Well, after a month of an abnormal schedule including 2 vacations and some major home renovations, I think that life is starting to return to "normal"!  I wasn't prepared for the upheaval that the vacations would cause in our life, since both of them were unexpected and pretty much last minute!  And then to top it off, we came home from Florida with no running water and a severely messy house!  (This is what happens when you leave your hubby alone for the week! LOL) 

However, the plumbing in our old 30's house has now been completely updated (a good learning experience for hubby) and I have gotten the house back in order (almost, but my vacuum is broke so I'm waiting for a new filter) and we are supposed to be starting back with school today.  We took way too many weeks off and now have A LOT of catching up to do! 

I'm taking a break from Weaver.  I think it will work for us after we get our first year under our belt, but I think we need to be "broken in" with something a little less "planning intensive".  Last night, I ordered the entire "Five In A Row" series, including the Bible and Holiday supplements and we will be starting that on Monday.  I've heard wonderful things about this curriculum and can't wait to give it a shot! 

I really like that each unit study is based on a children's book.  One of our favorite things right now is reading together, so I think this will be a good step for us.  I decided to get some really fun books for extra read alouds, so we picked up "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" and "James and the Giant Peach", both by Roald Dahl, as well as "How to Eat Fried Worms" by Thomas Rockwell.  We started reading "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" last night and I can tell he's actually listening!  Big improvement! 

I took ds to see "How to Eat Fried Worms" in the theater while we were in Florida.  It's a great movie for boys (and anyone who has ever been a boy!).  There is a girl in the movie that keeps saying:  "Boys are soooo weird!"  Wow, I can really relate!  We went in the middle of the day and we ended up having the entire theater to ourselves!  It was wonderful!  I told ds we were special and we got to have a "private viewing"!  He was so excited! 

I have to run, but I'll post more about our vacation soon, including some pics.  The kids had a great time and my family was so happy to have us there for a week!  It was the best surprise I've ever pulled off!

Have a great day!