Getting Ready for a New School Year...at Home!

So I am shifting gears now, as I half expected to have to do. I go from preparing to possibly transition the kids (temporarily) into public school, to beginning our semi-annual cleaning and organization of school stuff. A task that surely becomes more arduous with each and every year. As the kids get older we inevitably acquire more school "gear". Lane is the only one who gets new books. We try to save all the material Lane goes through so that the next kid can use them when he/she is ready. So with each year a new set of books arrive at our house and no old books leave. Eventually I have no idea how I will handle this situation. I can only hope that we figure out a solution to this problem before we one day open the front door only to be buried in an avalanche of books.
I am excited to be starting the school year anew. It is always fresh and exciting and the kids always enjoy school for about 2 months before getting fed up. Last year, a few weeks into the new school year, Lane told me "School is more fun than it used to be!" While I was pleased by this sentiment, I did have to chalk it up to the fact that they were bored with the idleness of summer and enjoying the change back to normal routine. I felt that my theory was proven, when a few weeks later everyone was back to dreading school work.
We do have at least one new thing planned this year. I signed the oldest boys up for the Mcwane Center's home school science program. Every other week they will get to go to the McWane Center to do fun hands on science projects. I think this will be a great supplement to our science lessons. It will be good for the younger kids too, as they will be free to play while the boys do the lab.
I thank everyone for their prayers while I awaited news from Wallace State about the nursing program. I am glad to have my prayer answered (if God's answer is "No, not right now" than that is still an answered prayer!) and I pray that we and all families out there reading this, whether home schooling or otherwise, will have a good and productive year.