Happy Friday, y’all! I hope you’ve all had a good week. We’ve had another one that just seemed to zip by. I can’t believe it’s Friday already. I also can’t believe we’ve almost made it through another school year.

And, don’t even get me started on the fact that Josh will be a senior next school year. {sigh}

The highlight of the week was this:

Yes, we thought we needed another creature in the house. Well, to be fair, two of us did not think we needed another creature in the house. The boys thought we were just fine, thankyouverymuch.

But the girls are suckers for a pretty face and Megan has been wanting her own cat – or dog. Whatever she could talk us into.

Jake, our outside dog that died last summer, was the dog she claimed for her own. Jack, our younger orange tabby was her cat…until we got Belle. Jack wasn’t impressed and he’s taken up with the neighbors down the street. Now, he only comes to visit and is pretty grouchy when he does.

So, we got Megan an as-yet-unnamed snuggle buddy. She is such an affectionate cat. We got her Tuesday afternoon, so far she’s doing pretty good with the dogs and other cats. There’s been a little hissing and growling on both sides, but they’ve also all slept in one another’s presence, so I think we’re off to a good start.

And, as long as there are treats involved for everyone, they can peacefully exist in close proximity.

We are open to name suggestions, but I think we’ve rejected about 1,000 of them. Megan likes Echo, so that may be what we wind up with. I’m leaning toward Sassy, even though I was originally in favor of Oreo or Domino.

For your reference, we currently have the three dogs: Penny, Peanut, and Belle. We also have five cats: Gus, Lily, Luna, Chloe, and Jack (except he really doesn’t live here anymore). She’s a female cat.

I had a fabulous Mother’s Day. We went to lunch with some friends after church. Then, we came home and everyone except Brian took a nap. We were all exhausted and everyone slept great because the house was so quiet.

Brian grilled some steaks for dinner then we all went to see Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2. It was the perfect, relaxing day spent with my favorite people. Then, I had breakfast with my mom and sister on Wednesday as our belated Mother’s Day brunch.

Yep, that’s pretty much it for the highlights. It’s my kind of week when there’s not much to recap on Friday. Have a great weekend, y’all!

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Happy Friday, y’all! I hope you’ve had a wonderful week. We only have two weeks left until our summer break! Honestly, little will change for me except I won’t be nagging teens to get up and do school every morning.

We’ve been busy tying up loose ends. I’ve been busy fighting the same urge I had about this time last year – telling them that they’re probably as smart as they’re going to be this year, so let’s just start break now. {grin}

Brianna has had a good week. She got a promotion to a department manager position at the new job she’s had for about six weeks or so. It’s not cutting hair. She may go back to that at some point, but she wasn’t especially crazy about it. I’m very excited for her. She really wanted this position and worked hard for it.

She also went out with someone new who she’s been talking to for a couple of weeks. Yeah, she and the boyfriend I mentioned a few weeks ago broke up, leaving me wishing I hadn’t said anything here because, you know, it’s her life.

I’m only saying something now because these two have really hit it off and remind me a lot of Brian and me when we first met. I didn’t want there to be mass confusion if I post pictures of her and the new beau at some point.

I’m excited about Mother’s Day weekend. I have some steaks for Brian to grill. Then, we’ll be indulging in the Mother’s Day tradition we started last year – seeing a Marvel movie on Mother’s Day. It’s one the kids don’t complain about at all. This year, it will be Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2. Yeah, we saw it the weekend it came out, but it’s so worth seeing again.

Brianna starts working full time on Monday, so yesterday we went out for a girls’ day. We had breakfast at Chick-fil-A, then went for mani-pedis. Well, except I just got a pedicure.

That’s pretty much the excitement of a week in the life of a mom who homeschools teens who work independently. I know it’s not especially exciting to read, but I’ve got the say that it’s pretty enjoyable to live.

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Happy Friday, y’all! Have you had a fantastic week? I can’t believe it’s already May. We’re counting down the days until summer break. We have lots to look forward to this summer.

The kids have church camp in June, which is always a highlight of their year. There’s also a rafting trip or two (for them, not me!), vacation, and a defensive driving course for Megan. I don’t think she’s particularly looking forward to that one. School in the summer? Ugh! It’s better than four Saturdays in a row, though.

I could have lived without Tesla advertising the fact that they’ve been around for 30 years. {ahem}

So, last Thursday, Brian and I went to relive our youth by seeing Def Leppard, Poison, and Tesla in concert. It appeared that mid-forties was the median age, so I didn’t feel too bad. The concert was fabulous and my old-lady ear plugs worked great!

I thought we had great seats other than the speakers blocking part of the screen.

The couple next to us told us between sets that their 12-year-old son is a huge Poison fan. It cracked me up to notice that the dad FaceTimed his son during their entire show. Sometimes technology is awesome!

If the 30 years thing wasn’t bad enough, Def Leppard said they were celebrating 40 years. {sigh} I’m old, y’all.

After two very busy weeks, I have thoroughly enjoyed this week at home with very little on the agenda. I am such a homebody, y’all.

Today, we finish up our government co-op. We have all completely enjoyed the class – but there also isn’t a single one of us, parents included, who aren’t giddy that today is the last day. You know how it is at the end of the school year.

Last week, we thought about going ahead and doing this week’s lesson in addition to last week’s just so we could be finished. However, after doing the first lesson, we decided that the teenagers’ heads would likely explode if we attempted it.

Josh had a buddy for Constitution class last week. This cat isn’t mine, if you can believe it. {grin}

As it was, I was already tempted to change the questions in the study guide to questions that were more indicative of facts they’d likely remember. I was going to use questions such as: “Which Star Wars character did Jordan say Michael Farris reminded him of during the video?” or “Who won the bean bag chair tic-tac-toe game?”

