our thankful tree

hello, darlings!

how have you all been?

i don't even know where in the world to begin.

i have had about a million posts in my head swirling around but nothing has made it over here.

do you ever write blog posts in your head when you are lying in bed at night?

or when you get a RARE quiet moment during the day?

i do it ALL the time, but they rarely make it to the big screen(haha!).

i know for a fact that the Lord has prompted me to tell you certain things that have been on my heart, but i have failed to do it.

i have sort of been using instagram as a mini blog, but it doesn't replace me sharing the thoughts that are constantly running through my head, the meaning behind each photo that i take, or the lessons that HE is teaching me along the way.

i could litralee write a blog post for each IG photo,

but i tend to get overwhelmed thinking about it and so i don't do anything at all.

fail.

well, not today!

i'm going to start right here. right now.

what we did today.

and maybe someday i'll rewind and share some other really special moments we've been having, too.

if you would like to follow me on instagram, my username is mary_krause.

so, today we made a thankful tree.

a simple and inexpensive way to count our blessings.

because you can never, ever give thanks too much.

i started with an antique cast iron urn and a fake branch that i bought at 50% off from hobby lobby.

i think it was $4.

i know there are oodles of free branches outside, but this one looked really real(hubby didn't know it was fake), and i can reuse it over and over again.  that's my justification.  :)

my girls balled up paper and shoved it around the stick in the urn and then we added river rock on top.

you could use a ball jar, galvanized pail or a pretty white pitcher, too.  anything goes!

then i took an old trixie belden novel we had been using for other projects, ripped out some pages, drew a leaf template and started cutting!

we hole punched each one and then tied string to some of them for variety.

it sure didn't take long for the attitude to change in our home once the kids and i started writing down our lists of gratitude.

there's definitely something that changes in the air when you turn your eyes off of what you feel you may be lacking and focus on the many blessings that we already have.

our tree is already SO full of leaves!

the kids just kept adding to it all day long and it did this mama's heart good to see them get excited about what God has given us.

it's only day one and the branches are bulging(there's more now than in the picture below).

that's a very good sign.  :)

i don't have time for big fancy projects, and this one definitely passes the, 'i-have-so-much-laundry-to-fold- my-head-is-going-to-pop-off-and-i-need-to-make-supper-and-you-need-to-erase-those-letters-again-and-redo-them' test for this mama.  for reals.

hope you make one, too.

you're gonna love it.

xo,

mary

p.s.  want to know what i am really thankful for tonight?  living in a country where i can VOTE!  i am SO stinkin' excited to vote tomorrow i can hardly stand it!  i hope that you do, too!

bits and pieces

well, friends...

i wonder if you will soon tire of my home school posts? 

i hope not, but because that is what consumes most of my time these days and that's all i got.  :)

it's crazy, it's fun, it's chaotic, tears may be shed at any given moment, but it's so worth it.

here are a few bits and pieces of our day{s} of late.

hank and i doing the flashcard thing.
e reads e e e...emil the emu....

i just happen to love this notebook!
elly and i are going to frame it once it is all used up...dual purpose! :)

i love 'pretty' experiments. :)
botany is turning out to be awesome!
i'm learning just as much as the girls and we love it!

in history, the kids were learning about nomads, so we made our own cave drawings.
{aka} ripped brown paper bags, crumpled, then uncrumpled, and painted on.
nothing fancy here, friends.
pssst...they thought it was the bomb.

a lovely thrifted vintage dress that i couldn't resist.
can i get an amen for the thrill of finding a pre-loved treasure {for next to nothing}, repurposing it, and/or giving it new life and some love!?
it doesn't take much to excite me...can you tell i don't get out much?  hahaha....
...but really....ahem.
this sweet dress won't fit either of my girls and i'm pretty sure they wouldn't want to wear it{bummer}, but i'm saving it for something or someone special.
not sure what or who yet, but for now it looks sweet hanging in my living room.

love it!

and last, but not least, a sweet nest that i ordered from jami at freckled laundry.
she makes the cutest things and has a sweet etsy shop, too.
check out her site and tell her i sent you! she is super sweet.
the eggs in the nest above have my kids initials on them.
i really love it.

so there you have it.
a few pictures of what fills our days with giggles, tears, frustrations, and joy.
maybe, someday i'll show you the table filled with school books,  the mound of dishes in the sink,  the laundry piled to the ceiling, the toys scattered all over the floor, the boys running around in their undies, or a picture of me in my bedroom with the door locked.
it happens, friends. :)

thanks for stopping by today.  i really appreciate it!
it has been so much fun meeting so many of you and gaining encouragement and inspiration from you all!
i hope you all had a day full of blessings.

all because of Him,

"Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it."

