Rose Garden Make Over

Two weeks ago my mother came over and we stopped at a few garage sales in the neighborhood. I wasn't really looking for anything in particular. We drove past this one house and there was a little wooden wheelbarrow by the curb for $5. I told Mom I have to have that to put in my rose garden! This was an amazing yard sale! I bought CC so many pretty salwar kameez's. I need to post those pictures.
Anyway, I bought a couple of bags of red mulch to lay down new in the rose garden and placed my new wheelbarrows!


I love putting our potted herbs in veggies in the wheelbarrows. They are pretty and useful!


I moved somethings around in the rose garden. Luigi would find a way to sleep between the roses and in the process push out all the mulch and kick the rose bushes out of the way. This huge pot was purchased at Home Goods last year for $12.



Our bad little squirrel found a new home in it. When I moved it, it was full of his acorns.
He has been successful now in killing three of my crape myrtles!!



When I was paying for my items the lady asked me if I wanted more wheelbarrows. She sent her son off to get them.


He brought out two more. They were each a bit damaged. One had a piece of wood coming un-nailed and the other's wheel lost some of the spokes. She said for $3 I could have these other two.

I snatched them up! I knew they would look great in between the rose bushes. Then I would be able to take an old bag of mulch out and several little rakes. Luigi was persistent to get in the rose bed... I had to get creative to have something between each bush to keep him out.

In the green pot is chives that were planted from seeds and the other pot is miniature roses.

I had to even put a tomato wire thingy around the pomegranate tree because he kicked it around so much trying to lay next to it that it was completely unearthed!

I love the way the rose garden looks now with fresh red mulch and the rustic wheelbarrows!!

This wheelbarrow holds our tomato plants.

I wish I would just get a few more blooms. My roses were soooo good for a period then nothing. How can I wake them up and get some more blooms????

It's been so fun planting these herbs and watching them grow. CC even started a little sprout from the seed of a Cutie tangerine! We are really hoping that one will take off!!

I am so happy we stopped at that yard sale. I was worried Papa Bear would be upset that I brought home three decorative wheel barrows but when he saw how great they look in the rose garden he asked me if she had any more! Ha!

The lady that I purchased them from said they originally came from Kirklands and were $45 each. I believe that! They are still in great condition overall. I was thinking about painting them, a couple red and one white, but I think I like this weathered wood look better!!

JUST What I Needed!

I am so happy to report that finals are finally over and I may have something of a life back!! It has not been easy going to school, trying to study, helping the girls with their homeschool and using 85% of my time helping Papa Bear in his shop. By the grace of God I passed my Anatomy and Physiology class!! Not only did I pass it, I passed it with a B!! I can't believe it! It was super hard (and I had "0" study time) and I thought I would be content to pass with a C. So, needless to say I was super happy when I checked my grades online.

Wednesday after I got home from school, I picked the girls up and we headed to the bookstore. We are supposed to do our front yard tomorrow ourselves...since the landscapers never showed up!! Oh well, it will be good exercise. The girls and I looked through some books for ideas and we are all liking this one. I LOVE the idea of white gravel between the bushes! That is what sold me!


After the bookstore we ran through Wal-Mart for guinea pig bedding and to look what types of mulch and compost they had. We had a quick run through the garden department and ended up taking home a basil plant, four tomato plants and a blueberry bush! I think I need to stay out of there for a while. I have a teeny tiny back yard and no room to put all this stuff!!

Lena enjoyed picking up flowers that had dropped on the ground...and one's that I'm sure she helped along drop as well!



While we were there Nick called and asked if we could keep Kamila until he got off of work. Lena and Kamila loved seeing each other and they especially loved these rockers there. I could hardly get them out of them!!

I picked up Subway for dinner and headed home. Nick met us here and picked up Kamila.

Thursday us girls went up to Austin. We had a good time, bought some good fudge!! Lena recreated the "Vegas, baby" scene from The Hangover..the girls got a good laugh out of that!

I had plans to meet my friend Lisa after she got off of work and go to Brasserie Pavil's French restaurant for drinks and appetizers. She called me and told me they were going to Houlihans and to meet there. I'm not a huge fan of loud, noisy, cramped restaurants where you have to stand and scream to talk to the other people and have people looking for one thing. Not my cup of tea! So I walked in, felt so uncomfortable, told everyone goodbye and left about 5 minutes later. I have had such a stressful few months, all I wanted was to have a couple of glasses of wine and listen to some soft music in the background.

