Mom for an event, so the girls still look like they're half asleep and since we were running late, it's not a great picture of the lengths, but you get the idea.  I actually am not great at crafting, so I didn't get the right amount of fabric for two of the black dresses, so I made Ava's into a summer shirt.  The word "hoochie-mama" came to mind, but I suppose you can get away with it when you're two.  

The girls look more alive here....

Click here if you want the directions.  Believe me, if I can, you can.  And, it's fun to do a project with the little ones.  They love to help!

Inner Voice – Friend or Foe?

In my mind, the most important purpose of this blog is to collect stories, inspiration, memorable moments and wisdom for Sam, Chase and Ava. Some posts will be more significant than others. To me, in terms of wisdom that I can impart to the kiddos, this is my most important post yet.

A friend of mine told me about a habit he developed years ago as a high school golfer. He called it being "your own biggest fan." I don't remember his wording exactly, but essentially his method was to tell himself that he was going to succeed, what happened moments ago was a thing of the past, what others think doesn't matter, with more and more practice he could get better and better, etc. He always tried to accentuate the positive, so his inner voice was/is his friend, not a foe.

It's clear to me now that my inner voice – for reasons I can write about in other posts – is a skillful foe, not a friend. For example, I've realized that I spend an inordinate amount of time thinking about my mistakes and very little time thinking about my successes. It's as if I feel more comfortable being a critic than a fan.

The happy ending to this post is I've come to see it's not too late for me to change my mindset. And, because of my own personal struggles and the progress I'm finally making, I hope I'm in a better position to teach the kids the value of a positive inner voice. 

Not So Gender-Neutral Anymore

When Baby Ava came along, she and still-a-Baby Chase shared the gender-neutral nursery. Ladybugs and dragonflies in soft blues, reds and greens.  (It was the same theme Samantha had since we didn't want to find out her gender before she was born.) Just before Chase turned 2, we bought a bunk bed so that he and Samantha could share another gender-neutral room.

A few Wall Pops helped to link pink and blue together on a yellow background. (Though I heard a guy in a movie a couple weeks ago say, "Why does everyone say yellow is gender-neutral? Ask any guy in America and none of them will tell you they would pick yellow paint for a room.") Wall Pops are repositionable circle and square stickers.  We got blue dots and pink squares matching their blue and pink comforters.

What really pulled them together were these precious canvases made by some crafty friends of mine.  I thought the sentiments were so sweet and I do hope they will adore each other for life, like my sister and I do.  (Well, I adore her...you'd have to ask her if it's mutual.)

Anyway, we went through another transition a month or so ago that, hopefully, will last a while.   Now the girls share a girly room and Chase is all by himself in the bluest room!

Here's a bad corner shot of the way the bunk room was:

A few different colored dots and squares and relocation of the canvases and voila!  Just for the girls...

The comforters are reversible from orange to pink, so each can switch whenever they want.

Chase's Big Boy Room...

(Click here for the before shot)

I found some blue and white striped fabric on clearance at Jo Ann's and a couple of straight stitches later, said goodbye to the ladybugs and dragonflies.  So manly, isn't it? 

They love their new rooms and they look so big in them!  At least until they fall asleep.  Then, their baby faces come out of hiding.  One of my favorite times of the day.

Just A Little Thing I've Been Workin' On

I've had so much fun putting together this Star Chenille Quilt for a sweet friend of mine who's having a baby girl in a few weeks.  I couldn't tell you about it, because it was a surprise!  Well, now that we've showered her abundantly, I can show you.

I had a few extra squares and sewed them together for a baby doll blanket. I thought she might find it fun some day to snuggle her baby in the same kind of "bankick" that she has. (That's little Ava's pronunciation.)

I'm not a great seamstress, but I love to play around. My very crafty and talented mother-in-law taught me how to do this.  Here's the website if you want to get the pattern for yourself.  I only spent about 8 dollars on fabric for this one.

Seriously, you CAN NOT mess this up. If you can sew straight (even sort of), you can make this in any size with any kinds of soft flannels you like.  Choose between two complimentary fabrics or lots of different ones even if they don't look like they match.  That's why they sometimes call this a "crazy quilt" or "rag quilt". You sew the batting in between the individual squares and then sew the squares into rows. I made a manly looking plaid-ish one for Brian a few years ago and made a fancy one for my Mom's formal living room after that.

As an aside, this kind of project is like therapy for me.  Something that is just mine and I can get lost in it.  I can work on it a little at at time and there's something beautiful when it's finished. A project that has a beginning and an end.  Unlike never ending laundry and such!

