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How We Used a Unique Medium to Letter/Embellish Our ‘Doors To Storage’! (A Tutorial)

October 27, 2011 By Laura 5 Comments

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Our Doors to Storage home project, has been a bigger hit than we ever dreamed! I’ve even run across it on Pinterest a few times now! CraZy-Ness! Well, we knew there would be people who thought it was a pretty cool idea, out there somewhere. But we’re glad so many have loved it, and what’s more, have been inspired to make some benches and shelves, using old doors, in their home. Sharing and inspiring is what ‘s all about, people! Love it!

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That project post was big enough as it was, so we told you were would share how we went about embellishing the bench with lettering in a future post, and this is it! : ) I apologize that it took a little while here. The last quarter of the year gets a little busier with my photography business (in addition to our normal schooling & practice/game schedules and l i f e.) It’s a fine line between keeping the blog going, and getting fired by my clients. ; ) But you know I always come back around. Thanks for sticking with us.

The first lettering was to be applied on the inside of the bench, to be seen when the bench seat was open.

To start, we laid out our lettering in a design program in the computer, and cut a mask out. Michael has been a letterer (of large company trucks, signs, boats and windows) since we met (in art school.) So he has a program of his own, and a huge plotter/cutter machine. But I know many of you crafters have similar little machines now. (Silhouettes, Cricuts, etc). This can be done with that equipment as well.

After weeding the letters out of low-tack vinyl we used, and covering it with transfer tape, Michael peeled off the backing and applied the mask centered, onto the inside of bench panel.

I wanted the lettering itself, to be subtle-ish. Under-stated, and worn-looking. So rather than painting in the lettering, I had the idea to try using something in a whole new way…..

Annie Sloan Waxes. Both the Clear and Dark.

First, with a soft old t-shirt, we rubbed a thin layer of the clear wax all over the cut out letters of the mask, and really rubbing back off, all we could. The reason we did this, is because we didn’t want the dark wax to overly stain the white door, to a point that it came out too dark and unable to remove. Applying and rubbing off the clear wax, would allow us to control how much of the dark we rubbed off. Because again, we wanted it light and subtle lettering.

Then, we applied the dark wax. But this time, as we applied it, we did so in one slanted direction, to try to (and try is the key word in this project, lol…) simulate light. We really used very little dark wax, pretty much trying to wipe most of it back off. We also intentionally had darker and lighter areas of lettering.

Then we carefully removed the masking, and this is how it came out! So why the inside of the bench, you may be asking?

The quote is a message specifically for our kiddos. A subliminal message of sorts, for our kids to read and remember, every time they get their shoes. (And if they know what is good for them…..put them away too. ; ) Now who’s quote is it? Apparently, it’s something Christopher Robin once said to Pooh Bear. Now I’m all for quoting and giving credit to the authors of such wise words. But, let’s be honest here. Christopher Robin is not real, and neither is Pooh Bear. (I hope I didn’t just ruin anyone’s reality saying that out loud. Yikes!). The thing is, I just didn’t want it to say “Christopher Robin” on my bench. You know? I’m not hiding, that he said it first. I’m admitting it right here and now. I just didn’t want to complicate the power of the message, with such….characters. It is indeed wise words though, that I would like my children to remember. So I am borrowing them.

Thanks, Chris.

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Of course, we wanted to have some lettering design on the outside, as well. This time, we did so on the panels of the front of the bench.

In the first smaller, more square-ish panel, we very simply monogrammed with our last name initial.

Continuing to use the same techniques, beginning to end, this is the saying we chose for the longer, more rectangular panel. It was so hard, choosing which quote/saying, to use! There were so many I wanted to. But we had to keep in mind others coming into our home and reading what it said as well, (lol…), and we had to narrow the options down to one. This was the one that won.

True ‘Dat!

11_unique-storage-bench A look at the entire front, complete.

I like it, I like it! You?

