Funeral of a Blog

RIP sbees.blogspot.com
June 8, 2005 - June 8, 2012

In lieu of flowers, please make sure your links and buttons are pointed to www.sprittibee.com so you can find me tomorrow.

Busy Friday List

Today is the last day in Texas to vote early. You better believe I'll be there this afternoon. That means before I pick my husband up, I have to...

::have the laundry done::
::clean the house::
::pay the bills::
::homeschool the kids::
::help son find his book reports (oy!)::
::change the diapers, bathe the babies and dress them::
::pack the kids' suitcases so they can go see grandma::
::buy a graduation gift::
::make lunch & clean up the mess::
::find out why my driving record never came & drop off my certificate at court::
::file the paperwork on my desk::
::record the grades and completed work in Homeschool Tracker for this week::
::take daughter's computer to Best Buy to see if they can fix it::

What'cha wanna bet that the entire list won't get checked off? I'm going to need to prioritize. This is an example of what all my days look like - #harried!

Thankfully, I have the peace and joy of the Lord in the midst of my chaos. I was just nursing the baby, smelling and chewing on his tiny foot (a fetish of mine), and thinking of how wonderful it was to have these little people in my life.

While I'm checking my list off, head over to the Homeschool Post and see what the rest of my fellow author friends have been posting about this past week. If you were going to bookmark a site, I would highly suggest bookmarking the Homeschool Post. I heart the team of talented authors and highly recommend the great content streaming from www.hsbapost.com. Normally, when I'm really quiet over here, I'm still working behind the scenes over there to keep things fresh and make sure the Homeschool Blog Awards happens every year.

I've also been working on getting this blog re-designed and moving to WordPress. It has been a project on the "back burner" for some time. I have a few sweet friends that are helping me free of charge, so I'm tagging along on their "when I get time" list. I hear that it may happen soon... so you might just surf in one day and not recognize the place. Be sure and set your bookmarks to www.sprittibee.com - because the old Blogger blog will be going away forever. After seven years here! June 8th is my SEVEN year blogiversary.

Of course, you can also find me piddling with my iPhone camera at Instagram (I'm Sprittibee there, too). I like to fall asleep after uploading the day's photo goodness and scrolling through my feed to see what all my iPhone-addicted friends are shooting at.

What do you have going on for this busy Friday?

Every Day is Mother’s Day

It isn’t too late to thank a good mother just because the national holiday has come and gone. Moms don’t get a day off – and it seems kind of silly to limit the gratitude to one day per year.

Trust me. I know first hand (times 4) how much encouragement a mom needs all year.

Motherhood is hard. Sticky. Gritty. Taxing. Never-ending. [Sometimes painful.]

It’s also wonderful. Amazing. Beautiful. Fulfilling. Fun.

It’s hard to explain.



A blogging friend of mine decided she wanted to capture the “mess and glory” of motherhood. She gathered the thoughts, experiences, and photographs from many mothers and compiled them in an e-book: Mother Letters.

I'm so humbled to be one of the featured mom photographers in the book! She included my little instagram picture of the "bite after bath time" included in this post. Teething is one of those painful moments for both baby and mama!

I wanted to share about it earlier, but I was in the middle of my “10 Days of Accidental Unschooling”, and then I had a homeschool conference to attend out of town this weekend. I’m planning to download Mother Letters to my iPad. It will be my very first book that I’ve downloaded by myself. You have to learn to live with technology - you can't let your teenagers get too far ahead of you!

Right now, if you hurry, you can buy a copy of the ebook PDF and get a second one for free. The Mother's Day sale ended last night, but I asked Squee! to give me a code for my readers to purchase the book. This week only, you have one additional week to get the Mother's Day BOGO deal (Buy 1, Get 1 Free!). Think of a great mom you know – perhaps a good friend who needs some encouragement.

Enter the code SprittiBOGO at checkout and then you'll both have one to read together! Hurry because the deal is over at midnight on May 22nd!

It’s not too late to bless a good mother with a copy of Mother Letters!




Disclosure: I signed up to be a Mother Letters affiliate, so if you purchase the book through my links, I will get a small commission. Thank you for helping support my blog through my affiliate links!


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Queen Buzzy Bee's Easter Weekend

What does a queen buzzy bee do with her Easter weekend? Well...

First of all, I spent Friday finishing up the Hunger Games third series book with my 13 year old daughter, and went to watch the movie at the theaters. Bedtime came late because we stayed up in anticipation of how the final book ended. We read all three books in two weeks or less - often times in to the night together. They were hard to put down. We liked the books much better than the movie.



