The Four Day Graduation Celebration...days 3 & 4

Day 3...

Our parent's finally got to go to church with us. We love our church and they have never been able to attend. So, off to St. Patrick's Anglican Church...

We were all completely exhausted to everyone went their separate ways and took naps. Well, except me and Mom. We did what we do best when we get together...went shopping!

Later that evening we hung out, talked, and munched on food. Thane also taught Grandpa how to play chess...

The game was "taking too long" so Thane let Grandpa win.

Day 4...No boys for a week!

Poppy and Nana left in the morning carrying precious cargo. They are taking the boys back up to IA with them for the week while Collin and I go to the International Medieval Conference in MI. He is presenting a paper on King Alfred and Boethius. We'll go to IA on Sunday (Thane's Birthday and of course...Mother's Day), stay a week, and then head back to TN.

So, we got to spend the entire day with Collin's parents. We spent the day in Nashville. We ate at the Pancake Pantry...a Nashville tradition, went shopping in Hillsboro Village, took a walk in Centennial Park (where the replica of the Parthenon is) and had a magnificent dinner at J. Alexander's. Later we showed them a slide show of the pictures from our trip to Europe this past summer. Needless to say, we condensed the 300 pictures of the Eiffel tower to a select few.

We had a great four day graduation celebration!!

The Four Day Graduation Celebration...day 2 part 2...PARTY TIME!!!!

We had the best time! It involved all of Collin's favorite things...family, friends, nice music, great food and great drinks.

The dinner and snacking menu included grilled salmon, grilled shrimp, grilled chicken, cheese and crackers, pasta, cheese bread, glazed carrots, nuts, more bread, chips and salsa, more crackery type things, and some other things I can't remember. Oh, Collin whipped up puff pastries "a la creme chantilly et fraises" later in the evening. Yummy!

After dinner, Collin brought out the cheese plate. We sampled a lot of different cheeses while sipping on wine.

(clockwise from far left - gruyere, roquefort, double gloucester, Kerrygold Dubliner, Kerrygold 2-year aged cheddar)

My mom's reaction to the roquefort was anything but positive!

Also did a bit of Scotch tasting (Glenlivet 12 yr. old, Abelour 10 yr. old, and Glenfiddich 12 yr. old, for the curious)...

...and he finally opened up the bottle of Calvados he bought in Normady and carried with him, in his backpack, through France and Switzerland.



Drew got crazy with the ginger ale!

Later that night we went down by the river and smoked our pipes. Well, I didn't. I just blinded everyone with the flash from the camera!


Here are some other picture from the night...

Me, Steph, and LBJ...Steph was born the year I got my driver's permit!



A good time was had by all!

The Four Day Graduation Celebration...Day 2 part 1

GRADUATION!!!!

After four long, hard years, Collin is finally getting his much deserved diplomas.

You can actually see Collin in this picture. He is on the right side, last row, on the aisle.


Our Dear Friends... Marcus, Steph, Collin, Me, Laura Beth, and Nate...missing Drew and Wes.

Collin's Senior Picture! LOL!

Our self Senior Portrait!

The ceremony was nice BUT....the party was better! Stay tuned!

The Four Day Graduation Celebration...Day 1

Many of you have been following our journey to graduate school either through this blog or IRL. There have been many ups and downs, but we are very excited and confident about his decision to go to UCD. So, after paying library fines, picking up his cap and gown, my husband was ready to receive his diplomas. My parents drove down from Iowa and Collin's parents flew in from Washington State to help us celebrate Collin's accomplishments. I boasted about my husband here.

On their first full day here, we actually split up. My parents tried to go to a WW II museum, but discovered it was closed when they got there. The rest of us hit the trails at the Fiery Gizzard and checked out The University of the South in Sewanee. Here are some pretty cool pictures...


