Jumping back in

Apparently I am now a once-a-month blogger!  Oh dear.  You know how sometimes you have so many things to write about, you don't know where to start?  Time goes by, more things happen, then I have MORE to write about . . . and so, since I'm already "behind," I end up not writing about anything, because I've already missed so much. :(  Anyway, as of today I am attempting to jump back into the blogging world, and we'll see how it goes.  Fall is right around the corner, and with it comes school and a new routine, and hopefully I'll be organized enough to actually fit blogging somewhere into my schedule.  Life is zipping by so fast, and I really want to record the moments!!

It's hard to believe we are already in the last month of summer! :(  We have enjoyed having less structure to our days, getting to sleep in (pregnant mommas need lots of sleep, right? :)), and doing some fun family activities.  Last summer I instituted "Friday Adventures" as a regular part of our week.  Every Friday we would do something fun, usually away from home . . . whether it was just a walk on the local nature trail, or a trip to the beach, or the science center.  Twice we got to do BIG adventures, going to Battleship Cove and Plimoth Plantation, as part of the "Free Fun Fridays" that a lot of museums in MA take part in.  I had hoped to do the same thing (adventures) this summer, but I've found that being pregnant makes it a little more difficult.  We have gone to the science center twice (before Ohio), and we're planning to go a few more times.  We haven't accomplished a beach trip yet, but hopefully soon!  The weather actually hasn't been super hot, so we haven't been itching to swim as much as some summers!

Today I am working on making a big batch of spaghetti sauce to can.  

Our tomatoes haven't done too great this year, but we did have a few pounds of them, plus I knew I had some in the freezer from last year.  Um, well, I had more in the freezer than I thought.  I think I had two summers' worth in there!  The kids hauled up gallon bag after gallon bag for me yesterday afternoon, and I thawed them on the counter overnight.  Now they are simmering on the stove along with onions, peppers, garlic, spices, etc. (I use this recipe but leave out the oil.)  I think we had around 30ish lbs. of tomatoes total, which should make for quite a bit of sauce.  We will enjoy it this winter on pizza, spaghetti, and anything else we need sauce for!

I've been doing some thrifting lately, and that's always fun!  One of my happiest finds was this set of dishes which go perfectly in our home.  I got everything on the table for $25!

 The dinner plates have bears and trees; the salad plates have canoes and trees.  The beige mugs and cookie jar/canister coordinate, but have moose/trees (the cookie jar has a bear on one side and moose on the other).  The brown bowls/plates are not part of the same set (they're Fiestaware), but they were all being sold together in spite of that.  The red/beige set has 6 dinner plates, 6 salad plates, 8 mugs, the moose plate, the cookie jar, and bear and moose salt and pepper shakers.

Whoohoo, what a deal!!  My other super great deal was this pair of Bogs boots for $2.

 My friend Patty saw them at the thrift store and mentioned them to me at church Thursday night; she thought they might fit Josiah.  I went in the next day and they were still there!  Yippee!!  They are a little big for him, but they are in great shape, and will probably fit him this winter or next.  Bogs retail for around $78, so you can imagine my excitement over this find. :)  Sam had a pair that we got several years ago for around $20 at another thrift store, and I thought THAT was a good deal.  He wore them pretty much all the time for 2 years, till the outer fabric started to get holes.  I'm hopeful that these will last Josiah just as long (and he probably won't wear them quite as much as Sam did), and maybe we will still have them for the new baby to wear eventually, or to pass on to a friend.  We also hit an unexpected dollar day at one of the thrift stores on Weds. of this week; we ended up with 7 pieces of clothing and 3 beanie babies for the kids (a quarter each).

I've been working on organizing and planning for school a little bit.  We will be starting either on Labor Day or the day after.  I have all my curriculum now, and last week I printed off some free planners from The Old Schoolhouse, and had them spiral bound at a local print shop.  They are pretty simple, but I hope they will help keep us a little more organized this year!

 The Sonlight box arrived . . . we are continuing last year's core, so this box wasn't as big or exciting as most years.  Still fun to check out the new stuff, though!

 The planners . . . Julia already claimed hers, as you can see. :)

 A little bit of the inside.

I'm hoping to incorporate some more Charlotte Mason-type stuff into school this year.  Specifically notebooking . . . IF we can fit it in, and IF the kids seem to enjoy it.  I'm not sure on either count.  :)  I absolutely love this blog that has so many great freebies for notebooking and other extras, that fit in with the Sonlight cores.  This lady has done a fabulous job and she makes all her resources available for free!!  I also found this great series of blog posts at Intoxicated on Life about planning for a new homeschool year: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.  I will be taking the time to read through them this week; they look really good!!

In other (important!) news, Jim and I celebrated our 15th anniversary on Aug. 7.  Can't believe we have been married that long!!  We went out for supper to celebrate, having had our "big" celebration with our getaway back in March.  Here is a collage of pics from our supper out, that I took with my iPod:

Jim ordered what was called the "Death by Burger."  Well, the waitress accidentally put in an order for the "Double Death by Burger."  It contained 36 oz. of beef (YIKES!).  In spite of a valiant effort, Jim was only able to eat 1/4 of it--we brought the rest home!  The best part was that because of the waitress's error, the manager deducted the entire cost of the burger, so it was FREE.  Gotta love restaurants with stellar customer service!  We had such a nice time and it was good to get away for a little while.

I've made this post long enough, and have barely put a dent in my list of things to blog about . . . but I'll wrap it up for now.  I also put up a new post (finally!) at my pregnancy blog.  Thanks so much for reading!!