She's Alive (and mostly well)

Hello there dear long lost friends from blog land!

I know you were really sick of looking up my awesome blog to see if I posted anything new, only to find that same old stupid prom picture from a million years ago.

Sorry.  Seriously.

Have you ever failed at something so hard that every time you thought about trying it again it was another reminder that you failed so hard?

 Well, I have.  And every time I think about how much I miss blogging, I'm reminded about how long it's been.  And wonder why I ever quit.  And miss it even more.  But feel sortof stupid.

Soooo….

I'm gonna give it another go.

So much has changed in my little world.  But much is still the same…

Still homeschooling, but now I'm down to five.  FIVE!  Since I started with eight, I'm almost half way!

Still homesteading, although it's kindof boring by now.  Although I finally got a horse.  Which is totally a miracle.  And a very long story that I'll have to tell you about later.

Still busy with my jewelry business, but I'm mostly ready to quit because some things are more valuable than money.

Still leading worship, but I'm sortof on sabbatical this month.  Although a sabbatical is technically supposed to be a year AND paid time off.  But since I never got paid in the first place, no biggie.

Still painting everything in my house.  My new obsession is yellow.  I'm mostly over turquoise.

OK, what else?

I figured out how to make my own chalk paint.  And stenciled my backsplash.  Have 2 kids in college. Have a yellow kitchen.  Am teaching my kids to play piano and ride a horse.  I've read several very good and helpful books-- mostly about psychology and fun things like that.  I'm working on getting more margin into my life… before I burn out and check myself into an obscure little motel where I would stare at the walls indefinitely.


Shew!  It's good to be back.
Although my typing skills are rusty and I've had to correct every other word.

I've got lots to tell you.

A Homeschool Prom

 This year's "formal" turned out so great! 

 The teens in our co-op picked out the theme "A Masquerade in Paris." 

 I enjoyed making the masks.  (I adore glitter.)

Around Here Lately

I just thought I'd take a minute to show you what's been going on around here lately.  

The teens are gearing up for the Prom this weekend.

Down and Dirty Chick Starting

I was at my local Tractor Supply Company the other day picking up some duck food and I was so surprised by the overwhelming number of poultry products.

I Need This Sign

A Lava Rock Debacle

Look what I just did to my perfectly normal looking landscaping!

I'm not sure what got into me.

I guess I'm just not a lava rock type person.

A Few New Things

The sun is shining.

The flowers are blooming.

I have my first sunburn of the season,
 a new lease on life...

The Way Easter Should Be

This might have been the most perfect Easter celebration that we have ever experienced!

Tip Tuesday: Homemade Dumplings

Well, since today decided to be Winter.... even though it's SUPPOSED to be Spring... grrrr.... I decided that if you can't beat 'em, join 'em... and I'll go ahead and show you how we make old-fashioned dumplings.

A Few Random Things

1. There's a deer leg in my front yard outside my window by my computer.  It still has fur.  There's one in the driveway, too.  I don't have any idea where they came from.

People Get Ready!

I just love Easter!
It's my all time favorite holiday!
My teenagers and I are working on a drama/dance thing for Easter Sunday with the teens from church.  I'm loving it, too, because I absolutely love bringing the arts into worship and outreach.  And I love dancing.  And I'm really sore.  So, that's good, too.

Here's a few awesome pictures from my desktop.  We're creating a video to go with our dance.  If you've never heard the song "People Get Ready" by Misty Edwards... google it.  It's cool!  Here's a section of the lyrics....

He's not a baby in a manger anymore,

It's That Time Again... Garden Joy!

Oh yeah!
Time for starting some seeds!

This is all way simpler than you might think.

I'm gonna show you how I set up my seed starting operation.... and you've still got time to get the stuff you need and start your own!!!

How to Cut Girl's Bangs

Here's a few "professional" tips for the DIY salon mom!

Now, we all know that you can just comb them down and cut them off, right?  Pretty simple.

 But have you ever noticed that bangs cut by a salon always seem to turn out better?  There's just a few little tricks that make all the difference!  So, here's my basic how-to.  Sorry about the mess in the background... we had an extremely busy Saturday which just happened to end in a haircutting tutorial.  : )

Tip Tuesday: A Handy Egg Substitute

Well, apparently, Spring has sprung in our chickens' brains because they've started laying again.  It's funny, just about the time we were up to our eyeballs in eggs last Fall, they quit laying almost completely.  We didn't really mind.  In fact, I only bought a few dozen eggs all winter long... and now they're back up in production!

One of the reasons why we didn't really buy many eggs this Winter (besides the fact that they're gross and expensive) is because I use this handy substitute in most of my baking.

Febr-wirlwind

Today is March first.  Praise the Lord!

February is the shortest month of the year and also the most crazy, jam-packed-with-activity month for our family.  Here's a summary.


First... jewelry orders were in full swing for Valentine's day.  These nickel keychains sold like crazy.

These sales couldn't have come at a better time!

Tip Tuesday: Red Or White Wheat?

 Have you ever wondered what the difference is?  I have.  So, I thought you might have, too.

I've been using both for several years now.  And I can tell you from experience that neither one is red or white.

Handy Math Drills

Just found this really helpful FREE math drill online.  I've used Math-U-See curriculum for years, but haven't seen their website in quite a while.  This is pretty cool!  You can design your own drills and use them as often as you want for FREE!  You can also design and print out your own worksheets.  No bells and whistles (wasted ink) here.... just nitty gritty math practice, plain and simple.

OK, well, Happy Monday!

Tip Tuesday: Homemade Playdough

 Hi guys!  After much trial and error, I'm happy to report that we have found a winner!!

Because, you know that not everything you read on the internet is true.... and that also goes for recipes. But this one is super easy and turns out perfectly!

Love Day!

Busy little painters.

Tibetan Beauties, Wheat Grass, Etc.

We're studying Eastern Hemisphere this year in school.  This is our second batch of kids to go through this curriculum... It's my favorite year of Social Studies!