I’ve mentioned a little, bits and pieces, that we’ve been in a (long) process of finding a new church. I’ve tried a little here, a little there.. I’ve never really committed to anywhere..

I’m not really certain that this is “the one” or that we’ll end up committing to our “new church” either.. but I can say this: it looks like there’s potential. How’s that for vague? =p

Hubs and I have taken the kids to a new church for the past 3 Sundays and we’ve all liked it pretty well. The incredible thing is that it’s quite a drive (we have to leave 45 minutes before the service starts) and I can’t believe that we’re actually making that kind of drive on Sunday mornings. Fortunately there are two services and the late one is at 11:15. ;0)

This has also made for three really great family Sundays. We’ve either gone out to lunch with his family or gone straight over to his mom’s house and had lunch there, and then we spend the rest of the day swimming and visiting with his mom and her husband and his brother and sister-in-law. We haven’t left before dark thirty each Sunday and we’ve just enjoyed a lot of family quality time together. It’s been great.

I’m not even certain that we will all go back next Sunday, I’m just taking it one Sunday at a time. I know that the past three Sundays have been really great and I’m hoping for more great Sundays in the future. After such a long time of not being able to say that.. it’s really nice to say that right now. =)

Image Credit: Stephen Nakatani on Flickr, via Creative Commons 2.0

The very same Hip Homeschool Moms that brought us Monday’s Twitter party also has a Blog Hop list up right now. It’s closed to new entries, but there are 140 homeschooling blogs, Facebook pages and Twitter accounts linked up to browse through. There will be another BlogHop next week, and I’ll try to remind you about it before the linky closes!

Texas Summer Sunset

Sitting in my neighbor’s front yard waiting for the arrival of the dark, the sun boasts it’s last orange rays. Clashing with the approaching indigo, splashes of pinks and purples spread through the sky. Perhaps the sunset looks the same in the middle of winter, perhaps not. Still it seems that sunsets like these scream, “long live summer.”

Sparklers After Dark

Independence Day sparklers paired with the free spirit of a 7 year old in summer, I can nearly smell the warm, night air through the photograph. Like a slightly fuzzy childhood memory, the long-open-shutter softens the edges, freezing this moment in time with a sweet sense of summer youth.

Forgotten but not..

I may have forgotten about the pictures on my camera but the memories linger. And when they fade the photos will hold them for us. These two stood out above the rest, my favorites. My sweet shots.

Sweet Shot Tuesday is hosted by My 3 Boybarians.

A little late but what else is new? I’ve been missing out on Popinjay the last few weeks so hey, at least I’m getting it up – right? =P

This week’s Popinjay photo prompt is “Dainty.” I had planned on taking a picture of the roses my husband bought me for our anniversary on Sunday. But they were left at my mother-in-law’s house until yesterday and then I noticed that a lot of other people had the flower idea, too. ;0)

And then this flew in our school room today:

THAT.. Is a Red-tailed Specter Moth.

Tiny little thing. Drama Queen gingerly picked it up and tried to put it back out the door, though it flew back in and took up permanent residence on our school room wall. Her hand was all shiny and shimmery with pale silvery sparkles.

Talk about dainty. You have to be so careful not to hurt their wings!

Their pattern, which is difficult to distinguish can be clearly seen in the images at Bug Guide. Aren’t they beautiful?

You can link up your own “dainty” image to Popinjay at michellependergrass.com. =)

OH. MY. Word!! I have had the best weekend!! That was great. I’m on cloud nine.

1.) I’m really happy with last week’s  Back to Home School carnival. I don’t know about everyone else but I found some good blogs, learned a lot and got a lot of great ideas. Don’t worry, I’ll share some of it soon! By the way, the linkies are still open – you can still sign up!

2.) Saturday was a nice lazy day after feeling a little busy all week. I did manage to get SOME housework done so that I wasn’t TOO lazy. But the two littles and I got to chill while the eldest and Big Daddy were at rehearsals all day.

3.) Sunday – our anniversary! Started off with my “hijacking” hubs’ Facebook account to leave a really sappy status update wishing me a happy anniversary. Despite my best efforts to make it SO. OBVIOUSLY. not something he’d normally say, it sounds like several people fell for it, which was funny. Best of all, it made him laugh when he saw it, and we got to laugh over it a few times later in the day. We also went to church together, went swimming at his mom’s house, went out on a date without kids – and came home without kids!- because he’d prearranged for them to stay at his mom’s house. He bought me roses and we brought home some movies to watch. It was such a nice day.

4.) Today I’m still happy, leftover from spending so much time with Hubs yesterday. And though I had to make a run to replace a window air conditioner, I capped off my evening watching Superman II with the kiddos and winning a Monarch class of my choice from Alpha Omega during the Hip Homeschool Moms Twitter Party! Princess & I picked out Spanish since we’ve already set our hearts on specific things for the other subjects this upcoming year. How exciting!

