TTAT: VERY BIG WEEK Here!

"Got teens? You lucky dogs.

Spend time with them; enjoy them; listen to them; and love them.

They are the most incredible people, these emerging adults,

and they can become the best friends you’ll ever have."

~Diana Waring, Reaping the Harvest. The Bounty of Abundant-Life Homeschooling~

As this post's title states, it's been a VERY BIG WEEK here! And I'm going to hold on to it just a wee bit longer since what I have to share really belongs in Bryan's story, which is my "I Wish I Could Go To A Farm" series. I'll be typing that up this evening, and will get it published ASAP. If you haven't already read that series, you can find it in my sidebar under "Categories." In just a little while, I'll be turning it into a book, so you may want to read it now, while it won't cost anything! :-)

To read our BIG WEEK HAPPENINGS, just click HERE to go to the latest post in the series!

Other news, Bryan got his driver's license on Tuesday...yahoo!!!!!!!!! I haven't seen a smile that big on his face since Mark Johnson told him he could be on the Ag team at Kline Creek Farm! We're very proud of him.

Nathan is pretty much on summer break, as he only has this last chapter of Economics left. He had such a brutal academic year, it's nice to see him so relaxed! That said, just today he told me that he's looking forward to his summer classes at the community college starting up "cuz it'll give me something to do for part of the day." Amazing how they get used to the workload, and then when it's gone, they start to get bored! Part of it, I think, is because of the fast-paced schedule Bryan has for this summer (you'll read up on that in the "I Wish I Could Go To A Farm" post), so Nathan is alone in all that leisure time!

Last but not least, I have to brag on Nathan for doing a great job sharpening at his first Farmers Market last Saturday! Because Bryan and I have already established a pretty big customer base, there were quite a few folks that showed up with their kitchen knives, so he did well. He's going to have to work up to a faster pace, though, and pretty quickly. He was swamped, and Bryan helped him out when things overwhelmed...Bryan is super-fast. Nathan will get there, though. Bryan got super fast because he had to last summer at his markets! But overall, Nathan did great. I forgot the camera, so don't have any photos to share...but I'll bring it next week and will try to post some in my next TTAT.

Proud mama here. :-D Hope you have a blessed week!

Anyone & Everyone can join TTAT on any given week...here's how:

• Simply write a positive post about something (or things) that your homeschooling teenager has done which impressed you this week. Keep it focused on good/encouraging/growth-maturity-related things you’ve observed about them; lessons they’ve learned, or that you’ve learned through them.
• Link back to me (Lori @ Plans4You) in your post somewhere, so your readers will know where to go to join Thursday TAT. If you’d like the link-button to put on your blog and/or at the top of your post, you can get it HERE.
• Sign the Mister Linky below.
• Be sure to leave me a comment, and then visit the other participant’s blogs!

High School Turns Into College...Wow!

The Big Picture

Yet another intensely busy week has rocketed by. It's nice to have a blog up and operating so I can hear from my wonderful bloggy sisters again! It was probably a good couple of weeks to be "disconnected" with the changeover at HSB...I was so busy, I wouldn't have been around much anyway!

I decided to try a really new design here. This one caught my eye from the beginning, but I was trying to find one that I thought would allow me to, ultimately, come close to what I had with the old HSB, because I was so happy with my cozy, graphics-intensive site. (I did love those easy-to-edit templates!)

I finally realized that it's just not going to look like the old one, and I may as well embrace something new and have some fun with it! Not everything is looking like I'd like, and I think it'll be a while before I get it all figured out. I may change the whole thing a few times over before I find something I can "live with" here!

The Details

House Happenings...This week a very nice man came to the house to do the final measuring of all our windows, which we are having replaced. What a job! He told me that he thought what we picked would look really nice. That was nice to hear! We are also having an old sump-pump drainage pit dug up (there's a new system, so it's not used any longer), filled in and banked with all the rocks they're going to dig up, and then we'll plant a river birch tree in that area since it does stay pretty wet throughout the entire spring/early summer. It'll be pretty, we think, when it's all done. We dug up a truck-load of rocks from around the original planting beds when we first moved in here 10 years ago. Now, with dh 53 and me 50 (almost...I have a month to go!), we are NOT doing that again! The rocks are deep, too...so it'll take some equipment.

Homeschool High School & College Notes...High school will finish off bit by bit. Chemistry officially ENDED today (Saturday) when Bryan finished his final exam online (Nathan took his yesterday afternoon)...yahoo!!! That's a BIG load off the boys' shoulders. Economics has 2 more weeks to go. Bryan will finish Spanish I on Wednesday.

