tst: how we roll

" How We Roll "

by Wil Wheaton

(pumpkin pie - under all that whipped cream - by me)

the end of home school time

I remember the words of David Miller (home school dad and dedicated volunteer at HCYA Sports Day) on May 13, 2006, at Emily's high school graduation ceremony. Mr. Miller announced to the graduates and their families that this was officially the end of home school time in their lives. I thought to myself, "Nah! I've got another home schooler to graduate in about four years." Then I gave it more thought. He was right. With Emily out of high school, taking on college classes and working, she would now have a rigid schedule. No more freedom to do what we want, when we want as a family.

I'm thinking about this because today Noah starts classes at Lone Star College. Now, in our home, in our lives, there is no more home school time. We started home schooling the year Emily finished fourth grade and Noah finished kindergarden, both in public school. Home schooling has blessed our family, and I feel it allowed our children to become the people God wants them to be. And I am grateful that we live in Texas, a home school friendly state.

Our extended family has always been supportive of our deicision to home school. And while we may have been able to do more in our home school days, I know that Emily and Noah will succeed. Emily is already in her senior year at Texas A&M University, majoring in Education. Noah's not quite sure what he wants to major in, but there's a whole big world out there to choose from. I know he's going to embrace this new phase in his education and prove himself an awesome college student, just like his sister.

So here's to the end of home school time! We will miss it and always remember the blessings it brought into our lives. And here's to the future and the many blessings and challenges that lie ahead of us!

tst: Philmont

Noah picked up this t-shirt this past summer

while on his awesome hiking adventure

at Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico.

Happy T-Shirt Tuesday!

bird prints

Bird prints. On our window.

See it there, the white smudge in the center of the photo?

A body, a head, tail feathers and two wings.

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For some reason, a few birds have recently tried to fly into our living room but were stopped short by a large plate glass window. It's happened in the past with smaller birds, like house wrens, but lately it's been larger birds. They fly away, seemingly no worse for the wear, but they sure make a loud thump when they hit the glass.

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If this keeps up, I guess we'll have to look into finding some window decals to warn them of the danger!

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(Update: Evidently, this bird didn't fly away "no worse for the wear." The next morning, we found a dead dove near the window. Time to look for some sort of window decal to prevent this from happening in the future.)

an anniversary

Flowers? For me? Well, it is the first anniversary of this blog. I started it last year when my sweet friend, Jabel, challenged me to a "blog battle." She started hers first, but I've kind of surpassed her in the number of posts -- just a tad (*wink*wink*).

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Well, I will say she's a busy girl these days. This girl never stops -- she's pretty amazing! And I'm really glad she got me to stop thinking about starting a blog and actually do it. Thanks, Jabel. Love you! xoxo

oh happy day

. . . that Emily ordered her Aggie ring!Today, Noah and I traveled to C.S. with Emily to order her Aggie ring. It was a day she has dreamed of, and I'm really glad we were there to share it with her.

Excited? What do you think?
Oh, happy day in Aggieland!

tst: rock 'em, sock 'em

This is my favorite t-shirt from Noah's collection.

It's from shirt.woot.com, and it's entitled:

convenient tiny chair.

something new

We got a new camera! Hubby received a gift card for Christmas, and he had no objections when I suggested we get a new camera. This photo was taken in a dark corner of the kitchen in early morning light with no flash.

Same subject, light conditions, time of day, etc., taken with old camera.

Needless to say, I'm very excited! Thank you, my most wonderful Hubby!

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BTW, a belated Happy New Year to all!

tst: Cornerstone butterfly

There are creative ideas out there that bloggers use as tools to provide a weekly or daily idea for posting. There's Bench Monday, Wordless Wednesday, and one I've used before called Color Week. This inspired me to come up with my own idea, which I'm calling T-Shirt Tuesday. The source of this idea was Noah's t-shirt collection. And Emily has an ever-growing collection of Aggie related shirts that I'll be able to feature, as well. So here's the first installment of T-Shirt Tuesday!I'm very happy to feature this shirt on my first T-Shirt Tuesday. This butterfly is a copy of a stained glass window in the worship center at our church, Cornerstone. Love it! See you next Tuesday . . .