We’ve had our storage bench now for a couple of months, so we can officially say, it has worked out really really well! It’s been the perfect solution for us, actually, to keep our daily-used family shoe collection in (out of sight), and the shelving next it has been so efficient for our school supplies. The door-knobs have been handy and quick for the kid to hang up their outerwear, as well. Overall, it was not only a big, fun project, but we think it all adds another unique feature to our home, and the lettering just further personalizes it.

So, now that we’ve tested this new idea out, you can consider wax, as another medium option, for subtle lettering/designing some surfaces. I think it really has a nice tea-stained look to it, on this project, that’s appealing.

Have you ever used a medium, in a different manner, than it’s actual purpose? What was it, and how did it come out? Tell us about it! (And share a link, if you’ve got one!)

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Tips, Tricks and How-To’s to Our Halloween Decor – Crafts

October 16, 2011 By Laura 2 Comments

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I hope you all had the chance to join us, for our Halloween Decor Tour, in which we shared with you all of the festive touches I made, to put a little Halloween in the air, indoors and outdoors! The post tour naturally consists of a ton of photos, or else how else could I show you all? That, and my small chit-chat, made the post plenty long enough. So I promised to share how I made some of the decor, in a separate post in the Crafts & Creations section soon. And here we are.

So I’ll start with the fact that, all of the signage design work that you see in this post (and the tour), that is similar in style and all ties together so beautifully, is part of the Halloween Party Complete Collection, which I purchased from Frosting & Ink Social Designery’s Etsy Shop. Please note that everything that I printed out, I did so on textured white card stock. That really adds a nice touch. I also was sure that my printer printed the actual colors, being sure my settings did not allow the printer to choose the colors. (Yes, I am a color snob. I demand accuracy. )

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One of the features I was most excited to show, was indeed the biggest hit with our readers! That would be my Witch Parking Sign. ; )

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To start, I printed out the sign from my Halloween Party Complete Collection on a piece of 8.5″ x 11″ textured white card stock. The actual design was 7.5″ x 10″, so there was an inch of white paper to trim off, all the way around. For anything rectangle or square, I want a perfectly clean straight edge. So I always use this….

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….my Fiskar Trimmer for cutting paper or card stock. But using scissors, or an x-acto blade and a metal ruler on a mat, would also work.

Now for the sake of saving you from having to keep scrolling up, I am going to show you the photo of this sign again. (Because I’m thoughtful like that. : ) You need to be able to refer to it and see it as I talk here.

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I wanted to mount my paper sign on a piece of old looking wood, so I asked Michael to please cut a piece of thin plywood about 10.5″ x 13″, and to try and make the edges look jaggedy, like old broken wood. To get that effect that you can see above, he used a saber saw. Then he stained it dark grey.

Now I needed to mount the paper sign, onto the wood sign. I had every intention of really using the sign, right at the head of my parking space outside. So it needed to not only be applied permanently, but the whole sign needed to be weather-proofed, sealed and protected, as well.

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To do both the job of applying the paper sign to the wood, and sealing and protecting the whole thing I used Outdoor Modge Podge! I applied a layer of glue to the back of my paper, as well as a coat on the front of the wood sign. Then I placed them together with the design perfectly in place, smoothed it all out being sure there were no bubbles, and let it all dry overnight. When it wasn’t so tacky to the touch anymore, I applied another coat over the whole sign (front and back), and let dry completely, again. When that dried, I applied one more coat, and let it all dry again. I paid special attention to be sure I was sealing the edge of the paper, to the wood sign. Any moisture getting in between when outdoors, would ruin it.

*Note – With a past project quite similar to this one, where I was applying paper to wood, and then adding final coats, I did not allow the coats to dry enough in between applications. I didn’t want to, you know… wait. It didn’t turn out well, People. The paper was bubbling here and there because it wasn’t dry enough in the first place, making the paper soggy and rolling up, and it was just a mess. So leaving it to dry even 24 hours or so between coats sometimes, is necessary. Having patience, or not, shows in the final piece. Rushing things, and hoping for the best, may not end well. Don’t do it.

