Crazy Mode

I didn't forget you all!  Really, I didn't.  Things have been crazy here.  Allspice is getting ready to graduate!  I can hardly believe it.  I have been working diligently on preparing for his graduation:  making graduation announcements, taking senior pictures, completing notebooks and transcripts.  The list sometimes seems endless.  It is a crazy, but wonderful time. 

One thing I am so glad I did, looking back now, is to keep good records all along the journey.  I tried to keep up on lists of books read, curriculum used, field trips, test scores etc.  I am so glad I put that work in back then, otherwise I would be scrambling now! 

I find myself amazed that we are at this pivotal point and at the same time, I can't believe we are here already.  It seems too soon.  Next year Cinnamon and Paprika will graduate and my homeschooling days will be done.  There is a kind of emptiness inside.  One I am sure God will fill with new callings, but for now there is a definite sadness.  I can't help but become a bit misty-eyed when the curriculum catalogues reach my mailbox.  I peruse the catalog and think, "Oh, that would have been cool!"

 I have to be careful because I easily fall into that trap of "I should have done more of that!"  I am notorious for beating myself up for not homeschooling perfectly.  There are always lists of books that went unread, maps unfinished,  goals not quite met.  If you dwell on what you didn't accomplish, you diminish your successes.  So I am working hard at changing the conversation in my head.  I look back and realize just how much we have accomplished.  I look through their notebooks with great satisfaction and think, "What a blessing homeschooling has been in our lives."

So, that is where I have been.  I am hoping to post some yummy recipes soon and get back to blogging on a more regular basis.  But, just remember, having a graduate is kind of like having a baby:  it's a lot of hard work trying to get em out!