We met up later that evening for dinner at Five Guys Burgers and Fries. Our town was having their annual Jazz Festival so we loaded up the camping chairs and headed to The Square. We got to hear one song and the rains came. We sat under an awning and watched the lightening. Collin's parents don't get the privilege of witnessing many thunderstorms where they live so this was a real treat. We all turned in early that evening to get some needed rest before the BIG DAY!

Goodbye MTSU...Hello UCDavis!!

Congratulations, Collin!!!!!

I am so proud of my husband! He has worked so hard and has gone above and beyond the call of duty.


He is graduating today with TWO Bachelor's degrees...English and French!

He is graduating today Cum Laude!

He is graduating today as a McNair Scholar!

He is graduating today with a GPA close to 4.0 in both of his majors (English & French) !

He is graduating today with 3 Independent Research Papers under his belt already...the kind of thing you are expected to complete at least one of in grad. school!

He is graduating today having presented those Research Papers at 3 International Conferences!

He is graduating today having scored a 1420 on his GRE...he took it once and didn't even study!

He is graduating today being admitted directly into a PhD program at UCDavis!

He is graduating today have done all this while working to improve his relationship with his wife (it's been the best it has ever been!), wrestling with his two little boys, and working full time while taking a full load of classes.

Ten Years and Counting!

Wordless Wednesday

I'm Lonely

Collin is flying somewhere over the central part of the US on his way to the University of California at Davis. It is very exciting as they have shown tremendous interest in him attending their University in pursuit of his PhD. He will be there for 3 days and then he is heading to WA to visit family.

I don't like it when he is gone. Something is missing. The dynamics are all wrong. I miss him already and am impatiently awaiting his arrival in 6 days.

So, I have a feeling I will have a few more blog entries this week than I have previously. No pictures though, since he has the camera. Stay tuned....

Not-So-Wordless Wednesday

I know it is suppose to be wordless, but this picture needs a little explanation. This was probably our third visit to the Eiffel Tower within 2 days. I LOVE the Eiffel Tower and never tire of looking at it or taking pictures of it. I think I took somewhere around 100 pictures this last trip. This may have been picture #80 or so, for Collin was irritated with me taking a picture every 10 steps. If you click on it and then use the magnifying glass tool to zoom in you can get a better look at the expression on his face! Priceless!

And now for something completely different

Valentine's Day, 2008

My wife is a little out of it after a long day with children. The late dinner we ate just took it right out of her. She's next to me on the couch, dressed to kill, and we're blogging.

I don't know why people say we're not like other families.

She assures me that we're only blogging for now. And that's reassuring for me, because hey, you buy a girl a nice dinner, bring her flowers, put the kids to bed, and then...homeschool blog? I dunno.

We're writing this (well, I am. She's making a valiant effort not to fall asleep on my shoulder) because although bad news travels fast, good news seems to go nowhere. It seems like doom and gloom is everywhere (you've all heard about the poor kids at Northern Illinois by now), but people often seem to keep their good news to themselves.

We're bucking the trend. We've got an announcement to make (hi, mom!) and we won't be silenced. I hope you're ready because here it is:

We've been married nearly ten years
- that's not it, wait for it -
and we're in love.

That's right. We're married and have two kids. We live in a little tiny baby pretend apartment with noisy litterbugs for neighbors. My car smells like puke. I made, like, $20,000 last year. Next year probably won't be a lot better.

And we're wildly, passionately in love.

DW (dear wife) just said, "I think you're right!" as I typed this, so that clinches it.

Maybe some time soon we'll go into how this came about, but for now we hope it's enough to know that somewhere out there are two people in love, making it work, fighting like cats and dogs sometimes, but in love.

Ewwww. Our poor kids.

Remember that part in Jerry McGuire when Rene Zellweger's character says "I love him for the man he wants to be, and the man he almost is"? Or something? Well, we've learned to love each other for the man and woman we are today.

So that's it. We now return to our regular programming.

Just thought you should know.

What I Did With My Husband Last Night

Tonight Collin took me on a very special date. Part of what made it so magical was that we weren't celebrating anything in particular - this date was "just because". No, we didn't dine at a five-star restaurant, nor was it a night at the opera. We gulped down Wendy's value meals in the car and then we were off for some quality time on the firin' range.


