War Horse: A review of a prescreening

I received an e-mail  invitation from a group called Grace Hill Media to attend a free preview of a new movie called War Horse. I didn't have time to open the e-mail let alone respond to it. However, my wife got a similar invitation from our churche's home school support group. She went ahead and reserved two tickets for Spider Droid and me to attend.

The theatre where they were showing the movie is in one of my old stomping grounds. The theatre has particular meaning to me because it is where I took Bunny to see her first movie at the tender age of 3, The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything. Now I have never been to a special screening of a movie before and did not know exactly what to expect. Amy had kind of got the impression it was a will call situation. The crazy girl got that impression when the person she contacted asked for the names of the people who would be attending. When we got there, 10 minutes before the movie started, they said the theatre was almost filled, and that if they did have seats available, SD and I would not be able to sit together.



SD was not thrilled by that, and wanted to turn around back then. I was able to coax him to at least go in the theatre and check out what was available. The closest seats were 5 or 6 rows between them, and we were right about to turn back when a very nice Mom offered to put her youngun on her lap for the movie so SD and I could sit close to each other. This was very kind of her, considering that this is a 160 minute movie.

It turns out that SD sat in a Captain's Chair type seat that was just in front of the first full row of seats and I sat diagonally behind him. We were able to switch popcorn and soda back and forth between us for the course of the picture.

The movie, which opens on December 25th, was incredible. Steven Spielberg directed this film and it is well worthy of the buzz that is associated with a Spielberg film. The movie is not wholly unlike Spielberg's WWII movie, Saving Private Ryan. It is just mostly unlike it. SPR was very deserving of its R rating and I am not sure that War Horse was as deserving of its PG-13 branding. After seeing Saving Private Ryan, Amy said it was like being in war. After seeing War Horse, you get an inkling of what WWI was like, but you don't feel like you participated in it. This is due in part to the cinematography which brings a regal and haunting beauty to almost every scene of The War Horse. The film is actually much more like A Little Princess or Heidi in that you see the main character, which is definitely the horse, interact with a variety of people and bring out the best in almost everyone it encounters.

Heidi similarities not withstanding, this  film is not for everyone. My son and I often  discuss whether his sisters will like a film we have seen together. War Horse pretty much has 2 acts: pre WWI and WWI. We are agreed that Bunny would like Act I but not Act II. While there were children Puppy's age (6) or younger, I don't think she would have enjoyed it. This is a war movie and there is plenty of violence to go around. Yet much of it is done off screen. This does not take the power away from it. In one scene ,a significant character dies in a battle and the viewer figures it out without even seeing a single blow.

The acting is first rate. It is great to go to a movie and recognize an actor or actress who plays one of your favorite characters in another movie. If there are any fans of Miss Potter, you should like the casting of the main human character's mother.

One aspect of the movie that I discussed with Spider Droid on the way home was how the movie handles the topic of war. It neither glorifies it or demonizes it. It also doesn't result in stereotypical portrayals of the "enemies." The filmmakers show goodness on both sides of the trenches.

War Horse is a great film that I look forward to seeing it again. I also hope to attend more prescreenings of movies in the future. Next time, I'll just arrive a tad earlier. ******************************************************************************************************************************* My current HSBA feature blog is Frontier Dreams which won for Best Crafts, Plans & Projects.  It is a gorgeous blog with precious pictures of darling children.  Click here for a sample post.
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Next Time: Obligatory Christmas Tree Post

Misbehavior and Consequences

Rod Blagojevich was sentenced today.  Rod is the 4th former Illinois governor, in my lifetime,  to be convicted of a crime.  His crimes were many.  He, essentially, abused his power in order to make life easier for him and his family.  During the 3 year ordeal between arrest and sentencing, he maintained his innocence and offered no type of apology until today.  The apology appeared to be too little and too late, as he was sentenced to 14 years in prison.

