S’s family tree, My family tree, close ups of the owls on my tree

So, here’s what I did:

I found a tree I liked; this happened to be an image I had saved of a Pottery Barn Kids wall decoration. I then drew a similar one free-hand on card stock and cut it out. I found some owls I liked in a kids book and redrew them as well. The book is Animal Things to Make and Do; I sell the Usborne Books, so let me know if you want one!! Then I picked out all the fabric that I wanted to use for the owls and background. I used some wool felt for the tree circles and a couple of fat quarters I bought a long time ago for the grass and sky and the trunk is some brown twill. The owls all used little scraps I had in my scrap box. I ironed all those onto some heat and bond lite and cut out the little pieces. The beaks are just sewn in a little spot and I’m hoping they won’t fray since this project isn’t meant to be played with. I used some white felt for the eyes and did french knots to hold them on. The trunk and grass are machine sewn and the tree circles are hand sewn with DMC Coton Perle. I finished mine in the way that I decided it would be cutest, although my embroidery on the names leaves a lot to be desired… I added some batting and ribbon tabs and backed it with some neat “recycling” fabric from Timeless Treasures. I am not sure yet where I will hang it, but I want to use a short curtain rod, dowel rod or towel bar.

My work is not perfect, which as a perfectionist is really funny to me, but I enjoy not being perfect in my sewing. For some reason it is the one thing I can just go with and enjoy. Other crafts make me want to do and redo until it is perfect, but sewing is just fun for me. I hope you enjoy my little Owl Family Tree. I sure enjoyed making it. If anyone wants me to make up a pattern I might be able to try my hand at it. We’ll see if there is interest.

Have a blessed day!

Goals for Self
Lose 15 pounds, preferably in the first 6 months of 2010. I lost about that much last year and to get myself as close to my “pre-baby” body as I’m going to, this is what I have left. I know I can do it and I’m ready to!

Read my One Year Bible EVERYDAY! I tried to do this last year and many days didn’t do it. The days I did read it I learned so much though and I want to commit to learning from the Bible even if I don’t read it everyday like I plan.

Find a curriculum and teaching style that I enjoy for the remainder of this school year and for the next one. The last semester has been kind of boring/dissapointing for me in that regard and I want to be excited about what I’m teaching and excited that I get to teach my children. Right now, some days, I’m not.

Learn to weave or spin or both.

Get a lot more sewing and knitting and other crafting done than last year. Crafting time is me time and I really need more of that to stay sane with my family. I find that the days and weeks that I get that time to make something beautiful by myself I am a lot happier with everyone else in my house:)

Goals for Family
Get out of all debt, except our mortgage. We don’t have too much to pay off, but we are also van shopping which would add more. I know it’s possible, we’ll just have to really buckle down and get the money where it needs to go, not always fun.

Finish a lot more of our house. I’d like to get our small bathroom remodeled and usable and finish painting and decorating more of the rooms. The sunroom and our bedroom are at the top of my painting/decorating list and slowly they are coming together! I will post pictures when they are actually finished of before and after like I promised a year ago! Rooms just aren’t done so I haven’t been able to do that yet.

Get healthier as a family. I know we aren’t that unhealthy, but I just want to continue trying to eat more healthily and excercise more as a family even in the months that aren’t as good for that.

Grow spiritually as a family and encourage each other. I don’t think we do enough of this and I would like to make a concious effort to encourage my husband and children in their spiritual walk.

Homeschooling Goals
Find an enjoyable routine and curriculum, as stated above. I’m not the only one who is unhappy with the current stuff. We are getting ready to try some new things that I ordered and I will definitely post about them if we find that we like them!

Teach Taylor to write her letters, spell her name and get her started reading. She’s been moving pretty slow with this in her preschool class and I am hoping to get her doing a better job by the end of 2010. She is so different than Kristopher and doesn’t really seem to care. She wants to “do school” but she doesn’t want to retain anything. She is also younger than Kristopher was when he started school, so I guess that could be part of it. Suggestions?