CC asked me why I came home so early and I explained how it was over there. She said, "Mama, I'll go with you." So us three girls loaded up and headed over. It was almost closing time so we ordered quick. It was sooo good!

We did manage to take a few photos before we left.

It might not have been the evening I had planned but it was a perfect ending to the day. The girls had a great time. I had a great time. We laughed and laughed. It was exactly what I needed!

Show Us Your Life - Homeschool

Today at KellysKorner she is featuring Show Us Your Life - Home school Ideas. I really have been looking forward to this week because I am homeschooling a fourth grader and a ninth/tenth grader.
Our decision to home school stemmed from two main factors: Morals at school and the actual education being received.

We live in an area in which families have a nice living. With that it brings drugs to the schools. There are no gangs, or school uniforms or fights but there are drugs because the children here have access to large amounts of money. In my daughter's middle school there were children making out in the hall way's. One girl in particular was kicked out for skipping school in the middle of the day, getting high, having sex and then coming back. They found a powdery white substance in her backpack, which she claims was crushed children's vitamins. Her father is a single parent working hard to keep them in an almost million dollar home and has a parade of young 20-something girlfriends. It was a sad story all around. Anyway, I didn't want my children exposed to this, especially at such a young age!

Our second reason was the quality of the education being received. Things weren't taught to be learned or memorized, such as the multiplication tables. The kids were taught to pass tests and I'm sorry but that is just not good enough for me! You have kids entering High School that can't multiply and that have no idea what a double negative is. Simply not acceptable!

So we decided to homeschool. The basis for a sound individual starts at home, so why shouldn't educating be done at home too?

Most days my table looks like this.

My oldest, CC homeschools through Global Student Network. We pay a low fee for 365 days of schooling. They supply the online curriculum and keep all the school records. I grade the assignments and send them back to her completed and graded or marked as a redo. She is able to see exactly where she is at any moment and there is online help available. They offer AP classes and electives. And a HUGE bonus is that she is able to work ahead. She just finished ninth grade (where she should be) and has now started tenth grade. Her goal is to be completely finished by next year and get a huge head start on Vet school.

Homeschooling offers us so much flexibility. We are able to do so much more together as a family. One of our favorite things to do is have park days. We pack up and the girls study in the fresh air. It doesn't even seem like homework this way! We always leave feeling refreshed!


Lena, my fourth grader, is enrolled in K12. This is a completely free online public school. She is still a Texas public school student, she just does her work at home. We do drive to testing sites for her TAKS tests. K12 provides all the books, all the project materials such as paint, a canvas, rock, etc. You name it! They also provided her with a brand new computer and printer/scanner as well as head phones, a microphone and other items needed for her classes. We have a daily schedule given to us that needs to be completed by the end of the day. There are some things I do have to grade and then verify that she has done her work. She takes benchmark tests on line and does study island as well. We also get progress reports (report cards) every nine weeks. K12 has worked great for us. It gives structure and discipline and what I love more than anything, it will not allow the student to make below an 80 with out it having to be redone.



Homeschooling is not for everyone. It is hard work and does take effort, but in the end, I know what my children are learning and I know what they are NOT being exposed to. Lena took a placement test on reading. The scores ranged from 300-750. She placed 1500!! Homeschooling works! Lena was doing some pre-Algebra work..and excelling at it!

We also try to do fun things like crafts. I'm not a crafty person and have absolutely NO imagination but we do what we can. I love that I have found some great easy crafts on blogger that have really fun and inspirational for us. Think coffee filter wreaths!



CC also took care of several snails and their babies last year. She had so many it was overwhelming. It was so fun to watch them eat cucumbers and play around.



I love that we can go to the bookstore and read books or listen to music or sit in the cafe and drink coffee and do homework. School work doesn't always have to be done at home.



CC even gets driving lessons...and she is getting really good at it!

We go downtown and have lunch at historic hotels in the city. We first look up information and learn the history of different areas then go and visit them. It is such a fun way to make it personal and retain the facts. Thankfully San Antonio has lots of historic areas for us to visit!

