we are still alive!!

Just busy! Homeschool stuff is going well, though I've kind of streamlined down to the essentials for now. I'm not getting a lot of "extra" books at the library for science or history, but we have consistently worked on our math and language arts. We are still doing our science and history, but without so much accessory stuff. Especially as the weather is nicer, I prefer to give the kids a lot of unstructured time. Plus, the first weekend of April Noodle got her new puppy, which she named Orbit. She wanted a space name, which I think was inspired by our current study of the Solar System and outer space. It's a great name for him, especially since he can and does run circles around the rest of us. That's been both fun and a little crazy.

I'm in the process of forming a boys' activity group. Last month, Spud's best friend moved to Colorado, and another family from our homeschool group (with 2 boys) moved to Idaho. Our group has kind of dwindled now, and it was small to begin with, so it either needs an influx of new blood or I've got to figure something else out. But the guy needs some more friends. There aren't a ton of boys his age in the neighborhood, really, and he is the sort who doesn't really feel comfortable just going places alone to play. I have gotten quite a few responses of interested moms, so I'm hopeful we'll be able to get something fun going soon.

Other than that, Noodle is now reading and enjoying the first Encyclopedia Brown book, which is fun for me since I really enjoyed those books as a kid, too. She and Spud have been playing Detective on and off the past week.

I'm trying to figure out what we'll do during summer. I know I want to keep Noodle moving forward on her Writing With Ease lessons (we started Book 2 last week) and the math, but I think we'll largely take a break from formal history and science. We are nearly at the end of Story of the World 1, and I think I'd rather just start Volume 2 in the fall. Maybe I'll get motivated during the summer and really prepare for some cool "extras". I'm not sure what we are doing for science next year. I think we might do Life Science, since I never did a formal thing with Noodle and Spud will be at a great age for that. I still need to do some research.

And here's Orbit, for your enjoyment.