Semester Wrap-Up

Two months since my last post! I'm fairly certain I've reached a new low in blogging, but I'm not ready to give it up any time soon. I treasure this decade or more of my family life I have recorded here, and I always hope that someday, I'll start blogging again regularly.

This semester has been an adjustment for me as I began teaching writing classes for Brave Writer. Man, I love these classes and the Brave Writer lifestyle and being immersed in partnering with students as they find their writing voices!  I have devoted most of this semester to teaching not only Brave Writer classes but also my own classes at our co-op, so I am really relishing this break.

The really big news, though, is that Duncan is now officially an Eagle Scout! We ended this semester with his ceremony this past weekend. It was a perfect ceremony. There was not a dry eye in the room when my Dad, age 92 and an Eagle Scout himself, gave Duncan the Eagle charge.

Here are a few more photos from this wonderful day.

We're so proud of him. Boy Scouts has been so central to our lives for so many years, from Tiger Cub to Eagle Scout for both of our boys. Randy is glad to still have another year and a half as Scoutmaster. He has as much fun (most of the time) as the boys do—and the adventures! Randy read a list of all the activities Duncan has participated in during his years in Scouting, and we were all quite astounded. Hundreds of nights spend camping, hundreds of miles hiking and biking, hundreds of hours of community service. Duncan has earned the Triple Crown of high adventure, meaning that he's gone to three of the four high adventure camps (Philmont, Sea Base, and Summit). He'll top that off with a fourth in February when they spend a week in Minnesota at Okpik Winter Adventure, dog sledding, skiing, sleeping in an igloo… Incredible!

So that's what has been happening in our own Small World during the past  couple of months. Laurel got home last week, and I am treasuring time with her. She's finished first semester of her junior year with another 4.0, and I couldn't be prouder of my beautiful daughter. Jesse also finished his first semester of graduate school with a 4.0, which he was absolutely thrilled with. His first class was a statistics course, and that has never been his forte.

I hope to catch up more, to blog more frequently and capture more of the every day moments that I love so much. In the meantime, I'll be trying to get that last minute shopping done, baking cookies, and watching Christmas movies like crazy.

Merry Christmas!

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January in Review

1. Laurel went back to college: second semester of her sophomore year. It was hard for me to leave her there, but we had a lovely, long Christmas break. This semester will be an exercise in adjusting to life-after-studying-abroad. She's decided to add a second major (psychology) to her family relations major. It's a natural fit. She's taking 3 psychology/family classes this semester (lifespan, family, and social) plus a couple of her gen ed requirements. She also works 12 hours/week at an elementary school.

2. Dad turned 92. I am so blessed to be able to celebrate yet another birthday with my Dad. I love him so much. Here is is blowing out the candles with great-grandsons Rory and Soren, who shared his birthday cake. And the picture below is of our family's newest ping pong tournament champs: my Randy and my oldest nephew, Owen.

3. Duncan began his Eagle Scout project. His project involves mapping out all the veterans' graves at a large local cemetery. Over the course of two work days, he directed his fellow Scouts (several of them are in the second picture) to find, record, and mark on a map about 500 sites. The next step will be for him to put all of this into a database—and then to write up his project. So, step 1 is done!

4. Speaking of Eagle Scouts, this one submitted his application to graduate school today. He's been working for American Airlines for close to three years now, and he's ready to move on and back into academia for awhile. Don't ask about the large piece of equipment that he brought home. As one of my friends said, "They can graduate the boy out of homeschooling, but they can't take the homeschooler out of a man!" AKA: why let a perfectly good belt loader to to the junkyard when you can have it for free?

5. Bullet journal. Wow. The bullet journal is changing my life! Mine isn't as complex or as detailed as most of the ones I see on Pinterest, but it is working wonderfully for me. I got this blank calendar/journal in my Fair Trade Friday box several months ago, and it is perfect for the bullet journal concept. I have areas for exercises, notes, projects, movies to see, quotes, things I've learned, and, of course, to-do lists and calendar items. I love it.

 6. The Book Thief. Wow, I love teaching The Book Thief in literature class. I'm so excited that my class will get to do my Repurposed Pages project in just a couple of weeks. This is one of my favorite class projects ever, and I can't wait to see what this new crop of students creates!

