Brittney's Graduation

Another homeschooling family we know in central NL has a daughter 11 days older than Brittney. They wanted to do something to mark her graduation from "high school" and asked if we'd like to join in with them....which we did.

There are many things I like about homeschooling, but one thing...it allows each child to develop into who they are and doesn't push them in to being like everyone else. This was evidenced in many ways but really shone through with their choice of dress. Each had a very different style from the other and neither felt pressured to dress like the other one.

Here are some pictures. I took these with my phone and can't get the captions to line up with the pictures, but you'll see them as you scroll through them. The cake was really beautiful -- even had a cool pink grad cap on it!

Jake made a speech to his sister. I told him I had to read it first. He said he wasn't going to write it, just wing it as he went along and he wanted it to be funny. I responded with funny is ok, but not silly and reminded him that he didn't want to embarrass himself. He didn't miss a beat and came back with, "No, but I want to embarrass you." Sigh..... He didn't embarrass anyone though, it was a lovely speech to his sister. He did mention that he and Tyler were Brittney's brothers, but that Brittney liked him best (which drew a lot of laughs ha ha)

Lots of balloons. The other mother made the cap and gowns. All in all a nice night. Thanks guys for inviting us!

Click on the pictures to enlarge them


Brittney and Sara at home before...




Brittney

Interesting Insight

from Brittney today. She posted the following on her Facebook page:

"For those who are in piano lessons....even if it is sooo boring and hard... don't give it up! I absolutely love sitting down and playing now! So relaxing! Thanks mom(Linda) for making me stay with it :) "


So much for the thinking that says we shouldn't make our kids do anything they don't want to do! There have been some very intense moments over the years...let me tell you ;) However....she stuck with it (wasn't always her choice ;) ) and is obviously glad today that she did. Me too --- I just love to hear her play!

Traffic in Front of our place

This is what traffic in front of our place looks like: (Click to enlarge)

Around d' bay...

We quite often hear the response, "Around d' bay". This can be in response to, "Where do yo live?" "Where are you from?" "Where are you going for the weekend?" "Where did that happen?" Almost everything can be answered by "around d' bay". I've often wondered, exactly what that meant...so today we decided to take a drive....around d' bay. It was a beautiful day and Brittney and Jake were away at Spring Forth. We headed out around 8:00 and what a beautiful drive it was. We went up to Grates Cove...which is the other peninsula across the bay (or is that around d' bay) from where we live. So cool to see 'our' peninsula from the other side of the bay.

Click on the pics to enlarge them...

Sunrise from our deck before we left...



Newfoundlanders are very proud of their athletes and whenever one does something spectacular...they get a lot of things (roads, lookouts etc.) named after them...


I believe this ship, stuck here, is The Kyle

Closer up


A write up about Danny Cleary, located at the Danny Cleary Lookout


Looking north at the Danny Cleary Lookout



Newfoundland is home to some of the most interesting town names ever. Here is one --Heart's Content. I think it would be sooo cool to live in a town named "Heart's Content". Can you imagine telling people the name of your town while giving your address.


And...some random shots taken as we made our way up the coast (or is that... around d'bay ;) )


The water was absolutely gorgeous shades of turquoise, navy blue and bright blue.











Finally...up at the tip of the other Peninsula -- Grates Cove. What a cute post office! So tiny.






Across the bay is the peninsula we live on (only the other side of that peninsula)
















Another town with a cute name. Cupids.

There is also Heart's Delight and Come By Chance...to name just a couple. I'd be really interested in learning the history behind how these towns got their names. Hmmm...I sense a homeschool history lesson in the making ;)