I also weeded the garden... or rather, parts of the back yard - with my eldest. Garden is a bit of an overstatement. Seems all we have growing back there are weeds and huge, flowering stalks of Cilantro that tower over the toddler. It has been fun watching the bees, butterflies, and caterpillars. I've got my eye on a section of the yard that is difficult to get to with the lawn mower because of a granite and rock pathway that cuts it off. I'm thinking of mulching and planting flowers and bushes to remedy the problem. Every time we mow it seems that part gets forgotten and since it has shade, the grass is uneven and patchy there anyway. When I find some time to research native Austin-Area shade-loving plants, I'm going to plan a large flower and shrub bed there. Anyone want to weigh in on some favorites?

Below in this vase are cilantro (tiny white blooms), a small purple wildflower weed, and the two roses we have in the yard. Daddy cut the red rose bush back this winter and it is exploding right now.



Of course, there were more photos "developed" for the church directory. I wanted to be finished by this weekend, but it has been slower going than I predicted. My eyes and head hurt after staring at the screen for so long, so I have to take breaks. Keeping the kids from getting in trouble if I sit for very long is also a problem... sneaky little monsters!

I've enjoyed learning how to get around in Lightroom through the process of this project, though. I finally think I have it figured out for the most part. I am hoping to be done with this major project by Friday. It will be a huge relief - and I'm sure the elders will be thrilled to move forward with the picture directory.

Next up for "developing" are the bluebonnet pictures I took last Friday!



Hubby and I killed a couple of green men on Saturday. My right shoulder is still sore. 51 out of 54 shots is not bad for a first timer. I tried open sight and a really nice scope. I prefer scope, but only because I could see where the bullet went easily with magnification. It didn't make much difference in the result. I seem to be much better at aim with rifles than I am with handguns.

The tape below? Oh, that's just to make it easier to see from 50 and 100 yards away. Every 20 or 30 shots they tape up the green man to cover the previous holes so you can see where your new rounds hit.



Then, there was small-town church with family in the country. Big time hospitality and Easter lunch. I may move in with cousin Paige if she promises to make me turkey, dressing, and cranberry sauce once a month. I'm still wishing I had brought home leftovers.



I also hired a little helper to work on fixing a lot of broken photos and links on my blog. You probably haven't even noticed, but I had two years worth of ancient Geocities-hosted, broken photos from back in 2005-2007 that needed updating. So now, if you are looking back through old field trips and homeschool posts, the photos will magically re-appear. Why might I be doing this, you ask? Well... I'm willing to share the secret: I'm moving to WordPress this month! Finally - after nearly three years of thinking about moving to WordPress... and after nearly two years of owning my own hosting on WordPress... I'm actually doing it.

Let's just hope it happens this month as planned. I'll believe it when I see it. You'll notice when you see it, too. Big hint: the site has been redesigned. Make sure you are surfing in on sprittibee.com and not my blogger url! I've been told it will happen in April... so keep your eyes open!

How about your family... what's going on with you? What did you do over Easter weekend?

 


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Carnival of Homeschool : Texas Edition

Welcome to the Texas Edition of the Carnival of Homeschooling! If you are new to ‘blog carnivals’, please read the link at the bottom of this post to find out more. This post has many links that take you off-site to other homeschool blogs where you can read their ‘showcased’ article submission. If you would like to submit an article for a future carnival or host the carnival on your site, please see the bottom section to find out how. Each carnival writer has the option to put their compilation to a ‘theme’ if they so choose. So... being a Texas lover, I figured I would share some tidbits about the Lone Star State.


TEXAS HOMESCHOOLING TODAY:

Texas is usually a really friendly place to homeschool. There are field trips to be had all over this beautiful land... and most folks are mighty friendly like - even complimenting you on how great your kids are and how much they seem to know. However, even in the "land of the free", there are a few haters still; some of which are in 'high' offices. It is never good to take your freedoms for granted.

I took a week off from blogging last week and we went to court to support the homeschool mom who lost her kids in a custody battle last week. Yesterday was her last court date (to see if she could get "right of first refusal" - ie: be caregiver when dad was out of town as an airline pilot) until the trial goes to jury in May. A small town judge gave the grandparents the right to raise the kids in the dad's absence because he didn't want the mom to homeschool or be able to move away from where the dad is living - despite the fact that he's out of the country or out of town flying at least half of the month. They even used the fact that her blinds were drawn during the day as evidence that she was an unfit mother. Yeah - like most of us don't try to save energy during the heat of the summer with 100 straight days of 100 degrees last year?

