I looove organization!

I'm diggin' the new "pages" feature on blogger. It's one of the main things I've always liked better on wordpress. I'd worked around it here, but it just wasn't as good. So, thank you, blogger!

To celebrate, I've created a few new pages. Check out the "About" and "Contact" pages listed just below my header. I may try to streamline a few other things using pages, too. I don't enjoy clutter, on my blog or in my home.

More clutter-control happiness is found in my brand new IKEA bookcases in the dining/school room:

At the moment, they look empty, but that's just because I'm not done organizing yet. We just got them Saturday. In an ideal world, I'd have built-in cabinets with bookcases above, and I had designed some like that, but we couldn't even buy wood and paint for what these cost, and they fit perfectly! (Yay me, for measuring more than once!) So I'm very pleased. When I get this space "done," I'll share more photos!

Cute & Cheap Art Supply Organizer

I wanted to make a cute organizer for our art supplies that can sit in the middle of our school table. This is what I came up with, and it was super-easy, and the total cost was just under $17:

I bought a $7 wooden lazy susan at IKEA, then found little Valentine's Day metal pails in the dollar section of my local Target. I didn't want them to fly off when we spun the lazy susan, so my original plan was to drill a hole in the bottom, and just screw them to the top of the lazy susan. I still think that's a good idea, but it would have made it harder if I needed to clean out the containers, or if I just wanted to change them later. Ken suggested we use magnets, so I bought a set of little round magnets at Hobby Lobby ($2), and hot-glued them to the top of the lazy susan, like this:

All I had to do after that was set the buckets on top of the magnets and fill them with our supplies. As soon as the girls put the markers and such in there, they both immediately started drawing, so I think that means this little project was a success!

Christmas in Our Living Room

Christmas -- the decorating for it, anyway -- has arrived at our house.
Because we have so many sentimental ornaments, including quite a few to celebrate "firsts," we wanted to make sure Lindsey has something special on the tree, too. So I searched EBay and found a Hallmark "Baby's 1st Christmas" ornament from 1995. Kathryn helped me choose which one to order, and we saved it 'til tree-decorating time before showing it to Lindsey.
Our stockings are all hung by the chimney with care, including a new one for Lindsey. She told us this was the first year she ever got to put the topper on a Christmas tree. This little silver bell was given to me by one of my preschool students the year Ken and I got married. It sits right in the middle of the fireplace mantle.This nativity set sits on a table (my great-grandmother's old writing desk) near the front door. Ken says the bear doesn't seem to go with it, but his little tree does say "JESUS is the REASON for the season." {grin} We've had this set for several years, and I love it because it looks like porcelain but it's really some kind of plastic, so it's safe for little hands. None of our kids are that little any more {sigh...} but there is still no worry of anything getting broken -- and that's good in a family with high-bouncing dogs and occasional evenings of swing-dancing in living room.

Our Thanksgiving Holiday

This was what I did for most of the day on Thanksgiving...

... but I really did enjoy it. No, I don't want to cook that much every day or I'd never get anything else done. I actually like to cook when I know people will enjoy the food. (Meal planning for picky people, however, makes me want to pull out all my hair, so I don't enjoy day-to-day cooking.)

I didn't do it all myself, though... Dad, Ken, and the girls were a big help, and friends and family brought food, too.

Our menu:

• an appetizer of boiled peanuts;  my dad loves them, and wanted to make them because he knew Lindsey loves them. Ken does, too, so he was a happy camper as well!
• deep-fried turkey -- cooked by Dad
• Honey-Baked ham --Mom
• cornbread stuffing and giblet gravy -- made by my aunt Beckie
• sweet potato souffle -- me
  
• macaroni and cheese -- me
  
• glazed carrots -- me
• deviled eggs -- me (with help from the girls)
  
• rolls -- me (but not from scratch)
  
• chocolate chess pie -- me
  
• apple pie -- me
  
• chocolate chip cookies -- my cousin Shannon
• peach cobbler -- aunt Beckie
• Amish peach bread -- Dad
  
• assorted cookies and goodies -- young friend Shelby (and her brothers!)
  
