Who knew Abe's house was so delish?

I hope I've mentioned before my wonderful sitter, Angela. She's a great fit for us because not only is she an experienced sitter, she also was homeschooled, so she helps me A LOT with Will's work. Earlier this week, I gave her a project I found online where you can create "Abe Lincoln's Log Cabin" with pretzels, peanut butter, and other various and sundry kitchen items.

Anyway, she needed me to actually buy the pretzels, which was the limiting factor. I did eventually remember, however, and it ended up being a great little project. He had a blast, and we all enjoyed the bounty of peanut-buttery snacks afterwards. (What? You didn't think we'd just waste all that food, did you?)

Come see Will's big project...

Will and Daddy Build a Computer

Home's cool.

We've made a big decision. Will is going to be homeschooled next year.

This is in NO way a reflection on his school, which we still love and support. Rather, it's about Will. We didn't come to this decision lightly -- it was the product of a lot of talking, thinking, research, and introspection on our parts. But ultimately, we decided this is the best thing for him -- and for us -- right now.

Tentatively on the schedule for "first grade" is architecture (learning about styles and letting him do some basic design), computer programming (HTML mostly), lots of science, probably some photography, and of course math and handwriting. You might be noticing the abscence of reading, which seems pretty elemental for a first grader, but of course, Will gets reading all the time every day. He is a voracious reader, and while he's going to be reading books for fun, he'll also be reading to learn.

We're really excited, and he is too. We plan on keeping in touch with his friends from school as well as meeting new homeschooling friends. Adelaide will continue to go to her preschool program, and basically, things will be pretty much normal.

We're so at peace with this decision, which is a big contrast to the "tied in knots" feelings we were dealing with thinking about it all. Once we decided, it was like, "whew!" We could just relax again. We plan on using the money we'd set aside for tuition for things like more family vacations and supplies for school, among other things.

I fully intend to keep writing as much, if not more, than I am now, and while I realize this will be a major life change, I feel comfortable we can work it out. I think I may start getting up with Ben and working some before the kids wake up!

We're so excited to share this news with everyone. Thanks for your support.