How to eat lima beans and peaches when you are 1 year old

Eating lima beans, a banana,  and peaches is easy when you are one, providing you closely follow these steps.

First, you must REMOVE your bib as soon as the big people put you into the high chair.  This is very very important.  Look real cute  and very innocent while you do it.  Fuss if the big people try to put it back on-look sad.

Take a lima bean, bite it in half with your 4 front teeth.  Move it to the back of your mouth and gum it real good. Now, move the shell part back to the front of your mouth and remove it.  Study it real good while you swallow the insides of the bean.

Throw the shell part on the floor.

Repeat 5 to 7 times.

Take a bite of banana now.  Squish some of it between your fingers and study it real good, opening and closing your hand numerous times.  Now rub your banana coated hands on your freshly washed red curly hair.  Be sure to grin real big while you do it, and yell at the big people, so they see what a good job you are doing of putting the squished up banana in your clean hair.

Now focus on the peaches.  Try some and decide you will no longer eat the lima beans.

Hide some of the lima beans under your plate now.  Shake your head no, real big like when the big person puts them back on your plate.

Notice the cat outside sitting by the window watching you from the deck.  Focus your attention there, while pointing and yelling.  While the big people are watching you interact with the cat, drop some of those lima beans on the floor with your other hand.

Throw some lima beans at the cat, so she can eat them-even though she is outside on the otherside of the closed window.  Repeat several times.

Finish the peaches, throw the rest of the beans on the floor.  Finish the bananna or "nanananananan" and wipe your hands on your now sticky, but once clean red curly hair.

Grin, and sign "all gone".  Put your hands up for the big person to get you, and act surprised and upset when they come at you with the wet washcloth.

Repeat in a few hours at the next meal.

For added entertainment for the big people, or if they look like they need more exercise, throw your plate and cup on the floor several times.

Simmer home and Winter home???

Right now my chickens have 2 outdoor coops, surrounded by a large fenced in pen which we are slowly adding a top to.  The chicken pen butts up against the side of the barn.  Today, we decided that once we get it all done, we are going to build another coop INSIDE the barn.  It won't be as large, and I think we can install a small door, similar to a dog door that will go through the side of the barn into the pen.

That will allow my girls to have a warmer winter home (and save on electricity for heat lamps, since the barn is warmer during the winter) and also give me an easier way to separate out the older hens from new chicks.

If we design it right, it could also double as an area where we could keep a bobby calf if need be.

Kansas City curriculum sale reminder

This is a reminder that CPHE's Used Curriculum is this Friday--two days away. If you're planning on shopping the sale, the doors will open at 9:30 and close at 1:00.  I have had lots of questions the last couple of days about whether or not you need to be a member to come to the sale.  The answer is no!  The sale is open to the public.  Please tell your friends and bring them to the sale.



The sale will take place at Heartland Church of Christ, 6120 NW Prairie View Road, Kansas City, MO.  (Google Maps link:  http://g.co/maps/zupm9 )



If you know anyone new to homeschooling or considering homeschooling, this is a great opportunity for them to look at curriculum and talk to the person that used it.

Windows vs. Ford

Thought I would share this one!

Windows vs. Ford

 

For all of us who feel only the deepest love and affection for the way computers have enhanced our lives, read on.



At a recent computer expo (COMDEX), Bill Gates reportedly compared the computer industry with the auto industry and stated,



"If Ford had kept up with technology like the computer industry has, we would all be driving $25 cars that got 1,000 miles to the gallon."



In response to Bill's comments, Ford issued a press release stating :



If Ford had developed technology like Microsoft, we would all be driving cars with the following characteristics (and I just love this part):



1. For no reason whatsoever, your car would crash.........twice a day.



2. Every time they repainted the lines in the road, you would have to buy a new car.



3... Occasionally your car would die on the freeway for no reason. You would have to pull to the side of the road, close all of the windows, shut off the car, restart it, and reopen the windows before you could continue. For some reason you would simply accept this.



4.... Occasionally, executing a maneuver such as a left turn would cause your car to shut down and refuse to restart, in which case you would have to reinstall the engine.



