we are not going to speak of this

HOTM conference ticket

Amy! I need to hear from you by 5 p.m. today about your conference ticket or I will have to draw another winner. I don't have an email address and your profile is private. Help!

the boys are back

After a week at Boy Scout camp, the boys are back home. Waking up with my husband next to me yesterday was quite nice.

The girl and I visited last week on family night. The pass-in-review got off a soggy start, but it cleared up.





























A good time was had by all. (But I'm glad they're home.)

not nutty

I have a teenager in the house, so sometimes food actually disappears before I can get all the groceries in from the car. You can relate? In any event, we were asked to try out Nature Valley Granola Nut Clusters and I have kids, so I was happy to oblige. The folks at MyBlogSpark sent over all four varieties Nut Lovers, Roasted Almond, Roasted Cashew and Honey Roasted Peanut. I would have given one away here, but they were eaten -- thankfully I took a picture first so you can know what to look for in the store (pardon the farmers' market bounty in front):

The family vote was that these were a big hit -- I think the almond and nut lovers were the hands-down favorites. I know they will make their way into some lunches once school starts back.

Enjoy!

this is a test

This is another test post. This is only a test. In the event of an actual post, you will have something more interesting to read.
Wish I could get the formatting to work.

trying it on for size

Testing the new template to see how it works with my other applications.

 

   Move along now, nothing to see here…

under the knife

No, not me, thankfully. But I am planning some changes and upgrades in this space over the next week or so.

So here’s the recipe for disaster:

1. Me + HTML (really, that’s enough right there)

2. My beloved (who is also my tech support) will be camping

3. Stuff like css and sifr. (I don’t know what that means, but hey, I’m doing it.)

 

There is great potential for things to go awry, so if you visit and get some weird error, please come back again. If it goes bad, I can always revert to the old template. Probably.

technology, love it or hate it

Open publication - Free publishing - More party guide

heart of the matter’s 2009 parenting and home education conference

Homeschoolers! The nice ladies over at Heart of the Matter are once again hosting their terrific online parenting and home education conference Aug. 3 – 7.

Here are just a few of the speakers:

Andrew Pudewa

Debbie Strayer

Linda Hobar

Sarita Holzmann

Sue Patrick  (Those of you using Sue Patrick’s Workbox System won’t want to miss this.)

Paula Winget from Journey Through Learning Lapbooks

Important things to know:

1. There will be freebies.

B. If you can’t listen live, you can download the sessions later.

3. I have tickets to give away.

Please pass the word. I will randomly choose two nice people from comments on this post. Each winner receives one free ticket to the conference. Please comment by noon on July 21.

the old schoolhouse

Homeschoolers, if you have not checked out all the good things offered by The Old Schoolhouse, click on over and give them a look. I’ll wait here.

Are you back? Good. Did you see? Free cheesecake mix, Apologia gift card, Quarter Mile Math software, Sue Gregg cookbook, art curriculum, biology software…

Come back a little later today for a great giveaway…

Happy Monday!

in fact, it is rocket science

friday files, because writing, like life, is a process

(Here I am in 1970. Two years old and already very interested in cake. My cousin is providing the boost because I couldn’t reach. Still can’t.)

**Homeschoolers, come back here Monday for a fun giveaway.**

For comic relief, I am going to use Fridays (‘cause everyone is in a better mood on Friday) to post some excerpts of things I have written that will never see the printed page. Some of these will be better than others. All will be embarrassing – because I can do better now, I hope. I think it helps sometimes to see how far we’ve come, while remembering that they journey is still ahead of us. (No, that’s not the Friday File.) These files are OLD. I am not going to say how old, but trust me, this isn’t the first (or fourth) computer they have been transferred to over the years.

I will do this for as long as I can stand, which might be just today.

The porch was deep—a full ten feet—enough to provide an oasis on even the hottest days. Rocking chairs would be in the budget one day, and her waiting room would be cooled by massive brass ceiling fans and the breeze that made her sign come alive. One day. For now, the blue-gray of the porch mingled with sap that had risen to the surface of the cedar planks that comprised its backbone, and a hundred summers had blistered the paint into warts. Beyond its confines, the front yard had been stolen inch by inch, as the farm road of another time had swelled into a growling four-lane. It had forced Esther to turn Mr. Jacob’s remaining patch of backyard fescue into a gravel lot.

 

P.S. I don’t even venture into fiction these days. You’re welcome.

disney homeschool days

Walt Disney World. Learning. Fun.

Think one of these things is not like the others? Read about Disney Homeschool Days at Heart of the Matter Online and in Heart of the Matter’s July edition.

I’m feeling that twitch that happens when I’ve been away from the Happiest Place on Earth for too long. (Cowbell will not cure it.)

look, over there

Yes, there – to the right. Down just a bit. See that box? If you want to keep up with things here, you now have the option of signing up for updates via email.

I’ll try to make it worth your while.

fields of gold

Dear Neighbors,

I am sorry you have to look at my flowers, since they have now gone to seed. I assure you, the garden neglect is intentional and not (just) the product of a busy schedule and a bit of laziness.

Behold:

The gold finch families only come if they have an all-you-can-eat buffet.

classic bread, vintage pyrex

Behold, my new to me vintage Pyrex Spring Blossoms loaf pan. Two bucks at the thrift store, priceless in my kitchen.

The bread is the classic whole wheat loaf recipe from the back of the King Arthur whole wheat flour bag. Somebody probably had this exact sensory experience in 1972. I was three and we ate store-bought white bread, so it probably wasn’t me.