• sweet tea and soft drinks -- friend Katy
  

We just decided to do Thanksgiving dinner here this year, and we invited our extended family, though many of them had other plans. It was an odd year in that regard, because we usually have a boatload of family  (30+) at our holiday gatherings. We also invited any friends that may not have had family in town, and I even put out a general invitation as my status on facebook! So we could've had an enormous crowd, but we ended up with a total (including our immediate family) of twenty-two people -- and one eagerly scavenging dog -- in our home on Thanksgiving day. Oh, actually twenty-three because my cousin Vera has a baby in her belly! We loved it! Our house isn't huge; if that many people actually lived here, it would be an entirely different story, but I love to have our home filled to the brim with friends and family.

My dear husband has never had the honor of carving "the bird" in our own home (though he's been recruited to do so at my aunt's house in previous years). I briefly considered arranging everything on the table to create a Norman Rockwell moment, but we were all mightily hungry, and that would have taken too long. So I just took a photo of Ken carving the turkey in the kitchen, where all the other food was.
Since we had more than one dining table set up, it was easier to let everyone serve themselves buffet-style. Once we started on food and lively conversation, neither Ken nor I took a single photo. We meant to, but then we'd get sidetracked by the arrival of another guest, or needing to put more rolls in the oven, and so on. So we just enjoyed our guests, and enjoyed playing hosts.

I sure hope your Thanksgiving was as blessed as ours, and if you end up with no turkey-day plans next Thanksgiving, come on over! {wink}

Party Dessert Recipes

A couple of party guests requested the recipe for the cookie-brownies I made, and the sherbet watermelon was a big hit, so I thought I'd share those recipes...

Coffee Cookie Brownies
This is one of those semi-homemade things.

• 1 pkg refrigerated sugar cookie dough
• 2 eggs
• 1 pkg brownie mix (I love Ghiradelli dark chocolate mix!)
• 1/2 cup cooking oil (I used apple sauce instead)
• 1/2 cup strong cooled coffee (I used instant decaf)
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate pieces (my brownie mix included these so I didn't add more)

Preheat oven to 350. Press sugar cookie dough into bottom of 13x9x2 pan and set aside. In a large separate bowl, combine remaining ingredients, then spread over top of cookie dough. Bake about 40 minutes or until edges are set. Let cool, then cut into bars.


Sherbet Watermelon
There's not much skill to this, just a wee bit of patience.
All you need is:

• raspberry sherbet
• lime sherbet
• vanilla ice cream
• mini chocolate chips

I used to have a watermelon-shaped bowl, which was perfect for this, but it was plastic and broke some years ago. I have since made it in a normal round bowl, and it works just as well. First you'll add a layer of lime sherbet as evenly as possible in the bowl. This works best when it's slightly soft. Then freeze 'til hard.

Next, add a thinner layer of slightly softened vanilla ice cream. Freeze hard again.

Finally, mix mini chocolate chips (however many you think looks watermelon seed-ish) into the raspberry sherbet, and fill the remainder of the bowl with this so that it is level with the top of the bowl. Cover with foil and freeze hard.

To serve, simply flip over on a large-enough plate. You may have to wait a few moments til it slides out of the bowl. Slice and serve!

Memo Board and More!

Before Lindsey moved in, I shared how we'd decorated her room, but we allowed for plenty of personal touches, and now that all her stuff is here, we've started working on some of those personal touches. We printed our first family photo with all three kids, and put that in a hot pink picture frame that sits on her dresser.

I ordered a vinyl lettering verse online a few weeks ago, but had put it away until we figured out if Lindsey liked the purple color of her room. Ken and I believed this was a wonderful verse for her, and after a conversation where Lindsey stated that she know it was God's plan for her to be part of our family, I went and got the box this came in and showed it to her. At her suggestion, we rearranged her furniture so it could be where she wanted it and still be right above the head of her bed. I love it!Our next creative project was another photo frame. We had a wooden picture frame, and got the idea that it would be cool to paint it zebra striped. So I lightly sanded and primed it, then Lindsey painted it with the same lavender wall paint as the walls in her room, then painted a black border next to the photo opening. After all of that dried, I free-handed some zebra stripes on it. I didn't have any black paint other than spray paint, so I just sprayed that into a paper cup, and dipped it out with a little paint brush. I've never painted anything zebra before, so I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. Lindsey chose a photo Ken took on the 4th of July to put in it. Cute, huh? I'd mentioned making a french memo board, and Lindsey loved the idea, so we went to Hobby Lobby this weekend to pick out fabric and ribbon. After considering many possible combinations, Lindsey chose a hot pink fabric and zebra-striped grosgrain ribbon. These are so easy to make, and the only way to have a totally unique memo board.

