Hi friends! Next week I’ll be in Atlanta speaking again at Teach Them Diligently and I couldn’t be more excited to meet up with many of you! If you haven’t had a chance to register your family yet – or if you’ve been trying to decide if you can attend, NOW is the time to register for any of the three remaining events this year!

• Atlanta, GA – April 9-11, 2015
• Sandusky, OH – May 28-30, 2015 (our kids will be with us here!!)
• Dallas, TX – July 16-18, 2015

SAVE $7 on Your Family Registation!

Want to save an additional $7 on your family registration?  Use the code HSCREATIONS during checkout and the discount will automatically be applied. Don’t wait too long though – there is a price increase coming on April 4th!

Maybe you are just getting started homeschooling (there are some GREAT sessions to help you get started). Maybe you are just ready for the year to be over and done with (trust me, there are many sessions to help encourage you!). Or life is just crazy and at the moment you don’t even know where to start with homeschooling thrown in (there’s something for you too!). From encouragement as a parent, tips on homeschooling from moms who have been there and experienced that, to sessions that will challenge you spiritually, Teach Them Diligently has something for every member of your family.

I am personally looking forward to sitting in on different sessions this time and just soaking up some much needed encouragement. It may also be a bit of a mommy-break too, so if you see me walking dazed through the vendor halls – please stop me and say hi. And chat – I’ll likely be on quiet overload from not having any kids peppering me with questions!

And really, it’s out of my comfort zone to say ‘HEY – come hear me speak!” (and the button above cracks me up), but if you are attending, I’d love to have you sit in on one of my three sessions:

• Finding a Curriculum That Works for You and Your Family (and what to do when it isn’t working)
• Balancing Life and School (I am so preaching to myself on this one!!)
• Get Your Homeschool Organized

Hope to see you there – but first – GO REGISTER!!

We all love freebies, right? (I know I do!) Rather than wait until the weekend to share, here are a few fun things to grab now and start using!

Watercolor Butterfly Tutorial

Our kids love the detailed art lessons from See the Light. Right now they have a FREE watercolor butterfly tutorial available to newsletter subscribers. Laurianna will be working on her this week, so I’ll be sharing pictures soon! Look for the signup form in the right hand blog column and the details will be emailed to you. Be sure to mention that Homeschool Creations referred you (wink). They will be adding new tutorials in the upcoming months, so it’s a great way to work on art with your kids!

Free Last Supper Bible Lesson

Our kids have been asking to do another stick figure Bible lesson, so in the next few weeks, we’ll be working on the Last Supper freebie from Grapevine Bible studies. I love that we can all work on the lessons – because stick figures are easy (and fun) to draw!

Owl Art Ideas

Don’t miss these free owl drawing guides from Deep Space Sparkle. If you don’t subscribe to her newsletter, do yourself a favor and sign up today while you are there!

Character Badges

Homeschool Giveaways and Freebies is offering the Character Badges system consisting of three charts (the Obedience Chart, the Disobedience Chart, and the Consequence Chart), a series of specially designed badges, and a set of flash cards which work together to make character training fun and rewarding for both you and your child. This is a $9.99 value and ends 3-31-15.

Homeschool Giveaways subscribers can download this awesome set for FREE. Then, after you claim it, you can use a special link to share it and when you earn 3 points you get the Little Character Badges, (Ages 3-5) for FREE, a $5.99 value!

Tips for Teaching Reading and Spelling

It’s no secret that we love All About Reading and All About Spelling in our house. If either of these areas are a struggle for you, download their free 20 Best Tips for Teaching Reading and Spelling – and get a peek into why we recommend them so much!

We all have days when our heart and spirit are just tired and weary – at least I know I do! In those moments, encouragement is what is most needed.

Today and tomorrow only there is a FREE Kindle book available for you – Hope for the Heart of the Heart of the Homeschool Mom: Encouragement for the Days When Sanity is Limited.

Sound like something you might need? Grab your encouragement here. And don’t forget to pass along the encouragement to your friends too!

We all love saving money (well, I know I do), so when a great deal comes along, I want to make sure you all are aware of it too!  Here are a few coupon codes and giveaways worth checking out this weekend.

Free Reading Printables and a Giveaway

Add some fun to winter reading and spelling lessons with these three hands-on review activities from All About Learning Press. Don’t forget to enter to win a complete level of All About Spelling while you are visiting their site!

$20 Off Nancy Larson Science

Save $20 on any purchase of a complete Nancy Larson Science kit until February 28, 2015. Use coupon code 2014prices to grab the savings. We’ve used this program with all of our children, from K up through Science 4, and LOVE it! All program purchases also include free shipping and handling.

30% off What’s in the Bible and a Giveaway

What’s in the Bible has a 30% off coupon code (use WOOHOO at checkout) through January 27th. They also are offering a free Valentine’s Day printable as well as a chance to win a Kitchenaid mixer (yay!).

 Free Parenting Webinar

Don’t forget – just a few days left (and a few spots remaining) until the FREE parenting webinar with Positive Parenting Solutions. From toddler temper-tantrums to teenage talking back, getting kids to cooperate can be both frustrating and exhausting. What is the key to cooperation? If you’re tired of nagging, reminding and yelling to get kids to listen – you won’t want to miss this parenting session!

This weekend I had grand plans of making some fun ornament with the kids (hello, big fat fail) and sharing them with you all. But that just didn’t happen.

Instead we spent the weekend looking for a new (to us) vehicle to replace the one that a few inches of snow managed to total (sigh). In case you were wondering, car shopping isn’t the most exciting thing and can be a wee bit overwhelming. And tiring. And make your brain just fry. It isn’t for the weary.

And the kids, well, it’s life as normal around our house. Assuming you call the above normal. That is how life goes with us, especially when your phone is left sitting on the counter. Apparently much of my free time in the upcoming weeks will be spent deleting (or hiding for future use) pictures that my kids have randomly taken over the last few weeks. Incidentally, we don’t have any great family pictures and I may have threatened told the kids that their lovely images might grace our belated Christmas cards (grins). Wouldn’t you like one?

On a side note – I’m also trying to figure out which two pencils boy wonder used in his few moments of fun. Shudder.

BUT – all that aside, my hubby is home this week, there are cookies to be baked (and eaten)- especially our two Christmas Eve favorites of Molasses and Snickerdoodles, gifts to wrap, books to read, and a Christmas to enjoy.

So no blogging for me this week and HUGE hugs and Merry Christmas wishes to all of you as well. Sit back. Relax. Love on your family.

See you next week!