The Long Year...

Looking at last years pictures it looked like I was having a great time! Until it all came crashing down...

So dramatic, but not really. We got extremely busy with our real business that I had to put some hobbies aside and sadly writing & photography were 2 of them.

If you have followed me on Instagram the past few months you have had a glimpse of our world as we are trying to balance all the blessings God has put before us.

Gardening has been going well, I have a million & one projects including remodeling the home, we are getting ready for the new school year, & we are finally in a season of life where I can start making time for me (I hope) :)
Gardening
Art
Photography
Yoga

Bike riding
Cooking great food from the garden
And eating lots of said food

Can't wait to share all of our adventures!

A Lot of Content, Broken Computer

Man I have been creating & photographing SO much content for months now. I have so much to share about our recent craft night
Decor, food, friends, crafts...
I  have a bunch on schooling
Art, curriculum, more art, activities...
I  have even more about food, gardening, God, love, parenting, life...
I am excited to share all these things with all of you but be patient, my computer is on the fritz and time is very precious when you wear so many hats :)
Enjoy these pics of up coming posts for now & I will post about them soon...

Craft Night Swag

Back in August I hosted a craft night for the ladies in our neighborhood & it was fun!

It was a bring your own craft night so we had a few different things going on. One friend was building an herb garden, another mending a dress, and another was paper crafting. I cooked pizza, served wine & we just got busy with creating.

I couldn't let the ladies leave empty handed so I gathered all kids of goodies from Michael's and created a cute goody bag!

Ribbons, stickers, tags, mini chalkboards, scrapbook stuff, frames, watercolor postcards were included.

I chose some Heidi Swapp* scrapbooking items, not only are they cute, but they were on clearance! Love a bargain!

Cute little wooden thanks conversation bubbles & mini chalk board clips were a fun find, too!

More Heidi Swapp die cuts.

Frames, stickers & journaling cards 

Tags & water color postcards, too. I loaded these goody bags up!

I snuck a few pieces of my favorite chocolate in there too :)

When the bags were all filled up I cut some cute rainbow paper with pinking shears, sewed them closed and added the chalkboard clips with chalk to go!

The ladies were excited to open the bags and find all the fun stuff inside! I loved putting them together. And the gremlins in the photo above loved photo bombing every shot! (they crack me up everyday!)

*Heidi Swapp is in no way endorsing this post, I found the items at the craft store and thought they were totally cute so I bought them & gave them to friends in cute goody bags.

(If Heidi Swapp wants to send some goodies for the next craft party I have, I wouldn't mind your stuff is fun!)

Be Happy

Nothing makes happier than playing in the dirt & earthing except

God, my husband, the kids, being with my friends, coffee, food, sunshine...

I guess a few things do make me happier!

But I do love getting my hands dirty. I have even stopped wearing garden gloves when pushing dirt around. I always love the dirt under my nails and feeling the earth!

I recently planted Lantana, a neighbor suggested it and boy does it look pretty.

I love the colors! They make me happy!

Allison bought this for me! I love her to pieces! She bought it from our neighbor friends that were having a yard sale. Then Allison & Scotty had a small yard sale then the neighbor friends, back & forth for about a week. 

Silly kids have been passing the same dollar around for a week now. At least they are learning about trading dollars & money.

The sun came out and shined its beauty on my newly planted rainbow flowers! Nothing makes me happier :)

Back to School x2

Well a few months have passed since I last published anything, time gets away so quickly. I had to enjoy summer break with the kids and get in the swing of owning a business, then today I had to get in the teacher mode since we started school today...YAY!

We now have a kindergartener

and a second grader

How did that happen so quickly?

Scotty had to ham it up a bit for the photos. I know it really looks like he is going to have the best time in his life but about a couple of hours of arts & crafts and the letter A he had his first melt down of the day (it was lego time for a bit)

getting ready to start the morning & they had to look stylish, right?

Just love Allisons rainbow glasses - she is very kawaii right now :)

I do have to give Allison props for being a huge help to me today! Since she has a year of homeschooling under her belt she has got it down so she is really helping out with Scotty. She is officially his 2nd grade buddy so they work on projects together, she reads to him & helps him with little things like counting & spelling.

We got all our subjects finished with only 3 melt downs from Scotty ( I really don't think he likes not playing legos all day)

I survived the day even though I had hardly any sleep and was up really early -  thank God for caffeine!

I am now going to rest cause I am tired and I still have to think of what to make for dinner.

I hope all of you had a wonderful first day of school - home schooling or not!

What was your favorite thing about the first day back?

I do have to mention that I posted on Facebook that I will be making some changes. I have been inspired and I am rolling with it. A little nervous about it but what do I have to fear besides God? He is the one who is guiding me so I might as well give it a shot, right? 

Now I'm off to rest & by that I mean reading blogs and searching for easy recipes I can cook in my sleep :)

Yahi Trail Hike

Back in January we hiked the Yahi trail. It was a blast!

I had no idea that we lived so close to this area and if I had I would have been here every weekend and summer!

We are a very outdoorsy family (at least me & the kids :). We spend all of our waking hours outside if the weather is nice and school work is done, so this hike was a treat for us!

There was so many beautiful plants growing. Even though it started out foggy, the sun came out and made the rest of the hike bright & HOT!

We started the hike on a more difficult rocky trail then made a bee line for the Yahi trail. We ended up at the creek and found this awesome tree with the roots hanging out above ground

Of course every time we stop they have to eat a snack and explore so they got out their cereal bars and munched, then trough some rocks. We ended up seeing some ducks, lots of flowers, and then stopped again so they could eat some more!

We ended up hiking about 2 miles. One day the kids will be able to make the 6 mile round trip, but for now we will take it easy. Exploring nature is the main idea and with seasons changing everything is so different every time we go.

Now that I know where it is, this summer will consist of hikes with friends, picnics at Horseshoe Lake, and visiting the observatory! 

The Yahi Trail is located in Chico, CA for more information check out the link below

Upper Yahi Trail

.(I am not affiliated with the link, just thought it was good info to pass along) Have fun hiking!

Our Homeschool Classroom

Today I would love to share one of our many places we learn! It was originally going to be my office/garden office, but I guess it wasn't meant to be. We, instead, turned it into our main learning area. It is in our backyard, where if the weather is sunny (and even sometimes when it's not so nice :) is mostly outdoor learning for us, but "the shop" makes a  great little hideaway from the summer heat and fun little place to for the kids to hang out in when doing a project or playing school. Plus the ducks like to sneak in when no one is looking and hang out - hahaha!

the art wall & our many white boards

The art wall is a place where I hang their creations and each kid has a shelf to put their bigger items. Right now we have some Egyptian coffins and paper dolls they created. The shelf below the calendar & white board keeps our rocks for now. We are exploring rocks for science and the shelf gives them hands on ability to touch, see, smell, and weigh them. It will change when we move on to a new idea. The cork board is where I hang finished art work, the month, and a Proverbs 31 women list. The upper white board is for scripture or quotes for copy work & the one below if for daily lessons.

The shared desk - all three of us used to sit here but it got a little squished so I created my own space.

a favorite art activity - paint! Love these $1.99 at Michael's (for the big bottle)

Our book nook - we rotate the paper back books often and the kids can just relax and read for a bit between lessons or when they get bored.

My space - I moved my grandmother's desk under the window that faces the garden. It gives us less overall floor space but it is nice to be able to have my own area to keep notes and work when I have the gardens and classes in full swing!

A view of each side from the door - all this in a 9x9 space ! 

 These 2 don't seem to mind. It's bright & colorful & we are close to nature.