What's Going On In Your Life?

I don't know about you, but it seems the older I get the faster time seems to go. I know  I have heard people say that before, but never truly experienced it until now. 

I am already looking ahead to things going on next summer!Crazy!!

Anyway, we have been tied up with school, co-op, field trips, church, children's choir, community theater, etc. You name it and it seems that we are involved somehow. I do not say that in a frustrated tone, but with a 'Wow, now tell me again, how did I get involved?"

Here's a little of what we have been up to:

I love watching our kids experiencing life with a hands-on approach.

For the past 13 years, my hubby and I have worked at/attended a Marriage Retreat. We soooo enjoy this time of uninterrupted togetherness. Since we do work at it, we always try to come down a day early to be able to spend some time together that is not work related. So thanks to my parents, we were once again able to repeat our ritual.

I truly love this man and I am so blessed to have met him 16 years ago. You know, we don't just love each other, we actually like each other. In this day and time that speaks volumes. Plus, how many men do you know would buy this shirt in honor of their wife?

Check out Union28

(The view of the beach is a plus of the weekend:))

So, I have been able to get a few crafty items in here and there.

Next time, I will show you pictures of our Fall wreath and holiday pumpkin.Also, I have tried a few new recipes that have been a hit around our house which is always a good thing. Until next time, you have to try this recipe for Apple Dumplings. Let me repeat that. You.Must.Try. this recipe. I have already made 6 batches of these things and they are incredible. It will blow your mind what the secret ingredient is.

Apple Dumplings

I discovered the recipe from Women Living Well.

Enjoy!

Finally, the Spice Rack!

I have something that many ladies would be very jealous to have. I have my very own jewelry maker at my disposal and I call her "Mother". My wonderful mom makes beautiful beaded jewelry and I have been very blessed to receive many of her treasures. Here are just a handful of her "pretties":

(Disclaimer: I am in no way a photographer and wouldn't even dare pretend to be one! Just want you to see how beautiful her work is.)

 

So, here's my dilemma. I only have room for a small amount of jewelry, but I have many items. (Sadly, I have an ongoing love affair for large and chunky pieces.)

What's a girl to do?

 

One day as I was taking my daily walk on Pinterest, I came across something that highly interested me. Someone had added a link to an Etsy shop that sold jewelry storage.

The design of one in particular looked very familiar to me, but the price tag of $45 definitely told me it was a stranger;p

It reminded me of an old type of spice rack, but I just went on my merry way through the land of Pinterest.

(I apologize, because I have no link to it as I saw it at the beginning of last summer.)

 

 

Fast forward several weeks and one of my neighbors was having a yard sale and what do you think was in her stash? You guessed it! The same style of spice rack that I was thinking of when I saw the Etsy shop jewelry storage.

 

I scored my treasure for $1!Whoo-hoo!!

 

So after a good cleaning and a bit of spray paint, I was on my way to my new jewelry storage.

 

 

 

After letting it dry for a few days, my dear hubby added all the hooks for me.

( After trying to put them in myself, I decided he would be better suited for the job. Thanks, babe!)

 

So, without further ado, here is my attempt at recreating (sort of) the jewelry rack:

 

 

 

That is in no way all of my jewelry. It just alleviates some of the mess I had going on. The small containers hold some of my earrings. The hooks on the side hold a few bracelets and my watch bands.  I am really digging it and even got a thumbs up from my kiddos. So, surely if they think it's neat then it can't be all that bad. Right?

 

The total cost of the project was roughly around $7, so I think I did pretty good on the cost factor. Something I know my hubby appreciates.;)

So, next time you see a spice rack, just think of all the possibilities that it holds for you.

 

 

Now, onto the other news in our household. I shared with you about our home school woes and asked you to pray for us. After much prayer, we did decide to keep our children at home. They love it and cried when they thought there was a possibility of going back to traditional schooling. They have flourished in this setting and I have truly enjoyed having them with me. So, please continue to pray for us. We always want to walk in God's Will.

 

Ta ta for now!

 

 

Homeschool Blues

So it is pretty sad that I started a blog and I am already off to a very, very slow start. Pretty sad, indeed! You may be wondering the source of my absenteeism. Well here are a few of the reasons:

Homeschooling these three lovelies has been fun. HOWEVER, I will be honest with you-I have been questioning myself greatly as to whether or not this was the right time to do all of them. So much so that we are contemplating if we should re-enroll the boys in traditional-style schooling.  They are great students and really enjoy learning. The problem is that with the boys being in 1st and 2nd and Bethany in 6th, I find myself left with NO time for my normal duties of being a woman, wife, mother, daughter, sister, etc....you get the picture. Plus add a toddler in the mix and I am almost at my whit's end! I am barely finding time to even shower. Not good! Where's hubs at you may ask? He is doing his part, I assure you. He is a full-time Associate Pastor at our church and he referees football and basketball in his spare time. When he comes home he can most likely be found doing dishes that I was unable to do or start another load of laundry so we aren't running around naked!He's just an awesome husband and I am truly blessed:)
So, back to my dilemma. What do I do? I am torn, because I feel as if I am being selfish for wanting to send them back. All because I don't have enough time to get things done. What would you do? If you have a moment, can you say a little prayer for my family and me? I always want to do what God wants us to do and right now I can't seem to get a peace about any of it.
Well, that's it for now. I will let you know the outcome of it in the next post. Also, I promise to show you the spice rack in my bedroom.;pp



Love always,

Jeannie

 

Let's Get It Started!

I am finally doing this!After a bit of trying to figure out if I wanted to start a blog or should, I have finally taken the plunge into blogger world. I have read some blogs and thought, "Hey, I can do that,too!" Yet, when it came down to making the actual decision, I felt just like I did when my husband and I decided to have children. Whoa boy!
So, a little about me: I am a wife to my best friend, Mike. We have been married for soon-to-be 16 years. I am so looking forwarded to growing old with this Godly,wonderful, and handsome man. Together, we are parenting our four precious(sometimes...) children. Bethany is in the 6th grade, Samuel is in the 2nd grade, Elijah is in the 1st grade, and bringing up the rear is Ella, our 2 year old.

We are homeschooling them all. Yes, you did just read correctly! This is Bethany's 4th year at home and  the first year for the boys. So, we will save a post for that on another day. Let's just say, it has been an adventure.
Anywhoo... so on this little blog-o, you will see a little bit of everything.Well, not everything. You know what I mean. Wanna keep it family-friendly, you know:) Family-life, Homeschooling, DIY crafts, Recipes, a little this and some of that. Either way, just a whole lot of family and fun.
I hope you will stay with me and I hope I can share ideas and thoughts with you about the life of a stay- home, homeschooling mom.
Here's a little teaser~next post will involve a spice rack and my bedroom. Heehee, now you know you want to see what THAT'S about!See you soon.

Jeannie