I would like to see Kristopher’s writing skills improve. He does well with everything else, but he just doesn’t like to write (at least not for school). A friend has suggested some books for me and I am going to see what fun things I can come up with.

Those are my current goals for the year. I’m sure there will be more added as the year progresses and of course I have small everyday goals too. How about you? Any big goals you’d like to share to get me motivated (or give me more goals – haha!)? I hope you accomplish everything that you set out to do this year.

Happy New Year a week late!

January – We celebrated Kristopher and Kody’s birthday quietly with dinner and some cake. Kristopher didn’t get to have a party this year. At the end of the month Western KY was hit by a huge ice storm and we were without electricity and water for almost a week. Our gas fireplace kept us warm and we had to find non-electronical things to occupy our time with. The nights were long since it got dark earlier and we sat around playing cards by candlelight and went to bed pretty early. It was nice to spend so much time together, but we were glad when we could take showers again!

February – Kristopher participated in his first Cub Scout Pinewood Derby. He built his car with some help from Kody, to look like a green pickup truck. It won the prize for most realistic vehicle. Unfortunately it didn’t win in the speed category. We still had a lot of fun with it and the whole family was able to be there:)

March – We started working outside a lot in March, trying to clean up and clear some of our property. The first thing to go was this little old shed. There were two of them right behind our house and we decided to only keep the bigger, nicer one.

April – We had a great Easter, but looking back through my pictures these are some of my favorite memories. The first is of our very dear friends. We hung out with them too many times to count over the year, this is just one of them. Kody found many turtles when he was out clearing the yard or mowing and this is one of them. We thought afterward when we found others that we should have tagged him so we could count how many we actually had. A few we were able to tell some differences. I also have to include this picture of Kameron. He was toted to many soccer games in the spring and he enjoyed playing on the blanket and discovering grass!

May – We bought a new refrigerator this month because we were tired of the old one leaking onto our new floor and ruining it. We really like the new one! Taylor played her first season of soccer this spring and she loves it. I hope she continues to like it or some form of physical activity. She really enjoys being outside and running though, so I think she’ll keep it up for awhile. We also finished Taylor’s room this month.

June – The only memorable thing I could see in pictures this month is that we went to Kody’s cousin Amy and her new husband Jim’s wedding reception. We all had a lot of fun there. Oh yeah…I celebrated my birthday this month too, don’t really remember it though…I think I was getting things ready to teach a week of VBS at church:)

July – So many beautiful memories this month, I took hundreds of pictures! We went to the Independence Day parade and Kristopher walked in it and threw candy with his cubscout pack. We made a trip to Louisville and visited with Grandpa and got to do many things. We spent many days at my in law’s house playing oustide in the garden. But my most favorite memories from this month are of my sweet boy and his cute chubby little hands and feet. I want to remember this forever…

August – This month we started a new adventure…Homeschool. We were unsure of ourselves and wondered if we made the right decision, especially with some of the people we had questioning us. After the last few months of living the homeschooling life, even with the hard days, I wouldn’t trade it back for anything. I really am glad we dove in and tried this and I’m so glad that it is working for our family. I am also very thankful for our support network of families doing the same thing!

September – We celebrated Kameron’s first birthday and Taylor’s fourth all in the same week. It was a busy week that dominated the month in time, energy and pictures!

October – Kristopher learned to ride his bike around the end of August and one of our favorite things to do this fall has been to take a walk/bike ride. The kids hop on their bikes (Taylor’s in a tricycle), Kameron is in the stroller and Kody and I walk. Our street is perfect for family time like this and we all enjoy it. I just love looking at this picture of my “big kids” on their “bikes”. It makes me smile inside!

