Our annual first and last day of school photos this year.  Wow, a lot of changes, not just in how much they have each sprouted up.  Today is Ty’s very last day of middle school.  It’s hard for me to even comprehend that he’s heading to high school in the fall. Actually, due to football, we’ll be at the high school 4 days a week this summer.  While most are anxious to sleep in, we’ll be getting up at least an hour earlier to make it to football camp so the kids can try to beat the heat this summer for strength and condition / speed camp.  I’m trying to be optimistic about the early hours knowing it will help get me up and out when it is cooler outside during a lot, hot, pregnant summer.  Ty has grown SO much this year.  He’s hovering around 5’11” and wearing a size 13 (!!!!!) shoe.  He will be 15 next week, he still has a lot of growing to do!

The other huge change, my littles are no longer in public and private school.  This is the year we took them out and began teaching them at home.  It was a change I wasn’t ready for, one we got pushed in to, one I fought for too long.  Now that fight and fear seems so beyond silly.  I LOVE homeschooling.  So do they.  We actually intended on keeping Teagan in private school for awhile, but he started asking to stay home to learn, he didn’t want to miss the fun, so we let him decide when he was ready to come home full time and he made that decision about 2 months ago.  It’s a huge undertaking and responsibility, but now that it is our reality, I wouldn’t have it any other way.  While traveling last weekend, I sat next to an elderly gentleman who was a 35+ year retired math teacher on the plane.  He taught elementary all the way up to college level in his career.  I was a bit nervous to tell him we homeschool Taryn when he started asking.  I learned quickly that some teachers can get very offended by homeschooling families.  His response?  “Oh honey, you made the best decision of your life!”  I smiled, because even though I didn’t need the approval of anyone, I knew he was right. He shared a lot of his experiences with homeschooled kids with me, it was an interesting perspective for sure.  This is what is best for them and our family and that’s all that really matters.  I love knowing what they are learning.  I love being responsible for it.  I love embracing the curiosity.  I love the freedom in our schedules we have now.  I love that Taryn will likely be done with 2nd grade math by the time we technically finish 1st grade.  I love that they are in pj’s for their last day of school photo this year.  Big changes indeed.