Matthew 7:24-27

monday can be lovely

hi, friends.
how was your day{or how is it, so far}?
surprisingly, monday came in like a lamb and it has been rather productive and calm around here.
say what???
well, except when i {had to} yell at the kids{to keep working and stop running around} when i went downstairs to sweep the standing water.  oops.
they have radar, you know.
as soon as teacher steps away...the energetic kids will play.  :)

so, anyway, i have been really trying to focus on letting God rule my day.
after all, it is His to control, and life certainly goes smoother when i let Him take the cares, stresses, and burdens.

i wanted to share a few pictures of our {lovely} day.
not because of anything we did, all because of what He did.  :)

sharing{a teeny} morning coffee with the girls while the boys slept. 

i did some major cleaning this weekend, which inevitably leads to rearranging, 

which then leads to redecorating.  yay!
{except for the dusting part} ew.

here's a new school space we created in the dining room that is
much more functional {for me and the kids}
than the two new craigslist twin mattresses that had been laying against the same wall for weeks.
ahh...the girls room redo.  the project that never ends!  more on that later, though...

aren't those {thrift store} vintage flash cards adorable?

i'm also loving the string line that will serve as an ever changing art project display.

cutest little owl pillow i ever did see!

and my favorite dried lavender filled antique grain sack pillow. love!

jack officially deemed this area, 'his work station'.

no surprises here.  this kid is all business. :)

of course, by the end of school i was feeling crafty so we

elly whipped up some super sweet pinwheels out of vintage book pages.

love.
i'm pretty sure i'm going to have these everywhere!

i added them to the little banner we made last week from vintage hankies.

they were $.10 a piece at the thrift store and we just mini clothespinned{?}

them onto twine.

i love this, because i can change things out simply without having to sew or cut into precious fabric.

this is a big deal around here, because i have the attention span of a 2 year old when it comes to decorating.  

i love changing it up. :)

morning Bible reading favorite...

"...but with God all things are possible."

matthew 19:26b

i'm pretty sure that i cannot grasp the awesomeness of what this verse really is telling me,

but with His help, every day i will seek to find out.

if God says it, than it is truth! 

He really can do anything.

thank you so much for stopping by today.

i appreciate you.

:)

xo,

linking to 

inspirational wall art

hey, friends.
i have been totally inspired by SO many amazing blogs lately.
there are some majorly talented people out there and i love to gather inspiration from them.
i have been having so too much fun playing around on pinterest, too.
like i need anything else to distract me.  sheesh.
anyway!
i was inspired by some cute wall art that i have seen around the block...

awesome hallway gallery courtesy of young house love.

via

i love this guest bedroom and the inspirational wall art from layla at the lettered cottage.
i love everything this girl does. she is overflowing with creativity!
SO! i decided to make some of my own inspirational wall art.
they are all just ideas at this point, but it has been so much fun creating them!
i can't wait to put our new ikea frames to good use. :)
check it out...

can't you just see them all in different sizes and frames on a wall?  

{of course all these ideas have come from lines or titles of our favorite old hymns, or wise words that we never want to forget.  i hope i will  be greatly encouraged by seeing them everyday and put them to use in my life!  we all need reminders, right?} 

i want to mingle them with family pictures and maybe some fun numbers or letters?  

i heart numbers and letters.

here's a few i found on pinterest...

                                       via

                                                      via

oh! and i can't wait to show you the print that i ordered from this sweet girl on etsy.

she is amazing and has made me an 11x14 print for my wall, too.

imagine this.

i pinned her photo to my pinterest and she lives 40 miles from me?  

small world, eh???  :)

hopefully it won't be long before i can show you the end result!

much love.

xo,

Glorious perennials & Non-toxic Gardening

Hi, sweets!  

This time of the year is fun to me for so many reasons!  

First of all, we are ALMOST done homeschooling. *insert HUGE grin and fist pump* That would have to be the HIGHLIGHT of spring!  LOL  Don't get me wrong, I LOVE homeschooling, but when spring approaches, we all just want to be outside playing and working on outdoor projects.  We have SEVERAL in the works right now.  

Probably WAAAY more than we can handle!  :)  I'm sure you can relate.

After a long, cold, winter the baby plants are returning in all of their glory, peeking out buds just waiting to be inhaled and clipped for fresh bouquets.  I am particularly excited this year, because I planted a TON of clearance perennials last year(CHEAP!), and against the odds, they are THRIVING!  I said some major prayers for those babies, because they literally got plunked into the ground after it snowed!  YAY!  Among the things I planted include my ALL time favorite, *hydrangeas*, lilacs, lily of the valley, iris', lavender(another favorite), yarrow, honeysuckle, bleeding hearts, climbing roses, many sedum varieties, a snowball bush, a smoke tree, random bushes(haha) and more *hydrangeas*!   

Swoon.

