Life

Gifts Kids Can Make….

December 14, 2012 By Valerie Mcclintick 12 Comments

Okay, so I don’t know about you,
but finding gifts that children can make can sometimes be troublesome.

Especially, when you wait until a week before Christmas to get started.

Ahem.

Anyway, if you have a child who is interested in making gifts for family members,
next week is a great time to put the Christmas break to good use.

Especially when they can create something like this:

My nine year old made these.
Trust me, they are simple!
And Cheap!

This would be a great project for young tweeny boppers too!

So here’s the deal:

Materials:
Wood
Stain
Paint
Sandpaper

And here’s how to do all that on the cheap:

1. Visit Home Depot and head to the back of the lumber aisle. They should have a discount bin, where you can snag a board like this for practically free. Actually 51 cents, but if your kids flash a pearly grin, and ask adorable questions like, “What kind of wood is this?,” and “Do I need to sand with the grain?” then you might just score them for free.

NOTE: I have only seen the discount bin empty one time. You may not score the same size board as we did but there is usually always something to work with. Try to take the STRAIGHTEST board with no SPLITS.

2. Cut your board. HD will do this for FREE! or if you have a saw at home, that works too. We cut our boards at about 14 inches. We got FIVE signs out of one board! SCORE!

3. Paint your background color on your board. Use a lighter color paint, as we will darken it up a bit a little later. (Sissy’s signs were painted white and light blue to begin with.) TIP: While you’re at Home Depot, check their paint department for the “Mess Ups” rack. I often find a small tub of paint for 50 cents!

4. Choose your word. Pick a font that is crisp and easy to paint. Print it at a size that will fit your board.

5. Follow this chalk tutorial for transfering your word to your board. Or use graphite paper, we’re cheap and there are ALWAYS little chunks of sidewalk chalk around our house.

6. Paint your word. This is the longest part, go slow, don’t fret over mistakes, we can sand them off…and we want it to look shabby anyway right? We have a basic paint brush set from Wally World that included a slanted tip paint brush….this helps quite a bit.

7. Shabby your board up a bit. Use sandpaper to rough up your word. Hammer in some dents. Rough up the edges…ect.

Don’t be afraid to take out some big gouges!
Where ever there is bare wood showing, the stain will soak in.

8. Use a wood stain over the paint. This is the most expensive part of the project. Wood stain is about $8 at Home Depot, but it will last you a lifetime! You literally use a dab of this stain for each board. I love Minwax Jacobean for most projects.

To stain your board: Wear gloves, dab an old rag into the can, and then wipe it over the whole project, let it set for a few moments, then wipe it off. Throw away your rags. (I read somewhere that staining rags can self ignite…and that is not good right? So toss them!)

Mom or Dad can do this part too, if you’re nervous about the kiddos handling such a noxious product.

9. Let it dry. We move ours indoors because it sets quicker. Afterwords you can spray a poly coat on if you like, this is just an extra step to protect the sign if say you needed to clean it for some reason. Not necessary, but if you have the spray anyway, give it a quick shot.

10. If you want to be fancy, hammer a hook or a picture holder into the back.

All Done!

Total Cost
$.51 wood
$8 stain
_________
$8.50

On Hand:
Sandpaper
Paint

$8.50 makes about 5 signs….so that’s about $1.70 per gift!

Not bad.

Maybe Mom can make a few too?

Now that I think of it,
This would be a great project for the entire family,
you could easily make words like JOY and Peace…

or maybe Welcome!
This sign literally cost me about $1.00 in materials.
(board, stain, paint)

Stay tuned for some more shabby projects,
my camera is full of photos to share!

Bogged down by Math….

November 8, 2012 By Valerie Mcclintick 5 Comments

It has been a long couple of weeks over here.I have been meaning to post all sorts of wonderful ideas for you,
I have lots of photos and even a fun giveaway coming,
but too be honest our homeschool days have been DRAGGING along.

Drrrrrrrrr……Aaaaaaaaa….Giiiiiiiiiiiiiing

Sissy (9) has reached LONG DIVISION.

IF you missed our Curriculum post,
Sissy is using Math-U-See Delta, and so far (up to this point),
she has FLOWN through the book.
It’s been cake.

When we first hit long division,
She even FLEW through single digit divisors.

But then we hit double digit divisors and we literally came to a rushing halt.
It was like a smack in the face with cold broccoli.

The days of cake were long (division) gone.

It just wasn’t….sinking in.

We spent three weeks trying to get into a rythym with these,
printing off extra practice sheets and doubling our time for Math,
We kept our Base 10 blocks within arms reach of our dining table.

But nothing worked.
She would become frusterated.
She wouldn’t finish her lessons.
She would stay up to the wee hours struggling quietly in her room,
spending her nightly “reading” time with math instead.

“I HATE MATH”
was the new slogan around here.

It was really depressing, and
I finally talked with her ES about our frustrations.
(Education Specialist from a local charter school we joined)

And you know what she said?
“She’s just not ready.
It’s okay to put it up on the shelf and come back later.”

