Little Things Here and There

Hi, everyone!

I hope that everyone is having a wonderful month! I wish that I could check in more often. But alas, just as I am growing more and more fond of using blogging as an outlet, my available time is plummeting. I find that there is work enough to keep two of me busy around the clock, and it just never seems to stop.

However, I am going to squander a few minutes that I ought to be using for something useful and give a quick update on our family! Without further ado, here is a supremely disjointed conglomeration of the big and the small, the important and the irrelevant - all the things that are going on around here!

***

Spring has come to Phoenix! I usually dread it, as a harbinger of doom ("doom" being our heat-blasted summers that take up eight months of the year around here), but I am doing my best to enjoy it. Isn't our little tree lovely?

***

As part of DH's set-up for his new business, we needed a headshot! We searched around trying to find a deal, but the cheapest we could find was a $50 package through Groupon. No way! So we headed out and did our best with point-and-click, and DH's sweet sister did some remote cropping and shading for us - voila! Not bad for someone who can barely hold a camera without breaking it!

We were pretty pleased with the results, and we saved $50!

***

Our "garden," i.e. "the place we sprinkled with seeds and then promptly forgot," actually produced something - mini-carrots! Fun!!

Don't be too impressed; these puppies are about one inch long each. 

Next time we plant a garden, we need to make it in an area that we actually frequent so that we don't forget about it again. (Or rather, as usual.)

***

Our 6yo's latest science passion is.... (drum roll, please!)... starfish! This calls for some starfish crafts! Hurray for glitter and macaroni noodles!

Directions here for this easy and fun craft! 

I also want to try another easy starfish craft - cutting starfish out of sandpaper and then painting them!! That will be a fun one - or we might even try making our own "sand paper" with real sand. (That will be an outside craft!)

***

After seeing this awesome-looking peppermint playdough on a friend's blog, I knew we had to try it! Wow, this is great stuff! We tinted it green, and it is uber-fun. Did you know how easy it is to make playdough at home? (See the recipe here.)

It smells and feels wonderful! Yum! 

***

We finally finished our snowman door hanger - it only took us a month and a half to work through the steps! (It was an easy craft - we just procrastinated.)

Cute? Yes! 

***

And for a brief interlude, I wanted to share a few awesome articles with you!

Michael Farris's "Ten Lessons I've Learned From Thirty Years of Homeschooling." An awesome read! Michael will be the keynote speaker at this year's Homeschool Convention in Phoenix, and I am so excited to hear him speak! I am also excited because he is the wife of Vickie Farris, author of "A Mom Just Like You," which is a book that changed my life - and which I reread at least annually.

If you are even considering homeschooling, please consider joining us at this year's convention! The convention is truly the highlight of our year. We have a wonderful time bonding as a couple and learning invaluable information about home education, home culture, and parenting, and we come home refreshed, energized, and having had a marvelous time. I think we would attend even if we didn't homeschool, just for all the wonderful information and parenting/family seminars! Check out "The Seven Reasons Why You Should Attend the Convention" (and register for the giveaway of one free admission!) - we'll see you there!

A similarly awesome article: "Ten Things That Helped Me Through 28 Years of Homeschooling" by Kathie over at Character Corner - awesome article. Check it out!

Does anyone else out there start drooling at the phrase "book list"? My goodness, I love book lists! I adore introducing our children to the awesome literature that is out there. My own personal book list (for ages preschool through young adult) is at 47 pages and growing, and it's really only in the beginning stages of development. I love finding new books to add to it! Try out these two book lists: The Art of Manliness's 50 Best Books for Boys and Young Men and Simply Charlotte Mason's Twaddle-Free Literature by Grade Level. Excellent resources!

***

Moving on...

So, how is our family doing?

The 6yo is eating like a raving maniac, and is growing before my eyes. Usually I cannot tell when one of our children is growing, as the change is so gradual - but this time, it seems like he is getting bigger by the day. Right now I can't even clean up one meal/snack before he's out in the kitchen asking for food. Wow!

The 3yo with special is has gone from "the easiest child in the world" to a real challenge... all for reasons that have nothing to do with the usual challenges produced by 3yo. More on that later. He is still the most lovable Chublet in the world, however!

The 1yo is now an official toddler, meaning that he is getting into everything and is hearing "No, no, don't touch" approximately 100 times per day. However, I am determined to do a good job teaching and training, despite the exhaustion that this age produces, so we're off into the land of toddlerhood! Prayers appreciated!

DH is working hard on developing his business, and that is quite an adventure! Even more of an adventure is learning to work at home with a 6yo who has absolutely no concept of the fact that Daddy needs to get some work done instead of spending the whole day with him.

As for me, I am working, working, working. And working. Home, children, laundry, food - repeat, repeat, repeat. I'm finding that I'm struggling to make the next jump to the level of work required in this stage of parenting. I rather feel like I did after our first was born - "I can't get anything done!" But this too shall pass, and I will look back at this time - at some time in the future - and wonder how on earth I could have had trouble keeping up.

And with that, I had better close! I have a three-page list of blog topics that I would like to tackle, but they will have to wait. In the meantime, love to all! Have a wonderful weekend, and let me know how you all are!