Thursday, July 3, 2014

A little bit of this 'n that!

I really DO try to keep up with my bloggy stuff. Lately? Epic fail!!! So here are some things that have been sitting around, for a good long while!

Remember when I was all in "sprinkle heaven"?? Here are a couple of cards I made. My "to do list" for sprinkle masterpieces is a mile long, but haven't quite been made yet, lol!



After finally, finally, finally getting my new pencils in.....they just sat there. At first it was simply too hot to craft, and by the time it cooled off I had sort of lost interest. Waiting kills mojo!!!! So I got them back out the other day to fill in my color chart (you can't really tell what color a pencil will make by just looking at the lead!), I come to find out that I've got one color duplicated, thereby making one color missing! UGH!!!! I emailed the company yesterday, and they are sending out a replacement. I will NOT be ordering anything from the UK branch again - ever! It's just a brown, one of many!, but it still hurts my OCD to know that one is missing. I will still color my peacock, Christina...no worries!

Bella reached 100% fluency on her Reflex Math Facts 0 - 10!!!! Wooo Hooo! Then I added in the 11's and 12's and her score went down to reflect that. She's back up to 92% though and doing great!!! After our school day is finished, she does her RM for 30 minutes, and then reads 30 pages in her current book.

My oh-so-sad Craft Studio!! Beautiful toys simply abandoned!! Notice the blinds are closed? After about 1:30pm, I have to close the west side windows or the sun heats up the house too much. Doesn't work very well to craft, plus it's usually pretty stuffy too. By the time we're finished with school and lunch, that doesn't leave much window open craft time.

See the pencils just sitting there?

New goodies from SU, sitting in the box on the FLOOR!
(Not a good sign!)

New goodies also just stuffed on shelves too!

Good news though is that I started the clean up process this week! I put all the new stamps in my binder and made room for them - just barely!! New ribbons are precariously balanced with other ribbons, but at least in the right spot. LOTS more clean up/organization is needed still, but it's functional. Now that the color chart is completed, I can go ahead and try out my new pencils on my brand new peacock stamp!!!
Isn't it pretty???

After hearing about other people getting out in the local area, I wanted to check out this strawberry picking thing for myself. I've picked other things, but never strawberries before. Neither had Thomas and Bella, so out we went!!! Mostly it was Thomas and I bent over and Bella "supervising". She did a lot of complaining (it was pretty hot), and didn't want to get her hands dirty. She needs a summer out in the country or on a farm!!!

I think she picked about three, and here's a shot of one of them, lol!

Our haul!! It might not look like much, but it completely filled one of our sinks in the kitchen!!! I washed them all, and froze most of them. Great for some strawberry muffins and waffles!!!! I made strawberry shortcake for dessert that night....only to have Bella announce that she doesn't even LIKE strawberries?!?!? Oh well, more for me! *happy dance!*


Tried out a new recipe and it turned out GREAT!! Even Bella loved it!
6 - thick boneless pork chops
olive oil
1 cup parmesan cheese
1 cup italian bread crumbs
black pepper
1 tsp garlic powder

Preheat oven to 350*. Mix last four ingredients together. Rub chops in olive oil, then dip into crumb/cheese mixture, pressing into meat thoroughly on all sides. Place on foil lined cookie sheet, sprayed with Pam. Bake for 40 - 45 minutes!


Remember this??

All completed and a full head of..."quills", lol!
I think Bella did a great job on this! 
Combination of science and art, for school!!!

So there you go! A little glimpse of what we've been up to!!! We will have to continue our 4th grade school year through the end of August, but it's only Mon-Fri, for three hours in the morning. Plus we get to do fun projects and experiments, and have cookie breaks!! :D We'll take the first two weeks of September off for vacation, before hitting the books again. I think 8 - 10 weeks of summer vacation is far too long, and probably a big reason American kids struggle so much in school! European kids only get 4 weeks off in the summer!

5 comments:

Deanna said...

What a busy post! Glad to read everything you have been up to. So glad to hear Bella is still doing so well with her studies. Awesome. I wish I had more time to stamp. It is so much fun to create cards. That peacock stamp is beautiful! Putting all of the goodies away is half the fun sometimes. How can Bella not like strawberries? That will change soon. Guaranteed!

Rita said...

I do not do well in the heat at all. That would keep me out of my craft room, too. Maybe you could make up a basket, box, or tote filled with some particular project's supplies to bring downstairs once in a while.

Shorter days and longer school makes a lot of sense, actually. Glad Bella is doing so well.

I like your card projects and the food looks yummy! Hope you have a great weekend. :)

AliceKay said...

Love the cards. I can understand why you wouldn't want to craft when it's so hot. We get full sun in the afternoons on the bedroom side of the trailer. We just added another air conditioner in the room where my computer is located. Want me to trade you an air conditioner for that dart board? ;)

Bella is doing great in her school work. I know how happy you are with her progress since you started her home-schooling.

Peacocks are a very pretty bird. They can be very noisy, tho.

Have a great holiday weekend!

joe tacoma said...

Mmmmmm, pork chops.

Happy 4th of July!

ChicagoLady said...

I agree with Rita, maybe select some crafting things and take them downstairs where it's cooler?

I love the picture of Thomas' butt, btw. LOL

Is that hedgehog maybe an "older" one, and that's why his hair is so thin on top? J/K