When Bunny heard the sentence, she wondered, if what he did was so bad as to earn 14 years.  I explained to her that yes, I thought the punishment did fit the crimes.  Here was a man, who had promised to change the culture of corruption in Illinois when he ran for governor.  (He sure kept that promise.  However, we thought he would change the culture for the better, not the worse.)  Instead, He sullied the  already tarnished reputation of Illinois politics.

He betrayed the trust of the people he was supposed to govern, and engaged in criminal acts without any sign of remorse, until today's grab to earn a reduced sentence.  I thought the firm sentence was a very good strong message that business as usual, look the other way, what's in it for me politics will no be tolerated. 

I was not only an observer of the justice system today, I was also a participant.  One of my daughters, I wont mention names, but the one with the birthday yesterday, did something she knew was wrong today.  She then lied about it several times before admitting her guilt.  It was very Blago-like.  Except we didn't have to go to trial.

Like Bunny with Blago, I also had to question whether the consequence (which I chose and administered) fit the crime.  The consequence for the misdeed was actually quite light.  The consequence for the cover-up was very strict.  Like the Blagojevich sentence it effected more than her it effected the whole family.  The Awana Grand Prix  was tonight. She had been planning on going and was working hard to prepare for it. 

Puppymobile Grounded

I had been assisting her and not only was it a fun event but it was also a competition that we thought she had a pretty good chance of winning a prize at.  Because she missed the event, Amy also had to miss it as well.  Meaning she could not watch Spider Droid and Bunny compete.  I will write another post tomorrow about how the event went.

I was tempted to make her nonattendance the only consequence.  The cars had been entered last night, so it was logistically possible for her car to race and be judged without her there.  I decided against that because:

A) That would not be fair to a kid who had not misbehaved to lose out to someone who did.
B) It would treat her misbehavior like it was an illness or a scheduling conflict.
C) Regardless of whether she won or not. allowing the car to race would be less of a deterrent for her not lying the next time.

My opinion on Blago's and my daughters sentencing are very similar:  The punishment fits the crime and acts as a deterrent for future misdeeds.  Whether it be politics or parenting justice can be served by following that pattern. 

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In totally unrelated blogging business, I am going to feature 1 HSBA winner in each of my next 20 posts.  Today's featured blog is  the winner of Best Home School Dad Blog, Families Again.  This fantastic blog is very deserving.  Here is a sample of  his fine work
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Next Time: Race Night Roundup

Liebster Blog Award

Cristina the author  of Home Spun Juggling, has bestowed upon me  a Liebster Award. 

Liebster  is a German word. 

According to an online translation tool Liebster can be defined as

 - n. sweetheart, beloved person, darling   

adj. dear, darling; beloved, liked very much; affectionate, loving   

adj. favorite, preferred above others; liked or loved above others

 

 

The purpose of this award is to showcase the hidden gems of the blogging world.  Blogs with 300 or less followers can be given the Liebster by a previous winner.    The new winner then finds 3-5 deserving blogs to bestow the award on. 

In a sense it seems like a high honor and I know that Cristina meant my Liebster that way and I receive it in that way.  But in another sense it seems like a blog version of a chain letter.

  Since I like to fill this space with praise of others in the blog-o-sphere.  I don't mind awarding some Liebsters to deserving blogs.  I would like to say that my no means do I expect  my Liebster winners to feel like they need to pay this award forward.  If they feel they know blogs that are deserving of this award.  I say go ahead let the world know.  If they choose not to continue the tradition that's fine too.

Here is the criteria I used for  doling out my Liebsters.

1) 300 or less followers.  In researching the award, I found that most references to it said 200 or more followers.  But Christina said 300 in her post and since she is my sponsor I am going to follow her lead.  Two of the blogs I have given the award to don't broadcast their follower stats.  I am giving those two the benefit of the doubt.

