Birthday and Graduation Plus More!

When we were planning Sean's last year of school, we knew it was probably not going to end well.  I mean...he would graduate...but we would be in the process of moving right at the time most students were graduating.  There would not be much chance to join with a group of homeschoolers to have a nice ceremony.  We teased Sean that he would have to graduate by walking across the living room with just us watching!  Maybe that is what most people think homeschoolers do any way...but he knew that we had done so much more for our previous graduates.  Even Christina...who did graduate by walking across our living room...had a ceremony with speeches and guests...and she had a quick graduation thrown together in just a few days!

As funny as we tried to make it, it was not what we had wanted.  So...this is where we get goose bumps...no that we were being taken care of...even in the smallest details...and we were able to have a special day set up for Sean.

So...here is the rest of the story for those who have not heard it yet!

Since we "knew" we would be doing our own graduation, we decided to wait until we were settled into our new house.  We decided to make it a birthday-graduation party for him, so we set the date for mid-June.  We created some fun graduation announcements with the date June 18th (the Saturday before his birthday) and sent them out just after moving into our new home.  We thought it was a perfect solution, as we could send out the invitations and also give out our new address!  Wow...talk about multi-tasking!

Soon after we made these plans, we had our first Mass at the new church.  As we were leaving, I noticed a family we had remembered from our time in the homeschool group previously.  I went up and we re-introduced ourselves and somehow the conversation of graduation came up.  She told me that the group had not had their ceremony.  It would take place on June 18th, and Sean could join in with the other ten graduates!!!!!  Not only that...it would be part of a Mass at OUR church!

God is so amazing!  All the other parents were asked and agreed that Sean could be a part of the group.  We were so excited!

Of course, our announcements did not have these details, so I began telling those who might be interested in coming to the ceremony.  It turned out that we would have some guests at our house soon!



Then we found out from one of the other moms that a special drama camp/retreat would take place the week before graduation.  Many of the graduates planned to be in the camp.  The idea was for the camp to begin on the Sunday before graduation...then they practiced all week...with a performance on Saturday...right after gradation.  The camp was always looking for male teens and our boys would fit right in with the normal small close-knit group.  So I asked if the two oldest would be interested (my pre-teen cried the entire time that he wanted to do it...not old enough YET!) and I had them signed up!  That is when we found out they were doing The West Side Story...lots of singing and dancing...this should be interesting!

The best made plans of mice and men...life got crazy in the beginning of June...I started to wonder if we were going to have time for anything extra...I will have to post about this separately just to keep everything from sounding too crazy!  But I was so thankful for the graduation details being taken care of by the other parents.  I really cannot thank them enough for all they did to make the event special and including Sean.

Then the boys arrived on the first day of camp, to our surprise, there were teens coming out of the seam work!  This was a small close knit group?!?!  It turns out...this little summer camp...was finally being encouraged as one of the best camps for teens!  Not only would they have this dramatic experience...a priest was leading this camp with his seminarians and others priests at a small college...there would be Mass, prayer and reflection everyday...AND they would be auditioning immediately for parts!  Their numbers had more than doubled from the previous years!  Surprisingly, the teens were running around as if they were all best friends.  I worried a little about the boys not knowing any one...but it turned out to not matter...AND they did know some of the teens!  One girl in particular ran up and gave both boys a big hug and said she was SO glad they were back in town...then ran off to hug someone else in the room!  When I asked the boys if they knew who she was...they both blushingly said they thought they remembered her but not her name!  LOL!  Michael snuck over strategically when she registered and found her name so they could "remember" her!  Smart Dad!  


Another thankful part of this week was having one of the teens with a car...the boys were able to carpool...I offered gas money and they were set for the week!  Early mornings and late evenings... along with our other craziness... allowed for a better week for everyone!

And they did have a lot of fun!  They came home singing and dancing all week.  They were even teaching the lines to the pre-teen who was still wishing he could be with them!

In all of this...I was keeping a secret!  Christina and Madison were going to surprise Sean and come visit us from Washington for his graduation!  They arrived mid-week so the surprise came early...but he was so excited to know that they wanted to be here for him!  We had so much fun playing with the baby and going to places Christina missed from Texas!  The first stop...food!  Everyone always misses their "Texas" restaurants!

Gramma arrived the day of graduation, along with her friend (Loretta) who the boys enjoyed playing cards.  We grabbed the boys from their last rehearsal and were off to Mass and graduation.

 The ceremony was wonderful!  Father Klak gave a wonderful homily about going out into the world to do God's will.  Just before he gave out the diplomas he gave a vocations talk.  Then as he gave out diplomas, he asked each one if they were going to make him proud and become a priest or nun!  Great job, Father!

The reception was also just as nice.  Tables were set up for the graduates to share their highlights from their high school years.  We knew Sean would not have time to create his table, so Christina and I made a table for him.  It was just as much a surprise for him as a sharing of how proud we are to the other guests.  We even made a "geocache" for him to find at his table!  There was even a surprise visit from Shane and Pope Francis!

Then we had just enough time to have dinner and change before heading to the play!

Zoom!  We were there and the boys were setting up.  We were so early, we had time to enjoy the grotto and gardens before hand.

Then the outdoor theater was ready...the evening setting was perfect as the sun set and the lights of the grotto came on to let us know the action would begin!  The entire cast (over 50 teens!) did an amazing job!  I was so impressed that they could make this happen in just SEVEN DAYS!  Not only did the team who led the camp create this...they were able to place the teens in an atmosphere to discuss gangs and bullying...drugs and just being a teenager...into the week as well.  A wonderful experience for everyone involved!

I never would have guessed that our boys could do this but they were great!  Not just bragging as a mom...I really think they all did a great job.  And if you want to hear them perform, they have the entire play memorized and still break out in song and dance at a moment's notice!

Sean had mentioned that he was the stage manager but we thought this was just a small role...turned out that he had to ensure all the props were set up and scenery was moved around for each scene!  He was a busy guy and worn out by the time he finally crashed!

He did not crash right away...there was still a cast party to attend after the show and clean up!  Thankfully we went in two cars...Michael stayed with them and the rest of us...also exhausted went home!  Gramma stayed the night, so we had a full house!

The next day we went to Mass bright and early...much earlier for some than others...those party animals did not get home until after midnight!

Then we surprised Sean with a post graduation...early birthday...reservation for The Magic Time Machine.  If you have never heard of the place...it is a restaurant with themed tables...costumed wait staff...and very pricey food!  Sean has always wanted to go to this place...we decided to close our eyes to the prices and make this happen.  It was a great experience...highly over-priced but should be tried once...just go for dessert if you want to save money...or eat from the salad bar!  We learned the hard way but made it work!

I think Sean had a memorable graduation.  The lesson learned is to never promise a set ceremony for any homeschool graduate.  What works for one child...one situation might not work for another.  AND in the end trust that God will help make amazing things happen!  It all worked out in the end and no one involved could have been more pleased!

Now we can say that we have graduated three of our children...a good feeling that we might actually know what we are doing...until things change, of course!