19 years...

Shawn and I celebrated our 19th Anniversary yesterday... content sigh... I really, REALLY, love being married to him.  I am thankful for him.  He is simply and completely my favorite person. 

My Studio... Almost there!

I posted last year about an attic space that I felt was sorely underused.  We had a treadmill in there (that was actually broke) and the kids would sometimes watch a movie up there but it did not function for any real purpose.

I proposed that I take over this small 14x13' space and turn it into a Studio for me.  I had a feeling that my entire family would jump 'on board' since my having a real space of my own would mean that many of my projects would not be strewn all over the house along with my supplies.

This is the before:
blue walls that actually made it seem quite dark in there even with the abundance of lights.  The floor was carpeted but I would need a hard surface for this space to function better for my studio.

I asked Shawn to 'plank' the walls for me so that it would feel more like the attic space that it is.  I knew I would then want the walls and ceiling to be painted out white to open the space.  Oh... did I mention that there was no budget for this project?  I'm a budgeting type of gal and I usually don't leap into a project unless I have some idea how to pay to complete it.  To say this was done cheaply is an understatement, grin.

 For the walls and ceiling, we bought $7.00 4x8' sheets of hardboard from Lowes and ripped them into 6" width strips.  Shawn nailed them up with a slight gap giving the illusion of planked walls. 

 It was exactly the look I wanted without the cost of tongue and groove planks which would have been entirely too expensive for this type of project.

 I had originally thought I would do a painted floor because I was wanting cheap CHEAP.  I could not just paint the subfloor, too rough.  We thought of plywood, looked at plain wood flooring I could paint... all too expensive or would not give me the look I wanted.  A gal at Shawn's office suggested a flooring outlet in town to look at.  We went and I was blown away by the laminate flooring they had - wide planked and in any color you could want!  The price was phenomenally cheap but then we heard an employee there mention a sale later on that night after the store 'technically' closed.  We boldly asked for an invite to the sale and came back later that night.  I am thrilled with the look and the functionality of this floor, and I never pictured the wood look because I thought there was no way to afford it, but it instantly warmed up the entire space.  So thrilled!

Shawn did all this form me.

So now the fun part will begin.  I am still adamant that I will use what we have and not spend money to finish this space out.  I have some 'reinventing' I can do for organization and a few dressers that will serve as storage.  I will need a long work table and will slipcover a hideous chair I already have but that is super comfy to come into this space.  I will be sure and post the final AFTER photos after I have officially moved everything in.  I am thrilled to be able to create, hang-out, and then close the door to a sometime messy room that will be mine all mine.  

Here are some pics I have been collecting to help me visualize finishes and creative storage for this room:

the color palette

I'll make long shelves to store tons of items

Storage

my dream chandelier (potterybarn).  way out of my nonexistent budget but maybe if I can sell the existing fan and a few other things on craigslist then I can justify this ;)

more storage

I have a couple dress forms... the only choice will be which one gets to live in the studio?

I have an antique dresser that is missing the bottom drawer... still usable, I will just use baskets in place of missing drawer.

The challenge:

-to finish out the space and have it at optimum functionality with little to NO money!

- using items I already have but making it look cohesive and pleasing to the eye,

- to have work and storage zones, much like a kitchen, so that the space is truly organized,

- to accomplish all this in a short amount of time so that I am IN IT working and creating, so my family appreciates the blessing it really is that I have this space. 

blooms...

The farm is slowly coming alive.  The pastures are green and the horses and donkeys are very giddy... I love glancing out the back windows and seeing them galloping and merrymaking!  I had a quick second to stroll to the mailbox last evening.  I grabbed my camera and took a few pics... truth is, a whole lot of cropping went on, snicker... the farm always has many, many rough patches after winter.  But today I shall focus on the blooms, we'll worry about the load of work to do tomorrow.   

 - signed, Scarlett O'Hara

Wordless Wednesday

Note - My Wordless Wednesday Posts are pics from my Pnterest Boards.  I have found a glitch though, I AM linking the photos to their original source in case you want to go take a looksy there... and the link is showing in my draft post but disappears when I officially publish the post.  Working on correctly this but for now you can find these pics and their sources on my Pinterest boards.

Loud and S.t.i.n.k.y!

