A Catch Up Post for AnnMarie

Your comment has been received AnnMarie so here's your catch up post...
Sometimes I forget I have a blog and totally forget to even think about updating it.  Particularly if I am just going along with every day normal, BUSY life.  So, here's a quick, update on life around here quick takes style.
1.  We are 4 weeks away from the end of our school year and every single morning I'm tempted to just call it a year and be done.  I have to really give myself a pep talk to finish the "race."  I'm so ready to be done because there are so many other things going on and fitting school in is a pain.  With that said, I am still in the "race," for now at least.  The girls are down to their last two weeks or so of virtual school and of course I'm not going to quit that so close to the end.  Instead I just nag and nag and pressure and stuff to get them to do more and do it faster even if it's wrong.  Just GET IT DONE!  Joe is doubling up on language arts lessons and Geography worksheets in an effort to finish those two books.  We are slogging along at one math lesson a day but if this has to go into the summer I'm okay with that since it's done independently on the computer.  We are going to Alaska in June so I made a cool Alaska packet for the kids to do, Hannah finished hers completely in about an hour one day but Grace and Joe haven't started.  Hannah does everything fast which is why she will probably be the first one done with her school year.  She's got a couple of more weeks in her Total Language Plus, The Hiding Place and she has to finish Virtual school Science and we are trying to get through one more chapter of Algebra before picking it up again in the fall.  Four weeks away!  Unless I quit sooner.
2.  May is the new December at my house.  I am never busier in the year than in May.  In just the first two weeks of May this year I'll be going to Georgia for my nephew's graduation from Basic Training (can I get a woohoo?!?), spending 1 1/2 days with the Senior Tour theatre kids going to schools and performing a show they wrote about bullying.  Attending and working and watching 7 Seussical shows.  Taking and picking up kids from theatre rehearsal every weekday between now and those 7 shows.  Oh, and of course, cooking, cleaning, schooling, etc.  Then, in the last 2 or 3 weeks of May we do another Senior Tour day, finish school, I will be attending a homeschool convention, and then driving to Georgia again to spend a week hanging with the fam.  Yep, May is going to be crazy but fun and full of memory making events!
3.  I'm reading a lot, it's how I relax at night after my busy days.  I just finished a YA book called Make Lemonade that was really good and so heart warming and inspirational about a young girl really helping change the life of another young girl.  I am in the middle of reading Glennon Melton's (of Momastery) book, Carry On, Warrior.  I love her style of writing and her transparency.  I am also reading Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn.  I've been in line for this book at the library for about 6 months and I only get it for a week but it's so good I will probably be done with it over the weekend if I get some good reading time (like I'm expecting!).  I also have a big stack of books that I'm excited about reading...I know I just said how crazy my life is and it is crazy busy but there is ALWAYS time to read!
4.  My girls are growing up so fast and I don't like it!  I feel like I'm swimming upstream as I try to raise them right, instill values, protect them just enough, give them just enough exposure to the world, and so on.  I wish I didn't care so much because it's stressful and hard and relentless.  Hannah's latest thing is wanting to read adult books, specifically Jodi Picoult books.  Some of her books are okay I think but when I read them I wasn't paying attention to the content and how appropriate it was for a 13 year old.  I am trying to tell Hannah to slow down and read books written for her age while she's still young.  She has a lifetime to read the adult books.  With that said....many of the YA books are actually worse as far as sexual content and language than adult books!  So, for now I've told her she can read Nicholas Sparks and Richard Paul Evans, and My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult.  In the meantime I am always on the lookout for books that are modern (she doesn't like "old" books or fantasy or science fiction) but relatively clean.

I gotta go, I'm supposed to be leaving my house in about 20 minutes to go see a show in Orlando.
Peace out, peeps!

A Week With Joe

 Joe and I had lots of quality time together this week.  The girls left Tuesday morning and by the time I got Joe picked up it was past noon.  We got home and he practiced for theatre and we each had some time alone before he went to theatre.  On Wednesday he did school and then we went on a bike ride downtown and got ice cream and did a little shopping.  I made him pose for pictures... :0)  He doesn't understand why I want to take pictures of everything.

 Thursday we got up early and went to Epcot for the day with Ms. Amanda and her boys.  It was the Flower and Garden Festival and the flowers and topiaries were just beautiful!

 Mr. Joel was working in a street show in England so we visited him twice.

 On Friday Joe had asked that we have a whole day where we don't go anywhere.  I agreed and let him choose some things to do.  First off though he did some school.  Then we played a game of Life while watching "A Mile in His Shoes."  Later we painted and drew and watched, "Cheaper by the Dozen," and finally we spent 2 hours building a Lego house and I think we watched 4 episodes of "Once Upon a Time," while doing that.  It was a fun day and I'm glad we got to have that time together.

Seven Quick Takes

1.  We have just finished week 3 of spring break around here.  We've had some great times with out of town family and with each other.  We've made some wonderful memories and I'm so thankful to have had this time.  With that said...this momma is ready for normal life!  I love normal life, I really do.  I thrive in the day to day normalcy of normal life.  It's not necessarily fun, in fact, I'm often stressed out with all that I feel needs to be done in a day.  But, overall, I feel in control and caught up (sort of...it's all relative).  Right now after 3 weeks of spring break I am feeling a little lost and like I don't even know where to start.  Tomorrow is the first day of getting back to normal...and I have a list.  It's going to take me the whole weekend to get ready for a "normal" week next week but that's okay.  I'm ready--menu planning, lesson planning, meal prep, house cleaning, bring it on!

