What a great week we’ve had! After taking last week off from formal education time, I really feel it helped refresh us all to get back to it this week. And things are looking good for continued productivity next week! A big part of our success, was moving into our classroom Tuesday. Yay!!!! It is at about 50% completion, but already it has been so functional! We’ll be retrieving a classroom desk for Weston from Houston next weekend and I need to add 2-3 bookshelves. Ashlyn loves having her big desk to work on and she requested to have it next to mine. 😉

The new space to get creative in motivated us to put together some fun projects this past week. We started out with some simple science of trying to change the color of a white flower through colored water absorption. Our previous trip to the rose Garden inspired that as well. We let them sit for a week didn’t see the dramatic results we were hoping for. The kids were blown away to see the carnation soak up so much color so fast but were disappointed in the performance of the daisies. I actually didn’t know it would depend on the type of flower!

While eating breakfast Tuesday morning, we finally saw a bird eat from our feeder we have set up outside our dining area window! And we had no idea what it was! A quick Google search revealed it was a Carolina Chickadee/Black Capped Chickadee and we were so excited to see a different bird from what we are used to. Aren’t they cute?! (Not my photo) We have since printed off a list of bird species typical to East Texas and have been recording each time we see one. I really hope we’ll see more of the unusual ones. I figure in a month or so, I can have the kids make a graph using our observation numbers.

We finished the week with a “Field Trip Friday” to Rusk. Mom met us and we walked the kids over a footbridge that is supposedly the longest in the nation. In Rusk, Texas! At 576 ft long, it was used by townspeople as a way to travel between downtown and their residences when the creek was out of banks. The entire area was gorgeous surrounded by homes that represented almost 200 yrs of evolved architecture. And the falling leaves raining down really set the scene nicely. The kids were just happy to run their behinds off. 😆

This weekend we’re going to take some playtime in Athens for Nathan’s birthday and then spend the rest of the time busting some butt on the mudroom. Hope I have lots of progress to report next week!

-Lindsay

There seems to be a common response occurring each time I share with someone local that we have moved to Brownsboro, TX from Houston, TX. “Really? Well it’s a whole nother world up here.” I usually respond with, “oh, I know and it’s a change we are so ready for.” I had my ideas before the move about small town living and country living and east Texas living. All of those stereotypes. We KNEW we were finding affordability in living expenses here, but I was not prepared for all these bonuses! I mean, this is East Texas, right?

For starters, humanity is alive here! I figured people would be nicer “in the country”, but I had no idea that it was going to be 90% of them! I have conversations at the drive thru window. The teenage sacker boys at Brookshires walk your cart all of the way to the car AND help load your groceries. Every time. They even talk to you and ask about your day while doing so and then refuse a tip! People are trusting here, which is taking some getting used to for me. One example in particular just happened Friday when the kids and I stopped in a local business in Chandler (the next town over) that had a variety of fruit trees outside. I was hoping to find an apple tree. After finding out that they sell the trees and in fact had apple trees, yet another nice gentleman loaded 2 huge ones (1 red delicious and 1 yellow delicious for pollinating purposes) into my car and I went inside to pay. Because I still haven’t learned my lesson to carry cash over card here, I was in yet another situation where I didn’t have cash at a “check or cash only” establishment. I started to tell the woman no worries I can take the trees out and come back now that I know what I want, she stopped me, asked me to sign the receipt and said I could just mail a check. 😳 What? Take your product without payment and then hope for it on good faith?? Needless to say I was back in that store at 8:30 this morning with $43.20 cash in hand! Yea. $43 for 2 huge apple trees that are twice as tall as I am.

