Sled at Top of Run

When my sister walked in with sleds on Christmas Eve, my little girls’ eyes furrowed in confusion. Their older brother announced the welcomed gift, but my Texas girls still don’t get it. I can’t wait to see their faces when we finally get to the sledding hill.

In the midst of Christmas clean up and New Year’s preparations, I’m honored to be hosting the next Carnival of Homeschooling.

I’ve neglected blog reading lately, so please submit a post for me to read and share here on December 29th. Anything related to homeschooling and family life is welcome.

It’s simple to participate, just fill in the form located at Blog Carnival. If that doesn’t work for some reason, you may use my contact form.

Thank you to everyone who entered. I enjoyed reading about your plans. Maybe it will inspire me to work on ours. Right now we are working diligently to get our house ready to sell. That counts as home economics and shop, right?

I look forward to hearing my friend, Dana Hanley, discuss how to develop an educational philosophy. A dateless lesson planner sounds like something I can use. And Anne Elliot’s session, Using the Bible as Your  Primary Textbook, looks insightful and encouraging.

Take a look at all the speakers and sessions. I’m sure there is something you don’t want to miss!

Speaking of missing something, I can’t forget I have two tickets to giveaway. To enter simply leave a comment on this post telling me your most exciting plan for the upcoming school year. It might be a new resource you purchased, something you are adding to your routine, or a fun trip you have in the works.

The winners will be drawn Tuesday, July 28th at 11:00 p.m. CST. Best wishes and thanks for sharing the exciting things happening in your home. I can’t wait to see what you have planned.

Brenda Sain asked me to write for a site she was launching about homeschool philosophies and curricula. I’ve been trying to cut back on my commitments online, but she said the right words: Principle Approach.

I said, “Yes,” and offered to help get the site set up on WordPress. My work is nothing like Darcy’s, who put all the color over there, but my cyberprints are in the backend.

You’ll see my posts there shortly, but there are a lot of helpful reviews up already. The Curriculum Choice is worth checking out!

Project #2

In conjunction with my writing at Curriculum Choice, I started a group at Our Lifestyle of Learning to discuss Principle Approach. You don’t have to use Principle Approach to be a part. I hope we can all encourage each other as we seek God’s heart for our children and endeavor to put his Word at the center of our lives.

I hope you’ll consider joining us there. If you do, please drop me a note at my lifestyle page. I’ll be looking for you.

Project #3

I mentioned earlier I would be doing some blog housekeeping. There are a few changes here. The most obvious is a bright new theme. Other additions are a contact form and threaded comments. More ways to connect with you. More ways to be blessed.

Thank you for your grace to me. You’ve made this such a pleasant place to share my heart.

Project #4

To be determined by the dust bunnies…

Woman Cleaning Alley, Sibenik, Croatia

After procrastinating longer than I care to admit, I finally switched everything over. I’m still scrubbing cupboards and straightening pictures. Literally, the pictures.

My images were not imported on my first attempt. Deckards absent from their own chronicle. Two years worth of pictures vanished, and by their absence I sensed how much this blog contains. I don’t write every day, but life is made of moments. If I capture a few here and there, doesn’t it give more meaning to the others?

Looking back I see with different eyes, a different heart. The moments of frustration give way to a smile. I see where we are now, the progress made. I see how quickly my children are growing. I remember starts and sputters, dreams and goals.

And it pulls me back to writing some more.