5..... Macintosh would make a car that was powered by the sun, was reliable, five times as fast and twice as easy to drive - but would run on only five percent of the roads.



6...... The oil, water temperature, and alternator warning lights would all be replaced by a single "This Car Has Performed An Illegal Operation" warning light.



7...... The airbag system would ask, "Are you sure?" before deploying.



8........ Occasionally, for no reason whatsoever, your car would lock you out and refuse to let you in until you simultaneously lifted the door handle, turned the key and grabbed hold of the radio antenna.



9........ Every time a new car was introduced car buyers would have to learn how to drive all over again because none of the controls would operate in the same manner as the old car.



10.......... You'd have to press the "Start" button to turn the engine off.



Please share this with your friends who love - but sometimes hate - their computer!

 

Typical Monday

Our Mondays are busy and full.  My Mondays usually start around 5:30.  A.M.  You know as in very, very early morning.  Today was no different.  Up at 5:30, and my Monday preschoolers arrived.  Their routine is to come in their pj's and nap another hour or so before we eat and get dressed.  Then, we head out the door to go to our homeschool coop.

Since our coop is a 40 minute drive from home, into the city, we take advantage of our trip back.  Our routine is to stop at K-Mart, Aldi and hit at least 1 of the 5 consignment or thrift stores on our path home.  Then, we go to the park (the preschoolers love this part),  get a snack and go home.  If it is to hot, cold or rains, we substitute the library for the park.

Today we added in a stop to a nursery so I could pick up some more red onion sets.

The onion bed now has yellow, white and red onions.  Also in the ground are carrots, lettuce, peas, chives, ginger, strawberries, blueberries, and potatoes.  In the greenhouse growing to transplant size are leeks, tomatoes, peppers, brussel sprouts, garlic and more.  I'd love to put the greenhouse items out early, but we could still have another freeze or frost.

Tomorrow also has a long list, but on that list is to welcome home some baby chickens.  Hopefully I can get some pictures posted tomorrow.

Your invited!! Passover meal

Good Friday, April 6, Holt Christian Church, of Holt Missouri , is having a traditonal Passover meal at 6:30 p.m..

$10 for adults (10 and over) and $5 for those under 10. It is a ceremony type of meal, then at the end we eat. Menu includes what they would have eaten at the time of the Passover, which is lamb.

 

RSVP is requested, as lamb will have to be purchased and prepared in advance.

 

Meal explains how the Jewish traditions have come into the roles they have for Christians.

 

Church is located in Holt MO, just off of I 35 at 2nd and Franklin. If you want more info, let me know. Need to be signed up by next Sunday, April 1.

 

I know several of you attended in the past when we did it at Clay County Christian Church in Liberty and enjoyed it.

 

Any questions, let me know!

Message from Todd Akins office regarding movie

Hello - I am sending you this message about the movie "Monumental" by Kirk Cameron that is showing in the KC metro area this Tuesday, March 27 at 6:30 PM.  It is a one-night showing that explores the framework of our nation by our founding fathers, the documents of our nation and how they were originally intended.  

I think you will find this movie fascinating as well as it may comply with your civics curriculum.

US Congressman Todd Akin is interviewed in it and helps explain how our country must get back to the constitution.  He and Lulli home-schooled all 6 of their children and now their children do as well.  

Please check out the link below for a trailer of the film.  If you wish to attend, the seating is limited to the Ameristar Theater (1/2 sold out), the Country Club Plaza Cinema (1/3 sold out) and the Hollywood Cinema in St. Joseph.  There are locations in Kansas, but not sure of their availability. Please share this with anyone you think might be interested.  

www.monumentalmovie.com

Thank you for your time and I hope you find this movie a worthwhile addition to your children's civics curriculum.

Have a joyful day!  Heather

--

Heather Hall

Kansas City Field Director

TODD AKIN FOR SENATEPO Box 901240
Kansas City, MO 64190-1240

913.593.3836

Laura Ingalls Wilder Homestead Fieldtrip

Yesterday 2 of the girls and I went to a funeral in south Missouri.  On the way back, we stopped in Mansfield MO and toured the Laura Ingalls Homestead.  We stayed for 3 hours, but you could easily make a full day of it.

