FREE creation workshop for homeschoolers in Holt MO

Creation Workshop for Homeschoolers and their Families

Incredible Creatures that Defy Evolution

Come join us for a free* workshop on why the Bible is correct and Science is wrong about creation.  We will be viewing the Christian DVD series “Incredible Creatures that Defy Evolution”.  It is an excellent and colorful DVD, with numerous examples, easy language, and new evidence as to why creation DID take place as the Bible says it did in Genesis.  This is going to be a learning class, to give us answers and help provide our kids with some armor for when they are questioned about their beliefs in college and life.  This is NOT to be a debate.

This workshop will be on Friday Sept 7 in Holt MO at the Holt Christian Church, corner of 2^nd and Franklin.   We will begin at 9 a.m. and be done no later than 3 (probably closer to 2-depending on discussion, visiting and questions).  Please bring your own sandwiches and ALSO a potluck dish to share.  (Access to full kitchen)  PLEASE NO PEANUTS OR NUTS DUE TO SOME WITH SEVERE NUT ALLERGIES.    I will provide cups and plates, ice water, Kool-Aid and tea.

We will begin at 9 a.m. with introductions, then view the first half of the DVD series.  We will break for lunch for an hour, to give everyone time to eat, visit and wiggle.  Then, we will clean up our lunch mess and view the 2^nd half.  I will have worksheets for the kids as well.  Since we have some who are traveling quite a distance, it was decided to do it in one session.

If your kids want to bring a game for the break time, that is fine-weather permitting they can go outside, as we have a fenced playground, and also a grass lot that is kept mowed they can play on as well.  If it is raining (yeah if it is!! We need it) they could play board games inside.

This would be best understood for probably grades 6 and up.  However, even the younger ones will enjoy watching the animals in the videos and learning about them.  I would like all the kids to please read the creation (first 2 chapters of Genesis), before the class.  The older kids could outline what happened on what day, and the younger kids could make a picture of their favorite creation day.

There is a nursery that opens into the sanctuary, it won’t be staffed, but the parent can easily sit in the doorway of the nursery and still see the video.

I’d like an RSVP with the number of attending to ensure I have enough chairs set up and drinks.  You can RSVP by sending me a comment,

*This is a FREE event, but if you care to drop something into the offering plate to help with the utilities that day that’s fine-if not, that’s fine too!

Holt Christian Church is a nondenominational Christian Church.    Should you get lost the morning of, the church number is 816 320-2276.  However, Holt is a town of 294, so you should not get too lost!

Since this photo was taken, the church has added a sign.  The playground is to the left of the photo, and is fenced with a wooden fence.  33 hwy is on the otherside of the playground.  So, as you enter Holt from either direction, just look for the playground and turn there!!

free PE classes for homeschoolers (St Jo area)

The PE Dept. at Missouri Western is looking for homeschoolers to volunteer
to be in various P.E. classes so their student teachers can practice with
school-aged students.
This FREE opportunity has benefitted many families through the years!
Please register with the professor, Dr. Nannette Wolford, directly and do
not reply to this email.

PED 380 Creative games and exploratory activity with manipulatives
while working on locomotive movements.
Ages: Children in kindergarten-2nd grade
Dates: September 2, 9, 16, 21, 23, 30, October 12, and 14th
Meet: Arena in the Looney Complex
(These M-W classes run from 2:00 to 2:45)

PED 370 This class features games that teach health and fitness concepts
for ages Kindergarten-4th grade
Dates: 9/2, 9/9, 9/11 (These W-F classes start at 10:15 and run to 10:50)
Meet: Arena of the Looney Complex
More Dates: 9/16, 9/18, 9/21, 9/23, 9/25
(These M-W-F classes start at 10:00 and run to 10:50)
Meet: Arena of the Looney Complex

PED 382 Elementary games and activities that involve some sports skills,
fitness testing, parachute, cage ball, scooters, fitness activities,
challenge activities,
jump rope skills, tag games etc.
This class is for children in grades 3, 4, 5, and 6.
Arena in the Looney Complex
Dates: 9/15, 29, Oct. 6, 8, 20, 22, 27, 29, Nov 3, 5, 12
(These T-Th classes run from 10:00 to 10:45)

