Friends, this year has been A YEAR. A really good year , but also a year of stretching and growth and challenge. And now the end of the school year is (almost) in sight, and we're feeling the effects of warmer sun and the hope of spring, and I'm able to catch my breath just a little. And I'm realizing that in the whirlwind of the good, and the new, and the stretching, and the growing, my writing and blogging time got pushed aside. And I miss it. And I need to make more time for it. And you know what?  Next year there will be more challenge and change and good for our family as I take on a new position at our school. Among other things I get to teach writing.  :) And you know what? THIS. This is what I want for my students. Writing is not just a subject for school.  Writing is not only for people who make a career out of writing novels. Writing is a tool- a really important tool- for expressing yourself. An