Ultimate Blog Party!

It's Ultimate Blog Party time and I am super excited. If you are stopping by from the party, welcome. I sure hope you enjoy your visit and come back again {and often}.





Let me tell ya just a little bit about myself and my family. My name is Robyn and I am married to my sweetheart. We'll have been married 15 years this September. I know, I'm awfully young to have been married that long. {just kidding! you are only as old as you feel, and some days I feel ancient!}

We have one wonderful son, Little Buddy. He brings so much laughter and delight to our home.

Last year, I left my corporate job of 15 years and came home to be Wife, Mama, Teacher, and Entrepreneur. I traded in those Jimmy Choos for tennis shoes {usually flip flops for nine months out of the year} and haven't looked back!

I am a full-time homeschooling Mama and share quiet a bit about our journey in homeschooling, my newly fulfilled life, and sometimes glimpses into my business life.

In honor of the Ultimate Blog Party, I'm giving away a $50 Amazon gift card! Ok, yes, $50! Because I know you can find yourself a little something something at Amazon and get it lickity-split! And 'cause I'm just cool like that!

How to enter:
- Leave a comment with information on your blog, facebook page, twitter handle, etc. so I can come say hi to you, too! {I'm a friendly blogger!}

Extra entries:
- Subscribe to Our Homeschool Home by RSS or Email.
- Become a Fan on Facebook
- Follow on Twitter
- Retweet about my Amazon gift card giveaway!


Thanks so much for coming by and I sure hope you come back soon!

As for the prizes I would love to have:
US18 - Goodie Basket for Mom from Healthy Moms
USC8 - $55 Amazon e-Gift Card from Kelly's Lucky You
US38 - Mary Kay Satin Hands from Jasmin Collier and Tamisha Hays
US65 - The Fantastic Mr. Fox DVD from Stacey Says
US72 - Your Shape for Wii from Kristie's List
US95 - $100 Gift Certificate to Restaurants.com from Thrify Jinxy
US105 - Get Fit Pack from Green Mom Wannabe
USC3 - $50 Target Gift Card from Peggy Gorman

I'm Lovin' It - Ebates

Have y'all signed up with Ebates yet?

My sister told me about how wonderful it was a while back. I depend on her for frugal tips and keeping me informed on the latest money saving strategies.

I'll admit it took me a little while to sign up for an account. But when I did, I could have absolutely kicked myself for not joining sooner.

If you've not heard about Ebates, let me tell you just a little bit about it.

They have coupons and promotional codes for over 1,200 stores. Great stores like Lands End, Victoria's Secret, QVC, Ebay {yep!}, and even Saks Fifth Avenue! You simply sign up for an account, then access your favorite store through Ebates. Ebates then will pay YOU a percentage of your purchase back.

So, head on over now and sign up! You can still enter promotional codes for additional discounts when you check out, but you'll be sweetly suprised when you get a sweet check back from Ebates.

Keep me posted on your great Ebates deals! I know you'll have bunches!!!

Our Ducks are Growing Like Weeds

I've been amazed at how quickly our ducks, Donald & Daisy, have grown.


Week 1




Week 2




Week 3



And now we can hear Daisy's quack. Did you know that the females are the ones that you can hear quacking?

Juicy Fruit

We would sit on the same wooden pew. Third from the left on the inside aisle. The end of the pew had an engraved brass plaque with their names on it in case I forgot which one. It wasn't very likely that I would forget such an important detail.

As I reached down to fiddle with the lace on my sock, he patted my hand. His gentle reminder to pay attention to the minister. To listen to the message. I couldn't tell him that I was paying attention. I was listening. To do so would have been disrespectful. And, how could I say anything in the middle of the sermon?

So I stopped. I dropped the ribbon of lace and gently swung my leg down. The lights reflected off of the patent on my shoes where they had just been polished this morning.

And then, he reached in his suit jacket pocket and pulled out a piece. I could smell it the minute it left his pocket. He slid it across the wood and I eagerly took it from him and quietly opened it. I glanced up at him to see a brief smile cross his face and a nod.

It was always the same when we stayed the weekend at father's parents. It was always inside his jacket pocket. Just waiting mid-sermon for this little girl to need it.

Was it a distraction? A reward? A bribe? I'm not really sure. But for me, it was our moment. Our special exchange. My connection to my grandfather. And for that I am always thankful.

Help Your Child to Love Classic Books

Image via Wikipedia

For Christmas I gave Little Buddy the Puffin Classic book set. I knew they were not exactly what he'd had on his Christmas list, but would be something we would enjoy together and from which he would learn a great deal. But, I knew while the books themselves were special, the love of reading them was my goal. 

1. Make it routine. Each day, we spend 30 minutes reading classic books. Many times these are the books that are included in our read-aloud time and I will say we both get a lot from our read-aloud times.

2. Keep them available. On each of our library trips, Little Buddy picks books that he would like to read over the next two weeks. In this group, he is required to include a least one classic book. We maintain a book list of classics and he makes his selections based on our listing. And of course, we have a home library well-stocked with classic books at all age levels.

3. Have fun. While we are reading a particular classic, I research to find activities to go along with our reading. For instance, we just read Peter Pan and our local community theater held a production while we were reading it. We also spent time playing like we were the Lost Boys and spent an afternoon acting out the book ourselves.

I look forward to our reading each afternoon. It's quiet amazing how often our 30 minutes of reading turns into an hour or more before we realize it. And that is exactly what I hoped would happen.

This post is part of Works for Me Wednesday.

On 50 Years

Looking back, they look like they were just children themselves. So full of love and life.I wonder if they realized they had such a wonderful life ahead of them. They would rear six children while building their own business. An all-American dream come true.

I'm fortunate to have married their son. The lessons they taught him are living on in the lessons he teaches our son - faith, love, honesty, hard work, respect.

Red Geraniums

This week I have most definitely been loving my porches and red geraniums.








This post is part of:
I'm Lovin' it
Sweet Shot Tuesday