Lists! Lists! Lists!

Sometimes I feel like my To Do List is simply too huge. Other times, I get this feeling of accomplishment simply by creating the ToDo List.  What's that about? It's not like I completed anything on the list. But there I go blithely skipping through my day - accomplishing nothing really.

That's not altogether true.  I just don't get around to the things on my list.  How could a person be so good at procrastinating? YEARS of practice!  I don't even realize I'm doing it. Until about 4:30, when others are about to come home and I'm still in PJ's!  So. Now you know.

Perhaps I should do two lists. (Can you tell making lists simply makes me happy?)

So my Big To-Do List includes:
1.) Finish cleaning my room and move the furniture to the better location
2.) Gather the stuff for the Salvation Army pick up
3.) Get the measurements and replace the drapes in the upstairs game room
4.) Poke around fabric stores and get ideas for drapes in the living room
5.) Figure out a way to get more homeschooled teens to complete my survey for my book
6.) Clean out my closet and put clothes that don't fit in Rubbermaid tubs.
7.) Clean out from under the stairway closet

8.) Scan the Christmas pictures for the video I want to make
9.) Build the greenhouse for the backyard
10) Gather up the huge acorns from my front yard to make some beautiful Fall arrangement

My more realistic, less monumental List:
1.) Make soup for dinner (simmering on the stove now - I love putting things on the list that are already done. Does it count though?)
2.) Run a load of laundry (waiting on the bathroom floor now)
3.) Go to water aerobics (trying to think of reasons not to go)
4.) Blog something wildly interesting and engaging (yeahh right. If only that was my style!)
5.) Help Cydney with her bio (she is such a good writer, why she needs me I have no idea!)
6.) Take Alyssa to get her hair cut by Matt on 6th Street (Yes, she goes to Cosmetology school but really doesn't trust her classmates with her OWN hair)
7.) Get the plants into the ground that were purchased LAST weekend before they dry out. (Really I should water the WHOLE yard. Just because temps have dropped doesn't mean we're not still in a drought here! Just look at my drying up plants!)
8.) Talk to Pam about our projects (NHEN, Learning International, coming here for a board meeting, future books)
9.) Chat with friends (Facebook walls, in email messages, on the phone - that takes up a LOT of time)
10.) Read the blogs at the November BlogRoll on Blogher.com (I really love that website and haven't gotten a chance to look at everything yet! Did you see that I'm #1470 on the blogroll? Of course you didn't, but I'm still soo excited to see it there!)

I didn't add Oprah's Life Class on my list, but I probably should have. Even though it's on the DVR, I seem to be adding it into my daily "routine." I love her new shows.

Then again, looking for cool stuff on Pinterest is calling me!

Why Write?

The prompt for Day 2 of National Blog Posting Month, is

"What is your favorite part about Writing?"

 

...which, for me, translates into "Why do you like to write?"

 

I write for a variety of reasons.  First, I've always loved words. From Dr. Seuss to the Dalai Lama, words have fascinated me. They can evoke so many emotions and thoughts in the reader. That's really powerful! I love to read what others have to say, and I often find myself with some kind of rebuttal or additional comment in my head. So the natural thing for me to do is write it down. 

I can remember living in Alaska (we were in the military, so we moved often), and I was taking a shower. I had been reading an interesting commentary about homeschooling and I just felt compelled to write! So I reached over to some of the packing paper from the top of the box and just started scribbling out my thoughts.  It must have been a strange sight, this middle-aged woman in a towel, sitting on the edge of a bed loaded with unpacked knick-knacks, trying not to drip on my thoughts being poured onto a piece of paper.  Maybe, I'm just all too aware of how forgetful I am. And if I don't write it down, it's probably going to be lost! haha!

Anyway, I'm rambling...

I like writing because I like to be inspired and I like to inspire. I really think we are put here for a reason, and our job is to figure out what that reason is.  Even at 50, I'm not 100% sure what my Purpose is. I've raised wonderful children, out having adventures of their own. And I love documenting what's going on with our family. That's what I've used my blog for primarily. But now I'm in this "Second Half" of Life. And I have this inkling that I'm on the verge of something amazing. Maybe it will show up in my writing.

National Blog Posting Month - NaBloPoMo!

I've been a fan of National NOVEL Writing Month for years. The kids have done it. I've even attempted it myself! But life got in the way and the 50,000 word goal slipped through my fingers. I was completely unaware that under the radar (or at least MY radar), for the past 5 years, people have taken the NaNoWriMo concept and created NaBloPoMo, National Blog Posting Month, a much more do-able spinoff for me. One blog post per day for the entire month of November.  Holidays, weekends, no exceptions.

