Where the Moon sits

This week we were sitting outside observing the Moon. My oldest son was making observations of it for our Nature study and I had asked him where he believes Moon sets and rises.

My youngest said that the Moon gets up by our patio and goes to bed there but he says the Moon only sits in a chair!

ME: "In a chair?"

My Little One: "Well...I guess he can sit in a sofa too!"

ME: I am glad that the Moon has a place to rest.

Pumpkin Patch fun

We went to a pumpkin patch earlier this past week. The weather was perfect for it! Everyone had fun looking for their perfect pumpkin!

My youngest "Turtle" did not waste anytime showing us his perfect pumpkins! He loves picking mini pumpkins! He could have stayed all afternoon at the pumpkin patch if we had let him. He kept loading the wheel barrow and filling it with pumpkins not realizing that Daddy and Mommy had placed a limit on the amount each person takes home.

My oldest son "Godzilla Boy" is not much of a fan of pumpkins, he prefers picking gourds. He says that gourds have interesting shapes like a rocket ship or bananas. They do! Last year we found gourd that looked like a banana peel!

My husband "Blue Eyes" posed for a picture. This Christmas Eve marks 11 years together. His perfect pumpkin is a cooked one served with ice cream! I have my work cut out for me to bake pumpkin pie, pumpkin empanadas and pumpkin cookies all next week!

My boys ages three and nine. They are brothers and the best of friends. They each picked their perfect pumpkins and gourds at the Pumpkin Patch while I picked for myself some Indian corn.

We ended up picking a good amount of items. We took home pumpkins, gourds and dried Indian corn. We have plans for some of the pumpkins for Nature Study, pumpkin science lessons, pumpkin painting, craving and pumpkin baking. We will be reading plenty of book on Pumpkins this week, including the "Pumpkin Patch Parable."

I love the pictures so much that I redid our blog header today. What do you think? My husband and kids love it. Thanks for visiting and sharing our journey as a homeschooling family.

Simple Woman's Daybook: October 26, 2009

For Monday October 5, 2009

Outside my window... it's been raining most of the day. It is cold.

I am thinking... about doing laundry later today at the laundromat in our complex. I don't want to but it needs to get done.

I am thankful for... for the Fall season, it is one of my favorite
seasons during the year.

From the learning rooms... we are all looking forward to doing our unit study on Pumpkins this week. I have fun crafts planned for this week.

From the kitchen... I am making homemade Chicken Soup. It is a good comfort food on cold rainy days like today.

I am wearing... warm ups and a tank top and socks.

I am creating... a list of some new games I want to make for our homeschool week.

I am going... to sort laundry and start getting it ready to wash as soon as it stops raining.

I am reading... our pumpkin books so that I can plan some of our homeschool lessons around them.

I am hoping... the weather clears up later this week so we can visit my parents.

I am hearing... the boys watching Max and Ruby on Nick Jr.

Around the house... it smells like cinnamon, I was baking coffee cake earlier.

One of my favorite things.. is looking out the window watching the rain fall.

A few plans for the rest of the week... My youngest son will be four on Sunday so we are making plans for that.

Here is picture I thought I'd share... we made a soft sculpture Pumpkin.

To read and see how we made it click HERE.

The guidelines to doing this Simple Woman's Daybook can be found by going to Peggy's blog A Simple Woman's Daybook. To view more Simple Woman's Day Books click here.

Friend Makin' Monday: Hobbies

Friend Makin' Monday is currently being hosted by Amber. This week's topic is Hobbies. What are your hobbies? What do you wish that you knew how to do?

Over the last two decades, I have had more hobbies than I should and not enough time to do them since being a mom about 9 years ago. I enjoy the hobbies I have kept through the years.

What I love to Do

I enjoy drawing and painting. I have always loved art since I was a little girl. I can draw in pencil and charcoal, stainglass, paint in acrylic but my first love is watercoloring.

above a watercolor portrait I painted of my husband and oldest son.

above my watercolor painting of a Blue Horse for our
"Brown Bear Brown Bear What do you hear?" Flannel Story


I love making crafts especially during the Holidays as you can see below.

My Snowman and Santa Felt Ornaments (above)


Pictured above my scarecrow pin made from hosiery.

Pictured above my Max and Ruby painted pumpkins.

I love making Wreaths throughout the year. I love to use them with flowers I dry from the flowers my husband gives me on special occasions. I like making wreaths from unique materials since as our Trash bag wreath below.

