Friday's Inspirations!

7 Quick Takes

1. Over the years I've heard a lot of recommendations to keep a Home Management Notebook.  A Stranger in this Land brought that idea to me again and it is definitely something I know would be so helpful, but I've yet to do.  Maybe this is something I can tackle slowly over time.  Do any of you do this? I'd love to hear what you include in your notebook if you do!
2. Watching this video on Permaculture really piqued my interest in this subject.  I'm definitely diving in deeper and seeing if I can translate a bit of this to our suburban yard and garden.
3. Hubby and I started building our raised beds last weekend for our garden this year.  We had a lot of fun digging in the dirt!                                                                                                          
4. Loving this site for picking out what varieties of veggies to grow in our garden this year.
5. The Zilker Kite Festival is this weekend.  We've loved going each year!  Anyone heading out for this?  We're still undecided as it's on Sunday and that's a busy day for us.  But here are some pictures from last year's adventure and 2008 (pre-Corbin, hehe)!
6. Are you doing the Quilt Along?  I'm excited to begin!  This week was picking out fabric.  I finally decided on a few simple patterns with some solids.  Man it was hard to choose!!!                                                                               
7. I loved this guest post on Walk Slowly Live Wildly!  In fact, I asked my hubby what his "two things" were and he's getting back to me on that after some deep thought.  Have you ever asked this of your hubby?  What were his two things?

Friday Links!!

7 Quick Takes!

1. One of my goals is to finally go through the boys massive toy pile and do a bit of simplification.  Number one on my list?  Reduce the plastic and noise-making electronic toys.  I was inspired by this post on Bluebirdbaby.  What an awesome play environment she has set up for her little one.  I can't say our boys room is as peaceful - more like an over-stimulation nightmare!  Look for posts in the future on my progress with this.
2. For over a year now, I've been reading about hooping on a lot of my favorite blogs.  It looks SO fun, but a little intimidating too.  I mean, I'm not the most coordinated girl on the block.  But...I took the plunge and bought an adult hoop on Etsy.  Should be coming this week!!!  To say I'm excited is an understatement.
3. I loved this article at Apartment Therapy.  I am definitely in the camp of my current house or "decorating style" does not fall in line with my "dream" home/style.  Right now we have two small children who are messy and destructive.  The furniture and home items I buy at this stage have to meet certain criteria - 1. They must not show stains.  2. It can't be easily broken, nicked, torn, or scratched.  3. It must withstand spilled beverages, food, jumping on and off, kicking, running into, and much more.  My "ideal" home furnishings do not meet these criteria.  Hence, our entire house is from IKEA - cheap, black finish, sturdy.   It's good to remind myself that I will not always be in this season, and that one day my home will reflect my true self.
4. This recipe at A Stranger in this Land looks awesome!! I must add this to next weeks menu.  My favorite part about it is that there are no strange or expensive ingredients.  I hate those recipes with a list a mile long of ingredients you know you may never use again.
5. Oh my, this perpetual calendar looks so fun - and I'd love to make something like this.  I was so inspired, I even bought a wood burning tool!  I had a lot of fun last night playing with all the different tips and making funs scripty letters!  I'm going to spend a bit of time learning and then tackle this project! Definitely will put up posts as I go.
6. This was an interesting post on Art vs. Craft.  There can be a bit of snobbery around what is art or craft.  I happen to think each are wonderful in their own unique ways - and I love both!  
7. Two new books I ordered came in this week and I am beyond excited to read them!    Just getting one of these books has been an ordeal in itself!  I have never had trouble with the used book sellers on Amazon - but last week I had TWO snafus with two different sellers one right after the other!  I will save that story for a post -  but let's just say I was glad to finally have my books in my hands! I got Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder from Paperback Swap.  If you haven't tried this site it is awesome. Basically, you swap books for free with other members, just paying the cost of shipping the book.  As you send books to others, you earn credits to "buy" books.  Fun, fun!  And then my Home Education: Training and Educating Children Under Nine (Homeschooler Series) book finally came in from Amazon. 

Have a wonderful weekend!!!

These Are A Few Of My Favorite Links

Ala 7 quick takes style:

1. I loved this post I ran across on blog perception vs. reality.  I laughed hard at several of her examples, as I find myself guilty of some of them (i.e. straightening up the background of a picture, haha).  Don't take what you see as pure reality folks.  Not many people are going to show you their dirty laundry piles.  And when I have those great Ah-ha! moments during difficult circumstances, believe me - I was wallowing in it a bit first.  I do some of my best contemplating when I'm wallowing in self-pity. ;)
2. Once I get my house back in order from The Plague of 2011, I definitely want to make one of these - how adorable!  My Sewcial Hour has me thinking that I can sew or something, so we'll see - I will definitely be posting pics of any completed...or not so completed...projects.
3. Last week I posted my thoughts on my issues with admitting fault, and I was directed by Tamra to check out this article - almost a response of sorts to my open ended question!
4. This week at AWANA, Mark and Hayden are working on his Derby Car.  We had fun this weekend checking out all the cool design options like this, and this.
5. Walk Slowly, Live Wildly had some great thoughts on homemaking that I can certainly relate too.  She also sent her readers over here, for thoughts on finding comfort in the cyclical nature of our tasks - which I must confess there is comfort there, despite my complaining.
6. I've been enjoying this cute site for finding out which foods are currently in season - which means fresher, cheaper and often more local produce for my family!
7. After being quarantined in our house for over a week, I'm feeling the itch to simplify!!!  This post really gave me a starting place for some of my most productive simplifications and tips for how to keep things simple after you've purged!  I, myself, have implemented a give-away box (instead of a drawer) that I fill daily with "finds" from around the house.  It's one of the best "tools" I've got for working on my clutter problem.

Have a great weekend!!!