McLeod Homeschool for Girls: Humble beginnings

There are so many ways to home school.  I love to hear other family's stories of what works for them, and to glean ideas from everywhere.  We started homeschooling in November of 2010.  My oldest daughter was almost 5 and really wanted to start "real" school.  We have always read a lot, and had worked on some writing.  She knew her alphabet, numbers, and some addition.  But she really wanted all the books and formal time with Mama.  It's not always easy when you also have a 3 year old to entertain, but she would gladly color or do an activity in a book, and when possible we would include her in some of our lessons.

I didn't worry too much about how much we got done at this point, because she wouldn't even start kindergarten in the public school (if she were going) until the following August.  She was already taking piano lessons, once a week by this time, and really seemed to enjoy some formal instruction.  We had a small desk that come from a friend's quilting store, that was a perfect fit for a busy 4-5 year old.

At this time I was working about 3 days a week, so I felt like if we did school 3 days a week year round, we would be fine for a while, and we were.  We started with math, phonics, an handwriting, with plenty of time for play and crafts as well. I often had to remind myself most kindergartners were still learning their letters, numbers, and how to write their name.  I had to take it easy on her, because I love to push everyone to excel!!!  Sorry girls, you'll have to suit your mother the perfectionist.

Fast forward three years, and now I have 2 pupils.  We still home school year round, but have taken a slightly different scheduling approach (another post).  We eventually got bigger desks (more of a want than a need).  Books and papers threaten to take over my desk everyday.  They are both reading very well and doing great in their math and spelling.  They each have some strengths and weaknesses, but it has been thrilling for me to be right there teaching them each day and watching their minds get stronger.  I hope if you are considering homeschooling that you will pray, seek support from your spouse, and keep an open mind.

Bed for a King (and his Queen)!

So I told you about the bed I've been building for myself and my cowboy...  You know how things seem simple when you are just starting, and it seems to snowball a little bit?  So goes life.  This was a really fun project, and I finished it in less than a month, which for me... is pretty good.  Especially when you have to stain and varnish wood in the middle of winter.  It doesn't dry too quickly.  Requires heaters in the garage. Also means no car in the garage for about a month!!!

I got the gist of my plans from Ana-white.com.  I essentially made the farmhouse bed with hinged footboard, posted by birdsandsoap.com.  Except hers was a queen, mine is a king, and I am going to add drawers (one of these days).  Also, I stained mine.  But, it's the same idea.

After a thorough sanding, I applied a coat of wood conditioner to help the wood take the stain up more evenly.  I've found it really makes a difference when you are just using inexpensive pine like I tend to do.  Then I applied one coat of MinWax Early American wood stain.  It is oil-based, so make sure you have good ventilation.  I apply with a cheap foam brush, then wipe off the excess after 5-10 minutes.  Go back over and make sure you haven't missed any spots or don't need more coverage anywhere, then let sit at least overnight.

I really prefer to use DEFT brushing lacquer.  I tend to use a semi-gloss sheen.  I don't mind polyurethane, but it takes forever to dry between coats.  With the lacquer you can usually re-coat in 30-45 minutes.  Several thin coats are much better than thick ones.  It really gives a durable finish, too.  I like to let it dry overnight after the last coat, so more of the fumes are gone and it has a chance to cure more.  It does require lacquer thinner to clean up.

The bedding came from my wonderful sister-in-law, Sandi.  She got it for us at Christmas from overstock.com.  I believe it is called "Stella."  I hoped it had a little more blue and green to tie into my color scheme, but it's really hard to tell from the website.  I love it anyway.  You never know, I may need to paint my bedroom.  Again.

A few projects around the house...

So I've been pretty busy here lately, doing a few things around the house. I need to do some cleaning and organizing, but I have some other projects with deadlines. First, my cowboy and I decided it was time for a king-sized bed. Since we wanted an air bed, I didn't want to spend $400 for a big box for it to sit on. No ma'am, I'd rather spend that $400 on materials and build my own bed with plenty of storage where that box would be sitting...  So first I built the platform for it to sit on.  I made my own version on the farmhouse storage bed from Ana-white.com. Here's the pictures of that. I still have to build the drawers, but went ahead and installed the runners before assembly. I hate crawling in a hole to work. 

I left the runners out of the cubby closest to the head of the bed, since there will be a nightstand there, and a drawer couldn't pull out. I did drill holes for cords to my alarm clock, lamp,etc. I can stash books or magazines there for easy access. 

Now I needed to put it together. I used 2x4 hangers to span the middle and covered them with plywood to make a solid surface.

Finally we got our new Innomax Comfort Craft 5500!  Innomax is the company Sleep Number has tried to emulate, but they are awesome.  This is a very nice air mattress for less than $2000.  If you are thinking of buying a new mattress, check out sleeplikethedead.com. They give you the lowdown on a lot of different mattress types and brands. 

It was a bit of a bummer we had to wait 24 hours before inflating, but it was worth the wait. We have been sleeping like babies!  It has a layer of latex cushioning that puts memory foam to shame. 

Look at that sweet little girl!!!

So now we have a new bed, mattress, mattress pads, sheets, but the bed needs a headboard and footboard. I was initially going to build it all at once, but then wanted to give myself a little flexibility to change it up if needed. I really didn't want my bed to be any bigger than it had to, but it has to be big enough, so once the mattress was in place, I got to work on the rest of the bed. This was also based on the farmhouse bed plan from Ana-white.com. Very similar to the headboard for the storage bed, but I wanted slats rather than solid panels. I also made a hinged footboard, to take advantage of the storage space between the boxes.  Nothing like keeping it simple, huh?

So here is the raw headboard. The footboard is the same style, but I'll make you wait to see it all put together until it is stained, finished, and installed on the boxes!  See you tomorrow or Saturday.

