Time Flies

Youngest without the hat. Middle son with the hat.

I just began my 17th year of homeschooling last month. I find it heard to believe that it's been that long. I started when my oldest son was only five years old. He's now 22 years old and in his third year of college. So yes mamas, homeschool kids do go to college and do well there too! He currently has a GPA of 3.34. (<---proud mama bragging a bit)

This year I currently have a senior in high school as well as a freshman. My freshman, is tall and he loves it. Especially now that he's officially taller than his older brother - at least one of them. 

Down to two boys at home

Homeschooling now is vastly different than it used to be even a couple of years ago. Most of the time I am simply the "scheduler and guidance counselor" rather than the teacher. I don't spend a lot of time in direct instruction anymore. My boys are now pretty independent. 

My senior this year is taking two classes at a local college. He started dual enrollment last year online. It has definitely changed things but he will end up starting college with about 18 credit hours completed. This is going to be a huge cost saver for him as he is planning to get a bachelor's degree in Aviation. This child of mine wants to be a pilot. In fact, he is currently doing his ground school class as part of his dual enrollment. Even with the state paying for his tuition for this class, it still ended up being a bit expensive. The entire program is on the most expensive at our state university. I'm thrilled that they have the program though. It's still new and the only one in our state. He will start flight training for his Private Pilot's license in the spring - hopefully. It will all depend on funding of his flight hours. He's determined though. He's been dealing with learning how to best use his time this year between college, homeschool, and work. This November he will be celebrating one year at his job. We started working with him on a budget last year and I have every confidence he will succeed and do well. 

My youngest isn't quite sure what he wants to do. We're still doing the basics here at home, but I've been contemplating having him try out the local tech center to explore some career options. They do a "sampler" program for ninth and tenth graders. We're considering trying that for next year. The only downfall to this program is it's located in the next town over - about a 20 minute drive. He won't have his license yet as he won't turn 16 until 2020. This means I'll need to drive him or at least ride with him as he drives. I'm sure that will be his preferred method. My oldest still doesn't have his license yet either and will be moving home this December to hopefully transfer to the college in that same town. Mom taxi will be in full force!

Homeschooling at its best

Back to my oldest though...this child of mine has thrived so much at college. He's really begun to come into his own and I'm super proud of him. Not only is he doing well there, but he also started his first job this past summer. My very introverted child is now a cashier at the local grocery store and is getting great reviews on his customer service skills. Mamas in the trenches...hold on. They do grow up and they do become productive members of society if we encourage them to find those skills. 

My oldest in his journalism class. 

They had a local TV reporter come speak to them. 

He's on the far left, back row, full beard. 

Homeschooling has been tough over the years, I won't deny that. There were days when one or all of us were in tears over a tough lesson. However, it's been worth all the sacrifice of staying home and investing into my boys. I don't regret one moment of it. I'm blessed and thankful that I had this opportunity. I'm just a bit sad that I'm starting to see the end draw ever nearer. Not to sound to route, but mamas, enjoy the moments. All of them. The hard, the fun, the messy, the sad, the frustrating - enjoy it all because it will all be over sooner than you realize. 

Date Night in Franklin, TN

Downtown Franklin at night

The conference took up not only a lot of Bob's days, but it would include some early mornings (breakfast) and evenings. We took advantage of the time to have some date nights while we were there. Of course, the entire week was a date for us! 

I didn't do a lot on this day. I headed back into Franklin and wondered a tiny bit. I did find a rather large mall. About 10 steps through the door, I was stopped by a very good saleswoman at a kiosk. She tried hard to sell me on some skin care products from Israel. I was able to finally extract myself and just enjoyed walking around and window shopping. I didn't plan to buy a lot on this trip because we had to get it home somehow. Our checked bag had been slightly overweight when we came down so we needed to keep that in mind.

We went out to dinner at Puckett's Grocery and Restaurant in downtown Franklin. Great southern food. And since this is Tennessee and we were close to Nashville, they have live music often at night. We enjoyed listening to Camille Rae during our dinner. She was amazing. As in as good as anything I've ever heard on the radio. 

Low light meant Bob needed a little help to read the menu. 

Downtown Franklin

The circle on the edge of downtown. 

Franklin is a suburb of Nashville. In fact, I realized while planning for this trip that oftentimes people will say Nashville but really mean a suburb of it. We were told the conference was being held in Nashville. It was actually in Franklin. 

The city of Franklin is large, well, compared to where I live in Maine. Franklin has a population between sixty and seventy thousand people. My town? It has between four and five thousand. However, Franklin has done well in preserving its downtown area. I headed there on Monday morning to wander around. 

