This week I get to share a picture I took in my neighborhood one day. In my homeschool I get to study photography. My mom, Sisterlisa, lets me use her camera and I hope to have my own someday. I love taking pictures of flowers and pets. This wheel barrel is in a neighbor’s yard and it makes me feel at home to see this picture. Do pictures ever make you feel like you’re happy, relaxed, or like you’re in another country?

I used the macro setting on this picture, and I focused in until the auto focus gave a sharp look to the barrel and the background became blurred just a bit.

I like when I can focus on something like that. My mom says that we will be able to frame this photo in our home. Do your children study photography?

So I am really behind in the times. I don’t know if other moms of large families go through the disconnection issues I had a few years ago with so many ages of children, but when I looked into lapbooking a few years ago, I couldn’t figure out how to make a simple unit study lapbook work for a 6 year-old and a senior in high school. I really wanted to give it a try, since we are using the Heart of Wisdom Approach, and I researched and looked at videos, but frankly, my type-a, non-artsy, oldest daughter just was not interested. I didn’t realize at the time that she just didn’t have to be. It was ok to work on a lapbook with everyone else. I also was missing a few elements of simplicity and importance in the whole lapbooking experience.

In the past few months, I have been reviewing some really awesome lapbooks from Knowledge Box Central, as well as Project Packs from In the Hands of a Child. I mentioned them in the my Simple Woman’s Memo Monday. Seeing them all put together and the instructions have really inspired me.

I have been so thrilled to find these awesome sites for free lapbooking resources and videos.

The online community Lapbook Lessons offers you a community of other lapbooking moms and their ideas. It is run by Valerie. She is a Christian Stay at Home Wife and Mother to two little ones. Her children are 5 and 2. Here is more about her: “We are exploring homeschooling as an option for our family, so far we’re liking what we see, and we hope to at least keep the children home for the early years. We started using lapbooks as a way to learn some fun Preschool, and Kindergarten skills, and I found them so helpful that I decided to start this site to help others get started using them. I hope that this site will be useful for you as you go about your homeschooling, and if you have any questions or feedback you can email me personally at Valerie@lapbooklessons.com.” She also runs the Little Blots of Faith site.

You must be a member of the community to view the pages, but membership is simple and so very worth it, because you will have access to videos, plans, free lapbooks as well as the community itself. I seriously cannot tell you enough how useful and helpful the photos of completed lapbooks and step-by-step how-to’s there are on the site!

Another great site for FREE lapbooking resources is Homeschool Share. They have a boat load of Lapbooking Links and Free Lapbooks. I think the majority of them are for younger children, except there is sure to be a larger variety through their awesome links!

SchoolinRHome put a really super-sized lapbook for preschoolers and grade school age children on youtube. It is Preschool Flower Lapbook. She packed so many activities into it, and it is very pretty the way she decorated it.

Caroline Hampton has a video to make a Pretty Petal - Tulip Head - mini-book

RING DESCRIPTION: This ring is for blogs which (at least occasionally) feature lapbooks and/or minibooks used in homeschooling. These blogs have any of the following: pictures of completed lapbooks and minibooks; link lists and bibliographies for research related to lapbooks; ideas, templates, and how-tos for minibooks.

Lapbooking_made_simple Yahoo Group

We are a homeschooling couple who have made Lapbooking our passion and business. We own Knowledge Box Central, at www.knowledgeboxcentral.com. We specialize in lapbooks, copywork notebooks, notebooking pages, activity books, and more!
We wanted to start this forum to learn more about the needs of homeschoolers, allow them to share their ideas, and to share our products and expertise with tme. Our main objective is to prove our motto: “Lapbooking is not a craft! It’s an ADVENTURE!”
Feel free to jump in and ask questions. Look at the lapbook pictures and add yours! No advertising, please, including links including affiliate codes. Also, please note that this is a group OWNED by Knowledge Box Central. We do not allow advertisement or open discussion of other products that would be considered “competitive” with our products. We are here to offer support and informaton, as it relates to Knowledge Box Central products. You can check us out at: www.knowledgeboxcentral.com

Lapbooking 101 Yahoo Group

Lapbooking is one way to present information using folders. We would love this group to enthuse and guide you in creating LAPBOOKS, flapbooks, shutter folders, lap packs, presentation folders. A variation on projects, unit studies and scrapbooking for children. Can be used with pre-school, primary and older children - in schools or with home educating (homeschooling).