Little ones are free, children are $4 and adults are $8.  For this, you get to tour the museum, and 2 of her homes (one is just down the road from the other).  They have lots of benches and picnic tables in the parking area and at the rock house and farm house. They welcome people to picnic there before,  or after their tour.  We also got to see Pa's fiddle, some of Lauras needlework, books, writings and much, much more.

They do not allow any inside pictures, but you can take all you want outside.

This house took them years to build.  They built it all themselves, except for the last addition .  The fireplace was made of 40 wagon loads of rock taken from the farm.

Both locations had lots of wild flowers in bloom, and redbud trees.

The rock house

The twins sitting beside the front door at the rock house.

The garage at the big house.  When Rose built this house for her parents, she also bought them a car and taught them how to drive.  This is where the car was kept. 

The back porch of the Rock House.  Each of the gutters empties into a small cistern, which then goes to  a larger one.  They only used the well water for drinking and cooking.  The rain water was used for all other purposes.

Notice the insulators for the electric.  Rose paid over $3000  to have the electricity  brought to the house from Mansfield.

Floor to ceiling windows opened during the summer to bring a breeze through the house.  This is the house Laura lived in when she started writing the Little House books.

Even though they had a refrigerator, Alanzo used this spring house to  store the milk from his goats in.

Gleaning

Gleaning America's Fields ~ Feeding America's Hungry
Karin Page, Gleaning Coordinator, SoSA West
EndHunger.org/sosawest ~ GleanKC@EndHunger.org

We need volunteers for a GLEANING this Friday, March 23rd.

9:30a.m. – 1:30 p.m.

Red Ridge Farm, 978 NW 1101 Road, Odessa, MO

Spinach, lettuce, and greens

DETAILS & DIRECTIONS:

Wear close-toed shoes and layers.  It could be 30 degrees warmer in the hoophouse and you’ll be comfortable in jeans and a t-shirt.




Bring gloves and scissors if your have them, and a water bottle.

Map with directions:  http://g.co/maps/sn8nw    FYI:  MO 131 South doesn’t have numbered streets until after you cross into Lafayette County, and you’ll turn left very shortly after that onto a gravel road (1000 Road).   This road will dead end and you will turn right onto 1101 Road.  The farm is the second set of buildings.  Park in the driveway to the house by my blue Toyota Yaris.

Please fill out the gleaning sign-up sheet (attached) and bring it with you.

If you can transport some of the produce to a local food pantry, please let me know.

We will need 8 people for this gleaning and have the following jobs available:  picking the greens, weighing produce, putting it in bags and labeling the bags, transporting them in wagons to our vehicles.

Please CALL Karin Page @ SoSA West, 816-921-0856 or 816-985-8155 (c ) if you can attend OR reply to this e-mail.

Thanks and I hope to see you soon!

Karin Page
Gleaning Coordinator
     

Society of St. Andrew

Gleaning America's Fields

Feeding America's Hungry

               

PO Box 300323

Kansas City, MO 64130



Off: 819-921-0856

Cell: 816-649-8166


The Society of St. Andrew is a national nonprofit hunger-relief ministry that rescues 25-30 million pounds of fresh, nutritious, excess produce each year that would otherwise go to waste for various marketing reasons. This food is then distributed to critical feeding agencies across the country at no cost to the agencies or the hungry people they serve.

               

More information about the Society of St. Andrew and its hunger-relief programs - Gleaning Network, Potato & Produce Project, Harvest of Hope and Hunger Relief Advocate Initiative - is available online at EndHunger.org.

Eagle Cam

http://www.wvec.com/eaglecam
Check out the above link to watch this years Eagles on their nest!

It’s not too late to have a Spring Break! The next home schoolday at CoCo Key Water Resort is Friday, March 30.



Water Resort tickets are only $5 each (tax notincluded) from 11apm – 4pm.



Space is limited, go online today to http://tickets.cocokeykansascity.comand login with your store name HOME to save $13 off admission perperson or simply mention ‘Home School Day’ to the front desk to get thisamazing discount.