But I think the best part for me is the flexibility. We can go out of town if we want without having to worry about the girls missing school. We just take the laptop along and let them do their work while we are driving. We can stay out late drinking coffee or seeing movies.

The first thing people always asks me is about socialization. My girls still stay in contact with girls they went to school with. They talk on the phone, text and my oldest goes to the bookstore and has coffee with her friend in our neighborhood. We are fortunate that we live close to their friends, so them visiting is never an issue. I have another friend who I just found out is homeschooling too. She is also married to a Russian and she said when someone asks her about her girls socializing she tells them, "I'm married to a Russian. There are parties every weekend and there is no shortage of socializing for my girls!" It's true. Occasionally we will meet during the afternoon and let the younger kids play at McDonald's or go to the bookstore. I also joined a homeschool group on MeetUp.com. These girls are not with out friends!

Again, homeschooling is not for everyone. I think it may be more work than having a student enrolled in a public or private school. As the parent and learning coach you know that the education your children receive is wholly based upon how much you put into their learning. It can be tiresome and we don't always have perfect days. Some days we are racing the clock to get work turned it. But I love it and I wouldn't have it any other way!

Almost Finished....

with this semester! I took my last make -up test today. It wasn't quite as hard as the make up test I took yesterday. I am passing the class right now, not with a grade I am particularly proud of but I am passing. He said I should pass as long as these two make up tests come back with decent grades. His words were, "As long as you don't make a 20 or something...." I would be so lucky to make a 20 on what he gave me yesterday....ugh! It was hard!

So tomorrow I take my Math final and if all goes well this will be my last Math class...ever!!! However, I was thinking about taking Pre-Cal for fun. I don't know if I'm crazy enough to do that though!!

When I came home from school I started cleaning and helping Papa Bear. I didn't have to go to Austin today. I stayed home and cleaned the garage and studied for tomorrow. CC was in the kitchen and called me to the window and it sounded pretty urgent. She pointed out the window and this is what I saw.....



We didn't know if it was dead or alive, hurt or ok... I looked closer and saw it was breathing pretty fast. So, I went outside to check on him. As soon as I stepped out it ran off....and Luigi was running after it. I guess Mr. Squirrel (the reason my Crape Myrtle's keep dying) just wanted to rest in the shade! I guess I can't really blame him!

Our second landscaper stood us up again today. The first stood us up then came two weeks later and asked if we still wanted his services. I should have said "yes" but I thought surely with the money we were planning to pay the second guy he would have been running over here to redo the yard. Guess I guessed wrong again! So now I get to spend my weekend doing it all myself. I am praying he comes later in the week and Papa Bear will not be mad and just let the guy do it!

So I Don't Forget...

Saturday a neighborhood close to me was having a neighborhood garage sale. I had planned to wake up super early and go check it out. However, seeing that I never get to sleep in, I took advantage and slept til 9:30! Mom called and asked if I was still going and I said yes, I just needed to wake up first. Most of the sales were all baby items, something I have absolutely no use for!! But we found one....I drove past because I saw the cutest yard decorations, miniature wheel barrows for $5!! There were also traditional Indian salwar kameez. I scored BIG over there..no time for pics now. Of course, I'm studying!

Sunday Mom came over and we went to church together. It was AMAZING!! The point that stuck with me the most is this: The Devil doesn't matter if you love God and love what is good. He is concerned that you still have a little love for what is bad! Powerful!! Makes you think! After church we found a little hole in the wall Chinese restaurant (we were brave to try it!). It turned out to be really really good!!

Today I had my Anatomy final. I also had to make up a missed test over the bones. The lab portion where I labeled the types of bones and their processes: Trochlear, medial epicondyle, cranial sutures, etc..that went ok. Then he gave me a written portion with 8 questions I was totally unprepared for. I had studied the workbook activities, online quizzes and course contents. I scored good on those. But what he gave me today threw me for a curve!! I know I failed miserably!! He wanted me to "briefly describe the chemical components of the matrix. Explain how each assists in the building up of bone strength. What are the roles of the osteocytes and osteoblasts and how do the work in regulating bone size. (That one's not so bad!) What are the five steps for secondary ossification? Where does it occur and how?" and on and on. Some of the questions I know for a fact we have NEVER studied!! Oh well. If I pass this class with a 70 I will be greatful! Right now I am trying to study for my Central Nervous System make-up test and I honestly have no idea where to start. I am doing the online quizzes but they didn't help me any on today's test.

