Nothing really fun going on here....

So, yeah... I'm in full force party planner mode right now, so that's taking up a lot of time (hopefully I will have an awesome update to share after the 28th). So i figured I'd just do a little update on our day today.

We are trying to get our backyard ready for the tea party and for the impending onset of spring (keeping my fingers crossed). So the girls went out to rake up the leaves that have carpeted our backyard for, well, since we moved in honestly. The girls are always happy to get time outside and 55 degrees seems warm after weeks of 30's.

The progression of peas and marigolds. (photo by Jena)

My little bear in her big girls sneakers and fancy pants. She doesn't like to get her hands dirty (yet), so getting up when she stumbles is an entertaining sight.

Zion and Ashni discovering a new species of backyard moss, I think.

Nothing really to say here. She's just so darn cute! And the hat makes her a bajillion time cuter. Babies should wear ears more often!

Ashni and I found a slug. She really liked that slug.

Who cares what we had for dinner? You do? Stuffed tilapia, sesame green beans and couscous. Yummy!

Zion cleaned her plate!

Wordless Wednesday...proof that Zion's been in the kitchen

(excuse the dirty floor)

Mad Hatter Tea Party

Ashni will be seven years old in a couple of weeks. I'm not sure when she stopped being my little chubby baby, but I can't deny that she is indeed a seven year old now. This year we will be throwing a Mad Hatter tea party for her birthday. We do big birthdays around here because we really don't celebrate much else. There's a lot on the roster, so be on the look out for pictures after the 28th. But here are the invitations. I used some vintage images from the Graphics Fairy and pages from an old book from the Salvation Army. Now I just have to get them all handed out...

Little visitors

Ashni turned her rain gauge that we made at Home Depot into a bird feeder. Apparently birds are way more interesting than the amount of rainfall in the backyard. She hasn't attracted many birds yet, but we did have this little visitor this morning. He hung around for quite awhile until Zion shrieked and scared him away.

More Baby Shoes

I'm working on some more baby shoes for Amelia's. These are all made with upcycled material and lined with felt. The cream colored ones are from a linen curtain and the darker tan ones are from some lightweight wool that I got from a craft circle. I really like the pair with the little owl on them. I did the owl with a freezer paper stencil. I think they came out really cute. I still need to add snaps to the mary janes, but I can't seem to find the snaps that I bought. SO, it's off to Walmart to get another package of snaps....blah.

What did we do today?

The longer we homeschool, the more I incorporate some unschooling philosophies into our routine. So this is what we did today:

Jena woke up and wanted to put together her 3-D puzzle of the sphinx. So, she and Granny spent all morning putting together the sphinx. Well, after about an hour, Granny was over the sphinx. Jena put together most of it herself. She's very proud and said it was the most complicated thing that she has ever put together by herself.



Ashni does not do tedious, complicated projects well (so no sphinx for her), so she worked on some pages in her reading workbook, helped Bijou with some reading on Starfall, played in the driveway for a while. Then she decided that she wanted turn her rain gauge that she made at Home Depot into a bird feeder. Here is the sign that she made for the birds. (that should say E-A-T)


Bijou wanted to do Starfall all morning. I'm happy that she has learned to use the mouse and can navigate the site on her own. It really comes in handy when I need to keep her occupied without me. Then she drew some pictures. I like watching how her drawings develop with age. This one is her grandfather, her great great grandmother and me (I think).


I have been working on a mini table top foosball table inspired by this one over at Filth Wizardry. Excuse the rubber bands, the glue is still drying. I used some more scraps from the garage to make the box. The bottom is covered in green felt and the players are clothes pins. The girls (and the husband) love foosball but there is no room in our house for anything else. It's certainly not a "regulation" foosball table, but it'll work.

Wordless Wednesday...sisters