Q: When’s your next home school day?

A: Participants for this home school day can pick-up ourcolorful new Home School calendar that highlights every Home School Day scheduled for the rest of 2012!



Don’t forget to bring your own towel!



JeffHirst

SalesManager

Holiday Inn SE Hotel - CoCo Key Water Resort

9103E. 39th St., Kansas City, MO 64133

Direct: (816)737-4727 | Fax: (816) 737-4745

www.holidayinn.com/kansascitymo | www.cocokeykansascity.com 

Kansas City Curfew Update

From the HSLDA e-lert service…


















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You can only do so much…
No one can be everywhere at once. And you can’t be at home, teaching your children, while monitoring Congress and state legislatures. Through electronic legislative services, HSLDA is monitoring legislation for you—watching and listening carefully for any proposed laws that could erode your freedom.

Join HSLDA today—we’ll watch out for your future.  We also provide 24/7 legal assistance and some great money-saving benefits!
More reasons to join HSLDA…

Join 17,000 others...

The HSLDA Curriculum Market is buzzing with activity! Save money on new and used homeschooling materials, or sell your extras.


You Can Help!
The Home School Foundation supports homeschool families in need. Whether it's a widow or a family suffering after a natural disaster, HSF is there to help. You can give directly, or through our Clicks For Homeschooling program; online merchants contribute to HSF when you shop!
Start shopping here to contribute to HSF at no cost to you!






Full Force Needed March 21 against Kansas City Daytime Curfew





Please stand up for freedom on Wednesday.






Scott Woodruff answers questions and assists members with legal issues in Missouri. He and his wife homeschooled their children. Read more >>


Dear HSLDA Members and Friends,

The gauntlet has been thrown down to you. Councilman Wagner has submitted a new draft curfew ordinance that is just as bad as—or worse than—the original one.

But taking a stand for freedom, Councilman Sharp has submitted an entirely different plan: one that involves enforcing existing attendance law rather than making it a crime for a young adult to be in public.

The proposals of Councilman Sharp and Councilman Wagner represent two different ways of life.  Wagner’s ratchets up government power and creates a disgraceful atmosphere in which young adults may be intimidated into hiding during the day.  Sharp’s, on the other hand, makes the protection of inalienable rights a priority.

One of these two ways of life may prevail on Wednesday at the next committee meeting.

And it cannot be doubted that if a daytime curfew becomes ensconced in Kansas City, other towns will try to follow suit.  After all, the current proponents of the curfew are saying Kansas City should follow the examples of daytime curfews in some smaller nearby towns.

Councilman Sharp needs your help!

Action Requested

If you live in Kansas City, or ever plan to visit there with your children, please attend the meeting of the Public Safety and Emergency Services Committee Wednesday at 10:30 a.m.  The location is City Hall, 26th floor, 414 East 12th St., Kansas City, MO.

Remember to be calm and courteous. A respectful attitude sends a powerful message. Small children (strollers, diaper bags) should not be brought.

Parking will be difficult, so allow extra time.  Consider car pooling.  No knives, pepper spray, etc., may be brought in.

Background

Wagner’s new draft is known a “V1.”  Sharp has submitted two drafts: “V2” and “V2b.”  They can be viewed online.   The version known as V2 is best.  We will be asking Sharp to urge the adoption of V2.

Daytime curfews never live up to their promises.  And they hurt homeschool families more than others because we allow our children free time while public schools are in session.

Homeschoolers have been harassed and frightened by policemen who treat them like suspected criminals for doing nothing more than being in public.

Families for Home Education and HSLDA are united in opposing daytime curfews. Thank you for standing with us for freedom in Missouri!

