We just returned from a long vacation that seemed like it literally lasted a month. We are Back Home now, but it was sure fun meeting several bloggers (like Sprittibee!) I think part of the reason it seemed so long is that we planned the trip for at least a month before we left. Planning for a long trip or a vacation can be a daunting task, but I can testify that it makes life a whole lot easier if you take the time to do so.

We had several things to look ahead to when we decided to take our trip, so our planning and arranging had to start early. We had animals that needed to be cared for and articles to have written for a couple of magazines. Because we knew we would be getting back late in the month, I made sure the girls had their monthly columns written before we ever left. I searched Mapquest repeatedly for weeks, planning our route. Be sure to check

• Mapquest,
• Google Maps

and any other online service to get the best route.

One thing we bought on the trip is a Trucker’s Route Atlas. It is a huge, laminated atlas with all the info you could want on it. It retailed at $75, but we found it in Texas for $15. It saved us time and money on the way home.

Gas prices. You cannot do one thing about it. Well, you could stay home, I guess, but that is about it. I must have taken 100 pictures of gas station signs all over the country so we could chronicle the prices everywhere. For the most part, it was around $3.85-$3.98. There was one place in the far west side of Texas, along I-10 where it was $4.39/gallon. The main objective is to calculate how many miles you plan to travel, count gas on the high side and the mpg your vehicle will get on the low side, so you will be sure to overplan finances for the trip. We have a 15-passenger van, which gets about 15-18mpg highway on a good click. I figured it at 15mpg, at 5,000 miles, with the gas prices at $5.00/gallon. We were not planning to go 5,000mi, and I certainly hoped the gas would not get up to $5.00. UGH. I was actually surprised to hear that gas here at home, which was at $3.85 when we left, reached $4.20/gal while we were gone. It is “down” to $4.09 now. Sheesh.
Also remember to check gas prices along your route online before you leave. Then, when you are on vacation, you can check again before you leave to come home.

The main gas stations we found in the South/Southwest are

• Love’s Travel Stops & Country Stores,
• Petro Truck Stops Locations by Map - AllStays Guide,
• TravelCenters of America, and
• Valero/Diamond Shamrock.
• Flying J has a Fuel Prices page that gives you prices in select US cities.

Many of these travel plazas also have Wi-Fi, so be sure to make notes of those places on your route, if that is a concern for you. We found out that Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas are very limited on catching a wireless connection very easily on the Interstates we traveled.

Of course, there are things you will come home to, like grass that looks like a jungle, if you live where grass actually grows, so you will want to have someone mow for you if that is a concern. It is not a concern for me, because, now I know we can use the weedeater on it and our goats will have fresh, green grass to eat.

If you are only going to be gone for a few days, then putting a hold on your mail is probably not a big deal, but we left for two weeks, so we did stop it. It came on Saturday as a great big bundle, and I was happy to see it wasn’t *all* junk mail!

We found some friends who took mercy upon us and took care of our goats, chickens and dogs for the past two weeks, and if you are blessed with such friends, be sure to leave them a detailed list. We wrote out all feeding procedures and made enough feed for the two weeks we were gone. We tried to cover all the bases. It is hard for someone, even if they have the animal experience, to care for oyur own quirky animals. We have three younger does who will hog down the older does’ food if we don’t feed them separately. Goats get sick easily if their food is messed with, so we have a particular way of feeding our goats. Be sure to stress the importance of how you feed your animals to the caretakers and get someone you trust to do it exactly as you ask or you may have problems.

Another thing to consider is schooltime. Are you going to include workbook time or field trips or nothing? We homeschool everything. I call them Living Learning Moments. From gas prices to crossing 14 state lines to learning about Uncle Leo and his homemade walking sticks to helping Great-Grandpa when the mower breaks. If your children journal - or even if they don’t - a vacation is a great time for them to record daily things that happen. It will hone their writing skills, give them details to remember, and give you a timeline of the things you did on the trip.

A really easy lesson is to print off a map of the US and using them as coloring pages and noting each time you go through or enter a state. You can let your children track your trip and note special places each time you see a historical marker or stop and take photos. If your children are older, they might enjoy a personal smaller atlas of the States to follow as you travel along.

