Happy Anniversary....

to me! Today my hubby and I celebrate our 14th wedding anniversary. I still have a hard time believing we've been married that long. But, we have and so we must celebrate it. The only problem is he is off somewhere working and here I sit at home. Until a few years ago we never spent an anniversary, birthday or any other holiday or milestone alone, but then one of us has to work. The best part is he will be coming home in a day or two and then we can go out and celebrate, even if it is a day or two late:)

Introducing the 2009 Bon-Bons......

These are not the entire set of bon bons but they happen to be some of Poogie's best buddies who received their letters the same day she did. Since then one more of her sweet friends has received that precious letter and has joined the cast (hope to get a pic of the whole set soon). Poogie is the one on the far right or the shortest one you can take your pick.

So far the journey into the world of the stage and The Nutcracker has been exciting and very hard work. Poogie not only has 10 classes now, she picked up another advanced acro on Fridays, but also 2 to 3 days of rehearsal a week. That to me is a lot. My fear has been that she would crash and burn. However, the opposite has happened. For example, today we had to get up at 5:30 a.m. to take TT to a swim meet. After the meet we drove straight to the studio for a rehearsal. I thought that would have been enough, but no. I ended up having to make her stop practicing headstands so that we could eat dinner and relax for a little while.

What is hard to deal with is when other parents think you are pushing your child into these situations. That you are making them practice and take tons of classes. That may be the case with some, but that is not how it works in this house. Poogie has taken control and I am just along for the ride. I am constantly asking her if she is okay, does she want a break, is she over doing it. She looks at me like I am crazy and says, "Mom, I love to dance, just leave me alone!" So I do. I think passion is a wonderful thing. It seems to be something that she has in abundance for dance, so I am not going to stand in her way no matter how tired I get of driving her to the studio, of sitting there or of listening to others ask me why am I putting her through all this. I'm sure other parents of passionate children have heard these questions. But, I believe that those that really pursue their passion and excel at it have parents that support them, not hold them back. So here are your wings baby girl, fly!

Dreams do come true!

Today my sweet Poogie received her invitation to be in The Nutcracker production for Christmas 2009!! She will be a Bon-Bon!! This is what she has dreamed about. I don't think the reality of it has hit me yet. But I am so proud of her I feel like I could burst.

We had thought this year would not be it for her. She had to be 8 by Dec. to try out for an angel, and the bon-bons were by special invitation only. She is only 7 so we thought well maybe next year. But she has worked so hard to learn all the advanced tricks to move up to the advanced acrobats class that I guess it paid off. The rehearsal schedule will be demanding and hard but she just told me "So, I can do it." Her best buddy Sweet Pea received an invite to be a bon-bon too! What more could we ask for?? I never knew watching your kids reach their dreams could be so wonderful. Even if it is a dream you might never have wanted, when you look at it through their eyes it becomes your dream too. I don't understand her passion for dance, but I do understand what it is like to have a passion for something. It is a wonderful thing.

Where do you draw the line??

When you feel that your boundaries have been pushed to the limit? When you know that there is a true threat to you and your family? When you have to choose between the safety of your children and the convenience of others? I know where my line has been drawn and it is not a very popular thing to do.

When you reach the point when you have to say "No, I will will not do...", because it goes against my principles as a parent is not one of the easiest thing to do. But I have reached that point in my current situation where I have had to hold my ground and do what I think is right for my children and our family. It has not been easy, but it makes me sleep better at night knowing that I am doing what is best for my kids.

One of those moments

This is one of those moments that you just want to stop time so that you can remember what it was like before your first born becomes a teenager. Tomorrow at 10:05 p.m. my sweet first born boy will officially become a gulp, teen!

I just can't believe that 13 years have flow by so quickly. I still remember bringing him home from the hospital, stopping at Target on the way to buy diapers that actually fit his chubby little body. The newborns just didn't work.

It is a little bitter sweet. I don't like the thought of what is to come, but I am enjoying him so much right now I have to say it might be pretty cool. We have a blast together and he has yet to act like a total pain in the butt I remember being at that age, but then I am a girl. And I must admit my sweet Poogie has enough drama for us all!