So that's what has been going on in the Texas homeschool homefront recently and it slightly has my blood in a boil if you can't tell. I'm praying for Heather to get her kids back and the jury to reverse the judge's decision to give the dad custody. We'll see what happens in May on this case. Be watching on twitter at #texasjustice and #THSC or checking the Right in Texas blog by Tim Lambert for updates. Better yet - sign up to support justice for homeschoolers in Texas by becoming a paying member of THSC!

Now for the rest of the Carnival...

Below you will find a varied array of interesting tid-bits from all the frontiers on the homeschool blogosphere... kind of like Texas - a melting pot of ideas and peoples with one thing in common - freedom to homeschool our kids as we see fit!

In-between the submissions from other homeschool bloggers, you'll find a bit of Texas bragging. It's only fitting since we Texans love the Lone Star state!



Texas is the 2nd largest U.S. state -- 10% larger than France, and twice as large as either Germany or Japan. There are more than 25 million people living in the Lone Star State. The three biggest cities - in order - are: Houston, San Antonio and Dallas (all three of which make the top 10 largest cities in the United States list). It takes 1/2 of the trip between Houston and the beach in Los Angeles, California just to get to El Paso!

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Homeschooling Unscripted ::: Homeschooing Fantasies

A Net in Time ::: Millipede Fun and Much more

Everything with Carol ::: Interview with a Texas Homesteader



The Lone Star flag is close to every Texan's heart - and most likely to be flown all by itself... or at the same height as the United States flag due to the fact that Texas used to be her own country. Ever hear of the "Six Flags Over Texas"? Well, it isn't just a theme park name! Do you know what 6 countries claimed Texas? Read more about it by clicking the link in this paragraph!

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Homeschool Athiest Momma ::: Swimming in it

Dewey's Treehouse ::: Oh, my poor brainwashed homeschooled kids

Nirvana Homeschooling ::: Building Secondary Cavity Nester Bird Nests: Bluebird, House Wren, Tree Swallow, Carolina Chickadee, House Sparrow



This is a glimpse of the cotton crop growing at Pioneer Farms; a premier field trip location for Austin area homeschool kids.

Texas leads the U.S. in cotton production and annually produces roughly 25% of the country's cotton needs. There are 6 million acres of cotton growing each year on average in Texas. Check out this nifty agriculture PDF to find out more about Texas crops.

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How Do I Homeschool ::: Our Homeschool Day 3/13/2012

Homeschooling in Buffalo ::: Homeschooling for Different Learning Styles

Denschool ::: Uncertainty



As in most states during the Civil War, Texas was split brother against brother. About 25% of Texas land owners did not favor succession, which eventually happened in February of 1861 regardless. In March of 1861, Texas joined the Confederate States of America and the governor, Sam Houston, was replaced for refusing to take an oath of allegiance to the Confederacy.

During the war, Texas was mainly a supply state even though the Federal naval blocked sea ports and captured most of the Mississippi. During reconstruction, General Custer was headquartered at the Liendo Plantation in Hempstead (originally part of a 67,000 acre Spanish land grant). Impressed by the Southern hospitality at Liendo, he made sure the plantation was not harmed. Every year in November near Thanksgiving, a civil war reenactment is hosted there.

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As For My House ::: Papa Dates

Learn at Every Turn ::: My Life as a Homeschooling Mom

Our Curious Home ::: Celebrating a Recorder Breakthrough



Mission Concepcion national park is part of the mission tour of San Antonio, Texas. It is the oldest unrestored stone church in America and still houses the original dome structure, wall and ceiling frescos, and "convento" (priest's residence). The church was finished in 1755 and is still in use. I love a good history field trip, and it was fun to trace the steps of the friars of olde. There are plenty of missions to check out in San Antonio if you ever have time.

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On this Glorious Homeschool Journey ::: God's Painted Canvas

'a la mode de les Muses ::: Novel Homeschoolers: 'When Sparrows Fall'

Tea Time with Annie Kate ::: The Money Saving Mom's Budget Audio Book



Some people think that all there is to Texas is flat ugly plains and big-horned cows. With a state this big, though, we have much more to offer than that. To see the regions of the Friendship state - and to plan an amazing vacation or do the BIGGEST unit study your geography class has ever attempted - stop over at TravelTexas.com! You can order the FREE 2012 Guide Book (think thick, BIG, glossy goodness) and see why Texans say that Texas is "like a whole 'nother country".

