heartofdakota.com

How is it possible for a homeschooling mother of 4 boys to plan and publish this awesome curriculum? When does she have time to read all the books? create new activities? be a mother? be a wife? be on the boards? have a life?
And then there are big church organizations like mine that cannot come up with adequate material for our church schools because of all the red tape, but they have the big money!
Carrie, this is your calling, your ministry and it is a blessing to see you live it out and bless us all on your journey.
You and your family are in my daily prayers. May He give you and yours the strenght, wisdom, courage and anything else that is needed to continue.
Dorla

You are a blessing to my family as well. Thanks for all you and your husband do for homeschoolers. God bless!

Gina

I agree too - what a blessing, and you are always in my prayers as well!

Oh my I have to agree. I have one child and can't fathom doing all you've done Carrie. Heck, I can't even get my house clean.

I think she is pretty amazing as well.

I live in CA so, the possibility of running into a "celebrity" is rather likely. If I did run into one, I really would have absolutely no interest in an autograph or a quick hand shake. Just not my "cup of tea".

If I ran into Carrie on the other hand, I would want her autograph in my manual, definately a hand shake (okay, a hug really) and I imagine I would be shakin' a bit too!

She and Mike have really made an awesome contribution to homeschoolers who are absolutely committed to instilling love and obedience toward God. I still think Heart Of Dakota is too good to be true!

Thank you Carrie and Mike, you truly are a Godsend!

Candice

Candice wrote:I think she is pretty amazing as well.

I live in CA so, the possibility of running into a "celebrity" is rather likely. If I did run into one, I really would have absolutely no interest in an autograph or a quick hand shake. Just not my "cup of tea".

If I ran into Carrie on the other hand, I would want her autograph in my manual, definately a hand shake (okay, a hug really) and I imagine I would be shakin' a bit too!

She and Mike have really made an awesome contribution to homeschoolers who are absolutely committed to instilling love and obedience toward God. I still think Heart Of Dakota is too good to be true.

Exactly!! That's the one and only reason I want to go to conference this year...to meet Carrie and Julie (I don't think I would hug Mike ) Carrie has been blessed with an amazing gift and an amazing family!

It would be so awesome to meet Carrie, and Julie, and the rest of the family. I feel like I know them, even though I know what we see on the boards is just one part of them. Too bad they're not coming to our conference this year. I think I would go just to meet them, even though I don't need much else in the way of curriculum! Maybe sometime soon?...

inHistiming wrote:It would be so awesome to meet Carrie, and Julie, and the rest of the family. I feel like I know them, even though I know what we see on the boards is just one part of them. Too bad they're not coming to our conference this year. I think I would go just to meet them, even though I don't need much else in the way of curriculum! Maybe sometime soon?...

Yes! that is the ONLY reason I am going to the conference this year!!!!
Dorla

She was a school teacher for years and years! I bet she has read most of these books in the course of her lifetime.

Dorla... maybe we should set up a coffee talker at a nearby starbucks where all HODIES can meet! lol

Tansy wrote: Dorla... maybe we should set up a coffee talker at a nearby starbucks where all HODIES can meet! lol

Tansy, what a great idea! Let's just start it at the snack area at the conference! We will have our own mini-conference about HOD...OK just kidding. But hope you are there on Friday so that we can meet.
Dorla

Bit of a thread hijack here..

Himm red hats are taken ... how bout green ribbons pinned to your shirt to tell the world I'm a HODIE or how bout little hearts that say I love HOD! ... and there is a snack area?? At the Arlington confrence. I'm such a tight wad I bring my lunch... haven't decided what day I'm going or even if I am China is looming in the future. I will go if I can.

Boy you ladies sure have some great ideas!! I love the HOD-heart/Starbucks idea!! I was gonna go to our book fair (can't afford the conference), but it moved to 4 hours away. Then there is the GOOD book fair, but it is 6 hours away. I was gonna try to make it anyway, but dh said you don't need to go that far in a jalopie. I told him that everytime we went on vacation we went in a jalopie. Then he reminded me that I always had a "machanic" with me. He's right, so I'll stay home and thank God for the postal service.

I don't know how she does it either! But I am glad she is able to do it. What a great program for kids and parents! We could start our own fan club here for Carrie. She is awsome!!!!

Sheila mom to five great kids

Oh Ladies, you are so good at lifting others up. What a blessing how you give back to Mike and I over and over.

I cannot take the credit for our guides as my husband does SO MUCH to keep our household running during the busy writing months. As we come to this season of the year, he takes over more and more (down to making the food for the boys in the evening, grocery shopping, and doing the laundry)! I have to confess that we do have a cleaning lady once every 3 weeks that cleans my entire house top to bottom, including spring cleaning for $35. We've had her come for years.

My mom and sister pitch in bringing meals and will watch the kiddos here and there when I'm wrapping up a book.

And then, there is my awesome sister who edits and talks through ideas with me endlessly. She makes sure the book gets done! We have a wonderful web designer who removes that heavy burden from us and also a very Christian graphic designer who puts up with late hours to get our catalogs, ads, and graphics done.

Meanwhile, my hubby runs all the business end, so all I have to do is write and answer placement questions.

We work hard schooling in the morning with me doing most of my teaching then. My boys continue on pretty independently in the afternoon, just checking in with me for this or that. If my hubby, gets home early he'll finish up the boy's school and let me sneak off to write. He is no teacher, but he can follow an HOD guide.

Luckily, I am a night owl. Those late nights add up to a lot of writing time in a quiet house! It's gotten more interesting as we've added more kiddos to our family, to find time to write, but if I wasn't writing I'd be researching something else. I'm just a teacher, organizer and planner at heart!

So, the Lord uses each of our gifts to glorify Him and gives us what we need right at the time we need it. We see His hand in our lives every day. Without the Lord, there would be no HOD!

Blessings,
Carrie

Thank the Lord that you decided to ever write these guides for us! It has surely been a blessing to me and my child, and I really wish for others to discover what a peaceful, special program this is.