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I had this bottle displayed on my garden potting bench already. It was a cool indigo blue, but had faded in the sun. So I decided to spray paint it matte black, and make a little Halloween necklace for it, by stringing buttons in colors that together, say Halloween to me: orange, black, green, and purple. Different button sizes, and no pattern, rhyme or reason. Just string them on. I’ve made these little wrap necklaces for bottles and vases before, using beads and other elements as well. In doing so, I have used different materials to string on. But one thing I have found especially handy to use, is stretchy fishing line. It works nice for small necks of things especially, that you may want to wrap around more than once, because if it barely is going to fit, it stretches some to prevent the string from breaking. It’s easy to work with. Of course, for a different look for indoor pieces, you may choose to use raffia, suede string, ribbon, etc. I put a dead stick in it, and it was perfect! It’s a small thing, but I really had fun with it, and I like how it came out.
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I think the swarming bats around the front doors around Halloween time, was an idea first featured in Country Living Magazine (?) last year, and lots of crafty home-owners all over the country were all over the idea, including me! I just didn’t get to it until this year. There are bat templates you can download from the internet, if you do a search, and I would guess that others looked and found some to use, as I did. They can be cut out and used to trace with white chalk onto black material, over and over. Then you simply cut them out. I looked around for bats that looked right to me, a lot. So in the end, I can’t remember where I actually found one I liked. (Or I’d tell you.) But anyway, I did resize it to have 3 different sizes of bats.

I made the bats out of stiffened felt. I think I got about 15 sheets or so, and got as may bats as I could out of them. Instead of cutting the bats out of the paper and tracing them, I went about things a different way – because I could, and it just seemed easier. Michael (my husband) has this perforation wheel, to create a pattern of holes through paper, and then you pounce that pattern onto another material, using chalk dust. So we just perforated the bat patterns on the paper, and then used our school chalk board erasers with chalk dust on them, to pounce the patterns onto the felt.

Scissors + Kids = Bats

Just so you know, my kids love cutting things out, and ask to help. I’m not into child labor. ; )

We stuck all of the bats on the house and door, using duct tape on the back. Yes, one or 2 do blow or fall off now and then. Maybe there is a better way to adhere them, but duct tape works good enough for me. I don’t even notice if or when any are missing. Michael does though. He tends to be the bat chaser I guess. LOL. But generally, they stay put pretty well.

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This funky black feather wreath itself was wicked easy!
I simply bought it as is, at Michael’s Arts & Crafts! (Where I bought all of the materials I needed, but didn’t have on hand.)

The circle sign in the middle, was another design in the collection I bought. Frosting & Ink customizes it with your own last name, before sending you the files! How cool is that?

The middle of the feather wreath was originally empty. Just a hole. So somehow, we needed to find a way to stabilize the sign in the front middle. The feathers were not going to hold it there. So we simply cut a square out of some leftover stiffened felt, and mounted it on the back with hot glue, covering the wreath hole. Then we just folded some pieces more stiffened felt and used them as spacers, connecting them with hot glue from the inside of the back support felt piece, to the back of the front design circle. Simple fix! It needed to be an indoor wreath, no doubt about that. But thankfully, we have a glass front door, so we were still able to use it as a front door wreath that shows on the outside, when the brave ones come knocking. ; )

We hung the wreath by hot gluing a piece of black sheer ribbon to the wreath itself on the back, and then to the top of the door frame. Yes, we did. lol. It comes right off, without damage.

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One might wonder how I cut out all of the circle designs. There were many circle designs to be cut, and it would surely be no fun having to do so with scissors. I want my circles perfect, so it was high time I got a good circle cutter. (With a 50% of coupon, of course.) I got the Martha Stewart Circle Cutter, and I love it!! The blade pops on to the fit-in-your-hand cutter, and the blade swivels, so it makes circle cutting seamless and perfect.

