Well, one way to get a blog sponsor early is to know someone.  🙂  In my case, my mom.  Now, even though this is my mother’s company, it is in no way inferior.  Mom’s products sell at homeschool conventions across the country, and she’s a popular speaker.  But the fact that she’s my mother endears me to her and was that little extra nudge that pushed her to spend some of her advertising dollars on sponsoring me to Relevant.  So, thanks to Mom and Everyday Homemaking, I have a ticket.  (I’m still seeking sponsors, though, for hotel and travel costs.  Just in case any potential sponsors are reading this and thinking that I’m covered.  I still have slots open.  🙂  )

Everyday Homemaking sells kitchen equipment, like the Electrolux Assistent (yes, it’s spelled like that; it’s foreign)/DLX stand mixer and some great, affordable waterless cookware, but their primary products are books.  I won’t describe them all for you – you’ll have to check out the website to read about all of them – but I will highlight a couple of them here.

Everyday Cooking is Mom’s cookbook.  Because she adopted many of her recipes before she learned about whole foods, they aren’t all quite as “whole food” as what I usually cook.  But many of them are and most of the few that aren’t are easily adapted.  All are quite doable for the average cook.  The best part about Everyday Cooking is that it’s jam-packed with Mom’s kitchen tips.  This is a favorite at conferences.

The Everyday Family Chore System is another favorite.  Years ago, Mom sold “copies” of the actual chore chart we used, in kits the user could finish assembling.  The chart quickly become so popular that her part of the assembly was just too much, so she adapted it into book format.  The parts are still in the book in reproducible form.  More significant, though, is the system.  People were adapting Mom’s system for use with a variety of charts, so the chart itself wasn’t as important.  Mom expanded the explanatory portions, to create this book.  What makes this different from other chore systems is the “how-to-do-it” cards – cards that spell out the instructions for completing each chore.  (These can be used with the chart assembled from the included reproducibles, or with whatever chart you already have.)

Home Education 101. Originally designed to be used as a mentoring system, this also has lots of fans among moms who bought the book just to use for their own reference.  (It is still used for its original purpose; it just isn’t only used for its original purpose.)  This is a pretty comprehensive course, and covers everything you might need to know to get started homeschooling, as well as how to balance homeschooling with your other household responsibilities.  Many moms have purchased this book solely for the chapter about “Getting Dinner on the Table the Same Day You Homeschool”!  (Keep in mind that the student book is designed to be used in a mentoring group with a leader, so it will be missing information if you use it by itself.  If you are purchasing this book purely for your own reference, you will want to buy the Mentor’s Manual instead.)

Many thanks to Everyday Homemaking for graciously agreeing to sponsor me to Relevant.  Please visit them and check out their products.