Eclectic Hippie

This blog is here for me to spend time chatting about the things I love, with people who share similar interests or even just want to read what is said in the blog or comments: expect parenting, life lessons, crafting tips, DIYs for many things I try as I try to follow what I feel is best for our family. Pinterest is a favorite place to lose my mind into when I have some time alone. I will surely post the link to things I find interesting. I will try to blog as often as I can, but being a mom and so much more, sometimes you won't hear from me for a while. Let's be real… I won't always have time to write every story, right when it happens, but I will also be keep you updated on my projects and life through other platforms as well! Instagram @_eclectic_hippie_ and my Twitch Stream @

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It is coming along! This is a very long progress when I have to stop for each meal and washing the boards requires them to dry over night. I washed a bunch more boards yesterday to start hanging those on the wall next to this. We have officially run out of the cut pallets we have disassembled and are now on the search for more. I think the plan is to take the old flooring and baseboards out today. We are officially into No Spend January, so we can only do parts that we have all the pieces for. So flooring will come out and underneath be cleaned and stripped, paint will be touched up, and we will see what else I can get done this month in the prep department! #nospendjanuary2020 #nospendjanuary #diykitchen #pallets #palletwood #cozykitchen https://www.instagram.com/p/CJlwLu4JKSc/?igshid=1cs59l81go3ny

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This little apron was so much fun to make! The pattern was from another blog, but sadly it only had half of the instructions, so it's not great for passing on. This one taught me more than a few new tricks! I love how the pleats turned out and how pink is so bright with all the accents! #eclectichippie #diy #sewing #diychristmas #apron #kids #toddlers https://www.instagram.com/p/CJSTbGvDVf9/?igshid=18b64pkujtjtc

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Now that these little guys are delivered to the intended kiddo, I get to show them off! These little loveys were super fun and easy to make. I used all-about-quilts.com/bunny-toy.html 's pattern. I am so happy with how they turned out! #lovey #diy #kidstoys #homemadechristmasgifts #pinterest #allaboutquilts https://www.instagram.com/p/CJSSyalDLwh/?igshid=3s5gbczpc4ud

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This year I made Christmas gifts for my smaller nefew and neices. Scrunchies, loveys and an apron. So fun! This little toque and mitten set had an entended home that was not for this lovely dolly (doll by @kulyksandra) but when I realized it wasnt going to fit the kid it was for we gave this a try and it's a perfect fit! My little guy is so excited to have another toque for his Finley doll! #eclectichippie #christmas #hatandmitts #doll #dolly #homemade #socute #beautiful #diy https://www.instagram.com/p/CJSC56NJaqm/?igshid=4nbcpw01d0zz

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This last 3 weeks has been anything but normal for our family. It's been trying, exhausting and some days downright depressing. But by the grace of God we are making it through with smiling faces. The little guy got a salt robot for Christmas from his grandparents. We have done Christimas themed work sheets all week and made sure to use as many of the 100 mini candy cane as we can in experiments, rather than eating them haha. Today was another hard day so we decided to shut off the computers and focus in on something a little sweeter and hands on. We built with marshmallows and toothpicks anything we could think of. #homeschool #onlinelearning #marshmellows #christmas #games #familyfirst #hardtimes #happyhearts #Godsgrace #christian #godslove #keepmovingforward #happyathome https://www.instagram.com/p/CI1ht4jDHH3/?igshid=r1ja3njkp627

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Today we made Fake Snow! Baking soda and conditioner is all this took to make. The kids played for an hour this morning and then another hour this afternoon. Any recipe on pinterest will work haha. I didnt have enough baking soda to follow the recipe I was making exactly... so I winged it a bit haha, so I dont have a recipe for you exactly. I think we used 2 cups baking soda and about 1/3 of a cup of conditioner. There was definetly a mess, but it was worth it! So much fun! and sweeps up pretty easily, so no worries there! We talked about how this snow felt, how it compared to other things we have made like oblek and play dough. We tried to color it later this afternoon, but it didnt work as well as we wanted haha. But that's the fun of science! Getting to explore and try things, even if they dont always work, ita about the process and the learning that comes from that! #homeschool #preschool #kindergarten #happyathome #funscience #eclectichippie #fun #science #fakesnow #kids #thingstodotopassthetime https://www.instagram.com/p/CImQA4lD5xn/?igshid=5qux553zg5u9

