I really don't have a lot to tell you, except that I am taking a big trip in a little less than a month and for some reason it makes me feel both panic and denial...I am leaving my husband and four of my five children for two weeks, which I have never ever done. I am worried about this. I am also worried about taking a loooooong flight with a 6-month-old baby. He does look so awfully cute in his passport photos, though. :-)

On the other hand I am overwhelmingly excited about visiting my sister and her family, including her precious new baby girl!! I haven't seen my sis now in a little over a year and it has been pure torture. I think one of the saddest days in my life was the day she stepped onto a plane with her family and waved goodbye. :-( It has made me really glad, and thankful, for the relationship I have with my sisters. I know that not everyone has that and it is such a blessing to me. I can say quite honestly there is no one on earth who understands me quite like my sisters do.

As for the future of this blog, there have been a few issues I've been thinking over. I don't really like blogs. I'm not saying there's any specific blog I dislike (there are, but that's not the point) but I have grown tired of people acting as if they have some field of expertise when they don't, just because they can get away with it. Hey, I've done it too. Everyone wants to feel important, that's okay. I just find it annoying and I'm sure I don't want to have a blog that invites me to do that. I either need to refocus this blog elsewhere or stop writing it.

Another issue is that all of my crafting efforts have been majorly back-burnered (I know that is not a word. Embrace!!) I was fooling myself thinking that now is a good time for me to try to take over for Martha Stewart. I have five children. FIVE. I will probably have at least one more. THEY NEED ME. Now you can tell me that crafting is a part of who I am and I will lose my identity if I give it up but the truth is, my identity is found in Jesus Christ and Him alone and there is nothing else that matters. That was a scary thought for me at first but man it is so freeing! I know that He has given me my husband, children, home, church and friends and that is where I need to focus my efforts right now. All other things that I had attached to "my identity" were false, just dead weights keeping me from doing what I need to be doing.

Finally, we are carefully considering homeschooling again next year. I am scared to homeschool again because I really worry that I will fail my kids -- but I know where this public school business is heading and it's not good. And besides, I want my babies back. This home just doesn't feel right without all my children in it.

So yeah. This blog is changing, and I imagine it may lose some readers (I know I have a huge hoard of fans ravenous for any written morsel I throw their way, right?). I'm sorry if that is disappointing but I really have to focus right now on the things that are really important to me, I mean, really REALLY important. Eternally important. You know?