MICHIGAN HOMESCHOOL PROM CRUISE!

Last Friday the Inaugural Michigan Homeschool Prom took place on the Elegant Detroit Princess Riverboat.

Kazz is 16 years old, considered a Junior, but is about to graduate from college with an Associate of Business Degree; so the standard "Senior" prom isn't something that would fly in the Homeschooling world. That is why this prom is a Freshman - Senior Prom. Homeschool Alumni under 21 can also attend as well as friends of homeschoolers.












There were teens in attendance from all over Michigan and Northern Ohio. Kazz and his friends are pictured above at the Detroit Renaissance Center. Kazz and his girlfriend, Beka, are to the right on the deck of the ship. The rest of the crew are pictured below in our yard. What a gorgeous bunch of unsocialized homeschoolers! LOL





Brian and I found out a while back that it is becoming more and more common for homeschooling teens to attend a Statewide Homeschool Prom. We decided that it would be a fun thing to plan a Michigan Homeschool Prom too, so that is exactly what we did. It went so well that we are now officially the Michigan Homeschool Prom sponsors. If you build it, they will come...and they did! :o)


If you know of homeschooling teens who live in Michigan or Northern Ohio who would like to attend the 2010 Michigan Homeschool Prom Cruise on April 30th please feel free to let them know. They can join the Facebook site for updates.



The view from the boat was absolutely amazing. We passed under the Ambassador Bridge twice during the cruise portion of the evening. We began the cruise when it was daylight and it ended after the sun had set so we were all able to get a lot of opportunities for sunset photos. Brian and I took advantage of that.



Here are some highlights of the dancing that occurred that evening. All of this fun took place with clean modern music too...who would have thunk it? :o)

I can't get over how pretty the boat was and how smooth the ride was that evening. I had never been on a Paddle boat. I didn't really know what to expect, but it was a pleasant surprise to find out that I couldn't feel the boat moving at all while inside the ship.




When I looked outside I couldn't tell we were moving either. It wasn't until I walked outside that I could appreciate the movement as I enjoyed the evening, breeze. It was a night to remember, though it took me 2 days to recover. The toe right next to my left big toe was numb for those 2 days and I have vowed to wear comfortable shoes next year...and I'm going to stop chaperoning long enough to dance with my husband at least once also!

Hope you all can join us next year too! :o)

RETAIL VS. DIRECTBUY

DirectBuy is a company that offers the consumer a way to buy items free from retail markups. My husband and I have seen their advertisements on television and very much wanted to check them out.

I recently found out that they are offering free tours to guests. If you live in Illinois, near the Direct Buy Tinley Park area, I urge you to click the link, grab a free visitor's pass and check out their inventory and prices.

You may very well be impressed with the friendliness of the staff and the money savings they have to offer. Their staff is quite knowledgeable, helpful, and friendly. It is a way to afford high quality merchandise on a frugal budget and in this economy, that's a must!

DO ANIMALS FEEL LOVE?

There are many people who believe that animals are not capable of remembering caretakers, feeling love or building attachment. After only one year of care, a lion is set free into the wild. Did he form a bond of love with his caretakers?

If there were ever a doubt, I give you this.

SEEING THE LIGHT BEYOND THE CAMP FIRE

It's that time of year again. We're getting ready to take the kids on some fun homeschool field trips and camping trips. In the process of looking for camping gear I found streamlight fashlights.

Our family can never have too many flashlights. It seems that every time we camp, the evenings are crazy because the kids often argue over who gets to use the flashlight to roam the campground. We run out of flashlights every time we camp. The problem isn't only that we lose them, but also that they break so dog-gone easily! That's not a good thing because we really cannot have too many on our trips. I use them every time we go.


I have been on the prowl for a practical and durable flashlight and I have finally found one! Streamlight has won a number of approvals from government, industry and independent authorities. These are the flashlights that are provided to the military, law enforcement, and other government organizations. I don't think I'm going out on a limb to say that they will be sturdy and long lasting.

Five sons and a husband can be hard on a flashlight. It didn't take me long to decide to add the military duty flashlights to our camping gear! I can check that off my list. Now to find socks that won't tear. I'll keep you posted!

HOMESCCHOOL FREEBIE: COMPUTER PROGRAMMING

Alice Computer Programming Software

This website offers "Alice" - free educational software from Carnegie Mellon University that teaches students computer programming in a visual, 3-D environment. It makes it easy to create animation for interactive games and videos and much more. The description from the website best explains it:

"Alice is a freely available teaching tool designed to be a student's first
exposure to object-oriented programming. It allows students to learn
fundamental programming concepts in the context of creating animated movies
and simple video games. In Alice, 3-D objects (e.g., people, animals, and
vehicles) populate a virtual world and students create a program to animate
the objects."

