I've been doing a lot of thinking lately.  I know I know....don't do that you might hurt yourself.   It's a good means of procrastination.    I know why people have those voice record modes on their phones now.  I get what I feel are my most profound thoughts while I'm driving.   I come up with great blogs that bring tears to my eyes....and then I get home and can't remember any of it!  So, on my way home from the airport yesterday, I had a great idea for my blog.  I had dropped my sister Sheila off in Detroit after her week long visit to spend time with my dad.  (and mom of course!)  The first conclusion I had was that google maps and my iPhone maps do NOT always give you the best options at 5pm on a Monday night!  Sheila and I had already seen that traffic on 275 was horrendous (at a standstill actually) in the direction I would be heading home.  We had talked about me taking I-94 but figured it was a little slower and longer.  I went for the slower and longer route and came out a winner!  It was busy on 94 but never at a standstill.  Better yet, I missed the shutdown of I-96 by Webberville by waiting to cut north until I hit 127.  Anyway, all that to say that about the time I had driven and hour and hit Mason/Lansing area I was reflecting on my life as a Homeschooling Mom.  In just a few short weeks that part of my life will be over.  It's hard to believe that I started this journey about 16 years ago. We weren't happy with the public school education quality at the time and I had a friend at church who was homeschooling, the Abrahamson Family.I had talked with Steve, my husband, about homeschooling our 2 boys (then 2 and 4).  My other 2 step-kids then requested to leave the public schools and be homeschooled.  Krista and Stephen have been my guinea pigs for parenting the entire time they've known me so why should this be any different?  My apologies to both of you by the way.  I was in NO WAY trained in college for parenthood to teenagers!  Yikes...some of the mistakes I remember making and the decisions I would have made differently.  That being said, I learned the power of changing curriculum FAST!   Don't let anyone fool you, homeschooling is not cheap.  I don't know how many times I changed curriculum because it wasn't working for the kids.  Of course that is a bonus too! (just not a cheap one!)   Krista survived my method of teaching and graduated in 98 and in 1999 I started Nathan and Justin on the Journey at ages 4 and 6.   I didn't purposely put them in the same grade but it sure did make homeschooling a whole lot easier.  We were able to do the same grade work until they hit High School.  No way did I want Nathan graduating when he was just 16!  So many people helped me out along the way!  We used the Koinania group in Grand Rapids and then Ionia had it's own little small homeschool Group.  Amy LeForge, Jennifer Dugan, and Roni Nash, just to mention a few, were instrumental in helping me get over the days when I felt like NOTHING was going to ever go right and they would be failures in society, unable to even wipe their own noses.  Kathleen Visscher, you have been my rock!  The last 5 years have been harder.  Working full time is not really conducive to cracking the whip on teenagers who procrastinate just like their momma.  My solution this year was to enroll him in once a week classes at TeenWorks.  Rosemary Wolthuis was in charge and since she had tutored Nathan last year in Algebra II I knew she'd keep an eye on him!  He took an online writing class with a wonderful tutor, Susan Potter.  She would call him every other week to review things.   She had the patience of Job I tell you!   For the last 3 years we have taken advantage of the Heartland Institute of Technology at the local high school.  This is where Justin decided to go to Diesel Repair and Nathan loves the Machine Tool class.  I would encourage any homeschool parents out there to take advantage of these programs in their Junior and Senior years.  Today, I'm watching with pride as Justin is maintaining a 3.6 grade point average in Diesel Repair in his Associates program and Nathan is preparing to head off to Kettering University to study Engineering.  Krista is a wonderful Mom and helping her mom out with her business.   Aaron and Stephen both have beautiful families and I'm proud of all 5 of them in spite of me!   Every Mother's Day I am in awe that my Stepkids love me and call me!  (yeah my own two don't have spouses to remind them yet but I did get a card from Justin in the mail today and Nathan did manage to turn his head away from the computer to say Happy Mother's Day).  So what's next?  I love my career as a nurse but I think it's time to focus on my husband now.  Perhaps he'd enjoy a clean house?  My excuses have all about left the building so there's no one else to point fingers at.  Perhaps, this momma can focus on NOT procrastinating....but then again, there are the grandchildren!