Now I Remember but Did I Forget to Mention That?

I got a little side tracked and thought for a moment or twenty that the reason we were homeschooling was solely based on the whole sexual assault thing. I had forgotten it was something we had always considered and even actually figured we'd end up having to do one day. The reason being that my children have a problem fitting into the cookie cutter student mold. Most types of children can find their fit in public schools but with Tayton's Sensory Integration Disorder it makes things hard. One day he might be fantastic at one thing but need major improvements in other and the next week it could be completely opposite. This makes it tough on the teachers, other students and especially on Tayton.

After the rough start we had with homeschooling last week I needed a little time to regroup. I realized that what I did wrong was pushing the kids too hard too fast and forcing them to conform to how I expect them to learn. I put work books in front of them and said work. Well DUH of course that doesn't work.

We took Thursday and Friday and slowed things down and did some new plans. Today was the first day of the new plan and it was perfect!

We spent the morning at the eye doctor (health). We came home the kids played outside for a bit while we made lunch. After lunch we colored maps (geography) and talked about all of the states the four of us have been. All of our maps are colored differently. It was fun. We also checked out the new states the boys (Kirke and I already have them colored) will get to color when we drive out to NY in March.

OH did I forget to mention that? We're on orders. We'll be leaving the great state of Missouri and heading back to where Kirke and I met 11 years ago. Ft Drum, New York! But that's another story. We can't wait to get back up there and show the boys that part of our past! Our first home as a married couple, where we met, where we spent time together and so much more!

Ok so back to school. We played a math game instead of focusing on work sheets. We did language arts workbooks and they were okay with it. Then we went to the playground and the kids wandered down to the skate park where they had a blast running up and down the obstacles.

I think I can remember what works for us. Again the 4 month break was a bit much it's going to take some time to get back on track!

~Till They All Come Home~

A Four Month Summer Break is a Bad Bad Plan

I honestly had no idea how much information kids lose over the summer. We finished our required hours and grade level work at the beginning of May. We had it all set so I figured "no big deal we'll just start our summer break 3 weeks earlier than the local public school".

I AM SUCH AN IDIOT!

I'm pretty sure we should have to pass a common sense test to home school our kids. What I mean is "ignore my college education for a minute please" because obviously I didn't use it when making these choices! I figured we'd stay up on our skills over the summer but who was I kidding? If I'm not held accountable for what we're doing then not much is gonna get done!

During the school year we document EVERYTHING! We keep good records so when the rat bastards who screwed my kids over in the public schools here decide to be pricks and come knocking on my door for educational neglect I'll make a fool of them! But my plan for summer was just to wing it. We did some educational stuff. Some. Obviously not enough. The only thing that didn't seem to lose out was Tayton's reading abilities. He's still a good little reader and his comprehension is impressive. But his math is screaming for some serious review and brushing up on skills he'd once mastered!!

Korbin has decided he doesn't know how to do anything. He's taking forever just to fill in a simple 100's chart. Today I decided we'd try a little addition and see if maybe he's just bored with the 100's boring review crap. THANK GOD that was the case! I thought we'd be starting back over at the beginning of kindergarten instead of first grade! He's good and in time will be right on track and realize that taking all day to do one assignment is a bad plan.....for all of us! He's still reading, well learning to read, pretty good. He's lost some of his sight words but he'll get back on track. Right?

As for me i almost lost my mind by day 3 but after taking a chill day to relax, review and reevaluate our plans I think we're gonna be alright.....I think.

Lesson learned: More than two weeks break is probably too much!

~Till They All Come Home~

Old Friends New Committments and an 8 Year Survival

We made the most out of our leave (vacation) time. It all started with a camping trip to Arkansas with good friends of the present. Then we sent our boys off to Texas with my in-laws who joined us on our camping trip. From Arkansas we drove to Chicago. Wait let me back up. We were supposed to take the train, the day after we got home from AR, but there is NO parking beyond 24 hours at the damn Amtrak station. They wanted us to pay to park at the Sheraton. $17/freakin day! It only cost $99 for the damn tickets! We had to park for 4 days! So we drove.

Ok so we drove to Chicago for one of my best childhood friends wedding. I was a bridesmaid. It was beautiful, fancy and amazing! My friend, Diane and I met when I was 7. That was 22 years ago. Her sister is another of my best friends and was also a bridesmaid. Two of the other bridesmaids were long time friends of mine as well. I met Jody and Amanda both when I was 12. I probably met Jody before that but I don't remember. I had seen all of them in within the past 2 years but it had been a while. We had a great time and celebrated a fabulous union of two wonderful people. I danced, and I shouldn't cause I have no rhythm and my dress was about 8 sizes too small on my hips and I looked like a pregnant mermaid. We laughed, we hugged, we had a fantastic time!