Whaaaaaat?
Oh.
Oh yeah.
I forgot.
We can do that.
We’re homeschoolers.

For some reason I thought that if we put enough hours into Math,
it would “CLICK” and a little lightbulb would go off right above her head.

And more honestly,
maybe I just needed permission to quit.
…mid book…
… before we finished…
…with pages left….

(ack!)

So that’s what we did.

We Quit.

Bunch-o-Quitters around here now.

Just kidding.
We tucked Math-U-See back up on the shelf for a while,
and decided we are going to give it another go in the Spring.

Obviously, we didn’t quit math entirely.
We brought out Envision Math instead, because
for some reason Math-U-See covers double digit divisors and Envision doesn’t.

So now, Sissy is happily using Envision Math.
We started mid book near lesson 8,
which strangely evened the scales in my OCD mind.

Balance has been restored.
The long-division weight has been lifted and
The girl is smiling about numbers again.
Well not so much smiling, but
I haven’t heard “I HATE MATH” all week!

And me?
I’m feeling pretty blessed with this small reminder of why we homeschool.

If you’re looking to rediscover your Homeschool Joy, check out Bloom this Summer!

Our Homeschool Classroom

August 12, 2012 By Valerie Mcclintick 14 Comments

It’s week 2 of the Not-Back-to-School Blog Hop,
and that means Homeschool Classroom photos!

Yippy!

I love going through all the different posts for new ideas,
but if I’m not careful sometimes I get Homeschool Classroom envy.

(it’s a real disease)

For me, it’s easy to go from inspired to discouraged if my ideas
don’t pan out the way I had them figured out in my head.

To add to the matter,
We don’t exactly have a separate classroom.
We school out of our dining room,
which means I have to be creative about decorating.

Currently our “classroom” is a work in progress.
I’m starting with a very blank slate and slowly adding too it.

So here are the bones we’re working with:

We’ve got our dining table which serves as our main teaching area.

It’s hard to see, but in the back I have a small white board.
I’d like something larger, but again I don’t want my dining area too “cubicle”
Maybe I’ll get lucky and be chosen to review a Hidden Whiteboard
HINT HINT

*ahem*

A desk area for computer time and for educational videos.

I’ve got a world map, and a U.S. map on either side of the window.
I love having these maps on the wall,
but I’m thinking of getting something a bit more “old world” looking and then framing them.
I will totally share if I ever get around to doing this…

A corner cabinet to store our Notebooking binders.

Storage Drawers in what is supposed to be a pantry.
These drawers are just around the corner and hold the children’s textbooks and everything else.
I have a few drawers to myself to store teaching workbooks and supplies.
(You can tell it’s REALLY organized….. *snicker*)

My favorite part of our classroom are these shadow box displays.
These turned out to be a great way to showcase my children’s artwork
(keeping it OFF my fridge)
and they look wonderful in the dining area.

So there it is! That’s where you’ll find us all year long :)
It will NEVER be as clean as it is now
until it’s time for next year’s post ;)

I’m hoping that by next year I’ll have some really cool “Dining/Classroom” decorations up!

And to ensure I haven’t elicited any feelings of homeschool envy,

Here is a shot from the other side of the room…
where you can see that my couch is loaded with laundry.
Clean laundry….but nevertheless…

This is essentially how it stays year round.
If you ever came to my house and my couch wasn’t covered in laundry,
DO NOT BE DECEIVED!

I have either moved it all to my bed,
or payed the children a ridiculous amount of money to make it disappear.

Such is the life of a blogging homeschooler.

Read about our 2012 Homeschool Curriculum Here.

The Power of Wax….

August 7, 2012 By Valerie Mcclintick Leave a Comment

So yesterday I posted all about my crazy yellow dresser.

It just turned out WAY brighter then I had intended:

Yowza Yellow Dresser:

Well today, in an attempt to rectify the screeming yellow,
I tried adding in a little wax.

So here is the stuff I picked up.

It’s called Fiddes and Son Supreme Wax Polish
and the color is Jacobean

It’s really thick and kinda looks like birdy doo

But that’s okay, because it’s going to rescue my dresser from a classic craft fail.

And it’s super simple to use:

All you have to do is rub the ~~birdy doo~~ wax into the wood,
in all the areas you want a bit more shabby.

Which in my case is like the entire thing.

We are using gloves and doing this outside because,
the wax stinks…….not like birdy doo,
but like the kind of stuff that
will make you THINK you can FLY like a birdy.

And that is certainly not our intention this afternoon.

So here is a side by side shot of the drawers:

You can see the bottom two have been waxed.

The color is toned down just enough that it’s not giving me a headache anymore.

Looking much better,
tons more depth!

Here is the BEFORE and AFTER shot:

It’s hard to tell in the photo, but in person it makes a huge difference.