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Tolivers to Texas ::: I've Got a River of Life

Homeschool Online ::: Inspiring the Reluctant Learner

Homeschooling Hub ::: Top Ten Reasons to Homeschool Your Children



One of my favorite things about Texas is the variety of wildflowers we have. There's always something in bloom. Want to learn more about these? I gave away some seeds a while back and wrote about our wildflower learning adventures on my blog: "It's Good to Know Your Local Flowers by Name".

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My Domestic Church ::: Saving the Lost Adult Child

Nerd Family ::: Recycle, Reuse and Educate

Why Homeschool ::: Why Would Homeschoolers Need Tight Regulations



The state flower of Texas is the bluebonnet. Pretty, ain't it?

Each year there's a tradition with Texas folk to take their kids and nearly get sideswiped along the freeway as they pile off in to the snaky high grass and weeds to sit down and get pictures in these lovely flowers. Bees or no bees - annual bluebonnet photos are a must-have thing in these parts.

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Barbara Frank Online ::: Why Public Schools are Old School

Homeschool vs Public School ::: How is Your Child Studying History

Holistic Homeschooler ::: 10 Ways to Ensure Homeschool Burnout



Chances are, if you know anything about Texas, you have heard the phrase -- "Remember the Alamo!" That's the battle cry that served to remind Texas soldiers what they were fighting for on April 21st at San Jacinto. The Mexican army was defeated in a mere 18 minutes and the Republic of Texas was born. One of my favorite movies about Texas history is about the battle of the Alamo. And guess what it's called?

Yep... The Alamo

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Cajun joie de vivre! ::: Training Boys to be Gentlemen

My Home Sweet Home ::: Today's Teens Don't Have to Be Social Misfits

Smockity Frocks ::: Online Parenting/Homeschooling Resources



The thing I probably missed the most about Texas when we lived out of state for two years was the MEXICAN food. Around here we call it Tex Mex. Or just "delicious"! One of my very favorite Mexican restaurants is Mi Tierra's in San Antonio. It doubles as a Mexican bakery and has lovely metallic pinatas covering the ceiling of the foyer. The wall murals are wonderful and if you love watching people, you can't beat sitting on the porch to eat your lunch and watch all the Mexican Market shoppers walk by.

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The Homeschool Post ::: How Do You Know They Are Learning?

Bunny Trails ::: Changes and a New Business

I Love My 5 Kids ::: How to Decorate a Birdhouse



The very best thing about Mexican Food, or Tex Mex, or Breakfast even... is the Taco. Warning: The next few posts have nothing to do with homeschooling. BUT, even homeschoolers gotta eat!

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Knit 1 Kids 4 ::: Texas Sheet Cake

A Southern Fairytale ::: Pepperjack Corn Chowder

Gathering Manna ::: The Glorious Taco




Contrary to popular belief, it DOES snow in Texas. The farther South you get, the less it happens. Cactus look real silly in the snow. Just so you know.

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Want to learn more about The Carnival of Homeschooling? Click the links below:

- What is it all about?
- Where can I find it in the future?
- Where do I submit an article for the Carnival of Homeschooling?

If you participate in the carnival, we encourage you to use the carnival button and link back to the Cate’s blog. We honor their diligence at making the Carnival of Homeschooling a great success, and appreciate all of their support to the homeschool community at large.

Happy homeschooling!

Credits: All photos in this post are mine, but the Texas map belongs to Enchanted Learning - a great site for homeschool printables - check them out!

Lighting a Fire... at the Homeschool Post

“Education is not filling a bucket, but lighting a fire.”
~William Yeats~

"We snuck away from the big city this weekend and left suburbia behind. We took our kids to the country, exchanging our lazy at-home weekend routine with actual work (and the sore muscles to prove it). We even let the toddler have his fill of dirt and rocks. We left the laptops, the Xbox, and the toys at home."

... come read the rest of the story with me over at the Homeschool Post today...



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Flat Kelly's Adventures at Relevant '11

A couple of years ago, I had the privilege of meeting Kelly at Blissdom. It was a crazy trip - a huge hotel - and there wasn't enough time to get to spend with her in person. I always hoped to see her again IRL because she lives in Texas! #Yeehaw! Unfortunately, Texas is a REAL big state, and Kelly and I live many hours away from each other. When I heard she was coming to Relevant this year I was thrilled. She had a ticket... but life got in the way of her going, and at the very last minute, she sold her ticket and decided to stay home.



