I apologize for the long hiatus I ended up taking from my blog.  It started out with our homeschool schedule becoming extremely hectic for a while and then, about the time we made some cutbacks, my father-in-law had a hemorrhagic stroke.  He spent the next 21 days in ICU & we spent the next 21 days at the hospital.  After 21 days of quite literally being on a roller coaster ride, he went home to be with our Lord.  That was on December 5th.  December 6th was my husband’s birthday, the 18th would have been my father-in-law’s 2nd wedding anniversary, & then we threw in Christmas & the flu for Katie & I.  It took me about 2 weeks to fully recover from the flu.  Then we started back to into our homeschooling routine.  It’s not been an easy time, especially since we lost my mother-in-law 3 years & 1 week before my father-in-law. 

So, that about sums up where I’ve been & brings us to where we are now.  I’m not sure how much I’ll be posting, but I’m hoping to be post at least 3 times a week.  I’m leaving it in God’s hands.  

This year, I’ll be focusing on simplifying – our home, our “stuff”, our schedules, etc. – while also learning more & doing more preserving & becoming more self-sufficient.   I can say that, so far this year, we’ve sorted through all of our clothes & donated about 4 bags of clothes to our local thrift store– most from the kids, especially our son who has taken a pretty big growth spurt in the last few months.  We’ve also donated another 2-3 bags of miscellaneous odds & ends that we just didn’t “love”  anymore.  Hopefully, the items will find a new home with people who “love” them & will use them.  We’ve also done a complete pantry overhaul & I donated a dishes that we haven’t used in a very long time.  It’s so nice to see the clutter leaving & being able to see, love, & use the items that we do have.  Less really IS more!