When you look closer you can see a whole new tone to the piece:

Before and After Close UP:

It’s just the color that I wanted!

I will be using birdy doo on EVERYTHING from now on!

Love it!

In which I spill my Dirt….

June 4, 2012 By Valerie Mcclintick 5 Comments

Literally.

I am spilling dirt everywhere.

Or…more accurately: Future dirt.

Cause it’s not really dirt yet.

It’s grass.

And leaves.

And some of this stuff.
(cause I’m just a beginner)

And water.

Good dirt takes time.

So we’ll wait

Please pray that I don’t end up with the smelly horse sludge!

Do you compost? Got any tips -or- Smelly horse sludge stories?

Distracted?

May 25, 2012 By Valerie Mcclintick 2 Comments

I need to be honest here for a minute.

Lately, I’ve been quite distracted.

And even more honestly;

I’m really not getting very much work done

At All.

Maybe because it’s Spring.

Or maybe because I recently moved my desk in front of a window.

But, really I think it’s because I bought some of these.

And a little more of this.

And sitting at my desk,
When the children are tucked away in bed,
I open up my email box,
Glancing out the window….. for just a minute

And it’s hard to look back at the computer.

And soon enough, instead of typing,

I’m making a mess.

And loving every distracted minute of it!

Wildflowers

May 9, 2012 By Valerie Mcclintick 1 Comment

Don’t you love when you’re out for a mid-morning stroll,
and you happen upon a field of these:

You didn’t plant. You didn’t water.

Hidden back beyond the roads,
where almost no one can see.

A forest springing with life.

And then you look close at the real beauty,
the unique dressing of each flower…

a glimpse of the mind of God.

“See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.” Matthew 6:28-29

Sewing for the Birthday Boy!

February 1, 2012 By Valerie Mcclintick 7 Comments

Someone very special is turning 1 this month!
Someone cute, and adorable,
and someone who’s diaper I don’t have to change!

Someone who made me an Aunt for the very first time!
Someone who deserves an AMAZING 1st birthday gift,
(you know…..to remind him who his ~~favorite~~ Aunt is)

I found (via Pinterest of course)
this wonderfully simple tutorial for making a drawstring bag.
I just had to make one!

…..with a little more color!

For the outer fabric:Celebrate Seuss Squiggle Stripe Multi

And for the inner fabric:Celebrate Seuss Book Titles White

You can purchase these by the 1/2 yard at Fabric.com or by the yard on Amazon here.
(they have TONS of other Seussical prints too….be careful!)

I’m using a Fat Quarter of each.

As far as constructing the bag
I pretty much followed the tutorial here on Mother Huddle,
Since I was using a lining fabric, I just put them wrong sides together,
and followed the pattern step by step as if I was just working with on fabric.

HOWEVER:
Before I sewed up the sides of the bag,
I decided it would be fun to add in a little peek-a-boo window
(another idea spawned from Pinterest)

I just cut out a rectangle (through both fabrics)
and then used a plastic scrapbook page protector (both layers)
as the window.

Note: I have never done this before,
it sewed just fine, and makes a nice crinkly sound,
but it already has “folds” and “creases” in it.
I would suggest that you use a clear table cloth or something more sturdy.

However it was thin enough for me to use two layers
so I made it into a pocket and inserted some foam numbers
before sewing up the final edge.
(This is just a very tight zig-zag all the way around)

Then I decided to make a pocket from the scrap rectangle I just cut out.
I just ironed and folded the edges and then added a bit of bias tape across the top.
I also added ribbon to the sides (using this method)

At the end of the ribbons I wanted three little fishes:
So to make them I just drew a rough template, cut out a few sizes,
sewed them back to back with some chenille,
and made them “crinkly” by stuffing them with old
baby wipe packages. (tutorial here)

I love these little fishies!

Note: Button eyes would be super cute…
but I’m super paranoid and since it’s a gift I’m keeping it extra baby friendly!

Then I went back to following the tutorial.
I sewed up the sides, squared off the corners, and added the draw string.
(mine is actually a cord)

The bag was complete and ready to fill up with goodies:
Note: Those are just little plastic balls, like from the ball pit at Mickey D’s.
I have not idea why photoshop is turning them into crazy psychedelic orbs?

Anyway, I stuffed in an adorable Dr. Seuss baby book,
filled with interactive pages that squeek and rattle.

Some colorful balls, one for each color of the rainbow,
plus a super Seusical pink tuff ball

And then I finished it off with a set of dollar store preschool flashcards,
which I laminated and then tied together with a matching ribbon.
(they look so much more adorable this way, and baby can drool away!)

All packed up and ready to go!!

Sure wish I could “hand deliver” this one!

A few Shabby Touches…

January 30, 2012 By Valerie Mcclintick 1 Comment

Over the weekend I picked up a few shabby touches to spread around the house:

a plant stand.

a little bird.

a little nest.

some weeping.

some willow.

I love having new treasures to look at!

A Family Bible….