HAPPY FREE HOMESCHOOLING!

FAMILY MEMORIES REMAIN FOREVER

Plays, Musicals and Artistic Performances have long been my favorite kind of entertainment. Not only are they mine, but my children always enjoy the sights, sounds and experiences we have when we attend these art filled evenings together as a family. I believe that the arts bring about emotion that can feed the soul of our youth. It inspires direction and passion that enhance knowledge with experience and feeling about a certain subject or genre.

When Brian and I plan a vacation for example, we make it a point to see at least one artful production in the city or state we are visiting. We saw La Cirque du Soleil® — La Nouba in Orlando when we went to Disney World with our children and hope to see Cirque du Soleil and a few other Las Vegas Shows when we take our next vacation.

When we took the boys to the Cirque performance, Brian and I had as much fun watching the faces of our children as we did watching the performance on the stage..in the air...in the water! It was Amazing! Our sons still talk about their experience there and have mentioned more than once that they want to go back. THAT is the kind of family vacation that means something. It knits a family together with memories and experiences.

When you visit Las Vegas, rest assured that a show playing in Vegas is something that will not be forgotten. They have a way of etching their memory into the soul. When going on vacation with the family, isn't that exactly what we are hoping to achieve? We are trying to build memories that will last a lifetime. Vegas Shows are an absolute must if that is the goal of the family vacation. They will be talked about for years to come and could very well begin a tradition that will go on well after we have left the building. Grab a ticket and watch the memories accumulate. You won't regret it.

HOMESCCHOOL FREEBIE: ART LESSONS AT ARTYFACTORY

Artyfactory has a wealth of information from color theory (both technical stuff
like the color wheel and the emotional impact of colors in painting) to a
thorough overview of African masks and Egyptian hieroglyphs, shading
techniques in pen and ink, etc.

This site can be used directly as reading or coursework for a high school student.

HAPPY FREE HOMESCHOOLING!

GARDENING MY "DEER"

Anyone who lives near the country and has children who enjoy planting gardens or landscaping, knows that deer can be quite problematic. Deer can cause major destruction to newly planted vegetables, not to mention the damage they do when they trample flowers and plants. My parents live in just such a place and know first hand that cute animals can become quite destructive in a flash.

I hope this little bit of information will help your up and coming gardener to avoid just such a scenario. We have found that Havahart®, the leading manufacturer of caring control products for pets and wild life, has deer repellent that is both humane and affective.

Havahart sells repellent, humane live traps and other needed gardening aids to repel most any kind of garden destroying animal. Yes, they even have squirrel repellent!

If you are looking for a safe, humane, organic way to keep animals out of your garden, this is the place for you.

HOMESCHOOL FREEBIE: INTERACTIVE GEOMETRY and more...

Learner.org Geometry 3D Shapes provides free multi-media activities about three-dimensional shapes. Students can learn about the mathematical properties of polyhedrons, cubes, prisms, cylinders and pyramids and how to calculate their surface area and volume. Because instruction is presented in 3-D format it makes it much easier to visualize and understand.

Just click on "Geometry 3-D Shapes" and a new page opens where the presentation begins.

This site has so much to offer for grades 6 - 12.

*Math In Daily Life
*Metric Conversions
*Statistics
*Science Interactives
*Language Interactives
*History Interactives
*Arts Interactives

This is an invaluable resource for homeschooling families.

HAPPY FREE SCHOOLING!

WE'RE NOT PERFECT. WE'RE PARENTS...

Anyone who knows me can vouch for the fact that I love to pick baby names. Anyone who has seen the names of our children will surmise that, I suppose. The topic of pregnancy, babies and naming babies has always been at the top of my list for interesting conversation.

As you know, we have 5 sons in our family. What you may not know, however, is that our family recently decided that we would very much like to include a baby girl into our family mix. Yes, we are going to be a foster family again. With this decision comes the pleasure of picking out a name for our little gal should she become a permanent part of our family. As I was scrolling through all the names on the ParentsConnect website I couldn't help but notice all of the other information they have to offer. There are topics ranging from pre-pregnancy, pregnancy, to blog widgets to parenting! The reason the site caught my attention is because their slogan is so very true.

"We're Not Perfect. We're Parents..."

If you are planning to add a new life to your family, this is a one stop must-add to your favorites for your website links. Look for me in the community section. See you there!