Kitchen Remodel

Since we moved in, we've always wanted to remodel our builders grade kitchen, but (as you know) kitchen remodels are expensive. So it's never gotten done.

But the first week of September (the week after I started working full-time), we discovered water leaking out from under the siding on the back of the house. And when Aaron pulled off the siding to investigate, he discovered a water leak that had been going on for who knows how long. So we got the leak repaired and then a day or two later, Aaron swore he smelled mold. I told him it was his imagination. But lo and behold, when he got under the cabinets, he found this...

So, we took out that whole wall of cabinets and called the insurance company. Getting this kitchen back up and running took September all the way to Thanksgiving due to the fact that 1) we did it all ourselves, 2) we never really seemed to be home, and 3) the rare times we were home, we didn't exactly have the energy to get it done.But it eventually DID get done, and we love it! 

I'll try to add some more pictures soon with our completed sitting room at the end, but for now, you get the idea.

Acton Academy

Well, this blog has been pretty well ignored for the better part of a year, so I thought it'd be good to give a bit of an update, and then I'll hopefully get around to back-posting pictures and more details one of these days!

A lot has changed since my last post in March. We are no longer homeschooling--instead we are at a new school in San Antonio called Acton Academy. Our friends, Scott & Sandi, started this school here this year and asked me to be the Guide (teacher, basically). I spent the middle part of 2015 studying non-traditional education and observing at a couple of the Acton Academies in Austin. I love the model and really believe in it. I love that people are beginning to re-think what education looks like and make changes!

School started August 31st, and immediately the kids loved it. They've enjoyed being self-paced and having their own laptops. We've also completed several project based learning "quests" that they have loved--like a gaming quest where they learned all about probability, strategy, game design, and more. Right now, we are working through a Rocket quest where they are learning about physics, space, and much more.

It's been a very cool experience in a lot of ways, but we have recently decided that I'll be stepping down once a replacement guide is found. We completely believe in the school, but in this season of our life, it's not the best fit for us. I underestimated how much me working full-time would change the rest of our life--ministry, family dynamics, etc. So... in the coming months, I'll be stepping down, but it's been a great journey for us all, and I feel so honored to have been a part of launching this amazing school!