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We are going through a very stressful time as a family and when things are out of my control I like to find things that are in my control. I have had this idea in my mind and we took down the cupboards and have been slowly accumulating the items we need for our project. A friend showed me some drawing they had done for the projects they are working on and I asked what program they were using, it's called #sketchup !! What a great website to use!! This was my first design I did. I chose to do the kitchen because I had all the dreams worked out in my head already! The next project I'm working on is designing the back #earthshipaddition we are planning for. Started with the dream idea and now we are working towards some other ideas to make sure we choose the right design! https://www.instagram.com/p/CIgUIXqpWYl/?igshid=ysz850tcedez

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First time ever making an IceCream Cake! It was worth the time and it was so yummy!! #oreo #icecream #icecreamcake #yum #yummy #dessert #diydessert https://www.instagram.com/p/CHGgNbQJtoL/?igshid=8fqvfxm96rqq

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This costume was fun to make and only took a couple hours in total to finish. #eclectichippie #minecraft #diycostume #skeleton https://www.instagram.com/p/CHELYZfp23j/?igshid=1uj7k08qqm8m9

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Yesterday I finished this #Halloween #cake! Today we got to eat it! It was so #yummy! I seriously love making cakes. And with how hectic my home has been lately with all the catch up, it was a refreshing part of my week to make cakes! https://www.instagram.com/p/CGyZc5rpClz/?igshid=1gixt93pmtko4

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I got the honor of building this #cake for my #nefew! This #comboidea was so much fun! #blippi #thomasthetrain I used a #homemade #buttercream, which worked SO much better than anything else I have ever worked with. It was worth the 15 minutes to make! The #colors turned out so #bright and #beautiful. This was so much fun! Can't wait to make another cake soon! https://www.instagram.com/p/CGu53WCjD1i/?igshid=kaqvp4wispho

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I'm already planning for next week! I know I need a super easy week for my homeschooled kiddos because the online learners are once again behind in their class work and are going to take up most of my time to get them caught up again. I can't suggest #usbornebooksandmore enough! I love them! Bright colors, easy to understand, easy to follow along with and my 10yr old can be teaching/working with my 4yr old to help keep him busy while I'm busy organizing and sorting online learning school work. Having these #curriculums on hand really helps me on weeks like this where we need to keep #schooling moving forward, but I also need to not have my full focus on my two kiddos. They are great to have on hand for weeks with appointments, sickness, and even just for fun! My kids have loved every single Usborne book we have brought home! My daughter even hosted her own #bookparty for her birthday last year! She earned discounts on her book choices and even got some awesome puzzles! It was so much fun! https://www.instagram.com/p/CGYaGIbJSlE/?igshid=8l0365zybjhr

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While the big kiddos all worked on their #schoolwork the littlest worked on his #cutting and #glueing skills. He did a great job! #Wenesday is #Mathday. As a #parent I DETEST math day. It is my #leastfavoritesubject and it causes us so many #headaches. That's why we use an #onlineprogram that guides us through. #allinonehomeschool is an amazingly laid out #curriculum the really helps to keep us on track. It can be used for every #subject for the whole year if you want and goes from k-12! My girl and I bump heads every time we do math. She has a hard time #focusing on #numbers and when we have to do #writtenquestions it's even harder. She won't do any #work at all if I don't walk her through every step over and over again. We are fairly sure that is is #executivedysfunction, accredited to #undiagnosedADHD. I have a hard time focusing on math as well, it was never my strong point. I'm working toward an #adultADHD diagnosis, which was discovered while researching it for her. So having to teach math is hard. But we #persever! We do lots of #shakebreaks and I just know that our lessons will take us #allmorning. Some days are easier for me to keep my #patients and other days are a real #struggle. Add 3 more kids who need my attention on top of that and math days are #stressful. I try to plan easy, gratifying lunches these day.... like today we are simply having #KD. That's not a normal meal for us around here but it really helps when our day isn't going well to have something quick and easy... it doesn't help with the thought processes, so I tend to hope that school will be done before we eat straight carbs and dairy. We have one more set of questions for after lunch today but first she needed a real brain break and is currently out on the trampoline burning some energy and jacking up her #dopamine with some fun! This also gives me a #break to come back to being #graceful and #patient. Knowing these things about ourselves is really important. Being aware of different learning styles and teaching styles is super important. Avoiding poor diet and distraction is important but almost impossible in a home this busy on days like these ones. https://www.instagram.com/p/CFfYbqGBZVB/?igshid=f0jlm7yes3z0

