Suddenly ...

I really don't remember the moment we decided to homeschool.  

When the time came, I just couldn't fathom sending my little guy off

 to spend his kindergarten days with someone else.  

There were more compelling reasons, but that's the one that pulls on my heart strings.

Fast forward thirteen years and ...

we have a graduate!!!

We've been members of a local homeschool co-op for several years.  

Last year, graduation  popped up on the radar.  I got an email addressed to the families with Juniors.  

It was a shock to realize it wasn't a mistake.  

I knew our co-op hosted a graduation ceremony, but hadn't really paid much attention to it. 

It was our turn!  

Naturally, there was a rehearsal ...

And during rehearsal, the junior class was busy decorating the seniors' cars ...

And 

suddenly

graduation day is here.

Each graduate had a professionally made tribute video narrated by their parents.  

and they exited to the Phil Collins song "On My Way".

Perfect!

After the ceremony there was a reception, and the graduates each had their own memory table 

where they received their guests.

At home, we roasted the two 2012 homeschool grads in our family ... 

These boys have been hanging out together since ...

forever :o)

One day they're playing with slinkys in the playroom, 

then suddenly ...

they're graduates! 

Wildflowers

 They'll be mowing the hay at the JustB this week.  It's always good to have the fields cleared ... but it also means saying goodbye to the lovely wildflowers, so the dogs and I went to pick one last bouquet.

I took a bouquet to my sweet friend Julie, and she asked if I grew them.
Ha!  No, I did not grow them, they're wildflowers.
Oh, Julie says, that counts!

Hurrah!  they count!

Ruby knows she's not supposed to be in the cab.  

She's really supposed to be in the back.

The flowers are lovely ... 

But it's definitely time to mow, because the is grass higher than the hood of the truck!  It makes the most wonderful swishing sound when you drive through it.

They'll be harvesting bales of hay but I prefer the flowers ...

Many years ago on a trip with my Mom and Dad I got this tall vase as a souvenir ... 

because I knew  that my future husband would certainly bring me lots and lots of flowers. 

I like living at the JustB and having a whole field of them right out my back door even better.
LtDan gets credit for that ... it counts  :o) 

The Rubber Chicken Awards

I love a good road trip.  I especially love a traditional and familiar road trip.   

In years gone by, my sister, my kids, and I would take a six hour road trip every summer up to the Texas Panhandle to see my Mom and Dad.  

I grew up in the Panhandle.  It always feels like I can breathe deeper up there, 

what with all the wide open spaces.  

When the kids were little, they'd look for "clues" that we were getting closer to Grandmother & Granddaddy's house.  And of course we'd make sure the trip was educational and stop at at least one Historical Marker along the way.  

The kids just loved  those stops at historical markers.  

This week we took a very quick trip to the Panhandle - up Tuesday and back home Wednesday. We were on our well-traveled road with not much time to dawdle, but we did fit in one traditional stop at our favorite antique shop ... Highway 287 Antiques in Quannah, Texas.  

(a friendly trucker on Highway 287 honked at me when I was taking this picture ...

because clearly I was rockin the antique shop :o)

We started a traditional stop at this place a couple years ago when Sandy instituted a challenge:  everybody gets a dollar to spend on what they think is the best treasure, and the winner gets a special prize.

Here's the winning entry from that little expedition.  The Rubber Chicken is the "prize" ...

This winning entry is, by the way, MINE.  Just sayin'.  There was a HUGE barrel FULL of old photographs ... I love and hate that.  It's easier for me to pass up a pen of free puppies than to walk away from old photographs.  I always want to take all of them home to love.  

This trip we issued round two of the Rubber Chicken Challenge. Let me describe Highway 287 Antiques  for you  ...  it's HUGE.  And packed full of everything you could possibly imagine.  It's not the classy-classy kind of store.  It's pretty crowded.  And dusty.  But a great stop if you're up for an adventure.  

There are ...

Books.

Beer cans (empty).  

Bats.

Boots.

Burlap sacks.

Ben Ali's hat.

(you know you want to try that on)

All that ... and a veritable plethora of other quirky items ...

The kids finally went outside to wait.  

It's hard to see, but Ben is giving me the tap-tap-tap on the wristwatch signal.   Whatever.

The $1.00 limit was a challenge, but the competition was pretty tough ...

There was also a ceramic cat and a nostalgic children's book.  But Nathan's frog won.  Hands down.  

His name is Jerry.

To say the shop is really crowded is putting it nicely.  It's is actually so full you can barely walk down the aisles.  But it's a fairly well organized collection.  And the charm of it is that you're walking through yesteryear and you can be absolutely certain that if you just ... keep ... looking ... 

you'll surely find a great treasure.  

Or at least a rubber chicken :o)