Schoolhouse Expo

It's back to homeschool time and registration is open for the online Schoolhouse Expo, October 4-8.

It's five days of top homeschool speakers, fellowship, and fun door prizes.

Save $5 per ticket! Register between August 16 and midnight August 22, and you'll pay only $19.99. Plus you'll receive over $200 in free E-Books.

You'll be inspired by speakers including: Zan Tyler, Dr. Jay Wile, Jeannie Fulbright,Carol Barnier, Diana Waring, Todd Wilson, Davis Carman, Kim Kautzer, Lee Binz, and many more!

A special teen track is planned--the entire family will definitely want to listen to these special sessions. We've also planned a special focus on a topic that touches every homeschool--writing. Plus, an array of other topics that will inform and inspire you throughout your homeschooling years.

Don't forget, MP3 copies of each session comes with your LIVE event ticket.

Two special preconference shows on August 24 and September 21 with Dr. Jay Wile, Jeannie Fulbright, and Kim Kautzer!

Register starting 12:01 a.m. on Monday, August 16.

The theme this fall is "Celebrate Homeschooling!" We're going to celebrate the unique blessings of homeschooling, the beginning of another school year, our families, and the freedom to tailor our children's education to best meet their needs.

If you cannot make the Live event, then the October Expo To Go is just your ticket! You'll reserve MP3s from all of the workshops. This week only, pay just $14.95!

You can visit either of these links to get more information.

http://www.schoolhouseexpo.com/
http://bit.ly/aWHFiL

Enjoy!!


*I am receiving free Expo-To-Go tickets in exchange for my post*

The Last Planner You Will Ever Need

Are you a homeschooler?

How about a parent??

Do you like to be organized?

Do you NEED to be organized??

Have you been searching and searching for the perfect planner?

The planner that will help you organize your school, your house, your LIFE?!

YOUR SEARCH IS OVER!!!!

With the The 2010 Schoolhouse Planner organizing your life will never be the same again!! I have spent countless hours and precious dollars in search of the perfect planner. Finally, I found it!

At over 600 pages, there is truly something for everyone!

Informative educational articles

     Must-know lists

     Forms, forms, forms!

        (fully customizable-type right on them!)

Calendar pages

High School Transcripts

Co-op

Preschool Planning

Unit Studies

Activities Logs

Weekly and Daily Schedules

Schoolhouse resource lists

Christmas Card Lists

Report Cards

Nature Journals

Grocery lists

Menu planning

Recipes...

...and more! Lots and lots more! So much more you'd have to see it yourself to believe it!

I am still in AWE of this planner!! It's been like Christmas around here since I got it!

Does it sound too good to be true?!

Trust me, it's NOT!!

Need to see it for yourself? Visit The Old Schoolhouse for an unbelievable 59 page preview! 

You get all 600+ pages for just $39!

Ready to buy? Download it now at The Old Schoolhouse Store

*As a member of TOS review crew I am taking part in an advertising contest.
 I have received a free copy of this planner and have written this post for this purpose.*

Sunday Snapshot: My teenager

I love my daughters more than anything. As my firstborn, my teenager holds a particularly special place in my heart. She's intelligent and beautiful. She's a gifted artist and writer. She's got a wicked sense of humor; every day she makes me laugh. She's got a kind heart. I wouldn't change a single thing about her.
Oh wait. Yes I would. That's kind of the point of this post.
She hates having her picture taken. Every single time I try to take a picture, I get a battle.
Take last weekend, for example. We were all outside enjoying the gorgeous weather and I wanted to get a quick shot of everyone together.

However, when Samantha sees a camera it signals to her that it's time to look away.

(I can't even guess what's going on with Katie.) So I give them the old "Everyone look at the camera! Smile!!!"

Ok. So we've made progress. She's actually looking at the camera now. Looking in the right direction took a lot of effort, I know. So I try again "Ok. Now everyone smile!!"

Do you see how everyone is cooperating? Sam? Not so much.

Ten shots later, and this is the best of the bunch. After ten shots!! I would've kept going, except poor Katie was starting to struggle. (She tries so hard!) I guess by now I should have learned my lesson. With my Samantha, there is no such thing as a "quick shot"...boy is she lucky there are so many other things I love about her ;)

Sunday Snapshot: Just Pictures

Five Question Friday

1. What were your school colors?
Orange and black. Not very exciting. Unless it was Halloween...No, not even then. :)

2. What's the best compliment you ever received?
Call me cheesy and sentimental, but there's nothing better than hearing "What a lovely family you have". There's just something about having a complete stranger validate my choice to dedicate my life to raising my girls. ;)   Besides, I know if they saw the way they behaved at home they'd be singing a different tune.

