I love to hang my clothes outside to dry, but here in Central Ohio, that amounts to a couple short months of warm enough temperatures and sunshine to get that job done. That means the other eight and a half months I use my dryer. Which to me means lots of static electricity. My kids hate finding their socks pasted to the quilt Aunt Rosie crocheted a few years back!

So when I was asked to try out the new Bounce Dryer Bar, I quickly agreed. I don’t usually use dryer sheets for a couple of reasons. I forget to use them and I find those sheets stuck to the quilts just as often as I find the socks. I don’t particularly like the perfumey scent of most dryer sheets either! After receiving my Bounce Dryer Bar in the mail, I anxiously unwrapped it and headed to my dryer. It easily stuck to the side of the drum in my dryer and within seconds I was armed with a Bounce Dryer Bar that promised me fresh, soft, static controlled clothes.

Sure enough, my clothes were super soft and the static was under control. I chose the unscented Bounce Dryer Bar and was pleasantly surprised at the lack of the overwhelming scent of typical dryer sheets. My entire load smelled clean without a perfume scent.Which is just the way I like it! I absolutely love the convenience of the Bounce Dryer Bar. No more having to remember to throw a sheet in with each load. With no static electricity, I managed to fold an entire load with no lonely, unmatched socks left over. Now that’s a bonus!

Yet, the real bonus for my dog-loving family is that once our clothes went through a load with the Bounce Dryer Bar, it definitely lived up to its hair repellency claim! Normally we are a static magnet for our pets’ hair but not so after using the Bounce Dryer Bar! I love the convenience of the bar! Months of soft, static controlled clothes and bedding! And so simple too! Just stick it and forget it! Visit Bounce’s Facebook page for more information on the Bounce Dryer Bar!

Would you like to try one? You can win a Bounce Dry Bar and a $50 Visa gift card from Bounce and BlogHer right here. Leave me a comment, or answer this question to enter: Do you dry clothes outside when it’s warm? Why or why not?

Rules: No duplicate comments. You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:
a) Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post
b) Tweet about this promotion and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post
c) Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post
d) For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry. This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected. The Official Rules are available here.

For more opportunities to win, visit the Bounce round-up page on BlogHer.com to read other bloggers’ reviews!

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Post tags: blog, blogger, BlogHer, Bounce, central Ohio, dryer sheets, giveaway, promotion, static electricity

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One of the things I have been excited about is the possibility of finding treasures when we dug up the yard for the foundation. I have been told our house once held the original farm house for this area. Most of the existing house was built in the 4o’s so there could be old stuff as well as newer “trash.” I have found some broken dishes and marbles out back.

Over the weekend my husband found our first treasure! An Oneida lmtd Silversmiths  Triple cocktail or olive fork.

I think it is railway or cruise ship flatware. I can’t wait to see what we dig up next!!

Here is the video of our garage demo–in case the photos weren’t enough for you! You can view it in live action. I’m pretty sure Siskel and Ebert would give it 2 thumbs up!

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Post tags: brick patio, broken dishes, builder, concrete, concrete patio, demo, demolition, demolition project, Ebert, flatware, flickr, foundation, garage, Home, home demolition, home improvement project, house, husband, marbles, old stuff, oneida, photo, photos, project, railway, SilversmithsÂ, Siskel, trash, treasure, triple cocktail, video, yard

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We invited neighbors over for coffee and donuts before the show .It’s the least we can do for them for putting up with our dust and wild homeschooled children and all their friends and barking dogs and loud stereos and a weedy garden…….I am confident donuts take care of everything!

First the boys tried the Amish way…

Hahahahaha They realized that wasn’t going to work and they needed to return to 2011 technology…The Jeep Wrangler.

How’s that donut Bryan?

Well, that didn’t budge it–maybe that should have been our first clue that the old girl was more sturdy than she looked. Much discussion ensued between boys er,  I mean the men. Let me tell you it was like they were all 10 years old again. Giddy with excitement of donuts and demolishing a building and big trucks! Yes, big trucks!!!

–EEk don’t hit the refreshment table! Wouldn’t want to upset the  neighbors!

They finally strapped her on to the Big Daddy truck.

Look at ‘em–boys and their toys!

The following photos need no commentary other than to say…this is not what the boys expected to happen!

Ready………….Go Joe……….

And there she sat

Now scroll through that series again quickly–it’s like a flip book!

Luckily she didn’t continue to tumble or the peanut gallery with bellies full of donuts weighing them down never would have gotten out of the way!

Now the boys were crapping their pants!

And everyone had an idea of what to do next. For me the excitement was really turning to anxiety. The longer the speculation of the next move went on the the more we were afraid the wall closest to the house would buckle and the structure would twist on it’s way down and hit the house or worse yet someone was going to get hurt.

The boys devised a plan to anchor one side and pull it towards the backyard. Well, just when you need your controls that run the bucket in the bucket truck to work-they fail. So we put caution tape around our entire yard  and my husband drove back  to work to get a different bucket truck. At this point the crowd dispersed and I was left stressed with all the donuts. sigh

My husband and I decided via cell phone that we should call a Demolition Specialist that his company has used in the past…. but of course the office was closed on a Sunday. So, we did what any desperate non Amish person would do-we googled the owners name and got his home phone number and called him on his day of rest.

When” The Specialist” showed up he was amazed at our ‘pickle’.  “Well, I’ve never seen this happen before”

But to the boys credit he agreed with their anchoring idea. Having him confirm that was the best plan of action allowed them to put down the donuts and get back to work.

