i know you'll get lots of advice as far as curricula goes, so i won't even try to suggest any to you... i do want you to realize that you will "miss something" in teaching your children... there is no way you could possibly cover EVERYTHING! and you may lay awake late at night sometimes wondering if you are doing "enough." most of us fall into that... institutionalized education is all most of us know, so we find ourselves comparing what we are doing to our own schooling experiences...
teach your children "HOW" to think as opposed to "WHAT" to think... teach them to how to learn, to love learning, and they will learn to learn on their own... this is what you want them to leave your homeschool with... then if you missed something that they need, or they want (and you will miss something) they will know how to find it, get it, learn it when they really need it...
i am all for alternative schooling, and i get excited when another family decides to pursue alternative education... my best to you and your family!
Thanks to everyone who posted. I should have included in my original post that we are in Michigan, where it is very easy to homeschool, and the kids are going into 3rd and 4th grades. We want to homeschool because they are both enthusiastic, independent learners, but they waste too much time in school waiting for everyone in the class to reach the same level. They also have specific interests they would like to pursue in a more in-depth way, but school leaves less time and less money for this. I work a very flexible, very part-time schedule, so I think this can be done. They can even go to work with me if necessary.
Thanks again, everyone.