Notebooking2Learn Yahoo Group

The files you will find here are all notebooking and lapbooking templates that I have created to use in our studies. It is my prayer that you will find them to be a blessing to your children as well. I will add more as I am able. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you find a mistake. Sometimes I look at these things so long that I miss the obvious. If you have any questions on how to use a template or notebooking page that you find here, please let me know. As time allows, I will take requests to make templates and/or notebooking pages for a subject you may be working on. Blessings, Jessica

Lapbooking7up

“Lapbooking is the creative and interactive laying out in a folder - of information on a chosen topic or from a unit study. Popular with homeschoolers. This group will provide a forum for lapbooking for grade or year 7 - approx 12 years old and over. “High School” Lapbooks. International group.”

Robin Sampson also does Scrapbooking to Learn. She has created a Scrapbooking to Learn Community for moms who use this approach also. View my page on Scrapbooking to Learn

Needless to say, I am not nearly as confused as I was a couple of years ago! This year, we are going to do lapbooks for the Doorposts studies we have: Plants Grown Up and Polished Cornerstones. We are also going to be using Heart of Wisdom’s Biblical Holidays too in a lapbook.

I know many moms I already know are homeschooling with really awesome lapbooks, so, if you are, please leave links to your lapbooking category or videos and pictures! We would love to see them!

Don’t forget about all of the great carnivals there are for us homeschool moms. Carnivals are a great way to find the links you need for new ideas, keep posted on homeschool news or just think about something in a different way. Join Sprittibee for this week’s Homeschool Carnival.

Click on the Hottest Carnivals icon to find the recent carnivals, contests, and giveaways!! Be sure to enter to win the Schoolhouse Planner and the latest book in the Lamb Among the Stars Series.

Speaking of giveaways!! Melanie has also offered everyone a FREE LAPBOOK for you to download:

Free Presidential Elections Lap Book Folder

BLESSINGS!!!

Welcome to Memo Monday. As usual, I am posting this late. I have no excuses. I have been chatting online with my friend and fellow HSBA writer, Christina, for about an hour now. I could have gotten it done. Before that, I was chatting with my friend, Danielle, who is not a writer on HSBA, but just decided to really blog, and she actually joined the May & June 2008 Swap too, to my surprise!

I worked late last night on The Homesteading Carnival: Southern Sunset Edition, and could not force myself to get this done. I am a last-minute, does-better-under-pressure kind of woman, you know. Besides that, I kept finding other things to do.

I have been participating in Robin’s meme: Super Spiritual Sunday Links for a couple of weeks and was recalling my favorite links last night. In addition to that, my DH, Matt, wanted to watch a movie late last night, and I told him I would, if he brought it upstairs, so I typed and pasted as we watched The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. Sounds like a good name for a Memo Monday, huh? I think I would have to stop at the Good though.

In my last few Memo Mondays I covered Online Homeschool Groups, Gardening, Gas Prices, and Vacation Planning. I am kinda stuck on what else to write about. That means you are stuck reading my “Lately” post. I just got a sleepy babe to sleep. Jocelyn used the weed-eater on our jungle, but there is much more to overcome. We published Growing in Grace Magazine -July Online Edition on July first, and I got the August assignments out a few days ago. Or was that just yesterday?

I am getting so excited about school plans! I am reviewing some Knowledge Box Central lapbooks for The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, and I am just ready and rearin’ to go! A really neat resource I am reviewing is America’s 50 States by Learning with Weblinks. Awesome! Even Amanda looked through it and said, “Wow! That is neat, Mom!”. The lapbooks I have include the Elections one, and it will be fun to do that one in this 2008 Presidential Election year! Homeschooling real life! Awesome!

I also received two In the hands of A Child Project Packs, which are lapbook instructions too, and they are right up our alley! One is American Government, which will go great with the KBC Elections lapbook, and also Plants, which, if you know us, is totally us!

