In between last time we talked and now…
Let’s see. Hmm.
1.Summer came and left in a matter of weeks. It was brief and beautiful and entirely too short.
2. I turned 41. The day was full of books and good food and the people I love. It was just about perfect.
3. The girls started school. 7th grade, 5th grade, and two 2nd graders. Oh my heart!
4. I read an inordinate amount of books. Some amazing, some good, and a few meh. Post to come.
6. We visited Seward and totally fell in love. I want to write about this here.
7. I started a partnership with Harper Books (an imprint of Harper Collins) as an ambassador and it was and is a dream come true.
8. Autumn came and left. It lasted 2 weeks. I kept hearing it would go by quickly, but I thought people were exaggerating. They weren’t.
9. I furnished a house in on-post housing. Which means there are tan/poop colored Formica countertops and vertical blinds and it looks like a barracks and a dorm had a love child in the 80’s. But I’m doing my best to make it a safe, cozy, love-filled space and I think I’m succeeding.
10. Sadie and Harper started playing competitive soccer. I wasn’t prepared for the $$$ and the time investment but J says we are investing in their future. So I guess I’m a soccer mom!
11. I went to southern CA and met with the Me and My Big Ideas/Happy Planner®️ team. They spoiled their team and treated us to a tour of headquarters, all of the new planner goodies, and a trip to DisneyLand. But my favorite part wasn’t the swag or the stuff or the freebies. It was meeting my friend Stephanie Fleming. I’ve “known” Stephanie through the Internet for years and she has been such a wonderful friend, mentor, encourager, and inspiration to me. Finally meeting her was incredibly memorable and special.
12. I made the long, heart-wrenching and incredibly difficult decision to homeschool Cate and Lucy. The reasoning is complicated and personal, but the bottom line is this. I won’t let them fall through the cracks. I am going to pour my heart and soul into teaching them to love reading. And giving them the self-confidence they need to be lifelong readers. If there is any interest, I’d love to chronicle our journey here.
The past few months have been magical and wonderful and hard and lonely (I haven’t seen J very often) and incredibly character building. I hope to keep returning to this space to reconnect with you guys. Are you out there? Are you still reading? Does anyone even blog anymore? HA! If you are there, tell me a little bit about yourself. I miss you!
Stephanie
Thanks for the update!! Funny, I was just thinking I should start blogging again!! I haven’t in MANY years! Funny how busy we get!! Anyway, thanks for the possible push in that direction! 🙂
DO it!!!
Still here and I love hearing about the girls and what is going on with all of you. It’s been a life altering year for me between family losses – I’m managing so I love the updates .
Sending you so much love all the way from Alaska.
I want to know all the things, Stephanie! ❤️
Hiii Patti!
I miss the blogging world. Everyone stopped and moved to FB or IG or insta stories!
So glad to see this recap of the past few months. And interesting that you haven’t seen J. In my vast knowledge obtained by extensive Army Wives watching (snort) I assumed he would be around more in this role? You mean TV ISNT REAL LIFE?!? I am appalled!!!
Also, that picture on the bottom with ittybitty baby Cora?!? I die.
Right? I miss it too. I’M BRINGING BLOGGING BACK.
please do! I miss reading blogs. Instagram and FB are so shallow. No details, no emotion!
JoAnn
I so agree with you!!
Im a homeschool mama to my youngest, who started 9th grade this year. :O I’ve had him at home since 4th. My 2 older children went thru public school, thrived and graduated. It wasn’t happening with Xander, who was bored, frustrated and honestly felt like he needed a change.
BEST. DECISION. EVER.
Long story short, I have zero doubt that you are going to find many of your followers are also homeschooling parents. To one, to all, or perhaps have only tossed the idea around. It’s become quite the norm these days. I would LOVE to hear about your journey with the twins, and kudos for taking that leap and trusting those mama instincts 🙂
Man, this warms my heart. Thank you so much for your encouragement.
