Life, Adoption, and Future Writing On This Blog

I haven't written for a while because of a large family change. To summarize, our family has grown significantly - we have adopted 4 beautiful children, growing our family to 5 children. These incredible children have been so much fun - we are grateful to have them as part of our lives and appreciate the opportunity and blessing of having them in our home. Needless to say, this has been simultaneously joyous and stressful.

Here are our 5 kids - a photo from last autumn. 

Here are four of the kids looking at the bison in Battelle Darby Creek Park.

As of April 14, the adoption has been finalized and we are moving forward with a great sense of happiness as a family. And I now feel that I may actually have some time to do some more writing on this blog!

Future Writing on This Blog
As I review my blog, I have noticed that I tend to write about learning, teaching, instructional design, and leadership. I have also shared some of my travel experiences, including trips overseas, conferences, and my 2014 sabbatical.

These are important, and I will continue to write about these topics. But I have decided to shift my focus a little bit to some things I have been thinking about for the last several months. These include the following topics:

1. Humor. I've noted before that I consider myself a slightly boring writer. My hope is that I can lighten up a little. We will see - most likely there will be a minor, almost unnoticed uptick in funniness.
2. Artwork. I have been experimenting off and on with artwork, and I plan to share some of my dabbling from time to time. Also, I think artwork will be a key aspect of my future blogging. Hopefully this all falls under the increasingly nebulous topic of "learning success."
3. Books I am reading. I already share the books I am reading here, but I rarely write a review of these books. I've received some requests from authors to review some books in the recent past, and I plan to do so. I will also review other books as I feel inspired or see fit.
4. Mental and Physical Health. I have written about this off and on in the past (share relevant blog posts) but will likely write more about them in the near future.
5. Time Management. I have been thinking and writing about it off and on for a while and have organized some thoughts, recently. (This is likely a direct result of having increased the number of children in our home by 4). I will share ideas on this topic, too.

And, of course, I will continue to write about Learning and Teaching on this blog - topics that I am passionate and excited about.

Thanks for reading!