I survived! (and art journaling)

Well, I survived our first week of homeschool for the year!

It was a little messy and not as organized as I had hoped. When we began the week, I still hadn't received my printer, which meant that we could only do certain subjects for half the week until our printer came. After that, we had to cram in everything that needed printing at the end of the week. As unorganized as it was, I still did it! I know I shouldn't be that surprised, since I homeschooled last year, but I am celebrating my victory!

I spent a little time this morning prepping the printing for next week and I am confident that next week will be even better! Next, I need to address some storage issues or the lack there of.

I have been thinking of scrapbooking a lot! I REALLY want to work on my project life from our time in Korea and finish it. I also want to try my hand at a mini album. It has been quite some time since I have made a mini! Time hasn't allowed for it recently but I am hoping I will get a couple hours to myself this weekend.

The girls and I did sit down a couple of weeks ago and do some art journaling!! It was messy but super fun, and the girls did a fantastic job! We used scrapbook paper, tissue paper, ephemra, diecuts, paint, stencils, rub-ons, ultra thick embossing powder, embossing powder, and mist.

age 4

age 7

age 9

mine

I am such a proud mommy!

Well hopefully I will get some crafty stuff done so that I can get it up on my blog, and maybe YouTube as well. I'm sure you are tired of reading about my day to day! ;)

Until next time,
Regan

It's that time again!

It's Back to School Time! Some children have recently started school and others will be starting soon. We plan on starting Monday! I'm excited to get this year started. Over the past week we have taken our placement tests for spelling and jumped into some math. I still have a ton to do, as we are STILL waiting for our printer to arrive. AHHHH....

       With the school year starting, the start of other activities and sports will begin also. This means busy times for those of us that have school age children. With all the craziness that is about to ensue, it has me thinking about  healthy and quick lunch options and how I will keep my house clean! I want to share a couple ideas that we have recently tried out for lunches and dinners. Sometimes life is a lot to juggle, so I will also be sharing our Summer Routine that I am hoping will continue to work for us.

       Some of you know that we were eating a paleo diet before heading to Korea. That proved to be a little more difficult than we thought in Korea, so we are trying to get back into the groove. The first recipe isn't paleo, but still a healthy option.

       The first recipe is from Sara at Dinner at the Zoo.
Her Rainbow Veggie Roll-ups are fabulous! Not only are they colorful, but they are delicious too!

My kids enjoyed helping to make this fun food and, better yet, they liked them. For one of my pickier eaters, I allowed her to pick the veggies she did or didn't want to include in her roll-up, but she had to choose 2. We have also tried these with all the veggies and some ham or turkey.


       The next recipe is from Kristin at Live Simply.
We tried her Chicken and Napa Cabbage Salad and it was fantastic! The flavor and smell are so good. This is definitely something you could make ahead and eat cold. We will definitely be making this again!

     I would love for you to share some of your go to recipes for those busy school nights!

Now for the routine. So over the summer, I set up some new rules.

My girls get up in the morning, we have breakfast and then they are required to brush their teeth, hair, get dressed, make their bed and pick up their room. All pretty standard stuff. I know this next part seems easy and probably isn't a new concept, but it works. They are then asked to read, play board games, draw/color, etc for at least 30 minutes before they are allowed to swim, have tv time, play outside or get on their tablets. My kids usually forget about the time and end up playing, drawing, etc for much longer than asked. This allows me plenty of time to vacuum, sweep, do some dishes and throw a load of laundry in. My house has been clean all summer, including my kids' rooms!! INCREDIBLE!

Don't get me wrong, there have definitely been days where they need a little persuading. The trick is to be consistent and don't back down! This may change some as we will need to start school work, rather than have free time, but the same rules could apply for after their school work is finished. I'll keep you posted on how it is working through the school year and if we made any changes.

What routines or schedules do you have in place to help you? I'd love if you'd share them with me in the comments below!

Until Next Time,
Regan

Draw Something!

        I have shared with you once before that I love to try anything crafty so drawing just happens to be one of the things I have tried lately. In my last post I shared that I homeschooled my girls last year. That means that I get to teach art! We did some painting, paper piecing, travel scrapbooking, play with clay, among other things. Some weeks we did drawing.