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Today was back on our normal track. No break in our schedule and everyone, as of today, is officially caught up on what they were behind on!! Today we were studying Rocks! Which excited my little Miss. She loves rocks. Igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary rocks. I didnt have time to plan a craft or experiment to go along with our school work today, but the curriculum came with some coloring pages which made it fun to see the rock cycle. I did find some fun food crafts on Pinterest but it just wasnt possible to pull it off today for me. It's hard for my little miss when the other kiddos get here and are behind. With them being behind constantly, I have spend a big chunks of time at the beginning of each visitation to help them get organized and caught up which takes away from our normal routine, which in turn effects her moods and ability to focus. Once I have them caught up and on track everything falls into place and everything is great again (that should be tomorrow!) Our little guy is learning to read and today I learnt that he is WAY more efficient on the computer site than the app on my phone. We use #readingeggs and he loves it! It's brightly colored, interactive and super fun. It tracks his progress in a very visible manner. According to the app he is right on track for his age! But since getting his glasses it seems he has way more interest and understanding of what he is doing on there. So we will see how his reading progressed in the next few weeks! His #penmanship is getting so much better every day! Everyone is doing learning on the computers except my missy, she only does her math online one day a week. This is what works best for her. But every kiddo is different! The others love their online classes. We were done all the work and catch up by 130pm today! I look forward to a slower day tomorrow without extra catch up work! https://www.instagram.com/p/CFdDUCGFtmr/?igshid=1n48i82j4w8yt

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Well today instead of a big homeschooling update you get a picture of an absolutely exhausted momma. We got our bible study done, my girl did her reading, my little guy watched some shows and two biggest had a day of figuring how much catch up they needed to do from the last two weeks at their mother's house. Then we were off the dentist for 2 1.5hour appointments and grocery shopping. Thankfully I had an amazing friend willing to watch the two youngest kiddos while we accomplished everything we needed to in the city during the appointments. Got home and washed the groceries, got the oldest onto a project that needed to be caught up on, made supper, ate supper and now all I want to do is sleep! Even though it wasn't a typical homeschool day I would say it was still a full success! My one kiddo with crippling dental and needle anxiety had her first round of freezing with no sedation! I almost cried when she handled the needle like a champ! The dentist, hygienist and me all cheered for her! We got organized to get everyone caught up again this week and then we go with getting them caught back up again. Back to our schedule tomorrow! https://www.instagram.com/p/CFa5um9Ftdi/?igshid=1hvytixpo7tl0

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A fun and simple craft this morning for a Friday. The kids absolutely loved this lesson. Little dude got to work on his scissor (he cut the whole outside of his tiger), glueing skills. And my girlie got to independantly do a craft that provided her with absolute joy of a quick and well made project! https://www.instagram.com/p/CFSN55yl3qq/?igshid=1fcg74cmbnqed

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Today we were supposed to be learning about #rocks based on our curriculum lay out, but Daddy was on call all night, which means this momma had a broken sleep. So, we had this awesome book about #volcanoes from the #library yesterday, which inspired the kiddos to draw volcano pictures. So rather than being exhausted and trying to #learn and #teach a #lesson this morning, we went with the #kidsinterests and are now watching #documentaries about Volcanoes on #YouTube. This day falls into my #5needstohomeschool; #routine, #sleep, #diet, #patients, and #understanding. We did everything we could to maintain our routine; we #read our #biblestories, pulled out our #books we needed for the day. We ate our #breakfast together, covering diet. We stayed patient while trying to explain the #stories we read in the bible, even though I was tripping over my words constantly, and when the #kiddos realized I was tired and daddy wasnt home for breakfast they had understanding when I switched to our interest instead of our lesson plan. All 5 of these items need to be present for us to have a #constructive and #planned day. So when one is off, it often throws off the others. So being quick on our feet and finding something the #kids are #interested to learn about is the perfect way to work without causing any stress at all. As #homeschoolparents we need to remeber that kids learn from everything! If it was a nicer day we would be #outside, but since it's cool and not so nice, we are focused on learning through documentaries. Youtube is an amazing tool for days like this! We were not supposed to be learning about volcanoes until the end of our curriculum, but from the looks of the kiddos interest, we may just to volcano #curriculum pages on our next #science day! https://www.instagram.com/p/CFKX6yiFruf/?igshid=nlskfpinwefm