Dreams on Ice

It's Six Word Saturday at Show My Face and it's time to put my blog promoter hat and tell you about the next big thing to do.  I of course will do it in 6 words . . .

Don't Dare Miss Dare to Dream!!!

Here is the 411

Jan 25th - 29th @ All State Arena (Rosemont, Il)
Feb 1st - 12th @ United Center (Chicago, IL)

Get tangled up in the newest thrilling show to hit the ice, Disney On Ice presents Dare to Dream. Experience Disney’s hilarious hair-raising escapade, Tangled; as Rapunzel, her unlikely companion, Flynn, and Maximus, embark on an uproarious journey that takes adventure to new lengths!  Boogie to the beat of the bayou with Princess Tiana and Prince Naveen from The Princess and the Frog, in a magical, musical journey that all begins with a fateful kiss.  And fanciful dreams become reality as Cinderella meets her Prince Charming, with a glass slipper fit for an unforgettable fantasy come true.  All your favorite princesses take to the ice in a spectacular finale at the ultimate Disney Princess event of a lifetime!  Experience the beauty, sparkle, and spirit when Disney On Ice presents Dare to Dream comes to your hometown!



Frying Pans! Who Knew?!?

Cinderella and her Fella

They got my nose wrong!
And you can't read the fine print.
So here it is below . . .

Wanted

 Flynn Rider

Rumored to be in Chicagoland Area with Disney On Ice

Get 4 Tickets for $44 on Weekday Shows

OR Save $4 on Weekend Shows

Redeem offer with code MOM through Ticketmaster.com,

Box Office, or call 1.800.745.3000

Click here or on any of the pictures above to take advantage of this special offer.


Offer not valid on Front Row or VIP seating. No double discounts. Service Charges, Handling and Facility Fees may apply.

 I plan on taking Puppy and company this Wednesday.  Look for our reviews of the show shortly after that.

For More Six Word Saturday show your face or maybe just your tiara at showmyfacedotcom by clicking here, 

Friday Fragments - Promotional Considerations

It is Friday Fragment time again.  This week's fragments all seem to be self promoting.  Oh well, if I were a true narcissist wouldn't tie them all up in one post, I would write them all out separately.

Fragment 1

If you don't follow my vlog Dave Out Loud. (and at this point no one does) you are missing gems like this . . .





Fragment 2

I have just created a resource for quality home school blogs.  It  takes all 20 Homeschool Blog Awards (HSBA) categories and features the winner in each category.  I also go behind the scenes and say who I voted for in each category and why as well as sharing a sample post form all 20 winners that I think gives us a good glimpse of their work.

Fragment 3.

Mine is apparently not the only resource throwing bouquets to home school bloggers.  It seem that one of those bouquets was even thrown my way.



Yes Teacher Certification Degrees dot com did a fantastic job compiling 100 Homeschooling blogs and a few honorable mentions.  Here is what they said about HSD:

Dave is the “Home School Dad”, White Sox fan and movie buff whose sense of humor shows in creative nicknames and occasional rants; wife Amy adds her voice as a guest contributor to this lively blog filled with ideas for budget-friendly family fun, reports on Lego robotics action and a fresh perspective from the homeschool front.


Occasional rants! I wonder what they mean by that.  Well, I never.   They have a lot of nerve.

Fragment 4.

Speaking of Robotics . . .

The State Robotics Tournament is tomorrow and Saturday.  Unlike last year, Spider Droid's team will not be participating.  They did great at their regional.  Just not great enough to be one of the 3 teams from a field nearing 20 to make it. 

Here are  some pics from the regional. 

Well those are all the fragments I have for today.  For more Friday Fragments click here.

Puppy Out Loud?!!!!?

PUPPY TAKES OVER DAVE OUT LOUD STUDIOS!

7 reasons why I'd like to win a ticket to the Titus 2:1 Conference

The Titus 2:1 Conference is coming to your town.  That is if your town is Sterling, Va. The Conference takes place in April 27th through 29th and is a homeschool bloggers conference.

Kris, of Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers,  is one of the speakers at the event.  She has been given 1 ticket to the event (a $199.00 value) to give away on her blog.  This post is my entry to said give-a-way.  My goal, to explain why I'd like to win a ticket to the conference.

