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, 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.

I Cry A Lot

It's true. I'm a bawler. Especially when I watch t.v. or a movie, I always cry at the climactic scene. Even when the moment for tears is so painfully obvious that I have called it ten minutes before hand, and have been mocking it since. It's still tearduct city.

For example, Friday night I cried at the conclusion of Super Sleuth's Christmas, and the only part of Christmas programming lamer than that show, was Tiny Tim and he was really lame.

Yesterday we were watching about the only current t.v. show we watch as an entire family. Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. We really like watching how special families are given a special house. We really liked this week's episode about a family with 3 precious boys, 2 who have autism.

This is usually where most people would say something about the show and preface it with spoiler alert. If you are familiar with this blog, you know I am not most people. I mean I'm hardly even me. Instead I'll give you this . . .

SPOILER PREVENTION

If you have not yet watched the program, you can watch it right now, on hulu, like we did. But don't go anywhere. I have brought Hulu to You (hoo). It will take less than 2 hours and I'll wait for you.

Part I

Part II


Welcome back. How did you like the program?


I liked so much of it, I'm not quite sure where to start. I was really psyched at the beginning of the show to find out that Temple Grandin was going to be on. We really enjoy the biopic of her starring Clair Danes. Watching the real Grandin in action not only highlighted what autistic people can achieve, it also showed what a spot-on portrayal Danes turned in in the film.


I also liked the fact that the mom on the show blogs. Yesterday she wrote a cool post some features of the not talked about on the show.


I also loved all 3 of her children. I thought EMHE did a great job giving us glimpses of all 3 kids not just the ones w/ autism.

As wonderful as the house was, as great as the kids were, as fantastic as it was to see Temple in action the real star of the show in my mind was the organization C.J. works for, The Sparrow Clubs.

Sparrow Clubs work with schools to have them adopt families in their communities with extreme medical needs. The schools then adopt those families and raise money and awareness in the community. Almost all of my multiple crying moments of the show were Sparrow Club moments. It was especially poignant when they revealed that the families oldest child had become adopted by a Sparrow Club .


It wasn't until after the show when I was researching Sparrow Clubs that I did my most serious bawling. It was when I was reading about how the Sparrow Clubs FKA Sparrow Project was born. I double dog dare anyone to read this without crying.

Well, I have to run out to the store and get more tissue. This probably won't be the last time I talk about Sparrow Clubs. It's also not going to be the last Home Makeover recap, as next week they are going to Joplin.


Next Time: The Best of Chuck, The Worst of Chuck

A Good Thing Going

Carnival of Homeschooling is having a back to school edition at Faithful Homeschool. I have decided to participate this week and will return to my Joplin rememberings soon. Here is what's on my mind . . .

Amy had her first full day back at school today. Mondays are often a work day for us and since we are not starting school for at least another week, I decided to maintain that on our schedule. Amy made a list of what needed doing and we started on it.

The first thing on the list was to get a plumber to call in to get our bathtub working properly again (it hadn't been working in weeks.) After we dispatched one, we got working on the rest of the list. I would like to say that everything got done without any yelling, screaming or other mayhem. The truth is I blew my stack pretty quick into the list, and had to apologize to both the bigs for my words.

Soon better attitudes emerged and we were 1/2 way through the list when the plumber came. We continued to work as the plumber diagnosed the problem was a drum trap that they don't even use anymore. He did a thorough and professional job at what I hope was a fair price. After a while I had Bunny watch the other kids at the park around the corner from our house. When they came back I started making mac and cheese with Puppy's help. I had Pandora in the background playing a nice mix of Christian and 70/80's rock/pop while lunch was being made. 

The plumber finished his work at about the same time lunch was ready to serve. As I was walking him out of the house, he told me "You've got a good thing going." I thanked him and ate lunch with the kids.

The truth is the plumber was right on a myriad of levels. 

Yes, for the few hours the plumber was in the house my children were well behaved and got along with each other. Yes,  for the same few hours I was kind and understanding and productive. These things aren't always true. Even so, I do have a few good things going.

I am able to spend the majority of my waking hours with my children.