To be honest, I am a make-my-own curriculum teacher, and I had not seen these resources before. I am so pleasantly surprised with them. I already had the Modesty Lapbbook download, which I had received free from CurrClick, and I am excited to get to that with our children. I knew that the lapbook instructions - packets came in EBook format, but I did not know that you can purchase some of the lapbooks from KBC already assembled. We have a good printer and many hands to help assemble, so I wouldn’t need that option, but since that is how the Lapbooks came to me to review, I thought it was odd. Now I know. Now you know!

Also on my “Lately” list is Peanut M&Ms. Yes, I am going to talk about M&Ms. They are an infrequent treat. I wanted some chocolate, Amanda brought me my favorite, Peanut M&Ms. She also brought home a Dark Chocolate bar, but those are good for me, right? Well, that is what I read: Benefits of Chocolate

Amanda is currently reading Run, Baby Run, by Nicky Cruz for a GGM Interview with him or one of the actors in the upcoming movie. Be on the lookout for that!

I also ordered Eric the rest of the set of The Kingdom Series by Chuck Black. I was so glad that the Schoolhouse Store offered that he would sign one of the books! I didn’t tell Eric, but he is going to be SO excited! The boy has literally read the first three of his own six times! He borrowed the last three from the library, but wanted his own to read the other five times, I guess! What a thrill it will be to see his face when he opens it and see Mr. Black’s message personalized to Eric! Isn’t that fun?

Rachel and Eric also read The Sentinel: City of Destiny, by Landel Bilbrey, which I have yet to post (sorry Mr. Bilbrey).

Last, but not least, you have to check out the new E-Book: The Schoolhouse Planner. I think one of the lovely HSBA ladies will be reviewing it here soon, but you can always get a sneak peek. It is really awesome! It is interactive, which I love! My laptop is my scheduling brain, and I forget about papers, so it is really cool for us.

Since I love The Homesteading Carnival and Carnival of Homeschooling (though I rarely remember to submit before the deadline), I might as well give you the run-down of carnivals this week. There are so many that are beneficial to the homeschool mom.

Carnival of Homeschooling

current issue:
Jul 08, 2008
The Daily Planet

next issue:
Jul 15, 2008
Red Sea School

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 14, 2008
Alone on a Limb

Music Education Blog Carnival

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

next issue:
Aug 01, 2008
Music, Technology and Education: Mustech.net

The Charlotte Mason Carnival

current issue:
Jul 07, 2008
Hearts and Trees

next issue:
Jul 22, 2008
Praiseworthy Things

The Homesteading Carnival

current issue:
Jul 14, 2008
Walking Therein

next issue:
Jul 21, 2008
HowToMe

If you like to do memes and love the Psalms or Hymns or Worship songs, please feel free to join me for Saturday Psalm and Praise every Saturday. It has been a joy to read everyone’s favorites, hear the songs playing on their players and just get to know friends on that level.

I posted a contest on my blog for Baby-Wearing Mommas, if you are interested: Win the Essential Babywearing Stash from Along for the Ride. You have until midnight on July 31, 2008.

Have a great week!!

Today I’m interviewing last year’s Best Artistic Content winner, Breezy Tulip @ A Bowl Of Moss & Pebbles. Since the awards, I’ve personally had the pleasure of meeting Miss Breezy and getting to know what a sweet, kind, artistic young lady she is! I hope you will stay awhile to get to know her and then check out her fabulous blog!

Tell us a little bit about your family. Share a photo of your family.

We started homeschooling eleven years ago, after my mom and dad pulled me out of the first grade. Neither of my parents were raised in Christian families, but when God saved both of them there were some big changes in their lives, including being called to homeschool Emily (my younger sister) and I. My Dad is a carpenter and my Mom is a passionate homemaker. We attend a small family-integrated Reformed Baptist church and like to have large cookouts in our back yard.

You have only one sister… tell us about your relationship with her.

Emily and I are best friends. Since we are only 22 mo apart, much of our school subjects are done together. We enjoy hand sewing, decoupaging, embroidery, and many other things. She’s also a great graphic designer, knows all about the computer and html, etc. And I’m into art, drawing, and painting, so there’s a lot we can collaborate on together outside of “school.”