So, why oh why am I doing this, you ask? Simple. I want to get better at blogging and writing. And there's truth in the idea that the more you do it, the better you get.  The BlogHer website has all kinds of links and helpful tutorials.

If you're part of the NaBlo community, leave a comment with your link and I'll follow your blog as well. Anyone just cruising by can cheer us both on!!  And, if you're not participating...why the heck aren't you? It's a good writing exercise! And if you're thinking that you will run out of things to blog about, the BlogHer website is sending out daily writing prompts. The general theme for November is Blogging for Blogging Sake! See? You can work with that! Now, let's do this!


On your mark.
Get set.

Did I mention that there are PRIZES????

Go!!!!

Halloween 2011

For years we've been big Halloween Celebrators.  It was a fun opportunity to decorate and dress up. It didn't take long before it became "Katie's Holiday."  She LOVED it. All year long, she loved it. I'd have to slow her down from decorating the house - she'd want to start pulling everything out in September. Year after year, we'd bargain to get her to hold off on the decorations until October 1st.

But this year, Katie's far away doing her own Halloween. At first, I had such a hard time with it. Nobody there to pull out the decorations with me.  Ron pulled the rubbermaids down off the top shelves in the garage, but it just felt... off.  Still, Halloween presses on, so I'm simplyngoing to rise to the occasion.

So, first we have our pre-party costumes for the dogs...  

But Buddy's shark outfit was too small and we traded it for a pumpkin costume.

At the last minute, Alyssa decided to join the festivities and found a costume to wear to Avenue Five. Hopefully, she won't have to cut anyone's hair wearing this...

Grandma has her lovely headgear. And, she's bringing "a friend" to our house to hand out candy. They live in a Senior citizen apartment complex and kids don't typically trick-or-treat there. So she's bringing her Bulgarian neighbor to see what this is all about!

Then...after a day of shopping and cleaning.... time for more last minute decorating on the patio!

My favorite witch guards yummy snacks

Gracie, the Sheriff

Last minute glitter eyelashes - A MUST!

  And now we're ready! Josh keeps Gracie on her leash. She's trying to get used to being around children. They rush at her and scare her. But that's no problem because Buddy greets everyone! He looks pretty cute in his pumpkin suit, and the kids are quick to offer him to Trick or Treaters who show the slightest interest in him! Most respond that they already have dogs, and they know that trick of trying to palm their dog off on passersby.

Grandma is about an hour late with her friend, Tudor. He is from Bucharest and has a very thick accent. He didn't realize Grandma wasn't going to drive so that was the delay. No worries. They sit on the front patio while the early trick-or-treaters come by.

Sorry so blurry :(

Still getting used to Ron's new camera

Then the Trick-or-Treaters come out in droves. Alyssa commandeers the hand-outs once I realized that Tudor and Grandma were allowing the kids to grab hands full of candy from the basket! I even had to make another run for candy - before it was even dark! Lucky CVS is just up the street! Monster Mash music is pouring out our upstairs windows. Several other houses have competing music. Halloween is now in full swing!

There's still a burn ban going on. Temperatures are cooler but no rain in sight. So that meant we had to ditch our plan to have a small fire on the front patio. Instead, we opted for orange and purple twinkle lights in big jars. That's why Gracie's face is so orange...the glow from the twinkle jars!

I really think I'm going to create a video about Halloween Patterson Style, similar to what we did for Father's Day... obviously not in time for Halloween this year, but VERY soon. While we're still in the mood. There are so many great memories, we'll walk down spooky memory lane together! 

 

Homeschooled Voices

I'm working on a book! 

Homeschooled Voices: 

Listening to the Teens

And I need your help!

I'm trying to find as many teens as possible to share a little about what their experience was homeschooling through the teenage years.  The book will be a simple collection of comments from teens - the real experts on what that was like.  

Feel free to share the link and encourage any homeschooled teen or young adult who was homeschooled as a teenager to participate. You don't have to have composed an opera by 19, sailed around the world, or have started a popular rock band. We want to hear from teens who are busy living their lives - it just happened that they were homeschooled during their teenage years.  

Fill out the easy  Homeschooled Voices Survey and BE IN THE BOOK!

THANK YOU!

