This past weekend we held our own ceremony to honor our kids and their achievements this home school year. We realized right before Thanksgiving that this would be a big year for our kids if they were in traditional school. Gary would be graduating from K-5 and Allie would be having a promotion ceremony for finishing elementary school. So, of course, that meant that we were going to have some sort of event to honor them. We decided three years ago when we started homeschooling that we were going to do it right! We don’t just follow the base curriculum. We have added extra literature assignments and book reports. We always try to go on several field trips per year and add other learning opportunities, such as sign language, typing or library skills. We don’t ever want our kids to miss out on memories…to look back and think that they never had some experience. They were just as excited for this event as I was.

Well, if you know me that I like to go all out. I want things to look nice, coordinated and organized. I usually plan menus and research decorations ideas for months for birthday parties and events like that. I’ve spent months going through ideas for this ceremony. I was VERY happy with how it turned out and we received lots of compliments about how people could tell that we really put time into it. That makes me happy.

One of the first things I ordered was a cap and gown for Gary. He was so cute! I am so glad that I went ahead and got him one, instead of just having him dress up. We ordered them nice invitations and mailed them out to a handful of close family and friends. We are so blessed with such an amazing group of people in our church that pour into our kids lives consistently. They stand in as aunts and uncles and just love them. We ended up with about 20 people in attendance and it was perfect.

I made little programs to put on the chairs. We chose to give ourself a mascot not long after we got Jasper. It is so fitting that we would be “home of the huskies”.

I LOVE scrolling through pinterest and different blogs and finding cute ideas for parties. We decided to keep the food simple and just serve snack type/ light refreshments.

I love having the fruit in individual cups. We have all seen people pick out the strawberries or pineapple of the big bowl!! This is going to be the only way I serve fruit to larger crowds from now on!!!

We had the kids waiting in a hallway before the ceremony so that they could make an entrance.

Allie came out first….

and then Gary….

I went to a local teacher’s supply store for the first time and bought them ribbons and certificates. I did print a few off online, but for the most part I was happy with the ones that I purchased. We took the time to recognize each students accomplishments and strengths for the year. They each had to come up and shake their Daddy’s hand to get the awards.

Allie had worked the last month or so on a book report that summarized the year. It also highlighted how she felt about home school and how much she enjoyed sleeping in and our occasional pajama days. She presented this report at our ceremony.

and the proud parents watched from the back-

Next we actually gave the kids their diplomas and announced them as officially promoted 🙂

I thought that our ceremony was concluded and that Otis was going to thank everyone for coming and for being such a vital part in our family. Instead, he had flowers for the kids to give me. He honored me for the time and work that I put in. Oh gosh…melt my heart….the tears were forming….

We had such a fabulous celebration with everyone. It turned out to be such a special night for our kids…really, our entire family. Everyone stayed longer than I thought they would, which showed me that they were enjoying themselves. I couldn’t have been happier with how it turned out.