        I stumbled upon a YouTube channel called Art Kids Hub last year and my kids love it! We have drawn several of the things on his channel. What I love about it is that he speaks and draws in simple terms for the kids, he helps them to feel confident in what they have completed and lets them know that mistakes are ok. It's fun that we can all draw the same thing but they can look so different. He has both simple drawings and challenging ones, but they are all for kids. I love that he colors the drawing afterwards and offers videos on how to blend.

This one is drawn by my 3 year old!

        Since beginning the videos, I have seen an improvement in their drawing skills, both when they do videos and draw in their free time. Learning how to draw simple lines and shapes has helped them a ton. I think that maybe this year, we can focus on our blending and shading skills.

        This week my girls and I stumbled upon another awesome YouTube channel called Draw So Cute! She does break down the lines, but I feel like Art Kids Hub does a better job at this. She also doesn't pause enough to give the kids time to draw them all the time, lucky for us, we have a pause button! With that said, her drawings really are so cute and the kids have been addicted for the last 3 days! They have drawn animals, fun food, school supplies, princesses, etc. I'm not going to lie, I have become just as addicted! Drawing these cute little things is so much fun and it's something my kids can do with me!

These were fun to draw, color and cut out for paper doll fun!

I think that some of these would be so cute on the front of a card and the kids could make it themselves! SO much fun! Whether you have kiddos or not, I hope that you will check out both channels and give it a try!

Until next time!     

Where on Earth Have You Been?

Hi fellow crafty peeps!

         So, are you wondering where on Earth I have been? Life took a little bit of an unexpected turn around Thanksgiving 2014! We found out that we were going to be moving to S. Korea for a year in May 2015! What?! Yes, South Korea. That basically put my life in a tail spin and I didn't stop moving until now! Whew!

          I went through every belonging we had and decided it's fate. Would it go to Korea, Storage, Trash or Yard Sale. It was a daunting task but it had to be done. Then packing and prepping for our loooooong flight to Korea, with 3 kiddos I might add. I researched and prepped bags for the plane ride, hoping to keep the girls happy and fed. The flight really wasn't that bad and we started our Korean Adventure.

           Korea had its positives and negatives, but overall it was an amazing adventure! I took on the task of homeschooling my kids while we lived there, mostly because I had to, and we tried to see as much as we could. We didn't see everything we had wanted to, but overall we saw some pretty fun things. Homeschooling didn't end up being so bad and it freed up our time to do and see more things.

Osan, S. Korea

Mulhyanggi Arboretum

Jeju Island, S. Korea

Jusangjeolli Cliffs

Korean Bulgogi

Jeju Island, S. Korea

Volcanic Crater - Seongsan Ilchulbong

Jeju Island, S. Korea

Stone Grandfathers

           We have since returned to the states and it has been quite the ride! Another long flight, reuniting with family and friends, setting up house again and shopping to replace some of the things that were sold in the first place. We are all happy to be back home, but do miss Korea. We really did have a great time there, and we made some fantastic friends.

           Now we are settling back into our new normal and prepping for this new chapter of our lives. Part of this chapter is that I am homeschooling again! I think I might be half crazy, but my kiddos asked to be homeschooled again this year, so we are going to see how it goes. I'm not going to lie, I LOVE prepping for the school year! All the curriculum and books streaming into our home is like Christmas for me! Maybe I'm a nerd like that.

            What about Scrapbooking and crafting? Well, to my surprise I did get started on a project life style scrapbook of our adventures in Korea. I only have a few months done, but I do plan to continue to work on that album or albums so we have our year there documented. I have to say that I very much enjoyed the project life/pocket style scrapbooking. I found that it was easier to squeeze into my busy day and fun to put together. I hope to share some of it in a YouTube video at some point.

            What's next for me? Aside from what I've already shared, I'm not entirely sure. I would love to get back into doing YouTube videos. I really enjoyed it and all of you. I would also like to try my hand at blogging some. What do you think? I hope your lives have been as blessed as mine has been this last year or so.

     At least now you know that I did not fall off the face of the planet, just traveled halfway around the world!

                                                           Until Next Time!