Planning Our Grade 1 Curriculum

Since grade 1 will be our first full year of homeschooling, we are going to stick to the public school calendar. This means that the school year will be arriving in less than 6 weeks. So, I'm frantically searching for the perfect grade 1 curriculum right this minute. However, I am not looking for a pre-packaged curriculum. For one, those are too expensive and two, I don't think it would work well for Future Bam's learning style.

For the second half of kindergarten this past year (we pulled our son out of public school after Xmas break) we used a mix of workbooks, online resources, games, and daily life experiences to complete the school year. Basically, we used the eclectic approach and I want to continue doing that for most subjects. However, for 1st grade I also want to be somewhat more structured so we are purchasing a textbook/workbook for each required subject just to have some guidelines to go by.

My dilemma now is that I need recommendations on good affordable textbooks, workbooks, games, & manipulatives. What should I buy? Do you recommend buying a textbook that is outdated by 5 years? What is the best textbook for our learning style?

I'd also like to hear your recommendations on the best homeschooling blogs out there that also provide great learning resources. I've yet to find a homeschooling blog that really suits us but I'm convinced one is out there so feel free to share with me your favorites. I will check each and every one of them out personally.