In July of 2008 Amy and I made the big switcheroo. She began to work full time and I began home educating the children. This is not always something I always do well, willingly, or happily. But the result is that I have spent much more time with my children than many parents Dads or Moms, get the opportunity to. And after 3 years, I can tell you that I would not trade that time for anything. At some point, I would love to return to the work force to give Amy the blessing of homeschooling her children again. Until God opens that door, I know I need to cherish every moment.

I get my family and they get me.

Not a lot of people I know get me. Some don't even take the time to. My wife and kids get me. They know who I am and they like me any way. I think home education helps you to get your kids and help them get you because you spend so much time together doing a wide variety of things.

All good things come from above.

I agree with my plumber that I have a good thing going. I just want to say that I have very little to do with that. God has given me my life, my health, my family. I have absolutely nothing without him and when people recognize the good things in my life, I have no choice but to point upward and say thanks.

I have chosen to share these thoughts in this week's carnival of home schooling. The plumber's comments probably had nothing to do with home education. But home education permeates through our life. Home education is a good thing going.

For more COH click here.

Next Time: Joplin Day 4

Six Word Saturday In Praise Of . . .

Here are my 6:

Why I Like Home Spun Juggling:

I have been a big fan of the Blog, Home Spun Juggling since I started blogging 2+ years ago. It may be because Christina (the blogs author) can do two things extremely well that I wish I could do at all. These are Juggling and Cartooning. I love cartoons but could not draw myself out of a paper sack. I spent most of 1997 in a paper sack as a result. (It's not something I am yet ready to talk about.) In the late 80's I produced a newsletter for some friends. One of the features was called "If I could draw, this would be a cartoon." I would describe a picture and then say what the dialogue or punch line would be.

Here is one I just thought of so I can give you an example . . .

Scene: A Tax Office. On one side is the tax consultant. He is looking rather put out. On the other side is his client who doesn't seem to like what He is being told.
The tax consultant says "No, Mr. Smith, "liking" your church on Facebook is not deductible."

But who needs to set up a scene when you can just draw one up like this . . .

If you click on the strip you will get to one of my favorite blogs: Home Spun Juggling. The cartoon and heartfelt post is an example of why Christina's artwork and writing is one of the gems of the homeschooling blog world.

Her beautiful explanation of the economic choices all families make to do what is important to them ends with a flourish:

"Can we afford it? I would think many of these families would say they can't
afford not to. We make it work, because we want it to. I'm thankful I made
the choice to homeschool. It's a tough job, and I know it's not for everyone, but
it was something I had to do."

I thought much about why we home school this week especially in light of driving to Springfield to protect our rights to do so. It is sometimes a sacrifice, an encumbrance, even an inconvenience. But in the end I I came to the same conclusion Christina did. Even if I do have to avoid paper sacks like the plague.

For more Six Word Saturday click here.

Jelly and the Telly jellies with you. Jam and you Monster Jam alone.

Two years ago a really cool phenomenon hit the Internet. A cool Saturday Morning type show called Jelly Telly. It was from the mind of Phil Vischer one of the creators of Veggie Tales. It was an odd mix. Kind of the Muppet's meet School House Rock with a liberal amount of Sunday School material and a hint of Monty Python. In short our family loved it. it was even a part of our curriculum.

For a while it was available free and then it went to a subscription service. It has now been revamped and is merged with Focus on the Family. The new site also has other Focus on the Family videos like Adventures in Odyssey. It is again free and I can not recommend it highly enough.

One of my favorite parts of the show are the Fabulous Bentley Brothers, Here they are with A song about 2 Kings.



It is a great song but I do take a bit of umbrage with the line Paddle Boats are not cool. Paddle Boats are extremely cool.

But it's not all bible songs. There is Michael who reviews movies from his seat in his mini van. All the reviews end with the Star Wars plots being syncretized into whatever movie is reviewing. But even when you know the premise the results are still hilarious observe:

Michael’s Movie Reviews: The Lion King JellyTelly

Again, I encourage kids of all ages to check out the new improved Jelly Telly. Let me know if any of you like it as much as we do.
************************************************************************************
In other news I was contacted recently by the promoters of the Monster Jam series. They had read my blog and wanted to contact me anyway. They were especially intrigued by Spider Droid and his recent robtics adventures They thought that we as a family and perhaps my readership would be interested in their show that is playing this week in the Chicago area. If you are not in the Chicago area click here to see where and when it is playing near you.