2) Blogs I love. Each of the recipients below are blogs I have mentioned in these pages before.  Many I have dedicated 1 or more post to.  I did not scramble to come up with names, the quality of these blogs scream out to me for recognition

The 5 blogs I have chosen are all written or co written by men.  This is somewhat coincidental.  However, since the blogosphere (at least the corner I live in) is generally filled predominately with blogs written by women.  I thought it might be nice to have a testosterone filled wing in the Liebster Hall of Fame.  Again, the quality of these blogs not the gender of the writers was my main criteria in bestowing the award. 

Here are my 5 Liebster winners in no particular order.

Read-a-loud Dad. 

 I became familiar with this blog by reading his work in the Carnival of Homeschooling.  I felt an instant affinity since we both have the same last name, Dad. We also share an affinity to reading aloud as I have been reading to my children since they were in their mother's womb.  I continue to read to them now, even now that they all love to read to themselves. 

I like his book reviews and his passion for reading a out loud.  Even though he is preaching to the choir, when it comes to me.  I still find much of what he says inspirational.

Allen Levi's Blog

Allen Levi is a hero of mine.  I have written about turned singer here from time to time. He sang at my 40th birthday party.  I love his blog and even wrote a song about how I wished he would blog more. 

On July 23rd Allen's brother was diagnosed with a brain tumor.  Allen continues to produce great posts with updates on his brother's progress.  The last installment where he compared his brother's sickness to a trip he took to Afghanistan was especially poignant.

While his writing is deeply personal it is  also very accessible.  I encourage you to go pay him a visit.  It just sometimes takes him a while to come to the door. 

Why Homeschool

I absolutely love this blog.  I have been a frequent follower there, since I became a revolving host of the Carnival of Homeschooling.  The carnival is the brainchild of the Cates.  I could write a whole post about how fantastic the COH is.  Im fact, I have.

Why Homeschool goes well beyond the scope of the Carnival of Homeschooling.  It has some of the best variety in the entire Internet.  It is well written, and thought provoking. I love this blog so much, I was pleasantly surprised to find it does not yet have 300 followers and thus qualifies for the award. 

Out Walking 

Out Walking is the first blog I ever remember reading.  I found it as part of a google search.  Like Allen Levi's blog there is much more quality to this blog then quantity.  He has posted only six times since September 1st of this year, but each one was well worth waiting for.

Today's post, Oh Melancholia really struck a chord with me.  The teasing he gets from his son is very similar to the beating I take because I cry a lot.

Families Again

The author of  Families again is an HSBA rival of mine.  He and I have been nominated in the best Dad category for each of the last 3 years.  The main difference being, is that he has won it two of those years (including this year)  and I am still in Susan Lucci mode.

I am a big fan of Families Again.  The author does a great job of balancing between product reviews, Compassion updates, and other interesting topics.  He used to host A fine meme called Men's Monday Meme.  As a former host of a failed  an erstwhile meme, I know the pain of spending time to prepare a weekly meme and then only having 1 or less blog link on to it.  If you don't find his blog at the link above, he has probably completed his switch to the blogger platform.  I gladly became his first follower at the new location earlier today. 

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I hope you enjoyed my Liebster Awards.  Thanks again to Cristina for giving me mine.  Just so you know, Cristina.  That if anyone else gave me my Liebster, you would have been the first to receive one from me. 

HSBA Awards and Carnival of Home Schooling

The 2011 HSBA awards were announced yesterday. I have all the links to the 20 winners blogs on the sidebar to the right. If you want to see who won for what catefory click here.

Today I have listed the blogs I voted for in each category as well as a link to each blog. I am currently working on making a page that will incorporate who I voted for in each category along with the winner of each category. There were some awfully good blogs nominated this year and I am looking forward to familiarizing myself with the winners.

Here is who I voted for . . .

Favorite Homeschool Mom Blog Home Spun Juggling

Best Homeschool Dad Blog Home School Dad

Best Blog Design Homeschool Hacks


Best Photos Blog Adventurez in Child Rearing

Best Crafts, Plans & Projects Blog The Science Mommy

Best Family or Group Blog Why Home School?

