I've been away a while...

I've been absent from my blog for a long time. Thanks for still checking on me!...

The end of last year was very busy for me with lots of photo sessions, family vacations, being in my friend's wedding, and then all of the holidays on top of that. I spent all of this week just uploading all of my personal pictures from as far back as November! Yikes!

But the break has been good for me, and here's what's been going on:

First, God has really laid it on my heart through personal conviction...and through my husband...that the computer, but specifically facebook, can really take my attention away from my family. If you're on FB, you know what I'm talking about. Not only was it taking away my attention from other things that needed it, but it was also really causing me to compare myself to other bloggers and friends in unhealthy ways. My life doesn't need to be about that competition. The purpose for me getting online was never about competition either. It was a way to share the "goings on" of my family with my friends and family far away. So there was that issue. I'm happy to say I'm still working on it, but that I have a much better "relationship" with FB now. :)

Secondly, God has put it on my heart to homeschool my kids. If you knew me in high school or college, you were probably just as shocked at that revelation as I was! I never wanted to homeschool! I'm not going to rationalize our decision to you, but I will tell you that we started in January with Evan, just starting small and on a trial-basis (he IS only 3 after all!). We have committed to learning a Bible verse every week as a family (I get to play with photoshop and print an 8.5x11 poster for our refrigerator). Evan is learning his letter sounds and how to write letters (we're using the KUMON theory if you're interested in that). Evan's also learning number sense, calendar and weather things, and getting opportunities to draw and be creative. So far, it's going really well! I love spending this time with Evan...especially seeing his "aha!" moments and his love of learning! I plan to meet up with other homeschooling moms this summer to get a better feel for the after-preschool stuff. :)

Thirdly, I am desperately trying to get some better routines for our family. We've moved SEVEN times in the last five years. That's a lot! And every time we got into good routines, something would happen (like moving), and we'd be right back out of them. We're tired of living in that CHAOS, and with the help of our good friend the FLYlady (check her out at www.flylady.net), we're getting into good habits...finally!

Since the beginning of the year I've also been leading a mom's Bible Study at our church on Confident Parenting. I read up on parenting resources a LOT...both for me and to help with our passion for youth and their families. It's been fun...and this session finally ended today. One more six week series before summer break. It's such a blessing to network with moms at church...I've learned so much from them all!

So those are a few of the reasons I've been away. But I'm back because I realized my baby girl is already a year old, and I missed out on documenting lots of her milestones, which made me a little sad. So I'm going back to November and catching up over the next few weeks. November is done....the rest to follow, so feel free to go back and browse!