These trees were fascinating. 

Finally figured out they are magnolia's about halfway through the week. 

Loved the name of the store. I refrained from going in though. 

I love paper goods and knew it would be too much temptation. 

There were historical markers and quaint shops. I wandered in and out and just took in the wonderful spring-like day. After I grabbed some lunch at Chick-Fil-A, I headed out to do some more exploring. We do not have many Chick-Fil-A's in the Northeast. In fact, there is only one in Maine and it's located 2-1/2 hours north of where I live. I am not going to share how often I ate there during the week. It was a lot!

Nearby there is an old factory that has been converted into shopping. The Factory at Franklin. 

Inside the entrance to The Factory.

It was full of neat little shops including a bakery and this guitar store. It was actually closed but I loved the sign on the door!

I spent quite a bit of time wandering a large antique store located there. I always enjoy a good antique shop. I rarely buy anything but the history of the items is enjoyable. 

Ending the day, I did something I have never done before...I went to the movies...alone. I have to say, it was fantastic. I say Hidden Figures and it was absolutely phenomenal. If you haven't seen it, do it! 

While I enjoyed all that Franklin had to offer, my hubby was stuck inside at the conference all day. I'm not sure he minded all that much...

And yes, that is the actual studio and Dave's chair he's sitting in.

The Start of a Historical Week

When we were planning for our trip to Tennessee, we had a couple choices as to when to get there. My hubby's conference started with a welcome at the hotel we would be staying in on Sunday night. Most people fly in that day and hit the ground running. Being the not morning person I am, I petitioned to head out on Saturday instead. That would allow us unrushed travel and allow Bob to get some rest before the start of a busy week for him. Thankfully he agreed. I wasn't looking forward to heading to the airport at o'dark thirty Sunday morning. 

This also allowed us to attend church in the "buckle of the Bible belt." We did a little research and opted to try Brentwood Baptist. It's located in a suburb of Nashville, aptly called Brentwood, and it was located between where we were staying in Franklin and Nashville. It was also what one would call a "mega-church." 

This was their main campus, but they also had five other campuses in nearby areas plus other ministries. They have over six thousand people attend each week. It was amazing to see such a large church. There were about a thousand people in the service we attended. They have four services on Sunday morning. 

We opted to attend the "traditional" service which had a full orchestra playing. They also had a full choir (those chairs behind the orchestra were almost full when they came in) and it was all led by two men and two women leading the songs. It was beautiful, powerful, and overwhelming. The minister was also spot on in his teaching. It was a fantastic way to start our week. 

After church we decided to play tourist. This would be one of the only days Bob would have time to explore Tennessee. Most of his time would be spent doing this...

That's Dave Ramsey up there talking...

After listing out the options, we decided to go check out Andrew Jackson's home - The Hermitage.

The weather was absolutely gorgeous while we were there. It was like a late April - early May day here in Maine. Short sleeves and jeans were quite comfortable. Flowers were beginning to bloom. After all the snow and cold we had left behind, it was balm to our souls.

We waited in line for about an hour to get a tour of inside the house. I always find old homes interesting although I wasn't thrilled with the waiting. 

As part of the admission price, you are given a recording wand that had a wealth of information about the area making it a wonderful self-guided tour. I did use the time I was in line to learn more about the Jackson's and their plantation. 

Unfortunately, like most historical buildings, we couldn't take any photos inside the house itself. Trust me, it was worth the wait...maybe. 

Jackson and his wife, Rachel, are buried here.

The original Hermitage. Quite a bit different isn't it?

Bob and I had a fantastic time exploring the grounds and the out buildings and such. It was a wonderful way to start off our week.  

Traveling on a Jet Plane

In February my hubby and I had the opportunity to go to Tennessee for a week. He would be attending a Dave Ramsey Entreleadership conference for business owners. I was tagging along for the ride. 

We haven't been on a plane since 1999. In that year I flew three times. I had never been on a plane before that and I haven't been on one since. We typically drive everywhere. Needless to say a few things have changed since I first rode a plane. Namely 9/11 which has beefed up security and my need for an insulin pump.

I also had no idea what to pack, how much to pack, what I would need or not need. In other words, we both over-packed by a lot especially since I ended up doing laundry one day while we were gone. It was an adventure that was for sure!