Best Encourager A Holy Experience

Best Current Events, Opinions or Politics Blog Why Home School?

Best Homemaking or Recipe Blog Tammy's Recipes


Best Teen Blog God's Daughter

Funniest Homeschool Blog Home School Dad

Best Special Needs Homeschool Blog Special Needs Homeschooling

Best Homeschool Vlogger 10 Million Miles


Best Homeschool Variety Blog Marine Corps Nomads

Best Thrifty Homeschooler Blog Angi's Place

Best SUPER Homeschooler Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers

Best Nitty-Gritty Homeschool Blog Home Spun Juggling

Best NEW Homeschool Blog Homeschool Hijinx

Best Homeschool Methods Blog Homeschool Mo

Best Homeschooling Nature/Field Trip Blog Charlotte Mason in the City

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The Carnival of Homeschooling Thankfullness Edition went up today at Mom School. I am gratified that they included my post on receiving and believing encouragement. Check out the entire carnival by clicking here.

Next Time: Pilgrim Hat Cookies

Where are the Birds? A Puppy and Bunnyism

I am sitting here at the library using the computer and voting for the HSBA Awards. (Vote for me in funniest blog and best home school Dad if you have not already by clicking here. Puppy is at the computer next to me playing Club Penguin. After Puppy picked up some videos to check out, she started watching Bunny play. That is how I overheard this conversation.

Puppy: Where are the birds?
Bunny: What birds?
Puppy: The birds you are going to destroy.
Bunny: Oh (Puppy's real name) Kill two birds with one stone is just an expression.

Oh well. Just had to share that. Now back to my HSBA voting.

HSBA, COH, and ME

This weeks Carnival of Homeschooling is up at Under the Golden Apple Tree. My recent post about Birthdays and Homeschooling can be found there as well as many fine homeschooling posts that I am looking forward to sampling in the days to come.

I will be hosting next weeks COH and submissions can be emailed to CarnivalOfHomeschooling@gmail.com Be sure to include the following:

Title of Post

URL of Post

Name of Blog

URL of Blog

Brief summary of the post

You can also send submissions in via Blog Carnival

There is a carnival atmosphere around the internet due to the recent nomination announcement at the HSBA. I am excited that this blog has been again nominated in the Best Dad blog category as well as Funniest Homeschool blog. You can check out all the fine nominations and vote for my blog and the rest of your favirites by clicking here.

Besides shameless self promotion of the awards I will also be revealing which blogs I voted for in various categories during the voting period which ends November 17th.

In the first category, Favorite Homeschool Mom Blog I voted for Homespun Juggling. This is by far my favorie homeschooling blog that I don't write myself (see previous sentence about shameless self promotion.), As a reminder of why I like her blog so much read this.

So check out the carnival, submit a post for next week, check out the HSBA nominations and vote for your favorites *Hint Hint :)*

Next Time: HSD Rewind.

HSBA Award Nomination Time

I don't blog for a month. Now twice in a day? I am not trying to make up for lost time. It's just when I started reading some blogs I realized we are right in the midst of one of my favorite times of year, HSBA Season. This is the 7th annual Home School Blog Awards at the Home School Post. I became aware of the awards 2 years ago when I found out I was nominated for Best Home School Dad award. Last year I was nominated in that category as well as funniest homeschool blog. (I know funny, I'm a clown fish). While I have not won an award yet, I enjoy finding out about other great homeschooling resources and being part of awarding excellence.

Because of my sabbatical I missed most of the nomination period. They end this Friday October 21st. You can nominate posts by clicking here. So if there are any good home school blogs you want to share with the home school community go ahead and nominate them.

Next Time: Don't Know Much About History- A Review

Of Blog Awards and Carnivals

A little Homeschool Blogging news for a Tuesday evening.

