We Have "New" Floors!

We built our house 11 years ago and recently decided our honey-stained floors needed some updating. So we contacted Renaissance Flooring of Jenks because they originally put our floors in and they come highly recommended by many friends. I'm so glad we had them do the floors because they did a FABULOUS job! Before, our floors were honey-stained & had narrow panels. In my mind, I wanted wide, distressed panels but didn't want to pay for all new flooring. So, here's the process...

BEFORE PICS...

Renaissance was really good about taping off areas with plastic and vacuuming up dust right away.

Here's a few pics of the floors after they were sanded...

And now the distressing begins...
They used a few tools to distress the floors to make them look old and worn. They also grooved out every third panel to make it look like they were actually 6" planks instead of 2" planks.




After they had been shaving the floors for about a day and a half, I noticed that they just weren't as distressed as I would like. The workers were Hispanic and didn't speak much English so there was a little difficulty in expressing to them what I was wanting. I told the head guy, "I think I'd like to have a little more distress, please." He said, "More?!" I said, "Yes! Beat up. More." He said, "I be right back." So he came back with chains, hammers and other tools and said, "More?!" I said, "Uh, yes - I think!" Then we had to go to Steve's parents for the night and leave them working. I was so nervous about how they were going to look I could hardly sleep that night! But I was pleasantly surprised the next day when I checked on the flooring and saw the stain for the first time. Whew! They did an AwEsOmE job!!!

Here are the floors before the first coat of polyurethane...

And here's the finished product...



I think the floors look amazing! You can't even tell that they used to be narrow panels and the distressing is just right. I would highly recommend Renaissance if you are considering getting new wood floors or updating what you already have.

Next project: Painting those honey colored kitchen cabinets. Stay tuned!

Update on "M"

"M" is almost ten and is in the 4th grade. She looooves to crochet and has developed a talent for creating things without a pattern. Here is some of her latest projects...

She made this baby cap for my nephew who was just born last month.

She made me a carrying case for my camera. Perfect size for me to store in my purse!

And she made Steve a coaster to use at work.

"M" just began her eighth year of ballet and is also active with homeschool and church activities. She has become such a responsible and thoughtful young lady. And she loves to organize - a girl after my own heart! She works so hard with her schooling and chores around the house and has even begun watching babies and toddlers for moms at my Bible Study and when I work out at the gym (with adult supervision, of course!).

"M" really enjoys reading and her favorite books are Little House on the Prairie and American Girl books. She also enjoys talking and learning about spiritual things and is currently reading The Case for Christ for Kids by Lee Strobel. I am so proud of the young lady she has become and I look forward to seeing how God is going to use her as she grows older :-)

Update on "A"

"A" is 7 now and in the first grade. "M" recently taught her how to crochet, which she loves to do in her spare time.

She's active in ballet, homeschool and church activities, and loves to have playdates with friends. She just began her 3rd season of soccer and is now playing for a team called SWAT (Soccer With Attitude). I have to say she's progressing each season and even scored her first goal this last game. We are very proud of her for trying so hard and for pushing herself to be a better player and teammate.

Check out those socks :-)
So we goof off a little during the game - it's all about having fun, right?!

Although "A" is very much a girly girl, she loooves to play in the mud and get dirty! Here's a few recent pics of her playing in the dirt with her cousin, Riley...

Notice "M" in the background without a single speck of dirt on her? :-)
And here she is playing in our ditch during a recent rain. She had so much fun!

I just love "A's" free spirit, imagination and creativity. She keeps me smiling :-)

Prairie Primer/Little House on the Prairie - Week 1

Here's what we've been learning about in school this week...

Mustangs




Horse Lesson Booklet
Horse Lesson Plan Resources
Horse Facts
Horses at Kid's Farm
2,029 Horse Lesson Plans
Horses at Enchanted Learning

HOW TO MAKE MOLASSES

Tim Thrift "Making Molasses" from Macrosystem on Vimeo.

NATIVE AMERICANS/OSAGE INDIANS






Activities to Celebrate Native American Heritage!
Osage Nation
Osage Indian Fact Sheet for Kids
Native Americans Graphic Organizer Worksheet with Map
Native American Crafts for Kids
Odell Borg's Native American Flute Lessons

HEALTH HAZARDS OF CHEWING TOBACCO



PRAIRIE ART

Phoenix Gallery

Little House on the Prairie Art Project Ideas

Purple Prairie Art Gallery

SIMPLE MACHINES

Levers at Enchanted Learning
6 Simple Machines
Machines for Kids
Simple Machines at Kid's Connect

BLOOD AND CIRCULATION

Field Trip to Downtown Tulsa

Sponsored by Tulsa Area Homeschoolers

Improvised Homeschooling Week

We had to improvise quite a bit last week with our homeschooling. We decided our wood floors needed updating so we had to be out of our house for most of the week. The first day the floor guys just sanded the floors & distressed them so we barricaded ourselves in my bedroom. We had enough clothes, schoolwork & food rations to last us for the day :-)

We've been reading Little House in the Big Woods and one of our activities was supposed to involve a pig's bladder. Yes, a pig's bladder! Pioneer children used to blow up the bladder of a pig after it was butchered and play with it like a balloon! You can imagine girly girlz don't play with pig bladders so we improvised and made an origami "pig bladder" - much more to our liking :-)

The rest of the week was spent at Steve's parents house in Sperry. We love to go there because they have a nice, quiet, country house on several acres and away from town. It's so peaceful there - a nice break from the hustle and bustle of life. Plus, we enjoyed our time with his parents :-) Here's a few pics of the girlz picking tomatoes in their garden...

Interesting "swirls" - reminiscent of the swirl pattern in our game room/homeschool room :-)

This is a mushroom they found. It was actually pink and brown! We had never seen anything like it! "M" said it smelled like tobacco - not sure how she would know what that smell is - but okay!

"A" getting dirty, as usual :-)

"M", clean as usual

They picked lots and lots of tomatoes!

One day last week, we decided to do school at Sperry's new library...



I had never been there before and was pleasantly surprised by the decor. When you first walk into the library, there is a display on the wall with three shadow boxes. One promoted homeschooling :-) Woo hoo!



The interior was so nice! I loved the huge beams in the ceiling and it's southwest/ranch style decor gave it a cozy feel.



Of course, I loved the farm mural in the Children's Area...

We just made ourselves at home ;-)





I can just imagine curling up in a chair next to this fireplace when it's cold outside! Now if they only sold hot apple cider we'd be set!

Although the Sperry Library is almost 30 minutes away from where we live now, I imagine we'll have to go back from time to time. It's definitely worth the drive!