Out and About

I was asked if we used the community much with regards to how the kids learned.
. Short answer: Yes. Long answer (and I mean LONG)...read this: 

One of the BEST reasons to homeschool is the ability to get out into the community with your children during the daytime.  Lines are shorter. There are way less crowds to deal with.  Plus, you and the kids will have so much more energy to go off exploring in the daytime, instead of waiting until they've already done 8 hours of school and trying to wedge it in those oh-so-short after school hours.

But maybe you're wondering just what community outings I'm talking about. With three very different kids, we’ve had a lot of different experiences.  And, since the Air Force moved us several times, we had the opportunity to discover more cool activities in new communities. Now that my kids are grown, we can wander back down memory lane and see some if any of these ideas might inspire you!

We started homeschooling in Alaska. The kids played in a hockey league and a Coaches Pitch baseball league. They tried Indian Princess and started in Girl Scouts and Cub Scouts.  Each of the scout troops took them out into the community, especially for service. All three joined the Sunshine Generation, a group that sang and performed in parades, malls, nursing homes. We went to the start of the Iditarod, and followed our neighbor who was mushing. We helped our friends with their 14 sled dogs and went on the trails with them mushing. We ice skated at the mall, took monthly classes at the Eagle River Nature Center, the Anchorage Museum, and the Imaginarium (a hands-on Science museum). AND, we got to stay as long as we wanted instead of being hustled back into the bus after just dipping our toes in those different explorations. Our veterinarian let us watch our cats be spayed and declawed. We learned about how the cat's body works, including how quickly their pads pink up when the oxygen level is increased. We went to the Earthquake Museum and talked to people who lived through the Quake of '62. We saw baby polar bears at the Zoo, bald eagles at Homer Spit, and penguins at Seward. We swam at the indoor pool during the daytime, took ceramics class, went to the Opera, and listened to a Symphony. We spotted belugas and 20 foot tides in Turnagain Arm, salmon jumping in the air from the Russian River, and Native Alaskan history in Ketchikan. We picked berries in the mountains, talked to artisans in Girdwood, and pet a baby octopus who was living in a tank the Cordova Visitor Center, We went on a whale watching excursion and we survived a drunk ferry captain in Valdez. We camped and hiked and ice fished and built snow-caves. We went to Denali and saw grizzly bears. We saw black bears in our campground there! We gasped for air when we dipped our feet in the icy Chena River in Fairbanks and stopped off to hear elves working in Santa's workshop in North Pole.

 When we moved to California from Alaska, we took the Ferry, a 3 day ride. We went to the Fish Market in Seattle and hiked around Mt. St. Helen's volcano. We drove through redwoods – yes,  the forests, but also some of the trees that were big enough that cars drove through their trunks!  We picked apples in Sebastapol, saw where The Birds was filmed in Bodega Bay - and watched people's tents blow into the ocean when they couldn't withstand the wind. We got carsick on Hwy 1, touched stingrays at the aquarium and saw sea lions in Monterrey Bay.  We went to park days that lasted all day and astronomy outings that lasted all night. We camped on the beach in Santa Barbara and drank Fig Shakes on Seal Beach. We took Mad Science classes at the Library and more classes at various science and art museums nearby. A "museum pass" could get us into any museum in California – including the big ones down in San Francisco, so we went there too!  We saw Alcatraz and walked on the Golden Gate Bridge. We took a 108 foot Square Rigger named the Gaslight on the San Francisco Bay, and Michael and Ron spent the night with a group at Angel Island, reliving history. We ran the spotlight and the Tinkerbell light when Katie first started in community theatre, and often drove to Sacramento to watch Improv. We hung out at Barnes and Noble and Jamba Juice and we never missed the monthly farmer's market in Davis. We watched sheep be sheared at the county fair and took hay rides in pumpkin patches and apple orchards. We ate peaches that fell off the tree after the "shakers" came by to harvest. We smelled the almond and plum trees in bloom. We took horseback riding lessons and helped at ManMar ranch, an A & M veterinary training ranch. The kids learned about race horses, and in vitro insemination, and "crazy mares." They watched foals be born and old horses die. We helped build a barn and bought a horse. They rescued an injured Barn Owl, and saw the Raptor Center in action.  Weeks later, we went to a park and watched them release our little owl, ready to go back to the wild. We held unique birthday parties, including a “Bring Your Pet” party – even Alyssa’s Dentist and Hygienist came with their turtle and kitten! We watched Harry Potter premieres and hosted birthday parties that were totally Hogwart themed. We went to Rennaissance Faires and held Halloween parties with dry ice experiments. We hosted a Japanese Exchange student and took him to San Francisco to eat at the Bay, to ride roller coasters in Santa Cruz, and to a homeschool conference in Sacramento. We camped and hiked and learned to sail on Folsom Lake. We learned how the locks work in Lodi. We made the local news with our support group's Civil War Reenactment and we starred in a homeschool documentary.

