Pacific Overtures and an Update on my goals

Last night I went to see the dress rehearsal of Pacific Overtures.  This is the play Greg is producing and directing at Lipscomb.  Opening night is Friday.

I really wanted to take pictures and I did, but I didn't know they were having  professional photographers there.  So I pretty much stayed in one spot and tried not to get in their way.  Unfortunately, many of my pictures have the backs of chairs in them.  Anyway, here are a few pictures that I took.

I was very impressed with the set.  The panels they printed are gorgeous.  I didn't get pictures of them.  And I was also very impressed with the choreography.

I put all of that first in case someone is searching the web for Pacific Overtures.  First of all, if this does describe you welcome. Please note that my blog is solely for personal use, mainly to keep the family members who live far away up to date on whats going on. So then, the rest of this has nothing to do with PO. Thank you for stopping by.

I have to say I am so proud of myself.  I cannot even believe that I have kept the downstairs clean for an entire month.  I'm also proud that we pretty much stuck to the menu I created for last month with a few exceptions.  I just finished a menu for this month, printed it out and it is now on my refrigerator.  This month I am trying several new recipes, mostly things I've found on Pinterest.

Last month, I also cleaned out my walk in closet.  It was packed full of stuff that we couldn't even step in the door.  We practically wore clothes from laundry baskets.  But now everything is hanging up.  I got my bedroom floor picked up and I even vacuumed it today.  I know this seems simple to many of you, but if you knew/know how messy we have been you would be quite impressed with how far I've come.  I still need to declutter the tops of the dresser and tables.  I still have a long way to go on the upstairs, but I am gradually getting things done.  Everyday, I work on putting more things away into their correct places.

I've also decided to get back into couponing.  I bought 2 papers on Sunday.  Luckily, Greg needed the papers for an article so he bought me 4 more.  We really need to save money.  Groceries, clothing, etc. have gotten so expensive and it is hard to live on what we make.  Don't feel sorry for us or anything.  There are plenty of places we can tighten our budget.  We have just become so comfortable living like kings (so to speak).  So now it's time to cut back.

Oh as of my goals for reading the Bible everyday, I am happy to report I am right on schedule.  I've been enjoying listening to Max McLean read it to me.  However, it has caused me to think up all kinds of questions.  Usually, Greg can answer them for me.  Right now as I'm reading through Leviticus, I'm wondering why oh why do I need to know how they sacrificed animals?  I do not like hearing about it AT ALL!

Greg is taking the day off tomorrow, so he will be home for part of the day.  I'm not sure how that will affect our schooling.  I still need to create our schedule for tomorrow.  Who knows when the boys will wake up.  They stayed up to see their Daddy and they didn't go to sleep until after one.  Yes, that makes for a hard day the next day!  I will be glad when PO is over and we can get back to a normal schedule.  The boys have been on an ADD medicine for about 2 weeks now.  They can tell it is helping them.  I can tell as well.  I think Mason is on the level he needs to be, but I think Aussie could use a little more.  I'm not fighting with them as much to get their work done and Math is not taking all day anymore.  One of the side effects is that it suppresses their appetite.  I'm not worried about Aussie, he eats like a horse.  So for it to suppress it some is mighty fine.  However, Mason needs to eat.  I need to make sure he eats a good breakfast before he takes his pill.

Alright, yet again it is nearly 3AM and I still have several things I need to do before going to bed.  I really wanted to mop the kitchen floor, but I'll probably wait on that.  The school schedule needs to be created before I do anything else.

Zoooooooo!

I need to make this quick.  Today we went to the zoo.  It was absolutely a beautiful day.  I told the kids they needed to do a one page report on any animal at the zoo.  So each kid picked an animal.  We headed to the zoo after lunch.  I thought I remembered the zoo closing at 6:00, but when we got there they closed at 4:00.  So we had 2 hours to RUSH through the zoo and have time for the kids to play on the playground as well.

 An Eland

 A Lynx- this is the first time I've seen a lynx up and pacing the cage.  It's much prettier than I remembered.

 Ashley of course picked the tiger.