Our chicks have arrived!

We usually keep them inside for the first couple days to keep as many healthy and alive as possible but then they are quickly relocated to the garage, cause for such tiny little creatures they can create quite a stink.

I posted new chicks last year but the truth is that none of those survived, sad.  We had a combination predator problem and also a failed system of closing the coop up each night.

 Our remaining original hens are VERY old in hen years and will not be egg producers anymore... so these little chicks will hopefully fill our nesting boxes with eggs in a few months.

The chick in the middle of the pic below is a rooster.  Roosters have proven to be quite whimpy here on the farm.  I do love there cockadoodlin' so I still try to get at least one for that novelty.

 The hatchery we order from usually includes a few exotic free chicks with each chick order.  But when I placed the order this time, it just mentioned that we would get a few free ducks.  Ducks?!  Sure enough 5 ducklings arrived and they are darling.  The plan is to just raise them with the chicks and see what happens.  Technical plan, huh?!!

 I actually have a favorite type of duck.  I was going to wait and order some of these ducks when we finally have the pond dug, but we can experiment with these little guys/gals for the time being.  

The type of duck I like are Swedish Ducks, specifically the black and white...

(image from mcmurray hatchery)

I love how they are a tad penguin-ish looking.  Well, when the ducks arrived, I think... or else I am delusional... that these duckling may be Swedish.  Normally where a chick or duckling is yellow will turn to white as they mature and they are definitely black bodied.  Should be fun to see if they are my fave and to see if they stick around.

 Last Sunday I actually snuck 2 of these into church with me.  Our little Nursery kiddos are learning about how each lovely thing on this Earth is a sign that they have a Heavenly Father that loves them and wants them to see and experience these wonderful things.  Or at least this was my 'guise for bringing the ducks so the kids could see them.  Some of the littles wanted to squeeze love on the ducks until their eyes popped out, and a few littles wanted no.thing to do with them.  So funny.  Misty was sure to take the ducks out to a few curious adults in the hallway and foyer.  In the end, I was not scolded for smuggling in the ducks to church... but then again, we have been known to bring a baby goat to the Ward Christmas Party.  Our poor Bishop may have long ago washed his hands of our antics.

Thinking Out Loud

Since this blog is, first and foremost, a means of journaling for me... I want to take time today to make notes of what we are facing right now so I can look back and remember this time.

I hope when each of our children grow up and look back that they remember ONE key thing about me.  This ONE thing has been my focus and my goal in motherhood... not sure they see it... but what is important is that I have always seen it.  It is my driving force some days, what has allowed me to breathe slower during days when I feel defeated and help me see things in a broader sense.

That ONE thing is, I never want to lose sight of who they truly are!  I want to always GET them, GET their real purpose here, GET that they were NOT mine first, GET that as much as I love them and want to help them... there is SOMEONE much more loving, powerful, insightful than me that KNOWS them... and I find huge comfort in that!

I pray that Shawn and I have done well in evaluating what WE think is best for the kids with the ultimate 'ruler' of what HE knows is best.  I have struggled with knowing when to implement which of two words that I find tremendously important in being a mom... flexibility and/vs. consistency.  Can they coexist?  Do I have to sacrifice one to have the other?  What I do know is that my Heavenly Father knows me too!  He knows my self doubt.  He knows the comfort I get from His reassurance of a right decision.  I'm a slow learner.  I tend to think if a decision is confirmed to me by that ever so sweet Holy Spirit... that THAT is the decision for EVER more, right?  Once an answer is given I can move fast forward and never have to revisit that topic again, right?  Wouldn't that be nice?!  I guess I have felt that to revisit an already made decision/answer would be like me questioning the truthfulness of the original answer.  And yet my recent studying and pondering have shown me that the Lord does not see it that way.  We must always be evaluating our decisions and be willing to change and grow as He deems necessary.

I have a firm testimony in the fact that no decision is too small to take to the Lord.  We put in the work.  We evaluate the options.  But in the end, we do not move forward without confirmation from Heavenly Father.

