Ready for some shocking Country home photos?

I cant believe it was almost three years ago that I purchased this acreage with all the trash and the burn out mobile on it, and then later bought an old mobile home in cash to put on it. I got moved in and busy! Here are some before, and so far pictures. So far instead of after since we don't have the new roof on the house yet. When we do the before and after pictures should be quite remarkable. Even the satellite photos look so good with all that mess cleaned up!

Before: the old well house, barely standing shack in the background

Before: burn out mobile home


Today so far pictures:

And the best thing is I use cash for this so I don't owe anyone a dime so far. I hope to have the roof on this summer sometime.

Hair Bows! Bowdabra!

Last year during my daughters cheer season I stumbled onto Bowdabra! I fell in love instantly, and continue to create bows for packages and hair. I can't wait to get the construction finished on my house so I can have a craft room partially dedicated to bow making!

I have even had a bow party for the cheer girls last year with our three Bowdabra's and 8 high school girls, it was so much fun and the girls left with about 10 hair bows each for cheer season!

Here are some pictures you might enjoy!

My Workstation! Three Bowdabra's one mini, one mini with ruler 1 giant Bowdabra!

Cheer pony for basketball season

OSU colors for the OSU student

For me durring Dr Suess Read Across America Week!

Read Across America Pony!

Cheer Bow we added State to one side and Coyle to the other for state final basketball game Coyle came in 2nd!

Piggy tail bows Dallas Cowboys

Football season cheer bow

The Grinch, for Read Across America Week

Dallas Cowboys

I add hair bows to Christmas Gifts 

For me Read Across America Week

Sam I am, Read Across America Week!

Hair Bow added to Christmas Package

Christmas Hair bow

Hello Kitty

Hair bow on Christmas Package

not my favorite bow

hair bow on Christmas Package again

Largest bow made so far

My favorite 2013 Christmas package hair bow Rock Star!

I love this one too, nice hair bow!

Fuzzy Hair Bow

Christmas 2012 Hair bows for Kasidy, I can't find the on package pictures to share enjoy the bow-head picture instead.

Valentine's bow Snoopy for Kasidy

Are you on bow overload yet? I wish I could find the package pictures from last year. I had all of Tatum's packages wrapped in OSU wrapping paper and matching OSU color hair bows to match, and all of Kasidy's package bows as well.

Coupon Class Went Well

Just a short update on my little coupon workshop. I had 8 or nine people attend, that was exciting! My Power Point kept me focused. I was nervous and fumbled some... If I do it again I would like to add a slide about getting one's first grocery store trip ready. Offer up a time to all go to Homeland together like a field trip. Give everyone just a quick little check list that allows someone to feel more prepared, and a little less nervous about their first trip to the store. I really pushed the coupon closet website as that the shopping list service I use.

I had two people who attended tell me they left the workshop and went to Walmart to buy the supplies they needed to start their own box. I also had teachers in my room that had not been in there before, always a plus when your new to the district :)

Teaching a Coupon Workshop

I will be teaching a coupon workshop this week to my fellow teachers at my school. The principal and vice have asked me to do so. I am really nervous about it. I worked on a powerpoint. These are the topics I plan on covering:

Where to find coupons:
Newspapers
websites
peelies
loadable cards
Walgreen's coupon booklets
homeland care books
weekly adds with coupons

Organization 
How to create a coupon box.
How to save time cutting and filing coupons.

Planning a shopping trip:
Using coupon matching service like Coupon Closet (local) and I heart the mart (national)
Creating a shopping envelope for the trip vs. taking the whole box

Shopping:
picking a store to get started
frequent shopper cards
Know your store
browsing the clearance isle

Unusual coupon finds
milk
pool chemicals
meats

Stocking up on good deals

Tracking your savings

Did I miss anything???

The Makings of a Solstice Garden

I read about solstice gardens and directional gardens in the Farmer’s Almanac and instantly fell in love with the solstice garden!

What is a Solstice Garden? 

Well, a calendar/rock garden that denotes a garden calendar. How it works is the shadow of a tall stationary object is cast on other small stationary objects on the solstices and equinoxes of the calendar year, also you can put rock markers on special days of the year like birthdays and anniversaries.  

Getting Started:

My 90 year old Grandmother “Nanny Jean” was woman of the year for Beta Sigma Phi. The ceremony was held at a tea room/craft and antique mall in Lindsay Oklahoma. While waiting on the program to start I did some browsing. I found a great iron trellis with a pink ball on the top of it, I had to have it, it was perfect!

I placed it around my property and watched the noontime shadows on days I was not at work and decided on a general place I wanted to put in my special garden. In December I finalized my plans I found the terraces permanent location. I also made sure the corners of my square trellis is directional noting true north at one corner, I used a compass for this step. I also decorated a temporary rock to mark the winter solstice 2012 at high noon. I hope to find something prettier in the future.