For heaven’s sake, don’t forget your camera! If you do not own a digital, consider it a vacation expense and buy one. Or borrow one. If you do not own a laptop, buy more memory. We are blessed with two laptops, so we downloaded the pictures as our memory card filled up. I promise you a digital camera will save you in the end. I know. We must have taken over 3000 pictures, but I deleted about 500. I cannot imagine buying all of those rolls of film and printing off all those photos, only to throw away 500 bad shots. Sure, we would have taken less photos, but this is a worthy investment.

I hope you have a wonderful, blessed, safe adventure of your own this summer, on the road or in your own back yard! If you would like to see a list of other items to plan for vacation, like clothing and food, please take a look at my planning post: Planning A Long Vacation Field Trip for A Large Family

CARNIVALS OF INTEREST

From Why Homeschool:Carnival of Homeschooling: The next Carnival of Homeschooling will be hosted at Dewey’s Treehouse. As always, entries are due Monday evening at 6:00 PM Pacific Standard Time, WHICH MEANS tonight!

Carnival of Homeschooling

current issue:
Jun 17, 2008
Apollos Academy

next issue:
Jun 24, 2008
Dewey’s Treehouse

current issue:
Jun 10, 2008
Learn Me Good

next issue:
Jun 11, 2008
Learn Me Good

Learning in the Great Outdoors

current issue:
Jun 01, 2008
The Miss Rumphius Effect

next issue:
Jul 01, 2008
Alone on a Limb

Music Education Blog Carnival

next issue:
Jul 01, 2008
So You Want To Teach?

The Charlotte Mason Carnival

current issue:
Jun 10, 2008
Adventures On Beck’s Bounty

next issue:
Jun 24, 2008
Twinkling Stars Family School

CONTESTS AND GIVEAWAYS

Growing in Grace Magazine has something special for designers. They are are looking for a digi-scrap design for the month of September. Their theme that month will be Fall related.

*HOW DO I ENTER? Click on the icon to get all the information. Your kit must be sent to ggmeditor@gmail.com

ENTRIES are due AUGUST 1ST!

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Dawn is having a Twisted Silver Giveaway

Go on over to her blog and check out the pictures of the Twisted Silver Jewelry she has.

Twisted Silver is premiering three new products this week: Motif earrings, Chichi bracelet, and Pod bracelet. A lucky winner, selected randomly from comments, will receive a pair of the Motif earrings!

Motif Earrings: An intricate curving paisley motif bracketed by brass hand forged angles. Wear your art! $50

She also has 2 coupon codes for you if you don’t want to wait to win and want to dive right in and buy a set!

This contest is open to non-bloggers, just use a valid email address when posting your comment.

Contest is from June 24-28th, so get on over there and leave your comment!!!

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HSB Front Porch: Salem Ridge Press Good Summer Reading Contest!
Our hope is that once families have the opportunity to see and read one of our books, they will come back for more. In our current contest, twenty-five families will each receive the softcover book of their choice from the eighteen titles we have republished so far.* Then, we would like to bless one special family with a grand prize of a full set of all eighteen of our titles - that is approximately a $250 retail value! We are excited to be sponsoring this contest and thrilled to share our books with you. We hope you enjoy them as much as we have!

There will 26 winners for this contest!

Winners are chosen randomly.

Contest ends July 6th!

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Freebie From Robin Sampson:

I want to share with you a special book by Wayne Jacobson titled ” He Loves Me”. Its available free on my blog in ebook format. Go to my post, Daisy Petal Christianity. I hope it touches you as much as it has me.

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Enter here IntelligentFirstAid “talking” kit valued at $129.99. To enter visit sponsor and tell why you’d like to win. The giveaway will end on June 30th 2008.

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Enter here to win a (as grand prize winner) an entire Olive Kids room valued at $750 from OliveKids. To enter just fill out their form. There are also five runner up winners who receive $50 worth of product. The giveaway will end at 11:59 PST on June 30th 2008.

If you would like to keep up on other events, be sure to check out Jocelyn’s The Weekly.

Summer is right around the corner, and gardening is getting into full swing on many homesteads, backyards and pots on porches. We started gardening a few years back, and have always included anything to do with it as learning. From planting and starting seedlings to observing the fruit of the plants to taking photos of the work and the beauty.