With much love with tighten hugs
xoxoxo
So happy you are going to blog again! Thank you for sharing your heart, humor, snark and real life w/ us!!!
I’ve felt the desire for a while now. It’s time to give in!
So happy to see you are getting back to blogging. I miss your blogs, but you have been so busy! I can’t wait to learn about Alaska! I am so excited for your book post. I always get great ideas from you! My daughter is a student at Univ. of Pittsburgh which is 30 min. away. They have an amazing library right next to campus. I can finally get great new books there when I visit her. Our local library doesn’t have a good selection. So I am enjoying reading!
Oooh sounds magical!
So glad you are back to blogging!! Keep the book posts coming. With a baby in the NICU I spend a LOT of time in the car and so I’ve been reading some audiobooks from your book stacks. (Also I’ve always wanted to live in Alaska, so I’m enjoying living vicariously through your beautiful pictures)
Mariel here and always !
Always reading and loving your blog for years now. I apologize because it was only recently that I found out that I could actually reply to your blog. You have such a talent for words. It never cease to inspire me everytime I read your wonderful rendition of everyday life.
Like I mentioned in my previous email, I was in the service and later on became an Army wife with four kids. We were stationed in Alaska for 11 1/2 years, 3 tours and 4 extensions.
You will like Alaska because you are very adventurous and fun. I wasn’t. I hated the place. It was harsh cold weather for me in Fairbanks. I was from the islands so being there was not a pleasant experience.
I just realized you asked us to tell you about ourselves (I forgot in my comment above). My girls in competitive soccer and it was a lot of fun! . They made great friends, and especially loved the coed teams. They also do/did competitive dance. It paid off because I have one daughter on her university Dance Team and we are now season ticket holders and enjoy the excitement of ACC college football! My youngest is on her high school Pom Pom squad, so we also attend Friday night games too! My oldest is at University of Maryland, my alma mater!
So happy to see you back!! You’ve got a whole tribe ready and waiting!! Xoxo
I definitely still read a few blogs (definitely yours) and miss it! I took off blogging for the summer but have been planning on starting up again even if it’s just for me and no one even sees it (lol). But it takes time and I’ve been adjusting to a new school schedule for the kids that has me in the car driving around more this year. One thing that has jumpstartes me back to blogging in the past is when you do the Blog Your Heart posts. Love those!!
So, so glad to see you’ve posted. It’s been so long. Love seeing what you have to say and what your family has been up to these past few months. Would love to hear about the home schooling, soccer, “J” and whatever else is going on in your lives.
YAY! I love your blog and I don’t even know how you find the time, or the energy, but I sure am glad you do! You’re an inspiration to so many, and whatever nuggets of wisdom and insights into how to do the things you do is always something I want! <3
Love your blog, love your updates, wonderful to see how things are with you and your lovely family in Alaska. Happy to see your passion as a mom!
Rose
I’m here! Funny thing is, I just liked up my blog over the weekend to show a friend something. Turns out my last post was July 2017. Ack!! I do corporate communications and started losing interest in writing my own blog when I was writing blogs for my boss and clients. Sadly, I find I don’t have as much time anymore. Work is just incredibly busy these days. I spend most of my time on instagram. It’s quick and I can stay updated without investing s lot of time. There are only a few blogs that I am still committed to reading and one of them is yours!
I am still here and would love to read all about it. SO proud of you and love hearing about the adventure of your life.
Still here and I love hearing about you and your family! Keep the posts coming!
Hey Stephanie. I started reading here right before Sadie was born? I think? Y’all were maybe still in Texas. IDK. A long time anyway. I was interested because y’all were from Texas and I grew up in Fort Hood and it felt like visiting a friend.
Anyway, I just wanted to say hai and let you know homeschooling is tough but so, so worth it when it’s the right fit. I just graduated my oldest last year after HSing her all the way through. She’s in college and thriving. I have two still at home, 16, a junior, and 11, fifth grade.
