Stuff

I have lots and lots of pictures to share and a birthday post to do for Joe but all my pics are on my other computer and so I'm just going to babble on and on for your listening enjoyment. I've spent the last two days going through most of the kids stuff and getting rid of lots and lots. I've thrown away about 3 big trash bags full of junk. I've given away three trash bags full of clothes and I have a big box of books, a whole bin of curriculum, another trash bag of clothes, and a big stack of games and puzzles to sell at my impromptu yard sale on Thursday morning. I'm really hoping to make a cajillion dollars. I think it's feasible b/c my stuff is pretty awesome. Some of it I really struggle with parting with but we just have too much and I feel like we are bursting at the seams in this little house. In the past month I've cleaned out two closets and now gone through all this other stuff and it feels good to be mostly decluttered. My closet and drawers are next but that probably won't happen this week. I now need to price everything for the yard sale and I'm having a small birthday party for Joe tomorrow and need to get ready for that in the morning. We haven't done any academic school this week but the kids are helping me with this big cleanout every step of the way. They are learning to make good decisions about what to keep and what to let go. I'm proud of them.
I just read a great, but a bit disturbing book. It was called, Still Missing by Chevy Stevens. It was about a female real estate agent who was abducted at an open house and taken to a remote cabin in the mountains where she was held captive for a long time. She ultimately escapes and is struggling to adjust to "normal" life. The story is told by her as though she were talking to her therapist. It was soooo good! Did freak me out a little at times though. You've been warned.
Thank you to everyone for your encouragement about the grammar questions. I'm going to do the chapter on Punctuation in each of Hannah's and Grace's books and then spend the rest of the year focused on note taking, outlining, and report writing. As part of my big cleanout I went through all of my homeschool curriculum and found all sorts of stuff I'd forgotten about. I've got some great stuff that hasn't been used. My plan as of right now for next year is to get Teaching Textbooks for Hannah (already have it) and Grace and maybe Joe and then continue our history and science curriculums. In addition to that we will use workbooks, lapbooks, etc, that I already own to supplement. And, the kids will write and read a lot. I'm looking forward to next year and also finishing well this year. Still so much to do but I feel a renewed desire to make the most of each day with them and quit stressing. :0) I'm too blessed to be stressed.
Well, I'm off to clean the kitchen and get dinner going. It's almost 80 degrees and we're having soup. I really don't like soup when it's warm out but I have a boatload of broccoli that's begging to be boiled to mush in chicken broth and then pureed and eaten with a spoon. Really, it told me last night. I was hoping to get some dough in the bread machine and make focaccia bread but I think I've lost my motivation for that. A sleeve of crackers will have to do.