If you have not yet planted a garden it is still not too late. You can purchase plants already started and put them into pots or a garden spot even now. We use organic seeds and plants. I have found too many things out about eating non-organics, and, well, do your own research. Since eating organic has gained popularity, they should be rather easy to find. Organic seeds can be ordered online from reputable companies.

For us, tilling such a large plot is usually the hardest part of gardening. We did buy a nice tiller last year, so it has become less of a job, but it is so important to get the ground ready so that the roots can grow deep. If your garden is small, a rake and a hoe will do the job just fine. We found some pretty nifty tools at Tractor Supply last week that are claws on the front and hoes on the backside. They are also extendable, so any of us can use them.

One thing to keep in mind is that many plants in a garden are direct-seeded, meaning that you don’t have to start them from a plant. You will want to direct-seed lettuce, spinach, corn, squash, beans, lima beans, carrots, cucumbers, and zucchini(I know that’s a squash too, but I love it!).

Vegetables that you will want to purchase as plants are: tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, and onion sets. We did potatoes last year, and they are so easy.

I was asked last year where to get some Heirloom Seeds from. Here is my experience from the past year or so…. We use organic and Heirloom seeds, so I thought I would give you some links.

We order many of our organic seeds from Seeds of Change out of NM. My Dad ordered ours and his. He ordered from them, because they are solely organic and he wanted to support solely organic growers. He also bought some organic seeds at Lowe’s from Ferry Morse.

Gardens Alive! has organic seeds and chemical-free insecticides, fertilizers and such. We ordered through them last year, and I was happy with them. You could also look at Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds Co. Underwood Gardens has hard-to-find, open’pollinated and heirloom seeds. They also have a safe seed pledge not to knowingly sell chemically-engineered seeds, etc.

Children love to play in the dirt, so planting a garden is an easy one to get them involved in. what aplace to teach your children the beauty and omnipotence of God’s creation. If you are interested in ways to use gardening as a unit study, I posted about it: Gardening 101 - You *Can* Teach Your Children!!

An excellent resource I have found for gardening that is easy to read for adults and children alike is Square-Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew.

Contests:

For a May Contest: This month’s contest is geared towards the kids; however, anyone can take part!! The last day to enter is May 31st. To participate, find the very close up pictures on the blog and figure out what they are. On May 31st, email the answers to us at contests@centurytel.net. The prize is Volume 1 of Patch the Pirate’s Story & Song Treasure Box. The winner will be drawn from all correct entries on June 2nd. Complete rules (and a better explanation) can be found at There Is A Season.

Ok, I really don’t *want* to share this, but for all of you mommas who have Littles 4 or 5 and under… here is a contest you do not want to miss: Win the Ergo Baby Carrier of your choice in our Spring 2008 Contest! No purchase necessary to enter & win! Just CLICK HERE to enter by midnight on May 30, 2008. Winner of the free Ergo Baby Carrier will be picked at random from all correct entries.

Don’t forget that my sweet graduating daughter, Miss Amanda Dixon, is hosting a fun giveaway for homeschool Seniors class of 2008! She is giving away some class of 2008 t shirts from The Homeschool Boutique! Be sure to swing over and check it out.

So there…. you still have a few days to enter these contests. Go check them out!

Carnivals for this week:

Carnival Of Homeschooling #126: End of the School Year? Or Is It? at Walking Therein. Come on over and join me!

The Homesteading Carnival is up ap Grandma Rosie’s Texas home. Take a look at the 51st Homesteading Carnival ……..Summers on it’s way.

That is all for this Memo Monday! Have a fabulous week, and get out and get dirty with your children this summer!

Welcome to this week’s Memo Monday. I hope you will spend a few moments and look at the things going on around the blogworld.  As always if you anything you’d like to add to Memo Monday, you’re welcome to email!

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

>>> The Duggar Family is Expecting #18 Have you heard of The Duggar Family of Arkansas? Check out the The Duggar Family Website.

>>> This week The 50th Homesteading Carnival was hosted at Quiverfull Family! Don’t forget to add your THC Icon to your sidebar!

>>> The 125th COH will be held this week at Po Moyemu–In My Opinion! Please make sure to stop by and check it out for great homeschooling ideas and experiences from other homeschoolers.

