It's been a long, long, time . . .

No, Really? Two Years?!!!


What started out as an easy way to document Wil's adventures at Fork Union and our family's growing up turned into Stephanie's account of what was going on and then well, nothing. This is my (Stephanie's) attempt to catch up to fall of '09.

Wil did not return to Fork Union the next fall. Our first year (07-08) at FU we thought "Ok, we're newbies and we need to understand the program. It's supposed to be hard. Next year will be better." Enter 08-09 and not so much. After more of the same and even worse, we gave Wil the opportunity to call the ball before returning to school in Jan of '09. He had done everything required of him and we were very proud of his performance. He asked for time to think about and pray over his decision. He felt like God really wanted him there so he did stay and finished out his sophomore year. He finished well and we are proud of his decision and the great way he carried it out.

We continued to feed and grow Maggie and Charlie at home. Maggie completed her TKD training at Power Kix and received another black belt. Maggie has also been the only one of the kids to stick with piano and continues to win national rankings at her adjudicating and we enjoy listening to her (until the 100th time on the same piece).

Charlie started coming into his own in scouts. He could have been a Life Scout at 13 but I didn't feel he had enough life under his belt yet. I told him he had to wait until he was 14 and so he did.

That was a quick fast forward to the fall of '08 and the entrance of all three children into school. Yep, no more home schooling for the Turner clan. We had been praying about where Maggie would attend high school and now that Wil wasn't going to FU anymore he needed a school and God gave us Grace. Grace Preparatory School in Stafford, Va. After meeting with the admin and the principal we felt that all three kids could attend there so we prayed, asked the kids, applied and waited. They were interviewed, tested and accepted and started school in Aug of 08. Now I know you're wondering what I did with all that spare time on my hands. Well, I went to work at the pre-school at Grace. I am thankful that I was close at hand for my kids during the day. Every day I would see at least one and usually all three kids. I had fifteen great little kids in my charge and now a hundred stories to tell about little kids these days.

All three kids had an age and gender appropriate response to school. Wil had a freshman year his junior year in high school. Girls and freedom. His grades suffered and we had to go through a lot of reward and deprivation but he survived and well, I think we did. More tired I'm sure than we ever imagined.

Maggie went in as an observer and came out with a best friend. Melody. I know where Maggie came from and where Melody came from but they really could be clones of each other. Kind of scary but really delightful that Maggie has a kindred spirit in spiritual thinking and in academic achievement (read over achiever).

Charlie too, discovered girls but he didn't let his grades slip. He discovered he has a natural aptitude for science and history and he really likes them both! He learned some hard lessons about gossip and girls and boys and gin, no wait that's a wonderful life . . . He didn't want summer to come because he was going to miss his friends way too much. Yet he survived and focused on scouts and after his 14th (yep, you read it right) his 14th birthday, Charlie achieved the rank of Life Scout.

Bells are ringing and angels have their wings and I'm going to call it a day. I will write more later. Thanks for taking the time to read. Stephanie.