1 3 12 = 6

I recently  received an e-mail from Henry Cate and he says that the home school carnival has been going on for six years.   Since I am a host of the carnival, he has asked me to include a post for the upcoming anniversary and also to invite you, my readers, to do so as well.   After reviewing the guidelines, send  your post by  e-mail to CarnivalOfHomeschooling@gmail.com.  If you would like to participate, you should  do so by January 2, 2012, at 6 PM.   Now I just need to come up with a post by then!

My HSBA profile is on the winner of Best Nitty Gritty Homeschooler.  So You Call Yourself a Homeschooler is a fantastic blog that goes the extra mile.  Here is a Sample Post from Thanksgving 2011.

From my mouth to your eyes

This is kind of amazing for me. Here I am, laying down ready to sleep, and I think , "Hey, I haven't really posted on my blog for a while." So, I grab my new Christmas gift, an I pod touch and simply start talking. Cool. I've talked before, what's different about today? Well I'll tell you what's different, I am using the Dragon voice recognition app. It is typing everything I say.

The past few days since Christmas, we have gone on our annual library week. It has turned out to be more screaming and yelling week. This is really a problem for our family, because I love screaming but hate yelling and Amy loves yelling (and Cheetos) but can't stand screaming. The goal is more libraries tomorrow and Friday sans the screaming and without the yelling.

Typing not talking here. In the future, I will not broadcast (pun intended) what methodology I used to bring these posts to life.

Have not forgotten about HSBA spotlight. The winner this year of best encourager was the Home Scholar. The thing I like about this blog is that the encouragement found within is practical and pragmatic. Here is a sample post.

The Queen's Speech

Christmas, Libraries and More

Sunday's Cool

A Link Up and A Look Ahead



A Link Up

This week we started Library Week amid all the hustle and bustle of the Holiday Season.  I hope to utilize our home school blog more in the months to come and will post our library adventures there.  Here is the first installment

We interrupt this post with a Holiday Message

Hope you are having a wonderful Christmas.  We hosted our family today as there were few enough people coming to fit comfortably in our house.  With all the travelling we have been doing lately, it is nice to stay home and celebrate here.

A Look Ahead

This week in real life, we will be visiting loads of libraries,  and posting snippets here.  That won't start until Tuesday.  Tomorrow we will engage in a little excitement call Do Nothing Day.

You can read all about it next time.

Merry Christmas! 

Christmas Eve Musings

It is 9:oo p.m.  Christmas Eve.  Amy and I are relaxing on the couch as we wait for our children to fall asleep.  We never taught our kids to believe in Santa, but we do still like to put candy in their stockings from us once they are asleep.  Even though they know the big guy isn't coming, it is still hard to get them asleep the night before Christmas. 

While I wait for them to sleep, I thought I would take some time to say a few things here. Christmas is chaotic fun, chock full of family visits, car rides, old movies, good food, good conversations, awkward pauses, rousing card games, frequent questions like "So how long are you in town?" etc.  But we do enjoy the chaos.  At times, we do forget to be really thankful for the true meaning of Christmas.  Not what many people say, "baby Jesus being born." No, no. We are thankful that Jesus gave up his God-hood, and became a man, to suffer as we do (and much more) to make a way for billions of sinners He loved so much.  And that way He made for us is so simple and beautiful, almost too much so for so many, so that they miss their role in salvation...acceptance.  Oh no, I have to DO something to go to heaven. Or God doesn't exist for me, no God I know would allow people to suffer, etc.  God has made a way for us to know about him through his word and creation, and to know him through his Son.  Thank you Jesus!

Comparison Shopping during the Holidays

Christmas time is a great time for catching up with people you haven't seen for a while.  This is done through family get-togethers, parties and Christmas cards.  Sometimes after reading other people's Christmas  letters, I get a feeling of paling in comparison.  Earlier this week after reading about how great some of my relatives lives are going I became noticeably melancholy.

At least noticeable to my wife, who spent a few minutes working  at the computer and then handed me a sheet of paper.  The sheet had all the things our family had done in  2011 written on it.  At first I didn't know why she had done it.  It seemed too late to be thinking about sending out a Christmas letter of our own. 

So I asked her why she had done it.She said to remind you of all the great things we have accomplished this year under your leadership.  I have that list on my computer's hard drive now and will pull it up the next time a Christmas greeting has me questioning my worth.

I am so thankful for a wife who will stop what she is doing just to pick up my spirits.