Snow Day

The snow made a small visit to Oregon. It did not stay long and it did not bring many of it's friends.

It caused smiles and giggles

Icy cold fingers

Hot chocolate and a pile of wet clothes

A bit of sibling play time

anticipation and excitement.

It really does not take very much to cause sheer delight in a child. :)

Thrifty Lego ornaments :)

The boys saw these in the Lego magazine we get for free in the mail. http://shop.lego.com/en-US/Holiday-Ornament-with-Green-Bricks-853346


I thought they would be cute on the tree they always have in there room but was no way going to spend 8$ for them. So I grabbed some plastic bulbs at Michaels for about 50 cents each on sale and we dug through the boys Legos to fill them. It's a win, win situation. We get some fun new ornaments for a bargain price and until Christmas the boys will have a few less Legos to clutter the floor with. hehehehe

Ballenger Family Nov 2011

So here we are, November already. Life has been busy and full in a blessed way. I have not been able to post as much as I intended too.
Justin is still prayerfully seeking employment. I am working part time at Michaels craft store.
Justin is covering homeschooling on the mornings that I work, often all 5 days. This has been a bit of a crazy adjustment but we are settling into it pretty well.
Thanksgiving is next week and this year has been so full of an overabundance of things to be Thankful for. God is so good to us.

I am Thankful for my Husband and the Love for the Lord that I see growing in him more and more each day.
I am Thankful for my children who grow more beautiful and teach me new things each day.
I am Thankful for amazing family and friends.
I am Thankful for coffee on cold mornings and Sweaters.
I am Thankful that no matter what happens Gods provision is so much more than we need.
I am Thankful that I get to work at a craft store. (Love crafts)
I am Thankful for our small group and the encouragement we share each week.
I am Thankful for MOPS and the opportunities it has given me to come out of my shell and share my love of crafting with others.

Happy Thanksgiving

Sewing Together Pocket Pillowcase

I had a group of mommas over again today and we sewed some Pocket Pillowcases together. I love that the kids get to run and play while we socialize and do a bit of sewing too. :) We have a mix of beginners and longtime sewers, we all help each other out.

Today I taught the girls how to make Pocket Pillowcases. The tutorial is from Vermillion Rules!

We added a felt letter to the pocket which I think gives them some extra charm. :)

Here are the cutting measurements for any of you girls who remember how to assemble and just want the measurements, Or go to the above link for the full instructions.


Cutting instructions:

• Cut two pieces, each 26" x 21" from the main fabric. These will be your main pillowcase pieces.(These can be a tad smaller if your fabric is narrower.)
• From the coordinating fabric, cut two pieces each 21" x 5 1/2" for the side border. ( Make these the same as the main piece- so if the main piece is smaller these need to match)
• Also from the coordinating fabric, cut a 11" x 9" piece for the pocket and two pieces for the flap each 11" x 4".

Here are a few pics of the ones I made for my littles.

If any of you out there try and sew one we would love to see pics. :)

Weekly Wrap Up 10/13/2011

God answered a prayer this week and I will be starting a Seasonal Position at Michaels Craft Store on Monday. During my shifts Justin will be covering the school hours until I get home. When God gives Justin a job we will have to see what happens schedule wise.

The past few weeks of school have gone well. Not perfectly but very well. We cut Evangeline down to half time because her days were simply taking too long. This seems to really be helping although we are still working through some perfectionism issues. She is doing so well with her scripture memorization and it seems to be one of her favorite things.

This week we had a meal on the ground like the Hebrew Shepherds. Whenever an activity involves food we all get involved. :)

Timothy is really improving in reading ability. He has now finished 5 of the emergent readers and I can see huge improvement. He even says he will read a book with a girl as the main character next. (Big step for him)
He is loving cursive and breezing through math. Everything else in Bigger seems to be a perfect challenge for him and his attitude is improving daily.

Caleb and Haven are still loving Little Hearts, we really are doing this at about half time. We prob do 3 - 4 days a week right now.  They are remembering the letters they learn and even have read some small words I wrote using just the 4 letters they have learned so far.

Here is the wall of Art from the year so far. Soon we will have to make some more room. hehehe

An Early Autumn Day

FOR TODAY
Outside my window... Rain and a peak of sunshine

I am thinking... That if I get the job at Michaels I will need to be extra motivated with the kids school prep each week.

I am thankful for... My beautiful daughter she is far too big and I am having a hard time remembering that she is 10. :)

From the learning rooms... We are now doing HOD half time since it was taking too long each day. I hope to work into full time in the next 2 months.

From the kitchen... 2 chickens in the slow cooker

I am wearing... Jeans that are actally pretty new, black tanktop with a blue tie dye look shirt over top, and my thrashed brown boots.

I am going... To town later today to get a few groceries and to buy Graph paper to help my girl with her math.

I am reading... I am supposed to be reading Anna Karenina for a book club I should get back to that soon.

I am hoping... That the Lord blesses Justin with a job soon and that I will continue to trust in the Lord to take care of us just as he always has..

I am hearing... The washing machine fill with water, and the boys watching a Leap Frog video quietly



I am Creating... Some Pillowcases for the kids room. I have some ladies coming next week to sew some with me so I need to get these examples done today. :)

Around the house... A bit of cleaning to do, I also want to do something fallish soon for decor.

One of my favorite things... Hot chocolate on an Autumn morning, and Party Planning. (I was doing both this morning)

A few plans for the rest of the week: Waiting on a call about a job, finish some sewing, do some more cleaning, school with the kids, finish grocery shopping, and maybe start reorganizing my room.

The boys new Lego Room

We decided to decorate the boys room in a Lego theme late last year. I Love the browns the walls were already painted so we stuck with those and just added touches of Primary colors. The bedding was from Target early this year in the Back to College section. I Love it because it is thin and holds up to many washings. (It has been washed at least once a week since January.)

I got the boys the car carpet for Easter last year. I Love how the bright colors add to the room plus they can use it for play time. :)

We were blessed to find a projector last year at a yard sale for 5 dollars. We projected Lego men on the walls and traced them in pencil.

Then Justin painted them.

Here is our boombox man. (I also replaced the doors on the closet with a curtain which I love) The doors always broke off and they were hard for them to open and close.

Here you see the Spaceman and The Police officer.

Here is the Hopscotch boy in the back and to the left you see the framed board my Dad made for me. I glued base plates to it so they have a vertical building area. They are loving this so far. I made sure to place a Lego over each gap as they dried so that the spacing would be correct.

Here are some fun initials Auntie Amy made for the boys last Christmas. We finally found them the right home.

The boys love there new room and are having a blast showing it to all of our recent guests.