November – Kristopher and Taylor were outside playing so much at the beginning of this month because it was still so warm. This particular day they decided, on their own, to have a picnic. They covered this old stone well with a picnic blanket, got their little chairs set up and then came and ordered some food. It was fun to watch them with their own ideas:) This month I also participated in a Craft Bazaar at my church – I had a table set up with my handmade things and one for the Usborne books I started selling in August. I really like the books and it has been fun selling them.

December – Christmas was lots of fun and I have so many pictures of decorations and presents being unwrapped, but I don’t think those things will be the ones my mind remembers. The homeschool group that I am in had a birthday party for Jesus (I helped a bit with the organization of it) that the kids all enjoyed. We had crafts, food, cake, bible story, games; what more could you want? We also started tearing up our little bathroom (the kids/guest bathroom) so that we can make it bigger and nicer. It will probably be a work in progress for sometime, but at least it got started! Kristopher was in the older kids musical at church this year and he played the part of a man who lost all his belongings in a fire. He didn’t have any lines to remember, so it waas pretty easy. He did a great job singing too! Taylor also sang before the big kids with the preschool choir. She loves to sing, but I’m not so sure about the being in front of people. Her face is fun to watch.

It was a great year and I feel like we got a lot accomplished not only in our “needs work house”, but in our lives. I feel like we all have grown in our walk with Christ this year and that we have grown closer as a family as well. We still have our issues (doesn’t everybody?) but we’re headed in the right direction. I hope 2009 was the same way for you! Happy 2010 everyone!

I have my favorite plates on the cabinet tops. The bowls were out last night for our vegetable soup, which is one of my favorite things to eat. Those bowls are from my Aunt Gayle a few Christmases ago. I still need to add a bowl and mug set for Kameron. I just love the snowmen and how heavy the dishes are! On my small shelf (that Kody hung for me to display things on – yay!) I have the house I’ve had for several years and the platter that I bought this year to take to a Chinese auction and then promptly came home with. I have a towel that matches and bought a second towel to cut in half and make two small aprons. They’ll be perfect for wearing when cooking to wipe hands:) I pretty much feel like I live in the kitchen and when it looks like this I enjoy being in there. BTW – navy, white and gray just make me so happy together and the kitchen is possibly my favorite room in the house all year:)

I also promised cookies yesterday, if you came back later. I have finished 3 kinds so far and have 3 to go. I ruined one batch of candy as well and have one to go…not ruin! The Eastport Sugar cookies make it Christmas to me and hopefully I will get my favorite candy, cream cheese mints, done soon. Here’s what I’ve finished and the recipes to go with them if you want:)

Eastport Sugar Cookies: My mom made these every year (that I remember) and now so do I. They are such a good simple sugar cookie.

1/2 C butter
1 egg
1/3 C milk
1 1/2 C flour
1 C sugar
1/2 t cream of tartar
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t nutmeg
1/4 t cinnamon

Cream butter and sugar. Add beaten egg and milk. Sift dry ingredients together and work into the batter. Let stand overnight or 4-6 hours. Roll thin onto a floured board. Cut into shapes and place on a greased cookie sheet. Brush with egg white and sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 400 for about 12 minutes. (I find that my oven finishes them in about 5 minutes though, so be careful!)

Brickle Blond Brownies: I’m not sure where this recipe came from, maybe someone can remind me, but I could eat the whole pan. They are so good and simple!

1 1/2 C flour
1/2 t salt
1 C sugar
2 eggs
1 t vanilla
6 oz Bits ‘O Brickle
1 t baking powder
1/2 C butter
1/2 C brown sugar, packed

Cream butter with sugars. Add eggs and vanilla. Beat until fluffy. Blend in dry ingredients. Stir in Bits o Brickle. Spread in a greased 9×13 pan. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. (again, mine needed slightly less time)

Peanut Blossoms: I know everyone makes these or a very similar version, but they are a favorite! How can you not like a crunchy peanut buttery cookie with a bit hershy kiss on top?! I usually make a double batch because if I don’t they don’t last very long…