Now let’s talk about the cost of things in general. I had no idea how much more affordable just about everything would be! There’s still some price gauging out there on the Facebook groups, but they’re usually pretty easy to avoid. I won’t go into a big, detailed list of everything I feel I’m getting a deal on here. Instead, I’ll just highlight my super cute new coffee bar! 😉 solid wood, countertop height and already refinished… $98! Found at an antique consignment shop. When we get the kitchen redone and do a built in line of lower cabinets to the left of the fridge, this cute thing gets to become a buffet in the dining area 👍🏻

Lastly, I don’t know if it’s the fact that it’s Fall or if there is ALWAYS this much to do around here, but I’ve had moments of being overwhelmed at all of the events there are to choose from! I’ve had to remind myself that we live here now and we can get to it next year. Last week alone we went to an Art Festival in Edom, a park play date in Tyler with a homeschool group, a pumpkin patch in Chandler and The Tyler Rose Garden. And I was pissed when I found out we missed the scarecrow trail in Jacksonville! 😆 The Rose Gardens are amazing! It commemorates Tyler’s history in rose production, which is extensive. Three fun facts! Before roses, Tyler was predominately in peach production. When an epidemic took most of their trees, they switched to rose bushes because they were worth more than cotton.  Tyler is home to the largest rose garden in the nation and October is prime season. It truly is stunning.

It’s only been a few months and already East Texas has exceeded my expectations. Who knew!? I didn’t and I’m so glad we get to call all of this home.

-Lindsay

The title to this post is my excuse for not updating anything for over a week. Haha! SO. BUSY! We started baby steps with a school schedule, Nathan started his new job, ripped more gross out of the mudroom, revisited Houston for Weston’s official birthday party and pet retrieval, AND refloored 70% of the upstairs. Whew!

Schooling “officially” started October 3rd.  It is going good. I want to say great because it is working, but using good because it’s not quite my vision yet. 😉 We’re working at the kitchen table and I have about half of my resources unpacked at the moment. Thank goodness for the Internet!

Ashlyn is reading a chapter book series and completes a journal entry after each book. We revise the entry together and she earns the “AR” points. I made a rewards list for her points and she is well on her to picking out a piece of candy at the grocery store! 😉 Math is review worksheets at the moment, but I was able to put together a money activity that she enjoyed. It was fun coming up with the variations of coins to make the amount. She even tried counting out 84 pennies! 😆 

Weston is working out of a couple different workbooks for alphabet and numbers. We’re focusing on recognition and writing. He has pleasantly surprised me with his ability to stay focused for an hour to 2 hours straight! It helps that his books are Star Wars themed. 👍🏻  I was able to get Archer to play with shape puzzles and blocks at first, but the new quickly wore off and he mostly hangs out with the iPad or plays with Weston’s Legos while I work with the older 2. I think he likes the uninterrupted playtime.

We haven’t formally done much with science or history yet, but we did manage a walk out back the other day where we discovered armadillo poop and collected a variety of pecans from the ground. We cracked them all open and found some with edible pieces inside! Weston and I were fans, Archer and Ashlyn not as much. My initial plan for a schedule was to do 2 weeks on and one week off year round. After doing 2 weeks straight with Weston, yesterday was his biggest struggle day. So I’m going to try the week off next week and when we come back to it, see if he is refreshed and ready or even more lax. And who am I kidding?! I like the idea of a week off every 2 weeks too! 😜

Before last weekend, Nathan and I ripped almost all the carpet out upstairs and pulled a lot more out of the mudroom. Turns out underneath the sink and vanity was just as gross as the shower! So needless to say the smell is definitely improving and this is how it sits currently.

We pulled the sheetrock down where the washer and dryer go and revealed a really cool shiplap wall! We decided to leave it exactly as it is. Nathan is going to patch the hole and install a floating shelf below it. What do y’all think of my mudroom accent wall?? 😄 

We left Friday and had a fun but exhausting and over stimulating birthday party at Chuck-e-cheese Saturday morning. It was a great wrap up for 2 weeks worth of 5th birthday fun for Weston. Sunday, we left from Nathan’s parents’ house with our Star and Skye loaded up. We also had a pop-up camper in tow, but I’m saving that for another post. 😉 The trip home was great and the pets did awesome on the 3 hour haul. The kids loved walking a dog of their own at Buccees. They settled right in at the house. Skye likes to walk the yard with us, but is happy to just lay in the hallway. Star is gone a lot, but she makes sure to visit when she’s hungry. I’m working on getting her a few male barn kitties to keep her company.