For the record, I did ask them a few of those questions and they remembered them much better than the questions from the lesson. I’m reminded of this time last year when I was tempted to say, “You know, you’re probably as smart as you’re going to be this year. Let’s just blow off the last few weeks.”

I won’t do it, but it’s very tempting this time of year.

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Happy Friday, y’all! I hope you’ve all had an amazing week. I have a confession to make. I’m writing this week’s wrap-up on Thursday morning and scheduling for Friday because {drum roll} my husband and I are going to relive our youth at a concert tonight (last night by the time you read this).

His all-time favorite band is Def Leppard. They’re in concert with his second favorite (maybe not all time, but it’s all he listened to when we met) band, Poison and probably the only heavy-metal-ish band I ever liked, Tesla.

It’s three bands we both like and Brian has never seen Poison in concert, so we’re pretty excited.

Being the not-so-young people we are, we’re going fully prepared with hi-fidelity noise cancelling ear plugs. Because I need what’s left of my hearing.

I survived prom week. It was actually a lot of fun. Megan and I got pedicures on Thursday and I let her get acrylic nails since her nails don’t grow worth a flip.

Friday afternoon, I took her to have her make-up done. She felt so pampered.

For the record, I think she’s beautiful both before and after. I know I’m biased, but I sure do think my kids clean up nice.

And, I absolutely adore their friends. I seriously could not have hand-picked better friends. My kids are blessed.

I saw some pictures from inside the prom venue. Oh, my goodness! There were so many kids. I’d have been claustrophobic in there.

As I was taking prom pictures, Brian and one of Josh’s friends went to meet a guy we were buying a midi keyboard from for Josh. Brian and I were both a little nervous about it since it was our first-ever purchase from Craig’s List (unless you count the puppy – it was, at least, our first big-ticket purchase). Josh’s friend went along to check out the keyboard since he knows a lot more about them than we do.

It was in pristine condition and works great. Josh’s friend said he’d buy it if Josh changed his mind. This particular friend is a gifted piano player. He and Josh have plans to collaborate musically. I’m excited to see where they’ll take it because I can see them really going somewhere. They’re both very talented.

Josh is already playing some great-sounding stuff on the keyboard, though it’s not up to his standards. It sounds a whole lot better than anything I could play, I’ll tell you that.

So, I have an IRL friend who just completed a challenge she set for herself. She called it “100 Days of Happiness” and each day she posted on social media (usually with a picture) something that made her happy. She just did it for herself as a way to focus on the positive.

I kept thinking about joining her, but kept putting it off because I was afraid I wouldn’t follow through. I really want to do it, though. Does anyone want to join me? For me, it would be on Facebook and Instagram, using the hashtag #100daysofhappiness. I was thinking of starting on May 1. Any takers?

Who has middle school kids (or will in the next year or so)? I have an article posted on ThoughtCo.com about how to prepare your middle school student for high school. Check it out!

Now, I’m off to get ready for the concert. I hope that by the time you read this, we’re safely back home with some fun new memories. Have a great weekend!

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Happy Friday, y’all! I hope you’ve all had a fantastic week. It was spring break for us so, of course, it went by blindingly fast.

We started the week off with an amazing Easter service at church. As we were leaving the worship center, Brian commented that he thought that might have been the best message he’s ever heard.

We do things a little differently at our church. It wasn’t a typical Easter message. We always launch a new series on Easter, and this one is entitled, “How Can I Know?” Each week, we’ll be tackling different questions that people ask about Christianity and God. Our pastor promises that they won’t be “churchy” answers.

After church, we went to my mom’s for Easter dinner and an egg hunt. Most of the kids are getting too big for egg hunts, but they still indulge Nannie and the two cousins who haven’t outgrown it. Plus, some of the eggs contain money, so that doesn’t hurt.

We keep saying we need to have a grown-up Easter egg hunt. It’s fun! Plus, we keep talking about doing some fun prize eggs. Who knows? Maybe we’ll actually do it one year.

It wouldn’t be Easter dinner with a bunny cake.

Brian finished the privacy fence last weekend. It looks fantastic! I wish I’d taken “before” pictures. I’m so happy to have that done. It’s something that I’ve had on the honey-do list for a few years.

My two big, orange boys. Gus is on the left and Jack is on the right.

He and Josh also worked on raking and clearing out the backyard. We have a wooded area that I’ve wanted to clear out for awhile. I want to leave the mature trees, but clear the smaller ones and the underbrush. They made great progress. Hopefully, we’ll finish this weekend.

Today is prom! Yes, homeschoolers have prom and it’s not even in our living room. {grin}

Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like the weather is going to cooperate for pictures. Hopefully, we’ll get a break in the rain long enough to get some photos. It rained last year, too. This is not a fun tradition.

Yesterday was mani-pedi day. I think my mom took Megan and her cousin to get their nails done a few years ago, but it was her first pedicure. I also let her get acrylic nails since her nails, like mine, don’t grow worth a flip.

All I could think was, “Lieutenent Dan! You’ve got nails!” lol

Of course, I had to get a pedicure, too. Because I became rather addicted to them last summer and have missed them this winter. I can’t go to a nail salon without thinking of this:

Oh, it cracks me up, y’all!

Today will be hair and make-up day. {sigh} Josh is going to prom, too. Boys are so much simpler. He’s going to get up this afternoon, shower, shave, get dressed and he’s ready to go. It doesn’t take a week of prep or anything.

I think those are the highlights of my week. Even if I’ve missed something, it will just have to be missed. I’ve got to go get busy. There’s a prom to prep for, y’all.

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