I know it's been awhile since I've written regularly, but even among the sporadic posts I have done, I feel like it's been awhile since I've written about what we've been up to! So...in no particular order...

Homeschooling: We are finding our homeschooling groove. I've heard that being pregnant and homeschooling is the hardest time to homeschool. I believe it! But we're finally feeling like we've found our niche and we like the different curriculums we're using. I'm getting excited for the fall and homeschooling when NOT pregnant. We're planning for a break when the baby comes, but hopefully just a couple of weeks.

Graduate School: Eric's semester is in full-swing. Midsummer is still in the coaching stages so no late-night rehearsals yet. I'm grateful that once the late rehearsals start, they'll only last about a month. We're looking forward to this opera. It's a fun one!

An Ear Infection: November I took Esther to the Urgent Care when Esther woke up two hours after going to bed SCREAMING and inconsolable. Our girls seem to have high pain thresholds and don't usually cry when they have ear infections, but not this time. On the way out our door, she was pulling at her ear and crying, "Get it out!"

Asthma: Also November, a doctor at Urgent Care told Eric he had asthma! We realized he had been writing off the wheezing he experienced when working out and off and on otherwise (for YEARS) as him being wimpy or out of shape. Men can be silly that way sometimes...

Stitches: December, while I was in Utah, Eric took Heidi to the Urgent Care after she gouged her forehead jumping from a bed to a couch and landing on a broken drumstick. She didn't even cry. In less than a year, two of our three kiddos have had stitches! First Eric leaves and Esther gets stitches. I leave and Heidi gets stitches. We better not take any overnight vacations anytime soon or it'll be Autumn's turn! (Wow, I'm so thankful for a place like Urgent Care where they can treat serious things but not so "ER" serious things...and I'm SO thankful for health insurance!)

Chiropractor & more Asthma: January found us both visiting our primary care physician -- Eric for an official asthma diagnosis and more medication; me for a referral to a chiropractor (darn sacroiliac joint...which I think my Dr. was saying still falls into the "sciatica" category of symptoms?).

Graduate School Auditions, again: It feels like we just DID graduate auditions...because we did. But this week Eric auditioned for FSU's doctorate program. Soon he'll audition for USC's doctorate program. After the amount of time it took us to finish a bachelor's, it's strange to have been here for such a short time and already, in August, he'll have his Master's.

We all felt spoiled this Christmas and are so grateful for all that we were able to give and all that we were given. We had a great Christmas break and hit the new year energized and ready for another semester!

I got an email from a friend last week letting me know that the Church has a new website for younger kids! It's part of the official Church webpage. Like before, you can see all of the friend magazine articles (and for the ones from 2000 onward you can see the actual format you would get in the mail if you click on pdf). However, they have ADDED sections with:

• Watch Slideshows
• Listen to Stories
• For Little Friends (from the Friend)
• Watch Matt & Mandy
• Print Coloring Pages
• Print Activities
• Color Online
• Play Games
• Scripture Stories (audio for download, identical to the Scripture Readers, as well as video of the Scripture Readers, still animation I think it's called?)

Cool huh?!

And today I stumbled upon a GREAT find! [The link is for the 1st grade page but if you skip to the bottom you can select different grades.]

Math & Language Arts Games & Skill Builders (isn't that just a fancy way to say games so you'll feel better about your kids playing games?!) categorized by grade level. It goes all the way from Kindergarten through 8th grade. The selection is not as good for 3rd grade through 8th grade but it looks like those pages also redirect you to some sites that may have tons more. For K-2, there are SCADS of games! And several of the K games would be great for Pre-K too.

If you try them out, let me know what you think and which games you like best! There are so many, we've only tried a few so far.

ALSO -- does anyone else know of a good typing game for kids? Preferably free??