The above picture is Kelly with me and the Viking when he was about the same age as my tiny Gladiator. It was taken in the Gaylord Opryland {#swoon} at Blissdom 2010. The photo below is at the SavvyBlogging Dinner with Kimberly of Raising Olives. {I love homeschool mamas.}

 

I was bummed out when I found out Kelly wouldn't be coming to #Relevant11. I cooked up a plan to take her with me - and Kelly had a friend print out a flat version of herself to travel to Harrisburg and meet me at the conference. She caught someone else's flight to Pennsylvania and caught up with me on day 2 of the conference. We spent the rest of the trip hangin' together in 2D. It wasn't quite the same as having her around in person... but I hope she'll enjoy these fun photos and see that she was able to rub shoulders with a few of her favorite bloggers even while still home in Texas... and know she was missed by all of us!




There might be some flat Kelly shots in the Relevant stream which aren't pictured here (the one above is by Darcy - who was the official conference photographer)... so follow the link and see how many other flat people you can find. I know there were at least 4 or 5 flatties networking at Relevant. It's hard when you want to be there and have to stay behind... but traveling by flat isn't all that bad. I did Blissdom 2011 as a flat person traveling with Dawn last February.

Here are Kelly's adventures after we hooked up:


Katey's (@MamaKautz) "I am sooo blogging this" T-shirt caught Kelly's eye. She wanted to get a snapshot of it while we were in the Dayspring (In)Courage Lounge...



We hung out at the Mercy House booth with Kristen and Kelly had a hard time picking her favorite necklace. Did you know that these were made by African women and girls who are learning skills to help them support their babies - and that they made them out of rolled newspaper? What a wonderful GREEN product! It would make a lovely Christmas gift! There were so many AWESOME sponsors at Relevant.



Kelly wanted to get her picture taken with The Nester and Emily P (who hates her P, but I love it - and who also has a new book out called "Grace for the Good Girl"). Kelly was kind of hoping she could take home a copy of the book that Emily wrote, but they weren't giving them out to flat people. {It would have been way to heavy for Kelly to carry around anyway.} Maybe she can put it on her holiday wish list?



Money Saving Mom had a little chat with flat Kelly about budgeting and couponing so that she would have more money to spend on her family this December. Kelly remarked on how great of a babysitter Crystal was. My little guy and this little guy enjoyed a few slobbery glances as they wondered where in the world they were, what the meaning of life was... and why people were afraid of the elevators.



Jolanthe and Kelly enjoyed chatting in the hallway after helping Jenn print some affiliate cards for Bright Ideas Press. Jenn told me that Jolanthe was "hard core" {geek} because she took a printer along to the blog conference. You might not need a printer, but if you're SMART, you'll take along your own mobile hotspot and an extension cord. The hotel had horrible internet service (every hotel I have ever been to has been the same).



Amy Bayliss and Lisa Boyd sat next to me at dinner. I took most of my photos with my iPhone while I had the baby on me... and somehow my 12 year old "babysitter" ended up working for Dayspring instead of me... so the baby was with me a lot and photos became few and far between. Kelly kicked me in the shin under the table to remind me to get a good picture with Amy since she knew how much I had been anticipating meeting her IRL - FINALLY. Amy is one of my blog friends that goes back to ancient blog days! Of course, I could hardly feel Kelly's kick since she was made of paper; therefore, I'm stuck with just this sorry iPhone 3G shot. [The iPhone 4s didn't come until the day after I got home from Relevant - go figure.]



Kelly attended a few of the break-out sessions with me after we ate (I have no idea how she was able to stay so paper thin eating all that BEEF).

I have to be honest - it's hard to listen and take notes when you don't have free hands and you are worried about keeping an almost 9 month old baby busy and quiet. I learned a lot more at Relevant 2010 - because my whole family came with me and stayed at a friend's house (I was pregnant with the tiny dude then and the bigger one was already weaned, so he didn't come to the hotel with me and I was able to SOAK in the messages and really BE present with the people).

If you have to take a baby to a blog conference, be sure you get with the speakers and ask for their notes. Or if you have a babysitter at a blog conference, make sure they are not a teenager (going on 26) with a serious fettish for swag and coffee. Take your mother - grandmas make the perfect travel companions for blog babies... and they don't charge for babysitting. Win - win!

