Soda Bottle Fairy House for watering your garden.

I love to garden and my garden at home has a whimsical feel to it. I felt it NEEDED fairy houses. So we made some. However since I like to make things that have purpose these fairy houses are also for watering your garden. Where we live in Arizona the ground is dry and these bottles are intended for deep watering. This will make it so that the roots of your plants grow deep in the ground where they will not dry out so fast.

Step 1: Find an empty soda bottle (we used 2 liters).

Step 2: Remove label.

Step 3: Spray paint the top half of the bottle (if you would like your fairy house to have windows so that you can see into the house put square pieces of masking tape where you would like the windows before you paint the bottle). Since the bottles are so light either hold the bottle at the bottom with you hand spraying the rest of the bottle away from you, or so that you don't get paint on you find a way to hold the bottle up (I used blocks that happened to be a perfect fit).

Step 4: After letting the spray paint dry, paint on little doors and windows near the top part of the bottle (the rest of the bottle will be under ground, it doesn't need paint).

Step 5: Cut small holes into the sides and bottom of the bottle with an exacto knife, this is where the water will drain out to water your plants.

Step 6: Dig a hole at least 8 inches deep (you want the majority of the bottle to be under ground).

Step 7: Put bottle in the hole and make sure it is deep enough into the ground (here the door is above ground I need to dig more). Once the hole is deep enough put the bottle in and fill the empty spaces with dirt. Pack the dirt fairly well around the bottle so that it doesn't wash the dirt away.

Step 8: Water down the dirt around your fairy house and fill the bottle as much as you'd like with water to help the dirt around it settle.

Step 9: Add stepping stones for the fairies to walk on and sit back and enjoy your garden.

being mom

Being a mom is... wonderful and frustrating.
...exciting and boring.
...smiles and frowns.
...pleasant and angering.
...fulfilling and empty.
...easy and challenging.
...happy and scary.


Sometimes I feel so lonely and then I remember that I have 2 children that are always with me how could I possibly feel so lonely?

I have been blessed with children that are good sleepers, yet I am so tired.

Today has been such a trying day. I have yelled numerous times and feel so angry, but why? Because I'm a mom. I am feeling the ungratefulness that is childhood and learning how to be grateful. It's just soooo tiring and frustrating. The constant complaining; I'm bored, I don't like this, I wanted ..., I want..., the list goes on and on and on. And all moms have been in this spot. How do we get them to be happy with what they have? How do we get  them to see that they have so much more then some? How do we get them to see that we are doing our best to give them everything they need and as much of what they want as we can. But they always want more.I just keep telling my self that one of these day they will understand, the true question is will I be in the asylum before that happens?

Creating the right school schedule

The hardest part of homeschooling has been figuring out the right schedule. What works best for the little man? What works good for me? What will the little lady be doing while I am working with the older one? How often should we do school work and for how long? There has been a lot of fine tuning over the past 2 years to figure this out and with this new change in life, will we need to make more changes?

Right now we have figured out that school work must be done while the little gal is napping (in a different room), otherwise it is like I am trying to teach the 2 year old how to write a paragraph (not happening, she's pretty darn smart but she's still at the scribbling stage).

Now I hate to admit this, but I am not the best at creating a bunch of lessons to teach him like I would for a class of 20 or so. I like using the hooked on phonics and other work books that I can find at the store and just add to those. People ask "What curriculum are you using?" I say what ever work book I can find at the store and what ever I feel like adding to it : )

I don't know what to say, I'm not working in a school where there are class sets of Houghton Mifflin books that I can just grab and teach him from. I know that there are companies that I can buy stuff from, but I would have to find that company, research what they have, see if it relates to where he's at, buy it , and hope that it's not a waste of money. Where as the dollar bins at Target have work books for a dollar and I can see right there if it at his level or if he will be there soon. No guessing, no research, no waste of money all this equals a happy momma and school work for the little man.

However my little man is not very self motivated, so how do I get him to do these work books? Most of the time by tapping on the book and reminding him of the task at hand. But I really am learning that he does best if I sit right next to him and read the directions with him, and guide him through the first part of every page. I just get so board. So today while he was working, right next to me, and the baby was asleep, I crocheted. I got another row of the enormous blanket for my husband done (each row is 315 stitches and so far the afghan is 123 rows, it's taken a year so far to make).Anyways it keeps me from getting board and a little warmer at night since the hubby likes to crank up the ac and we forgot to pack a warm blanket.

As for school work this seems to be working for now. We do about 2 hours of school work in a day, we do school work for 2 days then take on day off, and once a week we try to take a field trip. That field trip might be to a museum, the zoo, or maybe even the grocery store for math or science or art supplies. My husband loves that we get to teach him the real history and not what he learned in school and I just love that my little guy is advancing. He's excited about reading and more and more I notice him writing when I don't request it. For his age his right on track for where his friends at school would be (except writing, we still have a lot of work there).

