Blacklisted from the PTA

I have to admit that I am only in the middle of reading my advance copy of Blacklisted From the PTA, but I am totally in love. I have loaded it onto my sweet new sixth child, my Toshiba Laptop McLoughlin (yes, she has a middle name now, ElfMom!) and read it every chance I get. I love the irreverent humor, and you will, too! She says things we all think, like how we all need to date our hubby more, and she gives us tips, like to make sure you shave before you go out and don't tell him to order the diet plate. She also shares her brief foray into the world of cloth diapering (brief, as in hours!). I love Lela Davidson and can't wait to read more of her essays. She is going to be a popular writer, so watch out for her! If you want to know more, check out the links below to get her book in paperback, on Kindle, to follow her on FB or Twitter. I guarantee she'll have you laughing!

P.S. You gotta love the red pumps on the cover!

Paperback: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1936214431/?tag=hubp045c-20

Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0054M8O8E/?tag=hubp045c-20

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/BlacklistedFromThePTA)

Twitter @leladavidson, #BlacklistedFromThePTA, #PTAoutcast

Diversity Training in my Homeschool

This is a picture of Michael patiently teaching Sam to mess around with crayons on PAPER instead of WALLS. I love the diversity in my homeschool. We're around black people, white people, brown people, mocha people, purple people (just kidding!), bullies, crazies, oldies, babies, doctors, janitors, engineers, nurses, writers, mailmen and soooo much more. I suppose I am the best teacher for my kids (along with their dad) of tolerance and the fact that diversity is good. I'm NOT saying we tolerate being treated badly or watch as others are treated badly. I'm not saying that the diversity of a person who mistreats animals is okay, either.  Well, I've totally lost my point now, and that's just the way I am. Just enjoy the cuteness of my boys being sweet together.

Procrastinating Mommies

Do you procrastinate when you have too much going on? Sometimes I find myself dragging my feet when I have only a few minutes to get 5 or 6 kids fed and into the van and dressed for dance class. I find a dish to wash. I find a phone call to make. I hurry and get Sam dressed and then rest for a few seconds of well-deserved but ill-timed down-time (loving-the-hyphens!). I write a blog post. I dig around in my bag. Then I rush everyone into the van and we go. Sometimes we're a few minutes late. Then I rush the remaining kids to buy hamster food because the dang thing has been out for days and we've been feeding her things we probably shouldn't. Then we take their friend-who-spent-the-night home. Then we pick up Jordan, pick up the Activitied Child and head home. Or to the pool. No wonder I procrastinate. And this is SUMMER, which means there is LESS going on!

Rosetta Stone Free Demo CD

I called 1-800-349-5311 to get the Rosetta Stone free demo DVD. It rocks. Too bad my memory is so bad after having and caring for 5 kids over the last 10 years that I probably couldn't learn a new language at gunpoint. I have enough Spanish in my brain to get by ... I get to practice it sometimes here in Kansas City. I would learn more if I had to, just as I would easily learn sign language if I had a deaf child. As for teaching my kids a foreign language, however, I'm stuck. I always thought we'd easily learn Spanish together, but I have enough trouble fitting regular stuff into our homeschooling days.

What are your thoughts on foreign language learning? I know a lot of people who are teaching their children LATIN, for gosh sake. I think it would be cool but am so scatterbrained and disorganized that I don't know where we would fit it in. Tips?

The Well-Planned Day GIVEAWAY!!!!!

Rebecca Keliher of Home Educating Family has generously offered to send one of my readers a copy of her wonderful homeschool planner called The Well-Planned Day. I can vouch for this $24.95 resource ... I just bought one and love it. It's gorgeous and includes articles about homeschooling. You can check it out here, then come back to leave me a comment, which will enter you into my drawing. If you don't feel comfortable leaving contact information on the comments section, please leave a comment and then email me at mommykerrie at yahoo dot com.

Tell your homeschooling friends! You can also head to http://www.wellplannedday.com/ and sign up for a sample issue of Home Educating Family!

This giveaway ends on the 14th, when I will draw a name and post it here.

Thanks for participating!