Try it!  Try it!  You'll love it!

Sammie's Kindergarten Curriculum

Since we decided to homeschool, I've talked to many friends who said of Kindergarten, "It's just Kindergarten.  You can't mess it up!" I will absolutely remind myself of that throughout the year!  I did however have tons of fun looking at all the different options and even thought of creating my own plan.  Click on any of the (blue or purple) links to find out more detail if you'd like.

Here's what we came up with:

Sing, Spell, Read & Write

Sing, Spell, Read & Write uses phonics songs, interactive charts, and games to teach the alphabetic principle, phonetic awareness, sound/letter correspondence, short vowel sounds, and blending - in a fun and meaningful way. By the end of Kindergarten, Sammie will be reading fully-decodable story books with single-, short- vowel words. (I'm going to know what all that means by then, too!)

The incorporation of songs is really what convinced us to choose this program for her.  We've already been playing the pre-school CD at night for Chase to hear while he falls asleep.

Math U See

I've never felt very confident about math, but Brian is a whiz.  I still can't believe I'm in charge of the bills and daily finances in our household.  So, finding the right math curriculum was very important to me.  I want my kids to learn it AND love it.  (Or at least, not hate it.)  We chose Math U See. (Because, I've learned, you can actually SEE how it works with the blocks that come with the program.)

"Math·U·See's goal is to help produce confident problem solvers who enjoy the study of math. The reason we study math is so we can apply what we learn in everyday situations. The students learn their math facts, rules, and formulas, and are able to use this knowledge in real life applications. The study of math is much more than committing a list of facts to memory. It includes memorization, but it also encompasses learning the concepts that are critical to problem solving."

This year, we'll introduce her to place value, skip counting and she'll be able to tell time by the end of the school year!

Rosetta Stone Spanish

You may have seen the commercials or read their ads in an airplane magazine.  I referenced it a couple of months ago in another post.  Sammie has loved what she's learned already.  She's sort of at a stand still with the program until she can learn to read.  She's done well already with matching vocabulary and speaking correctly in the microphone.  Until she can read well, we'll supplement with Spanish CDs and kids videos.

"Rosetta Stone® is built on a series of common, easily recognizable images found in everyday situations, which enables young children immediately to immerse themselves into the program and progress quickly. New innovative technology features include advanced speech recognition technology that gets students speaking from the start and an intuitive user interface that captivate students and keeps them engaged in learning. With Rosetta Stone, students can work independently and teachers can concentrate on the personal instruction and interactive classroom activities that promote fluency."

Art/Literacy Co-Op

I've talked about the art co-op that Sam was in last year.  This year, the same family is adding a literacy component to it.  So in addition to art every other Thursday, Sammie will stay on for different lessons revolving around specific books.  The teacher (a retired first grade teacher) will choose a theme, then read an appropriate piece of literature, then conduct an activity in science, math, health or social studies related to the theme.

Read Alouds

This is not a revolutionary concept: reading aloud to your children.  Grandaddy has agreed to read to Sammie every day from a special list.  We're going to get them from the library, but for all you grandparents and aunts and uncles, any of these books are great gifts to give the kids!  Click here to see the entire list. We're starting with The Boxcar Children and will move onto Johnny Appleseed in honor of the coming apple season.  The reading time is primarily for Sammie, but anyone who wants to hear, can listen too!

If anyone is interested, I may post our family schedule for the Fall, so you can see how it's all "supposed" to work.  Besides the ever important reading and math time, I believe there's so much more to her learning that just doesn't come from a workbooks.  You'll be able to see how our day is made up of music and exercise and gardening and reading for fun and Bible time and cooking. Well...I'll save that for another day.

Sammie had fun making a list of her school supplies and we even got some for Chase.  Chase's consisted of boy-related water coloring books, an octopus play-doh set, building doo dads, some used educational videos and farm equipment sticker books.  

I am so excited about it already, I can hardly wait until the 13th.  

Back to School -- Why the Arnold's Home School

School starts August 13th around here.  And, yes, my sweet Sammie will begin Kindergarten and we've chosen to teach her at home.

Ten or fifteen years ago, all I knew of homeschooling was that "usually those kids are socially awkward, right?"  Years later, after lots of research and lots of time with children who are schooled at home, I realize the ignorance of that statement.

There are so many resources on-line and in bookstores, magazines and the library that list hundreds of pros and cons of homeschooling.  If you want that list....go there. There is no perfect way, I don't think.  There are pros and cons public school, private school and home schooling.  We believe that home schooling, for now, will give Sammie the best foundation to succeed in life.

