Wednesday, May 30, 2012

NAEYC Accreditation!!!

We did it!!! We received our NAEYC Accreditation - AGAIN!!! WHOO HOO!!!
www.naeyc.org

Not only did we pass -- We SCORED 100% ON ALL 10 CRITERIA!!!! PLUS, WE SCORED 100+% ON 5 OF THE CRITERIA!!!!

Let me tell you - that simply doesn't happen!!! It's truly unheard of to get 100% in everything!! Needless to say, we are all thrilled!!!!

My hubby has been so wonderful throughout this entire process!! He has loved and supported me at every turn and I am so blessed!!!!

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Sorry I haven't posted in a while. Last week was the last week of Preschool and this week is the first week of our Summer Program. I've been super busy!!

On Memorial Day, I dug a new flowerbed across the front of the house. I haven't gotten it all planted yet, but I'm working on it. I'll post pictures soon.

Til then.....

Blessings to you all!

Sunday, May 20, 2012

Front garden

It's been a while since I posted about our front garden. It's turning out really well. We're happy with it.
The garage wall has a desperado sage, a red Don Juan climbing rose, a container of moss rose, and the yew.

Pink and purple verbena wind around the path part of the pavers. The space to the right of the path is filled with 1 lavender plant and 3 bright pink salvias. White alyssum winds up towards the front door. Finally, we have pink dianthus in a container by the rock column.


Thrift store cowboy boots planted with yellow lantana and purple million bells.


Look at my little hydrangea now!! Looks like she's happy in this spot. Yippee!!


This little container sits beside the hydrangea. It has ivy that will hopefully run up the iron. It's underplanted with light pink impatiens.


Everything was planted for butterflies and hummingbirds. I'm ready for everything to start growing and flowering. It's going to smell heavenly!

Bridal Shower

We hosted a bridal shower for one of the teachers at my school today. She has a western/rustic/sweet theme. We tried out best to pull that off!! What do you think?
I covered the table with burlap and layered it with a pallet and pavers.


We used Ball jars with sand and candles.


Cowboy boots planted with yellow lantana and purple million bells.

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Faith Candles

Sorry I haven't posted in a few weeks. Work has been crazy busy and has taken all of my extra time. Even so, I managed to squeeze in a small project. Enjoy!
I found these brass candlesticks while out thrifting. Sorry - I forgot to take the first official picture -- ugly brass with some strange markings all over them. I lightly sanded them down and cleaned them up and grabbed my can of black spray paint.

Yup - I'm a rebel -- didn't prime, didn't use a special paint -- Nuthin fancy! Just a .99 can from Lowe's. It did take several coats and I would HIGHLY recommend NOT trying this in West Texas with a dirt yard - during a windy day! Augh!

I already had 3 small pillar candles. They were a mix of white and off-white. I knew I wanted to do something special. I just couldn't leave them nekkid!

The church I work at was giving away some old hymnals and I couldn't grab one up fast enough! DH and I love to sing, and we especially love to sing the old standards. The songs in this hymnal were perfect. I simply ripped out some of our favorite songs. I tore them into small pieces and lightly burned the edges.

Note: This smells a lot worse and smokes a lot worse than you think it will!! You might want to do this part outside. Just be careful - it's harder to see the pages burn outside! It's trade-off.


Love a good Mod Podge project!


First: paint a light coat of Mod Podge all around the candle. Next: layer the torn/burned paper. You'll need to add a touch of MP to help lay the edges down.

I stepped back and took a look -- then added a light touch of my walnut stain distress ink. I just pounced a cotton ball onto the ink pad and then lightly rubbed it right on the paper. There were just a few places I thought needed a little extra umph.


A thrifted silver tray and moss "rocks" from the Dollar Tree complete the vignette.

My finished project!! I love it!!