Adventure In The Great Wide Somewhere

Sonlight is having a monthly blog linkup this year, in honor of their 25th anniversary. Find out how we decided to homeschool in the February hop and my best advice for new homeschoolers in March and in April shared a day in the life of my homeschool . Now for May's prompt: Share your best homeschool convention tips and experiences. I'll be honest, between the three local (very active) homeschool groups I belong to, I've not gotten around to attending the (humongous) Texas Home School Convention (practically in our backyard.) Therefore instead of pretend an answer, in honor of our first homeschool-iversary (is that a thing?) this past Tuesday and Kylee's kindergarten graduation this past weekend, I am doing our recent reading lists! Books on Every Subject! Core C Books The Bible (mostly the gospels and the book of Acts) The Awesome Book of Bible Facts Usborne Book of World History Window on the World Geography Medicine News: The Germ of an Idea Red ...

After deciding to homeschool last year, we took the time to assemble some desks and bookcases. With a nice little office off of the master bedroom, we pulled together a pretty space for me and the kids to enjoy while we homeschool. What's interesting is although I used it all year, I never really went through and rearranged (and culled) to suit us. We finished up our first year of homeschool (shifted schedule, YAY!) so I took the opportunity to rearrange, cull unused or misplaced items and generally streamline things. Just call it a good thorough spring cleaning, homeschool style. Without further ado, welcome to my new(ish) homeschool room!   Peeking through the French Doors that separate our bedroom from the office. It's nice that we have doors and can shut off the classroom when it isn't in use. With the French doors, we get the mixed blessing of lots of natural light from the bedroom windows and being able to see directly into the classroom after hours. Turn...

In Honor of Throwback Thursday, here's a look at our reading list for the past year... Fun Fact: Kylee loves history. Read Aloud Books Core B Leading Little Ones to God Usborne Book of Peoples of the World Missionary Stories with the Millers Usborne Book of Houses and Homes Charlotte's Web Favorite Poems of Childhood Homer Price Archeologists Dig for Clues Usborne Book of World History A Child's History of the World From Akebu to Zapotec Little Pear Usborne Time Traveler  Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle Owls in the Family Henry Huggins Tut's Mummy: Lost...And Found The Year of Miss Agnes Understood Betsy Greek Myths The Greek News  Mountain Born It Could Be Worse George Muller The Wheel on the School Gooney Bird Greene The Great Wall of China Roman Diary Mr. Popper's Penguins Detectives in Togas The Case of the Gasping Garbage Science Books The Usborne World of Animals Night Animals The Usborne Book of Science Activities Volume 1 See Ho...

It's time again for one of my favorite blog hops : Three Things Thursday! (Be sure to link up on her blog !) Since I already have a blog (and three blogs preceding this one) what haven't I already shared? Once Upon a Time There Was a Princess Who Celebrated a Birthday! Here are a few of my (new) favorite things from my lovely friends. 1.) Hidden Mickeys Go To Sea One of my favorite activities on vacation is wandering around the still quiet of the ship with my children in the early morning. Often we look at all of the artwork around the ship or the fun little details we stumble across. Then we discovered that Steven Barret's field guides are available for Walt Disney World, Disneyland and the Disney Cruise Line. The guides are set up with clues and hints as they guide you about the ships. For those people who prefer outright answers, those are available as well. My kids decided to hook me up for my birthday. You can bet we will enjoy...

In his characteristic infectiously Disney addicted style, Lou Mongello waltzes with ease through 102 Ways to Save Money For and At Walt Disney World. Covering every imaginable way to save from early in the planning stages until you say "See Ya Real Soon" to the house of mouse, each method is explained with candor and humor so uniquely Lou's that this is really a must read for any WDW Radio fan. I like that it covers each way to save in depth. Allowing for understanding which tips apply for your vacation and which will not suit your style without needing a lot of research outside of this book, it truly is a one stop shop for saving more money for (and even on) souvenirs. While some of the tips are oldies but goodies (fleshed out with helpful details, borne of experience), some are things I've never considered or heard of before clicking open the book. Lou Mongello created a go to guide for those of us who love Disney but don't want to go in to debt for a magic...

So after several months of research, late night conversations and soul searching our family finally decided to take the plunge into uncharted waters. No, we're not cruising to Alaska or the Panama Canal (yet) although that is still firmly on our Disney bucket list. We're joining the ranks of the Duggars; no, I'm not pregnant. Starting at the end of the 2013-2014 school year, we're going to start homeschooling both of our children! Our next great adventure! Channeling my #DisneySide, I decided to celebrate my new found peace and future with some books. After a bit of browsing, my #DisneySide Amazon Wish List is set for the foreseeable future. For a little light reading for me, I picked out The Thinking Fans Guide to Walt Disney World by Aaron Wallace. I thumbed through this a month ago in Barnes and Noble, meant to buy it and got distracted and set it down. It looks right up my alley though and I should have a book review on that once it arrives. More in the...

Welcome Fastpass to History Blog Hoppers! Sorry for the late posting tonight, I am finally the proud owner of a working and functional internet connection! The early posts this week either went out on their schedule (early week) or typed on my (brand spanking new) iPhone 5S courtesy of the blogger app and cellular data (last couple days). Tonight I'm celebrating with easy internet access and my laptop's full keyboard! Ahem, back to history. Back in 1983, Premier Cruise Line paired up with Walt Disney World to provide what would come to be known as a seven night land and sea package. Through this arrangement, the "Big Red Boat" licensed the use of Disney characters in onboard meet and greets. The ending of this relationship in 1993 paved the way for the formation of the Disney Cruise Line in 1994. In the midst of this era, I read voraciously. Like any other girl, I devoured each and every installment of Ann M. Martin's The Baby-Sitter's Club (or Th...

I finally got all of the kid's impressions from vacation recorded and decided it was time to get around to making my kids trip report into a book.  Castaway Kids Operation: Trip RePort by Christopher and Kylee Ketcherside | Make Your Own Book I love how it turned out! Have you ever printed off a vacation memories book? Do you have a favorite way to record your kid's vacation memories?