Still here, still no baby.  :-)  I was unfortunately feeling closer earlier in the week than I do now, but I suppose that perception is not based on anything real.  I do hope I have this baby soon though, because I am outgrowing all my maternity clothes and on Tuesday I  measured at 41 cm.  (For the uninitiated, the measurement should be about 1 cm/week of pregnancy, which means I’m measuring about 2 cm ahead)  I’ve also gained (*gack*) almost 50 lbs.  I’m sure it will come off quickly like it has in the past, but still I dislike weighing more than my husband.  And at least I can console myself with the knowledge that I still weigh about 35 lbs less than I did when I had Emma.

I’ve been trying to keep things quiet, peaceful, and restful this week, and I’ve largely been succeeding.  I’ve spent a lot of time reading to the kids, and they’ve spent a lot of time playing with Legos, reading/looking at books, and playing with dolls and stuffed animals.  Emma and Gregory are very good at keeping each other entertained without too much drama, thank goodness!  I’ve been reading, napping, and doing lots of homeschool planning.  I’ve about finished up my planning for next year, the main thing that remains is to get a little more detailed about what we’ll be doing week by week and figuring out what resources I need to get from the library and when.  I also need to type up all my notes so that I don’t run the risk of losing them when we move sometime in July.  

I finally received my 2nd edition copy of Latin Centered Curriculum and I spent a couple hours with it last night.  I was gratified to see that his new approach to studying history is now just about the same as what I’ve decided to do.  I really like how he is recommending more living books to balance out, augment or even replace some of the workbook recommendations.  On the whole I really like his revisions to his plan, and I think this 2nd edition is a big improvement over something that I already thought was quite good.  I’m somewhat less enthused about how he has scaled back the K-2 curriculum, although I think the streamlining he’s undertaken in the whole program is a much needed improvement.   I’m also not entirely won over by his schedules in the third part of his book (40 weeks of instruction - yikes) but as he says in the introduction to that part, “Work the curriculum; don’t let it work you.  I hope that I’ve made it clear that I want you to make the Latin-centered curriculum your own.  It is not holy writ; it is meant to be adapted to your family and your needs.”  This is excellent advice about approaching anyone’s curriculum, methodology, or resources and I hope I’m experienced enough at this point to do just that.

Oh, and speaking of curriculum, Elizabeth Foss recently linked to an excellent Catholic Charlotte Mason curriculum called Mater Amabilis.  I’m not sure if it is useful to anyone who reads my blog, but I’m finding it particularly helpful in fleshing out my religious studies plans as well as my art and music lesson ideas.  It is, unfortunately, a work in progress, but there are still a lot of good recommendations there.  I like how they consider themselves a Charlotte Mason Structured Education, I think that’s at least part of what makes it fit quite well with the Latin-centered curriculum.