For all of these little mini-signs (originally cupcake/cake toppers, table signs, etc.), I again used my Martha Stewart Circle Cutter for the round designs, and my Fiskar Trimmer for the square designs. Sticky tabs were used to stick them to the black sheer ribbon strands, that run from the top of the doors to the bottom. Simple and cute!
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Lastly I just wanted to mention how I created little ghosts on my Halloween Fan Pull. The heads themselves are simply formed by t-shirt material cut into squares, and forming it over the round beads. Then I used more clear fishing line to tie off the necks some to create the head better, and the kids drew on faces. This is all done while making the fan pull itself, which I also do using strong test fishing line, doubled. The spider element is at the bottom (center of the line), and then I used a fat needle and the fishing line to quickly string all of the beads on. When it was time to make a ghost, I simply stuck the needle right through the middle of the square piece of material over the round bead, tied off the head with another piece of fishing line (trimmed down after knotted), and continued to string beads. When all of the beads are on for a fan pull, Michael ties on a little piece of wire and knots it up into a ball, to hook right into the ball chain clasp. Works like a charm! > I hope you comprehend those directions. It’s late now. I was watching X-Factor (2 hours this night) while doing this post too, on commercials.

I think a good thing to take from this post is, there can a lot of ‘winging it’ with crafting, with just a little fire-thought. Yes, sometimes you find one method works out better than another. But the process is simply figuring out what you are trying to create or do, and what kind of materials you may need or have on hand, to make it all work. (Whatever your project may be.). Just think about how you want something to look, and what you can use in terms of material, to achieve that vision. It’s not about doing everything perfectly, but learning as you go, and picking up a few tricks along the way. As you know by now, I have found fishing line to be pretty handy in my crafting! There is some pretty strong test line that is durable, and it’s practically invisible, which can be a helpful for some projects too. There are so many tools out there that can make the more tedious parts of crafting (like cutting things out), faster and easier. And then there are lots of things right around your house, that you can use as well. Substitutions and preferences, are all part of the crafting game. If you have fun making what you do, and it makes you and/or others smile (even on the inside) when they see your creations around, then you are a successful crafter!

(Is there anything I missed? Anything you wanted to know about our Halloween Decor that you had a question about, that I didn’t answer here? Please go ahead and ask, and I’d be happy to do my best to answer.)

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Our Halloween Decor! (Indoor-Outdoor-Photos Galore!)

October 9, 2011 By Laura 22 Comments

BOO, People!! So excited here, to show you all around! I had a goal this year (2011), to have our whole homestead Halloween decor done (known as the 3-day Hallowtide, to us) by October 1st! That way, we could enjoy it all the whole month of October. I also wanted it all blogged no more than a few days later. How long can it really take, to photograph, edit, and blog it? Apparently….9+ days. With my kids busy schedules, I’m in the driver’s seat, in gyms and on fields, more than in my computer chair these days. (Enjoying it, although behind in work to say the least. But my kiddos come first!)

Now, I have to explain real quick, that I have been trying to ‘find my place’, with Halloween decor, for years. From a spiritual/Catholic point of view (always where I am at), I don’t like to stray too far from the true meaning or Christian roots of any holiday, including Halloween. This is why we have always extended our focus to Hallowtide = All Hallows Eve, All Souls’ Day, and All Saints’ Day. (You can see more about that, and how we roll, HERE.)

On a completely unrelated note, but tying in with the theme, I personally am a big baby, some may say. I do not like scary/gory/terror/evil anything. My kids laugh at everything they see, and I look away. I freak out inside a little bit, myself. Not to mention (ok, I will….), that I see zero value in all of it. So…. decorating has always been a bit of a reluctance / confusion for me, about what I wanted to do. But I can say this year, I found my groove, and the game was on!
In that light, I hope you enjoy seeing our homestead, outdoors and indoors, that I have photographed for you all.
LET’S GO!

best Halloweeen decor Off the bat ( <—- <giggle!), I’d like to give huge props and thanks to Emily from Frosting & Ink Social Designery! <—- Click on the link to see her Etsy shop! I purchased this Halloween Party Collection from Frosting & Ink, and used it for my home decor! While I can design much of anything myself, I hardly have time these days. And besides, when I saw what Emily created, I was all over it! So she deserves lots of credit here! I’ll be posting some her beautiful designs, and showing you how I used them throughout these photos. I actually have not used them all yet, but there is always next year!