Then we moved to a ranch in north Texas where we had horses, cows, goats, chickens, dogs, cats, birds, guinea pigs and a donkey. We had a lot of veterinary excursions with those! We participated in Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts. Alyssa even delivered Girl Scout Cookies by horseback! We saw hydroponic farming with live fish, worked in pecan orchards, ate fresh  peach ice cream in the Peach Festival in Charlie. We had air soft wars in neighboring fields, took cattle to auctions, and talked with the people on a real covered wagon train that had pulled over at the edge of our pasture. We participated in 4H which exposed us to SO many people in the community. The kids participated in elections, held offices, and met so many different people.  We bought a calf and started a cockatiel business. We birthed a calf with our neighbors. We met local news people,  were interviewed a few times for the community service projects we did, and participated in a film school offered by the public television service out of Dallas . Michael got his first job at Target and Katie got her first lead role at the community theatre. We spent a lot of time in various community theatre projects. We visited with a woman who had no running water, but collected rainwater in buckets. She was nearly 90 and could tell us about what it was like when Burkburnett was really a Boom Town and how rough the oil field workers were living in tents nearby. We handed out toys every year with the Toys for Tots program through the Salvation Army, and we organized huge blanket drives for the Linus Project. We built houses with Habitat for Humanity and worked the soup kitchens on New Year’s Eve. We went on camping trips, and rock climbed, and zip lined. We walked through emu farms, prairie dog mounds and participated in small town Christmas parties. The girls took tap and jazz and ballet and hip hop. Michael took a girl to her prom and started community college classes.

When we moved to the Austin area, we went to concerts, large and small. We continued with dance classes and theatre classes. We learned to use the bus system. We watched high wire acts at Cirque du Soleil and watched the Ringling Brothers unload elephants in the middle of town. We talked to legislators and worked on political campaigns. We learned about bats and watched them fly out from under the Congress Avenue bridge. We traveled with Alyssa's competitive cheerleading team, got involved with the SCA, and joined writing groups with NaNoWriMo.   We saw WW2 
re-enactments in Fredericksburg and we watched how fast the sun sets from the top of Enchanted Rock. We spent a lot of time hanging out with friends and their families.

Vacations were always filled with learning, whether we meant it to or not! We watched bison and geysers at Yellowstone, Revolutionary history in Alexandria, and national monuments in D.C. We explored New York City with its rich immigrant history and fascinating architecture.  We messed with the fish at a hatchery in Arkansas and danced with the jazz culture in a rebuilding New Orleans.

Their teen employment took them out in the community with jobs as cashiers  and instructors (dance, make-up, swimming lessons), baby-sitting and pet-sitting, bookstores and movie theatres,  life-guarding, house-cleaning  house-sitting, and even radio D.J.-ing.

Alyssa took on an internship with an organic make-up company. She learned to run the store, work with customers and teach Girl Scout troops. She learned to do make-up on fashion shows, walked the runway herself (once!), and assisted photographers. Her love of eyeliners and color combinations led her to a Vidal Sassoon cosmetology program where she will be paid to play with all that.

Opening up our home to the exchange student when Michael was 12, led him on a path of cultural and foreign travel. He started with his own exchange student program – 3 months in Japan at 16. He took Archaeology/Anthropology classes in Belize, and is now on an assignment for the Peace Corps. Ironically, the boy who never stepped foot in an American high school now teaches English in a Nicaraguan high school!

Katie’s love of “putting on a show!” started with backyard theatre productions with our support group kids in Davis and Dixon, Califronia.  From there, she moved  to community theatre, then to local films and commercials and now she's enrolled in a conservatory in NYC.

The point is simply that involving your kids in the community helps them discover what THEY would like to do. What adventure interests them? There’s no telling what it will grow into. While you may not have lived in as many places as we did, you could. We chose the military so I could be a stay-at-home mom. And that enabled me to get out and about and become the best tour guide around! 

Sure, when someone says, “Do you do things in the community?” or “What do you do all day with kids?”,  I just smile. My days are only limited by my stamina!   If you will just look around and be willing to drive a bit, involving your child in your community (and your neighboring communities) will be the best homeschooling choice you make.

Hurricanes on Multiple Fronts!

