Schoolhouse EXPO is coming August 19th-23rd

Are you ready  to be inspired?



Are you ready for 5 days of inspiration from some of the leaders in the Homeschool community? I know I am!
August 19-23, 20313 is the Old Schoolhouse Expo, an online conference where it doesn't matter how dressed up you are or aren't. You can join in wearing your jammies if you want. 
The schedule is full of awesome speakers and a wonderful time of encouragement with most speakers starting at the top of the hour.  You can purchase a ticket to this amazing event for only $24

Ray Comfort		Carol Topp
Dean Butler		Adam Andrews
Todd Wilson		Andrew Pudewa
Jessica Hulcy		Ann Dunagan
Diana Waring		Christine Field
Dr. Jay Wile		David C. Gibbs III
Hal & Melanie Young		David Stelzl
Kim Kautzer		Davis Carman
Antony Kolenc		Evonne Mandella
Terri Johnson		Tyler Hogan
Andy Harris		Marie Rippel
Jennifer Courtney		Deborah Wuehler
Joaquin Fernandez		Heather Laurie
Malia Russell

And More!!!

What an amazing list of speakers. 

I am on the west coast and am excited mostly because the activities don't get going until 10am Pacific time.

Will I see you there?

***I received my ticket to the event in exchange for sharing my thoughts before , during, and after the expo. All thoughts and opinions on the event are my personal opinions. ***

OCEANetwork Anchored in Christ Conference coming soon! #sponsored

I can not wait for the upcoming OCEANetwork Conference. In less than 2 weeks my husband , the boys, and I will journey into Portland to the Oregon Convention Center to join other Oregon homeschool families for the annual Homeschool Conference in exchange for my blogging before and after the conference..
This year's theme "Anchored in Christ" is fitting as our homeschool mascot the sailor and our school theme of a journey with Christ at the helm align with the theme perfectly.  I have already printed a list of the exhibitors and vendors along with a Conference Workshop Schedule. I am working my way through the vendor list making notes of who I want to talk to about their program along with a list of products I am searching for.
This year, OCEANetwork has a wonder children's tract with Stories from Bruce Isham and science stations throughout by Twin Rock Science Camp. Nathan is looking forward to the various science stations after last year's sea star dissection.
Our plan is to take the boys on Friday and then just Mike and I on Saturday, that way we can attend more of the adult encouragement workshops on Saturday and also the Used Curriculum Sale together without the boys having to be juggled.
So Friday looks like 3 stories by Bruce Isham for the boys , a lunchtime Exhibitor's workshop maybe 2 (can't decide between Institute for Excellence in Writing and Doorpost for Friday), 2 Heidi St. John workshops for Mom, General Session with Norm Wakefield, and 1 undecided session. Of course, this could all change once we arrive on Friday.
Saturday is looking good too. I found a Jon Dunagan workshop for Mike to attend first thing in the morning while 1st session is still undecided for me. Also the General Session in the morning looks good, but you can't go wrong with a message from Dick Karman. lunchtime will likely be a screen of Overruled! from Parental Rights.org followed by 1 of 3 workshops that seem like they will speak to me. The last workshop session has several workshops that I want to attend, I may have to step up and purchase the CDs or MP3 downloads after the conference.


Online registration has closed for the conference but you can still register by the door for $60 for yourself and your spouse. Children are $10 each.  You can also purchase an Exhibit Hall only pass $15 for adults and $10 for children.
I am looking forward to blogging more about the conference and even posting to Facebook and Twitter during the conference.

CAPE Conference Review

Mike and I are just home from another great homeschool conference. We spent Friday and Saturday in Yakima, WA at CAPE. I so want to share the fun and exciting world of lapbooking with everyone and these conferences are giving me that opportunity. We were blessed in talking with moms and dads about the fun hands on learning that lapbooking offers as well as blessed by other vendors and the people at the conference. Mike attended several of the talks and also spoke in depth with a couple of the vendors. We are both growing in our spiritual journey through these conferences and the time we spent together as a couple on the drive to and from and the time at the conference.
I have to thank April and Kelly and the rest of the crew at CAPE for making this a fun weekend. For those that stopped by our booth and either purchased an In the Hands of a Child project or simply inquired about the ideas, THANK YOU!
I will be at 2 conference in June. Both are in Oregon. First June 6 at LIGHT in Eugene and second at OCEANetwork June 12, 13 in Portland. If you are planning to attend either of those conferences stop by and say hi...

Christian Heritage Home Educators of Washington 2009

WOW! What a blessing this weekend has been. We had the privelage of being a a vendor at the annual conference for Christian Heritage Home Educators in Redmond Washington. The facilities at Overlake Christian Church were amazing to begin with and the hospitality shown to the vendors and their families was incredible, not to mention the pure honest Christian Values displayed by the staff and attendees was inspirational.

Since I was working at the In the Hands of a Child booth, I did not get
chance to hear many of the speakers, however I did get to chance to hear Dr. Voddie Baucham Jr. speak what an amazing and inspirational message.
Friday evening, he spoke poinently about the blessing we as parents are to our children and how our children are a blessing to us. He also talked about the role we as parents have in teaching our children.
During the conference on Friday I was able to hear Dr. Baucham's talks only briefly, but he did make a very strong statement that made me realize I am doing right by my children by homeschooling them. Many Christian schools boast their staff is certified; "certified by whom?" was the question Dr Baucham poised. If you want to maintained your value systems influence on your children why send them to schools that require certification from a flawed world view system?

We also had the privilege of listening to a selection of music performed by very talented homeschoolers; from voice to a string quartet and even a bagpiper (which Cameron was ecstatic about). I am happy to report that both boys showed Mike and I that they are capable of sitting still and showing due respect to performers as well as speakers during a long session.

As a newer vendor to the homeschool conference circuit I did learn some things about presentation and sales techniques. I found homeschool parents are interested in new ideas but cautious to purchase a new method. I also found that fathers where as interested in the idea of lapbooking and unit studies but wanted to really dig into the meat of the idea. I handed out flyers and business cards to probably 25 people in the last rush hour of the conference, my hope being that with the business card and flyer they will take a look at the website

I did get one photo of the booth this time. I uploaded to my facebook page.. I have some ideas for arrangement/setup for this next weekend that I will be trying out.

If you happened to stop by the booth at CHHEW, let me know by leaving a comment.
I hope to have a giveaway on my blog later next month so stop by often.