Springtime Strawberry Pickin'

There is just something wonderful about a crisp spring morning and strawberry pickin'...

And strawberry eatin'...

With a precious 7 year old little girl...

who has lots of freckles...and no teeth...

It is a real treasure!

**Im linking this post to Chatting at the Sky's Tuesday's Unwrapped...join us there!!!**

From the Hen House

Because it is the end of the school year and we have absolutely nothing else to do, we bought chickens!!

I must say though that I have completely 100% fallen in love with them and cannot wait to collect some eggs.  My big daddy boy is also building the taj-mahal of chicken coops at the back of our property that will look very similar to the girls' playhouse.  My chickens will be living it up in their coop de ville!!!

And these are our ducks named "Duck Duck" and "Goose".  

And boy do they grow fast.  

Mary Mary Quite Contrary

.....how does your garden grow???  Apparently Mary is not a south Louisiana girl because while she is busy with silver bells and cockle shells, I've got this going on...

Real garden growing!!  We took one section of our 3 acre property and began, what will hopefully become, a garden retreat for many years to come.  While we have always had a "garden" we really never had the space to create the size or style garden we really wanted.  Now that we have the space and have laid the ground work, maybe after a few years we will have the sanctuary we dream of.  In la-la-fairytale-land it would look something like this...

photo via Southern Living

Photo via Southern Living

For now, here is what we have done...and it has been soooo much fun.
There is just something about being outside with your hands in the dirt that
just makes the whole world float away.

First we painted our "raised bed boxes" that big daddy boy built for us.

And while we painted he tilled up the ground.

Then big daddy boy filled the boxes with good dirt and horse manure (yummy) 

and made 'em all level and stuff (nothing important or fun)!

And after many weekends spent outside, a farmers tan, and a serious need for a mani pedi, 

here is what we have.  Im so sorry Mary, Mary, but we have no silver bells or cockle shells, 

but I do have tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, snap beans, lima beans, purple hull peas, 

bell peppers, 4 rows of corn, muscadines, and satsumas.

And check out my "orchard" in the background.  Big daddy boy says one day it really will look like an orchard...Im hopeful!  We have peach, pear, and plum trees!!!  We still have to build our picket fence around the entire garden and plant a rose garden around the girls play house (that is what that white thing is in the middle there...please forgive me, I just assumed that of course you would know what that was...ha).   I will keep you updated on how my garden is growing!!

I just found my new favorite blog...

Maybe I just live under a rock but until this afternoon when my friend Cyndi and I were on the phone for way too long a few minutes and she brought up this blog that I had never heard of before.  Being the blog stalker that I am I was shocked that I had never even seen it, but it's called knock off wood and folks this is where planets align.  This is where I sing for joy.  This is where my cup overflows.  This stay at home mom who lives in Alaska teaches her readers to MAKE FURNITURE FROM POTTERY BARN AND WEST ELM and other way overpriced very nice stores.  Tables and storage and entertainment centers oh my.  You will be amazed...Can I just say that she has the plans right there for you FOR FREE to download at your convenience!!  There goes my new ink cartridge!  This girl is my new best friend and she will be yours too...Go check her out!!  And please let me know what you are building first!

Yep its official, the rumors are true...

Warning:  Before you begin reading this, please get a cup of coffee...this could take a while.

As my mom would always say, "The cat is out of the bag."  And for today, yes it is.  I have decided that today would be the day that I would officially let the cat out of the bag and pour my heart out to you.  As some of you may have already figured out we have made the decision to begin homeschooling our girls in the fall.   This is something that I have always wanted to do (I think that for whatever reason homeschooling is on my bucket list of things to do before I die) and as a sorta kinda teacher myself it is something that I think will really work for our family.  After much prayer on my end (and I mean MUCH), my big daddy boy, out of nowhere, asked me what I thought about the possibility around Thanksgiving.  Now to back track a little bit I have been really praying and desiring this since my oldest was in Kindergarten when I was so super jealous over all of the time her precious teacher had with her and how I just got the sloppy seconds of her very tired and worn out self every evening.  Not to mention that after around 3:00 I tend to give sloppy seconds...or at least that is what I have been told.   As I continued to just block the feelings out the Lord really began to impress the idea on my heart  around this time last year.  I began researching as much as I could, reading everything I could get my hands on, and joining various homeschool groups in my area just to get their newsletters to see what they were doing...even though my kids were at school (I told y'all Im a stalker).  But, time seemed to creep up on me and out of fear and uncertainty we registered the girls for school this year.  And not that I regret that.  We go to a wonderful school with wonderful families and wonderful teachers.  It is like our second home and saying goodbye will be so difficult that I will probably be sedated for much of the month of May.  But, it has just not felt right all year.  

So after much more prayer than you can really imagine, many many long talks, and Wootie kicking and screaming that she just wants to be at home with her family we have made the decision.  There, I said it out loud.  I have had such a desire to go public with this decision that I have been holding in since Thanksgiving, and it feels so good to get it out there.  Here is what I know so far about what next school year will look like for us...

• I will be using the "Kellye method" of homeschooling.  Im sorry there are just some things I feel that every teacher must have (even if she is in her pajamas and only has two students) and that is a desk, an apple, and a class pet.  I am a little quirky and OCD so I don't really fit any one mold, but for the most part I am classical meets Charlotte Mason meets Montessori (kind of but not really) with a little traditional thrown it just to keep it "school-ish".  For all of you non-stalker, non- homeschool folks out there this is called eclectic...or as I like to call it the Kellye Method.    I am very into nature studies, classical literature, Im not a fan of text books and want my kids to be reading every waking second of the day...that is my classical meets Charlotte Mason side.  But I am a realist and I know that there is no way my kids will ever learn to do math outside of horrendous, tedious, completely ridiculous very necessary worksheets so we will be sticking with Abeka for that, at least for now.  That would be my traditional side.
• We will follow a four day curriculum and use Fridays for Home-Ec (aka...get the house cleaned) and outings.  Friday will be our field trip day, library day, etc...you get the point.  Also, Thursday afternoons will be the day that we meet up with my 3 bestest friends in the whole wide world and their children for our own little co-op that I am sure would make any veteran homeschooler just cringe.  Here we will focus on some kind of specific academic something and will do a little P.E.  First on the P.E. list is me teaching all 12 of our kids to jump rope...and I mean seriously jump rope.  Double dutch y'all okay (Cinderella dressed in yell-a, went upstairs to kiss her fell-a).
• Our history and geography will be Exploring Countries and Cultures and we will be taking a trip around the world (from the comfort of our own home) learning about how everyone else lives so that when we start history from the beginning of the world the following year, they will know what in Sam Hill I am talking about.  Im most excited about this part of our school for sure!!
• Our science will be Apologia Astronomy so look out folks you just may find us on the moon.  
• I have read more books than you could ever imagine and have become BFF's with folks that have been dead for hundreds of years...I think I am crossing over.
• As of now I am not wearing denim jumpers or a bun and am currently not pregnant...but you never know what is to come!!!  Im just kidding, my wardrobe will continue to be pj's and ponytails!!!
• Finally, our school room will be our current playroom.  Im not sure yet how that will work out but I do know that every school room has massive bookshelves, bulletin boards, and lots of bean bags and oh yeah that class pet..LETS GO SHOPPING!!!  I will be posting pictures of our progress as soon as it all begins!  

Im very excited to begin this journey, wish I would have had the courage to start from the beginning because goodbyes are not my strong suit, and hope that I will have the support of my friends and family who really don't know yet!!  Oh boy, here we go!!