Meet Joe Dirt...

or his newest imposter, Austin...

{He found one of Daddy's old Halloween wigs...and we felt it was a little too hilarious not to share!}

Austin at age THREE

First, Fast, & with a SMILE!

Austin and his nursery teacher's conversation just before leaving:


Austin:  "I obeyed tonight."
Teacher:  "Yes, you did obey!"

Austin:  "I obeyed fast!"
Teacher:  "Yes, you did good."

Austin:  "And I smiled..."


This may not mean a lot to most of you, but to a Mom who has been working diligently to teach him what true obedience is, this means the world!  All of those days I thought he was paying me no attention...all of those "talks" we've had to have...we're seeing progress!  He is not only memorizing our obedience rule (obey first, obey fast, and obey with a smile/right attitude), but he's repeating it, and he's applying it!

This Mommy is a little excited that I was able to hear that little conversation.  A little encouragement just at the right time... 

Welding 101

We recently dropped by my grandma's house for an impromptu visit.  Katie and I learned how to can vegetables and veggie soup (Katie played while I learned, since we couldn't let her be in the kitchen with the pressure cooker.)  While we were inside, Austin found himself with Pawpaw Tim and Pawpaw Flannagin for his first welding lesson. 

As you can see, he was very intrigued!  (Sorry for the phone pictures...I didn't plan this visit, as I normally do, so I didn't have my camera handy.)

All I can say is...

he's ALL boy, and I love that about him!

The Little Red Book of Wisdom | Book Review

I was recently given the opportunity to review "The Little Red Book of Wisdom" by Mark DeMoss through Booksneeze.com.  I thoroughly enjoyed this book.  It is exactly as the title states...little bits of wisdom on subjects of all kinds.  This isn't the type of book you'd typically want to read from start to finish in an hour.  There's a lot of great advice, stories, and wisdom to be found within.  The chapters are short, and totally readable during a work break, etc.

I would recommend this to anyone looking to gain a little insight from others' experiences, in the workplace or life in general.  Mr. DeMoss did a fantastic job compiling this little book of wisdom!

I received this book for free from Booksneeze.com for this review.  The above opinions are my own.  I was not required to write a favorable review.

Wordless Wednesday

 

That's my boy...

Wordless Wednesday

My two little nerds...

picture {and their inspiration for wanting nerd glasses} 

are courtesy of their Daddy ;-)

RE...Lots of RE!

So, with all of the "RE"s (REorganizing, REdecorating, REmoving) going on in our home lately, especially in the kids' rooms, we've also had to learn how to REpurpose things.  Though it'd be easy to run to the store and buy all that I need to REdesign our home, my frugalness just doesn't allow for that ;-)

I suspect {and HOPE} to be able to show you lots of REpurposing going on around our home over the next months.  Today we started with small steps in the kids' rooms.

When the kids had their own rooms, one was fully "Princess" and the other was nothing but "Cars"...so now what?  I have Princesses and Cars all over the place, and their new bedroom is cowboy/cowgirl/horses, etc.  Tell me how those are gonna fit in... ;-)

SO...today, I spent a little time searching for great new images online that would be perfect additions to their new rooms, and what did I come up with??  {*overlook the purple walls...they will be gone soon hehe*}

 First, I replaced all of Katie's "Little Mermaid" pictures with these...using the same frame and mat.  And, though it was printed from home, you wouldn't know it wasn't purchased from the store when you see it!  So, my cost for REdecorating their room with REfinished pictures -- less than $1!

 And now for these much-loved nightlights...Katie, of course, had the Princesses...and Austin had Cars.  I really did not want to purchase more nightlights, and I loved that these could be turned off (saving those nightlight bulbs that always seem to go out!). 

SO...I again turned to the internet for pictures and...

This fit perfectly with the cowboy/cowgirl theme in their bedroom,
and even worked with the pink nightlight base!

The playroom is going to be decorated in fun, artsy colors...
perfect for their little imaginations!

TADA!  Brand new nightlights costing pennies to REpurpose...but perfect for our new decor.  Pretty nifty and thrifty, in my opinion :-)

And to "add" a little more REpurposing of pictures/frames in the playroom, I took Austin's Cars pictures and REplaced them with recent paintings done by my two little artists. 

We're soon going to have a full wall of artwork in their playroom, and I can't wait to show you that!  But we have to start and finish some REpainting first.

