Our Own Drum Major

Very Sharp! OCMA Sound Waves Marching Band
Strawberry Festival Parade in Garden Grove CA
Drum Major - Beatriz Thomas

She really has this band under control. Look at those ranks, files and diagonals.
This was the first parade in their new uniforms.

76 Trombones led the big parade...
Yes, she directed the band marching backwards.
She was marching in place trying to get the drums in beat here.
The band sounded great!
This is an all homeschool band elementary through high school.

CHEA Convention

This weekend we attended the CHEA Convention in Long Beach. Actually this is the first year we didn't attend any of the sessions.

We have represented Doorposts in the exhibit hall for 5 or 6 years now. Doorposts is a family run small business in Oregon. Pam Forster has written most of the curriculum and designed the charts. She is the one with the If/Then, Blessing, Go to the Ant, and Brother Offended charts. She also wrote For Instructions in Righteousness, a parenting resource that has scripture references for almost any sin you as a parent would need to address with your child, not to mention yourself.

Well as I stated before, we did not attend any sessions this year. I will probably download several of them and listen later this week. CHEA of CA is the Christian Home Educators Association of CA. We have attended for around 20 years. This is the first year I didn't have anything to plan for the approaching school year.

I did check out the small college booths in the exhibit hall but was not impressed. The two girls in the Multnomah booth across from our booth did not seem to want to even be there. They left for lunch both days during the official lunch time. That is when the exhibit hall is the most crowded. They talked with each other or read books the rest of the time. They were just not very approachable. I waited until they were gone to even take a brochure. The Pensacola booth never had a person in it when I or Chuck walked by. The tuition, room and board for an entire year was under 7000. I really wanted to know how they can do that and what this school really can offer. The third one was most promising. It is local - Riverside - but they are not really very homeschool transcript friendly. They want more proof than the Cal State/CSU system even requires for homeschool/private students. It is looking more and more like a JC/Clep year.

It was great interacting with so many homeschool families this year at the booth. Yes, you heard it right FAMILIES. Children and teens and DADS attended in a much greater number this year. Thank you CHEA for hearing us! Homeschooling is more than just an educational choice. It is a lifestyle choice. That means parents often choose to have their children with them. It is the teaching along the road thing. How can we teach along the road if our children are on a different road? There are still many moms and dads that choose to come without their children. That is also OK. Parents also need some time without the kids. The really really great thing is we all get to choose what works best for our family at that particular time at the convention now. Isn't that the heart of homeschooling? We have the freedom to choose.


Joshua 24:15
And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

The Great Hatchling Release

Good Grief! It's just a computer game. It's supposed to just be a little time waster and fun.

Warning!!! Don't get hooked on Hatchlings! Especially if you have an imagination that won't stop and any compassion at all.

It's a game on facebook where you gather eggs. There are special eggs to collect. You can hatch many of the eggs. BUT YOU HAVE TO FEED THEM or they run away. It takes too much time.

I had to release over 50 hatchlings to fend for themselves in the wild today. I had to do it. I had no choice if I was going to live in reality. There are dishes to be washed, laundry to be done, floors to clean, gardens to plant and weed. I HAD to release them.

But first I had to feed them up so they wouldn't be hungry roaming around eating other hatchlings that have been released. I also couldn't not feed them and let them run away. That just seems to cruel.

Then I had to DECIDE WHICH ONES TO LET GO!

Now understand...I'm 48 years old. I'm not a child with an active imagination. I'm an adult with an active imagination. I decided fish would be able to survive... so out went most of the fish - not the Koi - they are too pretty. I had previously released all of the reptiles and dinosaurs and did not hatch any more of those creatures. Then I let the mouse/rat go - it's ok - he had a huge hunk of cheese with him.

Now I was really struggling. I have to keep the cats and anything Josh thinks is a cat ie. armidillo's, fox, etc... I also needed to keep the pretty owls with the Big Eyes, Josh loves those too. So I let all the other birds go. I reasoned that birds are like fish and they can survive on their own without much assistance. Now I had a LOT of birds so that really helped.

I left for several hours thinking I had released enough. . . . Not so! I came back and ALL of them were hungry again. So I let my bear go. This was really really difficult. I like bears. He was a real bear not just a cute little cuddly bear but a real black bear. Then I bit the bullet and allowed the bunny's from Easter go...and...the Easter duck...and...sob...the rubber ducky.

So you are probably wondering why I kept all of the dragons. Well, don't be surprised, I like dragons. They also might cause too much havoc in the virtual world of released hatchlings and I had to protect the others. Right?

Well I'm down to only around 40 to feed now. After the holiday I will allow Uncle Sam to go back to wherever he lived before but I will keep the bald eagle. I might have to consider allowing the horses to go after that. I did release a lot of goats and monkeys after I found out they were Chinese Year wind, earth, fire etc... Hmmm

Now you might want to consider the agony of these decisions I had to make today the next time you tell your child to clean his/her room. Especially when you tell them to go through their toys for the Salvation Army bag. I vividly remember the impossibilty of deciding which doll, animal etc... could survive without me to take care and love it when it was time to donate each year. Keep in mind that when a child is young it is even harder to separate fantasy and reality.

Of course I might be the very very rare one...