{Homeschool} Prom 2012

Tyler attended his Sophomore prom this weekend.

He was dreamy.

Honestly, just when I think he's about as handsome as a young man can get, he goes and gets even handsomer.



Ashten was stunning.



They clean up pretty nice I think.



Last year they went as really good friends.

This year his intentions are a little different so he asked her father's permission to give her flowers and escort her to prom.

This courtship thing really is a beautiful thing to witness.













Everyone looked amazing.

Including my friend's daughter Autumn.

Remember Autumn?

I was privileged enough to watch and capture her vow to remain pure till marriage.

She was a snaggle toothed lanky little girl when we met her family 6 years ago.

Ahem...not so much now.

Such a beautiful young woman...inside and out.



There is a nasty rumor going around that homeschoolers aren't very social.

No fun at all.

Downright prudish.

I beg to differ.

I wish there had been homeschoolers at my prom.





A few of our Seniors.



Senior dance.

With their parents.

::gasp::

Imagine that...these kids actually enjoy not that they have a choice in the matter having their parents involved in this special night.

Teens really do thrive within loving not suffocating/ too restrictive boundaries.



One of our Juniors even invited her dad to be her date for the night.

He thought she was joking.

Nope.

He tore up the dance floor with his daughter till the very end.

He gets dad of the year for sure.

Although I'm pretty sure I saw him bust out the robot once.



I snapped this picture on our way home.

Yes, I did it again ..stayed up all. night. long. with these kiddos at prom after party.

Loved every stinkin minute of it too.

Although I think my body wishes my brain would get the memo that I am now 36 years old.




Tuxedo Rental: $160

Prom Tickets: $100

Watching the sun come up with my sixteen year old: Priceless.



"My every mortal breath, is Grace and nothing less"

My Daughter Is A Drama Queen and I'm Another Year Older. {InstaFriday}

When I look out my back door I see these.

I'm tempted to sing, "painting the roses red" every time.



Speaking of painting, my daughter has been begging harassing me to paint her room for almost 2 years now.

I my mom did the hard part finally did it.

It is gorgeous.

Post to come.



Found this while driving down Main Street this week.

Canvas the Night by Invisible Children.

Couldn't help but think it was neat to see a movement like this so close to home.



Midnight.

Coffee.

Scrabble.

My man.

Chocolate and butterscotch chips {cause I was desperate}.

The word "fatten" on the board.

Oh the irony.

Date night at home.



I turned 36 yesterday.

Just when I was starting to feel sorry for myself, because I'm fast approaching an age that I used to consider ancient, I get this text from my daddy. {yes, daddy}

Suddenly I'm 8 years old again with snaggle teeth and stringy hair.

Smiling.

#daddysgirl



Found this sitting at my coffee maker.

My family...::sigh::...they get me.



So do my friends.

Chocolate and gift cards. {Sonic, Panera, and Starbucks}

My love language.



Maggie takes a Drama class through our Homeschool tutorial.

This is her third year performing.

Every year she gets better and better and her interest level peaks.

This year...she landed the lead role.

{Good gravy she is gorgeous}



Last night I was floored by her performance.

I think we all were.

You know that thing we parents do where we think our kids are really great at whatever they are attempting regardless of whether they totally bomb or not?

We are prepared to whoop and holler and clap, like they are Olympic gold winners and we are their biggest fan ever, no matter how insane we look?

Yeah...I was totally prepared to do that.

But within just a few minutes I tapped my sister on the shoulder and said, "She really is good!"

She was like, "I know!"


Then I whooped and hollered.






Halfway through I was wiping tears as I realized I was witnessing my daughter doing what she loves to do.

And doing it really well.

She told us on the way home that this is what she wants to do her whole life.

I told her the sky is the limit...go for it.

Watching my girl step into her God given talent....best birthday present ever.





"My every mortal breath, is Grace and nothing less"

Strawberry Pickin' Time {InstaFriday}

Started my Saturday off the proper way.

Yard saling at 5:30 am courtesy of Dunkin Donuts.

Is that even how you spell sale"ing"

Funny. I am not like don't even attempt to have a conversation with me before my first cup of coffee a morning person.

But land sakes, I sure do get excited about getting up before dawn to peruse one man's trash for my  possible treasure.

Every day should be yard sale day.



Jackpot.

Turquoise bench and Vintage Cosco stool were my fab finds for the day.

I should have checked the bench over a bit before putting it at my back door though.

While having breakfast Sunday morning my family hears the all too close sound of a buzzing bee.

Yep, wood bees were drilling holes up underneath it.

In my house!

Yikes!

I also found two chairs to add to my collection to put around my new vintage pedestal dining table.