Would love to hear about your homeschool stuff and happy to answer questions if you have any. It sounds like you’re doing the right things. At their age? Read, read, read. The rest will fall into place. You’re doing a great job. Hugs!
Still here as well. Love reading about you and your girls. Would love to see more blogging about your planning process too – I am hopelessly buying supplies and finding a system that works.
Still working, enjoying married life with my new husband, watching my son become a hardworking man in a rewarding but challenging work environment and soon asking his girl to marry him, and being the best momma to Madison as I can be as we still navigate the special needs community.
xoxo
Hi Stephanie! I’ve missed your blog posts. Love hearing about all your adventures, am looking forward to hearing more about you homeschooling adventure. My parents home schooled me from 2nd grade-12th and I enjoyed it so much!! Hope you are having a fabulous week!!1 =)
Am here! Glad you are back to blogging I love your story’s from one military wife to another I love listening to your adventures with your crew and how you guys get to travel with your J where ever he gets send is so much fun please don’t stop telling us your beautiful life story ❤️ And I love miss Cora’s videos every day on instagram
Love your blog posts. I “stalk” you on Instagram. Can’t wait to continue to read about all your adventures. Prayers with you always.
Still here our lives are incredibly different but I still enjoy hearing about your life with girls, the army and the USA. I’m mum to two boys, married for 28 years now (gulp) and I’m about to turn 50. We live on the south coast of England in the county of Dorset. I used to blog but now Instagram is my thing @katiejane68. After dealing with a brain tumour 2 1/2 years ago i dropped as much stress from my life as possiBle, decluttering the house and my hobbies so i could spend precious time with my family xxx
Still here and always interested in you and your family. It’s been a busy year for all of you hasn’t it? PCS’ing to a new duty station , moving to a new state, dealing with on base housing (all along thinking I have to wait on a list for THIS?!?) and starting the homeschool process all has to be very consuming and exhausting; thank the good lord for books (and wine!) right?
Our youngest and her family have just gotten settled into on base housing at Ft Benning, her comment with this stationing is thank goodness for rank privileges! Her husband is a Drill Sargent so he is gone more than home and that will change even more with Ranger School the first of the year.
Keep on writing, all of us have missed you!
Still here! And following you as always on Instagram, but would love to see the blog back regularly xxx
I hang out for your posts, please don’t stop blogging.
I am still here too. I am not on FB or instagram so I still enjoy reading the blogs of you, Ali Edwards, Jill Sprott and Julie Fei-Fan Balzer. I would thoroughly enjoy hearing about your home-schooling journey and anything else you share. Love reading it all and thank you so much for your humor, honesty and remarkable resiliency with whatever life throws your way! 🙂
I’m still here, always hoping for an update from my favorite blogger! I’m totally reading between the lines, but I’m guessing that some of the reasons why you may be homeschooling Cate and Lucy may be some of the reasons why we pulled my son from public elementary school and put him in a Montessori school two years ago. He is also a 2nd grader now. It was a hard decision that required a leap of faith, because we knew very little about Montessori education and because we thought we were public school people. But, you do what you need to do for your kids, and absolutely instilling a love of learning and a love of books were priorities for us. I look forward to reading more. I always appreciate your take on things!
Hey Stephanie,
Still here…and although I don’t comment much, still love following you on instagram and checking in on your blog often! You have been a huge inspiration to me, love how honest and heartfelt you are in sharing your story and beautiful family. Loved it when you were on the DT for Studio Calico, miss seeing your work regularly. I finally made it to Italy last year, a huge check of my bucketlist….seeing you, J and the girls live there made me want to visit even more. As for homeschooling Cate and Lucy, you have to do what you feel is right and I’m sure you’re going to rock it! All the best!
Hugs,
Elizabeth
aka- clippergirl
Glad to see you back! Looking forward to hearing about your current adventures in life. Thanks for sharing them!