What I wish I could do:

There are some hobbies that I wish I was better at. I wish that I could sew with a sewing machine. I can sew sew by hand and I have made my own patterns with newpaper but I cannot grasp how to read a store bought pattern much less use a sewing machine. I want to learn how to use one so I can make other holiday crafts!

I love photography and I figured since I have an eye for art that maybe I could learn to take better pictures. This summer, I got a new camera and software so we'll see what I can come up with in the weeks to come...

When it rains it pours...

Saturday, our area of town got hit with heavy a down pour of rain. We worry because our apartment building sits on the bottom of a hill and the drainage system here needs some work. We have discussed the matter with management to no avail until this weekend when our apartment got flooded. The water seeped into the foundation and rose up and wet the cement foundation, carpet padding and carpet in one third of our living room and our master bedroom.

Sunday, they had a company remove the padding from those areas and spray a chemical to prevent the growth of mold. Then they left industrial fans to dry the carpet and cement underneath.

It is going to be a buit crowded this week trying to homeschool in the living room so we are going to scale back this week while they work on our apartment. We are praying that a contractor will be hired to do the drainage system since November may bring heavy rain again.

We were blessed that there was no damage to our personal belongings. The only discomfort is the smell around here. Meanwhile the boys are planning on enjoying time off on the days we are not doing any homeschooling this coming week.

Friend Makin Monday: What can't you live without

This is my second Friend Makin' Monday and I am exited to be participating. Friend Makin' Monday will be spending some time hosted by Amber over some time. This week's topic is
List a few things that you cannot live without.

One of the most important things I cannot live without is having God in my life as a Christian.

I cannot live without my family

Renewed interest in Art

After motherhood, I gave up alot of things in the form of hobbies and interests. One thing long gone is my extensive Barbie doll collection. When I met my hubby I had over 400+ dolls including a few that I customized. I enjoyed making doll clothes for my collection too. I learned how to sew by hand from my older sister "D." I was quite good at it.

I used to draw and paint often since I was a child. My mother used to draw pictures for us as kids. My love for Art comes from her. My Dad and Mom always supported my interest in drawing by supplying me paper and pens even when we could not afford much. My love for Art carried into high school, college and into my 30s. I was a mural artist and crafter and I loved my work.

After having children, my drawing and painting to a back seat to being a mommy and then a homeschooler. As the boys grew older I started using my art ability to make homeschool materials. When I recently painted some watercolor paintings for our flannel story board, I realized how much I missed drawing and painting.

I found my sketch pads, watercoloring paper, my brushes and paints and I started setting aside time outside in our patio area to paint...

I had not painted since I was pregnant with my youngest son and I believed my talent was long gone. I feel like I want to gain a little bit of ME back that I thought I had lost forever.

Here is a water color painting I did of My husband and oldest son. The orginal photo was taken when I was pregnant with my youngest son. In the coming weeks I plan to work on making other family portaits to hang in our home. My hubby wants to get this one framed for us.

Simple Woman's Daybook: Sept. 14, 2009

For Monday Sept 14, 2009

Outside my window... it's raining. After having over 70+ days of triple digit weather the previous months it was nice seeing the rain... again throughout this past week.

I am thinking... how we managed to have our home ready for my Dad's stay with us last week when we had so much going on with last week's trials of fire, family and flooding.

I am thankful for... the Lord being there for my mother's knee surgery and how He will be there to guide her strength in the weeks to follow during her recovery.

From the learning rooms... We did not do much of our homeschooling last week while my Dad stayed with us. One thing that I loved the most about this past week was seeing my sons' relationship with my Dad blossom during his stay with us. My Dad (who is 76 yrs old) told my sons about the days of his youth. My oldest was amazed to find out that my Dad's family lived in an abandoned train box car. They used the box car as a home and in time built the rest of the home from it. To this day, that train box car under my Grandmother's kitchen walls. It was a rewarding experience to see three generations in my home this week and recall family memories of lost youth and events in history through my Father.

My youngest son developed a strong attachment to my Dad that was not there before. We was at my father's side the whole week and they became the best of friends. I think in many ways my little boy helped my Dad more than my Dad helped him this week. He brought to my Dad the knowledge that he invaluable to us and especially a little three year old boy.

From the kitchen... I learned some of my Dad's favorite recipes that my mom makes. I gained a renewed appreciation for the crusine of my family (Spanish). Something I had lost long ago... Now I plan on carrying on the family recipes to my family.

