LADIES' NIGHT OUT

Last weekend I went with five of my friends to one of the largest homeschool conventions in the world.  The drive to Harrisburg, PA, took us about 4 1/2 hours; we stayed in a motel for two nights.  It's a great annual Mother's Day present!

This being my 15th year, we have a routine.  On Thursday night we stop for supper at a pleasant little town and eat at a very good hole-in-the-wall place called Brothers Pizza.  On Friday evening, we eat either at Old Country Buffet or at Outback Steakhouse, and then we show-and-tell each other what purchases we made and what bargains we found.

There are always so many excellent speakers at the workshops that it's difficult to choose; I heard Little Bear Wheeler (of Mantle Ministries), Jay Wile (of Apologia), Doug Phillips (of Vision Forum), and many others.

Because my homeschooling years are winding down, I volunteer to work for 3 hours.  This allows me to have my registration fee refunded so that I can spend it on things I don't really need.

I was a security guard.  I got to carry a radio.  I even got to talk on it once.  This being the 3rd time I've done this job, I am SO good at it that the gentleman in charge asked me to come again next year (even though I have no need to attend because my Younger Son will be finished with high school).  I am considering it!

DANCIN' WHILE WE TALK

My younger son and I are done with speech and debate class for the year…till I start working on speech and debate class for next year…which will probably be next week!

Snapfish sent a special coupon for folks who like to print out their photos, so I’ve been obliged to sort through the large volume of what I have in the hopes of making some sort of sense of it all.  Although the lighting was poor at our last speech tournament, I still enjoy looking at what we did in the evenings for relaxation–English Country Dance, of course!

I took this while I was calling a dance:

The 3-day tournament was held in a retreat center that used to be a live-in school.  So we all slept in the dorms and socialized throughout its entirety.

But most of the time, we worked!

HOMESCHOOL PROJECT FAIR

Life has a habit of just flinging a person from one large event to another, doesn't it?  This past week, my husband and I put on our 15^th Annual Homeschool Project Fair, located in our town.  It's great fun to meet a lot of new people and to revisit some wonderful people whom we only see once a year.

We had 80 projects from homeschooled students of all ages, from all over western Pennsylvania (and one from the state of West Virginia).

Each child grade 3 and up were judged by two different people...the younger ones were only judged once-simply because the night before, I realized that we didn't have enough parent judges!!

Each project had a comment sheet upon which students and parents could write nice comments if they desired.  Unfortunately, some unknown scamps spent a lot of time writing "COOL!!" on a huge amount of them; I desire thoughts that are a bit heftier than that!

Each student also had a scavenger-hunt-type worksheet, requiring them to go around looking at the projects for answers.  Those who answered all the questions correctly got jelly beans.

While my husband was finishing up the paperwork, we had entertainment from some of our speech club kids, both older and younger.

And every participant took home a certificate, a ribbon, and a candy bar.

One of the most shocking aspects about doing the fair this year is the fact that the internet is celebrating 20 years of existence.  Only 20 years ago.  I think of how I organized the fair the first few years, doing everything through the mail, the telephone, and by hand.  How far we have come in just a few short years!  Now I have spreadsheets and mail-merge and labels and a website; I don't even have to personally sign the certificates anymore (even though it looks like I did).  Yay for progress!

THE WARM GROUP PROJECT

Another great craft/gift idea is to "make" no-sew fleece blankets. Last year a church group made single-thickness blankets and passed them out to nursing home residents, which included my mother-in-law. She LOVES her blanket, and it even travels with her when she goes to the hospital.

This year our group of homeschooled students made blankets of two thicknesses to give to an unwed mothers' home.

We mothers, at our own annual Christmas gathering, cut the fringes into the blankets.

Then the students tied the fringes together at their Christmas party.

Today I learned through Project Linus that there are MANY ways to finish off fleece for a blanket--all kinds of fringing, braiding, and cutting.

