One Final Graduation Picture

 

We wanted to do this grad picture trend with the girls' My Little Ponies but we couldn't find where I put them (or sadly I gave them away😭). If truth be known the Froggies were just as meaningful, if not more so, given that they have been with her her entire life.

Now, I have one year to find those ponies so we can use them for Emma's picture... xo

Spring Flower Bouquets

We have been loving our flower share from Small Farm! This is the first year that we have been part of their flower CSA but it surely will not be the last! Each week we pick up a gorgeous bouquet of flowers and each week the bouquet is simply stunning. Looking forward to seeing what the summer flower share brings! xo 

Officially Official!

Click here to learn more and download a copy of my dissertation (should you want to read it)! With the publication of my dissertation I am now officially done! What a wild ride the past four years were. I am glad that I have completed this terminal degree in my field. Now, I just wish I knew what I was going to do with it! xo 

Breakfast Toast Butterflies

 

In which I make the girls an adorble breakfast today. Though, I realized after I made Grace's (picture two) that I really should have turned the wings the other way). And yes, they might be almost nineteen and almost seveneteen-and-a-half but I couldn't resist (and knew they would love this)! xo 

On Summer Solstice

Fresh picked strawberries from the farm along with freshly made whipped cream and cream biscuits for dessert as is our Summer Solstice tradition! 

Wishing you a blessed and beautiful Solstice. xo 

NECC Staff Family Night At the Drive-In

In which we attend the second annual NECC Staff Family Night at the drive-in! It was an absolutely perfect (almost) summer night to be there. The food was yummy and the movie was fabulous!  Thank you NECC for holding this event again! We are looking foward to next year already. xo 

The Lighthouse Keepers

 

For David and my dad on Father's Day  Lighthouse Keepers indeed. xo 

"The Lighthouse Keeper" by Sam Smith (video below)

Build yourself a boat, babe

Make yourself a sail

Float into the ocean

To nowhere

Yeah, I see you looking

Looking for a sign

Praying for a beacon

So here's the light

My arms will be wide open

For the moment you arrive, arrive

When you set sail on your journey

And happiness is far away

Love will guide you till the morning

Lead your heart down to the bay

Don't resist the rain and storm

I'll never leave you lost at sea

I will be your lighthouse keeper

Bring you safely home to me

I will be your lighthouse keeper

Bring you safely home

Yeah, I see you're lonely

Going in alone

Fire up the engine

Stoke the coal

Floating on a feeling

Fighting with the tide

Hoping you'll be home for

Christmas time

My arms will be wide open

For the moment you arrive, arrive

When you set sail on your journey

And happiness is far away

Love will guide you till the morning

Lead your heart down to the bay

Don't resist the rain and storm

I'll never leave you lost at sea

I will be your lighthouse keeper

Bring you safely home to me

I will be your lighthouse keeper

Bring you safely home to me. 

Recital Day {Grace's Final One}

 

And just like that, Grace's time as a Center Stage student have come to an end. This recital was easily one of the best that the teachers at CSDS have put on this stage and I think that speaks volumns to their talent as well as the talent of the students (especially the high school students). It was an emotional day from start to finish, but especially when Grace took the stage for her self-choreographed solo and when all the members of the class of 2025 were together one final time. It has been an absolute joy to watch them grow up together as humans and as dancers. Best wishes to all the seniors as they move into whatever the next chapter holds for them! Go be great! xo 

In Honor of Grace's Last Recital Weekend

 

(This is the page that will be in the recital program in honor of her last recital). 

And we have reached the "last of the lasts". One show tonight, two tomrorow and then her dance recital days will have come to a close. 

I remember when Grace was borh how all the veteran parents would tell us to "enjoy. It goes by so fast" and I would just agree and somewhat laught it off. I am here to say they weren't wrong It seems like just yesterday I was waddling my very pregnant self up the stairs at JFK Middle School (now Quinn Middle School) in Hudson and counting the minutes until the end of the school year and the days until she was born, and yet, here we are headed into the dance recital that brings her senior year to a close. Time, you are a thief. 

I cannot wait to see her senior solo (which she choreographed) though based on Emma's report after seeing it at recital rehearsal last night I am not ready and should bring twice as many tissues as I was already planning to bring. xo 

New Addition

 

The new addition to my office says it all! xo 

Today's CSDS Senior Spotlight

 

An Important Message from CSDS

 

On Graduation Day

Scenes from Grace's graduation. She wanted a small ceremony with only family (or those as close as family) followed by a gathering with her closest friends. Even though some were not able to joun us (and were very, very missed) and even though it was yet another rainy Saturday here in New England, everything yesterday was jsut so special!

In Waldorf education teachers always speak about how many classes they graduated (since grades teachers take a class all the way from first through eighth grade). With that in mind, and disregarding the two year break that was Parker (oh, how I wish I could get those two years back), I'm thrilled to have graduated my first class this year, and have already started to think about my next (and final) class next year! A grad ceremony for a class of one felt different, but it was so perfectly Grace, so perfectly us and such a special ending to a truly incredible experience. 

This homeschooling journey, even with it's occasional bumps and doubts (what if they aren't prepared enough? What if this was foolish to think I could pull off?) was my most favorite teaching job ever. And not just because they are my daughters (and like my most favorite people ever) but beacuase it was truly more amazing they we ever could ahve known it would be when we set out on this path and because it gave our girls the childhood and the kind of education that I believe all children in America should have. 

Grace, as I said yesterday in my opening remarks, getting to be not only your mama but also your teacher, principal, and guidance counselor has truly been a major highlight of my life! From the moment you arrived earthside, and every day since, I have been in awe of you. You have always been on your own time table, but was always been just the right time table for you, and ultimately for all of us. You would only do things when you were absolutely ready to do them, and as a result you were often succesful on the first try or shortly thereafter. Your kind and gentle ways, as well as your hard work and determination, and your incredible sense of humor have made you the incredible young woman you are today. I have no doubt that you wull indeed do something to make the world more beautiful, though to be honest you already have just by being you! I love you to the moon and stars and Saturn and back! 

xo, 

Mama