Tomorrow and Wednesday and then I am through for this semester! Thank goodness!! It has been hard. Either I am really getting old or this is really getting hard...or maybe I just don't have the time necessary to do really well in this class.

I also won a really cute bracelet giveaway from Fashion Momma..and of course, pictures will follow. Soon! And you can check out this giveaway ... a $500 giveaway to her Town and Country Store...it has so many beautiful items!

...I'm Sorry ... (and Giveaway Winners)

I would like to start this post off by saying " I am sorry..." I have been a horrible blogger lately. The honest truth is, I have just been so busy. A quick run-down of my day....
7:00 - wake up/make breakfast/go to shop and get things up and running for Papa Bear
8:00-wake up girls/get homework going
9:00- back to shop/help Papa/do invoice/run errands
11:00-2:00-college
2:30-7:00-work with Papa Bear
8:00-make dinner if I'm lucky
9:00-clean up dinner dishes/wash clothes/clean house/water plants/take out trash
10:00-MAKE girls go to bed
11:00-take shower
11:30-1:30am - try to get some study time in

I have just been swamped! And grouchy and feeling so overwhelmed! But finals are next week and this should be the last weekend of killing myself with school/work overload!

So now.... back to Pink Saturday.... As always you can see more pinks at Beverly's How Sweet The Sound...go check them out!

The days I'm not in school I am in Austin helping Papa Bear work. (And not studying!) One of our favorites things to do in Austin is stop by Polkadots Cupcake Factory....



I snapped this pretty picture of the capital in Austin. When we go to the Cupcake Factory we like to take the streets downtown and look around before heading home.



But back to the cupcakes...this is my new favorite.. Blackwood Forrest... unbelievable! And I don't like chocolate!! Seriously! It's got a shot of cream cheese with mini chocolate chips inside. It is so so good!



Lena and Papa Bear had triple chocolate. They loved it!



CC had Cinnamon Sugar. It was perfect! Not too sweet and just a hint of lemon in the cake portion.





We took Mom one time last week. This time Lena chose S'mores. It was divine!!

I tried their Red Velvet. I was pretty anxious to try it and I was disappointed! It wasn't anything to write home about! CC had Vanilla and again it was perfect!

And now giveaway winners....

First.... the winner of the two Aromies by McKey is comment #7...

Marcia from Vintage French Hen.. Marcia, please email me your address so I can ship your package out to you!

And the winner for the $25 Scentsy Gift Certificate is comment #40...

Brittany from Forrest and Brittany.

Winners...please email me your addresses so I can send out your gifts! If I don't hear from the winners with in 48 hours I will choose new winners! I really had fun with this giveaway. I plan to do another Scentsy gift certificate giveaway soon!!

Thanks for stopping by and please visit Beverly for more Pink Saturday posts!

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See how busy I am.... I didn't even realize this Sunday is Mother's Day until I went over to link up to Beverly's blog!! Goodness I'm behind!

Pink Saturday - Sunset & Flowers

Can you believe it's Saturday all ready? This week flew by!!



I planned on having a big Pink Saturday post, but yesterday was my 9th wedding anniversary and we stayed out too late! Well, for us it was late, I guess for others the night was just getting started!! Haha! My Papa Bear took me out for sushi then we came home and watched DVR'd episodes of The Big Bang Theory. It was a perfect evening!



On our way home from Austin Friday evening I snapped this picture of the sunset. It was just so beautiful setting on the horizon. This is only done with my phone...imagine a real camera!




Last year I had one lone bluebonnet behind my grapevine. This year I have two...one pink and one purple. It photographed blue, but it's a very purple, purple!




The yard people are coming today to clean up. I hope they don't touch these beauties. I love the soft pink on this bonnet.

I also had a blue bluebonnet pop up in my flower bed next to the side walk. I didn't photograph that one. So, last year I had one, this year I've had three. Hopefully next year it will be six! Ha!

Thank you for stopping by! Please visit Beverly for more Pink Saturday goodness!
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Also, don't forget to enter my giveaway for a $25 Scentsy gift certificate and two Aromies by McKey here. The two winners will be announced next Saturday, May 7. All entries MUST be left on the giveaway page to count!