So tomorrow is Explorer's and then the SNOWSTORM!!!  So far we have been pretty lucky this year with only getting and inch or so at a time but I think it is going ot make up for that on Wednesday.  At last count we were up to 12-15 inches.  YUCK!!!!!  Stephen is excited about it but Jim and I are dreading it.  We already have 5 on the ground, four more tonight over night and then 12 -15 on Wednesday.  Oh WELL I guess I will keep doing laundry and cleaning the house.

Stephen and I started some new things in school today.  We made Groundhog puppets for Groundhog day, studied the weather (the snowstorm made this seem appropriate) and Michigan.  We have touched on the states but now we are going to go into depth on all of them.  This should be fun.   I think he will have fun.  He likes studying geography.

Nothing more exciting than that happened today. I guess it is days like today that make me wonder why I wanted to do this.  Oh Well I guess they can't all be this dull.

Hopefully I can get Stephen in bed and asleep earlier tonight than the past few nights.  I think he is getting ready to grow again. (God protect us all) because he is having trouble sleeping.  That is what he did last time and then grew two inches in two months.  He is already 5'4" and is 9 years old.  If he keeps grouwing like this he is going to be 8 feet tall.  The Doctor isn't worried so I guess I shouldn't be either.  I am not worried I am just tired.  4 am is not normal!!! Not even for me.

I hope and pray that everyone stays safe and warm during the next few days and if you get the chance go outside and throw some snowballs with your kids or go sledding or just go play in the snow.  I am sure I will be making a snowman sometime this week.  if you have to have the snow you may as well have fun in it.  God Bless!

OK so I forgot to come in yesterday and post.  I told you I was not good at this sort of thing, but at least I remembered tonight.

Today was pretty uneventful.  A typical Sunday at our home during Theater season.  We spent the day at Players, Jim directing, Stephen with his head stuck in his DSi and me going through prop closets and costume rooms.  Unfortunately I hurt my back while doing it so I am hobbling around now.  Hopefully it will be better by tomorrow.

I spent this evening printing out new worksheets for Stephen for school.  We finished our last section in Heritage Studies and I needed to pick a new topic.  George Washington and US Symbols is what I have chosen.  We will be studying Statue of Liberty, Liberty Bell, National Anthem, St. Louis Arch, Washington Monument and so on and so on.  I didn't realize how many there were until i started working on lessons and worksheets.  Oh Well it will be a fun section.

I have also picked weather for our next Science section.  Part of the fun of home schooling is that I get to choose what we study.  Sometimes i have to do things I don't want to but most of the time I get to pick fun stuff. 

It is 2:30 in the morning so I guess it is bed time.  I will see you all tomorrow.

Night Night

Day Two

OK so I have to admit this is kind of fun.  Last night I stayed up playing with the look of the blog and trying to figure out how to work all of this.  I will also admit that I am not very good at it yet but I am sure I can get better.

Stephen and I are heading downstairs soon to work on school for the day.  Right now he is laying on the floor of his room reading Percy Jackson and the Olympians.  I am so glad that he enjoys reading.  Unfortunately he enjoys the television  and video games more but I have decided that this year he is going to reawaken his brain to things other than video games and Cartoon Network.  It has been a little bit of a challenge so far and I am sure he feels like this has been some sort of punishment.  He doesn't understand that it is important for him to do things other than sit and watch mindless junk.  I am beginning to see a difference in him.  He is playing with toys that require imagination again.  When he does watch t.v. or play games they are much less intense.  We have enrolled him in a Theatrical Stage Combat class at our homeschool group and hopefully that will give him the skills he so wants.  He loves swords and wants to learn how to use them so I am praying this class will be a much better influence than video games.  Knowing it is taught by a Christian man helps my nerves.

Mom and I are going to the funeral home later to pay respects to a neighbor of hers.  Yippee, back to a funeral home again.  I am not surprised by her death though she was an old grumpy lady when we moved into that house 33 years ago.  She passed away last Saturday.  Rest in Peace Helen.

It has been interesting the past three weeks with Jim's schedule.  He is gone Sunday afternoon, Monday evening, Wednesday evening, Saturday morning and every other Saturday afternoon.  Then we are all at Explorer's from 9:30 - 5:15 on Tuesday.  I have made a pact with myself to not get frustrated with this but instead to embrace the time alone to do things that need to get done.  So far I have cleaned (throroughly) Stephen's room, Stephen's playroom, the kitchen, caught up on laundry (almost) and worked on my list for the shows we are doing. It has made the time pass fairly quickly.  Maybe it is good for us to spend some time apart.  With him working from home we are almost always together. 

Well it is time to return to the dungeon (schoolroom in the basement).  I don't call it that to Stephen but Jim and I call it that with each other.  Sometimes it feels like we live down there so I am glad that Jim did such a nice job on finishing the space. 

Maybe I will be back later, who knows.

This is new to me.  i have wanted to blog but never really thought I had the time.  I probably still don't but it is something I want to do for me.  I have realized in the last year that life changes so quickly that I forget things that have happened.  Jim and I were talking the other day and we were discussing things Stephen said or did and I realized I was forgetting some of these things and that made me sad.  When Stephen asked me whether he would remember what Papa was like I knew I had to find a way to keep the memories for him.  That is when i decided to MAKE time to do this.  I may not be very good at it but I am willing to try.  I guess that is all I can ask of myself.

Right now in our lives Jim and I are passing each other at the door most of the time.  We are working on two diffferent shows, "once Upon a Mattress" and "Hairspray."  We are doing "Once Upon a Mattress" with our Homeschool Group in Ann Arbor.  Jim is directing, I am producing and teaching the Tech class with our new friend Norma.  We are having fun with this.  At the same time Jim is also directing Hairspray with the theater group in Detroit, Park Players, and that opens in March.  It is nice this time because I have been able to reconnect with a high school friend, Lois, and her daughter who auditioned and were cast in the show.

2010 was a year that I was glad to see come to an end.  It was a painful year emotionally with the loss of Dad in January and then Fred in September.  Two Dad's in one year.  WOW!  I guess I had reason to hate 2010.  I have been praying that 2011 is a much better year.  So far at least noone has died. 

I am praying that God gives up peace this year and that we are able to grow closer to Him as a family.  We want to be able to find a church that Mom would be comfortable at as well as us.  This could be a pretty big task since we all want different things but I believe that God is great and that He has something for us.

Well that is all for today.  See you all tomorrow.