The new Mr. & Mrs. Clancy!
The wedding party getting ready to party.

Kirke was a good sport and spent the weekend piddling around while I did bridesmaid stuff. By the time this picture was taken the makeup had worn off and the hair had gone flat but I sure was happy!

We left the morning after the wedding and drove to our home in Missouri to pick up our two dogs. We were home about 15 minutes and back on the road to Texas to retrieve the naughty little blond boys. While we were in Texas (3 whole days) we decided to have a birthday for our oldest son Tayton. I wanted to keep it small and simple.

Well for all of you who live close to relatives know that you can't invite without inviting them all. I intended to invite my long lost buddy Mark. I haven't seen him since my brothers wedding 8 years ago and he lives just an hour south of Kirke's family. I hadn't met his wife and he now has a 10 month old son. Any of you who know Mark know this is definitely something you have to see to believe! Love ya Mark! I also wanted to invite Korbins first wife, big Megan and her daughter Jada. Kirke's nephews and parents (their mom is another of my best friends) as well as Kirke's cousin and her family who we try hard to stay in touch with and looked forward to seeing. But we ended up with around 25 adults and a mess of kids. It was fantastic!

We loved getting to see everyone. Especially Mark, Marcie, Peyton, Megan and Jada who we miss dearly. I hope that our families understand that our family grows with each new duty station. So these friends aren't just friends but also important parts of our families.

Mark, Marcie, Peyton, Me and Kirke in Texas. We always end up there in August! HOT!!

Here's Korbin with his first wife. They are still obviously in love even though he married that "other Megan"!

We drove back home on the 21st and on the 23rd our little Tayton turned 8 years old. He's such an awesome kid and I've loved watching him grow. Over the past year he has progressed (according to his testing at OT) over 4 years in most areas and over 6 years in one area. Sorry I can't remember which were which because that news was so incredible to hear! I find it hard to believe that we've had a kid survive 8 years with our parenting! He's an amazing little boy and despite my wanting to string him up by his toes I love being his mommy!

These pictures are in random order, thanks blogger!


There's nothing like a good book for a 2 year old!

He still dresses kind of funny!

Pot holders made by Grandma Vettel can double as hats!

As Eskimo as my little Alaskan born boy gets!

He was so freakin cute! He had to have been close to 2 in this picture cause I wasn't pregnant with Korbin anymore.

He's always been inventive.

Long and skinny! He was maybe 2 in this picture. That's one of Korbins blankets in it so he had have been at least 19 months old.

Korbin was 3 months old so Tayton was 21 or 22 months old here.

And now he's 8 years old. Amazing!

~Till They All Come Home~

Traveling with dogs is a pain in the tail! We lost Maggie, our navigation system, so we've been winging it since Friday. I will be back to blog details soon!

Why Have Two Kids When You Can Have Six?

We often do crazy things here! We like to mix things up and test our endurance. This past week has been spent with four extra kids. Two girls 5 and 9 and two boys 11 and 15. It's been an interesting time.



Korbin and his wife Megan were thrilled to get to spend the week together. The first night Korbin informed me that he wanted Megan to sleep in his room. I told him that boys and girls can't sleep together till they are grown ups. His response "well I already married her!" My response was sleeping bags under the loft bed. They were happy as clams with that decision.


Yesterday Korbin came to my room crying and climbed up into my bed where I was reading a book.



He said "I stepped on a staple" between fake sobs. I said "oh no! What should we do?" He replied in a very serious tone: "we're either going to have to cut it off and get me a new one or get me some kid crutches!" Very seriously I said to him "okay then let's cut it off and we'll get you a new foot!" He said "maybe we should try kids crutches first." I asked him where we'd find those. He said "let's head to the hospital and get them there!" He was no longer in pain and I told him to make his own.


He was spotted later in the day with two sticks....


Silly kid!



The kids have enjoyed having their friends here. We went out in the canoe. We went swimming and Korbin decided he didn't need his life jacket anymore and was even jumping off the diving board and swimming back to the side of the pool all on his own.


We went fishing a few times and caught next to nothing. That was sad.


The kids will be going home soon. Their parents just got back into town after their trip to Vegas. And we leave in the morning (our family, their family and this one too) to go to Buffalo Point Arkansas to camp for six days.


Kirke's parents are meeting us there and camping with us for 3 days then taking the boys back to Texas while we go to my best friends wedding in Chicago. I have like 13 best friends so the rest of ya don't get offended. Then we're driving to Texas to get the boys and then back home and we're starting school on the 24th!

Phew that's a lot of stuff in one month!

Here's a few pictures:

~Till They All Come Home~