Now I know what you’re thinking and it’s not true!! Until I started reflecting on this garden this very day I did not realize that I placed the rock at high noon on the end date of the Mayan Calendar and on the day our sun is aligned with the center of our Milky Way…. but now that I do realize that it makes this whole thing so cool!

So… What’s Next:

Well the spring equinox of course.  Now that I have marked to winter solstice and my trellis has marked it’s longest shadow to be recorded I have a general idea of the area my rock garden must have. I did not lay down any landscaping material first, and I will likely need it so I will have to do that next and create the border rocks around my shadow casting area and I really would like to find a few really cute things for marking each important date of the year. I once decorated a pot for my mother and I purchased a metal garden spike with a wire and glass butterfly on it. I would love to use something like this for family birthdays.

I promise to keep this updated each calendar addition until complete!

Misty Dawn

Character, Setting, Action!!

I love the story The Meanest Doll In The World. I love to teach about social issues through literature  Meanest Doll can help children learn how to deal with characters like Mean Mimi in their own lives.  In the end The meanest doll causes so much trouble for the other dolls they start making plots to capture her! However, the meanest doll falls into her own trap, as she gets caught she pays the price for her behavior.


Here is a sample of the story from the book.

I make a brief stop in the book where the dolls are making plans to catch Mean Mimi. Meanwhile I insert a special Reading Rainbow's Stay Away from the Junkyard episode and Michael Ives!(available at Discovery Education) At the end of the storybook Burton introduces us to Artist Michael Ives who makes a moving story box~ and we have inspiration for a project!!

This clip is not the whole episode from Reading Rainbow 

is a sample of the story book, not the Michael Ives vignette. 

The Assignment: Create a moving story box, or diorama if you prefer,  that shows your plan to catch Mean Mimi, lesson focus on character setting and action. We did this in 5 steps:

1. create a written plan to trap Mean Mimi
2. confer with teacher about the plan
3. setting day: create the setting in our story box
4. create the character of the story box
5. create the action of our story box

*Like  Michael Ives, we create our diorama with materials we already have, we don't purchase new things! 

When we finish the boxes we finish the book, my kids were shocked that the nice dolls trap plan wasn't needed after all, and we have a talk about  how the Mean Mimi character, and people acting like her are setting their own traps!

Hello Again!

It has been so hard to keep up with my blog in the new school year. So I have come up with a plan to help me reflect better on my life goals and to keep track of my daily happenings so I can better improve on

The goals I have in my life are in line with all the tabs I started on my blog.

Tab Country Home: My goals for my home are partially finished, after all finding the right property with the least population and land needs. The property I found was a terrible fright with all the mess that needed cleaned up. I have done a lot of that and we are now in the building stage. I hope to finish the house in the next two years. Some of the goals for my country home overlap my critter and gardening goals as well.

Coupons: I like to be thrifty. Let’s face it teachers don’t make the kind of money that allows one not to be concerned about the price of things, and I am ok with that. Anyone can make smart choices in shopping if they really put some thought into it, so my goal is to be as thrifty as possible. These goals in my coupon tabs also overlap with reusing!

Critters: What homestead is complete without proper farm animals. My goals include a chicken house with a variety of breeds of chickens, ducks, peacocks, and turkeys. Goats for meat, grazing, and milk.  Pigs for the butcher and horse and buggy.

Fishing (and hunting): I am hoping to find close areas that I can fish well. We are wanting to bow hunt as well on our land. We also want to forage for local food sources, I may have to change the name of this tab to something else in the future.

Gardening: I have a ton of goals here lets start with structures. I want a green house and a drying house I want a small vineyard area large veggie garden including many varieties of veggies that can be stored over time. I want an herb garden as well. I want to irrigate my property and let’s not forget landscaping. Including a directional garden a calendar or solstice garden, water garden and the initial presentation of my property needs to be beautified!

Repurpose: Who likes trash everywhere, not me! We have no trash service I don’t want piles of trash around nor do I want to burn everything. I want to learn to reuse things property including composting.

Teacher Tab: I started this tab just for a book study I wanted to take part in over the summer but I think it would be a great idea to keep it going by using it to reflect on my projects and ideas I am working on not to mention the new education program I will be entering into to get my administrators certification added to my certificate.

Monday  __________

Teacher Tab Tuesday

Wednesday Welcome Home

Thrifty Thursday couponing and reusing

Friday Fun: fishing gardening critters

Saturday ________________

Sunday _________________

On Tuesdays I am going to put something in my teacher tab updates on projects and ideas I am working with from the décor, organizing, to class projects course work ect. Followed by Wednesday Welcome to to my country home where I will update my progress of creating a homestead for the family. Thrifty Thursday will be used to share in reusing/recycling and couponing for products in my life.   Friday Fun: Where I will update on my progress of my goals in critters, gardening and fishing (hunting foraging/wildcrafting)

I am thinking about adding a bowdabra or a craft tab for Sunday’s, we will see if I can keep up with this first!

I will start with this Tuesday, hey New Year’s!!! This must  be my resolution!!!!!!!!!!!

Love Always,

Misty Dawn