So how does a 35 year old, homeschool mom, who has never handled a gun, end up in a parking lot full of pickup trucks outside a TN indoor shooting range? It begins a couple years ago...

Collin approached me with the idea of buying a hand gun for home defense. I was horrified at the thought of having a gun in the house. A half a dozen objections jumped to mind. I was terrified at the idea of having to use it, for one. Also, four curious little hands have explored most of the nooks and crannies in our house already. Finally, I had a severe case of general anxiety of the unknown. I decided not to press the issue, however, figuring it was one of Collin's wild hares.

To my dismay, he continued to talk to me about it in the months that followed. I found that he had given a lot of thought to all of the same questions that I had. I also found that he was willing to listen to my concerns and not just minimize them. I finally came to see things differently. The first fact that I came to grips with was that guns do not make us safe, nor do they guarantee that you will not be the victim of a violent crime. You can still be killed wearing a seatbelt.

The second realization I had was that the Bible does not call on us to be passive victims in every circumstance. When Jesus talks about "turning the other cheek", I don't believe He means I ought to let myself be raped or murdered. I don't know what to say to someone who would suggest that if a drugged-up felon breaks into my home and waves a knife around, and I'm not able to escape, that my Christian duty is just to let him have his way. Besides, you can own a gun and still choose not to use it, but you have given yourself the choice.

This issue takes on a whole new dimension for parents, because now I am not just making a choice whether to defend myself but whether to defend my children. Not owning a gun means severely limiting your ability to defend your family in a "home invasion" scenario. Collin, in particular, felt responsible to use any available means to ensure our safety. While it's conceivable that he might feel led not to defend himself in some situation, he can never imagine a situation where he would not be responsible to defend his family. And if he had to choose between the safety of his wife and sons and a criminal, he would choose the safety of his family.

I realized in the end that my ideas about guns had been shaped by mass media and that I hadn't come to my conclusions based on my own thought, experiences, and research. That's how I found myself on Wednesday night squeezing off shots from a .22 revolver (the .38 hurt all the way into my teeth!). I wasn't ready to fire at a man's silhouette, but I put those little .22 slugs as close to the center of the target as I could.



Epilogue...While we were at the range we ran into a member of our parish who herself had just purchased a handgun. She told us that a woman in our congregation had been murdered last month by her ex-boyfriend as a result of an ugly custody battle. It reminded me again of the need to be prepared to defend myself, particularly as a woman.

By: Collin and Brittney

Weekly Report

I'm not quite sure what to make of this week. We weren't able to take Holy Communion on Christmas Eve, we've had the windows open due to the warm temperatures, I've been a little grumpy, and aliens have kidnapped my 6 year old! Here's the run down...



Monday...Christmas Eve...Collin decided to start a project with the boys. He has been reading The Hobbit to them again. One thing you have to understand about Collin is that when he reads aloud, he really makes the story come alive. He not only uses different voices for every character, he also makes scenes from the story using blocks and other props. The boys love it when Daddy reads to them. So, they each worked on making dioramas from their favorite parts of the book. Thane likes Smog's cave. Magnus likes the part where the Goblins are driving the dwarfs and Bilbo deep into the cave. Collin worked on the part where Bilbo is fighting the spiders. (I had some great pics of them working on them, but I must have deleted them by accident) This proved to be a bigger project than had anticipated so they are going to continue working on them. I'll post pictures when they are completed. That night, we all got dressed up for church, but we pulled into an empty parking lot. We thought we were meeting at 5pm at our usual meeting spot (a school cafeteria...we lost our beautiful church when we separated from the Episcopal Church and found leadership under the Convocation of Anglicans in North America) but we were wrong. We still don't know what happened. We headed home and had our own little worship service.