Stephanie, I’m still with you all the way! I’m here in Canada, and I feel so close to you! We’re certainly going through the same weather except maybe here it’s just a few degrees warmer and a titch later into autumn. About half the leaves are gone here. If you want to look on a map, I’m in Regina, Saskatchewan, which is in the middle of the prairies, about 2 hours north of the US border. I will be suffering through winter with you, so you will be in my thoughts. If you need any winter advice, please let me know!
Stephanie, as always, I am still here! Love keeping up with you and yours in this more narrative way . . . well, all the ways! Love you all!
So glad you’re blogging again. I always started my day with coffee & the antics of the Howell chickies. You will be great homIteschooling. Just read, read , read & everything else will fall into place.It will be hard but you’re the best one to make sure they get what they need to succeed. Me – life is getting better, I’m 13 mos out of achilles surgery & I’m walking again! I can’t tell you how good it feels just to be able to go for a walk around the block. Bob has no effects from the stroke & is pretty much bad to normal. The weather in Savannah is still summer but I’m not complaining. I love Instagram but blogs are almost like having a real conversation. Remember life( even your hectic life in Alaska) is what you make it I told my daughter who was having a difficult time to put on her sunshine smile & be extra nice to everyone & the world wouldn’t seem so hard.
I love hearing how life is going. I’m curious on how you are getting the girls to enjoy reading. My granddaughter is 6 and doesn’t enjoy it. I’d love to hear what you are doing to change it.
Pretty much follow you everywhere, but love when there’s a blog post. Kind of like sitting at the table with an old friend and catching up.
I’m in the thick of 2 year old twins (b/g), aging parents with complications, husband, job and life as a whole, but stealing those quiet 30 minutes before getting ready for bed or work to read or listen to what I want and enjoying every moment of this life I’ve been blessed with.
I’m still here and so glad to see you back! I always love hearing about your girls and your life, you keep it real and show me that it’s ok to not be or have perfection. Good luck with your homeschooling – I think you are giving them a wonderful gift and hope it helps them love reading.
I always look forward to reading about you and your family, from daily life to your travels. You are a blessing and an inspiration to all. Thank you.
I love your blog. I would love to learn more about life in Alaska as well as your homeschooling journey.
I spent nearly 30 years as a military wife and can relate to many of your experiences.
Hooray for choosing a tough job of homeschooling! You noticed the need and jumped in! I have a young friend there: Shella Hightower whose husband is also an officer. She is also homeschooling. Maybe you can be a help to each other. (They are Aggies)
I am so glad you’re blogging again. I do follow you on the insta. so I feel like I am “in the know”. I love the blog for a more detailed peak into your life.
You’re an awesome momma!!! Those twins are so lucky.
I’m still here! I don’t do Instagram and I don’t do much other social media (some FB, but trying to minimize it), so blogs are and will be a favorite of mine for a long time! I’m so glad you’re back. I appreciate how you share your heart.
After a year in a cloud of anxiety, etc., the fog is lifting, and I am thankful for the LORD getting me through it. I’m crafting some more (scrapbooking, sewing) and reading for fun a lot more (yay children’s and YA fantasy!) and generally happier than I’ve been in a while. My oldest daughter is in 1st grade, and my 4-year-old son is home with me, and it is such a sweet time.
Again, I’m glad you’re back, and I eagerly await the posts you’ll share about the beauty of your Alaskan life!
Still following after all these years! Not going anywhere 🙂
I’m here and I’m reading. I still read a lot of blogs so I think this is still an amazing thing.
You are so strong and humble. Your flexibility and determination are very admirable. I can’t wait to hear about this Harper Collins thing! happy planner too, cool!!
I’m still homeschooling my 3 sons now ages 12, 9, and 3. (I’m learning right along with them too.)We’ve moved to Arkansas from Washington (we retired from the AF and moved there back in 2014). This was a huge stretch for us but we felt called and our journey here has been so amazing so far. I now lead our church youth program. I’m not sure how that happened.
Oh and I certainly can’t forget that I’d love to hear about your own homeschool journey.