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Got to warn you: I handed the Hubs the cobweb stuff, to be in charge of getting that done, and he went crazy with it! Even {O} giggled watching him and said, “I can tell you’re having fun with that stuff Daddy! You don’t want to stop!”

One more note: I had fun editing these photos, with some little grunge effects, etc. My house is not actually this grimy looking, inside or out! Not that’s it’s perfectly clean either. If anything, it gets more of the messy & dust-bunny kind of dirty. LOL ; )

So here is my very favorite Halloween creation, I made with a design from Frosting & Ink….

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My Halloween Parking Sign! That’s right, I’m the witch around here! Heee hee heeee! Some will agree with that, in a heart beat. ; ) Others will argue, “No000 sir. She is kidding you. She is the sweetest thing ever!” Depends who you talk to. LOL. (Or the day? lol). Just kidding.

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Anyway….I smile every time I pull the car into our driveway, about 20 times a day, and see my sign. It’s something I made to be able to use every year, for years to come. I saw the whole thing in my head, the second I saw the design. Michael made the jagged wood board for me, and we painted/distressed it, etc. It is weatherproof.

If you are wondering how, I do plan to do a quick post in the Crafts section, about how I made some of these Halloween decor things, sometime this week. But this post is just about showing our decorations for now.

best Halloweeen decor I just have to show you the amazing and beautiful detail in Emily’s work! I always loved that font used for ‘Parking’. A band I love, Daughtry, uses that letter-style for their logo. It’s called Bleeding Cowboys, I think. It’s a perfect choice for Halloween designing. Good call, Emily!

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I was soooo on the fence (<—-another pun…giggle!) about getting this skeleton at Michael’s Arts & Crafts!! I definitely am drawn to skulls and cross-bones and stuff, you know? I have no idea why. They just ‘look’ cool to me. Yet I don’t really want to like them so much. LOL. So….this is about my line, as far as decor goes. See? Call me a wimp. As long as we placed him humorously, was our/my decision. I do like seeing him, hanging out there! (As long as it’s not dark out! lol)
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007_halloween-garden-home-decor Here is a wider view of our front-yard-gardens.
The flowers are pretty deadish now, which really kind of makes it all work! Don’tcha think?
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Another perspective of our friend. From Snap Peas to Skeletons!
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best Halloweeen decor I love my newly painted buttoned bottle.

best Halloweeen decor The potting bench.

Bats swarming our front door. It was a popular idea last year, that I loved. But I’m slow. : )
Details of how I did this will be in the Crafts post too.

best Halloweeen decor This chest Michael picked up free somewhere in front of someone’s house. It’s super interesting inside! Really old…meant for shipping clothing and goods, etc., I think. There are all of these compartments inside. BUT, when opened, there is a heavy mold/mildew odor (which I am immediately allergic to), that we can’t get rid of. So, we’ll be tossing it, instead of doing anything more with it. But I thought it would be cool to keep through Halloween out on the front deck, anyway.
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best Halloweeen decor

Through the glass of our front door here, you can see our Halloween wreath I made, with another design from my party pack from Frosting & Ink!

SO……that’s about it for our outdoor Halloween decor.

Would you like to come in??…

best Halloweeen decor When you order for this particular pack from Frosting & Ink, you are supposed to give her your last name, so she can customize this design. I incorporated it into a wreath. I’ll share more about how I made this later, in the craft post, too.

best Halloweeen decor The wreath is technically on the inside, because it is not weatherproof, in any way! Just turning it over here, so you can get a better look of it as a whole. But faces outdoors.

best Halloweeen decor

Our Halloween Tree. Yep….still have that stick tree there! LOL.

The Halloween lights and black crow were bought at Michael’s Arts and Crafts.

Some of you may know, I love making inter-changable fan pulls, for our all-season room. (Anyone?) I haven’t made one in a long time. BUT, I did make one for Halloween this year!….

best Halloweeen decor Beads and this spider, from Michael’s Arts and Crafts.