Sincerely,

Scott A. Woodruff

Petition to sign--time sensitive

Sign Petition to Support Alberta, Canada Homeschoolers
Dear HSLDA Members and Friends:




J. Michael Smith is president of HSLDA. He has been an advocate for homeschooling for more than 30 years.Read more >>

Our homeschooling brothers and sisters to the north are facing the possibility that they will be banned from teaching during schooltime that the Bible is true. The law would require that homeschoolers’ academic content contain politically correct views such as tolerance for controversial lifestyles.
The vote could be as soon as Tuesday, March 20, 2012.  Alberta homeschoolers have rallied, called and written to legislators, to no avail.  Last week, thousands of U.S. homeschoolers called and e-mailed the premier and education minister, to no avail.
HSLDA of Canada is calling for thousands of homeschoolers to come to Edmonton to protest on the steps of the legislature building on Monday, March 19, 2012.
You can also show your support by signing this petition, which we will deliver to Paul Faris, president of HSLDA of Canada on Monday.





And please  share this petition with as many friends as you can (you can do that right from the petition page).  We need to make our voices heard in the cause of homeschooling freedom!
Sincerely,

Michael Smith
HSLDA President

African Americans Should Not Homeschool?

Subject: African Americans Should Not Homeschool?


Hello from NHERI.


One professor has firmly opposed African Americans homeschooling their children. Writing of blacks home educating, majorities, social movements, white conservatives, and more, he claimed, "Individualized atomistic decisions to school one's child at home--while thoroughly understandable--cannot build momentum for the large scale transformations that are necessary." (note 1)




One must wonder: "Is this true? Does not doing well for many families' children of color do well for all of society?"

Other academics continue to alleged that research has shown the public and policymakers almost nothing about the effects of homeschooling. (note 2)

The National Home Education Research Institute and I are glad to announce that a study is underway - of African American homeschooling and public schooling children and families - to help address the claims of critics of homeschooling and advocates of government control of private education such as those mentioned above, and to allow all blacks and others to see the evidence for themselves.



This study will offer sound, scholarly evidence.

NHERI would like your help in any or all of three areas:
If you are an African American single parent  or couple with an African American child between the ages of 9-14 who has been   homeschooled all or most of his or her school years, please contact NHERI by   e-mailing study@nheri.org to participate in the study.
If you   know of an African American family who has a child either homeschooled or in public school who may want to   participate, please ask them to contact NHERI by e-mailing study@nheri.org.
Please   consider making   a donation to support NHERI's research on this unique, landmark study. Any   amount - $10, $25, $100 - will help. Thank you!

This study is considered solid in design, important, and pioneering by organizations and individuals such as National Black Home Educators (NBHE), the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA), and state- and private-university professors.

Please immediately forward this entire message to anyone you know who might be able to help with this study.

Brian D. Ray, Ph.D.
National Home Education Research Institute
http://nheri.org/

P.S. Please feel free to send us your questions about homeschooling and we will try to answer them in upcoming messages.

If you would like to tangibly support our work reporting on think tanks, professors at university schools of education, court decisions, doing research, collecting research, disseminating research, and helping homeschool families around the world, please see "Two ways to help" below.

Two ways to help:
1. Send a check to: NHERI, PO Box 13939, Salem OR 97309 (using a check puts the largest percent of your gift to work at NHERI)
2. Donate online.

NHERI, PO Box 13939, Salem OR 97309, USA

Notes:
1. Apple, Michael W. (2006, December 21). The complexities of black home schooling. From www.TCRecord.org. Retrieved first paragraph 5/25/07 online http://www.tcrecord.org/Content.asp?ContentId=12903.

2. For example: Reich, Rob. (2005). Why home schooling should be regulated. In Bruce S. Cooper (Ed.), (2005), Homeschooling in full view: A reader. Greenwich, CT: Information Age Publishing, pp. 115 & 117.

NHERI, PO Box 13939, Salem OR 97309, USA

Garden update

Since I just returned from Joplin late Friday night, the potatoes didn't get planted on Saturday (Saint Patty's Day).  They are going to have to wait until Tuesday to get into the potato bed.

While I was in Joplin the last time, I dug up and brought home yucca plants that had taken over a yard at a house we were working at.  The homeowner considered them to be weeds and wanted them gone.   They now live along one side of my driveway to help slow down the snow from drifting onto the driveway.

This time, I brought home a grocery bag full of wild chives.  This afternoon after church and lunch, I got them planted into a 3 x 4 bed. Chives can take over quickly (like garlic), so they are best planted in a container or raised bed.