7. Gatlinburg Fire Recovery Center. Our Appalachian Studies class volunteered at this huge warehouse in January. The place is overflowing with donations for families who lost their homes and businesses in the Gatlinburg wildfire. We had a group of about 30 and did everything from sorting clothes to helping shoppers. It was an amazing set-up, and seeing our community come together in this way is truly inspiring and affirming.

8. Winter campout. Duncan's Scout troop had its annual "winter" campout. Some years it really is cold; this year, not so much. Duncan's wearing shorts and a sleeveless shirt in the photo below. Yep.

9. Book Club. We had our annual Book Club Getaway weekend and chose the books for 2017. Lots of good food and laughter with these wonderful friends of mine. Here's our book list!

February: Where the Heart Is by Billie Letts
March: Shakespeare’s Landlord by Charlaine Harris
April: Songs of Willow Frost by Jamie Ford
May: Same Kind of Different as Me by Ron Hall, Denver Moore, Lynn Vincent
June: My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell
July: The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper by Phaedra Patrick
August:  Hillbilly Elegy by JD Vance
September: Mink River by Brian Doyle
October: Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson
November: The War that Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
December:  Ordinary Grace by William Krueger 

I had read the first one and the last three previously, but that's OK! I don't mind re-reading books if they are worth re-reading!

And... that's January all wrapped up. How was your month?

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Break = Over

I can't believe summer break is basically over. On the other hand, it's been a good, long summer.

Duncan and Randy spent a week at Summit Boy Scout Ranch and a week at Camp Buck Toms, where Duncan went off with a separate group and did the Mountain Man challenge. As Scoutmaster, Randy stayed back at camp with the younger boys. The Scout troop also biked the Virginia Creeper this summer. Some of them, including Randy and Duncan, rode 51 miles! Duncan also spent a week at church camp, which is pure fun and relaxation time for him.

Duncan and his fellow troop members who completed the Mountain Man Challenge

Biking the Virginia Creeper

Vineyard Church camp!

In other Scout news, one of Duncan's best friends received his Eagle Scout a couple of week ago.  Duncan has just started outlining his project, so hopefully he will have his done by December!

The three wise guys get wiser.

Laurel worked as a nanny for most of the summer, but she had a few weeks off, and we managed to cram in lots of fun and relaxation, including our trip to New York and some relaxing afternoons in the mountains. She got lots of good time with her hometown friends and even got to see her college friends one weekend.

Sweet childhood friends, all ready to go back to college

A weekend  in Nashville with her suitemates!

We had a lot of other fun adventures this summer, including tubing, hiking, rock jumping, a trip to Charlotte to visit family, picnics, biking, swimming, paddleboarding, and our new fave, disc golf. And lots of Netflix nights.

Cooking together in Charlotte

 

Disc golf: so much fun!

Our co-op classes start next week. That means I should be doing lesson plans for the World Literature class I'm teaching. But I can't quite make myself start.


Laurel will be spending first semester of her sophomore year in college in Vienna, Austria!





I'm so excited for her! She is going to have the experience of a lifetime. AND I am going over in October to spend a week with her! I mean, I need to make sure she isn't getting into mischief, right?


One of the best parts about this summer is that Randy actually took the summer "off."

Most people think that professors are always off for the summers, but Randy has always either taught classes or done research or administrative work during the summer. This year, he actually only went into the office about once each week. It's been lovely. I'm kinda looking forward to his retirement…

I know. We have a long way to go. In the meantime, we'll be breathing deeply as we start the new year. Only two more to go on this homeschooling journey, but a lifetime yet together.

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Mid-Month Wrap-Up

First, I am flabbergasted that we are already five weeks into the school year. I feel as if we are still just beginning, just finding our rhythm to this new year. I think this is the first week we've had all our activities, so I guess I should be happy that we made it through without too many bumps.

At the beginning of the month, my brother came down to visit with his two little boys, and we got to meet baby Max for the first time. I just still can't believe sometimes that we have Kollman and Max. They are such a gift to our family, which we all assumed was complete with Duncan 14 years ago! These two little guys are bringing so much joy to my parents—their grandparents.

That same weekend, we went to Nashville for Laurel's 18th birthday. It was so amazing to see our girl in her new surroundings! She seemed comfortable, confident, and happy. What more could we ask for? And how awesome that we got to do our traditional birthday shoot with her best friend, Bess, who shares Laurel's birthday—and her life.