December 29, 2011 By Valerie Mcclintick 5 Comments

Can I tell you something about our family?

We own WAY, WAY, WAY to many bibles.

I know that sounds like a backwards statement,

But it’s true.

I think if I stacked up all the bibles in one pile it would tower over my two year old.

It’s almost as if we keep purchasing them in HOPES
that they will somehow, by sheer volume,
touch our lives and bring us closer to God.

I believe I’d already said that we have the same misconceptions about cleaning products too….
more cleaning products = cleaner house

Of course it’s obvious that the missing ingredient to that formula is ACTUALLY USING them.

Well, today I wanted to share with you one that actually does get used….by our entire family!

The Illustrated Children’s Bible
By Tommy Nelson Publishing

It’s quickly become our Go-To bible.

The one that gets opened.

The one that gets read.

The one that gets put way high up on the shelf because little peanut butter fingers so desperately want to feel the pages.

This bible sells for about $35.00 so it was a thoughtful purchase for us.

Actually,it was the first bible I prayed over before I even took it home.

I wanted so much to have a “Family Bible.” I prayed that God would lead me to just the right one.

Something we could all sit around and read together.

One that held a keepsake quality, while still engaging my young children. (CEV version)

One that could also serve as our Classroom Bible during our history lessons.

I wanted to share in case you too were looking for a little jump-start to your new year.
This would be a great time to start reading a bible reading plan with your little ones!

Here is a chronological reading plan to get you started.
(You can also find one on YouVersion)

Sewing Baby Boots

December 13, 2011 By Valerie Mcclintick 8 Comments

Recently I decided that I needed to make my little nephew something for Christmas.

I found these adorable baby boot patterns from a website called I Think Sew.

I’m in love.

It was hard to decide between all the adorable little booties they had,
but I finally settled on the “Charlie” pattern.

The Charlie patterns is usually $4.00,
but they are having a holiday sale until Jan 8, 2012
and you can get it for $2.00!!

The pattern was super easy to follow,
I didn’t even mess up once.
(That means easy peasy because I almost ALWAYS have to get out my seam ripper)

I love that for each age group there is a different pattern
(none of this “add an extra inch for a larger size stuff)

I made the 9-12 months size
and here’s how my little charlie boots turned out:

I used wool suiting for the outside,
and a plaid flannel for the inside.
I love that I can fold them down too!:

My favorite part was the little ribbon tag,
I think I’ll be adding a little checkered tag to everything from now on!

And best of all the bottoms have the No-slip grip fabric (Joann’s):

I can’t wait to see these on my little nephew.
With the way he grows I’ll be lucky if they still fit him by Christmas!

Xenon Project: Remote Control Childhood

August 18, 2011 By Valerie Mcclintick 2 Comments

XenonProject.com

Warning: What you are about to see involves Awesomeness.

And Camo:

LOTS of Camo Awesomeness.

So, if you’ve already had your dose of CA for the day,
you might want to leave now,
We wouldn’t want you to overload and blow a circuit or something.

Cause today we’re headed outside:

We’re locked and loaded:

Fully Charged:

Gassed up and ready to go

And we ain’t takin NO PRISONERS.

Today (Thanks to Xenon Project) the Boy has conquered another
important childhood milestone: The Mastery of RC vehicles.

(For you newbie Boy Mom’s, RC stands for Remote Control.)
(And for you vetran Boy Mom’s, listen up cause this ain’t your standard RC product.)

These babies are Infra-Red Laser Battle Tanks….
Yeah, you read that right.

INFRA RED LASER TANKS. With an S. The plural form of Tank.

Which means
You get TWO of them
(for under $50 bucks)
(even less with this coupon)

So, snag a set for your kid and you’ll be spending
a whole lot of time doing stuff like this:

And this….

And maybe even a little of this:

You can be sure that we’ll be spending the rest of our
Summer afternoons camped out on the driveway battling it out,
And we have Xenon Project to thank!

XenonProject.com is dedicated to meeting the RC Toy needs of everyone â€“ from beginners to experts. We sell a wide variety of remote control products, including: Nitro Gas Buggies, Nitro Gas Trucks, RC Airplanes, RC Helicopters, and RC parts and accessories. We carry large inventories of retail-packaged products and will also be introducing our own product line shortly.

Xenon Project is THE go to place for all your RC products!
They have everything your little (or BIG) fella could dream of!
Cars, Trucks, Buggies, Helicopters, Tanks, and even Boats!

Really? Remote Control Boats! How cool would that be?

(Click to see HOW cool)

Seriously. Score yourself some Boy Mom points and check them out.
If you’re into extra credit Like Xenon Project on Facebook
and you’ll get yourself a handy coupon code.

Me? I’m just gonna kick back in my patio chair, sip my lemonade,
and polish my Boy Mom of the Year Award.

Disclaimer: This product was sent to use free of charge in return for our honest review.

My Adorable Students: Not Back to School Week #3

August 14, 2011 By Valerie Mcclintick 9 Comments

Wow.