>>> Homeschool Blog Awards is getting ready to open up the May & June 2008 Swap! This is something fun for older homeschoolers and moms to do. You have a swap sister who you send a $5 gift package to and they’ll do the same. A great way to get to know new people online and makes some friends!

>>> Stop over at Homespun Life to view the Share Your Faith Carnival. Please join us by sending in the following information to me through the Blog Carnival Site at our very own Share Your Faith Carnival page.

>>> Watch out for the contest Amanda @ The Daily Planet is having, where you could win a Senior ‘08 tshirt from the Homeschool Boutique.

>>> Sisterlisa was honored to be able to have an over-the-phone interview with Kirk Cameron’s Leading Lady, Erin Bethea, from Fireproof today! Go on over to Apples of Gold, and read about the conversation she had with her this morning.

CONTESTS & GIVEAWAYS:

HOST: {Me and Mine}

CONTEST LINK: Win $200 and more this August!

PRIZE: 1st prize: $100 in cash through Paypal

2nd prize: $40 in cash through Paypal

3rd prize: $30 in cash through Paypal

4th prize: $20 in cash through Paypal

5th prize: $10 in cash through Paypal

HOW TO ENTER: see contest link (there is 10 hoops to enter, but you don’t have to do all 10)

DEADLINE TO ENTER: .August 31, 2008

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HOST: nofullstop.com

CONTEST LINK: Contest Kickoff: It’s Raining $1600. Are You Participating?

Open for all to participate.

PRIZE: Prizes worth $1600.

HOW TO ENTER: Subscribe to email feeds plus other ways too.

DEADLINE TO ENTER: .30th May.

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HOST: Lipstick, Powder ‘n Paint

CONTEST LINK: Biotherm Giveaway

PRIZE: RIDES REPAIR - wrinkle repair Day cream for Dry Skin

RIDES REPAIR SERUM - Ultra-smoothing serum

RIDES REPAIR EYE - Eye contour smoothing

HOW TO ENTER: fill out the contest form

DEADLINE TO ENTER: .May 31st, 2008
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HOST: Heavenly Hold

CONTEST LINK: Win a Baby Carrier worth up to $100

Open to US residents only

PRIZE: Baby Carrier worth up to $100

HOW TO ENTER: Enter a maximum of twice between May 1-31.

Email amber (at) heavenlyhold (dot) com with CONTEST in the subject line. Include your top three carrier choices from Heavenly Hold. For a second entry, sign up for our newsletter, or blog about the contest and email Amber again with the blog link.

DEADLINE TO ENTER: .May 31st, 2008

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HOST: Boston Mamas

CONTEST LINK: Enter Win!

US and Canada entrants welcome.

PRIZE: a Diplomat Convertible Car Seat in the style of the winner’s choice. This car seat retails at $259.99

HOW TO ENTER: Fill in the form

DEADLINE TO ENTER: .midnight, EST June 6, 2008.
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HOST: My Wooden Spoon

CONTEST LINK: New Giveaway! KitchenAid Stand Mixer

PRIZE: KitchenAid Stand Mixer

HOW TO ENTER: see contest link for entry details

DEADLINE TO ENTER: .JUNE 17TH, 2008 AT ABOUT 10:00PM CST

******************************************DEADLINE TO ENTER: .December 20, 2008HOST: Cackle Hatchery

CONTEST LINK: Cackle Hatchery Poultry Photo- Contest

PRIZE: $100.00 cash prize for (Best of Breed) photo. (Photo that best shows the pure breed)

$100.00 cash prize for (Funniest Chicken) photo. (funny, cute, originality or artistic).

$100.00 cash prize for (Poultry show prize or ribbon) photo, (photo of bird with ribbon or prize in the photo and may or may not include persons). Also name of show, date and what awarded won on the entry form.

HOW TO ENTER: see link

Photos judged by Cackle Hatchery Staff. Prize money awarded January 15^th of 2009.

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HOST: Adamwhiles.com

CONTEST LINK: Contest: Coolest PC - Win $25 Tiger Direct Gift Card!

