It's been a long time

since I've posted anything!  It's been a crazy busy year and a half.  I read my last post, and I'll update that info here.
     The homeschool tutoring group turned out to be a bust.  We did that for 4 months, but the only takeaway from it was that Nick learned cursive handwriting.  That's about it, except that the tutor also administered the Stanford Achievement Test for us.  So, beginning April 1, 2012, I am a full-time homeschooling mom to Nick.  I was clueless a year ago as to how to go about teaching this kid!  We have tried every program, trick, learning approach, teaching approach, therapist --  Well, the long and short of it is that Nick is dyslexic, dysgraphic, has ADHD, and is an ESL student.  He struggles with retaining info, as I've posted before, and I am never quite sure exactly how much he is absorbing.  It's pretty frustrating, really, because he is also VERY INTELLIGENT.  It just feels like we pretty much wasted an entire year, although I'm sure it wasn't all wasted time.
     We have tried many curricula, and spent several thousands of dollars trying to streamline everything and find the best way to teach things so that Nick can learn.  The good news is that we really have figured out some things over the past year!  Although it varies depending on our activities, we have a pretty good schedule and approach to schooling.  We aren't very flexible with our time, unfortunately, because we are talking about a 14 year old here.  We aren't exactly living in homeschooling Nirvana, sitting around by the pool singing Kumbaya.
     Let me explain.  When Nick came to us at age 11 (having been in the orphanage school since age 6), he could not add and subtract 2-digit numbers.  He could not speak a word of English (except Coca-Cola, good morning, hello, and do you speak English).  He had never studied/learned any history, geography, English, or pretty much anything else that he really needs to know in life.  He was merely surviving there. 
     Last year, we worked all through the summer (again) (except for a disastrous 3-week camp experience), took a couple of weeks off at the end, then started school again at the same time as  Tyler did, in August.  I started him out with 3rd grade English, since he could already read quite a bit.  It was too hard.  After a month or 6 weeks, we backed up and started 2nd grade English.  Same experience.  At the first of November, we backed up again and started with 1st grade English.  It worked!  November-December he completed the 1st grade stuff, January-February he completed the 2nd grade English.  He will have finished 3rd grade English at the end of May.  Whew!  Three grade levels since November. 
     Amazing.  We will, of course, have to slow down a bit from here on out, but I think we are finally on the right track.  If we can keep up the pacing I'm hoping for (1 grade level per semester), Nick will be working on-level two years from now (spring semester 2015).  Ohh!  I forgot to mention that the kid who couldn't add and subtract when he came here 3 years ago started pre-algebra this week.  I have to start and end this paragraph the same way.  Amazing.
     The rest of the fam??  Well, I will have to post another day because the stuff above took so long - ha!  But, here are some pics:

Tyler, age 4, October 2005 - the day he arrived in the U.S., and October 2012, age 11

Nick, age 11 - the day we arrived in Ukraine to get him, and fall 2012, age 14

 Family Christmas, 2012 - His, mine, and ours! :)

Lane had pneumonia over Christmas, so I have no Christmas pics of him.  Here he is fishing with David at the family Easter gathering in Texas at Uncle Donald and Aunt Teri's farm, April 2013.