I can’t believe we’re already at Week #3 of the
Not-Back-to-School Blog Hop.

I’m so excited to be participating this year,
it’s been great reading everyone’s blog posts and
reading your comments here.

But I need to be honest here:
When I first decided to join up with the blog hop,
I was a little nervous about week #3.

Week #3 is Student Photo Week.

Okay, so you might have noticed that I don’t show pictures of my children.
And besides their initial “bloggy birth announcements”
their beautiful little faces are creatively shielded from view.
Yes, you might see a hand, or a flash of hair sometimes,
maybe even the back of a head.
But overall they are kept out of the photos I share here.

Why?
It’s simple really.

PRIVACY.

Now don’t get offended here.

It’s Not that I don’t love sharing my life with you.
(I adore our time together here)

But, When I started blogging I simply sat down and weighed the Pro’s and Con’s of
featuring my children online, and through much prayer and family discussion
I came to the decision to keep our family life private.

The bottom line for me was
the whole “reality tv/mommy blogger” connection.
it just doesn’t sit well with me.
It’s a personal decision.
One that every family makes for themselves.

And YES, I realize that it’s much more “FUN” to read a blog where
you can see actual photos of children growing, and learning, and playing.
(I completely understand, I LOVE those blogs too, in fact they are MY favorite!)

So please know that I’m not CONDEMNING or JUDGING or SLANDERING,
Just EXPLAINING why you won’t see actual photos of my kiddos here,
Baby photos and the little cartoons will have to do.

I hope you’ll still read me?

And because I’m not a complete Blog Hop Party Pooper,
And because my children no longer look like this;
I did go dig out some cute baby photos to share with you:
(See, I really do Adore you)

Sissy. Sissy is now 8, and in Third Grade.
She is spunky, bossy, and has a huge heart.
She is a great friend, loves competitions and hard work.
Every year Sissy grows out her hair and donates to Locks of Love.

Bubba. Bubba is now 5, and in First Grade.
The boy is a genius. Boy Wonder.
He is extra confident and secretly a superhero.
He never stops talking. He’s talking to me as I type this.
I. LOVE. HIM.

Monkey. Monkey is now 2, and just starting to talk.
He is Crazy. A Crazy Monkey. A Fearless Crazy Monkey.
Currently, jumping off the couch with a toothbrush in his mouth crazy.

Freckles. Freckles is now 7 months.
He giggles. He crawls. He Sits up.
He eats random Cheerios off the carpet.
He’s a human vacuum. With an output diaper.
He’s perfect.
And I can still smell baby on him.

So there are my adorable students!

At the start of every school year I take them out
to some of the beautiful parks in our town, and stage a
photo session with them!

I’m always looking for adorable school photo opportunities
So, I can’t wait to go gleen all your wonderful ideas for
taking student photos!!

PSSSST:

(You might notice that I just RECENTLY added an actual photo of myself to my blog)

Right there in the upper right hand corner.
I know you thought I was an actual cartoon, but I am real too.
*grins

Our REAL Homeschool Classroom

August 7, 2011 By Valerie Mcclintick 24 Comments

Over the years we’ve had many different methods to our madness,
we’ve actually moved three times in the past 5 years so with each
move, came an entirely different setup.

But we’ve NEVER had an actual ClassROOM.

It’s always been school in our Kitchen and Living Room
which isn’t exactly ideal,
but with a few tips and tricks it’s definitely doable!

First let me say that while I’m thoroughly ~~jealous~~
impressed with all the amazing photographs of homeschool classrooms I see online,
I simply cannot do that to our Living Room.
(I want to. I DO. but I think in the long run I’d go insane)

So, since our living room cannot LOOK like a classroom 24 hours a day,
I try to keep things tucked away, or disguised, or even integrated
into our living space.

And it took me a while to find a method that I liked,
with things hidden but not so tucked away that it takes a ridiculous
amount of time to get through the day.

So our setup is a bit different then what you might expect,
but it works for us!

Oh! And as I take you through our classroom,
I also thought I’d include a few TIPS to share with you.
Small, Handy little things to keep in mind as you’re planning
out your own school space. Nothing magical….take em’ or leave em’.
(Feel free to leave me your Living Room School tips too, I love new ideas!)

So anyway, without any further ado,
Here is where it all goes down:

The kitchen table.

I put One big kid on each side.
with Mom and Monkey in the middle :)
Baby is on my lap, in a walker, or just maybe even napping!
TIP: Keep kid who needs the most help to the right side. Left if you’re left handed

And here is how I ~~hide~~ organize all of our different resources

Current workbooks and projects are stored in this amazing “Apprentice” desk organizer. I first saw this over on Educating Layton and Delightful Learning and I rushed right out to buy one. (Note: Staples as since discontinued this product).

