Autumn's here but where am I?

Wow! When I wrote "see you in Autumn" back in July I never expected to be almost half way through October when I wrote again!

I took a bloggy break because I had become completely overwhelmed by life. I needed to step back, re-evaluate my priorities and put some habits in place that reflected my priorities.

So that's what I've been doing. I've been working a good daily routine for almost 2 months, having quiet times, doing school with my children and cooking supper every night. Taking a break has been a good thing.

In addition to the mundane activities of life, I have:

* Attended a Homeschool Co-op every Friday with my children. That's the kids before we left for the first co-op meeting.

Will is in 5 classses: drama, science 1, study hall, science 1, and P.E. Ben is in Bible (think Sunday school), drama, science/history, P.E. and Movie (the under 5 crew are wore out by this time and lay on the floor for a video). Ellie joins Ben for everything but science/history. And Sam just enjoys playing with all the bright and noisy toys in the church's nursery. Meanwhile I'm helping in a Writing 2 class and hanging out with moms. It's a fun but exhausting day.

* Watched "Thomas the Tank Engine: Hero of the Rails" in a theatre with my kids. We enjoyed the movie, a story and FREE pizza.

* Visited the Audubon Society of Rhode Island Educational Center. VERY cool. The center is smallish but well done with exhibits explaining the flora and fauna of Rhode Island marshes and woodlands.

There is also a nature trail where we saw a snapping turtle, many frogs, a praying mantis, huge grasshoppers, tracks in the mud from a raccoon and large bird, and lots of plants we couldn't identify. (By the way, if you live in RI, the Center is free all day on the 1st Saturday of each month.)

* Visited our local library MANY times. Will has developed a voracious appetite for books. He's reading at a 2/3 grade level (remember he's in the 1st grade). He and I agreed this week that we need a weekly library day to keep him supplied, so Wednesday afternoon will now find us picking out fresh reading material.

* Took a field trip to the New Bedford Whaling Museum. Also VERY cool. The boys were studying whales in science (Apologia, Zoology 2 Aquatic Life. EXCELLENT) so we decided to make the trip into Massachusetts. Unfortunately, we were not able to tour other sites, but you should definitely check out this link to the New Bedford Whaling National Park.

This picture shows Joel and the kids in the lobby. That's 4 whale skeleton's suspended in the air behind them. The largest one (head on the right) is a juvenile Blue Whale (the largest mammal on earth). (Btw RI people, Cranston Library has free passes.)

That's what I've been busy doing. I'm trying to work out a routine that will give me time to blog (I've missed it!!) but for the foreseeable future I'm going to be hit or miss around here. If you enjoy reading about the goings on at my house I recommend you subscribe via google reader or email. Then when something new is posted you'll know about it.

Until later...