My Favorite House

This month completes our first year in this house. It's my favorite house of the three that we've owned. The couple who lived here before us were here for almost 40 years! They took such great care of the house and the yard--they apparently worked in the yard all the time according to the neighbors. In the previous houses we've owned we've had to do EVERYTHING to the yard. Here we've pretty much done nothing, except maintenance.

They planted zoysia grass in the front AND the back, dogwood trees, Japanese maples, large oaks and maples (and a couple of trees that I don't know their names), hostas, azaleas, a fig tree, blueberry bushes, a snowball bush, a holly tree, roses (climbing and miniature), creeping flox, hydrangeas, crepe myrtles....the list goes on but I don't know the names of all the others.

Please don't think I'm bragging since we didn't do anything except buy the house. It's all such a blessing! I'm trying to learn how to care for everything as best I can. I know nothing at all about roses and I thought I'd almost killed them last year. However, they've leafed out beautifully this spring and it looks like there's lots of buds forming. I've got to do some serious reading up on the care of roses though--if you have any advice for me at all feel free to share!

Here are some shots from my yard that I took today, just had to share them with you!

in the front yard: an azalea bush in very full bloom

in the front yard: a Japanese maple

in the front yard: a close up of the lambs' ears coming up

looking into the backyard: roses on the fence with dogwood trees behind

in the backyard: dogwoods, a Japanese maple, creeping flox

in the backyard: trumpet vine

The Princess enjoying the Spring day
(blueberry bushes in the background)

The Making of an Egyptian Death Mask

We are learning all about the ancient world this year with Story of the World I and loving it! We've been learning a lot about Egypt, of course, which is completely fascinating. Most recently we have studied the New Kingdom of Egypt, which includes the story of King Tut. So we decided making an Egyptian death mask in the style of King Tut's would be a fun project. First since it was too cold at the time to paper mache in the garage (it probably would have frozen instead of dried-ha) and it was too messy to do it in the house, we decided to pick up a couple of cheap craft masks at Hobby Lobby. Next we cut out cardboard shapes to complete the shape of the death mask, attaching them with hot glue. Vince even put a little detail on the *beard* with the hot glue per The Princess' request. Then the kiddos started to paint them with this metallic gold tempera paint. It worked okay for the cardboard, but would not coat the plastic of the mask. We thought maybe a second coat ...

Arkansas' Crimson Clover

One of my favorite things about Spring is the crimson clover that grows along the highways and interstates here in Arkansas. I say Arkansas because this is where I first grew to love it. We actually saw some in Mississippi on our way here and I saw it in our town in Alabama for the first time this year. But it spreads like that, each year it grows and looks even more beautiful. I'm not sure who decided to plant it in the medians of the interstates , but it was genius! It seeds itself and just comes back more lush the next year. I always want to take pictures, but of course it's almost always in the median of a very busy interstate~which is a little dangerous for photography. However, the other day I found the perfect patch of it on the side of a not-too-busy highway, so Vince obliged me and pulled over:) Isn't it beautiful? I just had to share it with you...

One Way I Refresh During the Summer as a Homeschool Mom

As our homeschool takes some time off this summer, my mind almost never stops thinking of and planning ahead for the upcoming school year. This is probably because I'm Type A and an obsessive planner...lol Whatever the reason, I do enjoy this season of planning. But I also need to be refreshed as a homeschool mom. Homeschooling can be incredibly exhausting and all-consuming. It's not easy and it's a lot of responsibility. And I take that very seriously when I am researching curriculum and planning toward the next school year. So also taking some time to rejuvenate and refocus myself is very important. How do I do this? Each summer I take some time to read something inspiring and motivating that speaks to me as a homeschool mom. Some of my fave reads from past years--that I have nearby on my shelf and refer to often--are Educating the Wholehearted Child, The Well-Trained Mind, The Charlotte Mason Companion, A T...

my blessed life

Search This Blog