Rocky Mountain Hi!

Come say "hi!" in Denver! I'll be there, will you?

Rocky Mountain Home Educator's Conference

Thursday, June 21

6:00PM - 9:00PM	Registration
6:00PM - 9:00PM	Exhibit Hall Open

Friday, June 22

8:00 AM - 6:00 PM	Registration
8:00 AM - 5:00 PM	Exhibit Hall Open
9:00 AM - 10:00 AM	Breakout Sessions:
	Life, Liturgy and the Pursuit of Holiness Fr. Kevin Augustyn A Good Attitude Makes All the Difference Kelly Roper Phoneme "Phundamentals" and Cool Tools For Reading Celeste Thomas The Heritage of Grace Alan Schaeffer College Funding David Kullman * Early Childhood Awareness Early Childhood Connections
10:15 AM	Welcome
10:30 AM - Noon	**Opening Mass - Rev. Christopher Hellstrom, main celebrant (Exhibit Hall will be closed at this time)
Noon - 1:30PM	Lunch (on own)
1:00PM - 5:00PM	Confession Available
1:30PM - 2:30PM	Keynote: Home Education: Attachment Parenting Grows Up Elizabeth Foss
2:45PM - 3:45PM	Breakout Sessions:
	Redemptive Suffering Bob Roper Notebooking: Basic and Beyond Kim Fry If I Had Known Then What I Know Now Nancy MacArthur The Effects of Modern Media on Culture Eric Genuis *Dream Workshop I Jo Lynn Osborne
4:00PM - 5:00PM	Breakout Sessions:
	Our Call to Holiness Bob Roper Teaching Christ: The Heart of Pope Benedict's Thought Dr. Anthony Lilles Building Character in the Homeschool Setting Kelly Roper High School Panel Moms *Dream Workshop II Jo Lynn Osborne
5:00PM	Exhibit/Vendor Hall Closes
5:15PM - 8:00PM	Eric Genuis Concert/Banquet (by Reservation only)

Saturday, June 23

7:30AM - 2:00PM	Registration
8:00AM - 8:40AM	Holy Mass** - Fr. Kevin Augustyn, main celebrant
8:40AM	Welcome
8:45AM - 4:30PM	Adoration
8:45AM	Exhibit Hall Open
8:45AM - 9:15AM	Continental Breakfast
9:00AM - 11:00AM	Confession Available
9:15AM - 10:15AM	Breakout Sessions:
	*The Spiritual Aspect of Special Needs Fr. Roland Freeman Perfection is God's Business; Ours is Just the Trying Elizabeth Foss History As God's               Story Dr. Jonathan Reyes Elementary Math Dr. Joan Cotter *Removing Reading Blocks Dianne Craft Math Can be a Walk in the Woods . . . or a Twenty Mile Forced March (High School Math) Dr. Stanley Schmidt
10:30AM - 11:30AM	General Session - The Domestic Monastery, Kelly Roper
11:30AM - 1:00PM	Lunch (on own)
1:00PM - 2:00PM	The       Stolen Generation, Dr. Jonathan Reyes
2:10PM - 3:10PM	Breakout Sessions:
	How Do You Spell Joseph? Bob Roper History Timelines - Hands On! Kim Fry Homeschool FAQs Kelly Roper Why Study the Classics? Fran Rutherford *The Biology of Learning I Dianne Craft *Special Needs Panel  (Part I) Parents
2:30PM - 4:30PM	Confession Available
3:15PM - 4:15PM	Breakout Sessions:
	The Importance of Civic Duty Bob Shaffer Take the Groan Out of Writing Irene Beatty Unschooling for Everyone Alan Schaeffer Integrating the Classics Into Your Curriculum Fran Rutherford *The Biology of Learning II Dianne Craft *Special Needs Panel  (Part II) Parents
4:00PM	Exhibit/Vendor Hall Closes
4:30PM	Adoration Ends
4:45PM - 6:00PM	**Closing Mass with Most Reverend Michael J. Sheridan,
	Bishop of the Diocese of Colorado Springs

For my sister

Please pray.

Perhaps she needs a cuppa herself!

I went to my local coffee shop this afternoon to get my pick-me-up all by myself. My favorite barista was sound asleep, recovering from a late at night, far away soccer match. The girl behind the counter asked my preference.

Me:  A small coffee cooler with a scoop of chips, please.

She: (looking perplexed) Um, you want potato chips in your coffee?

Me: No, dear, espresso chips, just a scoop...

She: Oh good, I'm not sure we have potato chips.

Duh.

Isn't that backward?

Katie: Gracie and I are going to play babies down in the basement.

Me: OK, sounds like a great idea.

Katie: Can we take Kara and pretend she's a doll?

Father's Day Far Away

It's Father's Day. I'm a big fan of holidays and holy days. I love to make a fuss. But I am going to admit, this one slipped off my RADAR screen--the victim of being between the infamous weekend and the trip to Denver. I've had a wicked sinus infection all week and I've been bumbling about trying to get ready to go again. "Daddy" was around a bit this week, getting into trouble  playing with the kids, but it didn't hit me until late yesterday, as we were driving to the airport, that he was leaving town and would miss Father's Day here on the east coast. I'm a bad mommy. We should have celebrated yesterday. Maybe we'll move it to Tuesday.

For now, the best I can do is lock myself in his office and call California so we can start the day with a long phone call. I'll tell him how much I love him and how I know of no other man on earth as dedicated to his children. I'll probably cry because it will hit me that he's alone in a hotel room on Father's Day and that just doesn't seem fair when you've worked so hard as the father of eight kids. And then I'll feel really badly for neglecting to tuck some special reminder into his suitcase. Finally, I'll tell him to log on because someone in this house didn't forget.