PRIZE: $25 Tiger Direct Gift Card 0r $25 to your paypal email

HOW TO ENTER: submit photo per requirements

DEADLINE TO ENTER: .June 30th, 2008

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HOST: Classy Mommy

CONTEST LINK: Giveaways

PRIZE: NATIONAL TREASURE 2: BOOK OF SECRETS on DVD - 3 winners

HOW TO ENTER: sign up for the newsletter by entering your email in the box

DEADLINE TO ENTER: .May 20th, 2008

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HOST: Classy Mommy

CONTEST LINK: Giveaways

PRIZE: NATIONAL TREASURE 2: BOOK OF SECRETS on DVD - 3 winners

HOW TO ENTER: sign up for the newsletter by entering your email in the box

DEADLINE TO ENTER: .May 20th, 2008

FOOD FOR THOUGHT:

“When life doesn’t seem like a bed of roses remember who wore the thorns.”
— Unknown

NOAH WEBSTER DICTIONARY 1828

BOOK, n. [Like the Latin liber, book signifies primarily bark and beech, the tree being probably named from its bark.]

A general name of every literary composition which is printed; but appropriately, a printed composition bound; a volume. The name is given also to any number of written sheets when bound or sewed together, and to a volume of blank paper, intended for any species of writing, as for memorandums, for accounts, or receipts.

I am sure many of you have heard about source of Godly encouragement it is. They have a plethora of homeschool activities and info… and they allow all of us a peak into the lives of other homeschoolers across the world. The Old School Magazine? Well, if you have then you know what a great If you haven’t had the pleasure of reading through a TOS magazine, then you’re really missing out! Here is a chance for you to either win a TOS magazine subscription for yourself or bless another with one (they allow you to tack a new subscription on to the end of your current one!).

The rules are easy and simple… I hope you will stop by and check it out! It ends on February 23rd, 2008! Go here for all the details!

Oh and don’t forget to send in your submissions for the Carnival of Homeschooling, which will be held right here on Tuesday! I’ve already sent mine in! It’s going to be great. Our theme is the One Room Schoolhouse! We provided a submission link on the sidebar to the left for your convenience! See you at the carnival!

So you wanna win something??

Christina, founder of Bundled In Prayer, is hosting a giveaway for a custom handmade super-soft and warm afghan. But, there’s a catch! You must do it for someone else! Nominate someone you feel is deserving of winning a handmade afghan. These afghans are truly beautiful. We have two in our family, so we know! This is a chance to bless someone, so stop over there and leave a comment with your choice. You have a few days left! The giveaway ends on February 1st.

The Carnival of Homeschooling Images Contest, hosted by the Cates at WhyHomeschool, is moving into its second phase. Pop on over and look at all of the icon entries and dates and deadlines to vote on your favorites.

Deena of A Peek At My Bookshelf wants to let everyone in on her party, “It’s My One Year Bloggoversary!!!“. She has been reviewing books for a year now, and she has a giveaway all planned for her Blog anniversary.

There are a bunch of contests on the recent Memo Monday. You can win a Heart of Wisdom E-Book by Robin Sampson,Upper Grade Phonics from MamaArcher, or an opportunity to have their sports column published in an upcoming issue of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine.

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Or read something fresh?

Certainly you have heard of the new online magazine for homeschool moms, The Heart of the Matter, featuring articles written by wonderful homeschool moms just like us where you will find the Homeschooler of the Week, Forums, and Giveaways.

I want to direct your attention to another new online magazine, Growing in Grace Ministries. GGM is a mother-daughter ministry publication that desires to bring encouragement to relationships in the lives of women of all ages. It is especially an online magazine for girls and includes articles for girls about friendships, beauty, and growing in grace among others. Take time to check it out Mom! See if it is something you might want to share with your daughters.

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Visit a carnival?

Life on the Road will be hosting the Carnival of Homeschooling for the coming week.

The Charlotte Mason Carnival consists of topics that center around CM educational philosophy and the practical application of Miss Mason’s works. The current issue for Jan 23 is at The Educational Life. The next issue, on Feb 05 will also be at The Educational Life

The Carnival of Unschooling voices is a collection of posts by unschoolers, both seasoned veterans and those just starting out. Unschooling is a form of homeschooling that does not use a curriculum. The current issue for Jan 01 is up at An Unschooling Life. The next issue, on Feb 01, will be held at Relaxed Homeskool.

The Education Carnival is All about Education, HomeSchooling, Online Education, Online Degrees and Distance Learning. The current issue for Jan 28 is up at WhoLearns.com.

Have a great week!!!

Blessings!