LOTS left to do with our REpurposing and REdecorating projects...this was just a few small steps.  But you have to start somewhere, right??

Crazy-Beautiful LIFE

Okay, so I'm obviously getting really bad at this blogging thing.  And, though you may think otherwise, I promise it is not intentional!  I honestly miss it more than you, I'm quite sure.  You see, it's my break...my step out of the reality of our crazy-beautiful life...my time to do something that may or may not serve any real purpose, other than aiding in my sanity as a stay at home, homeschooling mom.  So, now that I've told you that it keeps me sane...and then you see that it's been probably 2 weeks since my last post (and they were short ones!), then you're probably (rightfully so) concerned about my sanity (and about my family, since I may well be on the brink of INsanity).  I'll never tell just how close I may indeed be to that point, but I will say that blogging was high on my list today *hehe*

So, since I have not been blogging, what exactly have I been doing lately??  It blows my mind that we're already in August!!  Where in the world did my well-planned, relaxing and productive summer days go?!  July was nothing but a blur, so I can't even take you week by week explaining why things have been so crazy.  But I can remember as far back as last week, which was our Ladies' Enrichment Retreat at church.  Though I didn't realize that it would be, being a session teacher and also a vendor at the retreat, it was a major time sucker last month.  I taught a photography class, complete with handouts, powerpoints, personal examples, and more...all compiled by yours truly, and though I was totally nervous, I had a great time!  The conference was a fabulous success, praise the Lord!  God used Mrs. Mina Oglesby in great ways to challenge and encourage me.  I'm already looking forward to next year. 

So, that's a huge project from the month of July that is not "marked off" on my list...just in time for me to get lesson plans completed for Katie and Austin, as well as our Friday co-op science classes that I'm teaching.  Whew!  Makes me tired just thinking of it.  But I am SO thankful to have the opportunity to homeschool our children.  I can't say that there aren't days that I seriously consider sending them to school away from home, but those days are few and far between (and usually when I am in need of a little break).  Katie is resuming kindergarten to begin with...covering in greater detail what we covered last year, leading us up to 1st grade.  We're in no rush, as we're still ahead with her, but we're not slowing down either!  We're both excited for school to start back!  And I'll also be integrating Austin's learning time with Katie this year.  Obviously they are on totally different levels, so that will be challenging, but we're excited about it, too. 

And, with all of the other busyness of life (outside of my business, which has been pretty busy, as well), did I mention that the house has been somewhat turned upside down over the past 2 weeks?  Yeah.  Well, it had been discussed, but was by far from planned.  We were given a fantastic offer on a brand new twin over full bunk bed set (with the built in staircase) and chest, and we couldn't pass it up!  The kids now have a combined playroom, which they LOVE (and so do I -- so much easier for them to clean up!), and a combined bedroom.  Katie sleeps on the top bunk and loves it, and Austin is doing fantastic on the bottom bunk!  This also gives us more beds and more open floors for when extra bedding/space is needed for missionaries, family, etc., that are staying with us on occasion.  It also gives me a perfect room for photography with full natural light (their playroom is ideal!)  The kids absolutely LOVE this change, and so do we!  But it has definitely brought on more "projects"...repainting, reorganizing, etc. 

Here's a picture of the kids bedroom right now, but it's not completed (obviously), so you're going to have to overlook the purple walls!  We're still finalizing paint colors and decor.  :-)

I'd show you the playroom, but there's nothing to show right now...You'll hopefully soon get to see the before and after pictures of it, though!  (We've gotta work on patience a little, right?)

Speaking of redesigning, Mark and I have been doing a lot of planning for the redesigning of other areas of the house.  It's going to come by steps...slow steps...as budget allows, but I am super excited about it!  The hardest part is knowing what step I want to start on :-P  By the end, there will be lots of beautiful earthy colors throughout our home!

More craziness?!  Oh, yes!  My baby is turning 3 this month (*sniff sniff*)...I have begun my final year of my 20s...my Mom and family have sold and moved to a nearby town...and I have found a new addition (like I needed one) -- www.pinterest.com

Okay, so that's probably a small portion of our craziness this summer, but I think it at least catches you up to speed...and now I can *hopefully* become a regular blogger for my family again...if for no other reason but SANITY :-)  Thanks for dealing with my ramblings of the crazy-beautiful life God has blessed me with!