I am wearing... My favorite Tinkerbell shirt and matching shorts.

I am creating... an I spy Bottle for my youngest son this week. We are reading "Brown Bear, Brown Bear What do you Hear." I started painting with water color the characters from the book for our flannel story board.

I am going... to start looking at books for our October reading. We are doing two to three themes in October: Farms, Fall and Pumpkins.

I am reading... my manual for my Paint Shop pro software that I got in the Spring. It is different than what I had before so from time to time I refer to it.

I am hoping... that we can spend more time with my parents in the future. We had a great time with my Dad last week and the boys enjoyed seeing them.

I am hearing... music on my computer from R. Carlos Nakai. He plays native American music(flute). My favorite songs of his are: Shamans' Song, Meditation and just about all of his songs. I swell with pride that I am part Native American with I hear his music.

Around the house... the boys are quiet. Everyone is under the weather feeling ill.

One of my favorite things... is watercoloring. I started going back to it recently.

A few plans for the rest of the week: Working on ideas to decorate for the Fall.

Here is picture I though I would share, ... my watercolor painting of Blue Horse from the book Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see?




The guidelines to doing this Simple Woman's Daybook can be found by going to Peggy's blog A Simple Woman's Daybook. To view more Simple Woman's Day Books click here.

Simple Woman's Daybook: Sept. 7, 2009

For Monday Sept 7, 2009

Outside my window... my kids and I are sitting while the smoke clears from our laundry room. We had a small fire in our dryer unit but it was contained. Everyone is safe and sound, except for my stackable washer and dryer.

I am thinking... Now I need to wash clothing by hand for a few days and the rest of the month at the laundromat until we can afford to get a new washer.

I am thankful for... my husband who was here when the fire occurred and was able to put it out with a fire extinguisher. He kept us safe.

From the learning rooms... little was done this week as we are preparing for my Dad to stay with us while my mom remains in the hospital for several days after her surgery.

From the kitchen... I am working on cost friendly meals as money is tight right now. We will be having plenty of pasta and casserole dinners so I am digging out some of my recipes that I have not used in a while.

I am wearing... shorts, shirt and sandals, the standard uniform of a Texas boys mom in the summer.

I am creating... some sketches for making hand painted flannel story characters for next week when we read "Brown Bear Brown Bear, What do you see?" I have an idea of how I want to paint them and I think the boys will love them for our flannel story board.

I am going... to help my hubby clean our the laundry room and started sorting what I need to hand wash. Then we finish tidying the home before we leave to pick my Dad on Wednesday evening.

I am reading... nothing at the moment except my teacher's manual for our History curriculum.

I am hoping... that we can help my Dad relax and not worry so much about my mom while she is in the hospital. They have been married for over 55 years and he loves my mom so much. I know he hates being apart from her so we promised to drive him each day to see her.

I am hearing... my sons ask their Dad if it is okay to come back inside. He says yes...

Around the house... Hubby and a friend of his have disposed of our washer and dryer since it is pretty much no good to use after having been extinguished. Now the real clean up begins...

One of my favorite things... is having brothers and sisters. I have two brothers and three sisters whom I love very much. I am grateful we can all be there for my parents.

A few plans for the rest of the week: Visit mom in the hospital and pick up Dad to stay with us this week. Try and get some homeschooling done if possible and if not that's okay considering we had a fire and a flood in the last two days.

Here is picture thought I am sharing... My youngest son thought we needed a superhero to help clean the home after that fire. We sure did...

Friend Makin' Monday: Favorite Things about Fall

This is my first Friend Makin' Monday and I am exited to be participating. Friend Makin' Monday will be spending some time hosted by Amber over some time. This week Amber asked what our favorite things about fall were.

Fall is my favorite season. I enjoy the changes in the Fall Foliage and the cooler temperatures. Not far from us (abour 76 miles) is the Lost Maples State Natural Area where many flock to see the beautiful Fall colors.

The two photos above were taken by John Stuart

In addition to the Fall colors, I love the smell of fresh baked pies and comfort foods. The season is one my favorties because I love spending Thanksgiving with family. I enjoy decorating our home for Fall. I enjoy making Fall crafts the most as you can see below!

Pictured above my scarecrow pin made from hosiery.

Pictured above my Max and Ruby painted pumpkins.

Pictured above my soft sculpture pumpkin made with hosiery.

Pictured above Our Paper Fall Wreath made of construction paper we colored with crayons.