When road block after road block seemed to be cast in our path for moving to the countryhood... we I became so frustrated.  Property after property slipped away.  Then a Sunday drive resulted in us finding our farm.  Prayers answered, one of our all time biggest blessings received.  But we soon found that with some blessings come HUGE sacrifices too.  Yet, none of those sacrifices have taken away the reassurance we got and still have that we are where we are supposed to be.

One of the blessings that came with the farm, was the opportunity to finally homeschool.  Homeschooling had always been a very real option for our family.  Homeschooling was the reason I majored in Education in College.  Yet, time after time, circumstance after circumstance, confirmation never came that homeschooling was the right choice UNTIL we moved to the farm.  Again, making it a topic of prayer and fasting... we moved forward with homeschooling without an ounce of regret.  For the first time in 4 years I am having to reach outside of my capabilities as a homeschooling mom and ask for some outside help.  Hopefully this help can work hand in hand with our current program, maybe not... but as the past has taught me, there IS help out there... we just need to go find it!

A mom knows.
I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that my Heavenly Father has blessed me with decernment on my children's behalf.  In 3rd grade in public school, after teacher conferences/concerns/angst for YEARS... I found a teacher in our prior school district that LISTENED to me and my concerns for Christian.  I have never fought for anything harder in my life then to get someone to help him.  After months of testing, hours with specialist, ruling out all possible obstacles and 'labels', we knew what Christian's challenges were and we could finally help him.  We had a plan.  We had goals.  Christian was finally able to verbalize and get validation that some things WERE harder for him than other kids.  He got validation that he was smart, testing at a genius level, and he was NOT dumb, lazy, or troublesome.  With the right tools, we met our goals.  In 4 short years he had coping skills and the information to conquer his challenges... he mastered his trials with prayer and effort.

A mom knows.
I find myself in familiar waters.  As much as I KNOW that I would scratch, claw, dig to help one of my children, I also know that others are here to bless and help us.  I am not an Island.  I accept and often embrace my limitations.  Sigh.  I have done all I know to do.  I have prayed, researched, googled, counseled.  Ty and I are well aware of his current trial.  And so I find myself marching down a familiar path, thankful for the experiences of my past.  Ty, a different personality than his big brother, will be forging this path for the first time.  Yet, even though we have just started this process, he is curious and excited about it... go figure!  Just when you think you can quite accurately 'peg' your child, they wonderfully astound you.  Thankfully.

So, we have many paths to look at and many to walk... some sure to be dead ends.  But one thing Christian can assure his little brother, his mom will get answers and resolutions ;) 

My own definitions read:
Flexibility - the ability to modify and respond to altered circumstances or conditions and with the Lord's help and answers, do whatever is inspired!
Consistency - there are eternal truths that are unchanging over all periods of time.
I get it!  These two words can and do work together!

I'll end this on a very adorable note:

Ty is going through some evaluation and testing.  Tuesday he spent 6 hours in a classroom setting.   Keep in mind that Ty has not been in a school classroom since kindergarten, 4 years ago, so I was very curious how his day would go and I also knew that he would be interviewed and asked to attempt things that challenged him... the very things he struggles with.  But he was undaunted when I dropped him off.  I went back at 2pm and was very nervous.

Ty jumped in the car and talked my ear off all the way home.  Ty.  My quiet kid.  My kid that does not chat for the sake of chatting.  My NO DETAILS kid.  TALKED.MY.EARS.OFF!  I found out that lunch was pasta and it was delicious.  He played football at recess.  He played the recorder in music.  I was trying ever so hard to be patient while he got around to the MEAT of the day since he was not sent to the classroom for good food and football, grin,  Eventually he gave me some tidbits on testing work and interviews.  But then he just started grinning and dug a folded piece of paper out of his pocket... seems a gal in his class found him to be cute and announced to the class that she 'liked' Ty.  Of course Ty was mortified, or so he said with a huge grin on his face.  So for journaling purposes only (I assured him), I want to document this:

  Please note the gift of the purple eraser too.  Lizzie thought of everything.  Snicker.

Ty will be going through more testing this Saturday.  I am pleased with what we have learned so far and am thankful for the knowledge others have to offer.  Meanwhile, my boy will be coloring in his first ever 'bubbles'.  Since this homeschooled boy has never seen testing of this sort, we have been practicing the ever important proper way to color in a 'bubble', grin.

Wordless Wednesday