It was well worth the money. This thing holds everything Sissy and Bubba are doing for the day, as well as basic supplies and tools. It Spins, and has handles on the sides so you can pick it up and throw it in your closet when you’re having people over.
Which is exactly where I put it:

TIP: Spend a few moments during the first week of school teaching children where to put their new things back. Do NOT clean up for them…..teach a man to fish is a much better concept. Break time doesn’t start, Lunch isn’t served, and the school day isn’t over until every last paper and pen is put in it’s PROPER place. Eventually it becomes second nature.
(Okay, that’s a TIP for me….wonder how long my house will stay this clean…hmmmm)

Okay on to the school closet:

This is the closet that I recently cleaned out, remember the before pictures? Yup, still clean….Yea me!! And Yea children!!

Our school closet has quite a bit to it:

The bottom levels are dedicated to Monkey (2) who has lots of themed “Big Boy Boxes” I suppose these are like Workbokes, except they have LIDS. Do workboxes have LIDS? I dunno. But these are not really workboxes. They are FUN boxes! These are boxes he can pull out (one at a time of course) and work on while the kids are busy with their school work. Monkey LOVES his Big Boy Boxes, and he is being taught to clean up before he “trades” for another. Yes. A Two-year old boy can be taught to clean up after himself. I didn’t believe it at first, but it’s true.

Some of the different themes I have for him are:

Puff balls w/Ice Cube Tray
Alphabet Magnets
File Folder Games
Blocks
Animals
See & Spell
Board Books
Counting Bears & Cups
Matchbox cars
Education Cubes
Alphabet Matching Game
Wooden Puzzle Pieces

TIP: One trick I only recently learned was to keep his wooden puzzle pieces all together in one box. Then I can easily just slide the boards into the side spaces and not have to worry about the pieces falling out or getting lost or causing mass confusing in the closet area.

Above all of Monkey’s Big Boy Boxes are Sissy and Bubba’s boxes. Some of the different resources I have in those are:

Leveled File Folder Games
Base 10 blocks
Flashcards
Math Manipulitives
Unifex Cubes
Geo Shapes
Rocks and Minerals
Science Tools
Tangrams
Dry Erase Cards
Crayons/Markers/Pencils
Table Top Pocket Chart

TIP: When organizing buy enough containers that you can all of the same color/size. They fit together better, the look nicer, it will give you peace. Got mine from Walmart, $1 each, big ones were $3. $30 makeover.

And let me just say that I love having things organized this way.
It makes it SO simple to grab the necessary tools as we need them.
I labeled each container with laminated flashcards
(Using my awesome new laminator)
and it takes me all of two seconds to find just what I’m looking for.

Okay, that’s all nice and pretty, but now
I’m sure you’re wondering a few things:

Where does she keep all her Teacher Supply books?

Isn’t this THE CRAFTY CLASSROOM….Where are all the craft supplies?

What about all the resources that will be used later in the year?

Where do the children do their online activities?

Where are all the children’s BIG projects, ones that don’t fit into anything.

And for the Love of Peanut Butter what about blogging?

And Here’s the short answer to all of the above: In the Living Room

Okay, that’s sort of a cop out eh?
So Here’s the long answer:

This is my desk. MINE.
Don’t sit in my chair, Don’t mess with my papers,
Don’t put your toys, your books, your trash or your sippy cups
anywhere near my computer and NEVER EVER NEVER play hide and seek
anywhere near this entire corner of the living room.

My desk is not only where I work, but it’s also where I keep upcoming
projects and resources for our homeschool.

It’s also where I blog.
Picture me ignoring that my desk is a mess,
Picture me paying no attention to the gigantic pile of books
that have accumulated across the top
Picture me sipping a homemade Iced Vanilla Latte,
and conjuring up all sorts of funny, inspirational things to tell you about.

Picture me Rollin’
(Sorry, that was a Shout Out to my Bomb-Diggity friend Erica ;)

Sometimes I just can’t help myself.
Ahem.

Moving on…
My children also have their own desk. To share.
(that makes two desks in our living room are you keeping track here?
I swear we have regular furniture too)

This is a smaller desk where the kiddos can do all things on the computer.
Their own computer. (i.e. Not Mine)
They’re happy, I’m happy, Happy computer using family.

TIP: Having a second workstation can do wonders for quieting down your classroom and keeping people happy.

Next to the desk is a ~~junk drawer~~ file cabnient which has become my “catch all” for things
that don’t exactly have a place yet. I repeat this is a “Catch all”, and NOT a Junk Drawer.
Catch – ALL

Come along now…

Most of the current Teacher books that I have are piled on my desk or hidden in this handy little cupboard next the the kitchen table.
TIP: When shopping for furniture, look for things that can double as hidden school storage!

Next to the cupboard is our Kitchen hutch. When my kids do good work on a lesson, I display it on a shelf inside, which has plenty of room for all their craft projects.

They LOVE having their projects displayed this way, like cherished keepsakes….and whenever Grandma comes she knows where to look to see what her little stinkers have been up too.
Me?
I love that my fridge looks like a fridge.