I wasn't writing much because I was knee-deep in preparing for one of the most difficult things a mother like me can do: Getting my kids ready to leave home.  Michael had graduated from college, was accepted by the Peace Corps, and had an assignment in Nicaragua. Katie had been accepted to the New York Film Academy.  My little unschoolers were ready to go off to explore their dreams. Unfortunate for me that they couldn't do this a little closer to home, but...roots and wings, right?

Sue's Meticulous Plans

So my little house of cards was set up. After shopping and packing and prepping - and lots of tears from mommy - we had a plan! I'd take Katie to NYC on a Thursday, we'd stay together for a day or two, find the grocery stores nearby, practice on the subway, etc. She'd check in on Sunday, I'd fly out on Monday. I'd be home in time for some last minute time with Michael, who would fly out of Austin on Tuesday morning at 6 a.m. Short, fast, do-able.

Slight glitch. I had forgotten about Alyssa's first fashion show with Avenue Five. It was scheduled for Friday night. Luckily, Priceline was lovely and simply changed my departure date to Saturday morning. We'd all go together to the fashion show, along with family, friends, & Alyssa's boyfriend's family. We'd pack ahead of time and be ready to go out the next morning, 8 a.m. That would leave one day for Katie and I to figure it all out, but we could do it. Packing it in was our style anyway, right? Crisis averted.

And what is bad when you build a little house of cards? A breeze.
My breeze had a name:  Hurricane Irene.

 We had been watching the hurricane on the news, but it seemed so unlikely that it would hit NYC.  We looked at it as an adventure that Katie would be sharing with her roommates, and they'd always remember that they were the group that blew in with Hurricane Irene. It was starting to look a little ominous that I might not be able to get back on Monday, in time to see Michael off, but I *could* get Katie settled before the storm arrived. Michael had traveled before, so that's how I prioritized it. Still, I wasn't that thrilled with the idea of missing him.

As we were all dressed and walking out the door to the fashion show, Katie received a text from the dorm in New York: "Evacuating residents. Registration/Check In for Sunday is CANCELLED."

I could regale you idioms like "best laid plans of mice and men" or other such things. But my brain was on overload.  I picked up the phone and called the dorm, "Really?? I just spoke to someone there saying that the kids COULD check in, changed the flight, etc." They were really patient with me, because I must have sounded like a lunatic wanting to send my child INTO a  hurricane!  I was like a hurricane in reaction to a hurricane! We knew that the mayor had decided to shut down all public transportation. Our car service emailed saying that if you can get here, we will drive you anywhere that's available. But the dorm guy said, "Listen, it will be very unlikely that you'll even GET a flight to come into JFK tomorrow at all. But if you get her here, we'll take care of her. Everyone didn't evacuate. And it is the north end of Manhattan."

 So we stuck our head in the sand for a couple of hours.

We went to the Fashion Show, unsure of what our next 12 hours would look like. How does one predict the path of a hurricane anyway? The show was awesome. Alyssa did some great work on the models. We skipped going out for dessert afterwards, and just ate ice cream at home with the family, Grandma, and Josh.  Turning on the computer, we discovered that the dorm guy was right, all flights to JFK were cancelled.

Ron could see that I was dangling from the end of my rope. So he sat on the phone for hours, first  trying to reach Priceline, then trying to figure out the best flight to rebook.  I tried to cancel the pricey hotel I was going to stay in, but because I used a service to book it, they couldn't unbook it. I had visions of being charged anyway.  Suffice it to say I have no extra money laying around. I canceled the car service and rebooked it to the later date Ron was able to get.

The next morning, I could get the booking service for the hotel. They were working from their homes because they had all be evacuated. No charge, no problem. Whew.

So after all of this chaos and drama, everything worked out. Just like a hurricane - crazy wild when you're in the middle of it, then the next morning, the sun comes out, and if you're as lucky as we were, it looks like nothing ever had happened.

Michael's flight to D.C. wasn't canceled, and I was able to take him to the airport to go off on his adventure.  While I have received a couple of emails from him since then, his last text to me as he was boarding the plane from Miami to Nicaragua was, "Off I go, into the wild blue yonder..." Air Force people will know that line. Mothers do not like to hear that though.

 
Katie got to spend more time with her boyfriend. We left on Wednesday, and got her settled. We checked out a few grocery stores together, ate at some cute cafes, and then I came back the next day. She figured out everything else  on her own, no problem.
I, on the other hand, cried in the car all the way back to JFK airport. The driver kept looking at me in the mirror, but stayed silent. Probably for the best. 

