Schoola is an online thrift store and fundraising platform for schools to raise money to support their school. The money raised can go to save programs like art, P.E., and music. I loved all the extra curricular programs my elementary school offered when I was growing up, and while my girls don’t go to traditional school, they are still part of a local, public, charter school, and get to take part in some of their special programs. I try to expose my kids to as much as possible to help them explore what it is they love.

When I think back to my years in elementary school, my fondest memories are the school plays I was involved in. I consider myself a pretty shy person now, an extroverted introvert, but I think I was less shy in elementary school. I remember auditioning for plays, though I never got the lead I wanted, I always ended up the narrator. I still remember the last line of one of the plays I was in … “Have a happy!” I tried to say it with as much gusto as possible. I enjoyed practicing lines with the other kids (probably because we got out of class to go to play practice), and all the happy nerves that went on right before show time. I remember the hustling about backstage and peeking out to see my parents in the audience. It was the best feeling.

The girls take a theatre class through our charter homeschool program, so they still get that school production experience. They have a play at the end of the year, and my girls have been telling me that theatre is their favorite class. Since they’ve taken to it so much, we decided to work on our own little production at home. We just finished reading Little House in the Prairie, and I had the girls pick out their favorite scene in the book and turn that into a script.

They studied their Bella and the Bulldogs script, and the one from their upcoming school production, combined the two styles and wrote theirs out. Then, once they had their script, they held auditions. They took this task pretty seriously, and assigned all the parts, but then Glow got fired from her part. I think she was fine with it because she wasn’t taking direction very well.

True and Brave turned the playroom into their backstage area and it’s filled with costumes and props they plan to use. When they rehearse, they clear out the living room, so they can use it as a stage. They were telling me all about how they planned out the “blocking” and they each take turns directing. They said they need to practice a little bit more until they are officially ready to present their show to us.

Even though we homeschool, my kids are still able to have lots of similar school memories to the ones I had. Not only do they get to perform in school productions through their charter school, but they get to make their own productions at home too. This is one of the glorious things about homeschooling, we get the freedom and flexibility to explore areas they really love. This is one of the reasons we homeschool. I know it’s not for everyone, but it’s right for us right now (and yes, we have plenty of bad days too). No matter if you go to traditional school or homeschool, it’s important to help save (and encourage) enrichment programs at our local schools, so that’s why I’m joining the #WhyISchoola movement.

Once they present their little show to us, I will be sure to report the outcome. I can’t wait to see how they bring their favorite scene from the book to life.

on true: top, eBay. leggings, c/o schoola. on brave: tunic, old navy. leggings, c/o schoola. on soul: tunic, old navy. leggings, c/o schoola.

To make our large piece of modern art, I used 2 1/2 yards of black-out lining fabric. It’s a type of fabric that goes behind curtains to block out the light, but it has a canvas feel. It’s found in the home decorating section of the fabric store, and with a coupon, I got 3 yards for $12, so it made this large painting really affordable.

I cut down the width a little, then folded down the top, and sewed a panel for the dowel to go through. I attached a string to the dowel and hung it. Then, I let the girls go to town painting. I chose the color scheme, handed each girl a bowl with some paint, gave them a designated area to paint, and they worked their magic. I put a large piece of plastic on the ground in case paint spilled, and the fabric is so thick that no paint leaked through.

We had been reading a book on modern art for our art study, so this was their own collaborative modern art piece. I love the art my kids create; I think adults tend to overthink art, and it comes so natural to kids! If you ask each one what they made, the portion they painted has a little story. Brave painted a waterfall, True made a group of fish blended together, Soul made shapes, and Glow just had fun making lines. It’s all so random in the best way possible. This big piece of art was perfect to spruce up the playroom, but it makes the perfect picture backdrop too.

This week’s learned, links, and thankfulness…

This past week I’ve been reminded how life is so fragile. We have a dear friend in the hospital, along with my grandma in the hospital too. You really never know what life will bring, but we ought to be prepared to trust God because He is the only thing that is faithful. He brings peace, joy, and comfort through all circumstances. Our life is a tiny blip and we ought to not waste it.

And being reminded to not waste our life, this article by John Piper and his continuing passion to keep spreading the good news at 70 re-engergizes my heart and makes me excited for the future. Should the Lord allow me to live to the age of 70, I want to never retire from making Christ known, but may my zeal be ever resolved to keep going. The article really shifted my idea of retirement.

I want to macrame a beautiful piece like this, but first I need to learn.

This roasted artichoke looks and sounds delicious.

I want more walls filled with kid art in our home.

Grateful for new challenges … I’m speaking later today at Hope Spoken conference in Dallas, and I’m freaked out, but God is teaching me to rely on the spirit and that’s it not about me at all. Praying God uses a messy person like me for his glory!

I came early for the conference so I can hang out with some of my friends here in Dallas. I’m so thankful for friendships, and that even though you don’t see each other for awhile, things always pick up where they left off.

Excited to go home tomorrow and hear all about Ben’s week with the girls. He was flying solo this week, and this is an experience even I have never done. I left him with charts and schedules, so hopefully that made things easier for him.

It was a longer list of things and thankfulness to share this week, but I hope it leaves your heart encouraged!