Tell us about your homestead. Where is your favourite place to relax?

We own five acres of land, right outside the city limits. We have the convenience of being close to everything, but also have the country feeling, being surrounded by fields and fields of corn and soybeans. In our back yard there’s an enormous pin oak that we all like to sit under. Sitting on the swings under the oak while facing the vast fields with the wind on my face is the most delightfully relaxing place on our homestead.

You won Best Artistic Content Blog for your artistic drawing skills. How long have you been drawing? Were you always good at it? Did you ever take art lessons?

I don’t remember a time when I wasn’t drawing. For a while (when I was about 7 to 10 years old) I was sure I was going to be a cartoonist. I lacked many skills, and when I decided on illustrating books, I realized how miserably I fell short.

I have taken some drawing lessons and watercolor lessons. The librarians at our local library know me as the girl who is always checking out art books.

Can you share your favourite drawing?

I don’t know if I have one! Well, there was one I drew last winter while I was trying to come up with a story about a little boy who goes on an adventure. He meets a creature, an old forest-dweller named Grunimy Sneed. I ended up liking the picture more than the story.

Has being homeschooled allowed you to spend more time drawing?

When I was in the first grade (in public school) my teacher was concerned about the fact that I was constantly doodling. Now I can doodle all the time - while Mom is reading out loud, if I want to embellish History notes, etc. It also comes in handy when I can’t figure out or memorize a concept in science. I’ll draw it out over and over until I get it. And no one looks at me weird! My teacher sees it as very healthy.

What do you want to do with your talents and do you feel God is leading you in any certain directions with them?

I strongly feel God calling me to illustrate children’s books. It’s been a passion of mine for quite some time, and He’s been opening doors for me. It’s a job most people do from home, so I would be able to be a homemaker and illustrator.

What does a typical day look like in your home? Is there a routine you follow daily?

Emily and I get up before Dad leaves for work so he can pray with us at the beginning of our day. Showers, quiet time and breakfast follow, and when we’re “in school,” various subjects fall before lunch and after lunch, including History, geometry, science, and English. And Art. Plenty of time for that. And then blogging. Then in the evenings after dinner we have family worship.

Do you have a separate room where you draw or where you keep your supplies? Care to share a photo?
Most of my drawing supplies are in the dining room, along with two computers, two china cabinets, lots of book cases, and a huge table. My drawing table faces the east window where I can get lots of natural light.

How long have you been blogging?

It’s been a year and a half now. The first six months Emily and I shared a Blogspot blog. Last July Mom and Dad let us get our own HSB accounts.

What are your favourite topics to blog about?

I enjoy blogging about what I’ve learned lately. I don’t do that often enough, but it’s easiest to squeeze my humor into it. And then if I’ve drawn something nice, I like to share it.

How much time would you guess you spend on blogging during a typical week?

That varies. In a typical week, perhaps 2-5 hours.

What are some good things that blogging has brought into your life?

I have met many like-minded people that I wasn’t sure were out there. I’ve been able to record some of the going-ons in my life, as well as display some of my work. Actually, that’s how I “met” Mrs. Novak. When she saw some of my work she asked me to do a two-page for her magazine. Those are only a few of the blessings that I’ve discovered.

Have there been pitfalls?

Oh, yes! Too many times I’ll find myself reading blogs and blog-hopping for hours on end, wasting time that I was supposed to spend on studying. And I’m very bad at returning comments. But it’s been an overall good experience.

Do you have a place on the web where people can find your drawings or learn how to draw themselves?

I recently started a blog called “The Drawing Blog.” Just about every weekend I post a drawing lesson. I also post my drawings on both “A Bowl of Moss and Pebbles” and “The Drawing Blog.” You can find “The Drawing Blog” here: http://homeschoolblogger.com/thedrawingblog

Thank you Miss Breezy for sharing a little about yourself! I know I enjoyed it and I hope others did too! May God bless you as you follow his leading. I’m sure we’ll be seeing children’s books by Miss BreezyTulips in bookstores soon! You have a wonderful talent!

