Long time no blog....

In case you hadn't noticed, I've been in somewhat of a non-blogging phase of late. Debated whether to stay with it or not....but it is nice to have my own little spot.

What's been up with us? A few things...

• I finally got a copy of The Well-Trained Mind from the library, and finally feel like I have the direction with homeschooling that I've been seeking. The WTM philosophy and methods are structured but flexible, academically rigorous, and the book really spells out why Classical Education is important and how to carry it out. Anyway, it definitely helps me to have somewhat of a game plan for the next 15ish years. :) We have all our books, Shiloh spends hours poring over the animal encyclopedia which is to be her science text for most of next year, and Elijah and I are working through his phonics primer--with any luck he'll be reading soon!
  
• I seem to be at a good place with balancing my jobs as wife, mom, homeschooler and scrapbook designer. I actually made this color-coded schedule that plans out how to get it all done in the 50 hours a week that Dan is away. Not that things are easy, or even that I stick to this elaborate schedule all that well, but I'm feeling better about the time when Dan is at home--I'm not expecting him to be on kid duty and I'm more willing to set aside my stuff and watch a movie with him or spend time with him....I should even be able to start going to bed and getting up early soon.
• We've had at least one car out of commission for over a month. One week they were both basically unusable....so we're buying a van. Not the timing I'd hoped for, but I'm trusting the Lord with that. We're hoping for a 2000(ish) Toyota Sienna with relatively low miles but we'd go with a Ford Windstar if we found the right one.
  
• Still designing for Ben Franklin, Creating Pages, and the Home Scrap Club.
• I suck as a gardener this year. I never did start a veggie garden (the spot still needs to be weeded out, and I think I'll pass this year), and my flower beds are pretty sad. Especially since we got our windows put in--apparently our plants were right where the guys ladders needed to be. And I haven't put in anything new because we're hoping to do some landscaping....so hopefully next year.

That's us in a nutshell! Have a great day!