They are kind of whimpy right now, as they were in a bag a few days, but they will come back quickly.  They are a very hardy plant.

I also removed a layer of straw off of my 2 strawberry beds.  I added the straw before we left, in case it froze.  It didn't freeze, instead it was in the 80's....Unusual March weather.

Since the winter was so mild, I have volunteers coming up--onion, garlic, cabbage and broccoli.

Inside, my tomatoes are looking rather spindly.  They might pull out of it.  Also have peppers and leeks looking good!

Leeks

Garlic

Joplin MO

Last Sunday after church, we traveled to Joplin MO to work with  I.D.E.S.  This is the second time I have gathered up a team to go assist in Joplin.  The majority of our group were homeschoolers, graduated homeschoolers or moms of homeschoolers.  OK, 99% of the group--we had one young adult along who was a public schooler.

This trip, we painted the exterior of a home--siding and trim, hung garage doors, painted a 3 bay garage, did some clean up, hung sheet rock, moved insulation and supplies, dug holes for deck footings, put up furrowing strips, helped put up window trim, checked for water leaks prior to an inspection and a lot more.  We had 18 in our group this time, consisting of 1 male adult, 5 adult women, and 12 older teens.  We had a great time, the kids learned some new construction skills, and found out we had some muscles we didn't know we had.

Of an evening, we came  back to the Westside Christian Church--the church that hosts us (it turns into a dorm for IDES volunteers during the week) to shower and eat.  After a wonderful nightly dinner, our routine was board games and bringing out the guitars, piano and violin.  One of our volunteers, Maggie, did the majority of the nightly cooking--we even had pork loin one night!!!

Farm Update

Yesterday was a busy day here at the farm.  We hired a couple of boys to help with fencing the top layer of the chicken pen.  We are now past the halfway mark on this ongoing project.  We have one side left to fence the top layer of (bottom layer is done), a new gate to make, and then to throw the net over the top.  And it will be done.

I have now planted my ginger, some lettuce, and have 64 strawberry plants coming up.  Since it could still freeze (It snowed and sleeted early Thursday morning, but was gone by noon) I put a not too thick layer of straw over them.  My plants inside are coming up as well too, and should be ready to transplant outside at their proper time.  I have some volunteer onions and garlic coming up (due to the mild winter, and 2 heads of cabbage).

It appears my blueberries made it, so I will try and add a couple more bushes this year, as well as more grapes in the orchard.

Strawberry bed

My helper.  In her feline mind, the only reason I filled the wagon with straw was strictly for her lounging pleasure....When I would go to pull some out, she would try and hold it down with her paws....

Strawberry bed after it was covered with straw.  We could easily get more snow, ice or another freeze.

Everything this year will be raised beds, unless I decided to keep the corn out.  I haven't decided on the corn yet.

Venturing Scouts in Liberty MO

The below is from my friend Maggie.  If you are interested, let me know and I can get you in touch with Maggie..........

I wanted to make you aware of a co-ed scouting program in Liberty, Missouri, Crew 883 (Hosanna! Lutheran Church, 2800 N Church Road, Liberty, MO----just 1/2 miles from Rogers and across from the new high school)
They meet every Tuesday at 7p.m.
This program is open to youth between the ages of 13 (out of the 8th grade) and 21.
We accept youth of all faiths/denominations.
Plus, this is a homeschooling friendly crew.
Venturing is a high adventure scouting program and the teens call all the shots which means the adults are there in a supervisory position.  Adults are always welcome, but are mainly needed for events to ensure safety.  Those adults who do attend are expected to have fun and let the kids run the show---mistakes, successes---the whole works!
This group is part of Boy Scouts of America as part of the Venturing segment so they hold all the same values of BSA.

Crew 883 earned the #1 Crew award for their district in 2011 and #1 troop or crew flag ceremony presenters in 2010.