This is a brief list about why we have chosen to homeschool Samantha for Kindergarten this year.  (A list not only for my two readers, but as a reminder to me throughout the year.)

Family Priorities

Since all our family is out of town, we'd love to keep our schedules flexible enough to visit when we want to or go help when we need to.  Short and simple reason, but one of the biggies.

Customized Learning

I know everyone thinks their kid is the smartest of all children everywhere.  I truly believe that people are so ignorant about kids in general until they have their own and see them everyday... learning and growing and blossoming before their eyes. (I count myself in that list, for sure.) Well, I don't know about the smartest, but I do think Sam has wonderfully diverse interests for a 5-year old.  At home, we can learn math by trying new recipes in our own kitchen.  We can practice Spanish one on one or by playing customized computer games.  We can learn music by exposing her to dozens of songs a week while she does her chores or sings with me at the piano every day.  She can choose the books that interest her while she practices reading and she can practice writing by making our grocery list or agenda for the day.  I could write about this one for days and will probably blog more in-depth about it throughout the year.

And as a bonus, for as long as Grandaddy is with us and able to read, she'll have daily reading time with him.  PRECIOUS!

Lazy

Sad but true.  I can't imagine loading everyone up twice a day to take her to and from Kindergarten.  I was reminded of this during PDO Summer Session a few weeks ago. You may not believe that would make my top ten list, but it does!

Customized Socialization

We get to choose who she plays with.  Soon enough she'll have to choose for herself who the best influences are, but five is awfully young to ask her to do that on her own for six hours a day, five days a week.  Homeschooling also allows her to be comfortable around people of all ages, learning that adults aren't scary and that siblings are actually her best friends.

Cost 

My brother, sister and I went to a parochial elementary school where respect for people, guidelines and education were foremost. Above all that, though, was a respect for our faith and we were taught how to blend our faith into our every day lives including education. Prayer was a part of every day and we even got to plan and/or participate in services sometimes. I've never asked my folks how much that cost, but we looked into it here and just for Kindergarten it's almost four thousand dollars. FOUR THOUSAND DOLLARS!?!?!? The bottom line is, we're too frugal to pay that much to learn colors and numbers. We'd rather put that money in a college fund.

No Peer Pressure or Falling Behind "Classroom Pace"

Some things Sammie will pick up quickly and some things she won't.  I believe everyone learns at a different pace and homeschooling will allow us to teach her at her own pace. If she needs more time on math, we can give it.  We can be creative about how to make it real to her.  If she breezes through hand writing, then we can move on to cursive more quickly.  I don't want her to be so frustrated in a classroom because they barrel ahead of her or bored because she understood quantum physics years ago.  At home, she can be praised on her own merits and not by comparison to 30 other kids learning at different rates.

It's Sometimes About Me

My mom was right.  I should have gotten a degree in education.  I was pretty selfish and not child-oriented when I was in school, so I thought an education degree was ridiculous.  Now I know how much potential I see in every child...not just my own.  Great teachers are such a huge part in our kids' lives, not only to educate, but to shape character and be mentors for a lifetime. Someday, when my children don't need me every day, I hope to be able to teach in some capacity, so I'm using this as a stepping stone for educating myself as well as my kids.

Joy of Learning

More than anything, my goal for this one year is to instill a joy of learning in Sammie.  I want school to be interesting and challenging and yes, FUN!  If she doesn't get everything on the lesson plans, it really is ok.  It's just Kindergarten.  

The first thing on my lesson plan is to make sure at the end of the year, she can't wait for first grade.  If that happens, I'll give us all an A+.

Costumes, Closets & Clutter

I thought we had so much storage when we first built this house.  Well, we do have lots of storage, but I guess we have more stuff than storage!  I know we're not alone here.

So, while Brian was out of the country last week, I did some sorting, tossing, organizing and in general, de-cluttering.  I love these bins I found at Bed Bath & Beyond.  They come in three sizes and several colors.  They fit under the beds, on shelves and even under our train table.  I love that each set of toys has its own place and you can see what's in there.  Clutter off the floor, but you know right where to find it.

I've been searching for a great way to keep Sammie's artwork.  She wants to keep every piece. (Don't we all?)  So, I found this cork in a roll.  It's actually shelf liner (from Lowe's).  It's thin, perfectly sized for behind the door and had adhesive already on it.  I unrolled it, peeled the backing and there you have it!  Artwork out of the kitchen (and entry and living room and bathroom and closets) and on display! I took this picture before I moved everything.