What you may wonder is a Monster Jam? Monster Jam is a truck racing tour and here are some fast facts about the tour:

• At Monster Jam, monster trucks face off in two different forms of competition -- side-by-side racing and freestyle:
  
  Side-by-side racing – traditional bracket racing, where the first truck, with the least amount of penalties, crosses the finish line is declared the winner.
  
  Freestyle competition – allows drivers a limited amount of time on the open floor to show off their skills. In this category, the fans serve as the judges.

• The Grave Digger Team (pictured here) will celebrate their 30th anniversary in 2012

• More than 4 million Monster Jam fans attend events each year worldwide

• Typical monster trucks cost $600,000 yearly to build, staff, compete, transport and maintain on the Monster Jam tour.

• Steel body full-size cars are the vehicles typically crushed during a monster truck event.
  
  Cars, as well as vans, buses, motor homes, airplanes and ambulances, are attained from local junkyards and returned after each event.
  
  Average number of cars crushed per year: 3,000.

That's all cool and good stuff to know but what you really need to see is some footage.

So now let me tell you close enough to the Chicago area about the shows coming this weekend to the All State Arena. There are 5 big beautiful shows. Friday at 7:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at 2 and 7:30. The Tickets cost 20, 30 and 55.00 (not including ticket handling charges) depending where you sit. On Friday all $20.00 dollar tickets have been reduced to 10.00 for both adults and children. All subsequent shows have children (12 and under) tickets in the twenty dollar seats available for $10.00 as well. The higher priced tickets are the same regardless of age.



I have been offered a special deal for my blog readers/ facebook friends. If you use the promo card MOM $20.00 adult tickets have been reduced 1/3 to 13.30. . The deal can not be used the day of the show. Tickets can be purchase at the United Center Box Office, The Allstate Arena Box Office and at http://www.ticketmaster.com/ or by calling 1-800-745-3000. Make sure you use the promo code:MOM. Click here for more ticket information.



Spider Droid and I will be attending on Friday Night. When I get home I will post a review here.





So there you have it, a little telly for your jelly, a bit of monster for your jam.

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

In Praise of Allen Levi

Two weeks left until school starts.

Summer has many great traditions and events. From outdoor movies (which sadly we did not partake of this year) to weekend getaways, our summers are filled with some great activities. Some are relatively new, like home school baseball on Thursday nights and some have been going on for years, like my sister and her kids' annual visit from D.C. to the old homestead. Last year a new summer tradition started which starts again today. Allen Levi will release a new song on his blog today (http://www.allenlevi.wordpress.com/) and continue to release a new song each day until Sunday. Yep 7 songs in 7 days. You can also link to the blog from his web site http://www.allenlevi.com/.

Now wait just a minute, you might be saying who is Allen Levi and what kind of music does he perform?

This video may begin to answer those questions.

I am not sure if I have posted about Allen before. I know I have periodically put up links to his website and blog before. I met Allen about 15 years ago when I was living in South Carolina. He performed concerts at the church I was attending 2 years in a row. He was in the early years of his transition from full time lawyer to full time singer.

Allen quickly became of my favorite musicians. He is a prolific song writer/story teller who at both of those concerts sang songs he had written only hours earlier. Unlike Bebo Norman who is featured with Allen in the above video, Allen has not become a Contemporary Christian Music star. I am not sure this was his intention.

A good # of Allen's concerts are played at Young Life (A Christian parachurch youth ministry) camps and training events. He also plays churches like the concert I saw him at. He also has performed at many more intimate venues. He told me once he even plays at birthday parties. I found this out first hand in 2004 when Amy flew him from Georgia to Illinois for my surprise 40th birthday party.

I reviewed all of the songs Allen played last August in preparation for this week. I thought I would link one up here to give you an idea of his music. The problem is they were all awesome and I had hard time deciding which one to choose. You can find them all by clicking here.

If I had to choose one I would choose Proposal (A Love Song). I chose this one because a) I like the premise of a proposal song following the advice Elisabeth Elliot's father had for her brothers: Never tell a girl you love her until you are ready to propose. and b) because I once told a girl I loved her in a song and then proposed in the same song. (She said "sure" btw.)