I love my kids. I love their sense of adventure. I KNOW where they get that! But sometimes I wish we could scale it down a bit. Don't some kids just move out into an apartment nearby? Would that have been too much to ask???

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know.

See Genius!

"The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world...are the ones who do."


I absolutely love this video. It comes from the Humanity Healing Network. The writings are from Jack Kerouac. Doesn't this make you think about raising children to be who they are MEANT to be? Not just "successful" or "likeable" or "employable"...

It makes me think that our whole purpose as parents should be to help them get so comfortable in their own skin that they can do what they've been put here to do. No fear. Eyes open.

Cydney reminded me that a smaller version of this was part of an old Apple computer commercial. No wonder it seems so familiar.

My PhotogBlog - Five Ohh!

I started a project back in February when I turned 50. I took a picture each day - or used one from the internet - that represented what happened in my day.  One photo per day. I didn't get it 100% and there's a little techno-glitch in the month of July, but overall, I'm pleased.  Feel free to look at it and see what turning 50 looks like - Five Ohh!

Harry Potter...and the end of an era

Yes, sometimes we sound a tad dramatic. The end of an era? Really? But as I sat in that theater with my 22 year old son, I couldn't help but reminisce.  This wasn't just a book series. It was ingrained in our lives.
The Harry Potter series captured our imagination. For years!

Harry was the same age as Michael. Both adventure seekers. And now, both about to embark on new journeys without Hogwarts, or Home, or me. A "coming of age" movie indeed.

We first started reading Harry Potter when Michael was only 12. I read to the kids while they sprawled out over the living room. I would only read a couple of chapters, and we'd mull it over for a while. We made a pact that we'd not read ahead so we'd be able to react all together. This pact worked for a couple of books. But after about the third or fourth, Michael and Katie both were taking the books off to their rooms and devouring them. They'd still come back to the rest of us, saying things like, "You're going to LOVE this next part!" or "OMG, I hate Snape!"

Stepping back in time, I remember the concern that lots of people had initially. Churches thought it was glorifying black magic or worse. The kids would run into friends that weren't allowed to read the series.  My kids had nothing but pity for these people. It never led them to making deals with the devil or worshipping the occult.

But true to Patterson form, when we "get into" something, we don't hold anything back. We'd go to the Midnight book releases. Exhausted, we'd wait in lines in the middle of the night to be the first ones to have our hands on the newly released book. Later, book stores got the idea and set up parties that my kids enjoyed with various Hogwart-esque activities around the room. Something had to occupy all these people that showed up hours before they were handing out the books.

We spent years quoting Dumbledore and pondering what we would do when faced with the kinds obstacles Harry faced. 2001 seemed to be our big year for focusing on Harry Potter.  When we were in California, Michael dressed up as Harry Potter

Invitations via Owls

 When Katie and Michael turned 10 and 12,  they decided they wanted to have a Harry Potter birthday party together. Their birthdays are a month apart, and they had the same set of friends. So that's what we did. We sent invitations by way of Owl Couriers.  We played Muggle games, made Hogwarts potions, and held a Divination class. We had flying bats and brooms and a golden snitch. We sorted kids with the sorting hat, ate food that would have been on the tables at Hogwarts, and guessed flavors of Bertie Bott Beans. 

(We lived VERY near the Jelly Belly Factory, so we had quite a gross variety!) 

 Coming full circle, Katie worked at Barnes and Noble and actually took part in the final midnight distribution to young and old alike. She still read the series, but wasn't quite as engrossed as she had been earlier in her life. She worked at the movie theater when the last Harry Potter movie was released. She sat with her friend and watched pieces of it over the course of a week. Not the same experience at all.


Michael and I, on the other hand, saw the series through. Michael had finished all of the books and then we went together to the local movie theater. We watched Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows (Part 2) in 3D. I got teary as I watched the scenes where Harry was younger. I couldn't help but relate it to Michael. Time had marched on. For Harry and for us.

That was last summer. We were awaiting Michael's Peace Corps assignment. It's interesting to me that Harry's series wrapped up at the same time as what I consider Michael's childhood. Yes, he went to college, but it's not the same as leaving the country to start out on adventures of your own. Michael landed an assignment in Nicaragua, one of the poorer countries in the Americas. Volcanos, revolutions, hurricanes and mudslides have really made it difficult for the people there. So, of course, after years of watching Harry in his adventures, it's time for Michael to embark on a few of his own.

Father's Day!

 

This is so cool! We took all kinds of pictures over the years. But we've pulled out a collection of Ron with the kids. 

Enjoy the video!