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How cute are the little ghosts??

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I did this kind of thing on our French doors, for Christmas and spring too. I used the the little Cupcake Toppers and Party Signs, from the same Frosting & Ink Party Collection, for what I call ‘Fancy Strands’, down my doors.

025_ A little over the top with the cobwebs, much? It is a bit of an old family portrait now. Well, only 2-3 years. Time for a new one, although we’ll keep this one up somewhere in the house, too, anyway. But that’s the fam.

Well would you look at the time!….

It’s late, and I must get to bed. I am sure we’ll have something more Halloween-ish to share, in the coming weeks. We do plan to do something with pumpkins! And as I said, I’ll be showing how I made everything crafty in this post, in a coming post in the Crafts section. So….we do hope you come again. (If you DARE!! Because we’re wicked scary….right? ; )

ETA: Here is the link for: Tips, Tricks and How-To’s to our Halloween Decor in this post

Please say “BOO!”….if you enjoyed this peak of our Halloween Homestead!!?

Feel free to share the post, or PIN any photos you’d like, as well!

Isn’t the Halloween season fun??

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Our Homeschooling Year 2011-2012, Kicks Off!

October 6, 2011 By Laura 9 Comments

Well, forgive me for the delay with any updates about our new homeschool year we’re in the midst of here! Once we kicked it off at the beginning of September, we’ve been very occupied finding our groove, with our new schedules. Things are quite different for us this year! With the kid’s respective ages and levels, life has opened up new and exciting opportunities, of experiences and learning, for all of them. Not to mention new territories for us parents! We have a high schooler now, for example, and with it comes all kinds of things. But the younger ones are also following their passions and gifts, more so than ever.

Some of you may know this, but for those of you who do not, we are year round homeschoolers. We keep a lighter (academic) schedule in the summer, and begin a whole new school year/grade levels, in September. It’s always a very, very exciting time, as we love to plan out and begin a new school year! We’re really blessed that our kids are enthusiastic students, who love school and learning. This coming school year, was filled with more anticipation than ever, and it’s been as CrAzY and exciting of a ride, as we expected.

I always take the kids’ new school photos on the first day of school. This year, it was almost a week later, but we got it done. We have also ‘always’ taken their portraits in the school room, at the side of the cabinets. But if you follow our blog, you may be aware that we drastically changed our school room set-up, and those cabinets are gone! You can see the old and new set up of our school room, as well as the style of school photos we were taking in all previous years, in this recent post.

So this year, I did all of the kids’ school photos outside. These photos will be in the sidebar quite soon, so that new comers can see the kiddos who make up our homeschooling world. In this post, we wanted to share with you a little about their (book) subjects they are studying this year, as well as some other little interesting tidbits of information. In coming posts, we’ll be sharing a lot more, including activities/learning experiences outside of their academics, some deeper thoughts and observations I have had as a homeschooling parent, and lots of other fun and interesting homeschooling related posts. We hope you’ll join us for it all, with discussion and sharing of your own!

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This is our oldest daughter/student, Alexis Grace (14). Also known as {A} around the blog here. She has been homeschooled (not necessarily at home…right? lol), since 3rd grade, and just started 9th grade this year. We can’t believe we have a high schooler now! That means I worked hard over the summer, researching, and piecing together a serious 4 year college prep plan for her. And maybe panicking, just a little. The girl scares me, and excites me, and makes us all proud, all at the same time! She has huge aspirations, and her heart set on really great colleges. We cannot let her down, and we believe in her, because she is so unique in her focus of her life at her age. She is so faith-filled, determined, intelligent, tough, independent, and firm on the path she is laying out for herself. What fascinates me, is it’s all a far cry from anything her father or I ever dreamed for ourselves, or were interested in. But that’s why each one of us has our own calling, and why it’s important as homeschooling parents, to help shape our children’s character, and foster the calling they feel God has put in their heart, as the work He has meant for them to do, in their life. It’s all about guiding and supporting them, to be the people they are meant to be.

