Saturday morning shenanigans!

This saturday we woke up with the intention of heading to a neighborhood yard sale, only to find out when we arrived that is was just a bunch of junk and no real treasures as the add had promised. We moved on to our second stop, the farmer's market. Which was a very successful trip! We picked up some blueberries, strawberries, zucchini, yellow squash, cucumbers, kale, tomatoes, radishes and peas.

We're ready for our day!

Hayden loves peas!

I have a new found love of radishes!

We all love strawberries! 

Later on I made kale chips with the kale we bought. 

Easy and Yummy! 

EDIT:

Recipe for kale chips

a couple handfuls of kale (I measured by filling my colander)

1 TBS olive oil

season salt of your choice to taste.(I put it in my hand first to distribute it evenly) 

place on non-insulated baking sheet

on parchment paper

bake 10 mins on 300 or until they have crispy edges

June bulletin board, brought to you by Emily and Danyail!

Our Theme: Splish, Splash!

This bulletin board was all about team work! I came up with the general idea, the kids did ALL the art work and Danyail put it all together! And doesn't it look fantastic?! 

Historic Home Tour pt. 2

I had some realizations while on the tour of historic homes:

1. I LOVE old homes!! 

     I grew up in an older home and didn't appreciate it at all! I love the character and charm and details that you can't find in anything built after the 1970's. I know that where we will  move doesn't have a lot (or any) old homes. I also know that I am sacrificing an old home with tons of charm, for great schools where the teachers actually care. 

2. My children aren't going to grow-up with the diversity I had growing up.

My kids aren't going to have a best friend they meet in Pre-K that is half Italian and from NYC or a black, gay, male kindergarten boyfriend. These are all experiences I am darn proud to have had and people I am glad to know. I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little sad my kids probably aren't going to have some of the same kinds of experiences. The community where we will live there is very little diversity, however it may change and grow there is hope. They will also grow up around family that loves them.

3. I hate how close city homes are to one another and how a reputable neighborhood can be a block away from a not so reputable neighborhood. 

I love how in smaller country towns the lot sizes (for the most part) are huge, you have more than a drive way or small strip of grass between you and your neighbor. Also, in the city the nice part of town can be next to a cruddy part of town. In fact, while on the historic homes tour there was a shooting a few blocks down from where my mother and I were standing and we heard it  and when walking back to our car saw the suspect being arrested less than half a block from our car. Yes, you have ignorant idiots everywhere, it's just fewer and further between in a smaller sized town and not as likely to be on your door step! 

I just can't wait to finally get our own place. (don't ask me when, it's still a little ways off.) 

Until then, it's okay to dream and right now I'm dreaming about this cute little home. 

Historic Home Tour pt. 1

This past weekend my mother and I went on the very first annual tour of historic homes sponsored by Preservation Greensboro. My mom and I had such a great time touring all of the eleven gorgeous homes that were featured! I encourage all of my local friends to join this organization and help our town preserve it's history. (I know I have some activists reading!) And, if you don't live in the Greensboro area then join the preservation society in your backyard, or start one! 

My account of the eleven homes! (bare with me this might be a long post):

I'm going to go in the order I toured them, just cause!

The Brooks-Carmichael House

This home, while not my favorite on the outside, was drop dead gorgeous on the inside! It have the prefect blend of modern and antique decor and the best layout and renovations. This house burnt down in 2004, but look how they carefully and accurately brought it back to life! 

Pickett House

I love mid-century modern! This house was so cute, while very small is was almost all open concept save the bedroom and bathroom. This home at one time was in very bad shape but with some renovation it was brought back to life. Originally this home was a two bedroom but was converted to a one bedroom to have more livable space. 

Hewitt House

This home is very grand is the only word that comes to mind. It's huge and elegant! Not my style of house, but very well preserved. They even had the grand (it was very large) fire place in the living room completely restored to the original! My favorite part of this home is the sun porch, i have an affinity for lots of windows.

H. H. Felder House

This home was the first home in the state and the third home in the nation to use 100% GREEN renovations. The renovations were done by Southern Evergreen. Another great style of home, craftsman, which has lovely characteristics inside and out. Unfortunately these people used interior colors what were very typical of the time period in which the house was built, which makes it look a little out dated.

