Dangers of Homeschool Conventions

I am really loving a series "thatmom" is doing on the dangers of homeschool conventions right now. I've been reading her blog for over a year now and have found her to be thoughtful and discerning. Are those two words for the same thing? :)

She has discussed three dangers of homeschool conventions so far. The first was that conventions can be a threat to your sense of reality. Any homeschooling mom who's been to a convention knows the truth of that one! Every philosophy, every curriculum, every booth in the vendor hall looks so good that we often forget the reality of our own family situation.

The second danger is the threat of contentment with your husband (I think's it better called discontent with your husband). She writes:

One of my greatest concerns about homeschooling conventions is the remaking of dads that seems to be high on the agenda for many speakers within the homeschooling community. Just looking down the list of various upcoming conferences, nearly every convention has a workshop or two or even a keynote address that is geared to dads. One of the more popular themes this year at larger conferences is that of promoting multi-generational faithfulness, a wonderful concept that looses [sic] it wonder when examined under a brighter light and one that places many fathers in a role never intended to be held by anyone but God.

This particular blog post is a must-read in my book.

Today, she wrote that the third danger of homeschool conventions is a threat to your relationship with Jesus and others. She defines this threat as "...the temptation to align ourselves with one particular homeschooling speaker, author, or vendor to the exclusion of others and without examining the core teachings that are at the root of that person’s agenda. Rather than remaining simply a Christian homeschooling mom, we are tempted to identify with one particular branch of homeschooling, putting on the jersey, as it were, of one special group, which can often cause us to look at the world through a particular paradigm rather than looking at homeschooling from a purely Biblical perspective." Wow! I have found that to be true during the past 13 years that I've been officially homeschooling and have even given in to this temptation myself.

Moms, put on the full armor of God before you head off to your local homeschool convention this year so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes!

Happy Birthday, Gerren!

Well, I'm only six days late getting this post about Gerren's birthday done! On Thursday, March 10, Gerren turned 16. Of course, that's not really a big deal in our family since we can't afford car insurance that would allow the kids to get their licenses. Gerren doesn't even have his restricted license yet, though he's studied for it.

Chase usually makes breakfast for the boys on their birthdays, but this morning Greg decided to make waffles. He went out to get pecans from the freezer in the garage and found the freezer door open. What a great start to the day!

One thing Gerren got that he actually asked for was a new pair of running shoes.


He had asked for a game for the Wii, but I couldn't find a good price on it. Landon got a new game for his birthday which Gerren plays more than he does anyway!

Greg found this awesome remote control helicopter in the mall in Illinois when we were on our little trip. Gerren LOVED that and never expected it because I said I would never buy another remote control anything. They seem to break the first time you use them. This one if made of metal, however.




Gerren had been saving his money to buy a refurbished 5th generation 8gb iPod. He was SHOCKED when we gave him one!


He looks happy, though, doesn't he?


Carys always has to give her gift last, which is always a drawing of a dinosaur. :)


We had dinner out at Beef O'Brady's--hadn't been there in a long time. It was great. We came home for Gerren's requested dessert, peach cobbler. Yum!

Of course, the cobbler overflowed in the oven and made another huge mess. Seems to be the theme of the day!

Fast Trip to the Midwest

We left Wednesday evening, March 2, for a quick visit to the Missouri University of Science & Technology (MST) where Landon is interested in going to school. We spent Wednesday night north of Atlanta and drove the rest of the way on Thursday. Friday was spent touring MST. Landon LOVED the small school atmosphere (8500 students) and both of the professors with whom he had a chance to speak. However, he would have to piece together about $17000 in scholarship money to attend this school. It would be stressful, and he would be VERY far from home as well. Decisions, decisions! We'll be visiting UCF again in a couple of weeks before making any decisions.

We left Rolla and headed for Belleville where we visited with my parents over the weekend. It was fabulous to see some old friends at Winstanley as well. Wow, I love those guys and really miss them! We threw in a ride on the Metro and a short walk over to the Arch on Sunday. Landon loves the Arch! On Monday, we left IL at 6:30am (CT) and managed to get home slightly before 10:00pm (ET). Ugh! Doing that drive in one day is tough.

The kids had to do some school while we were gone because of taking three weeks off to move twice this year. We're in the middle of Week 25 (out of 36 in Sonlight), so we're not doing too bad. We've done 2 more days this week, but we'll be taking tomorrow off for Gerren's birthday (the only one-day holidays we have around here). :)

Happy 18th Birthday, Landon!

How is it possible that I am the mother of an adult? First, of all I'm not that old. Secondly, he was just born a few years ago!

Whatever the case, this young man is such a blessing to me. I thank God for him and pray that he will be an influence for Christ all his life. I'm so excited to see what God has for him as he goes off to college somewhere, but I'm so sad to think of not having daily contact with him as I have for the past 18 years. He's such a joy to be around!

Here we are eating at Chili's.


Goofy brothers!




The kids are really patient to wait until the evening when Greg is home to open their presents. Even Carys waited on her birthday!


This face is so beautiful to me!


For his birthday, Landon received razor heads, minutes for his Tracphone, a t-shirt, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II for the Wii,


and finally a Garmin nuvi GPS.


For both Christmas and his birthday, we tried to get gifts that we thought he would need going off to college. He got a nice set of luggage for Christmas, and then this GPS. I joked with him the the luggage meant "get out". So, when he opened the GPS, he said, "You're making fun of me, aren't you? You gave this to me so I can find my way in a parking lot, right?"


We were all laughing so hard. He IS directionally challenged!

Carys said, "Mom, take a picture of me." Who can resist?


Carys drew a picture of a dinosaur for Landon, and Chase made him breakfast.