PED 245 Tennis skills and drills are taught; All equipment provided.
This class is for children in grades 4-12.
Meet: Tennis courts on the North side of the Looney complex.
Dates: 9/28 & 30 (This M-W class starts at 12:00 noon and runs to 12:45)

Badminton - Drills and lead up activities for badminton skills; all
equipment provided.
This class is for children in grades 4-12.
Meet: Old Gym in the Looney Complex
Date: Oct 14
This Wednesday class starts at 12:00 noon and runs to 12:45

Remember to email me at MWSU with your child's name and your phone number
before you come.
Please include the names, ages and reason the child wants to come.
I am looking forward to working with your child/children.
Sincerely,
Nannette Wolford
Email: wolford@missouriwestern.edu
HPER Dept
816-271-4487

Homeschooler opportunity @ MWSU

Please note: The attachments are not included. If you are interested, you
must contact Mr. Hartman directly. His contact information is below.


Hello Home Schoolers and Parents,

I am looking for ONE OR MORE "high school age" students to work with me in
the Summer Research Institute (SRI) at Missouri Western State University.
This is a collaboration with "high school age" students including
graduating seniors, college students at Missouri Western, and faculty. My particular
project would involve "Forest, prairie, soil sampling and management at
Squaw Creek National Wildlife Refuge," which is 25 miles north of St.
Joseph. This is a unique project in that we are sampling the vegetation
and environment of a pristine prairie and describing the natural pattern and
processes on this site. Students who join this project will receive two
free hours of college research credit at Missouri Western State University.

The Summer Research Program is roughly 7 weeks long and can be 10-14 hours
per week. The project can start June 1, but if students wish to start
earlier, they are welcome to. STUDENTS WILL RECEIVE EXCELLENT TRAINING
DOING REAL PUBLISHABLE SCIENCE AND 2 CREDITS OF MWSU RESEARCH CREDIT THAT
CAN EITHER BE USED AT MISSOURI WESTERN OR IS TRANSFERABLE TO ANOTHER
COLLEGE/UNIVERSITY. I'm very flexible on the time as well as the days that
a student can work. They will technically be a Missouri Western student
and have all of the privedges involved including library use, use of athletic
facilities, etc. So again, we're quite flexible. I will be supervising
the students and providing transport if it's to the Squaw Creek Refuge. Also
much of the project will be on the campus of Missouri Western. Basically
the requirements for students are enthusiasm and ability to get to the
campus.

So for a student to sign up, I've attached an info letter and application.
The deadline is officially FRIDAY MAY 15, 2009 but this can be extended.
If a student is interested, please have them contact me at
khartman3@missouriwestern.edu and/or call 740-707-7880 (cell). If they
would have trouble getting the application in by the deadline, please have
them contact me as well, and I'll let the program administrators know that
the application is coming.

We'll be doing vegetation sampling and measuring the % cover, productivity,
and diversity of plots on the hills at Squaw Creek National Wildlife
Refuge.
We'll also take soil samples and measure the amounts of 13+ chemicals and
correlate them with each other and the distribution of plants on the hill.
Other measurements that we might take would include abiotic variables such
as temperature, soil moisture, and humidity. This will all be used to make
recommendations for environmental restoration conducted at the refuge and
throughout the state.

So thank you, and please let or others know that if they also have students
who are interested to let me know. It will be a great experience.

Thanks again and let me know if you have some students who might be
interested.
ADVERTISEMENT AND STUDENT APPLICATION ARE ATTACHED.

Sincerely,
Kurt Hartman
740-707-7880 cell

Kurt M. Hartman
Department of Biology
201 Agenstein Hall
Missouri Western State University
St. Joseph, MO 64507
khartman3@missouriwestern.edu816-271-4382 office

3 days until spring

It was 88 degrees today according to the thermometer on the south side of our weather station. The girls got spring fever and decided this afternoon to put up a tent in the front yard. Their camping days may be short lived however, as tomorrow it is supposed to be cooler with a chance of rain. It seems like every time they put it up it rains. JD reminded me of the time they put it up on a day much like today, and an hour later a storm came through and we had a tornado. My little Girl Scout daughters took the tent back down in record time and made it inside just before the storm hit. Hopefully that won't repeat itself today.

Our old black lab spent most of the day just laying around in the sun, soaking it up. Our little beagle however, spent part of her day on the chain, after she got caught playing tag with a chicken. She wasn't playing fair and letting the hen have her turn.....

