Parenting Failure

I failed my kids... I was always singing the Davy Crockett song and was so disappointed my kids didn't know it, or even begin to get excited over a coon-skin cap.  I decided it was high time they was educated!  We read a book about Davy Crockett, got em excited, taught them about the battle at the Alamo, and then went to one of the their reenactments!  What fun!  It was really  neat to walk into the complex and have Quinn shout, 'that's Santa Ana!'  He knew who he was, what he did, and what kind of uniform he wore.  Then we got to meet 'Colonel Travis' who taught us about the cannons used during the battle, and then we got to go eat and lets face it, that may have even been cooler than a coon skin cap. (if you can't tell - they were melting at that point)

Great Trip to Colorado

 We were able to drive over the Mesa and see all the beautiful leaves changing!

 Showed the kids where Craig popped the question... He was nervous then, I think I was just as nervous this time because Kaid and tall cliffs are a dangerous mix.

 Grandpa gave driving lessons on the lawn mower.... Anna very cautious (of course) never exceeded the speed limit.

 A little Father/Son bonding.  Love IT!

 Kaid's parting comment when given control of the mower, "see ya sucker!"

 It became obvious that Quinn's one time driving experience of my suburban at age 2, was not sufficient for him to be alone on the mower at age 5.

And of course Lexsie patiently waiting her turn, but don't mess with her turn or she would let you have it!

Thanks Gramps and Cass for hosting our little vacation!

A Quinn story

After Quinn's fifth birthday in January he came home from school and announced that he was done with preschool and ready for kindergarten. While we all know this is true, he has mastered everything that is to be mastered in preschool (as well as kindergarten and much of 1st grade) the school year wasn't over. Tho he truely doesn't understand why he cant move on when he has learned what is to be learned. So I tried to explain to him that he had to finish preschool until may. He was not happy with this turn of events and so started getting a little onry. He had several bad days at school (it didn't help that his allergies were causing him to have constant breathing and steroid treatments). As a result the teacher had to reprimand him several times. During this process Quinn would ask 'why.'. Quinn is very inquisitive and I'm sure he truly wanted to know why - he wasn't being obstinate. But as we talked about what he did, what he did wrong, how he could do it next time better, etc. I asked him, 'what did you learn from all of this?' and he looked me straight in the eye, shrugged his shoulders and said very seriously, 'don't ask 'why' at school!'. Quinn has a brilliant mind and it is so much fun to see how it works and thinks. For these reasons and others I'm homeschooling him next year. I'm pretty sure if we sent him to school we would end up with one of the most notorious and brilliant criminals in the history of the world because if he has to 'practice his letters and sounds one more time' he will be driven to a life of engenious mischievousness.

Brown noser...

Well if kaid has learned nothing else being home-schooled he has learned when he is in trouble to quickly say, 'I'm sorry, mother. You really are looking skinnier!'

LIttle Trip to Houston

Anna's Soy Sauce

Anna drinks this nasty stuff! I always teased Anna that if I ever found Soy Sauce by the gallon I was gonna get it for her... well Kaid spotted this little gem. We had to have it! And this will probably only last a month.

Kaid is the hit of the morning playground

Most mornings after I drop Anna and Quinn off at school a few moms and their kids stay to play for a bit on the playground. How those little ones look up to Kaid! He is so kind and shows them the bugs, and tricks on the equipment. They come running up to Kaid and give him hugs and consider him a best friend. Kaid doesn't mind the attention either! I can just imagine what a great father Kaid is going to be someday!