1 3/4 C flour
1/2 t salt
1 t baking soda
1/2 C butter
1 t vanilla
1/3 C peanut butter
1/2 C sugar
1/2 C brown sugar, packed
1 beaten egg

Sift dry ingredients. Cream butter and peanut butter. Add the sugars. Then add the egg and vanilla. Mix all ingredients together well. Shape dough into blls using rounded teaspoon. Roll balls in sugar and place on greased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 for 8 minutes. Remove from the oven and top each with a hershey kiss (the cookie should crack.) Return them to the oven for 2-5 minutes. With these I find that it helps to le them cool for a long time before trying to stack them in the tin because the chocolate takes a long time to re-harden (is that a word?), but if you don’t care how they look just throw them in as soon as the cookie part is cool!

My Penuche that I’ve never made before didn’t work…it turned out more like caramels and I don’t know what happened. I still have Chocolate iced cookies, Sand Tarts (a family recipe), Iced Sugar cookies and Cream cheese mints to go. I hope to have a good variety for the next couple of weeks!

Usually, I make a coffee cake on Christmas morning, but I think this year I will try to make some homemade cinnamon rolls…can’t remember what recipe I was planning to use though.

Just in case you thought I was baking all alone, let me show you my little helper –

I hope you have a blessed Christmas and that your kitchen is filled with warmth, love, family and wonderful baked goods!

Welcome to our home. I hope you’ll enjoy your stay!

As you come up our front steps you’ll be greeted by these cute snowmen that my husband’s Aunt Regina painted for us. I just love them and although they saw a rough winter last year they are still standing.

Well, don’t stand there all day! Come inside:) As you walk inside you’ll be greeted by our fireplace. I framed the entryway to the kitchen in tinsel to hang our Christmas cards. I have to have some sparkle!

The living room also houses our Christmas tree. I decided to keep it simple this year and just do lights and my favorite ornaments. No tinsel, no ribbon and no topper… The top of the tree is my favorite; that is where I always put our “First Christmas” ornament and each of our children’s “First Christmas” ornaments. Having our family ornaments up there all together makes me happy.

You’ll also see my “new” decoration of pine cones, twigs & candles that I put together. Simple things make the best decorations sometimes, don’t you think? I put my nativity up on a shelf so that it wouldn’t get broken. I’d been wanting this willow tree one for a while and my mom bought it for my last year. As I was taking it out of the box it said to be very careful with Joseph so his arm would stay intact; I didn’t think my kids needed to be able to reach him!

Come into the kitchen – I’m not going to show you the whole thing, because it’s messy! I’ve got more baking to do today on the bottom half, but look up at my favorite plates:) I’m so excited that in this house I can put things up on my cabinets and hang garland there. I’ve not been able to do that in our other homes.

The only place I had for my old but cute wreath is on the door to our sunroom. Go on out there…

This is my current workspace (one of them – I’m sure Kody thinks the whole house is my workspace). I had to decorate it a little bit too:)

If you go upstairs, you’ll be in the kids domain. They have decorations all over their rooms, but here is the tree that they set up and decorated themselves. Kody did help a little with the tree set up, but we didn’t give other instruction. They had a lot of fun decorating:) The books under the tree are all of our Christmas books – really most of them are just winter books, I guess we need a few good ones. And of course no home with children would be complete without a few Christmas-y stuffed animals!

I hope you’ve enjoyed your visit. :) Our decorations are simple, but make us happy. There are many small things you didn’t see, but I thought it best not to take pictures of everything. If you stop back by later, I’ll have some cookies for you!

From our home to yours – Have a Very Merry Christmas!

*This post if linked to on The Nester’s Christmas Tour of Homes. Go there to see many more blogs with inspiration for your decorations! Also, please excuse all our unfinished bits that you see in the photos – our home is a work in progress and we have much more to do before it is “finished.”