This is something that I've been excited to share...it has to do with Bryan. Back when we were still in the public schools, Bryan had to repeat the 2nd grade because of what I later discovered was his dyslexia (the school, and its "reading specialist" who worked with him for 3 years, completely missed it). That changed his future graduation date from May, 2010 to May, 2011. By utilizing our local community college and some summertime studies, we were able to get back 6 months...Bryan will now graduate, Lord-willing and barring any unforseen catastrophies, in December of this year (2010). We thought that was pretty neat...but that's not the really cool part!

His plans after graduation include enrolling in a neighboring county's community college--one that offers an Associate's Degree in Applied Science in Agriculture Production and Farm Management, and he'll specialize in sheep. It's a 4 semester program (2 years), but I wondered if there might be a problem with him starting it in January ("Spring" semester), rather than the fall. Would he be out of synch with the class offerings? So I called the academic advisor for the program to ask if we could meet with him to discuss Bryan's future coursework plans. I wanted to know if the classes we were planning for this summer and this fall, which will comprise the very last of Bryan's high school work through to his graduation, would meet their requirements for admission, and also if we were enrolling him in the right classes out at our county's community college (both of my boys are doing some dual-enrollment classes, where they take a community college class, and it counts for both college and high school credit). Would the credits transfer and fulfill the "Gen. Ed." requirements of the Associate's Degree program?

"What classes does Bryan still have to complete for high school?" he asked.

"He'll be taking Geometry, Spanish II, and American Literature."

"Well, it sounds like he could take 3 more classes, then, couldn't he?"

"I'm sure he could...we were also going to enroll him in a Speech class at the community college out here."

"Why not do it here at our college?"

"Well, because we don't live in your district, so the tuition is double for out-of-district students. Our community college offers the same Speech class you do, so we have to take it here. They told us that if there's a class they don't offer, like an Agriculture class, then we can get in-district rates with you. But they have speech class, so no break on the rates."

"What they didn't tell you is that if Bryan is enrolled in our Agriculture program, he can take everything here, and get "in-district" rates...even the speech class and other Gen. Ed's."

"That's great, but Bryan won't graduate from our homeschool high school until the end of December, and we need the Speech class as part of his high school English requirements. So he won't be in your program until Spring."

"He's 18, right?"

"Yes."

"No reason he can't enroll in the program this fall. He can just keep doing it as a dual enrollment. That way he can start with the incoming Ag program class, and stay on top of the course offerings with everyone else. Come see me on Monday, and we'll get him enrolled for fall."

Ohhhhh, WOW!!! We couldn't believe it! Here's the really cool thing that we realized...way back when, when Bryan had to repeat 2nd grade, and it added that extra year onto his high school career, we (his dad and I) were pretty bummed out. But God knew how things would work out in the end...that we were able to "get back" 6 months, so he'd graduate high school just one semester late, rather than one year late, and THEN the college would, basically, allow him to start 6 months before he graduates high school...Bryan's going to graduate college when he originally would have if he'd not had to repeat that 2nd grade year!!! I think that is just the coolest! Oh, yes...Bryan's pretty stoked, too. :-) I'll update after we meet with the advisor from the Ag. program, and let you know what happens in the end...I'm praying this will work for Bryan!

My Creative Side...

Blog designing has taken most of my energies! Nothing much else to share this week!

Kitchen Happenings...

I got my meal-starters made and bagged and frozen. I'll blog them for a TWT post!

In the Garden...

Got my veggie-pots planted! I'm growing tomatoes, cilantro, sweet peppers, hot peppers, sugar-snap peas, and beans. I don't have enough garden space, so all are container-grown. I need to order another "earthbox" for my lettuce...I'm late getting it in. Oh yes, I just bought a basil plant to day at our farmers market, so I need to plant that, too. (We're having some of it tonight w/our fresh asparagus.)

Where the Lord and I Walked This Week...

This whole experience with the community college Ag. program was yet another confirmation from the Lord about our whole lifetime of decision-making with Bryan. From pulling out of the public school to homeschool, to all the things that happened which I've blogged here (see "I Wish I Could Go To A Farm" category), He has been guiding and leading and directing every step of the way. Mostly I've been telling Him, "Thank You," alot!

TTAT: Time to EXHALE!!!

"Got teens? You lucky dogs. 

Spend time with them; enjoy them; listen to them; and love them. 

They are the most incredible people, these emerging adults,

and they can become the best friends you'll ever have."

~Diana Waring, Reaping the Harvest. The Bounty of Abundant-Life Homeschooling~

 

We inhaled...a deep, deep, DEEP inhale...

We held it...HELD IT, HELD IT, HELD IT! 

Now...we've...

EXHALED!!!  AHHHHH...

Finals week at the college is OVER!  English Comp: check!  German: check!  For Nathan, Algebra 2: check! 