Not only do a wear an insulin pump but I also wear a continuous glucose monitor now. Essentially it will measure my glucose level every five minutes and communicate with my pump. It doesn't negate the need to still stick my finger, but it helps me keep tabs on where my levels are going - up or down. This is essential when traveling because one gets busy and forgets to test or doesn't realize levels are trending up or down. 

All the research I did before I left (and yes, I did a lot) didn't really tell me if I could go through security wearing them. I would find one place that said yes and one that said well, it may be okay but it's up to you. Ack!

We flew out of Portland (Maine that is) and when we arrived for our flight we were pretty much the only people there. There was no line at all for the TSA check. (God's provision #1). I also happened to be TSA Pre-Check (God's provision #2). And there were some amazingly helpful agents who helped allay my fears about the body scanner damaging my (extremely expensive) equipment. (God's provision #3). I skipped the x-ray and did the body scanner. I had to have my hands swabbed for explosive residue after going through to ensure my equipment was legit. I'm thankful my first experience flying in over 20 years was so relatively easy!

We had just had two massive snow storms before we left. It's the most snow we've had in a couple of winters. I took this photo just to show the size of the snowbank (it was taller than me - close to six feet tall). I was looking forward to heading south!

We had a layover each way in New York. 

Our flight from Portland to New York was short - less than an hour. The flight attendants literally had about enough time to serve everyone before we were landing. We flew under the clouds as well. I had the window seat and spent most of the time snapping photos of the land.  

                                         

                                         Ski area

                                                                                      Topography in real life

Our flight from New York to Nashville was above the clouds and about two hours total. We both spent the time reading and relaxing, well as much as you can when you are sitting in the back of the plane near the engine. Overall it wasn't a bad flight. 

Tomorrow I'll share about our adventures, day by day. We packed a lot into our week there. Well, hubby spent most of the time learning. I was able to play tourist and loved every minute of it.

Traveling

This year I have found myself traveling to new places. I've flown on a plane (which I hadn't done since 1999). I took a long road trip with my family to areas of the country we had never seen before. And I included a yearly visit to my aunt and uncle at the ocean. And it's only July. And I haven't shared about any of it. And I'm home this long holiday weekend with lots of free time. Fair warning. Lots of photos, posts, and information heading your way. I can't wait to share about our adventures!

False Alarm

I woke up early on Saturday to head to the gym. My youngest was looking taller - he tends to do that daily. A quick check had me believing he had finally surpassed me. I asked another kiddo to take photographic proof. Nope! Almost there but not quite. Although, it is definitely not going to be much longer before I am officially the shortest person in my house. I'm not all that sad about it actually.

Nubble Light in Cape Neddick

Nubble Lighthouse/Cape Neddick Light Station is located in York, Maine - right before you get to New Hampshire. I've now been there three times. The first time I ever saw this lighthouse was last April when my sister and I were heading to Massachusetts for a homeschool conference. The second and third times were, once again, in April while I was in the Kittery/York area for a family weekend. 

I have a fascination with lighthouses and really enjoy visiting them. When my boys were much younger, my sister and I took all of them (my three and her one) and visited quite a few in order to photograph them. We had a lot of fun with that project. 

Nubble Light is located on an island so you can't actually get much closer than I was in these photos. It's a beautiful spot though. Since I only seem to visit in April, there aren't a lot of people there either so parking is easy and exploring the rocks is fun. 

There is just something about the waves crashing on the rocks that I absolutely love. I think the love of the sea is in my blood. My mom and her family used to spend summers on Cape Cod. I have ancestors that lived near the sea as well. 

I had a doctor appointment south of Portland (1-1/2 hours south) on the Friday before our shopping day. My mom-in-law offered to go down early with me so we headed down after my appointment. My sister-in-law met us and we headed out to see the lighthouse. Yes, you can probably tell by our body posture that it was cold and no, I didn't bring anything heavier than that sweater. Needless to say, the first thing I bought the next day was a warmer sweatshirt. 

Twice a year we descend on the Kittery area for a shopping day. Everyone lives outside of Maine except my mom-in-law and myself. Kittery is a centrally located area for all of us and it has outlets. 

On Saturday a few more relatives joined us. Around the table from left to right is my mom-in-law, myself, Aunt Betty, Aunt Irene, and then my two sister-in-laws. It was a smaller group than normal this time. Oftentimes there are a few cousins tossed in for good measure. 

The second evening, after we had eaten dinner, we headed once more to the lighthouse to take those who hadn't been on Friday. It was still cold, don't let that sun fool you! However, there is just something about the sea, the waves, the lighthouse, the open sky that is so very relaxing. 

I'm looking forward to the next Kittery weekend.