From far away in New Zealand I have followed your family’s journey since way before the twins arrived. You were my bright light when we suffered through thousands of earthquakes and life seemed so unreal to me here, I was able to lose myself in your fun family outings in Italy. As a wife (52yrs), Mother of 3 and Grandma of 6 and Nana to the children of our Heart family who have been part of our lives, all of their lives, life can be very busy. Add to that church work and community work, along with our garden and home life is indeed full. Unlike so many of you Military families we have lived in our house for the last 48 years. Knowing that stability was important to both of us as we moved around New Zealand with our families before we were married. The fun stuff is my crafting and scrap booking and the wonderful people that I have met along the way. Enjoying a moment here and there to catch up with your journey as a wonderful Mama is precious indeed and so are the photos of your adventures together. Please keep blogging……your were missed indeed. Sending you love from a springtime Christchurch. Blessings Pauline
Of course we are here! Waiting for your updates, your stories, your pictures,…
A big hug from Spain ❤️
Hi, I’m still here and waving at you from London – it’s late morning, the sun is shining, the sky is blue and its a perfect Autumn’s day!
Please keep popping up in my feeder – I’ve been following you for years (Harper and Sadie were sooooo small!)
I love your reading recommendations and subsequently pass them on to other readers.
I have a son about the same age as Harper. He has autism and we’ve just made the difficult decision to remove him from mainstream education and send him to an autism-specific school (I hate the phrase ‘special school’). Homeschooling in the UK is not a big thing at all, and those who do don’t appear to be formally regulated in any way. I don’t think it is something I could do.
So, in essence, please keep doing what you’re doing – I’m right here and cheering you on!
Sure we are there too! I should like to know better your land and how Cate and Lucy live the life whith Cora around them every second with home-school!!!!! I follow you sice… meh… and I always love your family, your words and your heart. Sorry my English can’t explain better.
Of course I’m here! Thanks to Bloglovin! Was thrilled to see your post pop up! I’ve been blogging all along, Not scrapbooking much, but still blogging! And reading. And stitching. And traveling. And glad to have you back!
Still here and reading! Though I do follow you on IG and IGStories. But I still love reading blogs because you can get so much more out of them rather than just a glimpse on IG. Love all the stuff you share!
I have been following you since there was just Harper.
I am a 78 year old Armybrat. I loved every minute of my “Army” life. Especially when we lived on base. I miss it terribly even after all these years.
I am sure all the girls will have wonderful memories of all the places you have lived and visited.
Keep Blogging……………….
Love reading this–love love love your blog. Would so love to hear more about your homeschooling journey!
Glad to hear an update! Tell us more about your Alaska adventures
So happy to see you here again!!!
I love blogs and am still reading! Happy to hear from you and your family. I would love to hear more about your homeschooling journey!
How lovely to see a post from you, it’s a real treat. I’m still here, and I see lots of others are too, and I’m still blogging. CJ xx
Wow, I’m feeling really old… I remember when this blog was just you and your two little chicks… it has been fun through the years watching you and your sweet family grow! I go between blogging and not blogging, creating and not creating, desperately trying to navigate the final year of high school with my teen son and the first year of preschool with my sweet daughter. Luckily God has got a plan and keeps lighting the next step so I’m just going to follow along! Homeschooling has been in my mind and on my heart, I look forward to seeing how you navigate it and maybe learning some good teacher/mama tips and tricks along the way. You’ve got this Mama!
Yay! You’re back!! We lived in Anchorage for 2 years but moved back to Oregon so the kids could b near the grandparents. ..Now the kids are grown & we have grandkids…been following your blog a long time…:) Alaska is SO beautiful! Enjoy your time there!♡
I’m out here! Love your blog posts and I watch on Intagram every night. Thanks for keeping it real!
Hi! Still reading. We are a military family as well. Retired now, but he still works on the civilian side.
