dream big.

We are finishing the remodel of my living room.
Flooring will be finished today! Yeah!
Then base trim.
Then my house can be resurrected from the complete chaos!
Plus, Natalie has been sick with conjunctivitis and gave it to dear ol' mom!
I have had no access to my scrapping area for 3 weeks and my lack of my favorite creative outlook, supplies, camera cables (because they are in the back corner surrounded by furniture from my living room), and several pieces of happy mail I was to send out at the end of June.
Just a few more days, and then I can get back in my groove!

Quote for the day.

Friends are the sunshine of life.
John Hay

Spending time with friends today out by the pool.

Loving summer!

Free Movie Day

The weather has once again turned chilly here in the Northwest! Just when we thought summer had arrived.

Today we are headed to Regal Cinemas for the Summer Family Film Festival FREE movie!

I have missed the first few weeks, because the weather has been nice. Now that the kids won't be in the pool today, I thought this was a good alternative for keeping them out of their father's way and the construction that is going on in the living room! Pics on the new room later this week!

I am happy to be reminded of the free movies...I forget things when I get on summer mode!

Planning and organizing.

As a mom who homeschools my 3 girls, I find summer a nice change of pace.

I also, find that our school year runs smoothly when I am prepared, so summer also becomes what I like to call mom school!

I primarily use Sonlight curriculum. It simplifies some of what I need to prepare. I have learned that how Sonlight has each day organized, doesn't work for me. So I end up using each weekly schedule as a guide for me to reorganize each week so that it works for us. I pre-read EVERYTHING that I do not read aloud to my kids, and add assignments, projects, and field trips throughout the school year.

This year, I have decided to do a better job of scheduling our field trips and school year. I always have grand ideas for field trips, but as the year moves forward, I don't have the time to plan them. So, I spent a day planning out MOST of our field trips for next year. To do this I:

• looked through my school calendar
• looked through the weekly scope and sequence of what is being studied
• google searched areas, places, museums, theatre, and general fun things we may want to do
• printed out maps and general information about each field trip to include behind the weekly tab that I have planned the field trip for
• insert the field trip onto a school year calendar

I am attaching my calendar of field trips here: Download 2010 -2011 Field Trip Schedule.

I LOVE to plan and organize. I will share what I am organizing for the fall throughout the summer.

Reading

I have been busy reading some GREAT books. The books I am reading are books my oldest will be reading in the fall for 6th grade. I like to pre-read all of the books she will read for the school year so that we can have great discussions about them. I am a huge fan of children's literature and highly recommend reading the following titles:

 

The Bronze Bow

A tale based on ancient history and the choice a young boy has as to who he should follow.

 

A Proud Taste for Scarlet and Miniver

A wonderful tale about Eleanor of Aquitaine and her life. It is told with humor and is completely fascinating.

Mary, Bloody, Mary

The title here made me not so eager to read this book...but this book is WONDERFUL! It tells the story of Mary through her own perspective and feelings toward Anne Boelyn. Fascinating story.

I have read a couple other books as well, but these are my favorite so far. I will continue reading and posting favorites.

 

Sneak Peek!!!

I just finished pages, projects and albums for my upcoming workshop at BPS!

The class is Saving Your Sanity: Throughout the Holidays.

Class will be starting the end of September! Registration has not started yet, but I have a couple sneak peeks for you!

 

There are a couple of unique things about this workshop.

• each week you get THREE handouts throughout the week
• at a minimum you get three NEW projects each week (some weeks even more!)
• you will gain a FRESH way to approach and document all of the holidays from Halloween to the New Year
• FOUR specific topics - planning & organizing, decorating, creating gifts, and scrapbooking the holidays - each week will be filled with projects, tips, and techniques to help save your sanity this holiday season!

Join me in the fun this fall and be prepared for the holiday season...this class is coming soon!

 

I have been taking a vacation from my normal routine. And that has included posting on my blog.

I needed to take some time and smell the flowers.

I needed to spend some time on areas of my life I had been neglecting.

I needed to relax and enjoy my kids playing in the sunshine.

I needed to breathe and celebrate the fact that summer has finally arrived in Washington state!

I needed to spend time with my husband and discuss how we are going to attack the final phase of remodeling our living room. (we started yesterday!)

I needed a break.

Making the most of my time away from my normal everyday. :)

I am SUPER excited to be a part of Big Picture Scrapbooking and their FREE Big Idea Festival this summer!

All 13 instructors have worked with a Cocoa Daisy kit to create 3 pages or projects for the festival. This kit was very fun to work with!

This means you get 39 BIG ideas for FREE!

So, what are you waiting for? Head over to BPS and sign up to participate in this summers BIG Idea Festival!

It's FREE and FUN! See you in class!