Cannon Court

This is a group of condos that where on the tour and they are super cute. We saw two units one was a one bedroom, one bath and the other was a two bedroom, one and a half bath. They were beautifully restored right down the the picture rails. The kitchens were tiny, however. There were other units for rent to all my renter friends in town! 

Sweeney- Penn House

This home is for sale by Preservation Greensboro, Inc. This home needs lots of love, it was the former home a little old lady hoarder who let it go to ruins (just about.) I went inside (they had cleaned the hoarding mess out of the bottom floor.) and it just need love, there is some really great potential here! They are also having a huge estate sale at some point to sell the hoarding mess. (there was some really cool vintage things) So if anyone knows anyone who has the time a resources please let them know about this amazing home!

Wilson Sisters Double House

This home was a duplex. I think it's beautiful the way if doesn't look like a typical duplex or double house from the outside. It is just as beautiful and magnificent on the inside. It really has the space of a single family home and not too mention the backyard of one! The lady that owns the home and lives on the side we toured was somewhat eccentric and had some fabulous art work. This home really reminds me of the duplex my grandmother lived in while I was growing up.

The Clapp House

This house greeted you with a marvelous front porch with natural wood flooring! On the inside well these people definitely didn't believe in less is more. They had decor in every nook and cranny, however it was all very nice things and not on the hoarding level. It had a great simplistic layout which was fairly open for the type for home. It had a gorgeous professional grade kitchen, that anyone who even sorta likes to cook would stop and gawk!

Tar Heel Manor

Oh my goodness I really liked this house and I think the people who live here are pretty cool too! (they lived behind me when I was a kid and then a couple blocks away for the past few years, now they live here) I just don't even know where to begin with this home, it was amazing start to finish! It was originally two different homes that have been put together to create this lovely, spacious and all around cool home! It has modern, it has old fashioned, it has everything!

Crutchfield House

I think this home has tons of character! It wasn't overly big, but by no means small. It was completely restored to its original (or original to the period) luster. This home was also very nicely decorated with a combination of contemporary and traditional furniture. This front porch also had natural wood (by this I mean it's not painted.) Which if I ever have a front porch of my very own I would like. (I took a picture of the wood, however I am being super lazy and not uploading my pics tonight!)

The Beasley House

Last but not least, the Beasley House. It's a traditional farmhouse style home. It looks a lot bigger on the outside than it felt on the inside, however it had some pretty nice features and you could tell they put a lot of work into restoring the home and keeping it updated at the same time. 

Starting from scratch...almost.

 In honor of summer we are changing somethings up a little bit. We are going to have one "big event" each day of the week. This serves as both an attention/ interest grabber and incentive for my friends to make good choices. (This was Danyail's ingenious idea, I just helped, and came up with the names so don't laugh too hard. :-P)

The schedule will be as follows:

Make-it Monday- We will do a handmade craft for them to take home or we will do a cooking activity during the day as a class. 

Tell about it Tuesday- The kids will bring items for show and tell. (sometimes based on out curriculum.)

What happens When-s-day- We will do a class science project.

Thinkable Thursday- The kids will bring a book from home to share with the class.

Frosty Fun Friday- The children will bring in a game for two or more players from home to play with their friends; we will also eat popcicles on Fridays. 

I know some of the names are a bit of a stretch, they'll work though. I also know that a lot of people wouldn't agree with us doing this (we're micromanaging some would say.) But, I believe that, as a teacher, you need to try different things with each class you are given. Every class is going to be different from the last. 

We will still be doing our curriculum along with our big activity of the day.

Skate World!

On Saturday the kids and I went to one of my students birthday parties at a roller skating rink. 

This was Hayden's first time roller skating. He had a blast!

Carly had so much fun she fell asleep! :)

It takes a village...

to raise a child! 

This was our message at church on Sunday and I tend to agree. We as parents and as people need to know when to ask for help and to surround ourselves and our children with people whom share similar values. 

Asking for help is a humbling experience, as most of you know we live with my parents. It's hard sometimes, but it's practical and sometimes practicality is what is needed and prideful tendencies have to be pushed to the side. I believe fully that pride can and will destroy you.

This is a picture of my kids that my mom took while we were at work/ running errands.