A Graduation Party!

Watch out! Here comes a picture heavy post. Rebekah graduated last weekend. We had a lovely party for her with almost everyone we invited being able to come. It was a perfect day. She had a wonderful mix of former teachers, friends, family and others who had impacted her life through the years. We rented a picnic shelter near our home and the weather cooperated perfectly. We were a bit worried because it rained every day for a week before the event. 

We did a quick photo shoot a few days before the party.
 

Rebekah was inducted into the National Honor Society for Dance Arts this year. One of the directors of the dance studio she danced at for the last 12 years presented her with a pin and certificate. He did a sweet presentation that took us on a quick journey down Memory Lane. 

We presented Rebekah with her diploma and then her brothers shot her with confetti cannons. It was a perfect addition to our celebration. ALSO,  I made it most of the way through my presentation without crying. 

The "photo booth" with gold streamers was very popular. The teen girls spent tons of time taking all matter of photos, both serious and totally silly.

We set up several games around the picnic shelter. We had Elijah's Giant Jenga blocks that so many people had signed and decorated for his graduation last year. Many of our guests were the same people who had decorated those blocks, and they really enjoyed seeing them in use and what others had written. We also had spike ball, corn hole, yard Yahtzee and Skittles. 

We served pinwheel sandwiches, cuties, chips, soda and cupcakes. I am so glad we picked food that we didn't mind eating, because there was a ton of leftovers. 

Some teens headed for the playground. Your never too old to play...right!?

We set up an antique suitcase to collect cards. She got so many sweet cards. We also made a poster board filled with photos of her homeschool years ... so many cherished memories.

We placed flowers at each table with a sweet picture of Rebekah in each bouquet. The one below was my favorite. It shows Rebekah receiving her first certificate for completing her reading program and officially becoming a reader. 

It was such a blessed day. I can hardly believe this part of my journey is over. It has been such a delight and honor to homeschool my precious children for the last 22 years. I am so very, very grateful for the opportunity to impact these amazing young people that we are blessed to have in our lives. I will be continuing to post ... we will just be transitioning to life posts.

Blessings, Dawn

The Filming of Thumbalisa (Adaptation of Thumbelina)

Rebekah completed her last production with Asheville Contemporary Dance Theater (ACDT) as a high school student. She was the main character for the performance of Thumbalisa (Thumbelina). Because of COVID-19, they filmed the performance without an audience, using both inside and outside venues. I can't wait for the film to be released sometime in June. The last few weeks have been emotional for Rebekah. Growing up and transitioning to new adventures are exciting but hard. She has been with this dance studio since 2010 and has danced in performances with them for twelve spring seasons. There are so many memories. With COVID, everything felt and looked different from learning the pieces, rehearsals, costuming and the final performance. Rebekah worried that she didn't know the dances well enough and that everything felt very disorganized. However, in the end she felt good about it. I think it is going to be as wonderful as other performances from the photos I have seen. On to new adventures.... I am so grateful for all that ACDT did for Rebekah. They gave her a beautiful theater education and lots of dance exploration.

Flashback ~ Here is Rebekah in her very first performance with ACDT in 2010. She was a Cheshire kitten in Alice in Wonderland. I could hardly guess then what an amazing journey this child would take me on! Just as I can hardly imagine where she will be in a few more years. I look forward to the journey.

Blessings, Dawn

The Week of Nervous Anticipation

I got this quick photo before the door was closed for her exam.

Anne spent the week in more than 12 hours of rehearsals for the big show this weekend. She started out being an understudy for two dances but now is performing both of those dances one night and one of the dances the second night. She has worked hard and is holding her own with much more experienced adult dancers. She is the youngest apprentice the adult dance company has ever had. I look forward to seeing her dance in the performances this weekend. Dancing brings my girl so much joy. All of those rehearsals were the easy part of her week. She also had her Cecchetti ballet (Italian form of ballet) exam this week. She was very nervous going into the exam. It is rare for her to be so nervous about anything dance related. She came out with a smile and felt like she had done well. What a relief we both felt after it was over. A year's worth of work comes down to just 45 minutes of testing. An examiner flies into the region and Cecchetti dance hopefuls come from many states to be tested. We drove in from a neighboring state, leaving at 10 pm after show rehearsals one evening. Talk about real life lessons! Now we wait for the results which could take a few weeks.

The Birds of War dance. Anne is a human in this dance.

I tell you, the stress was real this week. Everything just aligned to be extra complicated. She had dress rehearsal the night before her exam, which was held in another state. Then the rain we have needed so badly was scheduled to hit our area in the same 24 hours of our out-of-state traveling (on very dark, deserted mountain roads). On top of that, my husband was taking our oldest son to a concert, so he couldn't help us with the late night travel. Then there were a host of issues during the dress rehearsal, so she was released an hour late. We finally arrived at the hotel just past midnight and fell into bed for seven hours of sleep. I am so glad that the driving part went well and our return trip was pretty easy with just gentle rain.