To make your own, you'll need:

• a stretched canvas (ours is 16 x 20)
• fabric (we bought 1 yd so we'd have extra)
• ribbon (we used a whole 15ft roll
• quilt batting
• staple gun (with staples, of course!)
• sawtooth hanger

Just cut the quilt batting and fabric with enough room to wrap around to the back. We left about 4 inches on each side. Lay the fabric face down on a flat work surface, then place batting on top, and place the canvas on top of that. Fold over the edge of the fabric and batting, pull tightly, and staple to the wooden frame on back of the canvas. Do this on one side, pull tightly & do on the opposite side, then repeat with the remaining two sides. Flip it over, lay out your ribbon and cut with enough left to pull around and staple on the back. Do one ribbon at a time until it's just the way you want. Attach the sawtooth hanger so you have a way to hang it on the wall.

We have another project on it's way from a blogland friend in Texas and Lindsey is super-excited about it. I'll share when it arrives. {grin}

Like a Nursery -- but Not!

Most expectant parents prepare a nursery for their baby. Well, we're expecting, too, but our "baby" is fourteen, so preparing her room has been a little different! For starters, a newborn has no opinion about what colors or style he/she likes. Feed 'em, change 'em, they're generally pretty happy. So the nursery tends to reflect the style of the parents. And there's no wondering if they'll like it. Another big difference? Parents of newborns usually have months to get it all ready!

In our case, we've had very limited time to get things ready. The first time we heard anything about Anne was on May 20th, through an email from our caseworker. We met her June 11th, and as soon as it looked like things were moving forward, we realized we had to transform the playroom into a bedroom. Cleaning things out of there was a big job, and most of the stuff was Kathryn's so she had to go through it. Making decisions about what to keep/give away/throw away was difficult, but she did a great job.

Once we'd gone through everything, we gave a few things to friends, made a Goodwill run, trashed some stuff, and organized what was left. That meant moving it upstairs to an odd room we call "the little room" because it's like a large doorless walk-in closet right at the top of the stairs. We bought a shelving unit and Kathryn has been doing great with putting things back up there when she's done playing with them.

The next step was to ask Anne what she likes, as far as decorating styles. She said, "Animal prints, especially zebra. And bright colors, like lime green." If you've ever been to my home, or seen photos here on my blog, you know that my style is sort of an eclectic English cottage style, with colors like sea glass green and pale sky blue, soft floral prints, teacups here and there, and lots of antiques. Nowhere in my house is any sort of animal print, and the brightest color we have in this house is the solid red sofa. So my challenge was to create a room Anne would like, even though it's so different from my own personal preferences.

I began web-surfing for ideas about cool teenage rooms, then went wandering in the aisles of Target (love that place!) for inspiration. I found my inspiration in the form of a Kleenex box. (Yes, I'm a big enough decorating dork that I buy tissue boxes to match each room. It's a sickness, I know.) Anne currently shares a room with two other teen girls, so we know she's looking forward to having her own room, and we want to make it special. Perhaps we've seen a bit too much HGTV, but Ken and Kathryn and I really like the idea of surprising Anne with a totally decorated room. We already had a twin-size antique bed in the playroom, and I emptied out a dresser (full of scrapbooking stuff I should've cleaned out ages ago!) to use in her room. My mom gave us a spare bedside table that was just the right size. A friend gave us a mirror to hang over the dresser. My cousin Tia gave us a lime green butterfly chair she'd never used, as well as a lime green faux fur throw. I ordered a brown and cream zebra-print quilt from Walmart online (not available in the store), and painted the walls a lavender color. At Target, I bought a set of sheets in a slightly lighter green I'd call more apple than lime, and a faux silk balloon shade in pale green. I found a lamp base at Walmart that is curvy black metal and mimics the zebra pattern without actually being a zebra-print lamp. We brought in more bright colors with a lime green magnetic wipe board to hang on her closet door, a purple beaded lamp shade, and a hot pink picture frame. When we're all here this weekend, we'll take a family photo to put in there. The stained wood furniture and the black in the mirror and lamp keep the bright colors grounded, and the wall color is bright enough but still calming--essential for a bedroom, in my opinion. (The color is correct in all three photos; the walls just look different based on how the sun is shining.)