Throughout this past summer, Alexis taught the 4th Grade Religious Education at our parish (2 weeks), and ran the games activity for the kids of Vacation Bible School (1 week.) She also earned herself a Catholic High School scholarship, that has covered all of the expenses of her academic and extra-curricular school year. We’re proud of her, and grateful as well!

This school year, as a high school Freshman, Alexis’ courses are: Language Arts (Alpha Omega /LifePac), Algebra (Math-U-See), Biology (Apologia), History/Social Studies (Streams of Civilization-Volume 2 Cultures in Conflict Since the Reformation), Latin (Latina Christiana), Spanish (All Bilingual) , Art and Music (Piano – private lessons, and the Recorder – all kids at home.).

Alexis is also playing sports now, for our town’s public South High School! She is really involved there. That is a whole other exciting post. I could easily ramble, so I’ll save it, but suffice it to say it’s been really wonderful for her so far, and exciting for us. It is extremely time-consuming on a daily weekday basis. But I’d say we best get used to it and keep making it work.

In the light of sharing all of their subjects in this post, I feel it’s important to mention, that we live our personal faith, which is Roman Catholic. So it’s not a subject the kids study for school, but more something we are always teaching them, and they are always living and learning it as they grow. Just as we still are as adults, actually. That said, they do begin each day all together, with a Scripture, discussion, and prayer. As a tool, we still really love Living Faith-Kids!!

JackMichael (9), the first-born of the triplets. Also known as {JM} around here. He and the other 2 have the same academic subjects of course, being in the same grade level and age. As I said, I’ll be posting more about what they love to do outside of their academic studies, and I’m excited to do so, because they are all so unique, with their interests and personalities. And yet, the differences from within their unique selves, meld together so well with each other. It’s fascinating to me, to observe, frankly. But anyway, for today, here are the subjects all 3 of them have this year:

Language Arts (Alpha Omega / LifePac), Math (Delta / Math-U-See), Science (Exploring Creation with Astronomy-Apologia), History/Social Studies (Christian Liberty Press / Our Nation Under God, and, History Stories for Children), Writing Strands, Spanish (All Bilingual), Latin (Prima Latina), Art and Music ( Recorder – all kids at home).

Olivia Faith (9), the second triplet born. {O}, which we tend to call her 1/2 the time, ourselves. The boys especially, refer to her as “O”, a lot. And you know what she calls them, when she’s talking to the both of them? “Boys”. It always cracks me up, because there is such a motherly air about the way she says it. So….our own little baby boom is “O and the Boys”, I guess. It has a cool little ring to it, now that I think about it. : ) Oh, speaking of their names, and {name initials in brackets}, I know we’ve been a little all over the place with it. The thing is, using initials for any sake of privacy or protection, is pretty irrelevant by now, considering they’ve been on TV a few times now, (related to our Catholic faith) as well as the newspaper, for different things. All times with full names. On the flip side, I have found myself continuing to use their initials in brackets sometimes, for the sake of brevity. As you can see, my posts tend to be perhaps a little lengthy, so I need to use all the brevity tricks I can. : ) The kids are all well aware, lots of people know who we are by name, but the reverse isn’t necessarily true. (Especially around our town, and the people we meet and run into in person.)

Shane Jacob (9), the last born of the trio.

(Reaching for ‘brevity’ now………..). Shoot. I forgot what I was going to say. Ummmm. Oh yeah. You see that beautiful little school desk in the background? That is Michael’s, from when he was a little boy!! What a treasure, huh? That sweet and sentimental little antique is going to be another blog post coming up, that I am planning, as well. There’s some story to tell, and some specific things that are part of the desk, that you will not believe!! Michael’s antique school desk, is not the only one we have to show you, either. So if you’re interested, be on the look out for that post too!

homeschooling-new-year-5 I am glad I thought of doing a quick ‘class picture’ of sorts, while we were at it. I sure love my class!!