 

 Aussie picked the zebra.  The zebra was actually the first animal picked that we came upon.  I told Aussie to read the sign and take some notes.  After waiting SEVERAL minutes I finally asked, "Aussie what are you doing? Are you writing your entire report?"  He answered, "Yes!"  So I told him he didn't need to write it all now, that he could write it when we got home.  He said, "I wish I had known that!  Why didn't you tell me?"  I told him I didn't think I needed to.  Good grief!  The child is smart, but he really doesn't have much common sense.

 The meerkat- for some reason every kids favorite.

 The gibbons monkey.  Yes, I acted like a monkey.  This one actually stopped swinging and payed attention to me.  He didn't talk back to me like the monkeys at the Cincinnati zoo.

 The macaw.  Absolutely gorgeous!  This one seemed to be smiling at me.

 Mason chose the elephant.

 The kids played on the playground for maybe 45 minutes.  That is their favorite thing to do at this zoo.  Aussie came up with an obstacle course and all three of them took turns running it.  His shoes were hurting him so I gave him my socks.  And after walking the zoo, by the time we left my feet were killing me.

 Mason wanted to take a picture of EVERY animal.  He said he is doing a report on all of them.  While he took some pictures in the petting zoo, I rested on the bench with my zoom lens.

 The newest addition to the zoo is the Flamingo Lagoon.

I was really surprised, they are really beautiful.  The color was splendid! 

 I let them play on the playground before seeing the elephants and giraffes.  We had 10 minutes to run and see them.  We saw the elephants in plenty of time, but by the time we got to the giraffes they were just putting them away.

After the zoo, we went to Chick Fil A and then to see a dress rehearsal of Pacific Overtures.  We just got home a few minutes ago.  I'm exhausted.  I'm going to bed.  I need a shower but it will have to wait until the morning.

January Craft 2012

I'm cutting it close on my January craft.  Remember my goal for this year is to create something once a month.  I know I created tons of things last month, but none of those crossed over into January.  So I made something tonight.  It doesn't look as cute as the original which you can see here, but Ashley likes it anyway.  It's a bit bulky, but she said she will wear it for Valentine's day.

Then here she is with this little balloon she is giving to Greg and me.

just a bit of nothin'

I've been wanting to do this for a long time and I finally got out my Cricut and did it.  Thankfully, serving the Lord doesn't mean I have to have it perfectly straight or spaced correctly.

Technology!  The kids get home from co-op and jump onto the computers.  Unfortunately, that means they take over my computer.  URG!

I'm also dying to take pictures, but I haven't had a reason to do it.  I've got to figure something out so I can play with these new actions I have on my Photoshop.

Bad storms and Photoshop Actions

Oh my I'm tired!

I didn't get my to do list done today.  And I just don't think I can stay up to finish it.

Last night we had bad storms here.  Actually the storms were not too bad except that 2 storms were coming from different directions and crossed near us, which made it severe.  So at 1:30 in the morning Greg and I brought the kids downstairs to our safe place.  Ashley was pretty much conked out and she laid down on the cushions in the hallway.  The boys wanted to lay down but there was no room to lay down.  Aussie got nervous and started to cry.  I gave him my phone so he could play games or watch a YouTube video.  Mason was mad. He didn't want anyone to touch him.  But that was nearly impossible in the little tiny space where we have to be.  I could hear the wind outside.  Nothing major happened.  Some places near us did lose power though.

Today, I had to get everyone up early for dentist appointments.  That was not fun.  VERY LITTLE SLEEP!

I found something REALLY exciting today.  I found some FREE Photoshop actions to use to edit pictures.  MOM...you would LOVE this! Go here: http://thepioneerwoman.com/photography/2010/03/actions-update-2/

Here are just a few pictures that I played around with. The first four pictures are of actors in Greg's upcoming play Pacific Overtures.

 I really like the burned edges look!

The next one is the 70's look.

 These are pictures the "professional" photographer took for school.  You would not believe how much trouble we have had with this guy.  And the pictures were TERRIBLE.  None of them were edited.  The color was off.  Here are just a few that I edited.

 I do like this one of the kids in the leaves.

 And here is one I antiqued of Mason in Miracle on 34th Street.

Crud!  I didn't do tomorrow's lesson plan.  I better do that really quick.  Good night!