The indecision in picking 1 song is understandable as I vacillate easily when trying to determine which of Allen's songs is my favorite. Yesterday it was A Frazier Fir in Florida from that album I bought 15 years ago. Today it's back to Love to Give Away, a beautiful song about his singleness. I am sure after this week I will (and hopefully you too) will have some new gems to choose from.

I could probably go on and on about Allen, but instead I will let his music speak for himself. Not only is he my featured blog this week, he is also listed in my blog roll. Give him a listen, and a read, as his song explanations are often as poignant as the songs themselves. Who knows? maybe he will play at your surprise birthday party as well.

Next Time: A night at the races.

A Father's Day Hero

Not all Father's Day heroes are fathers. Take for example, my BIL Mike. Mike is a couple years younger than me. (If you don't know how old I am, I'm a couple years older than Mike.) As long as I've known Mike, he's been working on his novel. Like many aspiring novelists, Mike has had internal and external road blocks detouring his path to Novelist Extraordinaire. I am not sure if Mike realizes that his journey through the roadblocks might just be the story he's been looking for all this while.

A few years ago, Mike's father's (my FIL) health took a serious nose dive. Mike stopped all he was doing and moved back in with his parents and supervised his father's care. Now, while my FIL and MIL have both worked very hard in their own right on Donn's road to recovery, Mike has been tirelessly involved behind the scenes. He takes Donn to his appointments, spearheads his physical therapy, and supervises his diet and medication. Mike has essentially willed his Dad back on the road to health amid the obstacles.

I also consider the bravery of Mike. When he realized that he was taking care of his Dad's health at the risk of his own, he devised a plan to both care for his Dad and achieve victory in his own personal life. Mike is my Father's Day hero because he has dedicated this time in his life to making every day Father's Day for Donn.

P.S. Families Again is hosting a special Father's Day inspired Men's Monday Meme. The Question this week was:

Who is/was the most influential man in your life? Tell us about him?

I am not participating as such, if you are interested in participating click here.

In Praise of Out Walking

Out Walking is probably the first blog I ever read. When exactly I began reading it, I am not quite sure. It was a few years before I took up blogging myself. I discovered it by looking up some Christian Artist on Google. I think it was John Fischer but it may have been Randy Stonehill. The blogs author, Steve West has years of involvement in Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) and he is a gifted communicator. His blog topics include movies, books, music, and culture just to name a few.

Mr. West makes many recommendations at his blog. He writes so eloquently and persuasively that I have found myself that I have found myself acting on many of his recommendations. To date I have been genuinely pleased with the results.

First, it was the movie Once. He described so glowingly that I found myself looking for it through our local library system. Once I found Once I discovered a thoroughly engaging film about an unusual musical collaboration.

Once was filmed on a much smaller budget than the similar themed Hugh Grant Drew Barrymore vehicle Music and Lyrics. In actuality, Music and Lyrics is a poor man's Once. The story is less engaging, more predictable and the music is far inferior.

The word vehicle I used to describe the Barrymore-Grant coupling ,may be one reason. Once is story and song driven not star driven. Sorry! I didn't mean to shift into review mode. Click here to see the original review that caused me to watch Once and ultimately buy the soundtrack.

The next piece of advice I followed in Out Walking had to do with an Album called Making God Smile. It is one of those artist tribute anthology compilations that the CCM industry tends to produce with reckless abandon.

The tribute is to Beach Boys legend Brian Wilson. It turns out that West was the executive producer of the album. I purchased it through his amazon store. When I received it I only recognized a few of the artist and less of the songs. But, I enjoyed what I heard.

What I appreciated most was the artist liner notes that spoke so powerfully of Wilson's influence on the musicians covering his work. Much focus was on an album, Pet Sounds, that was being hailed as a seminal work of not only the Beach Boys but of Pop music as a whole.

I was so intrigued by the music and the noted that I again went to my public library (I don't buy much) and procured it.

Pet Sounds, given high praise at Out Walking as well, is worthy of all the accolades it has received. I hope to review it soon in these very pages.

There has been so much that I have enjoyed of what Steve produces at Out Walking. Here are links to two fairly recent posts that I highly recommend. One is about his travels and the other is a story he wrote.

I dig this blog because of it's eclectic style and highly personal nature. The personal fuels the eclectic, and vice-versa. These are also 2 major goals of my blog. I hope that my readers enjoy my work even a fraction of how much I enjoy his.