Honestly, I’ve struggled a little with this homeschooling section of the blog, right along. It’s a lifestyle to us for sure, but one that is just so normal to us, I think…”What is there to blog about?”. But I know there is LOTS. Lately, my realization of that has really broadened, and in the process, I have realized why I am not as active in this section. Which is crazy, because I so passionately love homeschooling my kids, and living this life I do with my family, that it hardly makes sense. But I see now where it comes from, and I think I’ll be sharing those thoughts very soon too.

So stay tuned!! This homeschooling section should be picking up steam, real soon! You should know, we love comments and hearing from all of you! But if you are a homeschooling blogger as well, we especially encourage comments with your blog-linked names, so that we can visit your stories and shared, comment, and connect with you all as well. Our hope and goal is that we are all an inspiration and encouragement for each other, in raising and educating our children, as homeschoolers or not. homeschooling happens to be the route we have happily taken, with a deep love and passion for it. So our posts will derive from that life we live, as a homeschooling family. But proving a great education, however any of us do, is the more common thread. So thanks so much for stopping by, and please DO again! God bless you all!

Gosh, I promise I’ll work harder on that brevity thing, too.

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An Autumn Love Story, for a Lifetime! / Engagement Photo Shoot

October 2, 2011 By Laura 2 Comments

Honestly, this engagement photo shoot is a way-overdue share. It was actually shot last Autumn, 2010. But with the peak of Autumn just ahead of us, I think it’ll be all the more appreciated now. The celebration to be had is less than a month away now as well. So in that light, the timing couldn’t be more perfect.

I haven’t photographed many engagement sessions, really, but I’d love to because I do enjoy them. But since I don’t photograph weddings, and most couples use the same photographer, I don’t get the opportunity often. This couple however, aware I don’t do weddings, booked with me anyway, and I was honored they did!

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I have known the bride-to-be, “M”, all of my life. Her family, as far back as 2 generations before her, have real history, with my own family. They’ve been friends that have always felt more like family. The history, the connections, and the stories, are more than I could ever begin to tell. Her father has been a big and special part of my life, especially. So to be asked to do this engagement session for his daughter, and her handsome groom-to-be, “J”, was an honor. It was important to me to find the most beautiful location between us that I could, and I think I did alright.

How is this for a clever proposal? “J” gave “M this pumpkin as a little gift, (got himself one as well), and this is the message she found on the bottom of hers. She was puzzled at first by what it said, with his clever texting-style coding, but I believe she lit right up, when the light bulb went off. As you can imagine, she said “Yes!”.

What a beautiful ring, huh? He did really good! ; )

engagement-photos-laura-lee-richard-photography-plymouth-ma-2
The foliage was not only still holding on in this area, but there was this cool old structure (behind them) that I loved too.

engagement-photos-laura-lee-richard-photography-plymouth-ma-3 This might be their first formal family portrait. Their dog “A” is there first baby, of sorts, I believe. She has a full name, and all. She was given a pumpkin too. But as I recall, she destroyed it, like nobody’s business. LOL!

Here’s more of my favorite shots, of this couple in love, at this magical little Autumn spot I scouted….

I loved so many photos I got of them together, with their love shining as warm as the Autumn sun on us that day. But I do believe this was my very favorite shot of the two of them. She’s so beautiful, and you can see he clearly loves her.

engagement-photos-laura-lee-richard-photography-plymouth-ma-9 This is simply, a cool shot I set up, if I do say so myself. And I am. No one can tell me any different. LOL

engagement-photos-laura-lee-richard-photography-plymouth-ma-10 So here we have, a beautiful collection of the couple as fiance’s to each other. After a long courtship, a year+ engagement and wedding planning! All leading to the day….

engagement-photos-laura-lee-richard-photography-plymouth-ma-11 At the end of this month, they will celebrate their wedding day, and the first day of the rest of their lives, as husband and wife. I wish them the wedding day of their dreams, on a perfect Autumn day, and all of the happiness two people can have, forever.

I hope you all enjoyed seeing the photos from this special session, as much as I enjoyed shooting them. Thanks for letting me share some of my work with you!

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