Garden Tour

I'd love for you to see our garden this year!  Click the video above.  Please like the video, comment, and subscribe to my channel.

Sewing a Swimming Skirt

I finally had some time to sew!  Rebekah needed a new swimming skirt before we took off on our camping trip.  I used her old one as a pattern to trace around and added a few inches to make it bigger.  It turned out really cute.  I started making it, and then Rebekah and my niece heard the machine running and decided they wanted to make a skirt too.  So, they took over my sewing room when I was tending to Peter.  I had to wait until the next day to finish mine!  But they did a great job and made a cute pink pencil skirt for my niece.  The next morning, Rebekah wanted to make a skirt for herself.  She made a long maxi skirt!  She cut the fabric and did all the sewing, I just helped tell her the next step when she was doing the elastic.  I'm so proud of her!  I love that she loves sewing too!  Lastly, I turned two dresses that she didn't like into skirts.  We did all of this with fabric and supplies I already had on hand, so it was free, yeah!

Click here to see past swimming outfits:
Swimming Skirt with Attached Leggings
Little Girls Swimming Skirt
Kids Swimming Outfits
Women's Swimming Skirt and Shirt

Large Family Homeschool Schedule

How do you do it?  This is a common question I hear when people find out I have 6 kids and I homeschool them.  I thought I would share our homeschool schedule today.  Currently, I am teaching 6th, 4th and 1st grades, while I also have 3 boys that are 4, 2 and 6 months.  I need to preface this by saying that these times are not fixed, we are VERY flexible around here!  Here's our current schedule:

6:30  Kids wake up and make their own breakfast (older help the younger)
7:30  Mom wakes up (Yep, I'm the last one up!)
9:30  The 6th and 4th grader start working on their independent notebooks (Brush teeth, read bible, bible memorization, handwriting, spelling, math facts, book basket, any other worksheets they can do themselves.)
9:30  I teach 1st grade while the 4 and 2 year olds make a mess and distract us...
11:00  Lunch and Free time (or finish notebook)
1:30  Nap time for the 2 year old
1:45  Nap time for the 4 year old
1:45  Snack
2:00  6th and 4th grade time with mom: bible, history, science, math, english, art, etc.  (We go from one subject to the next with no breaks, so we can get a lot done in this time.)
4:00-5:00  Finished with school

I recently filmed a Day in the Life video in which I share about our schedule and show my son's notebook.  Click on the video below to watch.

Just an Ordinary Morning

I was able to film an Ordinary Morning (click on the video above to watch).  Peter is especially adorable, while the other boys are a bit rambunctious!  I loved filming Joshua reading because he likes to add commentary that is funny, although sometimes it can get frustrating. 

I did not Vlog much of the afternoon, but it was busy.  We decided to take a walk to McDonald's for ice cream, which is usually a 20 minute walk.  However, we stopped to visit with our neighbors, a sweet elderly couple.  Please pray for Jerome with us, as he has been diagnosed with terminal cancer.  I know they would appreciate all prayers!  Our walk also took forever because Daniel (the 2 year old) decided that he absolutely, under no circumstances, would ride in the stroller!  He walked the entire way!!!  We finished the day by Rebekah, Peter and I going to a sign language class, while Kevin took the rest of the boys to a minor league baseball game.  Oh yeah, we also got school finished in there somewhere.

If you like this video, please like it and subscribe to my channel, Real Life, Real Joy.  Have a Joy Filled Day!

Finishing Your Homeschool Year Strong

Here's my latest video about how I'm trying to finish my homeschool year strong.  I remember our MFW Kindergarten lesson, I don't quit, I persevere!  Tell me in the comments how you are making it to the end.

Owl Pellet Found at Church!

Last week I filmed a Homeschool Day in the Life Vlog.  Click on the video below to see it.  I ended the vlog by saying we were headed to church.  As we were getting out of the van, Matthew started having a little fit and wouldn't go into church.  He stopped right under a street light...  As I was trying to persuade him to come, I looked down and there was an owl pellet!  A homeschooler's lucky find!  Of course we got a plastic grocery bag and took it home!

I googled how to sanitize it.  You just wrap it in foil and bake it at 250 for 45 minutes.  Above is what it looked like after being cooked.

Once it was cool, we used tweezers and toothpicks to pull out the bones.  We thought we had part of a skull, but it didn't look at all like the rat skeleton we found in the owl pellet we bought earlier this year (see below) from Home Science Tools.  After looking at diagrams of many different small animals in our area, we still don't know what type of animal it was.

Have you ever dissected an owl pellet?  They are fascinating!

Crafting Around the House

While I haven't has as much time as I'd like to do crafty things, I have been able to do a few things for Our New Home over the last several months.  Above is a trivet that I did at a local pottery and mosaic shop.  The blue colors are flower petals, can you see it?

I painted this Welcome Sign for our front porch area.  My mom gave me the old milk can, which I love.  Because it lives on our covered porch, I used fake flowers, which came from the Dollar Tree.  The burlap for the bow actually came from my brother's wedding!

Here is a burlap wreath that I made at a Ladies Retreat.  It was quite simple to make (search Pinterest to make your own).

This is one of my favorite things!  My husband made these wooden frames for me, there are actually 2.  I stained them and then we stapled the maps to the back.  The other one has a world map in it.  

A sweet friend of mine invited me to her painting birthday party!  Her mom is a wonderful artist and showed us how to paint this bird, as well as a fun cat picture that is hanging in my daughter's room.  I also painted the letter V and added the burlap.

I've also been working on a denim braided rug for my bedroom for the past 2 years...