This post is brought to you by TargetStyle. Shop the new Home collection in stores and online.

Our guest/playroom got a little update to make it a more welcoming and cohesive space. We recently put in an antique cast iron bed (the previous one got moved upstairs), and behind the mountains are the girls’ toys. Other than that, I didn’t feel the room had a strong personality. The side with the globe collection felt complete, but there is this little alcove with a blank wall on the other side, and I never knew what to fill that space with. In the meantime, their little cardboard “store-front” gets kept there. The girls play here a lot (proof here and here), so I wanted to spruce it up for them and for when guests stay over.

I knew I needed a big plant (plants always do wonders to a room), a cozy chair for the kids, and then something for them to hideaway in. Their cardboard storefront could get moved to the closet, and they could take it out when needed. The kids requested for more pillows because they like to sit on them when they’re playing on the floor (they’re always taking the cushions off our couch and using them on the floor).

Target’s new Pillowfort collection came in handy for some of the things we wanted. What immediately got our attention was the teepee. It would make the perfect hideaway spot! True lobbied for the corduroy beanbag as a reading chair. Then, we picked up a bunch of colorful pillows (this tassel one and this coral one), and Glow carried home the knit alligator.

The hard part was figuring what art work to go in that alcove. We are studying modern art in homeschool, and then the girls said, “We should make a big painting!” and so that’s exactly what we did. Now, the painting came out really colorful, so we needed to move the chicken and lamb painting out, and needed something simple on the wall next to it. Thus, I painted a simple saying and put that in a white frame. We were all excited because for the first time, that little corner was looking so pretty and inviting!

True and I set to fixing up the room together. All Brave wanted to do was read her Nancy Drew book, and Soul and Glow played while we worked. After we had all the pieces, especially the artwork, the room came together pretty quickly. I think that big piece of art really inspired me; it was just what that room needed. If you’re in need some amazing art, let your kids go to town on a canvas. I think kid art is the best kind! I placed the large palm in the corner, in a basket I already had. We opened up the teepee, True put in some pretty pillows, she placed the beanbag where she wanted, and there you have it. It was ready for play!

True and I gave each other a high-five for a job well done, and now we’re ready to conquer our next design challenge.

This post is in partnership with Target. Thank you for the time you take to support this space and the brands I partner with! 

Back in December, the girls and I, along with the BFF and her daughter, went to check out the set of Nickelodeon’s Bella and the Bulldogs. Not only were we able to see the sets, but we got to meet the cast and watch them rehearse the season 2 finale. This is the only live action show my girls watch, so this was an especially big deal. I didn’t tell the girls because I wanted to surprise them. Once we drove into the Nickelodeon lot and saw all the signs for Bella and the Bulldogs, they were freaking out. To others, this freaking out manifests in quiet, wide-eyed wonder with little smiles (they’re yelling on the inside), but when they’re alone with me, it’s lots of excited chatter and squealing. The BFF’s foster daughter, who’s definitely an extrovert, was enthusiastically chatting with the cast and our tour guide about how much she loves the show.

As we walked around and got a tour of all the sets, we got to open up all the lockers they use on the show. I was giddy with joy as I watched the girls be mesmerized by it all. I was imagining my kid-self walking around the set of Saved by the Bell, and oh man … what a dream that would have been!

After checking out the sets, we met the whole cast. All the kids were so friendly, and while my kids were quiet, BFF’s daughter led the charge in conversation. It was so strange seeing them in real life because they seem so little on the computer screen.

The day ended with getting to experience the rehearsal of a full episode. There was a lot of walking back and forth between sets; there are so many people involved! The kids got to be front and center to watch, and the adult staff on set were noting if/when the kids laughed. When everything was done, our kids got their own scripts. Since then, True has read that thing like 20 times.

Ben’s cousin is one of the creators of this show and arranged this visit for us. It was such a treat be able to experience this and it was pretty amazing to see the whole thing in real life. I remember when he first passed around the pilot script for family members to read. Then, when the first episode came out, and we watched it for family movie night, I kept crying because I was so happy for Gabriel (Ben’s cousin). To see someone’s dream come true, especially when it’s a family member, is so special.

We have our fingers crossed they get picked up for another season. If you haven’t already tuned in to watch Bella and the Bulldogs, we highly recommend it!

Can you guess Glow’s favorite part of the day? The life-size Yoda in the office. Actually, all my girls loved Gabriel’s office because it was littered with Marvel and Star Wars stuff.

If you’re in SoCal, you will want to check out the Fallen Fruit maps to see if there is an area near you where you can go and pick some free fruit! It maps out all the fruit trees in public areas of certain communities, and you go can and pick them. We spent a Saturday afternoon driving around Claremont looking for fruit trees. It’s currently citrus season, so we mostly pick up lemons, limes, and some oranges. We saw avocado and loquat trees, but those weren’t ready for picking yet.

Ben was so excited about this and we felt like we were on a treasure hunt looking for fruit trees. I forgot to take a picture of our loot, but we came out a with a decent basketful of citrus. We can’t wait to go back when it’s avocado and loquat season. There were even some figs on the map, but we couldn’t find those trees. If anyone try out one of the maps in another area, would love to know what it is you end up harvesting!