The Combs Krewe

Now that school has started I've noticed all those little projects that I wanted to finished over the summer and didn't. So this weekend I got busy and completed two projects and got further on the third than ever better. Project number 1: A new pacifier keeper for Piper. I had Jathan's old one but it just didn't seem girly enough and then I'd gotten one at a flea market when we were in Alabama but it was excessively long and I didn't care all that much for the pattern on the ribbon. So I tried to copy Jathan's old one with some cute purple polka dot ribbon that I've had forever. My sewing wasn't perfect but I think it came out pretty good. Project No. 2: Decking out my cabinet doors. I'd seen someone (on Pinterest) fill an empty frame with chicken wire and I thought it was so cute. I had some leftover chicken wire from my chair project and I found some empty white frames at the SWAP shop that just so happened to perfectly match the mirr

Monday was the first day of the 2011-2012 school year here at the Combs Christian Academy! We started out our day bright and early--6:30 a.m.! While that's the norm for many families it is definitely different for us. We ate breakfast together and had a family devotional time then Keeleigh began her KONOS reading and Jathan (and Ryland) and I began working on phonics with his new phonics pad. Piper was a good girl and hung out in her Sleepywrap for most of the morning. I swear she LOVES that thing and I love having her close to me. After Language we all enjoyed a little break. Then we worked on Math. Jathan also worked on his cutting skills. Ryland tried to follow along but thought the scissors belonged inside his shirt for some reason! We moved around throughout the day sometimes working in the school room at our desks and sometimes reading in bed and other times we hung out at the kitchen table. Piper hung out in her wrap some more... This is what Math l

The summer that we moved to New Orleans I began preparing to begin our first year of homeschooling. I had decided that we would use Abeka books since that was the same curriculum that Keeleigh had use at the school she attended. They also seem to be pretty parent-friendly in that they contain detailed lesson plans that you can easily follow. I was feeling pretty confident and downright excited. One day I remember visiting the on-campus homeschool coordinator's house (can't remember why exactly). When I walked in another mom was leaving and we spoke for just a moment. She found out I was going to be homeschooling and asked, "How are you going to do that with him ?" pointing to then 11-month old Jathan. Actually I hadn't totally thought about that but I smacked a smile on my face and told her we were just going to do the best we could! And that's just what we've done all this time. I do my best and let God do the rest. I figure that way most of the burden

Like every journey there are some things you know before you even take your first step, some things you may never understand, and lots of things you can only learn as make your own way. Likewise it's important not to be afraid to stop and ask for directions from those more familiar with the territory. It's also important not to be afraid to get off the beaten path every now and again and explore uncharted realms. This is the story of the first leg of our homeschooling journey. Homeschooling is something that is relatively new to us. I'm not sure I'd even heard of homeschooling when I first had Keeleigh and I only ever knew two or three people who were homeschooled before we moved to New Orleans. Our family was blessed in that Keeleigh was able to stay at home with my mom who taught her a lot during their days together then she started kindergarten at a small private Christian school in our hometown. It wasn't until she was in 2nd grade, I believe, and I'd just

A while back my mom share a Better Homes and Gardens garden book with me and in it was the idea to turn an old chair into a planter. I kept my eye out for a chair at the SWAP shop and it wasn't long before one turned up! It was the perfect style and shape but unfortunately it had a very different paint job than what I was looking for. It looked a little folksy to me and was kind of cute but I decided to sand the paint off and use some of the left over paint from when I painted my accent wall in the living room. I borrowed a sander from some really great friends who were extremely patient with me since it ended up taking FOREVER for me to get all the paint off. Sanding off the paint proved to be more difficult than I thought it would be (story of my life, ha!). I have no idea how many layers of paint were on that chair. It was as if someone had 10 gallons of 10 different paints and tried to see how much they could use up. Here's a before shot with Keeleigh all prepped to gi