We have one interesting and rather entertaining hen that was given to us by some friends from church. Apparently, no one ever told her she is a hen. She follows us everywhere, including trying to get into the car, the house, the tent....just like having another kid around!

Since this was the first really nice day, we cut lessons short today. We did our math and history. Later tonight we will watch a science video. We are watching a good video series "Animals that Defy Evolution"

I noticed in the yard my lilacs are budding and my live-for-evers, and irises are coming up. Friday is the first day of spring and they are right on time. The grass is starting to green up. Hopefully we will only need to feed hay to the cattle and horses a couple more times until the grass is tall enough.

Since the weather was good, we finally got the windsock mounted.

I went into town today and bought our food supplies for our upcoming trip to Springfield for JBQ. I made up a big batch of trail mix to eat on the road. We are supposed to have a small kitchen to use at the hotel, so that will save us from eating all meals out. In my trailmix (I never make it the same way twice..)I have Cheerios, small pretzels, m&m's, peanuts, sunflower seeds, dried cherries, apricots and cranberries, milk choc chips, and popcorn. While was in town, JD made up some corn beef and cabbage in honor of St Patricks day.

I wished for a garden and got snow instead......

Not quite what I had in mind. Saturday we got 6+ inches of snow. The wind was blowing so we also have drifts. Some drifts are 12 inches, some are 36 inches, and some come halfway up the barn. The only way we can get in and out is with 4 wheel drive. My little 4 cylinder car is sandwiched between the garage and a 3 1/2 foot drift. Its not going anywhere.....I thought I would clear off some snow with the bobcat, but its so cold the battery is dead. So, I am staying in where it is warm. JD and I are having to share his truck when we go out. I have decided though we will not venture back out tonight for youth group. The county roads have not been cleared, and there is a 4x4 truck stuck at the end of our road. Thankfully 4H which normally is the first Sunday was changed to next week for this month.

The kids on the other hand, are outside sledding. The cold doesn't seem to effect them unless it is chore time! Yesterday they even had the dogs going down the hill on sleds.

Orginally I had thought that Saturday or today we could plow the garden. HA. I never do manage to get the potatoes planted on March 17.

The produce from last years garden is about gone. I used the last of the bell peppers a few nights ago (chopped and frozen). There is just a little zuchinni, green beans, waxed beans, and okra left in the freezer, and a few jars of green beans, and peas.in the pantry. There is also a little applesauce, jelly and jam left, but not much. So, its time to plant again.

Yesterday the girls and I started a new series of history in our homeschooling. It is a 2 week series, but we will probably finish it early as they really liked it. It is about Colonial America. Last night we learned all about Ben Franklin. Did you know one of his inventions that usually is not credited to him, was scubba flippers???

Steer butchered today

Thanks to some friends, as they actually did the work. Butchering is brand new to JD and I, and we had no clue what to do. This steer was crazy--tore up fence, got out often, charged me and JD, even charged his own reflection in the pond. He had to go. Trouble was, he had no intention of getting into the trailer to take a ride to the butcher. The state laws say he has to arrive alive, so the idea of shooting him here, then delivering him was out.

So, some friends of ours came over (thanks Eddie and Jenny!) and the men shot him, and shot him. He refused to go down. Finally he did. We got him skinned and ready to the point of starting to cut the meat cuts we want tomorrow. It was cold, 31 degrees. We started a little after 9 this morning.

Around 6 we took him to another set of friends (Craig and Kelly's) and put him in their building. The have a nice area where we can finish up tomorrow out of the wind!

He is huge. Much bigger than we thought--somehow he looked smaller in the pasture. Having never done this before, we had no idea what we were getting into. We just knew we didn't want to have him on the farm for another summer and that we didn't want to butcher him after the weather got warm. We are glad to be rid of him, and all involved will have meat for the freezers.

Tomorrow evening the girls are in a science fair in St Joseph MO. We have a volcano, weather research and information on recycling and trash. They will be finishing up the final touches tomorrow after church, so us girls may miss out on part of day 2 of the butchering.

21 hours and 12 minutes.....

Until coop starts. My girls have been counting down until our first session of this semesters homeschool coop. Our coop meets every Friday Feb though April, and again September through November. They are anxious to see their friends, some of which they have not seen since last November.

