Our School Room

This post is very overdue! Its been a busy busy week. I wanted to get the school room pictures up on Sunday but had a lot of last minute things to do.
Our learning space is shared with our dining room. While not ideal, it seems to work so far.
So here's a little tour of our space!

It's actually nice to have the dining table as a work space for me. Plus, it makes doing larger art projects so much easier! 

This is Camber's area with her tot bins and trays. Plus my paper supply shelf that makes me happy. I love an organized shelf.

Our morning circle time wall. The bulletin board will change as our themes change.

I try to keep the clutter to a minimum but this surface gets cluttered quickly. im in love with my elements poster though!

The kids desks that are gorgeously vintage. I'm way too paranoid about falls after Camber's concussion to let her sit in hers yet! Charlie switches between them throughout the day for now. 

I really do love our learning space! 

I will post all about our first week this weekend! 

Sewvivor Sew Along: Quilted Bag!

Another sewvivor sew along post for y'all! Challenge #2 in the round was to make a quilted bag. I haven't made many bags so I was slightly concerned about this one. I was so glad to find Jodi's Hushabye Tote tutorial on Moda bake shop. I made some alterations to it but it's a really great pattern.
This will be a Christmas gift for my grandmother. I have been reassured that even at 81 years old the bling factor will still be perfect!
The bag has six outer pockets and one interior zipper pocket. I love pockets!

 

 

 

The R was hand embroidered and hand beaded. That little element took the longest to complete. I do love the result though! The added sparkle makes me smile.

 

I really love zipper pockets. It's just nice to have someplace a little more secure to stick things. This one has added interfacing to make it super durable for heavier items like a cell phone. Seriously, when I call my grandmother usually she calls me back an hour later with "sorry, my phone was in my purse and I couldn't dig it out in time". Well, no excuse now!

 

This bag is fun and functual just as a bag should be. I hope she loves it when I finally give it to her Christmas morning! Not to mention, I'm feeling pretty good about starting on Christmas in August. Maybe this year I'll get everything on my list completed! (yeah, probably not)

Sewvivor Sew Along!

I was extremely bummed to learn I'd missed auditions for Sewvivor hosted by Family Ever After. Round 3 is a Quilting challenge and that is my jam! Fortunately, they are gracious enough to allow us little bloggers to play along on instagram using #sewvivorsewalong. The rules are simple: it must be quilted and it must be nautical related.
I had a blast creating this mini! All three blocks are paper pieced, which is my new obsession. I am so excited to share this project!
I present to you my nautical mini quilt:

I hope to do many more challenges like this in the future!

Welcome August!

It is officially August! That's ridiculous isn't it? I mean, we have already welcomed and said farewell to seven months this year!
August is a big month for my little caterpillars. The new school year starts on August 25th! I am a ball of excitement and nervousness as the date approaches.
 I am excited for the fun and new experiences. Charlie loves school. He asks all the time if we can "do school". It makes me so happy that he has a love for learning. I have so many ideas for this school year and I am so excited to get them all done!
Of course, as excited as I am, I am also extremely nervous. Adding Camber this year has got me a little concerned, honestly. She is in the wonderful into everything toddler stage! While I think it's wonderful, it is also a problem sometimes. I am starting her in tot school this year with a lot of sensory play. But sensory play usually translates to messy play. While I'm sure she'll love dumping dry rice all over the floor; cleaning that mess is not on my list of fun ways to spend the afternoon. But, before long she'll be sitting in her little desk next to her brother and these tot school times will be fond memories of the past.
 The other thing that makes me nervous is splitting the attention between the two. I'm sure my training in teaching preschool will come flooding back on day one but right now I worry about covering all material for both of them. Lucky for me Mr. Butterfly is off work on Mondays so we'll be teaming up in the school room on Mondays!
I hope to get a post up soon with a school room tour. I don't have an empty room in the house to dedicate for a school room so it's a combination dining/ school room. I actually love having the dining table to utilize for larger projects though!
I'm still working on lesson planning. I've got the first few weeks done. I think I'll stop there for now to test everything out. If the way I've planned things is working for us then I'll continue on. If not, I'll change things up. That's the beautiful thing about homeschooling! You get to teach based on your individual child, not broad guidelines that may not work for every child.
Overall the excitement far outweighs the nervousness. I know all the planning and work that goes into homeschooling is beyond worth it. It's definitely not for everyone, but it's for us. Helping my little caterpillars learn and grow into beautiful butterflies is what this parenting journey is all about!

Lesson Planning

I am getting so excited for August! We've starting our homeschool Pre-kindergarten 2014-2015 school year on August 25, 2014! I am using a lot of material from Carisa over at 1+1+1=1. I'm am loving her Raising Rockstars Preschool program.
Pinterest has also be an amazing resource! I get on pinterest while I'm nursing to help pass the time. That site will definitely suck you in! There is a result for anything you could ever want to find!
I will be documenting our homeschool journey along the way. I hope that it will be a wonderful digital scrapbook of the school year.
I see a trip to ikea in my future for sure to get the dining room/ school room in class room shape!
I have a love/ hate relationship with the lesson planning stage right now. I have 1/36 done right now in terms of weekly lessons for Charlie.
I was going to plan our school week for Tuesday- Saturday since Daddy is off Sundays and Mondays but then I had a beautiful thought. I will absolutely have school on Mondays so that Daddy can teach too! I think it will be a great way to start off the school week if we are both involved. Also, not going to lie, it will be nice to share the responsibilities with someone else for that one day a week.
I have been doing tot school with Charlie since he was around 18 months. He asks to "do school". I've always done his school when Camber is sleeping. I don't know why, I have just used it as a way to keep him quiet I guess. This year I am including Camber! While Charlie works on Pre-k she will have her own tot school area! Her activites will coincide with Charlie's themes. I've also tried to choose things each day that they can both do together.
I'm going to work hard to keep up this blog throughout the school year.

Excuse me while I nerd out...

Ok, so I am a huge science nerd. I am not ashamed. I love all things science. I can not wait until the kids get older and we can really have some home school science fun!
I had a fit when I saw the new Science Fair fabric bundle  by Fabric Shoppe on Etsy. It is amazing and wonderful and I can not wait to order it!
I hope I get my hands on some soon, I would hate to miss out on this amazing bundle. I have already been thinking of quilt patterns to use!

Hello!

I have been thinking for a while now about starting a blog. All those little doubts have stopped me. You know, the usual ones everyone must think. Will anyone read what I've written? Will any one care what I have to say? Will I even have anything interesting to talk about on a regular basis?
Maybe the answer to all of those questions is no. Maybe this will not work out. But maybe, just maybe, it will.
I happen to love social media. I have made friends and connections that would have otherwise never happened. There are people that love my children all over the world. (and there are kids I love very much even if I've never snuggled and hugged them)
So, I hope blogging opens up even more opportunities for connection. I hope it becomes something I enjoy, and that others enjoy too!

I will start this thing off right: with an introduction!
My name is Athena. I am a wife and mother to two amazing little kids. I have a three year old son and a one year old daughter.
 I breast feed. I sew. I homeschool. I hike. I own a super awesome chameleon.

I look forward to blogging and I hope, eventually, I'll have interesting stuff to keep all of you entertained with!