The Carnival of Homeschooling is in it's 256th week. If I were hosting this week I would call it the four to the fourth edition. This is probably one of the main reasons I am not hosting it this week. Mrs. Mama Hen is doing the honors this week and she is calling it the Our Great Nation edition. She must be from Switzerland, because only those stinking Swiss would think they were the only country using the internet. Greatest nation, indeed; their cheese has holes in it. Alpine (or other) ethnocentricity aside, it is an excellent carnival.

The HSBA award winners were announced late last night. I don't think anyone I voted for won (including myself) but many excellent blogs were honored. I will be listing all the winners on a separate page laterin the week; you can check them all out here. Congratulations to them all. Special appreciation to the fine folks at the HSBA who spend so much time and energy on the awards each year.

Six words for vote for me @ HSBA

http://www.showmyface.com/ has arguably the best blog meme ever. Six Word Saturday is all that and a bag of chips infinity. It is also one of the few memes with a day in it that doesn't broadcast a day before it's name sake. WTG in the truth in advertising game, Show my Face!

My Six Words today could easily be surmised from the above button. But I'll be glad to reiterate . (reiterate v. - To iterate again) :

2010 Homeschool Blog Awards. Vote Now!

The HSBA Post is again hosting the awards. There is about a week to vote and for the purpose of full disclosure, my blog is nominated in 2 0f the 20 categories. Yes, I have been nominated for best Home School Dad blog again this year. Since the name of my blog is Home School Dad, you'd think I'd be a shoe-in. Tell that to Families Again who won last year. I say vote for me and let him win Best Families Again Blog.

And as surprising as it may sound considering the last paragraph, I am also up for funniest home school blog. You can vote for me by clicking here. I strongly urge that you browse all the categories. You may find some new favorites (fav-o-rites n. Irish Rapper).

To get back to more Six Word Saturday or just to get away from me click here.

Keith Time: A Summertime Remembrance

I Know Funny, I'm A Clown Fish!

You can tell that it's mid fall: the weather is getting colder, the leaves are falling, and the clocks have all been switched. One sure way to know that it is mid fall, is that the Homeschool Blog Award nominations have been announced. The great people at the HSBA each year sponsor awards for homeschoolers in a number of categories (20 this year).

I became aware of the HSBA last year, when I found out I was nominated in the best home school dad blog. Since the name of my blog is Home School Dad, I thought I would be a shoe-in. A very good blog called Families Again won the award instead.

The award I really wanted to win was funniest home school blog. Win, I wasn't even nominated. It was very disappointing, becasuse in the words of Marlin in the epic movie, Finding Nemo: I'm a clown fish, I know funny. Now, technically speaking, I am only an honorary clown fish.

Yesterday they announced the 2010 ballot. Not only was I renominated in the home school dad category, I also was nominated in the funniest category! Some days it really pays to be an honorary clownfish!

To vote for me in the home school dad category click here. To vote for me in the funniest blog category click here. To vote for all the categories click here. Even though I live near Chicago, the HSBA does not follow the vote early vote often method. They ask that you only vote one time per person in your household. The exact rules are at their site.

As glad as I am to be nominated, I am also looking forward to looking at all the other fine blogs that have been nominated. In a future post I will share my ballot.

Keith Time: A Quick Keith and Dave Joke

In Praise of The Carnival of Homeschooling

If you have been following this blog you know that since I hit post 300 earlier this year I have been writing some tribute posts to my top 25 labels over that time period. Now with 12 posts left until # to 400 I am inching to the # 1 label.

Tonight's Episode: # 7 The Carnival of Homeschooling.