I am teaching 2 classes this semester, for a total of 3 hours. First and second hours I am teaching "Parade of Presidents". First hour is for younger students, and second hour for middle grammar students. Third hour I am teaching "Marvelous Missouri" to middle grammar students.

I am excited about my classes, and have learned a lot myself as I prepare for them. The state of Missouri has been wonderful and sent me all sorts of information and lots of items to pass on to the kids, free of charge.

My daughters are taking volleyball, scrap booking, watercolor, American Girl, Ooey Gooey Science, Baton, Debate, Snack shop (they actually operate a small business in this class-operating the concession snack shop at coop-learning inventory, and handling money), Spanish.

Other offered classes which we are not taking are genealogy, geometry, choir, band, crafts, dissecting lab, flying creatures, early life skills, art, PCT Prep, sewing, photo, phonics, quilling, snare drum, yearbook and a lot more.

Tomorrow evening we have our Valentine Banquet at church. They youth group is serving it as a fund raiser for their upcoming summer activities. Today the girls have been baking angel food cakes as part of the deserts to be served.

Too many eggs = chicken & noodles and angel food cake

The hens went back into overdrive. So, last night we made chicken and noodles and an angel food cake. This is the best way I know to use up 14 eggs at one time. Rebecca made the noodles. I did separate the eggs for her, as I wanted to make sure it was done. The noodles only use the yolks and the cake uses only the whites. So, this is our standard meal here at the farm when we need to use up some eggs. Rebecca got one hour credit of home-ec cooking out of her noodle making for homeschool.

There are many recipes out there for egg noodles. But this is my favorite:
EGG NOODLES
8 cups flour--white or whole wheat
12 egg yolks
4 eggs
8 teaspoons salt
3/4 to 1 & 1/2 cups water

Put flour and salt in bowl. Make a well in the middle and add egg yolks and eggs. Mix in water a little at a time until dough is stiff but easy to roll.

Flour a cloth covered board or wood surface well. Roll out dough to desired thickness and cut noodles 1/8 to 1/4 inch wide.

Let noodles dry. For thin noodles cut in thin strips they may dry in 2 hours. For thicker noodles cut wider, it may take all night to dry.

**After they are completely dry, boil in salted water 5-7 minutes or until done. Drain and serve.

**If I am making chicken noodle soup, I make my soup first, then add the noodles in at the very end, right before serving.

Angel food cake
*requires an angel food cake pan*

Preheat oven to 375.
12 egg whites whipped until they form white peaks
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup cake flour
1 1/2 teaspoon cream of tarter
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/4 teaspoon salt

Mix together powered sugar and flour and set aside.
beat egg whites and cream of tarter till foamy and forms peaks. Add in the granulated sugar on high speed about 2 tablespoonful at a time. Add vanilla, almond extract and salt. Continue beating till very stiff. Do not under beat.

Sprinkle in the flour and sugar mix about 1/4 cup at a time. After each addition, fold it over, then add the next addition. Spread batter into ungreased angel food cake pan. Cut through it with a metal knife to remove any large bubbles.

Bake at 375 for 30-35 minutes. Cake top should be springy and dry and crumbly looking.

Remove from oven and invert upside down until cake is cold or room temp. Then remove from pan.

Fantastic Caverns Homeschool Days-Southern MO

Dear Home School Educator,

For many years, the Fantastic Caverns Science Research Program has offered special tours and educational materials to area schools. In the past, we have offered special group rates to schools when they had a minimum of 20 participants. This requirement does not meet the needs of most home schools in our region and we would like to change that.

February 1-14, 2009, will be Home School Days at Fantastic Caverns. We will offer our school group rates for the educational cave tour to area home school groups regardless of the number attending. These rates are $6.00 for children age 12 and under (discounted from $13.50) and $15.50 for age 13 and above (discounted from $21.50).

The all riding tour addresses geology, history, cave life, karst and groundwater. The trip through the cave takes about 55 minutes and is available from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM daily. While we do not require a deposit, we do anticipate high demand for the tour. Please call or e-mail with your plans so we will be certain to have enough staff to serve you.

A free study guide, “Living in Cave Country”, and the cave-related magazine Ozark Adventure, is available at http://www.fantasticcaverns.com/educate.htm to assist your teaching efforts.