Two down, three to go.



I promised myself I would not be sappy this week.

Dang if I didn't find this today.

Look at that little dimpled-knuckle hand holding onto that cookie for dear life.

My for real baby.

I will experience the last everything with this sweet little fella.

::sigh::

Let's move on to less snot inducing subjects shall we?

I know...how 'bout food?



How come a sandwich never tastes as good at home as it does at a restaurant?

Salads too.



These things are like crack!

If you like Corn Nuts you'll love these.



Yes, I set a reminder.

I know.

I need help.




Eating my first watermelon of the year is kinda like ushering in summer...officially.



So is pickin' strawberries.



Bring on the Sure-Jell!




"My every mortal breath, is Grace and nothing less"

How to Make a Volcano With a Pizza Box {Homeschool Science Experiment}

Items needed:

• 2 Empty Pizza Boxes
• 1 Full, Room Temp, Unopened Diet Coke 2-liter
• Aluminum
• Tape
• Spray Paint {Colors of your choice}
• 1 Package of Mint Flavored Mentos

**Let me preface this by pointing out one major error we made when making ours. This was a class project for our Homeschool Tutorial and I didn't have specific instructions. As you can see pictured below we used an empty 2 liter. We did not know at the time that it HAD to be a FULL UNOPENED DIET COKE 2-liter. So we ended up cutting a hole in the bottom and replacing it before setting it off.**

Take the bottom of your pizza box and wrap it in foil as a base for your volcano.

Place your FULL, UNOPENED, DIET COKE 2-Liter in the middle of the box.



Cut the rest of your pizza boxes into 4 large rectangles and "tepee" them around the 2-Liter.

You may have to cut the tops diagonally to get them to fit around the opening of the bottle.

There really is no right or wrong way to do this...it will be unseen so don't sweat what it looks like.

Just remember that you will need to be able to access the lid so don't build them too high above the opening.



Take long strips of foil and lay them length wise from the top of bottle down to the underside of your base.

I tucked mine over the pieces of box at the opening to create a "crater" effect.

Do this all the way around the box.

Use tape {we used packing tape..I'm sure Scotch would suffice} to hold down where your strips of foil are overlapping.

This just helps to secure any openings there may be.



Now you are ready to get your paint on.

We used brown first pretty much all over lightly.

Then we used black to represent the cooled lava around the bottom of a volcano.

Also around the mouth of the volcano to represent older eruptions.

You can see one of my strips of foil in this picture.

I had to go back and tape it down better to give it a more unified look.

Just be sure to cover up any silver you may still see.



Maggie then painted on fresh molten lava with an orange acrylic paint. {You can use whatever you choose}

I thought red would be better but she showed me pictures of freshly erupting volcanoes and sure enough, there was orange in it.

She used her brush to take the orange color down the cracks the foil naturally makes.

This helps give it such a realistic, dimensional look.

Again, try to paint over and silver you may have left.



This was our final product.

So darn easy.

We did not set ours off at home so I don't have pictures.

However, I am providing easy how-to instructions and a video from Mythbusters on the exact Science behind why this happens.

Steve Spangler Science gives a great walk through on how to drop your Mentos into the Coke with a rolled piece of paper.

He also sells a "Geyser Tube" that he invented just for this experiment.

Have fun and wear old clothes! :-)







  


 



"My every mortal breath, is Grace and nothing less"

It's a {Blog} Partay!!!

 

Hello 2012 Ultimate Blog Party hoppers!

Writing about myself is the most unnatural thing ever for me so I'll direct you to "meet talysa" for a more in depth introduction.

Here's the lowdown:

Wife to Adam .

Mom to Tyler, Maggie, and Aidan.

Homeschooler in need of new mercies every. single. day.

Sinner covered by Grace.

Photography attempter.

Mini-van driver.

Antique appreciator.

Thrift store shopper.

Yard sale braker.

Nutella lover.

Weight loss maintainer. #25lbsfor2years

Wannabe crafter.

Worship leader.

Not so disciplined blogger.

I blog with transparency about how God saved my marriage, about my fears of completely messing up my children for life, my insecurities as a woman and mom, the amazing adventure of homeschooling my children, and my absolute dependency on God's grace, wisdom, and mercy in all of the above. It is my prayer that should you make it to the end of one of my mindless ramblings, you would feel just a little bit more normal. Maybe breathe a little deeper. Realize that you are not the only one that has fed your kids Doritos for breakfast, ignored a Girl Scout knocking at your door, or failed to complete a Math curriculum. We are all in this together.


Thank you so much for stopping by and should you decide to stick around, I am grateful. :-)

"My every mortal breath, is Grace and nothing less"