The following weekend was our annual Scouting Family Camping at the Big South Fork. We have lost track of how many years we've been doing this with our Boy Scout and American Heritage Girls troops and our Cub Scouts pack, but we think this was our 9th year. It felt emptier this year without our graduates, but it was still wonderful, peaceful, and rejuvenating.

We had the opportunity to attend a flag retirement ceremony at the local VFW last weekend. Several members from our  Boy/Cub Scouts and AHG troops attended. It was a truly memorable experience to see the wide range of the Smoky Mountains in the background, the flag in the foreground, and the boys standing saluting while the military men and women solemnly set the flags in the firepit.

The back-to-school dance happened right after the ceremony. I have to admit to some pangs of melancholy. For so many years, Laurel and her friends got ready for dances at our house. This year, I had a pack of boys. They are awfully sweet and they don't take nearly as long to get ready.

 And besides all of that events above, we are in the thick of high school. This year Duncan is taking nearly all his classes at our co-op: ACT Prep, American history and government, American literature, and biology. (I'm teaching or co-teaching the first three classes.) He does algebra 2 online at home and a Bible study with our youth pastor weekly. He's also doing Boy Scouts and youth group, of course, as well as tennis and swimming. Our days are full, to say the least. But we've been keeping up for the most part. This weekend he heads off for a Boy Scout weekend of canoeing and kayaking, and I plan to catch up on grading and lesson planning. Next weekend our girl comes home for the first time, and I'm excited!

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Cub Scout/Boy Scout Crossover

Our youngest son crossed over from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts last night. My husband also crossed over from 8 years as a Cubmaster to full-time assistant Scoutmaster.

I started off the day by making a cake, which was an excellent distraction. Moms of little boys who are about to cross over get very weepy. Especially when they once looked like this:

Duncan as a Tiger Cub

 So, yep. I made a cake for the 9 boys who are crossing over. I was extremely proud of my craftiness 'cause this is really not my thing. I put the Webelos symbol on one side and the Scout symbol and their names on the other, and of course divided the cake into half blue and half green. 

I gave all the little signs to the moms after we cut the cake, so they have something for their son's scrapbook. (Or for the Big Box of Memorabilia, in our case.)

We prayed fervently for the rain to hold off for our evening, outside ceremony. We felt a few drops while Randy cooked hot dogs and a few more while the boys played their traditional games (including tug o'war Cub Scouts vs. Boy Scouts—notice which group is doing the victory cheer).

 

The rain held off while the younger boys got their awards, and Randy was presented with a plaque in appreciation of his many years as Cubmaster and den leader.

 

And then when it was time to go down to the bridge for the actual crossover ceremony, the skies were totally clear. 

Our Pack 442 boys almost always go straight into Troop 442, so many of the boys from the troop, as well as the Scoutmaster, come to the ceremony to greet the boys and put on their new epaulets and neckerchief. Our older son, Jesse, is an Eagle Scout. Although he has just finished his sophomore year in college, he was sweet enough to agree to come and help Duncan cross over.

Randy always asks the local Order of the Arrow group to come and do the actual crossover ceremony. The boys call for Akela, who then asks each of them a question before allowing them to receive their Arrow of Light awards.

 

After all the boys have spoken with Akela, they light their candles and receive their Arrows of Light.

 

Then they blow out their candles and their den leaders remove their Cub Scout insignia. When their name is called, they make the journey over the bridge from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts, where the Boy Scouts put on their new neckerchief and epaulets and welcome them into the troop.

 

After all the boys crossed over, Randy crossed over. I just about started bawling then, when he said how incredibly awesome it was to be the Cubmaster and how much he loved all the boys. He really has been such an incredible leader to these boys. The families have all been so supportive and encouraging to him throughout these year. We could not ask for a better Cub Scout pack! But without anymore Cubs in our family, it is time for him to hand over the reins to someone else. He has been an Assistant Scoutmaster for many years, so he'll continue in that capacity.

And then the ceremony was over. Duncan was so very excited. When he arrived home, the first thing he did was hug the dog and say, "Well, Autumn, your boy is a Boy Scout now." So sweet.

But of course we had to get a few more pictures before we cleaned up and came home. 

 

 

These are sweet, sweet days.

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