So, my girl, Sammie has been into dressing up since a friend passed on a little ballerina costume when she was 18-months old.  Now we have over 40 costumes. Yes, I said 40.  Plus an equal (or greater) number of coordinating accessories -- shoes, scarves, tiaras, a couple of darlin' wigs even.  Is that fun or what!?!?! We love it.  However, the adorable place I had them stored was not working out.  Everything just ended up in the bottom of this antique wardrobe. So, you know that closet everyone has under their stairs?  The one that's too narrow to put shelves in?  Well, we got some hooks, some hanging shelves and an over-the-door accessory organizer.  Check it out!
We hung robe hooks on both sides of the closet, still leaving room for the same toys in the middle.

This wardrobe has a built-in bar at the top from which we hung two collapsable shelves (to keep wigs and hats straight) and we also hung a tension rod a little lower to hang another row of shorter costumes.  Doors can be closed on the wardrobe and closet which is a major plus!  And what's a dream of a costume corner without a mirror?  We hung it on the back of the closet door.  This mirror came with over-the-door hangers, so we can move it, if we ever want or need to.
It's one thing to know your spidey arms are huge, but another to take in the whole image for yourself!

Hey, Grandpa! What's for supper?

Anybody ever watch "Hee Haw?"  That was traditional Saturday night entertainment at my house, much to my mother's chagrin. It catered to (or perhaps shaped) my love of classic country music and deep fried foods.  At some point in every show, everyone would holler, "Hey, Grandpa!  What's for supper?"  Then Grandpa Jones, a fellow Kentuckian, would pop up and list off the awfullest mess of stuff you ever heard. Things like possum tails and collard greens. Once he finished, everyone would pipe in, "Yumm, yum!"  I remember it so vividly!

Fade to present day.  I love to cook.  I have a husband who likes great food, but is just as happy with cereal for supper, so I don't really cook much anymore.  We had an opportunity last Saturday night to have a terrific couple over for dinner. I do try to make these events special in some way, so I'm sharing the menu.  And, I'll share in the future if it seems like the crowd might say, "Yum, yum!"

The best part of this party was after the kids went to bed.  We took our dessert downstairs and while Dan played the piano (he's an excellent musician and great composer), I sang and we were still going strong 3 1/2 hours later when our spouses were nodding off!  So fun!

So, here's what was for supper:

Mom's Marinated Shrimp

Spinach Potato Soup w/ Tomato Base

Sweet N Tangy Grilled Chicken

Five Minute Salad: Goat Cheese, Herb and White Bean

Fresh Farm Bread (from our local Bakehouse)

Strawberry Shortcake w/ Cream Cheese Custard

I served the shortcake in individual dessert dishes remeniscent of the Depression-era.  I just got them that morning for two dollars at a yard sale!  

You'll have to leave a comment if you want any of the recipes!

You Never Know What You're Gonna Get

I promised a girlfriend of mine that I wouldn't be the blogger who wrote that I went to Walmart yesterday and made breakfast today.  (Well, actually I WILL be posting about one-eyed Pete's soon.)  So, I'm going to get out my little crafty post real quick! I should only have about two of these a year that don't include glitter and construction paper.

We have two doors leading to our deck.  Neither really NEED a window treatment...the view of the woods and kids playing is beauty enough.  However, one window is sort of angled right by our master bedroom.  It creeps me out when Brian is out of town.  No shades or blinds or anything.  I've looked everywhere (DON'T leave me ideas, I've LOOKED there) for just the right thing and couldn't find anything.  

Then, my sweet sister, Honor, (Yes, that's her name and I'll blog about her, too), said she bought a couple too many tab-top panels when she redid their den.  I thought the colors would be perfect, so I thought I'd try something.  (Free fabric I don't panic about messing up.)

I'm not very crafty and I'd never call myself a seamstress. Straight lines elude me many times.  I love the IDEA of craftiness, just don't really have the gift -- like those people who can take twine, rocks and straw and make a gorgeous centerpiece.  

So, here's what I did:  I measured the width I'd need and cut off one side.  I took that strip, cut it in two and put a hem all the way up every cut side to get rid of the rough edges.  The two strips became my ties.  I wrapped it around a hunk of florist styrofoam and velcroed the whole thing above the window.

Now, I can let it down when I need to and raise it to any height I want. Check it out!

Cute, huh?  Not bad for free!  I AM proud of my project, but more importantly, I wanted to say:  If I can do it, you can, too! What project are you workin' on?