We chose to knot the ends, and in retrospect, we could have used a better knot, such as an "overhand" knot, as explained at All Kinds of Baby Stuff .  Ah well!  Next time!

IT’S NEVER EASY

My son is learning things without me.

For a homeschool mom, this can be an emotionally challenging idea to cope with.  For 20 years, we’ve been together and advanced together, but now he’s doing the life-changers on his own.  And I cannot go there. 

Surely homeschool mothers have so many more milestones of letting go than those who send their children off to public school.  I am so grateful that these happen one by one, to help ease the pain. 

Meanwhile, I’ll become an armchair tourist, which is the best I can do.

Identifying marble from various parts of the world, to learn how far away the ancients traded.

  

Walking the streets of Sidi Bou Said, in Tunis
  


The evening place for tea

 

A Muslim cemetery with the Mediterranean beyond

Perhaps some learning experiences I won't miss

IT'S WORTH IT!

IT'S WORTH IT!

This is my DH when our club put on our Qualifier a couple of weeks ago.

Speech and debate tournament season is over for me...we had a blast travelling 11 hours to Massachusetts to Regionals! 

My friend and I (with two of our students) got up in front of 270 people and did the following skit that we had written:

2 mothers walk out. 
MOM 1:    Hi there, what have you been up to?
MOM 2:    Hi!  Oh, I was just judging the debate team Smith and Jones.
MOM 1:    Oh, haven’t they improved since last year?
MOM 2:    Yes, it’s wonderful!  They’re only 14 years old and doing this well…think what they will be able to do in 2 or  3 more years!!
MOM 1:   I remember when they first started debating.  They were so nervous and tongue-tied.  But today they didn’t seem nervous at all.
MOM 2:    They’re so much more organized, too.  Thoughts that flow smoothly, good roadmapping.

MOM 1:    I used to groan when I found out I had to judge that team.  The poor things didn’t even know what a stock issue was!

Leave stage conversing together…..

2 students walk out.

STUDENT 1:    Hi, guy!  What’s up?
STUDENT 2:    Hi! We just finished our round.  We were just judged by Mrs. Crouch.
STUDENT 1:     Oh, hasn’t she improved since last year? 
STUDENT 2:    Yes, it’s wonderful.  I remember when she first started judging.  She was so nervous and didn’t know what to write on the ballot.  But today she didn’t seem nervous at all.
STUDENT 1:     She’s so much more organized now, too.  Her thoughts flow smoothly on the page, and I understand where she’s taking us.
STUDENT 2:     I used to groan when I found out she was going to be our judge.  The poor  thing didn’t even know what a stock issue was!

STUDENT 1:    She’s only about 40 now; just think what a good judge she’ll make in another 3-4 years!!

HOWEVER:  Our dear students added another line that was unexpected to me:  "Yes, and Mrs. Welton in another 5-10!"

GROWING EVEN NOW

WhoEVER thought I would be a debate judge someday?  The competitors gather at the front of the room to pray…”Father, help our thoughts to be clear.  Help us to be honoring to you….”

What about “and help that poor old mom sitting there with shaking hands who’s going to be our judge….keep her from totally freaking out….help her to understand at least SOMETHING of
what we’re talking about!"

(for interested homeschoolers, see www.ncfca.org)

Homeschool's Joy

Here’s a joy of homeschooling I’ve never heard anyone mention:  the opportunity to be crude, rude, and ill-bred during spelling dictation.  Keeps the boredom away, and gives that good dose of giggles and groans that everyone needs as often as an apple a day.  This morning I was able to be creative with an illness theme:

croaked          He croaked and then vomited.

does               He does not want to vomit.

moaned          He moaned when he vomited.

owned             He owned a bucket into which he vomited.

You get the idea!

Yes, I should be extremely embarrassed to be revealing this side of my personality.  I do these things mainly because I get such indignation and consternation from my son—what a blast to get a rise out of him!