These are some of the other bloggers - and I know I should know their names (I'm horrible with names - and the stack of business cards I collected at Relevant will be useless to help me unless each card has a photo of the person it belongs to, I'm afraid)...

Update - 30 minutes later after asking Twitter:
According to my Twitter genie @DeniseBlooms... "@sprittibee Here are their blog links http://t.co/wBOqB58T (Giving Up on Perfect) and http://t.co/CPYPGv8R (Domestic Serenity - holy cow her header is so hypnotizing! Love!) #Relevant11"



Below is a shot of the lobby centerpiece that reminded me of Beth. I stayed at her house last year when I was at Relevant 2010. She's another person that should have gone to Relevant in 2D this year with me (oops)... and I'm sure Kelly kicked me under the table about that, too... but again... she was such a light-weight and I was a bit preoccupied. Hindsight is 20/20. Next year, Beth - start saving up!



Kelly thought it was really funny that she was smaller than the Halloween contest entries and really took a liking to the Tin Man pumpkin. I let her cast a vote for him, but we have no idea which pumpkin won.

Hotel staff were helpful during the conference. Our favorite employees were the restaurant owner/manager, the awesome night waitress who brought us eggs and bacon even though it wasn't on the menu - at nearly midnight, and the wonderfully witty Scottish guy. {We were all suckers for that accent - could have listened to it all day.}



Right before we checked out of the hotel, Ann Voskamp got to visit with Kelly. Ann is an introvert, so she pretty much stays in her room unless she's speaking. We adore her - and are so glad the Farmer made her come to deliver the ending keynote. I always wished there were more time to spend with Ann... but I know she gets claustrophobic in crowds. How could she feel any other way with all those miles of Canadian wheat, open skies, forests, and with leading the quiet life of a busy farm wife? Maybe one day I'll happen to pass by her farm and she'll invite me to sit down and drink tea? Nice thought... but Texas and Canada are oh, so far from each other. I can't imagine what would ever take me back that way. 



There was a lovely pink sweatshirt that Kelly had her eye on in the Sheraton Gift Shop. I had to remind Kelly that they didn't have a size which would fit her flat mini-self. I thought they were a little pricey, too. We settled for an iPhone picture instead. Maybe next year she can save up her pennies and get herself a Hershey Chocolate Souvenir when she's in town for Relevant 2012? I hear Relevant won't be at the Sheraton next year. We'll miss them.



Unfortunately, though she tried, Kelly was not much help with the luggage when it was time to load up.



We caught up with Myra in the lobby as we were waiting on everyone to scrape the ice and snow off of their windshields and car tops. This Texas girl really enjoyed seeing snow so thick and white... but was VERY glad that it didn't deter driving or flying for the trip home. I took Kelly outside and let her "chill out" in the snow for a picture, but the iPhone just couldn't do the moment justice.

It was so sad seeing everyone load up and leave. That's the awful thing about being with friends for a whirlwind conference weekend... there are only so many things you can cram in to such a short time... and so many people you adore... that you often feel like you failed and left things undone when everyone parts ways. [Speaking of failing, I only wrote in a few of the prayer journals because it was so hard to get in there with a noisy baby and my big stroller.] That's what makes blog conferences so addictive: you always want MORE of being around "your people" (who understand you and encourage and inspire you to be good at what you do).



After saying good-bye to Myra, Kelly visited with Maggie Hogan of Bright Ideas Press (who was my airline sponsor for the conference). Pretty soon, we said good-bye to Harrisburg and headed to Baltimore through the snow. Maggie and Stacy with BIP drove me to the airport (Kelly rode in the darkness of my laptop bag - that I still don't know how Stacy fit in to the back of the vehicle). Kelly was pretty quiet for the rest of the trip to Texas.

We gave Kelly the tour of our house after finding her smashed in the luggage she helped us get unpacked. Remember that "If I can homeschool, ANYONE can" bookcase post? Kelly got to be the first blog friend to see my new book cases (in rare form: right after the 2 year old scribbled all over the white painted doors).

Kelly was in her element with all those homeschooling books and curriculum, and in fact, she hasn't wanted to come down from the shelf on home-making, parenting, and organizing. We homeschoolers enjoy looking through each other's book shelves. Don't worry, Kelly - I'm letting you spend a lot of time up there on the shelves reading to your heart's content. You let me know when you want to go home... or I can stick you in an envelope and send you on another flat Kelly adventure!

Or... maybe I'll just bring you to the MomHeart Conference in February? Is that a plan? I'd much rather hug you in 3D.




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