California

I'm updating this from a hotel room in Monterey, CA. I'm trying to upload at least a few trip pics each day on facebook. When I joined facebook, I wrote that I probably wouldn't keep up with it very well because of my blog. Now I don't update my blog very much because of facebook. Maybe this summer (after this trip), I'll get back to blogging. I still have plenty of blog worthy thoughts, just not the time or inclination to get them on here. In the meantime the pics and quick updates will be on facebook.

Good morning

Jesus Christ, inner light, let not our own darkness conquer us. Jesus Christ, inner light, enable us to welcome your love. These were the words to one of the songs Jake and Madi sang with the children's choir yesterday. They also got awards including "most outstanding boy" for Jake and "superior chorister" for Madi. Yesterday was also the final performance of Willy Wonka. Pictures and video of those things, Confirmation, Grandma Marge's visit, and more will show up some time (not sure if it will be before of after California).

My blog is like a metaphor for my life...

...everything is changing too quickly for one thing. I tried to change my header picture and it will either show up teeny tiny like it is or ginormous, so it's teeny tiny, and I have no time or patience to deal with it. I tried to put that link for online audiobooks on here and the link didn't work. Again, no energy to deal with it (or with the fact that that alone is not a complete sentence). Two weeks from today we'll be essentially on our California trip (though still in south Florida). Before that we have, I think, 9 more performances of the Senior Tour show that Jonathan and Madi are a part of I'm Healthy and I Know it (more on that in a sec); Five performances of Willy Wonka; Four virtual classes that need to be completed; two Sundays with a Scaringella cantoring; one house guest; one Confirmation; only one more soccer game (soccer buffs would have five more games (two for Jake and three for Madi), but our spinning out of control life makes it impossible to be in two places at once and such we will not be at those games) and a whole bunch more life going on. Yesterday alone, Jonathan and Madi and friends had four senior tour performances (two each at two different elementary schools). I was a driver and chaperone. This involves a really fun day of watching a really cute show written by the kids and a lot of time spent watching cute kids and a variety of teachers (some much nicer than the average homeschooling mom and some much much worse), a free fun fried lunch with good conversation, and as many kids as can humanly fit in my 8 passenger vehicle. After that we had a short break where we had many of those kids here to hang out and play rockband and taboo before we all headed to Chick-fil-a and another performance, this time songs from Willy Wonka. This involved more free food fried for the kids and the irony of I'm Healthy and I Know it wasn't lost on anybody. Full day right? Well for your average nut it might be, but since we are not your average nuts, and Mike's brother and girlfriend were going to be down at Disney, we headed to Downtown Disney after that. We finally made it home just before midnight but couldn't sleep until we watched the express version of the dvr-ed American Idol. Crazy crazy I know! To some people this sounds insane, to others it sounds typical. I know some people think "busy" is kind of a badge of honor, and others think it's a sin. I'm not typing this for praise or criticism, but because this is where I blog about our life and this most certainly is our life!! While no day ever did or will look exactly like yesterday, it is a very good snapshot of typical day around here. Today will be an even more typical day where I yell that the kids better get cracking on their virtual classes and where I spend time alternately laying on the couch reading my book and cleaning up for a family celebration for Madi's Confirmation. Stuff like the dust on the bookshelf will get forgotten like the tiny picture in my header, and the improtant things like family and sacraments will take center stage. *Yes, this is the first blog post where I actually outed our last name (I think my five {and only 2 of them comment} remaining readers already know our last name), but since we haven't been stalked or tracked down yet, I'm not concerned in the least.

free audio books

http://etc.usf.edu/lit2go/books/ Just found this link, I'm keeping it here.

Freezer cleanout and other stuff

We are leaving for California in 18 days. Actually we leave our house in 16 days. We are flying from south Florida (because that's how we got the best deal), so we will go down there on that Thursday evening, and Mike will work down there on Friday. We leave that Saturday morning in what I consider the middle of the night (before 6am). We are eating everything from our garage freezer so we can unplug and defrost it while we're gone. I'm enjoying this challenge, and it is making me try to not go to the store at all. We were out of ketchup for a few days last week and anyone who knows Jake knows that was challenging in itself. We got ketchup, eggs, and milk at Target on Sunday, which to me doesn't count as going to the store, but we're out of milk again, so I'll have to do something about that. Sunday night Mike and I had frozen cheese tortellini with pumpkin sauce that we've had since the fall. It was a little plain, but not bad. Last night we had tilapia with yummy wine-y craker-y cheesy stuffing. I just had it left over for lunch. Somehow it was a little more wine-y than I'd planned and I felt it last night and today. Very relaxing. The kids are plowing throught their virtual classes. Unfortunately for them as soon as they finish one thing, I'm yelling at them to do another. California waits for no one! Speaking of school work and California, they all took the California Achievement Test a few weeks ago. A friend asked Jake why he was taking it and his reply was, "I don't know, I guess cuz we're going to California." Well, the good news is, the results are in, and California will let us in when we get there. They all did really well! This was the third year Jonathan and Madi took the tests (prior to that they never tested at all) and the second year for Jake, but they've only done the language and math ones in the past, this year they did the "full battery" which includes Social Studies and Science {which boosted everyone's overall scores}. Jonathan scored in the 98th percentile for vocabulary, that and his easy A's in high school English continue to prove my point that constant talking and reading are enough for Language Arts in the early years. Madi got in the 96th percentile for language mechanics which further proves my theory. As I've said before though, don't tell Jake this because he does have a Lanuage Arts book and we already bought next year's too. This is more because he needs to learn to follow the rules and a modicum of stucture isn't hurting him. He kicked butt on all of the tests except spelling, but his brother, who is also weak in that area, will teach him the fine are of spell check, and he'll be fine. Speaking of spell check...where is it?! Not only has blogger changed everything around and lost one of my posts, but I can't find spell check either!! We all participated in Relay for Life on Friday night. Except for a little dozing for about an hour and a half, I stayed up all night and probably walked about 8 miles. I didn't keep track of laps in the beginning and then was very frustrated that I couldn't say for certain how far I walked. Madi walked 64 laps, which is 16 miles. Keeping with her usual go go go, she then spent Saturday with friends while Mike and I slept and the boys lounged on the couch. Staying up all night is getting harder for me, it took a few days to recover. Mike's mother comes down in a few days. She will be here for Madi's Confirmation, Mother's Day, Willy Wonka, a dance party to celebrate Madi (her birthday, Confirmation, completion of "middle school" etc), and lots of other craziness that is the month of May (not the least of which is finishing school work!!) Speaking of that... time to shut off Seinfeld, which is still the lunch break show of choice around here, and get everyone BACK! TO! WORK!!!