The guy in the yellow is “the Specialist” the other guy is our neighbor and Boy Scout extraordinaire! ( Who never shook his head in disgust at our home disrepair.Thanks good neighbor! I bet it was the donuts!)

They ran a strap down the center and attached it to the jeep and hit the gas (in reverse).

Even “The Specialist” is getting excited!

That cookie crumbled just the way it was supposed to. Thank Buddah! No one was hurt and the drama was almost over.

We kissed “the Specialist” feet for driving 45 minutes and leaving his wife to wash all the windows by herself just to come to our rescue. If you ever need a demo company YOU SHOULD CALL PROCON!

The steps that led to the upper part of the garage were still standing and holding up a portion of the rubble. It took more work to get that little bit down than the rest of the whole garage!

And through it all, a strong old door that we had stored in the upper part of the garage made a graceful landing, unscathed.

We decided to keep that door and use it somewhere in our house. Something to remind us of the good luck the sun shinned on us during this demo gone wrong. Things really could have gone a different way. We are so lucky no one was hurt and the corner of our house wasn’t damaged.

Thank you neighbors and friends for all the help and support!! I owe you many more donuts…… because next week we are knocking off the side of our house!!! I can’t promise it will be as exciting as this weeks adventure!

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Post tags: Building, community, demo, demolition, donuts, friend, friends, garage, Home, homeschool, homeschooled children, house, husband, jeep, jeep wrangler, neighbors, photo, photos, structure, Wrangler, yard

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CNN posted an article on Unschooling this week-UNSCHOOLERS LEARN WHAT THEY WANT, WHEN THEY WANT. I thought the article was good up until the “Professional” stepped in with what he thinks the world needs from our kids and how they need “trained adults” to get them there. The article also uses the unschooled child of a Doctor (professor of alternative learning at that!) and Sudbury Valley Schools and their alumni for most of it’s examples. Which might at least seem like school or a bit of organized education to the general public-along with the voice of “learning expert” to give the article some clout–Because those of us that unschool and don’t belong to a democratic school are just too far out there and definitely not to be taken seriously! We have all seen the mainstream news and TV run with those stories!

My biggest issue with this article though, is their use of attending college as their measure of unschooling success. (Unschoolers who go on to pre-med and Harvard  none the less are interviewed for this piece).  This is certainly not limited to this CNN article. (Which happens to appear under the heading PERRY’S PRINCIPLES: SCHOOLING FOR SUCCESS.) As a parent of three unschooled kids one of the first questions we are often asked is, “What about college?” Because if you don’t go to college, what will you do? At some point these same people will hopefully realize that we aren’t going to conform just for the sake of it! Unschooling doesn’t just end when you are 18 or 21 and it’s time to get a real job. Unschoolers do not embark on this lifestyle for the payoff at the end. It is for learning and happiness now and in the future.

Unschooling will continue to creep into the mainstream in bits and pieces. Peoples ideas about education will change. Yet unschooling success will never be understood as long as the end all, be all success of education (and most lives) are based on if and where you go to college and what type of job you perform.

True unschooling success is about choices and happiness. It is about getting up and  choosing to go to college or a job you enjoy or even choosing not to go to work!  One that you have chosen not just because it is pays the bills or because that was what you graduated in or because that was just the next step you were supposed to take.

Unschooling unveils all the choices one has in life. Choosing your own path to follow is true success. Happiness is true success. That may be college but for many unschoolers it may not be. Until the world stops assuming everyone should go to college and then to work just because that’s what you are supposed to do–the United States education sytem will not improve and unschooling will never be rightfully understood.

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Post tags: alternative, alternative learning, attending college, choices, cnn, cnn article, democratic school, doctor professor, education, happiness, harvard, kid, Kids, Learning, Life, lifestyle, mainstream, mainstream news, school, Sudbury, unschool, unschooler, Unschoolers, unschooling

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Today is Learn Nothing Day

It’s absurd isn’t it? The sheer idea that you could ever learn NOTHING? Especially in a whole 24 hours. I have barely even been up for an hour and I have learned about a Gum Wall in Seattle, How to Regrow Celery, I found this thought provoking and mostly funny!, Niagara Falls goes Rainbow for Marriage equality in NY and that is just while having my first cup of coffee with my best friends fb and twitter!

With more failure to come today– I plan on listening to THIS , re reading HOW TO STEAL LIKE AN ARTIST and finishing up a book I am reading. I haven’t even considered all of the  unplanned learning that will inevitably happen while I go about my day.

We are all failures at learning nothing. It is a non discriminating holiday. Age, race, sex or location can not keep you from learning. And it’s a great thing to be a failure at!! Congratulations-you win!!

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Post tags: blog, blogs, holiday, Learning, school

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May your weekend be filled with lots of OOoohs and AAahhs

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Post tags: iphone, Ooooh, photo, photos, weekend

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Insert head scratch here

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Post tags: comfest, photo, photos

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In case you were wondering where I have been…..I have been browsing and pinning. I am addicted!! Check out my boards!

http://pinterest.com/pepperpaints/

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Post tags: new obsession, PepperPaints, Pinterest

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Color Project 1

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Post tags: Arlington, art, Artist, Artists, artists at work, blog, blogs, color, Concourse, concourse gallery, facebook, Gallery, group, LABORING, mother, opening, photo, photos, project, screening, show, upper arlington, woman, Women

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(I couldn’t figure out how to properly accent your name!)

I will be sending you live kefir grains in the mail tomorrow along with a few short instructions!

Thanks everyone for playing along!!

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