This week we'll be going to check out a swamp nature center and get to learn about swamps. How cool is that. I get to learn so much more this way too. Will either of us ever head back to the class room? I don't know, I thought that was where I wanted to be but I never thought I would want to just teach my kids, the one on one is so much easier and I get to spend more time with them this way. It has also made it possible to go on the road with my hubby.

Fancy Smancy Milk Jug Pots

I mentioned a few days ago, in my post She's Crafty, that I would make a post about fancy smancy milk jug pots/ planters. I made a new one for my carrots just to take lots of pictures of the process to post for you. Yes you who is reading this post curious about what fancy smancy milk jug pots look like : )

1. So step one is to get 2 one gallon plastic jugs. And Sharpies!

2. Make sure they are empty and clean. We love our filtered water so when on the road we buy lots of bottled water and I find as many ways as possible to use those jugs and recycle the rest.

3. Cut off the top

4. Draw and color on your jug. Make it as fancy as you want.

5. Poke holes in the bottom for drainage.

6. Cut off top half of second jug to make a base. This will be used to catch the water that drains through.

7. Now draw on this part, make sure whatever you draw makes a band around the jug, with all parts touching. Color it if you'd like. 

8. Now cut away the part above your drawing, this is where it gets fancy.

9. With one of the extra pieces that was cut off, make a sign so that you know what you planted.

10. Add dirt, seeds, and sign to fancy smancy milk jug pot. Place pot inside of base.

11. Place outside or in window and watch your plants grow, and remember to water it.

She's crafty

I need music notes to go with that title.

Saying I'm crafty may be an understatement. What do I like to do? Well here's a list:

Draw
Paint
Sew; costumes, dresses, quilts, bags, purses, baby stuff, kid entertainment stuff (ie: elf ears for my son on demand), curtains, and whatever my sister likes to suggest.
recycled crafts; mobiles out of plastic milk jugs and metal hangers, milk jug garden pots, old tool box to new sewing box, tin can pencil holders, kids crafts, painting on hub caps and washing machine lids, I just thought about painting on the bottom of a frying pan a picture for my kitchen (but its a pretty nice pan I'll have to get an old used one from the thrift store), the list goes on.....
crochet; scarfs, hats, purses, blankets, shopping bags, wall hangings, this list goes on and on here too.

I don't believe that one craft is enough for me, this brain of mine likes to jump around too much to stick to one project, let alone one medium. Even when I am quilting I use multiple types of fabric, and when I draw I love pencils but chalk and pastels are fun too, oh and charcoal!

My goal this week is to post how to turn plastic milk jugs in to fancy smancy garden pots. My garden is currently all in fancy smancy milk jug pots, but the peppers and tomatoes will be upgrading to 5 gallon buckets that my husband brought home from work (they used to have mortar in them and I've brainwashed my husband into my recycling ways and into seeing out side the trash can, so he brought them home to me with out me even suggesting it, hee, hee). As for those fancy smancy milk jug pots I think I will color them and plant onions.

And if you'd like to see pictures I have a shop on etsy (creationsforewe.etsy.com) and you can find me on facebook at Creations for Ewe.

Why didn't we do this sooner?

For years we have been thinking about getting a trailer and going on the road. YEARS! And now we have finally done it. Tonight as I make dinner, my husband is outside with the kids watching the boy ride bikes with another boy from down the road and I think to myself, life is wonderful and why didn't we do this sooner?

All the reasons that could possibly stop us did. The house that we own (can we really afford both or are we really willing to give up the house?), pets (the dog back home that my dad wanted to stay with him, cause he needed to protect the house), school (kid in school or when I was in college), work (I keep trying to get jobs to help out at home and to pay off my student loans), family (our parents and siblings), ... but isn't our marriage and family just as important? We finally decided it was. We missed each other and decided that something need to change and we needed to spend more time together. That was how we spent our 9 year anniversary and 6 months later we bought a travel trailer, and now we are all on the road for a 2 month job 1,200 miles from home.

There are so many possibilities on where this will take us, but of all those possibilities a closer family with lots of love is where it is starting. And that was the goal :)

Homeschooling

Homeschooling never crossed my mind until my son was 4, I was about to finish college, and was seriously missing my husband. We thought about the possibility of going on the road with him for a few years while the boy was young and I could home school him. I was just finishing college to be an elementary teacher after all, and was loaded with information on how to teach.

However, I ended up getting a long term substitute teaching position for the fall semester right after I graduated and the little man was ready to start kindergarten. So I enrolled him at the school I would be working at, it was a great year for me but not so much for him. My little guy is full of energy and trying to sit in a classroom was quite a challenge. Things were not going to well for him, he was young (just barely made the age limit for starting school that year) and when my father in law passed away he regressed so much that I decided that redoing kindergarten would be a good idea. However for convenience I had him change schools for the following year. That was a huge mistake and I ended up pulling him the 5th week of school when he had been put on the wrong bus for the third time and the principal was like"well accidents happen", I was like"well he's 6 and it's only the 5th week of school so Good bye!"