Here is a list of my reasons.  Some are serious, some are silly and some are just plain HSD.

Reasons I want to attend the Titus 2:1 Conference

1.  I like to go places where it's not certain that I'm welcome. 

The Titus 2:1 Webpage page says:


The 2:1 Conference is a faith based conference for homeschooling parents that blog (not just about homeschooling), or are otherwise interested in social media outlets like Facebook and Twitter.

Well that's me, a homeschooling parent who blogs.  So I'm invited right?  Not so fast.  The Conference Home Page, the one you read before you can even get to the About page, says this in the first paragraph:

2:1 is the premier conference for bloggers like you - mothers, in the trenches of homeschooling, with hearts for God. 

Well, I am in the trenches of homeschooling, but am not a mother.  It seems like it might be kind of awkward for me to go to a place where I'll stand out like a sore thumb.  This brings me to reason 2.

2. I don't mind standing out like a sore thumb.

A seminary professor of mine described me to a mutual friend years later, by saying that I marched to a different drum.  I am told that he meant it as a compliment, and I certainly took it as one.  As a Homeschool Dad who is actually the stay at home teacher rather than the go to work provider, I am used to sore thumb status.  I finally got our co-op to stop calling the break room the Mom's room and refer to it as the parents room instead. 

Seriously, I think I can learn a lot by being with so many bloggers in one place, that my sore thumbs won't mind so much.

Or I could, as Steven Keaton explained to his wife Elise in Family Ties what he would do at an all female architects convention, arm wrestle for money.


3. I'd like to learn some technical aspects of blogging especially advertising.

I would love to do more advertising on this blog and would like to talk with other bloggers how they do that.

4. Because winning a ticket is much better than losing a ticket.

Seriously, you are on you way out the door to go see a show. Then you realize you don't have the tickets. Where are they?  Now we are going to be late.  Puppy did you make that mess?!?


5.  I love D.C. and have relatives in the area I could stay with.

6.  To find out how to increase my readership. 

I think being a teaching blogging Dad in a Mom's world hinders the type of audience I can attract.  However, maybe this conference can help me get the word out on HSD as well as give me new strategies for increasing my readership.

7. I could certainly use the spiritual refreshment.

  I like that this conference is faith based. Teaching my kids at home is the toughest job I ever have had.  It depletes my energy and my spirituality.  A conference like this will be a great blessing.

So those are 7 reasons why I'd like to win a ticket to the conference.  I'll be back later today with some Friday Fragments.

Turtle Cake is Best a HSD Rewind (Sort of)

This post was originally aired in 2010 in November.  It has been one of my most popular posts over the past 2 years.  Somehow, it has been in draft status for a while.  This is probaly from  back when I was trying to clear out all the kid's real names and put in their blog names. 

Since the post was in draft it did not count in my post count.  So this old post is actually # 600.  600 posts and I even brought a cake!



Spider Droid's Cub Scout Pack had a cake walk Friday Tonight. Each Cub Scout was to design and help make a cake according to a theme. I did not tell Spider Droid all the themes. There was an "other" theme which meant decorate the cake any way you want. I neglected to mention that one to Him. Otherwise it would have been A Star Wars Cake all the way. There is a limit to how much Star Wars stuff a guy can take, so I said nothing.


One of the themes was wildlife and SD decided to make a cake based on his favorite animal, the turtle. Here is how it turned out.

While Amy and I helped with some of the baking and decorating, SD was involved in every part of the process.

For each The scoutmaster announced 3 scouts in and asked them to come to the front. At that point, you knew they were in the top 3 but not what place.

When we entered the cake I heard many positive comments about the turtle cake and since some of those same people were judges I was not surprised that his name was called for the top 3.

But this did surprise me . . .

First Prize!!! Congratulations, SD! When it comes to having good ideas and implementing them, I guess you take the cake!

Meanwhile back in 2012 - Spider Droid is no longer doing scouts but he still likes turtles. 

I promised that I would wrap up the HSBA today.  If you check out my pages you will see a HSBA 2011 page. In it I have revealed all my voting for the awards and also highlighted all the winning blogs and shared a sample post from each.