My wonderful husband has come home from work everyday this week and worked on something in the house. I’m pretty sure I can confidently say he is enjoying his new job. So far he has driven an ambulance through an obstacle course and worked on a radio in a helicopter! The kids enjoy all the pictures he comes home with. I’ve enjoyed eating dinner with my husband every night. 😍

The last few days, I completed all of the flooring in the kids’ rooms and got their furniture figured out. We’re not sleeping up there yet, but probably will be by this time next week. I’m also saving my before and afters of the kids ‘school rooms till after paint. Make it more dramatic, ya know. 😉

We’re off to Tyler today once the rain clears for our first visit to the Rose Gardens and a Target shopping trip. Gotta make those trips into town count!

-Lindsay

 

 

 

Nathan officially became a Brownsboro resident Tuesday last week and with his new job not starting until October 10th, I was chomping at the bit to make the most of his time off for him 😜. His mistake was asking me what I wanted to tackle first! It was a tough decision. I had gross carpet upstairs that was part of the reason we haven’t moved up there yet, and I had a gross, mildew-ey bathroom/utility room downstairs leaving the only available toilet upstairs and no washer/dryer yet. We both are very experienced in ripping up carpet and not much in ripping out bathrooms. So which one did I pick for our one day allotment of work?

The bathroom, of course! 😆

Somebody overhauled this space like in the 70s and never touched it again. There were obvious patch jobs in the shower/tub and that told us there was more than likely some funk back behind the thing. Nathan got to work on removing plumbing fixtures and sheetrock from the sides to access pipes for a shutoff. Ashlyn and I got to work demolishing the cabinet/countertop beside the door. We were kicking some ass on it and got to feeling pretty confident, so then starts the kicking of panels off. And then comes busted pipe number one… Fortunately I noticed the dripping from the copper pipe on the other side of the cabinet before it got kicked completely open and sheepishly alerted Nathan to the problem.

Honestly, things like this happen just to remind you every now and then what a great fella you’re married to. After a few head shakes and “maybe y’all should not kick things” comments, he was able to JB weld the crack. He later confessed that he kept the chewing-out in his head 😉.

Ashlyn got bored and was promptly replaced by Weston when he got wind we were going to punch holes in the walls.

Once all the sheetrock was pulled away, we were ready to remove the shower and bathtub. Nathan started cutting away at it with a sawzall and we quickly realized the source of all the funk. Piles of rat poop mixed with blackened insulation and mildew-ey boards was one nasty funk cocktail. 😵

We were all set to start cleaning that crap out and call it a day. All we needed to do was back the spicket pipe out of the tub and we could throw that last piece outside. And then comes busted pipe number 2…..the brittle PVC snapped in two and a power stream of water shoots straight up the ceiling. 😳 Immediately, Nathan tries to cap it only to have that piece blasted from his hand. He then yells at me to deflect the water from the ceiling and he runs out the door! I stick my hands over the blast and it shoots 50% back into the tub and 50% all over the floor. After about 2 minutes from when the water spout first started, Nathan got it shut off at the main. So at 6:30 in the evening, he makes the 30 minute run into Tyler because by that time our local hardware store is closed to get pieces to repair the pipe. By 9pm, all is repaired and water restored to the house. We set a fan in the room to move the drying process along and went to bed.

The following morning started our four day weekend down in Houston and we were happy leave that craziness for a few days. Besides, I had laundry to do 😜.

I’m going to end this rather stressful post with some cute pictures from having our first out of town visitors last Monday. 😍 We were so happy to see Kelli and Rebecca and thrilled they made the trip to see us so soon! I think I’ll make it a thing to take a photo on the porch of everyone that visits. 😄

-Lindsay