Tuesday...Merry Christmas...I felt like a little kid. I had trouble getting to sleep and then woke up at 5:22am! Thankfully the boys were up at 6:18 and so we got Dad up then. I was so excited for everyone to open their gifts. I love giving gifts to people. Collin surprised me with this Venetian glass necklace from Kay Jewelers...
Apparently he set aside some of the money he received from the Peck Award he received earlier in the month. He said I was entitled to some of it too. What a sweetheart! Our individual libraries, the boy's Playmobil sets, and Collin's pipe collection, including a humidor, were also expanded. We had a nice, quiet Christmas at home.



Wednesday...After cleaning the house, we had our dear friends, Wes and Laura Beth, over. We love hanging out with them. Lots of laughs, Arrested Development quotes, philosophical discussions, and alcohol (within reason, of course. We are all responsible adults.). We are hoping to be at the same grad. school with Wes next year. It would be good for all of us.




Thursday...We were honored by being invited to a friend's birthday party. Yes, we look at it as an honor anytime we are invited to such occasions. We spent the early afternoon at Chuck E. Cheese eating pizza, playing games, and engaging in sensory overload. Collin has a theory about that place that I will post about at another time. It'll definitely make you think. Regardless, we had a great time celebrating our friend, Noah, turning 6!




Friday...We took advantage of the gloomy, gray, wet weather.


It began pouring rain soon after we got outside, but that didn't stop them from having fun.



As far as school goes...The boys worked on their dioramas and read non-stop. I was able to finish planning out our history for the year, as well as gathering materials and worksheets for Thane's ABC study this coming semester. I also decided against doing a plant study this year for science. We are just going to concentrate on the human body. I still have all of my planning left for that to do this coming week. Come Wednesday next week, we will be back on track and doing our "formal" studies. I think we are ready...

Priceless...

12 ft. of pipe insulation...$3.49
















50 ft. of sill seal...$5.99













1" x 22" x 22" Poly Foam...$2.17
















1 roll of duct tape...$2.89






















2 pairs
of youth size
boxing gloves...$19.98







Your boys thinking you are the coolest parents in the world...priceless!

3 1/2 years down...5 1/2 to go!

We are officially off "survival mode"! Collin has successfully finished another semester. Now we get him all to ourselves until the middle of January. Well, maybe not "all". He still has a few graduate school applications to fill out and send, a paper and more research to do on Boethius so he can present it at a Medieval Conference in May, cars to fix, and some fiction writing to do. But at least he will be around! :0)

So, he only has ONE more semester left in his undergraduate studies! Yeah!

Oh, and his application to the UC Davis Medieval program will be completed and sent electronically tonight! Yeah! Collin finally has some free moments to give all of this grad. school stuff that has been looming around the attention that it deserves. I know it has been weighing on him. Once all of the applications are in, then we just wait...

And the Award goes to...

Last night the boys and I had the honor of attending an awards ceremony for Collin. Collin was nominated by two of his professors to receive the University's Peck Award. This award is given to outstanding English students for "academic excellence, professional promise, and potential for living the examined life with liberality and courage". Out of the nine people chosen to receive this honor, Collin was one of three undergraduates and the rest were graduate students. Dr. Philips introduced him as having "accomplished in his undergraduate studies what most graduate students and young professors hope to accomplish"! It's so great to have his hard work and dedication recognized by the University. I am very proud of my Husband!

Weekly Report

It makes me feel good to know that I am not the only one having a difficult time getting back into the swing of things after Thanksgiving. Most of my friends and several people on the Well Trained Mind message boards were also finding this week challenging. Nonetheless, we are doing what we can and plugging away, even if it is at a snail's pace.

We pretty much let spelling and grammar slide this week, but I'm not too worried about it. There's always next week...or the week after. :0) Besides, we school year round so we'll get through it.