I never thought I would homeschool either. My son was diagnosed with autism when he was four. Doctors/ therapist insisted he go to pre school. Long story short it was too much and not enough. They forced him into a very strict schedule that caused behavior issues. And didn’t challenge him at all acidemically. He went in knowing his letters and colors and counting. They called them splinter skills and concentrated on him making animal sounds and stacking blocks. Which bored him and he wouldn’t do. They even told me he couldn’t use a regular computer. ( touch screens were a novelty then. Ha)
I found an online learning game at home that interested him and he taught himself in hours.
That and him suddenly being terrified to go to school (!) sealed the deal.
He is 18 now. He can’t do everything but he can read and use a computer.
He only occasionally finds the need for those animal sounds.
I’ve missed your musings, my dear. I’ve been wondering how your family has been settling in. You know where to find me – your friend from Oz
So glad you are back!
So happy you’re back, love to follow your adventures with your sweet family. Also love planners!
Papercrafting, books, travel and now homeschooling. I love everything you write about. And there’s always a need for more homeschool blogs. I imagine that’s particularly true of the joys and challenges of homeschooling military families.
I love to read your blog posts! I still blog, and love it-even if it isn’t as popular any more. Good for you on doing what’s best for your girls on the homeschool front. You will do great! I have been homeschooling for four years-I have had a mix of kids in public/homeschool, and you just have to do what’s best for each kid at that time. The big keys-give yourself plenty of grace, recognize that it can take a big adjustment for kids to go from public school to homeschool but it does get smoother as you create your own routine, and enjoy reading with your kids! I highly recommend The Read Aloud Revival podcast with Sarah Mackenzie-it is all about reading books and gives fantastic suggestions for books I had never even heard of before. It is amazing! Some of my favorite homeschool resources are: Teaching from Rest by Sarah Mackenzie and Home Learning Year by Year by Rebecca Rupp. Enjoy the journey! 🙂
I love that you share your life with us, when you are so obliviously crazy busy. My life is the opposite of yours I think. I was never blessed in finding the one for me … So far, I hope,. Which then meant no kids, which has been devastating for me to accept. All my life I wanted to be a wife and Mom. My life is changing again, my boss retired so I am having to find another job and I am still trying to convince myself that a move would be best for me right now. I’m not there yet, but I think I am getting closer. All in all a time of upheaval, for a person who hates change. Ugh. Thanks again for sharing with us, you are an inspiration to me personally and I LOVE seeing your kids growing up and becoming beautiful, strong little women. You did ask us to share about ourselves. Lol
I am so glad that you are blogging again. I have followed you for many many years and started when you were on design teams for scrapbooking. I love your blog because you tell your life like it is…the good ,the bad and the ugly. I loved reading your blogs when you lived in Italy. I never homeschooled my children but have alot of relatives and friends who have. I give you alot of credit for that. I can’t wait to hear about your life in Alaska. I’m sure it’s not easy living there. I still scrapbook all the time and have ongoing albums for my five grandchildren. I just got back from a 9 day trip to the Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon National Park and Zion National Park with my son and sister in law. I will be Scrapbooking that adventure soon. I look forward to reading more of your blogs!
Welcome back! I’ve been following your adventures since the twins were born and have missed knowing what was going on in Alaska. Glad you’ve found your feet at last.
Love this post and so glad you are back. I have 3 kids, homeschooled our youngest 4th-8th and loved it. Some days were hard, but isn’t that life? Each child may have different needs when it comes to school, and that’s okay. The decision to homeschool was the hardest part. For some reason, deviating from the expected path is so hard. But, I never regretted it. Now, my son is at a small charter school and doing great. Enjoy this time with your girls and give yourself lots of grace. Looking forward to more Alaska adventure posts.
I do still read blogs. I love Feedly to make it easy to keep up.
I’m trying to make the effort to comment more on blogs so people will continue to blog.
Please keep blogging. Have been here since Harper and Sadie were wee littles. Love your book reviews and the girls and you brighten my day. Good luck homeschooling. Those girls will have the best homeschooling mama/teacher! And I LOVE planners / notebooks, etc…