Hope Farm Housewife

We have recently finished the fourth song in the Hope Farm Kids Virtue Collection. Thanks to Mckendree Augustas ( my genius brother) for excellent collaboration and Wade Josey for musical collaboration. We hit a wall with this songs and needed a co-writer.

These songs are all demos and will change before the final release. Set for late spring or early summer. If you have not heard any of the other virtue songs feel free to click and listen. Also- we welcome suggestions, feedback or production ideas for final versions.

We plan to use small groups of kids for gang vocals on some of the choruses. We did this for RESPECT and it turned out great. however it is time-consuming and we want to do it at one time once all songs are completed. If you know of a kid between the age of 8 and 12 that likes to sing, can stay on key and is not afraid to project please message me in an e-mail or on facebook. Email can be found on facebook info. Thanks and have a great day!

Now -I am off to study for the next vitue song: DETERMINATON.

God of Promises by SaintLewis

GO! by Hope Farm Kids by SaintLewis

Unique – Hope Farm Kids by SaintLewis

RESPECT 2010 by Hope Farm Kids by SaintLewis

A few weeks ago I was inspired by Ana White at Knock off Wood. I have never used one of Ana’s plans however this is a great resource for all of you wanting to build-it-yourself. We have built a lot of our furniture in our home. It is usually because we can’t find and don’t want to spend time to search for just the right thing. It is easier to just build it which is a common phrase around here. My handy husband also recently purchased a fun new tool. I  encouraged the purchase because now he is itching to build stuff– my plan exactly.

Anyway- Ana posted about a quick bookshelf she made with an old pallet. She included all the DIY steps.  It seemed like the perfect way to solve a problem. I have a bag I keep around with Bible, journal, books of choice etc. I needed a place to keep this stuff near the couch where I generally read.

This shelf came to life really fast. I posted on facebook that I was looking for some pallets. It took about 24 minutes and I had an offer to pick up some pallets from a warehouse.  A big shout out to Justin Blanchard for making this happen for me- Thanks Justin! I love the weathered wood, it will also look neat if I choose to paint.

We went to pick up the two pallets and found a third pallet on top that was very different. It was newer, much harder wood and was smaller than the others. We hated to leave it because the wood was very high -quality and we knew we could disassemble and use the wood. I had that feeling that it would turn into a treasure.

We had been talking about building a roll-under-the-bed train table that I had designed and drawn. We have always had issues with the largeness of train tables. We have a small house so innovation is key to peaceful living around here. Due to sickness and lack of time, no train table as built.

The day after Christmas I walk outside to throw some trash away and spot the odd runt of a pallet. The idea hit me square in the face. I quickly showed Shannon. He brought the pallet in, placed it on the table, while I made my case. This pallet will make the perfect base for the train table! The built in space would work perfect for storage.  Shannon gave me that  I get-cha and Im with-ya kind of look. What transformed 4 hours later is kind of magical. We  happened to have all that we needed since the pallet accounted for most of the table. We painted the pallet, Shannon added a board on top with a border. We already had the wood from some other projects. We had the green paint. I owned the containers. Ten dollars ensured we had sturdy wheels to add to the bottom.

So, without further ado, I present to you: My innovative roll-under-the-bed train table!

Most of the trains and tracks were from Kenimers collection. We added a few new pieces for Tucker for Christmas.

We finished it at night and presented it to them in the morning. They were ecstatic.

Two happy boys playing with the train table.  It easily cleans up and rolls under the bed! I know that idea came straight from the heart of God. He is the master of innovation, creativity and resourcefulness. He doesn’t waste a thing. Not even old pallets. I am so thankful he enlightened my heart and showed me this project.

P.S. Inspired yet?  Click Here are some other really neat things to do with pallets.

New Years Eve plans for us were as follows:

Stay home.  The end.

Childcare was not secured and everyone knows you can’t get babysitters at the last minute on New Years Eve. So we thought.  My dad heard we were not doing anything and asked us to a double date with he and my mom. Shannon got the phone call and  excitedly told me about the invite to dinner and a movie. I looked at him and said “ that all sounds good but there is NO WAY we will find a sitter at 4:00 New Years Eve”. He was ever so hopeful as he picked up his phone.  Lo and behold his second call landed one of our preferred sitters. I couldn’t believe it.

The double date with the parents was delightful! None of us are quite sure why we have never done this before? We do know we will be doing it again in the future. My parents are people I rarely get to be around without the little people. After the movie we went to a friends house  and spent the hour between 10 and 11-ish with some of our dearest friends. We made crepes which have turned out to be an annual thing- does two years in a row count as annual? We all thought so!