So homeschooling begun and I had my little lady and life was going well. The little man was learning to read and we were able to spend more time together as a family. I was able to take the kids with me and visit the hubby when he was on near by jobs (with in few hours drive). The next year I got a job teaching, he went back to school, and the little gal went to a friends house for the day. Another horrible mistake! The school was opening for its first year and had no supplies to do so. I was given a classroom with 8 tables and 25 chairs and that was it. No books, no paper, no white board! How do I teach with NO supplies. Then the night before school started was the open house, I found out who my students were and their names for the FIRST time by them coming into the room and introducing themselves. Yeah!?

I found out that night that I would be teaching a combo class of first and second graders. Ok I can do this. I've taught (subbing and after school tutoring that is) kindergarten, first and second grade. I can do this, I hope.

The first few days went well, I did some basic assessments and getting to know each other activities, but these kids were at totally different levels and I was having a hard time figuring out where each one was  so that I could know what to teach them next. SO I did more assessments. Another week of assessing in and a parent wants to talk about all the assessing. "Why are you still assessing my child the second week of school if they had to take a test to get into this school? Don't you get those results?" No I did not get those results and what test is she talking about, my kid didn't have to take a test and he's in the class next door. Lets just say that things got worse form there. I had to bring all of my own supplies to teach with including stopping by a copy store to have worksheets for my class for the week. After my nightly complaining for 2 months and wanting to cry because my first classroom was a nightmare my hubby said it was ok to quit. So I did and so did 2 other teachers that weekend. I was not the only one who thought it was crap.

So back to home schooling, for a few weeks until I got my little man back into a great school. This year did not go well for him either. By the end of the school year I was teaching him for 2 to 3 hours after school each day to keep him on track with the rest of his class, so that he wouldn't have to repeat first grade too. He had already done kinder twice and the thought of first grade twice was not going to happen. So after having some serious discussions with my husband and doing some research we decided that homeschooling was a better idea and his Dr thought so too. So far we have been at it for a total of 2 years and this past year has really been a learning experience of what works best for us. What time of day to do school, how long to teach, working on independent work.... yade yada.

I see success for him and our family. We finally bought a trailer so that we could go on the road with my hubby, something that we though about doing 4 years ago. I am super excited, I get to home school my children and show them the country at the same time. The kids will get to learn history and geography by visiting museum and historical sites in the different states that we go to. Today's field trip will be to an old sugar plantation, we get to see slave houses and get see what it was like.

Gardening

At home, in sunny Arizona, I have taken over my whole front yard and it's one big garden. Eventually the back yard will be part of the garden too, right now that is the dogs domain. However I find my self missing my garden right now and we have only been on the road for a week. This is the first time we have gone on a job with my husband. He travels often for work and can be gone for a few days to a few months at a time, so we have decided to go with him. This current job is supposed to be 6 to 8 weeks in Louisiana.

So this is the garden at home:

Plants: watermelon, cantaloupe, pumpkins, mint, cilantro, parsley, tomatoes, basil, spinach, okra, corn, green beans, yellow squash, zucchini, grapes, strawberries, green leaf lettuce, chives, oregano, thyme, peppermint, and rosemary. Also marigolds are randomly planted around the garden in hopes to keep the aphids down.

Now for the garden on the road:

Plants: basil, mini bell peppers, and patio tomatoes.
I also have some green leaf started that I hope to get in a planter some time today or tomorrow.

At home there is a huge composting pile but I can't really do that in an RV park, or plant my garden in the ground. So the plants will be in planters, aka old milk jugs, and my composting will be from worms in a bucket.

Here are the happy worms:

It has all just begun, lets see how it works.

About me?

Life brings us challenges and we can make lemonade or we can complain. I chose to make lemonade and have decided to create this blog to document those challenges and exciting times in life, who knows maybe I'll be famous because of this blog and the crazy things I do :)  I could only hope.

So just a little bit about myself, I call myself a green bean because I have been "green" since before it was called "green". I recycle everything I can, the trash system at our house is quite complex (can it be composted?, can it go in the terracycle can?, can it be recycled?, and if it doesn't fall into one of these categories then I guess it can go in the trash). I have tried gardening many times in the past and think that I finally have it figured out and my garden at home is growing great. Of course so now I decide to go one the road with my husband and I miss my garden at home and wonder how in the world do I garden and do all this recycling in a 30 foot travel trailer with my husband, 2 kids and all my sewing crap ( cause I love to sew and crochet too).

Lets see how it works.