Monday...the boy's had their very first chess tournament. Thane was the youngest, at 4yo. to compete. He is really good, and that's not just my biased opinion either. Several of the older kids came to me and commented on his thinking and playing ability. Magnus is also very good. He is able to think several plays ahead and therefore be very competitive. Out of the 6 players in their beginning category, Thane placed 6th and Magnus tied for fourth. They had a great time and really enjoy playing the game. Collin and I are hoping to get them a nice chess set for Christmas. Right now they are using a board they made with cardstock and pieces made from legos.
Tuesday...We studied Chapter 12 The Middle Kingdom of Egypt. We learned how Egypt invaded Nubia and then how the Hyskos invaded Egypt. Magnus and I have been playing memory/matching games for Math. I just have to say, so far I love our Right Start Math program and I am very happy that I switched from Saxon. This is going to be a great fit for the boys. Thane has being watching/participating and also enjoying it. I plan on "officially" starting the Level A program with him next year, but I have a feeling he will whiz right through it since he is understanding most of Magnus' Level B. Granted, we are not too far into the program yet, but so far it is going great. We also had Biology Club today. Mr. Kyle talked about the constellations and informed the kids about the mythology attached to them. It was interesting for them.

Wednesday...continued learning about Middle Egypt and playing our math games. We also had our book club Thanksgiving feast to prepare for. We made place mats and finished reading The Magic Treehouse Thanksgiving on Thursday. The boys later went to AWANA while Collin and I went to dinner and to our kick boxing class. My left leg kicks are improving and that makes me happy! Collin has a lot of strength and control. I'm pretty impressed.

Thursday...we had our book club Thanksgiving feast. We have been reading TMTH Thanksgiving on Thursday and doing a study about the Pilgrims. The kids made a place mat for the person whose name they drew out of a hat. We had turkey sandwiches, corn, carrots, stuffing, and cookies. I think we are going to do some Jan Brett Christmas stories and activities next. Collin gave me the night off. I went out to dinner with my girlfriend. We had some great conversation and were not interrupted by kids once! The server was, uh, very "attentive" though. We decided we need to do that more often.


Friday...let's just say we had a lot of lessons about obeying mom, being conscientious of others, and sharing. Lots of, dare I say it? SOCIALIZATION. We basically hung out with friends and played. The kids needed it and so did I. ChickFilA playland is a great alternative to the park when it is cold out. Also, after 5 months, we were finally able to get together with some very dear friends. A great time was had by all.

A look ahead to next week...Collin will pretty much not be available. It's the last week of classes so he has a lot of big papers due and then finals to study for. Oh, and preparation for the four classes he teaches at the Homeschool Tutorial plus working at the library. Oh, and I forgot to mention, graduate school applications are due too. And, he is going to have to find some time somewhere to fix the Wrangler. It's not working right now. So, my next week is going to be full of Christmas crafts, story times, puppet shows, book sales, and more SOCIALIZATION. We will also work on spelling, grammar, and more math games. May have to rethink science over Christmas break.

Wordless Wednesday

Okay, this week there are words. Only because I wanted to give credit where credit is due. I saw this "section" on someone else's blog and really liked the idea so I am doing it too. Here is the first...

Another day. Another grad school thing.

Well, he is off again. It's early in the morning and Collin is on his way to take the GRE subject exam for English. He'll have 4 hours to answer 250 questions about English. He's a bit nervous since it will cover all time periods. He is a Medievalist so there are gaps in his knowledge regarding the modern stuff. He'll do fine though. He always does.

Not all grad schools require this test. WARNING...proud wife comments ahead!!....Many are satisfied with the usual GRE scores (which he scored a 1420 on!!!!!), transcripts (a BA in English and a BA in French), letters of recommendation, statement of purpose, and academic achievements (he has 3 original research projects that he has presented at international conferences under his belt!). A couple of the schools he knows he is applying to require the scores for this test as well. So, he is off again.

Here are the schools we are looking at right now...
1. University of California at Davis.
2. Western Michigan University (Kalamazoo, MI)
3. St. Louis University

He will be pursuing a doctorate in "early medieval languages and literatures." He has decided against pursuing a PhD in French.

That's where things stand now. There will be updates when things start happening.