The Weekend, in Review

Saturday morning dawned bright and early with most of our work accomplished.  I gave final instructions to the girls that would be staying home, and Ri and I set out bright and early for Superman's graduation.  I wanted to be there by 8:30 since it was to start at 9:00.  We were a little concerned when we passed another high school on the way that was gearing up for their own graduation, and traffic was already backed up around that school, but since we had left before 8:00, we managed to get there before 8:30 and had no real trouble getting in the parking lot, or finding seats.  It was held in the football stadium, so I was grateful for the early hour and for the fact that they were obviously not wasting a lot of time.  It wasn't unnecessarily rushed, but they didn't dawdle; we were leaving the stadium by 10:00.  We managed to have just enough seating to allow his mom, step-dad, and sister join us in the stands, and we all trooped out together to find him and get some pictures once it was over. It was a very nice service, but, partly due to the heat, he was more than ready to shed that cap and gown, and was ever so slightly impatient to get the pictures finished.  He then, very graciously, offered to pick my younger brother up for our party. 
We are all very proud of you Superman - way to go!!   

Our party turned out well.  We didn't do anything formal for Ri's graduation.  After we had eaten supper, I gathered everyone in the livingroom and announced that Ri had completed her studies and then I presented her diploma to her.  Everyone was very excited for her, and all the usual questions of, "Now what are you going to do?" were bandied about.  She did her best to explain that she's not 100% sure what all she will do - she does want to study photography, but recently we've also looked into getting an Associates degree of some type, just in case they ever decide that you need a degree to teach your children (something that gets thrown about in NC from time to time and was brought up again this past school year).  But, for right now (the summer), she's telling everyone that she's going to concentrate on helping me out here at home.  There's much sewing to be done, and she wants to help out with Grandma a bit more since she's not had that much time with her yet, due to finishing up her schoolwork.  After the graduation announcement, we proceeded with the birthday gift giving and cake cutting.  Everyone had a great time.

Years ago everyone asked us how long we planned on teaching the girls at home.  They all assumed that the girls would, at some point, be put into school.  When I first started telling people that I didn't see why we couldn't teach them all the way through high school, many people were skeptical, at best.  Back then I didn't really have any long term plans on how I may accomplish this, but I felt that there was no way I could do worse than the public schools, so I thought we'd at least give it a shot.  We've gone through many ups and downs, as any homeschool family will attest to, and we've worked through a variety of teaching methods, and several different curriculum materials.  We've been frustrated and elated - sometimes in the same day, and we've learned more about the necessity of schedualing and flexibility than I ever imagined possible.  We also learned how to teach and study with a baby sitting in the middle of the table :D.  My faith in the choice we made is more firmly rooted than ever, and I'm delighted to see what Ri has managed to accomplish.

Congratulations to all of this year's graduates!!!

Becky