Spring Break, School, and Stuff

Ollie and Joe are on Spring Break this week so our days have been far from routine and normal.  It will be another week before they return to routine and normal because my sister and nephew arrive tomorrow night for a week.  I enjoy the departure from routine for a short time although it makes it hard to get much done.  We have hit school pretty hard this week to make up for a short week last week and a short week next week.  I have been borderline panicking that it would take until July to finish this year.  It is the first year we've ever used a canned curriculum and although I love it it definitely makes it harder to pace yourself.  I'm used to taking a day or two off here and there but always achieving my goals by the end of the school year.  I've always felt that the girls did a full year's worth of school and learning and they've stayed on grade level so it's worked for us.  Well, now we have school with 36 weeks and it's much harder to take a day or two off and still be where we are supposed to be.  With some hard work and NO days off from now until mid June I think we will finish everything in My Father's World and the other extras I like to do each year.  I have made a decision to pull back a little with Grace and the reading and that will make it easier to go a little faster with her.  The material had gotten to a point that she was really struggling and it would take 30-45 minutes to get through a reading passage.  Not fun for anyone.  So, I've decided to go back to more easy readers so that she can become a more fluent reader.  She has almost no sight words and sounds out everything.  So, we are going to work on that.  We will continue the lessons in her curriculum but omit the reader parts and now we can probably double up on lessons most days.  So, I am finally feeling hopeful that we can get it done!  I'm also really wanting to do a Flowers and Wildflowers lapbook, hopefully we can make the time for that.  We'll see...  Tomorrow is Science and Nature Study and Art Study so I may actually have some pictures to show.  I have taken almost no pictures this week which is very unusual for me.  But, like I said, it's been an unusual week around here.  

Now for STUFF--I was so glad Ramelie finally got voted off American Idol.  I like her but she's just not as good as the others.  I thoroughly enjoyed Dolly Parton night, it was fun to hear about their time with her.  The last two weeks are starting to turn me into a Kristy Lee Cook fan but I still love Brooke the best.  I can't believe she was in the bottom 3!  Weight Watchers is going okay but not making a lot of sense.  I lost 1.2 pounds the first week, 4 the second, gained .8 the third (even though I stayed within my points all week), and then the week I ate at Boma and Italian and didn't even count points for 3 out of the 7 days--I stayed the same.  Didn't lose, didn't gain!  Makes no sense but whatever...  I am trying to wean myself off of the "crutch" foods--lean cuisine, smart ones, Weight Watchers ice cream sandwiches, etc.  I need to really change the way I eat but also be able to feed my family the same thing and eat healthy.  Otherwise I won't be able to maintain this.  I have never been a fan of Splenda (actually wouldn't let it pass my lips) but I probably eat some of it everyday.  I just need to get used to only having sweets once a week or so instead of every day.  I also need to get used to smaller portions, less carbs, more veggies and it wouldn't hurt to start exercising.
How has your week been?