I never would have thought I'd like a room with bright colors and zebra print, but I do; it just feels happy and has personality. I love that it is partially made up of gifts from friends and family, which creates instant "history" (the same reason I've always loved antique furniture).

This whole room re-do was all pretty budget-friendly since we didn't have to buy any furniture, and the things I did buy were very reasonable. The quilt was just $34 (including pillow sham), and that was the most expensive thing in the room. Right now the walls are a bit bare, but we have an idea for something really cool.

Handiwork Bunny

Kathryn and I spent a lovely lunchtime recently discussing our dream of having a little farm, with goats and chickens, a big vegetable garden, and an orchard full of fruit trees! We'd dry our laundry out on a clothesline. We'd harvest our veggies and can them for the off-season. Kathryn requested to be in charge of feeding the chickens and collecting the eggs, and I'd milk the goats. This dream may never become a reality, and our residential zoning laws prohibit us owning any livestock where we currently live, but we certainly can expand our veggie garden and learn many of those old-fashioned (but never out of date) home-making/homesteading skills. Any of these things that we learn to do will be time spent well, and may even save us some money, which is definitely a good thing.

One areas where I have good intentions, but sometimes lack follow-through, is in doing handiwork. I don't want to make macaroni necklaces; I want Kathryn to learn real skills! In keeping with that, we're going to start doing handiwork more often.

I've had this little project for months, and only just got around to doing it. It's a pattern to make a little stuffed bunny. I helped Kathryn a little, but mostly just helped her figure out what to do next and showed her how to pin the pattern paper on the fabric before cutting it, and so on. She did almost everything herself, including every bit of stitching.While she sewed, we talked more about our homesteading dreams. She said if she learns to sew well, we can make quilts, and horse blankets. She was impressed when I reminded her that I have made a few quilts (but no horse blankets). A little later she asked. "When [if!] we live on the farm, will you let me wear farm dresses every day?" I think she is picturing Laura Ingalls. I said that would be just fine -- if she learns to make them.

I've been experimenting with some settings on my camera, so I was clicking away while we talked. When she was talking about how the silly goats might not cooperate when it was time to go to the barn, she made a funny face, and I caught it. {hee hee}I had goats and horses when I was in high school (sounds like some photos I need to dig up), and when I was a child, we had a few chickens. Kathryn asks over and over again for me to tell her every story I can remember about these farm critters, and she thinks it's really cool that I know (or knew, anyway) how to drive a tractor. I wasn't really a true farm girl, though, and didn't learn all I would want to know if I had the opportunity to live on a farm now.

Kathryn's little project turned out very cute. I love this picture of her talking to the bunny, and you can see its little pom-pom tail.She gave this one to Granma as an early Easter present, but she's planning to make more. She added some lavender from our flower garden into the stuffing for the bunny to make it smell lovely! Granma loved it.

Delightfully Organized!

I love organization. ♥ It makes me a happy, happy girl. The thought of having everything fabulously organized sounds simply dreamy, so this little (or probably not so little!) carnival sounds like organizing paradise. It's not all about homeschooling, so I'm sure everyone can find something useful here! The weekly topics are:

1. Organize your physical space: cutting clutter, ways to store books and supplies, tips for small spaces, etc.
2. Organize your morning: morning routine, time with God, chores, breakfast, getting off to a good start, etc.
3. Organize your school schedule: schedules on paper, reviews of planners, time allotted for subjects, etc.
4. Organize your records: grades, tests, attendance, etc.
5. Organize your projects: storing paper, lapbooks, notebooks, and old projects.
6. Organize your kitchen: menu planning, recipes, etc.
7. Organize your activities: field trips, co-ops, etc.
8. Organize your heart: priorities, good attitude, etc.

