This is Josie. The former 18-month-old. Remember when the site started and she was that little? Yeah, I barely can, either.
Josie turns 17 in September. This weekend, our homeschool community held its prom, and here she is, all dolled up. She went with a big group of friends, as homeschoolers are wont to do rather than go in pairs.
That dress is four layers' worth of hemming. We always thought Jo would be tall, but she topped out at 5'5". I had to hem the lining, a crinoline, the outer skirt and the over skirt. By the time I was finished I was covered in glitter!
But it was worth it. Look at that face.
This has been an amazing year for Josie. After a lifetime of unschooling, she entered a high-school-to-college program. For the first time in her life, she had homework, took tests and sat in a classroom. How'd it go? She made dean's list one term. The rest, she's gotten As and Bs. She gets along well with the other students, including the regular college students not in her program.
Watching her blossom almost made me doubt whether we'd made the right decision to homeschool. I said, do you regret not going to school? She said, "Oh, no. Not after the stories I've heard from my classmates. Not before them, either, though, really."
Josie's turned into a beautiful, confident young woman. And now she's been to prom. 