Anyway, another reason I live spring is because I love projects!  Not just cleaning projects, but CREATIVE projects.  Example:  I love to take something old, neglected, and ugly and give it new life.  I have previously mentioned that seeing the potential in things can be hazardous to your health, marriage, garage, or in my case, all of the above!  LOL I'm just kidding, but things to do happen to pile up mysteriously until one day your husband asks where the lawnmower went.  Ummm, "Well honey, I think it's ummm.....somewhere under that pile of curb finds and junk furniture over there somewhere."  OOPS.  I have been blamed for creating 'garage chaos' more than once.  :) 

I will soon be posting about a $5.00 table that I bought at Goodwill.  It was pretty UGLY as is, but the transformation has begun, and it already looks SO much better!  I had my right hand gal, Eleanor, by my side painting away!  What a great way to bond with my TWELVE year old daughter(who is going on 23, by the way)!  

Ok, I'm back.  

Another project underway is a chicken coop for our little chicks coming in a few days.  YIKES!  We have big plans for this one...on a little budget.  We will be using recycled barn boards, an old door, and whatever else we can find for next to nothing.  Of course, it has to look Country Living cute, you know?  No shabby chicken coops over here!  LOL  We'll see what we can come up with.  I want it to look something like this...

Hey, I can dream, right?  :)

Well, as long as I WAS on the subject of gardening, I wanted to share with you another great way to use one of my favorite products in your gardening.  I think we all know how dangerous pesticides and herbicides can be, and Basic H is the answer to our organic gardening dilemma!  I got this list from a fellow, seasoned, Shaklee Distributor and I cannot wait to try it!  We even have several Amish customers who use and love the Basic H(CLASSIC) for their crops and trees.  :)

Here you go!

For Tomatoes: 3oz of basic H w/ 1oz of Liqui-lea and 5 gallons of water - apply after planting Trickler Systems: Flowers: 100 gallon systems - 18 oz of Basic H w/4oz of Liqui-lea, mix w/ water - Apply twice a week Spray Formula: Flowers: Mix ½ oz of Basic H with 1oz of Liqui - lea and 3 gallons of water. Spray twice a week Apple Scab: 1 quart Basic H - 100 gallons of water. Spray apples as you would lime sulphur. Spray at pre - blossom and at petal fall, then every 15 days, for the best results. Orange Groves: To clean irrigation lines: 2 7/8 gallons Basic H to 90,000 gallons of water Lawn Care: To increase water absorption 200%!! Buy an Ortho bottle. Fill this w/ Basic H and hook to your hose. Continually spray your yard, don't let it soak. Just go along your grass until it is gone. Fill again if it is necessary. Do this 4-5 times per year, beginning in April, making sure to also do it late in the summer Grubs: 1 ½ quart Basic H - ½ pint Basic G - 10-12 - gallons of water. Spray every 100 ft Use Ortho bottle or injector Dandelions: 100 sq ft - Use Ortho Spryer or hose w/ valve sytem - 2 quarts of Basic H - 1 bottle of Liqui-lea - ½ pint Basic G - Should be used with some form of liquid fertilizer. Apply twice a year Weeds: pull a bucket per day - a sick lawn supports weeds - a healthy lawn does not support weeds. Trees: nursery stock, seedlings, or seed beds: Mix 1oz of Basic H with gallon of water. Spray on whole seedling and around entire trunk. Apply every 10 days. 3-4 feet tall: Mix 1 quart of Basic H with 8 quarts of Water. From this mixture, feed at the base of the tree 1 Cup of solution twice per day for the first day , then once a day until the solution is gone. 4-8 ft tall: Mix 1 quart of Basic H w/ 6 quarts of water. From this mixture, Feed at the base of the tree. Use 1 pint of the mixture twice a day for 2 days and then 1 pint thereafter until the mixture is gone. Feedings are of a mixed solution. Do this 3 times per year. 8 ft an up: Mix 1 quart of Basic H w/ 5 quarts of water. Feed one quart of the solution each day until the solution is gone. Do this twice a year. Small Evergreens: Mix 1oz of Basic H with gallon of water. Add 1 oz of liqui - lea for proper vitamin needs. Spray on whole seedling and around entire trunk. Apply every 10 days. Evergreens: Add 8 oz of Liqui-lea to 8 ft an up Mix 1 quart of Basic H w/ 5 quarts of water. Feed one quart of the solution each day until the solution is gone. Do this twice a year Lawn Shrubs and bushes: For any type of evergreen shrub use 1 teas Basic H and 1 teas of Liqui-lea per gallon of water. Hard wood shrubs and small trees: Use ½ oz Basic H w/ 1 gallon of water. Spray once every 2 weeks or if insects appear. I hope this helps any of you looking for non-toxic alternatives for your gardening needs!  I plan on having beautiful gardens, naturally, LORD willing, and saving money while I do it! Click on the images below for more information and feel free to contact me with any questions!  :)               "The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever." Isaiah 40:8 Happy Gardening!!! P.S.  I would be totally honored if you would 'follow me' on this journey!  :)