Oh! And there are prizes involved!!!
It starts in March, so get the details here!

What I'm Not Getting Done

I had big plans this week.

I wanted to: clean out what is currently a playroom, so that it can become a bedroom for whoever we adopt; start doing a few new things as part of our school days; move more old blog posts over to our new business blog; paint a cute little sign to hang in the kitchen, and repaint another sign that just isn't the right colors (I'll share photos whenever I do those things); rearrange furniture in the living room; figure out how to put different legs on the dining room table; and help Ken build shelves in Kathryn's bedroom closet.

BUT, I've had a cold or some sort of yuckiness all week, and today I'm feeling even yuckier. So, only the most basic, ordinary, day-to-day things are getting done. Nothing extra, nothing exciting. And that frustrates me. Eventually I will get those things done, and at some point I'll even write the blog posts I intended to write. For now, however, I'm going to make more hot tea and curl up under my blanket in a cozy chair in the living room.

Chocolatey Goodness

Because I love you, dear blogland friends, and because of the Chocolatey Holiday of Love coming up on Saturday, I am sharing my favorite chocolate pie recipe with you.

This recipe comes from a long-time family friend named Virginia. Anyone who has ever tried this pie (and who is in their right mind) raves about how deliciously yummy it is. It is very sweet, though, so a tiny slice goes a long way. For parties, try making tiny little pies! Even Kathryn has made this (with only a teensy bit of help from me)!

♥ CHOCOLATE CHESS PIE ♥

• 1 stick butter
• 3 TBSP cocoa + 1 TBSP cooking oil
  (or substitute 1 square baking
  chocolate)
• 2 well-beaten eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup sugar
• unbaked pie shell

In a small saucepan, melt together butter and baking chocolate (or cocoa + oil). Add eggs and vanilla. Gradually stir in sugar. Stir over low heat til sugar is dissolved, then pour into unbaked pie shell and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Pairs wonderfully with a fresh, hot cup of coffee!

Weekly Report

OK I admit it. I don't like to do a weekly report unless I feel like we've had a productive week. (For the record, though, sometimes I don't do a weekly report because I just don't have time or I have something else I really want to blog about!) But living transparently means sharing what isn't going the way I want it to as well as what is! Honestly, the only things I have to complain about are because of my own laziness and lack of self-discipline. So this isn't my typical list of what we did in which subjects. More of a mini-assessment of what I'm doing well and what I need to change.

We have gotten our most basic essentials done this week, including math, which is often a struggle. We've even accomplished a whole lesson all but one day this week, rather than the half-lessons we typically do, so that is an improvement in itself, but the biggest improvement is in Kathryn's attitude. Math has been the cause of many meltdowns for me her. I honestly believe that my making an effort to invest some time alone with God every morning is helping me with my patience.

Another good thing is that Kathryn and I have been having some good discussions stemming from our morning devotions. If we have a good talk about something Biblical or something the Lord is teaching us or doing in our lives, then I consider that a good day, even if we accomplish nothing else.

As far as home ec/practical life-skills go, we've done pretty well with that lately. Kathryn has finally finished her needlepoint horse; she cooked dinner one night last week (angel hair pasta with homemade cheese sauce from her Paula Deen kids' cookbook!); we babysat for baby Kaley and almost two-year-old Braedon one day this week (valuable experience for a girl with no younger siblings -- yet!); and she's helping a little more with household chores, like learning to fold laundry and things like that.

Kathryn feeds baby Kaley as I have a close encounter with Braedon!

Our days are not getting started as early as I like for several reasons. One is that I lack discipline in getting up early enough. I set the clock but once I turn off the alarm, I usually fall back asleep. This is something I must change. Adding to that problem is that if I don't have everything done before breakfast, then Kathryn finds something to do like play with Legos or read (both perfectly wonderful activities) while I'm finishing what I need to do, but then she's resistant to stop doing that to come to the table to do school. I get aggravated about this, but again, it's really my fault, and I need to help her develop the discipline that I am just NOW trying to teach myself!

