In honor of my first official "old" birthday - 32 (I know, some of you are rolling your eyes) I got my etsy shop up and running! I dont have a ton listed here yet, but hope to have more soon.
www.sweetmylissa.com
Please visit often and tell your friends!
Love,
Mylissa
It's January, and time for my yearly "Happy Things" post. Just a couple...
A new shower curtain
Mark and I have been in the lengthy process of "redressing" our bedroom - with some minor bathroom renovation to boot. After living for over year with a liner for a curtain, I sprung for this one at Target. I love it! When he saw it, Mark said, "that is what my brain looks like!" And I think he's probably right.
Dangerous Journey - a retelling of The Pilgrim's Progress
Bella reading her literature book to the boys. We use Veritas Press literature guides, and I really love this beautiful book!
Brillant name for the post, I know. But I haven't posted here in ages, and I know the best way to tackle this is to start from most recent and work backwards.
In August, Mia and Abigail started coming out for riding lessons. They are both doing so well and I got some great pictures of them this week!
We have been working for the past few months to get the pony to drop much needed weight. This is the "skinniest" we've seen her in ages...you can actually press down now and feel her backbone!! This makes her MUCH easier to ride, although she could still lose some more weight...
well, we are 5 weeks in to school now - and moving right along. My new dateless lesson plan system has freed me up to skip a few things here and there - thankfully not many - and although we have added subjects this year we seem to be keeping on track. I think the biggest change we have made this year is adding several activities. Bella and Izaiah are both taking piano once a week, Bella has weekly voice lessons, and all three are taking twice weekly PE classes at the YMCA. Izaiah's starting cub scouts this year, and everyone is participating in 4-H. Mommy is teaching weekly horse lessons, and daddy is coaching everyone in soccer.
If you know me, you'll know that I abhorr shuttling kids to and fro - and I generally think America's children are overscheduled. But for the past several months, the house has been very full, and scheduling 'fun' and healthy activities seems to be one of the better ways I can create some normalcy for the kids. Most of the time, I feel like I am walking a tightrope with them - on one side is total immersion in HFH, and on the other, emotional detachment. We are working towards healthly involvement and sustainability for all of us - and asking God for the grace to do it.
Blessings to you,
Mylissa
watermelon and cantaloupe
eggplant, both Italian and Japanese
the butternut squash is just starting to fruit!
The green peppers are doing fairly well, but the reds aren't
pretty Zinnias!We've been gone for a week, and last night I noticed that several of my plants were looking a little iffy. I had to clean out the fridge anyway, so I decided to break out the food processor and make some compost tea.
1.) I have never done this before
2.) If you decide to try this, don't do it with a weak stomach. It smells like puke when it's done.
Now technically, you are supposed to let compost tea steep, hence the name. Usually sitting it outside in the heat is in order. But since I am terribly inpatient, and am also in awe of a few gardeners I know that dump raw kitchen scrap on their prolific plants, I decided to make and toss quickly (the smell may have had something to do with it).
First, gather all your nastyness that you have from your fridge (or the coolers you used while you were camping). No animal products, please - and you probably shouldn't use citrus (ignore the lemon).
Now you will need to dump all the old food into a fairly powerful blender, vitamix or Cuisinart. While you are doing this, don't rush. Try not to drop all the nasty on the floor. If you do, it will wind up looking something like this:
Depending on what types of food you are using, you may want to add some hot water. You will wind up with something like this:
I realize its only the second week of August, but this morning I laid in bed mentally checking off things I could accomplish this month to make the holiday season less busy. We have been on the road CONSTANTLY this summer, and honestly I am ready for some home-time! One last trip before we start school...Mulberry Mountain Harvest Fest in Ozark, AR. Looking forward to some great bluegrass and jam bands - hopefully enough music to hold us over till next spring.
This is the time of year I start getting inspired to craft and create, and praise Jesus for the internet and new ideas. Thought I would share some of my favorite inspiration places with you:
Laura Gunn is a mom, painter and brand-new fabric designer - her watercolor inspired fabrics are so pretty!
Paint in my Hair
Craft Magazine originated as a paper publication out of Great Britian. They have found their blog to be so popular they have quit printing the paper version. They post constantly (its really too much to keep up with) but grab some of the most interesting craft and art that I have seen online. Lots of modernity here.
Craftzine
This is sort of cheating, since there is no obvious craft involved, but I love this farm blog. The pictures on here are fantastic, and inspire me to get serious about my gardening and management of the land we occupy.
Tiny Farm Blog
Thats all for now - Mark is packing the car for the trip and I should probably look active.
More soon!
