wow!

Where has the month of May gone? Before I know it (or blink an eye) June will be here and my daughter will be graduating from college! What blows my mind even more is that she will be starting graduate school at the University of Washington in the fall. The U's speech pathology program is ranked 3rd in the nation so it is no small potatoes that she was accepted and shows just how hard she has worked these past 3 years. (She is graduating with her undergrad degree a year early!)

On another front, my son who is 19 is just finishing his first year at the same University where my daughter has been and he is having a bit of a rough time. He actually graduated high school with his AA degree which puts him 2 years ahead of his peers educationally which would be GREAT if he had a clue what he wanted to do with his life. He has had a great time playing this year and occasionally going to classes--(if you get my drift)--and so my husband and I had to make some really tough choices. Choices so tough that I found myself wishing that I had two year olds again as it is easier to parent a toddler than an *adult* child. We had a little family meeting with him and announced that next year we would not be able to take out any parent loans for his education. If he wants to go back, he needs to pay for it himself. It is time for him to learn some discipline, which means he will be saving everything he can this summer and then needing to work off campus during the school year. We feel by doing this he will begin to own his education and it will mean more to him. While this all sounds great in theory, it was one of the hardest conversations we have had to have with him. He is such a great kid and I love him so much----I was so afraid he would feel we didn't care for him as much as his sister and so I cried through just about the whole time we talked. He knew something was coming down the pike as we have been discussing his grades and study habits with him all year--but I think he didn't want to think we would actually follow through. We have been known to be big softies when it comes to handing out grace!

On the home front, our homeschool year is winding down. Just two more weeks to go and we are done!! It has been a pretty good year but we are definitely feeling the need to get done. I have been working on what we are going to use for everything next year and will probably post my plan here for any homeschool moms to see. I know I LOVE to see what other people are using for their kiddos. I have also put together a summer reading program for both of my boys still at home (age 9 and 12) and I will post that soon also. There are so many great books that I want them to read which don't fit into our school year and if I hand it to them as a recreational book they feel like I am just assigning another school book--so I will treat it like a school thing and make it a reading program for the summer. It is quite a list! I am thinking of attatching some rewards to it just to spice things up but haven't really come up with how to do that yet.

Before I end this little novel....I just wanted to share with you our read aloud experience this week. As some background, most of our read alouds have tied in with what we are studying for school and while some have been fun most have been serious type books and no one ever asks for just one more chapter. WELL! That changed for my 9 year old this week--I began to read James and the Giant Peach out loud. Austen, the 12 year old, opted out of sitting in as he read it last summer, but Sam is totally enthralled. He is practically sitting in my lap at times to look at the goofy pictures and reading silently along with me. We have both found ourselves cracking up many times and it has been such a fun read aloud. I have forgotten how much I loved Roald Dahl as a kid and it seems like a trip down memory lane for me right now. Next up, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Before we see that movie, I want to have that one finished.

Well enough from my little corner of the world. It is time for lesson plans and bathroom cleaning. Maybe I will be able to work in a little quilting time also!