2.  For those of you that don't know (I think all of my readers do know...), the girls are in Chicago this week visiting family.  They flew out Tuesday morning and they will return on Sunday night.  Joe and I have had a week to ourselves but we've managed to fill it up.  Tuesday was busy with taking the girls to the airport, tutoring, PE, taking Joe to theatre, and general pick up and put away after a busy weekend.  Wednesday, Joe did some school, practiced for theatre, and went to theatre, and chillaxed in between thankful for a few hours of quiet alone at home.  Then, yesterday, we spent all day at Epcot and in the evening Joe went to a birthday party with Ollie.  Needless to say, by today, my little introvert didn't want to go anywhere or see anyone (but me).  So, I told him we'd have a day where he'd get to choose what we do once school was done.  We played Life while watching "A Mile in His Shoes," then drew and painted while watching "Cheaper by the Dozen," and later spent 2 full hours building a Lego house while watching 4 episodes of "Once Upon a Time."  In between those activities I did a few chores and read for a short while and took a nap.  It was an easy day and I thoroughly enjoyed my time with Joe.  Tomorrow he will spend the day doing stuff with dad so momma can get some things done!

3.  The girls are having a ball in Chicago.  I talk to them in the morning and hear all about their adventures.  They are loving all of the time with their cousins and are staying busy.  Hannah gives me detailed descriptions of the amazing dinners Grandma and Grandpa are making.  They have gone to the Field Museum, shopping at the mall, lunch at Panera, played lots of games of Clue, watched Switched at Birth whenever they can, played with their cousins, and tonight they are at a Chris Tomlin concert. Hannah says she doesn't want to come home.  :0)  They flew there alone and this momma was a nervous wreck putting them on the airplane.  Hannah was a little nervous too, Grace not a bit.  Their flight went great though.  I think we will all be more relaxed on Sunday when they come home.  I'll be so glad to have them under my wing again though!

4.  Joe has decided to be a vegetarian and he's serious about it.  He and Ollie have never been big fans of meat so I am used to making vegetarian meals but I'm finding it stressful to make sure there is something he can eat at every meal.  The thing is, I like meat and the best way for me to eat right now is to stick to meats and vegetables with minimal carbohydrates and minimal dairy.  I'm not sure any of you realize this but lots of vegetarian recipes have cheese in them and pasta and rice and potatoes...One of my plans for this weekend is to come up with a good menu plan for next week that will provide healthy meals for all of us without too much work on my part.  I have very little time for cooking these days.  Our afternoons are so busy--this week and next the kids have theatre every single day.  Grace and Joe just Monday through Wednesday but Hannah every day.  Those afternoon car rides to drop off and pick up take time away from dinner prep.  I need a good plan....

5.  I just counted and we have 6 weeks of school left, maybe 7 if I need an extra week.  These 6 weeks are crazy busy with lots of theatre stuff and a short trip to GA thrown in...wow, I might have to freak out a little.  Actually, I'm not going to freak out...I'm just going to do my best to fit it all in and then if we don't finish something, we can work on it this summer.  Like math, I'm pretty sure Grace and Joe won't finish math.  The only thing that really has to be finished before summer is virtual school for the girls and that's totally doable.  Another reason I'm not going to freak out is because we've had a really good, productive school year and even if we stopped right now I am confident my kids have completed the work and learned all that they need to learn for their grade level (except in math... but I already mentioned that...it's better not to take a break from math for the whole summer anyway).  Please, friends, remind me of what I just said when I start freaking out in the coming weeks.

6.  I just finished a really, really good book! It was called Secrets She Left Behind by Diane Chamberlain.  I think this is the third book I've read from this author and they've all been really good.  Kind of a blend of Jodi Picoult and mystery.  Now I'm reading The Will of Wisteria by ??  It's one that I picked based on its cover and so far it's good.

7.  I'm all out....sorry!  I think I'm going to go read that book I just mentioned...

My New Niece, Geneva Came to Visit...and Brought Her Parents!

 We had a great long weekend visiting with John-Mark, Jaime, and Geneva!  It was fun to experience lots of firsts for Geneva...the beach, the pool, and swinging!  We packed lots of fun into just a few days--the beach, seafood at Norwood's, birthday cake for Grace, the pool, a walk downtown, a trip to the park, more good food, lots of good talks, and fun baby time!!

A Visit With My Sister!

 My sister left to go back home this morning after being here since Monday morning.  We had a great visit, as always we were super busy and it went by fast!  We enjoyed our time though.  We went to the beach and because of leaving late plus traffic plus really wanting to eat lunch at our favorite seafood restaurant...we were there for a whole half hour.  :0)  It was a warm day but the water was cold so none of us were up for swimming anyway.  Joe played in the sand and the rest of us soaked up the rays.

 We visited with H and B and Joe decided to open the pool season with a chilly swim.  Grace eventually joined him.  I don't know how they can swim in cold water!

 Yesterday we visited Shades of Green at Disney.  It is a hotel/resort for military families.  It was really nice!  After that we went over to Fort Wilderness for lunch at Whispering Canyon.  It was a pretty silly restaurant and a lot of fun.  The waitstaff was funny and did things like brought out a dozen bottles of ketchup but only putting them on one table.  Then, when someone asks for ketchup they yell, "who has the ketchup?" and whoever has it takes it all to the next table and so on.  We ended up with it twice.  The food was good too!

In addition to the beach and our Disney day, we chillaxed, watched Seussical rehearsals, helped Cici with her Seussical dances (she is directing Seussical at her school), ate a lot of food, watched Les Mis, had a birthday dinner for Gracie (her birthday is on Saturday), went to a coffee shop with a friend, babysat, and talked a lot!  Fun times!
As I type this, I'm sitting in Barnes and Noble in Orlando.  I dropped Cici off at the airport at 7 am this morning and I am picking up Ollie's brother, John Mark and his wife, Jaime and baby Geneva in a couple of hours and we have them for the weekend.  Yay!