I have been a contributor to the Carnival of Homeschooling since January 2009, my first month in the blogging business. It was a little ditty called No Child left Ahead. I have also hosted the carnival 3 times since then. My last time was with reflections on the panorama of homeschooling. I need to move on because this is teetering towards self promotion, and I am really here to talk about the carnival. Here are a few reasons why I like the Carnival of Homeschooling:

1. It's better than a meme.

I say this because, while I love a good meme they can have 100's of linked articles. Good luck reading 1/2 of them and having any semblance of a life. The carnival has a finite amount of submissions each week and can usually be read cover to cover without abandoning your loved ones for weeks at a time.

2. It covers a lot of bases.

While all the articles are home school related, the carnival is generally an eclectic mix of ideas, opinions and insights. Homeschooling flakes are a lot like the snow variety as no two are exactly the same. It is good to have a 1 stop shop each week that will cover such a vast spectrum of home schooling issues.

3. It is an excellent networking tool for home educators.

Since there is this vast spectrum of home school banter, the reader is exposed to many great ideas to implement in their own classrooms. From field trips, to curriculum, to coping skills the carnival has been an invaluable asset.

4. It helps unlock the Internet.

Now don't get me wrong, I am not saying that each issue has Easter Eggs with cheat codes on how to unlock the Internet. I'm not saying that each issue doesn't either. So knock yourself out if you want to search for them. What I am saying is that in many ways the Carnival of Homeschooling has helped me better navigate the web. If you look at my blog roll you will see many frequent contributors to the carnival who I am only familiar with because of said carnival. I also have picked up followers to my blog because of some of my submissions here.

I became aware of the HSBA that I wrote about in my last post through the carnival.

I have nominated many blogs this year that I learned about from this carnival. You could nominate your favorite home school blogs by clicking here. My great humility and desire to not promote myself prevents me from mentioning that you could also nominate my blog if you wanted to. Good thing for my legendary humility.

5. It's a blast and a half (kaboom, kab.) to host the carnival.

Honestly, hosting the carnival is a lot of labor. But anyone who's ever done it knows it's a labor of love. It gives you the opportunity to get the first look at all the articles before hand. It also gives you a back stage view of the carnival. If you have never hosted, you would be surprised by how many non home school related carnivals come in each week and how about 1/3 of the submissions come in the last day (including this one). Hosting is also good for me because a theme topic is usually one that I would not have written about otherwise.

So there we have it, I like the Carnival of Homeschooling. If you are reading this from the carnival, I imagine it that you like it too. You can also click here to check out the most recent edition.

Next Time: The United Guitar Trilogy

HSBA Nominations have begun

Show my face dot com has Six Word Saturdays each and every Saturday. I am a regular contributor. Sometimes my six words are funny, sometimes they are windows to my soul. Today they are purely self promotional:

Nominate me. I homeschool. I'm funny.

The Homeschool Blog Awards nomination process began today. Last year I was nominated in the best Homeschool Dad blog category and with a blog called Homeschool Dad that is a good fit for me. If any of my readers see fit to nominate me again this year in that category I would be very grateful. However there is a category of the 20 or so that I covet more than that. It is the Funniest home school blog category.

Funny is definitely my love language. I worked at a company for almost 10 years and always received very good annual reviews. The part I always highlighted to show my wife was the Dave has an excellent sense of humor comment that seemed to get written every year. I know that in the world of business a nice sense of humor comment may seem to some as akin to saying that a homely person has a great personality. I never took it that way. I often tell people that my job aptitude tests in high school said my ideal profession would be court jester. I love making people laugh and this blog among other things is an opportunity to do just that. Also one thing that I have found in my 2+ years of being the lead home educator in the family is that a good sense of humor is as important as a good curriculum.

So if you are up for it feel free to nominate me for funniest home school blog and be sure to nominate other worthy home school blogs in other categories. Click here to participate in the nominations.

For more six word Saturday head back to http://www.showmyface.com/. Also As a show of good faith I will teach you one of my favorite jokes that I have created over the years. Here's how it goes.

On a rainy day when you are around some people that you know. Get their attention than run outside in the pouring rain. Lift your right hand over your head and close your fist in a way that looks like you are holding something in your hand. While holding the pose turn to your audience and say "Why mimes get wet."