It sure would be nice if the “good day” trend continued all week, wouldn’t it? Well… here’s hoping.

Raise your hand if you have books. No, I mean EXTRA books? *raises hand* Don’t we all? Even though I save the majority of our books to be passed on to younger children, I still end up with some things that I don’t intend to keep for one reason or another. I didn’t think I had that much, but once I actually started pulling things off shelves, (and out of the “attic” – I sure hope appreciate me going up there!) I found that I do have a little stash of books I can sell off to make a little bit of curriculum money for new books. Who doesn’t like a little bit of “out with the old and in with the new??”

I’m going to be completely fair and not try to rip you off, okay? I mean, what’s the point of buying used books if you’re not saving any money, right? ;0) And I’ll make it as easy as I can. If you’re interested in any of the following, leave a comment or e-mail me–It’ll be first come, first come first serve. If you have any additional questions about anything, just ask, okay? I’m not including pictures, but I will if you ask for one. I AM, however, linking to new ones at their various retail locations so you can read their descriptions and see their prices brand new. (Also, my preferred method of payment is Paypal.)

BJU Press: Reading, Once Upon An Open Book, 3A & 3B Student Texts- a 2 book, hardback set of BJU 3rd grade readers. No marks or tears on the pages that I can see. Binding in good condition. Originally 27.50 each. These items are no longer for sale. There are corresponding teacher manuals and worktext which I don’t have. You may be able to find them for sale somewhere else, or these can be used alone. $15.00 postage paid to contiguous United States. Contact me for shipping outside the states.

Saxon Math 3, Home Study Teacher’s Edition - Spiral bound teacher’s edition for Saxon Math 3. Still available for sale (new for $61.50) and the supporting books and workbooks are available for sale here. The cover shows minor wear, no writing on the pages, a few smudges here and there – and what appears to be coffee dribbled on the top edge of a small section of the book. *Ahem* The book is still in pretty good condition and I can take pictures if you are interested. This book is pretty heavy and large, I’ll do $20.00 plus shipping calculated to your destination. I’ll ship to the contiguous U.S., contact for shipping outside the states.

Saxon Math 6/5 Teacher’s Edition, 2nd Edition, 2001 – Public School version, not the homeschool version. Good condition. This is pretty nifty because it’s just like the student book but with the answers right there in it – as opposed to the answers listed in a separate book. These are $68 brand new, I found one on ebay with “obvious wear” listed for $12 (plus shipping). You can find the student texts on ebay pretty easily and pretty cheap. I’ll sell this one in good condition for $20.00 postage paid, to the contiguous US of course. Contact for shipping outside the states.

The Story of the World, Volume 1 Ancient Times (First Edition, Paperback) & The Story of the World, Volume 2 The Middle Ages (Revised Edition, Paperback) - The volume 1, as I’ve noted is the 1st edition and the Volume 2 is the revised addition. They are both in excellent condition. They’re about $15 – $17 brand new. I don’t have any of the other correlating items, but if you need them they are cheapest at Christianbook.com. ;0) Sold as a set for $18.00, postage paid, to the contiguous U.S, contact for shipping outside the states.

Green Thumbs: A Kid’s Activity Guide to Indoor and Outdoor Gardening – Paperback, fairly good condition. The pages are in excellent condition, no markings, the cover shows minimal wear. Overall the book shows a little wear (curvature) from being thumbed through and looked at. Retail price is $15.00, price on Amazon is $10.17 plus shipping, I’ll sell it for $8.00 postage paid to the contiguous U.S., contact for shipping outside the states.

Okay, so that’s it. See? Just a little bit of stuff I’ve got collecting on my shelf. If you need it, I would love to help you save some money – and de-clutter my bookcase at the same time! Now I just need to find something to do with all the other books that I’m saving to pass on while they’re not being used!!

Now it’s your turn:

If you’ve got some curriculum or other teaching tools collecting dust on your shelves, now’s your chance to find someone who’s looking for what you’re not using. List your link in the linky on Monday’s post and then see what happens. If you don’t blog or don’t want to post it on your blog, you could also post it in a Facebook note (make it public) and link to that, OR, you can leave it in a comment in the Facebook Discussion. Deal?

For me? I haven’t bought anything! I’m totally up for buying The Mystery of History Volume 1, or Apologia Astronomy used and in good condition. Just, ya know, in case you’re looking to sell. Now go forth and help a homeschool Momma out. (Not necessarily me.) =)

P.S. The linkies are going to be open ALL NEXT WEEK, so it’s not too late to join in and link up. I’ll also probably post about what I learned from you all this week. Thank you so much for joining in and making this the most fun carnival I have hosted here at Classic Housewife. Muchas Gracias!