3. Do you buy cheap or expensive toilet paper?
Cheap. I have to save the dollars for the expensive things like printer ink. And containers (hey, honey ;p ) I had to throw that in because my husband thinks I have an obsessive relationship with containers. He just doesn't understand that I could quit buying them any time I  wanted...

4. Have you ever had a surprise party thrown for you? Or have you had one for someone else?
Nope. No surprises. My family is lame. Huh. Apparantly so am I.


5. What is one material possession that you "can't live without"?
Material possession? I'd have to say my laptop. We're codependent. There may be an intervention in my future...

My Husband Rocks!

This week for My Husband Rocks I want to talk about what a dedicated, hard working man my husband is.
Every year, thanks to his tireless efforts, we enjoy a bountiful harvest of vegetables fresh from our garden. Now, we call it "our" garden but in reality it's his baby. I love fresh vegetables. I love the idea of having our own garden. But with the exception of the little bit of work I do helping him prep the garden for planting, I'm pretty much a sit back and watch things grow kind of girl. If there weren't any bugs, and if weeding wasn't the most detestable job I've ever encountered-maybe I'd be more hands on. But there are bugs. Lots and lots of really gross bugs. That crunch when you step on them. I don't know about you, but I can't think of anything worse than the sound of a crunching bug.

So year after he year he toils away in our garden without me. And he never complains.  He plants it. He waters it. He weeds it. And then weeds it again. And then weeds it some more. He sits among the plants and sings to them. Ok. So maybe that's a slight exaggeration, but he does have a giant rock that he put at the edge of the garden so he'd have a place to sit while he admires all of his growing plants. Anytime we can't find him, chances are we look out the window to find him sitting on his rock, cheering everything on :)

After hours and hours and hours of endless hard work, we're starting to enjoy the fruits of his labor!
This is one of the many reasons why My Husband Rocks!

Wow! Where has the time gone?!

I can't believe it's Friday already! Between spending days in the lake hiding from the heat and spending time in front of the AC hiding from the heat it looks like an entire week has gone by somehow! Ahh, the lazy days of summer :)




1. What is one food you could eat everyday?
 Pizza! I could seriously eat pizza every single day. For every meal even. Lucky for family there are so many variations.

2. Are you working in the career you thought you would be when you were 18?
Hah. When I was 18 I was expecting my first child. All I wanted to do was make it through alive :)
When I was younger, I always wanted to be a teacher. Homeschooling has given me the chance to do that.

3. What is something that you wish you would have done when you were younger and you didn't?
I wish I had been a joiner in high school. Immersed myself more in the experience. Unfortunately, I was waaay too cool for that. Prom? Forget it. Smokin' pot and being cool was what it was all about. Refer back to number two to see how that worked out for me. Yep. Nothing like learning all my lessons the hard way :)

4. What color are your kitchen walls?
My kitchen walls are wallpapered. Cream and burgandy pattern.

5. Do you remember what your very first favorite song was?
My mom was a big Journey fan when I was like five years old. I remember listening to her records on my little blue record player. It closed up into a little square box with a handle. I had Strawberry Shortcake stories on record, too. I LOVED that record player. It was pretty much the coolest thing I've ever owned. Ever.  Oh. The song? Right. I believe it was "Don't Stop Believing" by Journey. Now. About that record player...



For my very first My Husband Rocks! Friday I'm going to tell you a couple of reasons why my husband rocks. First, he rocks because he does cool stuff that I can't. Our house is old. Like 150 years old or so.
 In addition to the work he's done refinishing floors and tearing down and rebuilding walls he has been rewiring each room as he goes.
Thanks to all his hard work, we now have wiring in our living room that can support an air conditioner! Being able to run air conditioning in this old house without blowing a fuse every minute or burning the place down is miraculous. Yep. That's my husband. The miracle man.
Although he likes to tease and call me a cream puff because I complain about the cold and then I complain about the heat (I do, too, I have no shame!) deep down he loves me and hates to see me suffering uncomfortable! He takes such good care of me :)
My husband also rocks because he grills me meals like this:

The last thing I'm linking to today is



It's such a cool idea. If you have a blog you should definitely check it out!

That's it for today. Enjoy your weekend!