Yesterday I had a chance to visit one of the regional libraries associated with our town library.  The people were wonderful and the old building was great, but it really gave me a greater appreciation for our newer, well lit library and the effort our librarians put into the organization of it. 

I was searching for the inspirational books and had to ask the librarian where they were.  Turns out they were all mixed in with the other books, but designated as inspirational by a dove sticker on the spine.  I've been quite spoiled by our home library.  All the inspirational books are in a section of their own and I know right

I did manage to find a good book or two though.

The Simple Living Guide by Janet Luhrs -- This book is okay.  A little too new age for me in some areas, but there are some good ideas inside, too.  Like most things I just have to pick and chose what will work for my family and what won't.  All in all I would rate it about a 5 on my reading scale with 10 being the highest.  A lot of the information seemed to be designed for someone who had no background in any sort of simplicity.  Growing up in the country may have spoiled me because I thought a lot of the things mentioned were common sense.

Weight Watchers New 365 Day Menu Cookbook 

Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World by Joanna Weaver

The Frugal Gardener How to have More Garden for Less Money by Catriona Erler

and two books for my daughter came home with me, too.

This morning I rode to town with my husband -- he had two early appointments and plans to be home mid afternoon anyway.  My children are with my parents and I had a chance to do some sales shopping.  Produce was on sale -- so I found great snacks for the week -- apples, oranges, carrots, and yogurt.  A few toiletries were on sale.  All in all a good shopping day.  My only impulse purchase was washing powder...which was on sale and on my list for next month anyway. 

Our goal is to have everything ready for my husband to retire in 10 or less years if he should decide.  So I am really working on frugal healthy shopping.  We're growing a garden this year and canning our produce which will help.  (It will also help me with my diet.  I love to eat fresh veggies and can fill up on them.)

My husband surprised me with a new pantry.  Sounds odd I know, but since we bought the new office, he doesn't want to keep using the 'study' at home -- so he is converting it into a full sized pantry for me!  I'm so excited -- I'm already planning the shelving and dreaming of our spring garden.  I'm even beginning to research a herb garden. 

While I was in town I had an hour of library time.  I picked up a couple of good books and I am hoping to share some of what I learn as I go into next week.

Today was a long day.  My hubby had signed me up for a Notary Public class and today was the day.  It wasn't bad.  Just 6 hours, but I hated to leave the children with my hubby because I knew he had clients coming.  I did everything I could do in advance and left a simple meal for dinner.  (yes, I am afraid I do eat breakfast, dinner and supper...lol) Because the class was being a held at a remote site (near our office is an old public school building) I was able to walk through a neighbors yard and a parking lot to get to class.  The weather was beautiful -- 70+ degrees and it was an easy way to get in exercise.

Anyway, as soon as the instructor signed off on my test, I was out of there.  I had only made it about half way home when I saw my two children running across a lot to meet me.  Talk about a heartwarming treat -- they were so excited to meet me and told me how their day just wasn't the same without me...both children sort of talking over each other in their excitement. 

As soon as I was home, they took off to play....secure in the knowledge I was back.

I came home to a few surprises -- they had cleaned up their own dinner dishes and straightened up all the toys and school stuff.  They even told me they had each read a chapter in their library books.

So all in all I had a good day. 

I've been keeping a knitting blog for a while now, but I realized that I rarely talk about my true calling in life on that blog.  I read a while back that knitters didn't want to read non-knitting chatter and I've tried to be true to that, but there is so much more to my life than knitting.

So here I am.  There is a lot to tell about my family and I'll try to share how our days go. 

As a quick intro -- my husband and I have been married for 12 years and we have two wonderful children.  We run our own business and homeschool.  We use a combination of text book, real life, child lead learning and even unschooling.  We have two main philosophies about our homeschooling:

1. Our children aren't welcome anywhere where God isn't welcome.
2. Life is a learning process that can't accurately be measured in test scores alone.

I love being an at home mom.  I love seeing my children day in and day out.  I love being able to make our house a home....to see the content on my husband's face and to see the security in my children's eyes.