I went to the Catholic homeschooling conference....

... and I hardly spent any money! Yay me! It takes a lot of will power not to spend at least $300 while there, but since I didn't even have $50, well, that wasn't so hard, now, was it?

What I did come away with was... new blogs to haunt! Heaven!

I also came away with a profound respect for the other moms and dads who maneuver this tiny subculture we have. The funny part is, it doesn't feel tiny to me, because the people I hang out with most are part of it. Generally, we're all like the book "Crunchy Cons" and our priorities move in those circles more or less. So, most of us homeschool, most of us actually believe in what the Catholic Church teaches, to each letter of the Cathecism of the Catholic Church (CCC), including our use of NFP. We generally lean toward hippie-like tendencies, like organic food, city chickens, camping, etc. Now, some of us would be offended by the label "hippie", but if that's being good stewards of the Earth, then we are doing that, a la the book of Genesis. :) We are all trying to create our own, fairly innocent, well-formed Garden of Eden. And then we'll see where that goes from there.

That all said, there were a healthy mix of opportunities when it came to the speakers at the conference. The website for the conference is www.nwcatholicconference.com and it will have lots of notes on it in a jiffy from all the speakers. I'm very thankful for this, because I couldn't get there before noon, and when I was there, I could hardly hear or was mightily distracted by four children. They were actually very good, I might add, most of the time. We did have a stealing incident, but that was well taken care of by a personal apology and note. Happily, I know the vendor, and she has nine kids and 21 grandkids! She says she's been there, done that. And Mr. Six Year Old was suitably embarrassed, which was a big relief to me. They had a great time with all kinds of kids their age and other ages. Gabe learned lots of chess, soccer, football and Catholic trivia, and we all learned my kids are very, very attracted to small plastic knights from China and also the math program Math U See. Which is expensive, but just might be worth it for aforementioned six year old. He was all over it. Happily, someone I know will be letting me borrow the lowest level. Thank goodness for the generosity of homeschoolers!

I have a few websites for you. Ready? Get set? GO.

Think organic is too expensive? This lady has got some great tips and stories for you! Search around. She swears raw milk saved her small son from nastiness. Very good reading:

Organic and Thrifty

Meredith Henning on incorporating the Liturgical Year into your home. Mondays with Mary is her first book, and it's adorable. Here is her blog:


http://happyheartsmom.typepad.com/

and here is where you can order her book(think tea and crumpets with Marian Holy Days): https://www.lulu.com/commerce/index.php?fBuyContent=6582999


Robin Betz's notes from her talk called "Prioritizing With Blinders On":

http://www.nwcatholicconference.com/Notes/PrioritizingWithBlindersOnByRobinBetz.pdf

Cooking "Traditional Foods", meaning stuff we ate before we refined everything last century:


http://www.cookingtf.com/


And lastly, I need to mention the absolutely coolest homeschooling book I have read in ages. It deserves (and will likely get) its own post. It doesn't just talk about socialization for kids, it spells out socialization for families, meaning parents! And how to do it, and NOT do it. Let's just say I've run over her most important rule, oh, I don't know, constantly? But that doesn't mean I don't agree with her. She's right. I just have a very weak spot when it comes to fairly innocent gossip and then putting my foot in my mouth so it's not so innocent, and if I just shut my mouth altogether like she says, I'd never get my foot in there.... sigh. That's why they invented Confession. :P

Here is the book and the link to her blog. Buy the book if you can. It's worth it!

Cottage Blessings: A Haystack Full of Needles

I think my favorite part of the book is that socialization was why she was most opposed to homeschooling in the beginning, and now she thinks that might be its best strength! From what she wrote, I agree with her! Thank you, Alice, for writing this... we all need it! Even those whose kids are not being homeschooled. If you are a parent, it's a great read. Esp. a Catholic parent, but really, any parent.

Ok (puff, puff), think I've blogged enough today. Phew! Thanks for sticking with me, and happy hunting!!