I'm back

If there's anyone out there who is still linked to me, I'm going to give this blogging thing a try one more time...I love blogs, I read them daily, I see their value, I have a hard time thinking of things to talk about that other people would find interesting, but what the heck.

Sooo.....hi. :)

This is what I've been up to for the last year:

*I successfully completed another year of homeschooling, the first year in which I actually felt any pressure to accomplish anything academic (1st grade means you need to actually learn stuff). We're using The Well-Trained Mind as a base...it's way too intense for me to do everything in it, but it has given us some good direction. Shiloh is a great homeschooler--she knows what she needs to do and does it with little supervision, leaving me free to chase after the other kids, pretend to clean my house, scrapbook, lay down for a couple minutes in the afternoon, etc. And she's made more than a year's worth of progress, so I'm feeling pretty good about things. Maximum results for minimum effort is always a good thing. :) Elijah's sounding out words, reading Bob books, learning basic math, and most importantly, doesn't hate school and does his work when I tell him to, so I'm putting that one in the success column as well. Mariah's learning handwriting and numbers (mostly on her own) and Esther has learned a ton through a combination of osmosis and PBS.

*I am managing a scrapbooking kit club called Kits & Pieces, offering expandable kits (kits as big or small as you want them, which as much or as little of your favorite producs as you like). I oversee the message board and the design team, edit a semi-monthly newsletter and design the monthly kits. It's super fun. :) I've also been able to facilitate the manufacturing of an exclusive stamp line for K&P that will be released with our June kits, which has been very exciting. I also finished a 2nd term at Scrapbook Nook and have done a lousy job staying connected there. I miss those girls. :( And I'm still working Scrapmanias at Ben Franklin in Bonney Lake.

*We finished a year of ACTS Homeschool Co-op in Puyallup. I got to teach some great kids about the political process and paper mache (no, they're not related) (not directly, anyway) and the kids learned about anything from cooking to legos to Spanish to horses to the 4 seasons to nursery rhymes. Fun times. :)

*Dan is still working as a graphic designer and grows in his work every day. He's currently learning AfterEffects, which allows him to make movies--mostly for trade shows now, but maybe someday TV commercials? We shall see. He's been at his job for over 4 years now with no desire to leave, which I love.

*I got a Canon Rebel XTi for Christmas and am learning photography. I'm not great at it, but I have fun.

Ok, that's about it...my next blog post will be more interesting, I promise! And now I'm remember why I haven't updated in 9 months....here's a layout with a recent K&P kit.

Bye for now!