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.

This week in our Tuesday tour, I’d like to direct your attention to a book giveaway I’m having at Apples of Gold Ministries. ‘With This Ring’ is written by Joanna Weaver, who also wrote ‘Having Mary Heart in a Martha World’. We have two new contributing authors writing at AGM now and looking to add a few guest contributors as well. We’re have begun a marriage study and you’ll want to head over there while it’s still in the beginning stages. The deadline for the book giveaway is June 15th.

In addition to this book giveaway, I was able to have a phone Interview With Erin Bethea, who is Kirk Cameron’s co-star in his upcoming film, ‘Fireproof‘. ‘Fireproof’ is the third film produced by Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, Georgia. You may remember ‘Facing the Giants‘ as it gave hope to our souls in 2006. The key to these films is that they receive a substantial amount of support during opening weekend. If ‘Fireproof’ does well, it will open the doors for more theaters to show the film, and reach more lives. This film is not just an action drama, but a vessel to be used to reach wounded marriages with the Gospel and Redemptive Power through the Lord Jesus. You can swing by and grab a widget for your blog to help spread the word about this powerful ministry.

Sprittibee shares more about her gardening adventures and is having a flower quiz and you can have a chance to win a packet of seeds!

Heather posted an article titled ‘Why Homeschool‘ in Heart of the Matter’s June 2008 Issue. I’m always inspired by her articles and you won’t want to miss this one!

Growing in Grace Magazine also has their June issue available and their pdf version is for a limited time only. So be sure to get it while it’s hot!

I’d also like to introduce you to a wonderful sweet friend of mine Mama Bug, Analene at UsLoves. I tell ya this blogosphere is a SMALL world! Analene and I became acquainted at The Homeschool Lounge, only to find out a month later that her mother is one of my dear friends right in my very own church! Who knew? We were all so pleasantly surprised to make that connection! On top of that I had a dream that I met her, then her little sister, who is friends with my daughter Jess, came to help with my little ones today. She told me that they’re coming back for a visit soon! How very cool to be able to finally meet her in person.

So please go on by and say Hello to her and her little love bugs! Now have I told you yet that Analene is one of 7 children who all homeschooled? She’s a second generation homeschooler and has fabulous siblings. One of them is also friends with my daughter Jess and is currently visiting Mama Bug, but I wanted to be sure to introduce you to her as well. This is our sweet friend, Emma! She’s an 18 year old Auntie and her adorable little nieces and nephews even call her Auntie EM. ( I just love that!) I’m still stunned that I didn’t realize these wonderful ladies were all related. What an amazing world we live in.

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This week we’ve been on vacation with my In-Laws, who are always so happy to be a part of our homeschool adventures! They’re retired and live on the road in their motorhome and travel throughout this beautiful country of ours. This month we’re staying at my Mother-in-law’s sister’s home. Aunt Susan is vacationing in Cypress and we get to stay in her home in Southern California. In between our days at Disneyland, we have been spending some time in the garden. Aunt Susan will come back and find a lovely display of colorful flowers planted in pretty clay pots that are placed sporatically around her patio which over looks a calm and beautfiul lake.

Since gardening has been on my mind I thought I’d take you on a tour of some of our fellow garden-schooling families here in the blogosphere.

We begin enjoying Nature Day With Kim at ‘In The Potter’s Hand’, as shares about Making Bird Feeders with her family. When gardening, it’s so nice to hear the birds twittering and tweeting as they fly about your yard. Even Michele at Simple Living has shared how she makes her yard an oasis for birds to gather in her midst.

Once you have your yard full of feathered friends, you can join Harmony Art Mom and read about her Nature Study of Flower Parts then begin your adventure with your own flower study.

For some extra fun, for those little guys who aren’t interested in flowery gardens and feathered friends, you can visit Nature Momma as they hunt for Frog Eggs! And if that isn’t fun enough, head on over and find out what happened to Sarah Joy’s children when they encountered a squirrel. Although their face to foot confrontation is a serious situation, I couldn’t help but share it with my family tonight. I think about how comical it could be if told from her son’s point of view.