New Years day started with a full breakfast cooked by Shannon at 10:30. We are normally one- item breakfasters so four items on the breakfast menu was quite a treat. We packed all the day- at- the -park -necessities and embarked on the adventure.  The destination was the new park on the island: Frederica Park. It is incredibly relaxing and peaceful. The entire makeup of the facility is wooden and has a rustic feel.  My parents along with sis and bro- in- law joined our day at the park. It was hilarious to hear the boys saying things like “lets go up the mountain,” or “I love this park with mountains.”  It truly reminded me of the mountains and didn’t feel coastal. It was a nice change.

Shannon didn’t have sunglasses and he asked me for a rubberband. I went to the car and found these sunglasses that were being given out from the parade and the bandana was on my head.  I gave it to him and those items combined achieved this signature look.  ha!

One of my favorite parts were the labyrinths for adults in the trails and their  was even one for the kids in their playground.  We left the park incredibly calm and chill. The last stop was my parents home where we ate an early New  Years Dinner. My mom is quite the expert at cooking a traditional New Years dinner! We were headed home at 6:30 and the boys were in bed at 7:15. Shannon and I enjoyed a nice , quiet evening of reflection.

We are so overcome with thankfulness for all the goodness the Lord has bestowed. While at the same time we have had some crazy things happen this year. Situations  that didn’t make any sense, but still we were able to see how the Lord has softened our hearts, drawn us closer, knitted friends in very dear ways. We are especially thankful for the ability to really walk life together with so many incredible Godly people who we call friends.  Then there is my wonderful family and all of their support. So all in all the Lord is ever faithful to grace us with his presence each and every day. Oh what a joy to walk with him daily.

The Lord is continuing to speak to me about the journey of restoring our hearts through thankfulness. It will be quite a journey. Happy New Year!

Our Christmas Day was a bit of a blur to me. I remember Shannon saying ” come on, let’s wake the kids up” and I really thought ” I don’t know if I can do this”. I felt awful. Nonetheless I got up and pushed through. The kids had their new Mario and Toy story jammies on and were ready to open gifts! I did laugh heartily when Shannon said ” Boys, these gifts are very funny”! INDEED- they were wrapped in funny pages I had been saving for months.

On Christmas Eve- Shannon suggetsed we go to Jekyll Island Club for breakfast. I was thrilled to not cook and it seemed fun to get all dressed up. So we had quite a civilized Christmas Morning breakfast. The boys really did great and loved the food. We wiped noses about 500 times but besides that it was great.

Kenimer was amazed that there were five juice choices. He tried them all!

We went to my parents house to exchange gifts and eat lunch. There were many guests and we had a lovely time. I went into one of the bedrooms multiple times to lay down for a bit because I was feeling lousy. But the times were sweet. The thing I definitely remember is that we came home with Buzz and Woody. They have officially entered our family. They have beds in the dump trucks, their teeth have been brushed, they have almost gotten a bath ( I rescued them!). They have brought lots of joy- though we are always looking for Woody’s hat! Thanks mom and dad for the gift of the year!

What a blessing Christmas day always is!

Shannon and I both at the same time said ” let’s have some people over tonight after the kids go to bed”. Thumbs up from both of us sent the plans into full sail. Besides I had been itching to try a photobooth after being inspired by a photo stylists blog who I am learning from! She posted about the DIY Christmas Photobooth. I learned about Alexis @ AVE styles through Promise Tangeman who was also part of the DIY Photobooth.  Her blog has been really inspiring to me!

They ended up being a lot tackier than I had planned. But better than I imagined. I love the pure fun. And I love that I got to have a ” just for fun” shopping spree to the dollar tree!

This is the point where i am not sure if I should claim having assisted with styles and prop development. Hmm. The girls got some amazing laughs while watching our guys. It almost seemed more like a therapy photo shoot? Maybe unleashing all the holiday frustrations? It was fun to say the least.

Next time I will probably make the backdrop a little bigger. Thanks to Bethany for having the final vision for the backdrop! Thanks to Sarah for providing the Equipment and taking most of the pics.  I encourage you all to check out Sarah’s account of the Photobooth  here. I am so very thankful for dear friends and precious sisters and brother- in-laws!

Fun is quite Therapeutic! I have to admit I was fighting the thoughts that said ” come on this is silly, you need to spend your time and energies on more productice things”. That’s the non- risk taking fear- filled adult that sometimes rears it’s ugly head in my mind. I fight it with all I have ! I hope these photos put a little smile on your face!