Next Time: A Purple Present with Lucy Inside.

In Praise of Three Things this Thursday

So it's Tuesday and I am posting my Works for me Wednesday submissions and it's about 3 Things This Thursday. Wow! 3 days of the week in one sentence!

Three Things This Thursday (3TTT) is a blog carnival hosted by pride lands mommy @ Psalm 104:24. It is a blog I feature on mine in part due to the excellent music that plays there.

Essentially what happens is the host shares three things going on in her life and gives the readership an opportunity via Mr. Linky to do the same. The first thing is generally a synopsis of the Lost episode from the previous evening. I have never seen the show, but know such a review would appeal to people like WFMW's originator, Shannon at Rocks in my Dryer. Here is a link to last weeks issue. Since discovering this feature a few weeks ago, it has quickly become one of my favorites. Here are three things about 3TTT that work for me.

1. It's an easy format to follow and useful when time constraints or life itself are getting in the way of blogging.

A few weeks ago after my brother passed away, I did not have the mental energy to create a WFMW post (grief, depression, nor the passing of a loved one work for me.) but 3TTT was just the ticket. Here is the link to my original 3TTT entry.

2. It allows for me to post about disparate thing at the same time and things that I might not blog about other wise. In the past few weeks, I have talked about books I read, snacks I've prepared, and give-a-ways I was hosting.

3. I enjoy 3TTT because it appeals to my randomness and love for the non sequtir. The snack post I referred to was right after I wrote a transcript of the eulogy I gave at my brother's funeral.

So that's why Three Things This Thursday works for me. I encourage you to participate this Thursday. (She generally posts about 8 or 9 a.m Thursday mornings). To see what things work for other's late Tuesdays and into Wednesday go to WFMW at We are That Family.

Next Time: That's What I Like About you.

In Praise of Home School Kids Write

Leftovers let you feel good about yourself twice. First, when you put them in the refrigerator "Hey! I'm saving money!" Then, two months later when you throw them away "Hey! I'm saving my life!" - George Carlin

That has nothing to do with today's post, but I was cleaning out the fridge today. Just keeping it real.



A few weeks ago I read about a website called Homeschool Kids Write. Each Monday they post a writing assignment and the students can either put the assignment on their blogs and post a link to it or they include a place for students to post if they don't have a blog of their own.

The reason why I like it so much is it's simplicity. I let my children know the assignment and then they write it. I post it and link it for them, and then we spend some time reading what the other students write. It has become a cost free planning free component of our school week.

Here are some samples of the assignments and what my children have done with them ...

Assignment 53 was to write about your favorite president. Charlie wrote ...

I like Abraham Lincoln because he freed the slaves.



Nice, concise writing, I give it a 10.


Assignment 56 was to write a dialogue between yourself and a sandwich. Emma has been taking a skits class at our co-op. I think that's why her dialogue reads like a skit...

My Samwitch by Emma
Emma: Balony again! Why doesn't mom choose liver sausage insted?
Samwitch: Hey! Don't insult me!Emma: Sorry! I thought you weren't listening. But why do you just have to be balony?
Samwitch: Hey! Don't blame me for being a different kind! Besides, I thought you liked balony.
Emma: My sister does but I don't.
Samwitch: Oh! I thought she liked liver sausage.
Emma: She doesn't but I do.Samwitch: Oh then I got mixed up! I'm sorry! Will you forgive me?Emma: Yes, I forgive you. But tell Mom I like liver sausage, okay?
Samwitch: Do you mean you're not going to eat me?
Emma: Yep! I have extra money for cafateara food.
Samwitch: Yea!
Emma: Good bye!
Samwitch: Good bye!
THE NEXT DAY ...
Emma: Good, liver sausage! I don't have any more money.
Samwitch: Oh Man!
Emma: Well good bye!
Samwitch: Good Bye!

You notice how it's not called homeschool kids spell. I often will have the kids correct their spelling before we post it, but in this case I decided to post it as is.

SO, if you are looking for some ways for your kids to practice their writing and see samples of others, I recommend Homeschool kids write.

To see what other home school families are talking about go to the carnival of homeschooling hosted at the Home School Cafe.

Next Time: Danger! Blogging