A weekend to remember

HELLO!!!!! We had a very nice weekend. I drove up to Columbus early Friday morning, picked up Steve, dropped off Jasmine and went to the Christian Home Educators of Ohio Convention. Basically the convention is broken up into two different parts, one is the vendor hall full of curriculum providers, book sellers, all sorts of different things, there were over 200 booths and the second part is all of the workshops. Each workshop is an hour long and there are over a hundred to choose from. We tried to figure out what workshops we wanted to do before this weekend, but when we got there we realized we really like one speaker and didn't care much for another, so our schedule got shuffled, but it worked out really well. We got some great encouragement and tips as well as advice for beginners. We also attended a workshop about the legalities of homeschooling. It was taught by the Ohio attorney for the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) and that was a really interesting and informative session. Basically right now at this moment we're protected under the law, but because it's falls under the category or implied right and not a fundamental right (one actually written in the Constitution) many things could possibly happen that would endanger the legality of homeschooling. It was very interesting and we learned that we ccan help by visiting parentalrights.org where they are trying to get an amendment to the constitution for parental rights that would keep it legal. Basically allow parents to have the choice of how their kids will be educated. It was also very eye opening on how the people who founded and support public schooling actually see it. They refer to it as the new religion of humanism and the ministers are the teachers. They are government schools that carry out the agenda of the government, not of God or what a parent believes to be in the best interest of their child. They even said that education is not about education, but about society and socialization. Basically our children are putty in the hands of the government and they mold them into what they believe is best, not the parents and certainly not God. I just found this workshop to very informative and I was glad I attended it. We also went to a workshop entitled Gems for Beginners and after that class we changed our whole plan for how we were going to homeschool our children. The class was taught by Jessica Hulcy the creator and writer of KONOS curriculum. She didn't talk a whole lot about her specific curriculum, but instead did give a lot of tips and help for beginners. But what she did touch on about KONOS really intrigued us. When I decided to homeschool I wanted to be sure that every subject my kids studied, I wanted to help seal it in their memory by providing them with an experience to back it up. Basically I wanted to either find somewhere to go, something to see or something to do that corresponded with what they were learning. I thought I had to look for and find these things on my own. But KONOS is exactly what I wanted to do and it includes all these things written into it. Basically you buy a teachers manual and the rest is either checking out (or buying ) books they suggest, acting out scenes, writing papers, creating crafts, going on field trips, etc...to learn a specific thing. She sells three volumes of her curriculum each volume contains about 2 1/2 years worth of curriculum and all three can be used interchangeably for K thru 8th grade. Each volume is 99 dollars. So for 300 dollars you have curriculum for 8 years. There is also a really cool timeline you can purchase to go along with it if you want, I wish I could describe it to you, but it's way cooler than I can every put into words. If you're interested you should check out the site Konos.com. The only thing is that it doesn't cover math, phonics or grammer. It does do reading and writing once they are capable of doing that. We found some great choices for that as well and got them 20% off this weekend. After the class we went downstairs to learn more and Jessica actually came down and showed us everything for almost an hour. It was awesome!! How often do you actually get to sit down with the author and go over everything. It really sealed the deal for us, we were both hooked!! Up until that point we hadn't found anything we both were excited about, but rather one of us just relented!! I can not wait to get it all in my hands and start preparing!!

We spent one night in a hotel in Columbus and it was so nice to not have to worry about putting kids to bed or anything, just being able to relax. At 10:30 they closed the indoor pool to kids so adults can swim alone, and we went down for that. The pool was heated and there was only 3 other people there, so it was nice. We got to splash and play around and remember how much fun we can be together. It was very rejuvenating. It was a nice weekend. Yesterday we had church and came home and didn't leave again. We all took a nap until 4 and then just sat around the rest of the day. What a great end to the weekend!

I forgot to mention that last Saturday we went to see the sneak preview of Ratatouillie (the new Disney/Pixar movie) and I wanted to give it a good recommendation. I think it officially comes out this weekend. We all really enjoyed it (Steve and Noah the most). I liked it, thought it was funny and clever, but not as cutesy as I like. I prefer Toy Story and Cars type cartoons and this was more Incredibles, Nemo type. It was very good though, so go out and see it!!

This week Abby is in a princess dance camp where she normally takes dance lessons. Today was her first day. It's only from 10 to 12. It was really cute, they watched a little movie of a ballerina and had a snack and made crafts and of course practiced dancing. She really enjoyed it!!

This weekend we are leaving to go to London Kentucky with Steve's family. We're excited to go out on Laurel Lake Saturday to do some tubing and maybe fishing. The Howard's always know how to have a good time and I can't wait to see them. They were definitely a fringe benefit of marrying into that family, they're the best. It's basically two of Steve's uncles and their grown children and their children (some grown, some not). I always have a good time with them and I can't wait to see them again. I'm excited about it, but it also means I have to find somewhere for our dog to go, pack everything up again, clean out the car, and then spend at least 3 hours in the car with them. Why does it always take so much work, to have so much fun???

I also wanted to give Sonya the hugest apology, because she has no idea how terrible Steve and I both feel over the whole ticket fiasco. I hate that that whole evening was crazy and hectic to begin with and then that happened. We should of warned you, we knew about the speed limit thing. I AM SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SORRY!! If you will let us, we'd love to help cover the cost of it. Steve even suggested it to me as well. Please let us alleviate some of the burden, we're really sorry. We sincerely appreciate you being there for our son though. He was excited to hear that you were coming. I know you made him feel special, thank you!! Thank you for the teddy bear too, so cute and thoughful. You're just the best and please let us make it up to you somehow, however you see fit. You are appreciated.

Well I must go and try to get all the clothes clean so I can pack them all up again. Have a good day.
Jamie