*I understand that God speaks to people in different ways and not all are the same. I just don’t believe that His face showing up on material objects is a way He chooses. And…I’m not real sure what that would tell you anyway…

I have been watching Kameron closely this year while we decorate our house for Christmas and go to other’s houses. There is really nothing quite like seeing things through a baby’s (or 15 month old’s) eyes. The way they light up when he sees something he likes. I am so excited about watching him open his gifts this year because of the wonder and excitement I am sure to see on his face. The older kids will be excited for sure, but Kameron is the one I will be watching. I know I used to be like that – filled with excitement and wonder and joy at Christmastime, but as the years have gone by and I have grown up some of that has escaped. I do love to decorate and seeing old ornaments or bringing out the nativity give me great happiness, but oh to see it all with new eyes every year! To experience all the lights and view each thing as something great is what I desire. I feel this same way about Jesus. Sometimes in the day to day I lose sight of what’s important and lose track of what I need to be doing. But, Jesus is the reason…not only for the season (sorry)…but for life itself and as we aproach this Christmas I want to see Jesus with the eyes of a child. I want to be passionate about him and I want my eyes to be filled with indescribable joy each time I “spread the good news.” I want Him to feel the way I feel, when I see Kameron’s eyes light up at each Christmas thing, when He sees me. I don’t want to get lost this Christmas in all the many things the world offers us to get lost in; I just want to give honor and glory and praise to Jesus, because if it’s not about Jesus, it just isn’t worth it.

Watch your very young children this year. Just watch the joy on their faces. And then…get some of that joy for yourself – He’s there waiting:)

As Christians we are commanded to be in Thanksgiving every day through all things. As you gather together today with your families to give thanks, I pray that you have a blessed wonderful day. But, when this day ends, I pray that you will continue to give thanks in everything, everyday. Help those around you who may not feel they have much to be thankful for and never stop preaching the gospel to those who desperately need it. That is what we’re called to do:)

“Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear of God.” ~Ephesians 5:17-21

“And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” ~Colossians 3:15-17

“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” ~1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

There are many other scriptures concerning Thansgiving – these are just a few of my favorites.

So, from our family to yours, Happy Thanksgiving!

I have been keeping a list of the furniture items that I find that I think would have a place in our home and I wanted to share. I think it’s fun to see what other people would put in their houses. In fact I think it would be really fun to be a personal shopper and assist people with making their purchases and beautifying their home. Of course, first, I’d like to be my own personal shopper…with an unlimited budget! So, here’s what I would buy to spruce up our house as far as furniture:

First, I would go to Z Gallerie and buy a bedroom suite for our room. I visited the store at Oxmoor Center this summer and fell in love with the Jett Platform bed. I’d get that and the matching dresser and nightstand. Then for the closet that is going to be transformed into a reading nook in our bedroom, I would buy a comfy chair such as this Barrington Chair from JC Penney in the chocolate brown color.

Moving on to the living room, I would first be looking for a sectional couch. We really need seating that can view both the fireplace and television (for movies) without having to strain your neck. I also want to have lots of seating since I host meetings and home parties pretty often and I would like to have friends over more. When people come over they like to have a place to sit down, and while I don’t mind sitting on the floor all the time, I know some people would rather a chair. :) So, I like the Barrington sectional group from JC Penny that matches the chair that would be in the bedroom. I also like this build your own sectional from Pottery Barn that lets you pick exactly what you want. That is the look I’m going for though – inviting and comfortable, but not too overly plush and not so minimalistic that you feel like you’re sitting on boards. Anyway, those two look like what I want. Then in the corner I’d like to have a sleeper chair with a storage ottoman, like this one from JC Penney. I have been eyeing this chair for about 4 years now. Or if that wouldn’t fit well, I would take this Soho chair because I really like it and can’t think of any other place to put it! It only comes in the light blue which would be okay since our living room is khaki and navy, but it wouldn’t be as matchy as I normaly like. So, now that I’ve picked my seating I need some tables! I really want a sofa table, you know the ones that go behind your sofa? But, I could take it or leave it. Since we have several feet of space between the sofa and windows it would be nice to have something there. Either a table for us or a kids play table under the windows. On either side of the windows I currently have mismatched bookshelves that do what they need to, but I have wanted some of the leaning bookshelves for several years like these from Penneys or these from Pottery Barn. A small end table/by the door table would be nice as well, but I don’t currently have one picked out. It would just need to be something simple. The last thing the living room needs is a rug or three. We have a rug now, but it was a $50 rug to hold us over until I could get the one I wanted: The Emma Rug from Pottery Barn. During my search now I found that it is gone. I found a few of the runners and small 3×5 rugs on ebay, but my dream rug is gone! Sad day:( Anyway, I will keep looking and hopefully be able to find it somewhere so that it can live in my house someday…