Their members consist of a Gold Award recipient from Girl Scouting

2 Eagles

1 Ranger and Bronze Award earner in Venturing and several youth getting close to earning their awards.

+2 youth are heading down to Joplin on a mission trip and will pursue their Trust Religious Awards at that time
Our upcoming activities include spending the night in World of Fun and conducting a conservation project in the Cameron area.
In Venturing the awards are more secondary to the activities.  Venturing also understands that even though awards and activities are important, the youth are encouraged to go as far as they want to go without cutting into school, family, or religious activities.----This is a very flexible program in which the youth get to pick and choose.
The adult leader/crew advisor is a commissioner with Boy Scouts of America, a veteran of the military, and assisted in taking a crew the teens to Philmont last year.  (60+ miles of mountain backpacking bliss).  The crew advisor has also been actively involved in scouting programs for 13 years in various leadership positions.
FYI:  Crew members who belong to other scouting programs are encouraged to continue with them to soar high into Eagle, earn the Girl Scout Gold Award, and continue to support their home programs.   The same expectations extend to other scouting/youth organizations.
We invite your entire family to check us out sometime.

Please contact me with any questions or if you would like to attend.

Maggie Jackson
883 Crew Advisor
North Star Roundtable Commisioner
BSA Leave No Trace Master Educator
Philmont Trekker who wants to go back!
Former Girl Scout Leader and current mother of a Gold, Eagle, and Eagle in training scout.

Whats for Sunday Dinner?

At our house, we are having Rebekah's taco soup.  (Actually a version of it, as she feeds 2 adults with it, and I am feeding 2 adults and 3 teens, 2 preschoolers.)


Rebekah's Taco Soup Recipe

Quick and easy to make.  Just adjust the quantity for your family size, and tweak the ingredients for how your family likes it--mild or spicy, or different beans....  It can be made in the crock pot to keep ready and hot, or at the last minute.  Your prep/cook time is only about 15 minutes.


2 lbs lean ground beef or turkey OR diced chicken
3 cans ranch style canned beans
3 cans rotel
3 cans corn


Cook meat (I drain if beef, but some people don't drain it).  Add in all other ingredients.


Add tortilla chips and top with cheese.  (Some people do while on the stove, but I like my chips crunchy so I add mine right before I serve it)

Homeschool Spelling bee for Kansas City area

We have done this for the past 4 years and love it.  You do NOT have to be a member of  CPHE  in order to participate.

CPHE's Regional Spelling Bee will be held Friday, May 4 at 10:00 am at
Northland Christian Church at  6120 NE 48th Street, Kansas City, MO 64119.  (THIS IS A NEW LOCATION.)

This church is a peanut-free facility. No peanuts or peanut products will be allowed under any
circumstances.



For rules and lists
to study, you may go to http://cphecorp.org/spelling/ .  Any homeschool
student in grades 1-12 is welcome to participate in the bee.

FTo have a successful bee we really need judges, so please consider serving your homeschool
community in this way. Parents of participants may serve as judges.

Registrations are due April 20th. We need to have at least two spellers in a level to hold the bee
for that grade. If there are not enough registered spellers in a particular level the speller will be
notified by April 25th and will be given the option of competing at the next highest grade level.

To register, volunteer, or ask questions you may contact Lori Camper at: spellingbee@cphecorp.org

* CPHE defines a Missouri homeschool as one that is in full compliance with Missouri homeschool law for ages 7-16.
Students outside this age group must receive at least 50% of their education at home, exclusive of enrichment programs and/or college courses. Students from other states should be homeschooled according to their state law.

Low 70's on Thursday, woke up to SNOW today

That is right.  We had temperatures in the upper 60's and lower 70's on Thursday.  When we went to bed last night it was starting to cool off - a lot.  This morning when I woke up, it was starting to snow, and the flakes just got bigger as the morning progressed, and it was sticking in many areas.  It was a wet snow and rather slick.

We had been planning on doing some fence work around the chicken coop, but I called that off for today.  The fencing we need to put up is the top row of chicken wire (its a 7 foot fence, the bottom 4 foot is done, so we just have the top 3 foot to fence.  But, that will require ladder work and I didn't want on a ladder when it was slick, trying to balance a roll of wire.  Hopefully we can get it done in the next few days.

If you have been following the Kansas City curfew, it has been put on hold for two weeks.  I will try and keep you updated on it.