I know it won't all be roses, but that is fine with me. At least I get to be there and take these steps with him and he doesn't seem to mind. Now if I can only get through tomorrow without crying I will be doing good.

Then again , I can think about next weekend when my house will be taken over by a bunch of hungry, awkward and smelly teenage boys to sleep over to celebrate this blessed event. Nope, still feeling a little weepy.

First USS Swim Meet

TT had his first USS swim meet this weekend and man was it awesome. He was so nervous, but he ended up swimming great. It was his first time swimming in front of his new coaches and he wanted so badly to do his best.

Saturday he swam both the 50 free and 50 backstroke. He wasn't expecting to place in the top 10 but low and behold he placed 9th in the free and 8th in the backstroke. He swam his best backstroke to date.

Today he swam the 100IM and 50 fly. He started out really good in the IM but the breaststroke was the killer. He ended up getting DQ because his kick motion was not just right. They are very picky and his breaststroke needs a lot of work. In his favorite event the 50 fly he ended up turning in a good time and placed 4th.

What made today even harder was one of the best butterfly swimmers on the planet was watching TT swim. To say it made him nervous was an understatement. Gil Stovall of the US Olympic swim team (he swam the 200fly) was at the meet to help coach the Memphis Tiger Swim Team that was also competing. TT got him to sign his swim cap Saturday and today got him to pose for a quick pic. He was gracious and supportive of all the young swimmers. As I watched him though out the day interacting with the young MTS swimmers I was so overjoyed to see a gifted athlete like him work so well with these up and coming swimmers. So here is the pic of TT and Gil Stovall. What an awesome experience.

Accomplishments

Today was a day of one great accomplishment. TT finally took his test for his Apologia General Science Module #1. I was wondering if this day would ever come. For those of you who know about his curriculum and this first chapter in particular you know it is a tough one to get through. But, low and behold we did it. He took the test this morning and made a 100%!! I felt like to doing the happy dance, still do! Most of it was due to those wonderful study cards I printed off from the yahoo group. What a wonderful resource that has been.

I was just lazy

That's right. I was lazy today. I spent most of the day curled up on the couch with my little dog Buffy watching some great movies on the syfy channel about werewolves. I was in heaven. Two of the movies were ones I had never seen. It is not like me to spend any day much less a Saturday on the couch, but I thought what the heck. My hubby and kids were outside doing what they like to to do, so I took some much needed me time.

It also helped that I know our schedule for the next two weeks is going to be just plain crazy. TT has swim meets the next two weekends and every week day we have something on the calendar. So I chilled, and then my hubby even got Mexican takeout for dinner. It really didn't fit into our budget, but man was it worth every penny.

Just a quick thought

The main question I receive when people find out I homeschool is about socialization. Ug, if they only knew. But now I am beginning to wonder when is enough, enough! I have come to believe that you can have too much socialization. IMO.

Learning as we go

Beginning the school year with new curriculum is always a learning experience. After 2 and a half years of homeschooling I am still amazed at how long it takes me to learn all the ins and outs of a new curriculum.

Take for example TT's new science curriculum. Apologia General Science. I never thought I was an Apologia person. I had looked at it several times, but since I'm not a fan most Christian science curriculums I always passed on it. Well that was until this year. I finally gave up hope of finding a: 1) inexpensive and decent secular curriculum and 2) a good Christian curriculum that I could afford and liked. I have to say I am so glad we gave Apologia a try.

The first Module has been tough to say the least. Poor TT has been very understanding through all my trial and error. "Write out the summary." "No, write out the study guide." He just smiled and took it. I ended up joining a Yahoo group for Apologia users and it has been so wonderful. First, I found a fill in the blank for the summary. Now, I know it says in the book that the student should write out the summary to help with studying and memory. But to my son it was horrible. The fill in the blank worked wonderful for us. Then I found some great flash cards that followed the study guide. He answers the questions on the cards and then can use them to study. Those were just what we needed. He is flying through the cards. I have to admit the first mod is overwhelming, but he seems to be taking it in stride. Today while discussing some of the answers on the study guide I was amazed at how much he could recall from memory. Now just to get through the test and then we can move on, finally!