Thank you to everyone who has been concerned for my family and those who have written to see how we’re doing. We’re doing well, and we’re back home after having to leave town suddenly to help some relatives in need. You’ll read about what happened in an upcoming post.

Meanwhile, I’m here to say, I’m back! I wasn’t gone long, was I?

It’s taken awhile to feel like I’m back into my old routine, which is a bit messy and unorganized anyway, so I guess I can’t expect to ever feel on top of everything. But we’re back home, and I’m well rested, and the house is kind of clean, the refrigerator is stocked, and I have time to sit here and type while watching a bluebird feed her babies in the birdhouse outside my window.

We’ve been having rain like crazy, and I’m starting to have mixed emotions about it. I love rain, but this is a little excess. At least my garden is happy and the new perennials I bought recently at the Botanical Garden are settling happily into their new homes.

I love having a busy life even if I don’t always get to accomplish everything I’d like to get done in a timely manner. I feel fortunate that I love family life and being with my children and husband (I know there are people who don’t love it). (Not that it’s all perfect or that we always get along, of course!) I love never feeling bored. I love having lots of projects swimming in my brain.

I’m always thinking about my sons’ homeschool, and I do that through this blog. Writing and organizing it helps me organize and plan our life. Reflecting on what we’ve done helps me know where we need to go too.  I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoy writing it.

Some of my upcoming posts will be:

• Life’s Unexpected Twists and Turns
• 2nd Generation Butterflies – with a slideshow, of course!
• Butterflies at the Chicago Botanical Garden Butterfly Habitat
• Our End-of-the-Year Review
• My Homeschool Priorities for a Seven and Four-Year-Old

And as a forewarning, I’m going to be publishing a private post soon that will require a password to view – I don’t mean to exclude my loyal readers, but there’s something I want to share with family and close friends, yet it feels like too much to put out there on the Internet. I hope you understand. If you’re someone I have close contact with and you’d like to view it, just send me an e-mail to get the password.