I don't love hot, humid Georgia summers, but this has been a very chilly winter, so we haven't gotten outside as much as I'd like. That makes nature studies harder, and although we can get creative with them (like studying birds on our feeder and such), it just takes more effort. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'll be glad for warmer days. I'd like to devote more time to painting/art or maybe some science experiments on cold weeks like this, and then focus on nature study the days or weeks we can get outdoors. In fact, I think we'll go for a walk now!

My Husband Rocks

When it comes to decorating, I'm never "done." I like to change things every now and then. So it was time to repaint the kitchen. I liked it before, but I liked the idea in my head even better. It's been four years since we moved in here and I painted it butter yellow. Remember, I come from a family of nomads, and I myself have moved 14 times. Seven of those moves have been in Kathryn's lifetime, and she's only eight!. We intend to stay here a long time, so changing a little paint is no big deal.

My dear husband puts up with all my rearranging and redecorating, and he's a good sport about it. Even more than that, he helps! He's always willing to move one more piece of furniture -- though if I ask him to move one more thing up or down the stairs, he's going to insist we install an elevator. {grin} This week he helped me repaint the kitchen, moved the refrigerator so I could get behind it, cut lengths of beadboard wallpaper for me ( I love this stuff!), and hung a new shelf on the wall. My husband ROCKS!!! And thanks to him, now my kitchen rocks, too!

This is a photo in process (with the fridge pulled out and painting tape still up). But you can see the new color. This one's of the breakfast area, after I got things put back together. See the beadboard under the chair rail? I'll take better photos later, but this gives you an idea of my new and improved kitchen. I've really been enjoying having Ken home on a two-week holiday from work -- and no, not just because he's helped with projects. This kitchen redecorating only took two days, and most of the past two weeks we've been relaxing and just hanging out together. I love my SuperMan!

O Christmas Tree!

We are THAT Family is hosting a Christmas tree party today, and since I was planning on sharing my tree with you anyway, I decided to join in, too. Nearly everything on my tree has some story behind it or some sentimental value. See those crocheted snowflakes and stars? The sweetest neighbor in the world, a dear little old lady name Ms. Willie Davis made those for my family when I was in high school. She had a beautiful flower garden and loved to tell you about it. She made beautiful crafts. And she was always sure to take meals and such to the "old folks" in her church (she was 80-something at the time).

I want to show you just a few of my really special ornaments, and I've got to start with the most special ornament on the tree this year.This ornament was made by my sweet 8-year-old Kathryn as a surprise for us. She did this all on her own: thought of it, drew the design, cut the felt, and stitched the letters on the front before sewing the front & back together and stuffing it with fiberfill. She wrapped it, but was so excited about it and proud of it that she wanted us to open it together that same evening (earlier this week). It says "Jamie" on the left and "Ken" on the right, and inside the part where the two hearts intersect, she stitched "2005" for the year we were married. Y'all! How sweet is that!?!

I can't really top that, but I'll show you a few more special ornaments. There are, of course, a few teacups and teapots on the tree (as in the photo above). I have a rocking horse ornament from the year Kathryn was born, and a set of little shoes for the year she learned to walk, and a little reading bear for the year she learned to read... but Ken didn't have any special ornaments from when Brandon was little. So last year I went on a hunt online for a baby ornament from 1991, the year Brandon was born, and I found this: It couldn't be more perfect. It's the little drummer boy, and Brandon lives and breathes drums. It has 1991 in a little heart on top of the drum. It was one of Hallmark's ornaments that year, and it came to me in it's original box.

Last year we welcomed Lacy into the family, and wanted a special ornament to celebrate. We found a greyhound ornament that looked a lot like her, even with brindle markings. The only thing it was missing was white markings on the face. So Ken painted on the appropriate markings, and now it looks exactly like Lacy! Her "room" (the laundry room) has a dutch door and she often looks over it just like this:My mom gave us this ornament the year we were married. Our wedding was in a little gazebo near here, and right after our wedding, we danced a few songs in the gazebo before heading to our lunchtime reception at my favorite local teahouse. I was even wearing a pink, knee-length dress like the girl in the ornament. Kathryn loves it because it's also a miniature music box; you wind the key on the bottom and open a little drawer on front and it plays music. She loves it so much, she's nearly worn out the music part because it's starting to sound a little sickly. {grin}

That's a little peak at my Christmas tree. Can't wait to see yours!