Redeeming the Time

How does time fly so quickly?  I have set several goals for myself the last few days, and time flies without accomplishing them all!  I have marked several items off my list:  balancing the checkbook, preparing the girls schoolwork for next week when school goes back in session, picking up the house, doing a bunch of laundry, making a quick trip to Borger so I could run to Walmart and United, and attending a little get-together at a friends house this evening.  Now I am trying to prepare for company on Sunday.

We are so excited to get to host a missionary family in our home Sunday afternoon!!!  Eddie and Rebecca Trimble family, missionaries to the Phillipines will be visiting our church Sunday morning, and in the absence of our pastor, we are going to be blessed with the opportunity to have them to our home.  I am looking forward to getting to know them myself, but also hope my children will be intrigued and interested.  We are praying for our girls to give God the first right to their life.  We realize he may not call them to be in full-time service, but why not ask Him?  I hope they will be as willing as Isaiah was when he was called (Isaiah 6:1-8).

So just a few goals for tomorrow:

• Clean the house (Most of the new gifts we were given for Christmas have finally been put away and found a new home, the house is picked up, but it desperately needs a deep cleaning.
• Grocery shopping.  Trying to plan for two possible contingencies.  I am not sure how many people (or what ages) I need to plan for, but thinking either lasagna and fettucine alfredo, or enchiladas and Mexican casserole.  None of them difficult, just need to make sure I have the necessary items to go with either.
• Prepare some materials for Sunday morning:  a coloring page for the kiddos during the Sunday School hour, and a lesson for Children's Church if we need it.  I am hoping the kids can stay in the sanctuary to hear our missionary speak, but if we have a lot of visitors with young kids (I always hope we do), I also want the parents to be able to enjoy the message.  I guess its a win-win either way.
• This is probably a big dream, but I would love to get at least a coat of primer on the desk I built for our second daughter over a month ago.  It is of no use to us while sitting in the garage, and is kind of in the way when we need to get into the deep freezer, so I'm ready to move on.  Doubt it'll happen.
• Excercise!!!  I did use the elliptical a for a while last night, but need to get up and get moving more intensely and more regularly if I'm ever going to lose these pounds.  So far the calorie restriction is going fairly well.

I hope that whatever I accomplish, I am able to say that I did my best and accomplished at least a few things on my list that can give Glory to God.

2014: Looking forward to the next year!

So I promised you a little look into what we have in store for the upcoming year:
Personally, I have a few goals:

• I am going to spend more time reading God's word, meditating upon it, and praying.  I want to continue (and possibly improve on) our regular attendance at church.  I would also like to be able to give more money to our church to support our pastor and missionaries around the world.  I also am aiming to share the gospel with more people.  I am praying for God to help me personally lead at least one person to Him!!!
• I am going to strive to be a better wife and mother.  I have realized I cannot do it all (well).  I am trying to loosen my control on a few things that I can, and work harder on the basic things that God expects of me.  If I have to hire help to keep the house clean, that give me several more hours to teach my girls, spend quality time with them, or even just do something I really enjoy!
• I am going to lose some weight and get in better shape.  A friend just told me about "the Master Cleanse" and I hope it will jump start my year.  I have better luck staying in shape during certain seasons, and need better continuity.  I am able to exercise early in the day more regularly during the winter because it stays dark later and I can get up early and get things done, but summer time is better for being outside.  I'll work on being more consistent with my exercise this year.  And eating better.  I hope...

Professionally I would like to make my schedule more regular, and I am hoping we may be able to renegotiate our arrangement a little bit.  I don't want to go into too much detail, but I am praying for my employers as they look forward to building on to the clinic and hopefully adding a new veterinarian this year. I hope to get our clinic a Coggins testing lab, and learn as much as possible to become a better veterinarian.

Around the house...

• Build a new bed!!! We now have the sheets, blankets, etc.  I am waiting for the wood to be cut up for me so I can put the platform together.  Then I'll order the mattress.  Then I need to build a headboard and footboard.  No problem, right?  I am using approximate plans from Ana-white.com.  We are finally getting a KING sized bed and I can't wait.  
• Build a new mantle for our fireplace:  It looks a little rough since I took the brick off of half of that wall over a year ago.  I put one trim piece up to cover the cut brick on the wall part, but need to cover up the exposed sides of the ledge.
• Finish our flagstone patio:  We were blessed with a whole pallet of flagstone last summer, and have done a lot of the work to lay a new patio, but alas, I have a hard time finishing projects (anyone else out there know what I'm talking about?).  It will be done this spring before it gets too hot.
• We need to redo our front bathroom.  I would love to gut it and start all over, but will settle for a new air-jetted tub and tile surround.  Oh, and while the plumbing is exposed we should replace the plumbing fixtures behind the wall.  No big deal, right?  Just about $4000 in labor and materials to pay for...

As a family I hope we can travel more and spend time doing things together.  We are planning to take the older girls skiing towards the end of January or first of February.  We have hoped for the last couple of years to take them and teach them to ski, but it hasn't worked out.  This year Cowboy says it will happen!!! I can't wait.  I haven't skied since 2007, and minimally then (don't tell my doctor - he said no skiing while pregnant, but I couldn't resist.  I was very careful and never even fell).  I hope the girls and I can be more involved in Cody's work and spend more time with him from the back of a horse.

Finally, I hope to keep in better touch with friends and family!  I hope you'll help me with this goal.  We were able to visit dear friends at Bible Baptist Church in Stillwater, OK this past weekend and it was wonderful.  It had been too many years since we had all been back.  God has blessed us with a lot of special people in our life from Piedmont, to Stillwater, to the Texas panhandle and beyond.