We all just spent a few days at my mom's house out in Long Island. Both of my grandparents are now in a nursing home (both have severe dementia) after being cared for by mom for years and it got really overwhelming for mom so we wanted to spend time with her. We all went out to dinner 2 nights in a row and that definitely made her feel better. Monday was Grandpa's 90th birthday so I'm glad we got to spend it with him. My car needed some stuff done so I got it done out there. It took all day and I just couldn't wait to get the hell out of there today. 2 days is more than enough for me. My stepdad and me do not get along and I thought I was going to lose my mind today. Finally at 6pm I bolted out of there with the kids. Oh, it's so good to be home!

Not much going on academically around here. Everyone's off this week, so J is off, too. We're still planning on "doing Manhattan" this week. I can't wait. J has another dance competition this weekend. These go on all day and it's a nice girls-day-out.

I am doing so much reading on Charlotte Mason. The more I read, the more I like. I have been spending some time figuring out how I want to go about it. I'm adding a new subject each week and I need to get it all down on paper so there's some sense of order. The snow has been making nature walks difficult, but I think sketching the bare trees is a nice idea. Then we can sketch the same trees in all the other seasons. History and science are not so hard to figure out anymore. I actually have a good plan for those now. J's been doing great with the copywork, reading/narration, and math. Next week we are adding more and also starting a "handicraft". I may go to the new huge craft store and find something J wants to learn. I feel so great about this.