Updates galore

For those of you wondering how I'm doing with NaNoWriMo, I am now over 21,500 words! I owe a big debt of gratitude to my writing partner, Shaunta. She and I send each other our day's writing every evening. It's really kept me on track. There have been several nights when I just didn't feel like finishing, but I thought, "Shaunta's waiting for my email. I better get to work." And I get to read her novel, which is fantastic! I can't believe she's never written fiction before. I am really enjoying it. So thanks, Shaunta!

In other news, Noah is now officially walking! He just turned 11 months on the 10th. He had taken his first steps about 3 weeks ago, but now he's really walking everywhere. He's very proud of himself, too, as you can see.

School is going well so far this year. Joshua, who is using the charter school, is picking up math and reading at an amazing pace. I've been able to skip many lessons because he just doesn't need them. He especially enjoys creating art projects, particularly if it involves painting. Caleb, who I am independently homeschooling, has amazed me this year with his positive attitude. He has actually given me a big hug after school some days and thanked me for teaching him this way! It was absolutely the right choice to use a less structured way of teaching him. Isaac is just dying to have school of his own, so I have a couple of workbooks I give him every now and then. I think it would be a mistake to make him do it every day, not to mention more stress on me.

Co-op is now over for the semester, although we do have our showcase tomorrow. Showcase is when all the teachers get to show off what their classes have done. It's not mandatory so I don't usually participate.

Wednesday, we are going on a field trip to the Utz factory and the Snyder's of Hanover factory in Hanover. We used to live there, so I'm excited to go back and especially to hit the factory outlets. Discount snack food, whoo hoo!! I don't know if I'll be able to take pictures or not, but if I can, you know I'll share them!

Have a great week!