Garden-schooling can be so much fun, for any age! Here are some tips I’d like to share with you.

Decorate your area- Where ever you decide to set up your very own gardening station, make it unique by adding your own special flare.

Care For Your Tools- Take the extra time to clean all your tools once you’re done with your day. Even if you’ll be back out tomorrow, it’s worth it to have everything clean and ready to go.

Water Pots- You can make water pots out of many things, even old tea kettles. So keep an eye out at yard sales to find unique old cans to be used in your garden. I hope you have enjoyed this edition of our Tuesday Tour. Have a great day!

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It’s May, and it’s the time of year when the weather is finally getting warmer to stay, many of us are planting our gardens, and our children are finishing up another official year of homeschool. Time for us to go through our old papers and plans and put time and energy into planning for the next year. For some of us that means unit studies to plan through the summer or vacations, anything to learn! The carnivals will also continue through the summer, so take a look at what other homeschool families will be doing as the year winds down.

Leave me a comment and tell me your homeschool plans for summer. If you’ve posted about it already, leave your link in the comments so we can visit it!

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Carnivals

I am a bit partial to this first carnival. First of all, because Amanda and Jocelyn created it and run it, and second of all, because Amanda is such a sweetie! She is hosting The Homesteading Carnival #49: My Mama Edition. You have to see it. I am blessed to have such wonderful children who are also my friends.

Henry Cate, of WhyHomeschool, has announced the Winners of the Carnival of Homeschooling images contest. Frankly, I am partial to this one on the left, because Jocelyn designed it. Henry posted the codes for the winning icons, so go grab one if you like!

Other carnivals of interest are:

The next edition of the Carnival of Homeschooling will be at Mom is Teaching.

Last week’s Carnival of Homeschooling is at Melissa’s Idea Garden.

The current issue, from April 28, of the Charlotte Mason Carnival is up at The Family Zoo. The next issue, May 13, will be at The Heart of Harmony.

The 3rd edition of the Canadian Canadian Home Educators Blog Carnival is up.

The Carnival of Education, the current issue, from May 07 is up at Bellringers. The next issue, on May 14, will be up at Instructify.

The Carnival of Mathematics, May 02 issue, is up at Teaching College Math Technology Blog.

The Carnival of Learning in The Great Outdoors, May 05 edition, is up at 10,000 Birds.

The Active Learning Carnival, Apr 07, is up at Active Learning Blog Carnival. The next issue will be Jun 14, at Active Learning Blog Carnival.

Thank you for joining me for Memo Monday! Have a super week!!

One of the best things I have done for my children’s home education has been to incorporate their blogging into their curriculum. When I created Growing in Grace Magazine, I did not intentionally plan to use it as an opportunity for my daughters to get their education, but it has turned into a wonderful opportunity for them, as well as a fantastic experience. Through the magazine my daughters have learned grammar, how to research a topic, write a ‘paper’, maneuver through the internet, basic HTML, and so much more! Using the computer is such a valuable tool in a child’s education in today’s fast paced world of technology.

There are millions of websites that are helpful for educating children in such a fun way, that they don’t feel as though they’re doing ’school work’. For our family, I select a few topics that are educational and that would interest my children.

They get to choose one or more to work on and I set a deadline for them. They can use the internet, the library, and people they know and trust to help them in their research. (Such as interviewing people with experience in the specific area of the topic they chose.) My daughter, Moni, has

chosen to join the States Exploration project that is an ongoing site where homeschooled bloggers can participate in the study of their state.

She also enjoys learning about domestic animals as she has written her articles about Pet Care. Not only that, but she is learning how to write devotions for young people ages tween and up. Moni enjoys writing with the other devotion authors we have there at GGM. Jessica, also known as Lady Jess, has learned how to create the print version of our magazine, editing, grammar, articles on beauty, health, devotions, and history. Jess also works on the computer for her dad’s ministry by creating charts

and various other forms.

It’s also interesting that some of their devotions are related to science, health, and history. We have made a few blogs required reading for my girls. I chose other homeschool girl blogs that are my girls ages. Jess and Moni read Miss Amanda’s and Miss Jocelyn’s blogs as well as some others. Gina is required to read Miss Hannah and Lady Rachel’s. In addition to the girls blogs they read, they are required to read all the articles each month and all the dailies at Growing in Grace Magazine.