I cannot stand watching art projects slowly slide down the fridge door with each successive slam.
Like nails on a chalkboard.

Is that OCD?
Do you think I’m crazy?
Hmmm….Maybe I should delete that last paragraph before I publish.

(TIP: Keep past projects in a rubbermaid, great to revisit for upcoming lessons…but only keep a few choice items. YOU Seriously don’t need to keep every little dried up corn kernel your kid glued to a empty yogurt container. You’ve got to chuck some of that stuff….lest your neighbor submit your homeschool classroom to A&E’s Hoarders or something.

(I do not speak from experience.)

And finally on to the Crafts. Craft Resources are strategically kept out of the house. I’m so over trusting my children NOT to get into the finger paint, glitter, glue, colored sand, fill-in-the blank with any other craft material you don’t want logged in your carpet, toilet, pillowcase fill-in-the blank with anything that belongs to you and was expensive.

This method ensures harmony and an overall feeling that Life is good.

Okay so that is our entire classroom this year folks!
Hope you found these tips helpful,
or easy to ignore if you didn’t.

Yo Yo Hairbows

August 6, 2011 By Valerie Mcclintick Leave a Comment

Last night, I dared to look into my craft closet.

I know what your thinking…
and YES the entire closet if filled with crafts

It’s nothing special, just a simple linen closet completly devoid of linen.
I love my Craft Closet.
There is a scrapbooking shelf, a sewing shelf, a knitting/yarn craft shelf
and then a shelf of “Open Projects” as I like to call them.

(One shelf actually has linen on it, with a few bedsheets smushed in between a serger and a sewing machine)

Oh, and as you’re reading this You might be noticing
that I haven’t included a photo of these lovely shelves,
It’s not because I forgot.

But Anyway, perched atop the “Open Project” shelf
I found my bag of Yo-Yo hairbows:

And like a child who just found a bag of candy treasure,
I got all giddy and excited about this long forgotten project!

You see, I’ve actually been making these for a while now,
(I even sold them in boutique store before we moved)
and now I’m passing the torch, and sharing my super secret
Yo-yo hairbow tutorial with the public.

(you’ll laugh at that later, because these are soooo easy to make)

In fact these are perfect beginning sewing projects for your little girls!
Which is exactly why I included the tutorials in our new Home Economic
Sewing Projects.

Yo-Yo Tutorial

Yo-Yo Hairbow Tutorial

Happy Sewing!

Coming in August…..

August 4, 2011 By Valerie Mcclintick 1 Comment

Thanks to our July Sponsors: Hearts at Home Curriculum Store and Speekee

Hearts at Home Curriculum is a fantastic place to do your curriculum shopping, did you know they have Apologia titles at 30% off?

Speekee offers a Free Trial of their online Spanish program for kids! This is a great time to test it out to see if it’s a good fit for your family.

And I want to say a special THANK YOU to everyone for sharing a link to
The Crafty Classroom!
Here are the Top Five referring websites:

Pinterest
Homeschool Creations
Heart of the Matter
Homeschool Giveaways
No Ordinary Moments

Thanks Friends!!!

Okay….so it’s August.
Already.

And besides continuing to homeschool this Summer,
we are also in some serious TRAINING over her:

Potty Training.

Monkey(2) has decided that he no longer wants to be held down by a humongous soggy elmo diaper….instead opting to steal his brothers Spiddy-pants to enjoy the freedom of running through the house, yard, and street at a much faster pace. And then later of course making grand unintelligible attempts at telling me (AFTER THE FACT) of all the strange things that happened on his Spiddy Adventure.

So……It’s time to get proactive here.

(perhaps before his brother catches on that the Spiddy pants are in-fact his and not a new pair I bought for Monkey to to be just like big brother.)

So most of the rest of my Summer (and Winter and Spring) will be spent running around asking, “Need to go pee pee?” “Lets go try potty!” “Time to flush,” “Bye Bye!” and of course

No no NO TOUCH Poo Poo!

I’ll be pretty busy.

But I am hoping to add a few things here and there:

First, in all the potty chaos I’m hoping that I’ll stay organized enough to participate in the Not-Back-to-School Blog Hop, there are three more weeks covering SchoolRoom, Student Photo & Day in the Life. I simply must get my act together if I’m going to accomplish this.

And I’m also (hoping to finish in August) a Ten Commandments Lapbook…..nothing to serious, somthing for the little ones to study and hopefully memorize them all. I’ve seen lots of amazing commandment folders and I’m excited to finally cut a file folder into the shape of tablets!
(I’m easily amused, no?)

Also, I’ll be posting more Bible Verse Printables on Totally Tots!
We’re currently on the third CD of Seeds family worship music.

Other then that I’ll be hanging out on Pinterest, and Facebook.…come stop by and say hi!

10 things I bet ya didn’t know about me….