Once or twice a year, I give Dean a special week with unlimited media. While Anne was running around like a crazy person this week, Dean had his unlimited media week. I usually try to make sure one of the weeks is at the beginning of the summer. I find that giving him unlimited media time for a week helps him work on self-regulating skills that are very challenging for people like him born with FASD. It also allows me to get lots done, since being a "cruise director" of my son's life is an all-encompassing experience year round. (It has improved since his junior high years but still is a main focus of my days.) However, outside of media it is still very hard for my son to think up on his own what to do with himself and then execute the activity independently. He spent the first two days on the computer from sunrise to late into the night. By day three he was showing interest in what the family was doing in the evening and playing outside a bit. Now it is day six, and he is showing real boredom and needs some non-media activities. I am happy to accommodate.

21 years of marriage and still going strong!

David and I managed to squeeze in an anniversary date between all the crazy. We went to a foot sanctuary to have our feet soaked. It was so much fun. We were led into this darkened room with soft music playing. We sat in comfy chairs and were given warm blankets, heated neck wraps and our feet were placed in a lovely concoction of foaming minerals and flowers of our choice. The water was marvelously warm, and they refreshed it often with more warm water. They were so attentive to our comfort and even came running with ear plugs when a car alarm went off outside (that I hadn't even noticed). It was a very relaxing 45 minutes. I am not used to sitting and doing solely restful stuff for myself for that long. It was good practice in self care. 

Personal Goals ~ Besides all of the above, I got lots done this week.

• Cleared six large trash bags of weeds (just a 100 or so to go...)
• Cut all of the dead stems off my Iris plants
• Organized and got rid of old paint cans
• Washed the inside of the fridge
• Took three boxes of stuff to Goodwill
• Cleaned out the master bedroom closet
• Helped everyone get their new chore zone concrete in their minds to develop new skills
• Organized and planned out all of the books we will be using next year for school...just need to order Latin
• Fixed everything in the mending basket (some items waiting from a year ago)

Dean starts working at camp next week and my stepmother arrives. Here comes another busy week. This coming one should be more exciting than nerve racking, though.

Blessings, Dawn

Week 15 ~ The Week of Field Trips, New Job and Snow

Well, the snow apocalypse was not as bad as predicted, in our neighborhood at least. It started snowing on Saturday and continued snowing through Monday afternoon. Our city's official total was 11 inches. We got about seven inches of snow and a touch of ice at our home. However, towns and mountaintops just 10 to 15 miles away got upwards of 20 inches. Such is life in the mountains. The weather is very unpredictable. We did lose power for eight hours during the day. The house got a bit chilly; we grilled lunch outside; and we played lots of board games. It really wasn't that much of a trial, but we nonetheless were very happy to see electricity return.

Schools were closed here in the mountains for most of the week. Some are still closed today. Life stops around here when it snows. The curvy, hilly mountain roads are very treacherous, but those of us who live in the city tend to be able to escape our homes pretty quickly. We were able to head out to dance class by Monday night. Anne was supposed to start her new job on Monday, but the owner decided to remain closed. I do like her safety policy. Anne started on Tuesday instead. She loves her new job. She tags clothes, organizes the racks, removes items that are ready for donation and generally helps wherever she is needed. She will be trained on the cash register at some point. She will be working two days a week for now.

We enjoyed two field trips in the last two weeks. The first was our annual trip to the National Gingerbread House display at the Grove Park Inn. There were many lovely displays this year. Many people had created Alice in Wonderland displays, which were thrilling for Anne since she had performed as the caterpillar in Alice in Wonderland last spring. We went a bit late this year to see the display and were warned that many might start falling down due to the mice that feast on them. For the most part, they were still standing and we didn't see any mice this year. We have seen some in the past.

The view from the back of the hotel.

This one was made by the adults with brain injuries program that Tim attends.

This was my favorite this year.

Can you believe those cute little mice are made out of edible candy or gingerbread?

Tim's favorite

Dean liked this traditional one.

Our next field trip was to see the Nativities From Around the World display. This is a relatively new tradition for our family. A local church borrows nativities from families all over our city. They had close to 300 creches from 60 countries. What a delight! We saw quilts, paintings, stockings and nativity figures made out of stone, glass, wood, bamboo and metal.

Anne's favorite

Denmark

Nigeria

Italy

Rwanda

USA

Eskimo

American Indian

I just love Advent!

We have been doing some exciting things in school recently, too. I will be doing a December schooling post soon.

Blessings, Dawn