President Curry and a Special Meeting

Our homeschool schedule is so packed this school year.  We are on the road a good portion of the week due to Speech Therapy.  This is a good trade off to me though.  Ryan is still making progress and he is still getting academics at home from Adriana and from me.  We listen to audiobooks on our drive, so he is still learning.

That being said, I am finding less free time to blog because I am trying to ensure that Ryan is learning and engaged anytime we are home.  I am fine with this because he is the priority and I know that I need to recharge my battery as well.  Here is a glimpse of some of the things that we were up to last month.

We got our floors redone and had to do school outside of the house for a week.

Giving his opinion about the events at the NRH Hoot N Howl.

Ryan won this Camp Halfblood hat at the event!

Working on walking on the treadmill with his trainer, Lee.

The rug that Ryan picked out for his room after the floors were done!

The candy haul.

Participating on the Canine Companion’s Graduate Panel.

Another picture as panelists at Canine Companions

At the NRH Hoot N Howl.

Posing at the Hoot N Howl.

Ryan made this sword at the Demigod Goals event at Barnes and Noble.

Ryan the NAVY SEAL with his American dog, Freckles, and Grace, a Sandwing Dragon!

Picking up some new books with birthday gift cards.

Ryan the NAVY SEAL with his partner Freckles for Halloween.

Ryan and Freckles at the Chili Cook Off at Grace’s school.

At the Rick Riordan Demigod Goals event at Barnes and Noble.

Eating at Chipotle a lot during the work on the house floors.

Another reason that I bring our schedule up is that we don’t often have a full day to do a field trip.  When a full day does free up, I like to take advantage of it.  This past Wednesday, we went to the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum in Dallas, TX.

We got there and purchased our tickets.  There was a big group ahead of us, so we took the opportunity to take Ryan and Freckles’s picture with the statues of George W. Bush and George Bush, Sr.

We then walked through the museum and checked out the exhibits.  I did not really get an opportunity to take pictures inside but we spoke with some of the staff and enjoyed hearing what they had to say and we enjoyed the exhibits, especially the hands on ones.  In particular, there was an opportunity to act as President during a national emergency and you got to listen to your advisors and make decisions as President.

The coolest thing that we did was wait for Ryan to be President for a few minutes.  This was worth the wait.

After, as we were walking through the museum, a woman came up to Ryan and nodded at him and said, “Mr. President.”  It was awesome.  Even the man who was working the parking lot said to Ryan, “See you soon, Mr. President.”

This was our discussion once we got home.

“What did you think about the field trip?”

MOM, EACH DAY REALLY FEELING SO LUCKY TO BE HOMESCHOOLED.

“Do you miss being in a normal school?”

I DON’T AT ALL. I AM GETTING THE BEST EDUCATION WITH YOU.

“Can you name two things that you learned from the experience?”

1. PRESIDENT BUSH SEEMS LIKE HE WAS A GREAT PRESIDENT.  (I asked him why he thought that.)  BECAUSE HE COMMANDED RESPECT FROM THE WORLD COMMUNITY.
2. I LEARNED THAT LAURA BUSH IS REALLY INTO READING LIKE US.  REALLY COOL.

“How did you feel about being President for a few minutes?”

I FELT GREAT BECAUSE I AM TOTALLY A UNITED STATES CITIZEN WHO IS PROUD OF HIS COUNTRY.  DO YOU MOSTLY LOVE MUSEUMS LIKE I DO, MOM?

“I love museums and I can’t wait to do another one.  I know that dad will be jealous and that we might need to go back to this one as a family again.”

IT IS GREAT TO DO FIELD TRIPS.  WE ARE A TERRIFIC CURRY CURRICULUM SCHOOL.

“Did you want to add anything else?”

MOM, EASY TO SAY, THANK YOU AND I LOVE YOU.

*****

We had the most amazing experience last week.  Over a year ago, I had connected with a mom named Christy, who reached out to me via I am in my Head Facebook Messenger.  Since then, she started RPM with her son Aiden, and has been seeing providers and working with him at home.  Aiden was attending a 4 day Camp with Soma at HALO in Austin, Texas and I mentioned to her that Ryan and I could take the trip down to meet them in person. Well, as it got closer, due to our schedule and their schedule for driving back, we decided to meet up with their family for lunch on their drive back through Fort Worth.

Christy, her husband Piet, Aiden, and his sisters Mia and Ava, all met Ryan, Freckles, and me at Chick Fil A for lunch.

We hit it off right away and stayed for over an hour talking. Ryan mentioned that he was TOO LOVING THIS (lunch).  At the end of the lunch, Christy gave Ryan a gift of a Mad Libs book that has over 500 Mad Libs.  She knew that Ryan enjoyed them. (He loves them!)

I cannot truly put into words what this experience meant to Ryan and to me.  Piet asked me if I knew that Christy started RPM with Aiden because of our blog.  I did know this because Christy had told me that.  To know that Ryan positively impacted another child’s life and basically changed the trajectory of Aiden’s life and his family’s lives, is nothing short of breathtaking.  This lunch is exactly the reason why Ryan and I blog about his experiences.  I often have thought if we could just change one family’s life for the better, just one, then sharing all of our experiences would be more than worth it.

Later that day, I told Ryan that I know that I am a mom and that I homeschool him and I co-write the blog and that those are my jobs.  I don’t get paid for any of them and I am okay with that.  That being said, today, I felt like the richest person in the world.

After I said it, I kind of thought that it was hokey and I asked Ryan if he thought so.

ARE YOU GOING TO PUT THAT IN THE BLOG?

“I am not sure.  Do you think that I should?”

YES.  I AM TOO MOVED BY THIS.