July 27, 2011 By Valerie Mcclintick 9 Comments

1. I have my motorcycle licence.

2. I got pregnant within a month of getting my motorcycle licence, so I’ve yet to ride a motorcycle further than a Costco parking lot.

3. I have allergies. I am allergic to whinning, excuse making, laziness, muddy boots, and anything else that the diaper misses. Oh and grass.

4. I really do have allergies. Well I did, and then I didn’t, and then I did again. When I was a child I would get an allergy shot EVERY Tuesday. Then I hit puberty and grew out of them. Life was good. Then I got pregnant and they came back. Booooo. I loathe my Mood-swinging allergies.

5. ~~I only wanted two children~~. That sounds bad. Let me restate that. I only PLANNED on wanting two children. God changed my heart…and my plans. I’m HAPPY with four. Four is good. Four is plenty. In fact I’m pretty sure that I’d be allergic to Five.

6.I Hate/Love/Hate/Love attention. As a child I was always interested in being onstage. I loved preforming ridiculous Elvis impersonations for my friends and I wasn’t ashamed in the least to belt out my own version of Heartbreak Hotel……complete with leg shaking, hip swaying, stink face

7. I am no longer like that. In public.

8. I have a secret desire to write a book. In fact I’ve already started. But don’t hold me to finishing, I hate deadlines and just might abandon the whole thing all together if I’m pressured.

9. I struggle with Scatterbrain-ness. I simply cannot hold up a “Real-Life” conversation and watch my children at the same time. I’m not crazy. It’s just impossible for me to bounce a baby on my hip, keep my toddler from drowning in the pool, stop my older two from giving each other black eyes, and hold up a decent discussion on politics….Heck, I couldn’t even tell you the colors of the rainbow right now..and the mumbling, and drooling, and half-finished sentences you hear coming from my direction are simply part of my autonomous system and I have absolutely no control over them. Noooo Control. Again, I’m not crazy. Please don’t think I’m crazy.

10. I worry that people will think I’m crazy.

Coming up in July:

July 5, 2011 By Valerie Mcclintick 3 Comments

Thanks to our July Sponsor: Speekee~

You might remember that last month I mentioned Speekee’s new homeschool curriculum? Well it’s ready and LIVE on the site,
so now is the perfect opportunity to take advantage of the Free trial.
Here are some details:

“This is a 40-week program divided into 4-day weeks with an activity per day. Most activities are around 10-15 minutes in length and all are very easy to follow. As we are happy to reiterate, there is no need for the parent to have a knowledge of Spanish when using Speekee with their children; teacher and student learn together.”

Here are some screen shots of what you can expect:

(You can click these a couple times to see larger versions)

Needless to say I’m super excited about this!
I don’t know Spanish so I can appreciate the guidance that comes with a program like this.
Starting in September we’ll be using Speekee’s 4 day outline alongside one day of Co-op Spanish class.

And I want to say a special THANK YOU to everyone for sharing a link to
The Crafty Classroom!
Here are the Top Five referring websites:

Homeschool Creations
No Time For Flashcards
No Ordinary Moments
Totally Tots
1+1+1=1

Thanks Friends!!!

Lynn and I are working on a new bible lesson for Preschool Post,
The theme will be Responsibility with a preschool theme of Cats!
We’re placing this into our October lessons, but as always you can use them
whenever you need!

I’ll be posting more Bible Verse Printables on Totally Tots!
We’ll be starting up the third CD of Seeds family worship music.

I also plan to share a little bit about what we’ll be using for our
2011-2012 Homeschool Year…Once I finalize all my chocies that is!

So that’s what’s coming up!
Subscribe or Stay Tuned!

Getting Right with God….and my closet.

June 22, 2011 By Valerie Mcclintick 12 Comments

I’m almost to ashamed to post these photos.

It’s like unveiling hidden sin. I don’t want anyone to see it.
I keep piling it in, storing it away, covering it up,
shutting the door tight and hanging a do not disturb sign on it.

But it’s time to let go.
Of the sin.
And of course the actual clutter.

If you’re squeamish, don’t look.

This is RAW footage people:

GASP!

I know right?

Please don’t ask me how this could have happened (again)

I’m sure it boils down to a simple mathmatical equation:

Children + Toys – Patience x Baby – Time + Toddler – Sleep = Mess.

But I’ve seen plenty of HGTV decluttering shows (and Hoarding shows too)
and I know just how to deal with this:

And you might notice that this process is very similar to God’s process for detangling the sin from our lives.

So, we pulled it all out and put it on display,

For everyone to see:

Oh no! Don’t Look!

Okay Look. But scroll FAST

The Horror!

Once you drag everything out, you can see the problem clear as day.
There is no hiding it anymore.

It’s time to get to work.
Slowly removing the unnecessary items

Gathering up what is still useful and good,
and storing it usable and accessible ways.

Then finally we’re left with something much more appealing:

More then we started out with really:

Phew. That was exhausting.
Like a good cry.

I feel much better now.

How about you? Have you decluttered yet?