All Taylor needs in her room is a big girl bed. My personal favorite would be this white daybed with a trundle so she can have friends over to sleep, but really any pretty white bed would do. The rest of her furniture is white so it needs to match:) Kristopher & Kameron will soon be sharing a room and we have decided that they need bunk beds to maximize floor space. We want nice solid wood ones and while these pirate ship themed ones are perfect for the current room plan we’ll probably go with plain ones like these if we can get them! I just rembered that something like this might work too, since basically all they’d need is incorporated into the bed area. If each boy had this the rest of the floor space would be play area…I think. If we do the plain bunk beds the boys would need some toy storage, a book shelf and a matching dresser, although they both have their own dressers now so that isn’t a big deal.

The last two rooms are the sunroom and the office. They are kind of going together in my mind because I am planning to use the sunroom (which also houses the laundry in a side area) for lounging, crafting and a catch all/hang it all up area. Over by the sliding door will be hooks for jackets, backpacks, keys and what I like to call “leaving the house paraphenalia”. There will also possibly be a small shoe rack for a few pairs of boots or outside shoes. Then on the other side of the laundry “closet” I want some kind of tall cabinet/shelf system for many of my crafting supplies. I’ve seen several that I like, but nothing screamed at me yet. Also in this room I would like this desk available at amazon.

And to go with it – my dream chair from Pottery Barn. Kody will probably get to figure out all the office (unless he picks ugly stuff!! haha!), and I already have a desk in there that I like okay. We’ll just need a school desk for the kids that is big enough for more than one child to use. I have the idea in my head of what I want, but haven’t seen it exactly like I like anywhere. I want a big table top with book shelves on either end for their school books. I want them to be able to sit and work comfortably and happily together whether they cooperate with my idea or not it should at least be possible. Also I want a wall cabinet over the desk with art supplies so little hands can’t get them out themselves and color all over the walls. This room divider wants to be in our house too…not sure where though!

Anyway, I could sit and talk about my house decorating ideas and things I want all day. I’m trying to be content, but I just needed to put all this down and get it out of my head. I’m sure the house will slowly turn into what I want, it’s just hard to see some days. Hope you’ve enjoyed reading and browsing! Sorry I took you all over the place!!

Kristopher got the same curtains only I didn’t do any add ons for his…yet. I am thinking about adding some pirate fabric to the hem since the theme for the boys room is/will be pirates. We are slowly turning it into a cool pirate room. But we also want to repaint the room a different color, so maybe I should wait to finish the curtains until then.

I’m trying to get ready for a craft fair we are having at our church in a month, but I keep finding things I want to make for myself or my family. It would be so nice to have a couple of days just to myself for crafting. Unfortunately I don’t think that will happen with homeschooling, homekeeping and the million other things I “have” to do! We’ll see how ready I am. Even if I don’t get much done, I already have a box full of handmade things to sell and I can sell Usborne Books since I am a consultant – I do have a fallback thing:) I would love to get a lot more done to sell though. I have so many ideas!