Where have I been?

Several people have asked why I haven't been posting much lately. I even placed all my groups on temporary hold. (I still read them some on yahoogroups, but I just didn't have time to sort through the 300+ e-mails in my box every day so I put them on "web only" for a while.) Meanwhile, I'm staying busy. Here's what I've been up to...

- We're STILL trying to clean house.

- We finished all our foster / adoption paperwork and we're praying / waiting patiently for a referral.

- Hannah is learning to read. That's the most difficult task of homeschooling, I think, but once the child learns to read, I think 99% of your work is done! They can learn on their own if they only know how to read! : )

- Sarah entered ninth grade so we've entered our first official year of homeschool high school. Yikes! That's a lot of work just planning the classes, trying to collect appropriate books, etc. We're actually letting her use textbooks this year. (SHE has asked to do this so we're supporting her decision.)

- We have about 70 chickens to care for now. They're ADORABLE! All the children help with the food, etc., but Sarah takes care of the eggs, incubates them, and raises the baby chicks.

- I just finished a new book for Bethany House Publishers. I can't wait for this book to come out! I'm going to read and use it myself! : )

- I am working on a student workbook and teacher manual for The Heritage Foundation to go with their book The Heritage Guide to the Constitution. It is an AMAZING book and I am so pleased to be a part of the project. When we finish the student and teacher books, they will be wonderful tools for public, private, and home education settings!

- Sarah recently became involved with Civil Air Patrol, which we have been immensely pleased with. I'm so glad that we found something she can be passionate about.

Let's see... on top of all that, I am trying to teach the other children, clean house, cook occasionally, go to doctor appointments, run errands, etc. My life is very full right now and I just LOVE it! The children are growing each day. They are precious. The other evening Hannah was sitting in bed with me and she said:

"Mommy, if I married Nolan Nerrin (a boy at our church), my name would be Hannah Grace Marie Haskins Nerrin. Isn't that an awfully long name?!? If I married Zach, my name would be Hannah Grace Marie Haskins MOREland. That's too long, too."

She sat there a few minutes and then said:

"You know, I could marry someone with the last name 'Elf' and then my name would be Hannah Grace Marie Haskins Elf. That's shorter, but then we'd be Mr. and Mrs. Elf and you'd have to call me Hannah Elf. Isn't that funny?"

I just love kids.
Sonya :)