There are also some great free homeschool newsletters on the net that are valuable resources as well. I also found a Drawing Blog that will guide you through learning to draw. The site is run by a teen homeschool blogger named BreezyTulip.She guides you through what you will need, hoe to organize your tools and she is so talented herself. I’m always amazed when I find young ladies who are able to be so productive with their time, and turn around to teach others also.

I will continue to keep a list of different teaching blogs that I find that are geared for teens. If you are a homeschool teen and you have a teaching blog, let me know by replying below. You could be featured in an upcoming article here at the HSBA!

Blogging is a great way for the kids to use their blogs as a tool for their education. If you’d like to get your child started on a blog of their own, you can read through our Better Blogging articles here at the HSBA. If you have any questions at all, feel free to reply below and let us know. The HSBA writers are here to answer your questions. Always use wisdom when your children are on the internet.

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I am really excited about this week’s Foto Friday interview. As an amateur photographer, Donna Boucher is an inspiration to me. Let’s get to know this homeschooling amateur photographer extraordinaire!

Me: Tell us a little bit about yourself:

My husband of 27 years and I have four children ages ranging from 25 to 8 years old.
I like just about everybody and everything and I’m easily amused ;o)
I have loved photography most of my life.
I think of photography as the most accessible of art forms.

One year ago I bought a digital SLR camera when I saw Ree’s beautiful photographs on thepioneerwoman.com website.

I was totally surprised when she wrote me and asked if I would help her write tutorials for her website. I love sharing what I have learned and I love having a place to talk about something I love so much.

Me: Photography at The Pioneer Woman is an art form. I love the tutorials there!

How long have you been blogging? Homeschooling?

I have been blogging at www.booshay.blogspot.com for nearly five years. I started blogging to encourage young women to love their husbands and children in the spirit of Titus 2.

I have been homeschooling for 14 years. Wow.
My boys were home for a few years, my daughter Emma went from K-12 and Katie is in 2nd grade, currently.

Me: Wow! You have been blogging and homeschooling for quite some time.

You take amazing pictures! What kind of camera do you use?

I have a Nikon D80.
Two lenses.
50mm 1.8
17-55mm 2.8

Me: This is the same camera that I now own and the reason I love your photos and tutorials - you make me believe that I can do that, too.

What are your favorite photo editing programs?

I like both Lightroom and Photoshop CS3.
My goal is to shoot nearly perfect straight out of camera.
But that rarely happens.

Me: Approximately what percentage of your photos do you enhance with photo editing software?

90% edited.
It may be just a sharpen or a lightening or a contrast.

Me: What are your favorite things to photograph?

People especially my little girl. She is my muse.
Landscapes and Cities. You know Paris for instance.

Me: Do you have any tips for composing better shots?

Notice your surroundings. What is in the background?
Are there shadows on the faces? Is the light abundant and pretty?

Me: What is a simple, “anyone can do it” trick for enhancing photos on your computer? Can you show us an example?

Anyone can learn to find the light! Look for the light in your subjects eyes.

[Donna says, "This shot I think anyone can do. I know that the light in my garage is really sweet. So I take a lot of picture in my garage :o) Make sure you are exposing your shot well (enough light) and focus and shoot with a steady hand."]

Me: Now show us something fancy – impress us!!

Backlighting

Me: That’s awesome! I love the glow on top of her head. When I aim people towards the sun I tend to get a lot of squinty eyes.

Do you have any photos that are your particular favorites?

[Donna says, "I took this in Paris a few weeks after I bought my camera. It remains one of my favorites. I shot it on Auto."]

Me: Donna, now I don’t feel so bad about still being in auto modes with my new camera. Thank you for teaching and inspiring your readers!

What is your best advice for an amateur photographer like myself?

Learn all about your camera.
Go out and practice every single day.

I promise you will improve!

Me: Thanks, Donna, for a wonderful and informative interview. Didn’t y’all love it? Visit Donna at Quiet Life and Pioneer Woman Photography.

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