Next Time: In praise of the carnival of homeschooling.

And The WInners Are (Not Me) . . .

It's time for Three Things This Thursday . . .

1. HSBA Winners.

I was nominated for the 2009 Home School Blog Awards at the HSBA Post. I was nominated for Best Homeschool Dad Blog and since the name of my blog is Home School Dad, I thought I was a shoe in.

My victory was not meant to be, as Families Again took that particular category. Congratulations to him, and all the other winners. In honor of all the winners, I will have links to all of them on my blog until the end of the year. I am only halfway through putting them up now, so if you won and don't see your blog, a link will be up soon.

2. Snow!

The kids were a little disappointed when they woke up this morning and there was no snow. They had heard, (or read or seen) a weather report that said it would snow overnight. They don't know what we know that weather forecasters are basically guessing! Well, they guessed a few hours late and it is now snowing. The kids are playing in it now as I had some light yard work for them to do as well. Let me look out the window and see how they are at multi tasking. Not bad, better than I multi-task.

They are excited as this is the first snow of the season here's an as it's happening picture of kid's playing in snow.

I know you see the kids playing, but where's the snow? The answer my friend is blowing in the wind. The snow is blowing in the wind. It's almost time for them to come in for hot chocolate, so I'll move on to ....

3. Carving out Time

Today after school Charlie and I are going to carve a bar of soap with a dull knife as practice for how to handle the pocket knife he is going to use at cub scouts tonight. Let's see that's Cub Scouts tonight, dinner plans tomorrow, A party and an outing Saturday, Church and Lucy's Birthday Sunday, Awana Monday, Bible Study Tuesday. Wow! We are busy! How do we carve out time as a family among the business of the holidays and just plain everyday life?

Amy heard an idea on the radio of reading one chapter from the book of Luke each day in December. So at dinner each evening after opening the advent calendar, we read a chapter.

How do you carve out time during the Holidays? I would love to hear from you. Consider putting in on a post and linking it below to Three Things Thursday.

Next Time: 74!

Home School Blog Awards

I'm honored, I'm humbled; I'm third.

I just found out today that this blog has been nominated in the 2009 Homeschool Blog Awards(HSBA). It has been nominated in the Best Home School Dad Blog category. While I'm very honored for the nomination, I must say I'm a little cheesed off for not being nominated in the humor category. My Lucyisms alone would make me a shoe-in!


Seriously though I am honored to be nominated and look forward to looking through all the nominations and all the blogs.

The thing is now that I've been nominated, I really want to win! (Currently I'm in third place, thus the six words) That is where you, my readers, come in. You can vote me by clicking here or on the I'm Nominated button.

If you are just in from Six Word Saturday and don't know a lot about my blog, I hope the rest of this post gives you an idea of what kind of fun and frivolity occurs at regular intervals here.

Art Fans

All my kids are fantastics and prolific artists. Charlie and Lucy often draw 2 excellent pictures on opposite sides of the paper. This has made displaying them a bit problematic.

That is, until yesterday, when I created the Izola Becker Revolving Art Gallery. This week, Charlie is Displaying his exhibit: "Hijinks on the High Seas". Lucy is already working on the portfolio for her showing.

Interactive Reading

For the past few weeks I have been reading the children a chapter a day from Marguerite de Angeli's fine book, "The Door in the Wall."

I was reading today's installment, while the kids worked on their sewing and are projects. Since they were multitasking, I decided to as well by reading and filming at the same time. Here is what happened . . .

My new camera has a lot of cool features. I was playing with the self portrait setting yesterday. This shot captures my feelings of my HSBA nomination. I call it in an homage to Dead Poet's Society, "The Sweaty Toothed Madman."


So I managed to Show my face once more at Six Word Saturday. Head on Down to Show My Face dot com to see what's doing.