In one more week for both guys, Chemistry will be over; they'll finish Economics the first week of June.  PTL!  This has been, by far, the loooooongest homeschool year we've had yet.  I think it's because our schedule wasn't our own this year...we had to follow the college schedule, plus the online chemistry course schedule (fortunately the two coincided).

Nathan is one happy guy, I'll tell you.  He's had the most difficult academic challenge this year.  But he rose up to meet it, and did a terrific job.  Now he's having fun the rest of this week with his flight simulator software (he loves it) and playing Wii. 

Bryan is in his element today...he's at Kline Creek Farm, decked out in his Aussie drover's coat that we got him for Christmas, along with that cool drover hat...all very waterproof, which is good, cuz it's pouring buckets out here, and we have severe storms possible.  I'll take 'em, they're here because a warm-front is moving in for the day.  YAY!  We're ready for summer to arrive...bring it on! 

It's so good to breathe...we all feel free! 

Hope you have a blessed week!

Anyone & Everyone Can Join Us Each Thursday! It's Easy...Here's How:

 

• 
  
  Simply write a positive post about something (or things) that your homeschooling teenager has done which impressed you this week.  Keep it focused on good/encouraging/growth-maturity-related things you've observed about them; lessons they've learned, or that you've learned through them.  
• 
  
  Link back to me (Lori @ Plans4You) in your post somewhere, so your readers will know where to go to join Thursday TAT.  If you'd like the link-button to put on your blog and/or at the top of your post, you can get it HERE. 
• 
  
  Sign the Mister Linky below.
• 
  
  Be sure to leave me a comment, and then visit the other participant's blogs! 

And the Winner Is...

Sister Tipster!!!

Thanks to everyone who stopped by and entered!  This is a wonderful video, and not expensive, so I pray you'll be able to find it/buy it/see it sometime!  Here's another look at the trailer for"Pamela's Prayer."  It can be purchased for $9 at www.ChristianFilms.com .  If you agree to give them away for free, you can get 7 copies of the film for $21 ($3 each); that's what we've done, several times over!  I believe this film carries a message that our young people need to hear, to encourage them as they choose purity before marriage rather than the "world's way."

IMPORTANT NOTE: You'll want to put the music player (located in the lower right sidebar) on "pause" BEFORE you watch this preview...

From ChristianFilms.com website:

Released in 1998 by Dave Christiano Films

This motion picture portrays the unique and heartfelt story of Pamela Bucklin from her birth in 1969 to her wedding day in 1991. It also contrasts two Christian girls and their different outlook toward purity and dating. All of Pamela's friends were dating. She was not. And it seemed unfair that her father insisted on such a high standard of purity. Yes, it seemed unfair...until the day she married.

Happy Mother's Day!

TTAT: Waiting to Breathe

"Got teens? You lucky dogs. 

Spend time with them; enjoy them; listen to them; and love them. 

They are the most incredible people, these emerging adults,

and they can become the best friends you'll ever have."

~Diana Waring, Reaping the Harvest. The Bounty of Abundant-Life Homeschooling~

 

Inhale...deep, deep, DEEP inhale...

HOLD IT!  HOLD IT, HOLD IT, HOLD IT! 

No exhaling allowed until next Wednesday...it's FINALS WEEK coming up at the college! 

Oh goodness, will we all be so psyched when this semester is finally OVER!!!  Both boys have one more regularly scheduled English Comp. class on Friday, where they turn in their final draft of their final composition, and then they have their final exam (on citing works) on Monday of next week.  Nathan will go to his last scheduled German class today (Thursday), then the final exam will be next week Wednesday morning.  When that test is done, that's when we'll exhale!!!

I'm really proud of the guys.  It's been a difficult semester, especially with this college English class professor and her inappropriate assignments (which I've blogged about over this winter), but they have kept their heads held high, and stood solid for what they believe in.  And I've had the great joy and privilege of watching them grow and mature through the experience.

A l m o s t  d o n e ...   ...   ...   ...   ...   ...   ...  

Hope you have a blessed week!

Anyone & Everyone Can Join Us Each Thursday! It's Easy...Here's How:

 

• 
  
  Simply write a positive post about something (or things) that your homeschooling teenager has done which impressed you this week.  Keep it focused on good/encouraging/growth-maturity-related things you've observed about them; lessons they've learned, or that you've learned through them.  
• 
  
  Link back to me (Lori @ Plans4You) in your post somewhere, so your readers will know where to go to join Thursday TAT.  If you'd like the link-button to put on your blog and/or at the top of your post, you can get it HERE. 
• 
  
  Sign the Mister Linky below.
• 
  
  Be sure to leave me a comment, and then visit the other participant's blogs!