Our hope is that this time period of special rate availability will allow you to incorporate more learning opportunities into your curriculum. This is a time of year when we have available staff to devote to our educational programs and the cave is a Warm 60°, no matter how cold it is outside!

If you have questions or would like to call for reservations, you may contact us at:
(417) 833-2010.



Thank you very much,
Kirk Hansen
Fantastic Caverns
Science Research Program

Homeschool Days at Kansas Citys Union Station Jan 27-30

Additional information regarding shows and exhibits can be found on our web site at www.unionstation.org.



During Home School Days….

• $10 off Family Membership (for 4 or more people) purchased January 27-30

• Special science demos each afternoon

• FREE educational materials



Special discounted rates:



Science City: $6 per person

Regnier Extreme Screen: $4 per person

The Tsar & The President: $6 per person

KC Rail Experience: $4 per person

Dialog in the Dark Exhibit:$10 per home schooled child. $18 for one adult chaperone.

(Add’l adults and guests pay regular public rates. Advance reservations are recommended for Dialog. Please call 460-2020 to make a reservation.)

Dialog Exhibition is open Wed-Fri, 9:30 am - 1 pm. Last ticket sold at 12noon



For additional information please call (816) 460-2020.

Fire by the barn!!

It is cold on the farm. It has been below freezing for several days, so all the tanks and waterers have heaters in them. Or did. Last night one of them burst into flames and caught on fire. It was a brand new stocktank water heater, that is the worst of it. If I can find the receipt, I am going to try and take it back to Orscheleons and get a new one in a few minutes. Luckly when it caught on fire, the girls and JD were in the barn and were able to put it out. That is the second fire we have had in less than a year. The first one was in the chicken coup. (Proof that chickens are dumb--they all ran INTO the buring coup..)

This is the time of the year when the girls and I really do not enjoy farming. The water hoses freeze, and we have to watch the tanks. For some reason the cows and horses delight in pulling their heaters out of the tanks. The rabbits water bottles have to be switched out several times a day with thawed ones. Eggs have to be gathered several times a day or they will be frozen.

Emily enjoyed her internship yesterday at the library. This afternoon she will also be helping with the Discovery Club class. She got to check in and out books and pack and unpack books for library to library loan. Now she is talking of being a library page when she turns 16.

Later today, I need to work in the basement pantry. After my last Aldi trip, the girls put the cases of canned goods away, and some of them are not in the right places. I also need to make sure items got rotated out. The girls are pretty good at doing that, but I still like to double check.

Wednesdays are sooooo quiet at my house....

Wednesdays are getting to be the quiet day at my house. On Wednesdays I often don't have all 3 of the girls as that is "internship day". I want all my kids to "intership" at a business each month to see how they operate. Emily has chosen to work at a branch of the Mid Contient Library (it took awhile for that to happen--supervisors had to approve and such...), and Elizabeth has chosen to work for Crain Vet Clinic in Grain Valley--my cousins Jerry and Robbie Espey are the vets there. They don't all go on the same Wednesday, but on opposite ones of each other. When the weather gets a little warmer, Rebecca will join them-but we haven't quite figured out where yet-but she wants something outside. I do have my eye on greenhouse/nursery nearby that is run by a semi retired couple who homeschooled all their children. When they open back up at the first of March, I will approach them about Rebecca working one Wednesday a month. That will give us 3 quiet Wednesdays a month. Something about having an odd number of children makes it noisier. I have noticed that when I have my neices and nephews (from either side of the family) here also--if one leaves, it is quiet again when we get back to an even number of kids.

Tonight Emily has a training session for an all night girl scout (non-sleeping)event coming up. So, when I go to town to pick her up from the library, I will be there until her training is out at 8:30. I think the twins and I will kill part of that time at the library, Walmart, and CVS.

St Joseph MO Science Fair for Homeschoolers

Homeschool Science Fair 2009


There’s still time to consider an entry for the Science Fair!

any type of report, experiment, invention, or display

that relates to your science studies or interest

(grade appropriate with a little help from your teacher).



Sunday evening, Feb. 22

St. James Church Cafeteria (King Hill Ave.)

Preschool through 12th grade divisions

6:30 pm =Setup

7:00 =Will Stuck, Science Show

8:00 =Awards

$5 per family entry fee suggested; prizes for all;

Drinks provided; bring a snack to share.



Register ahead of time with CandisesCrew@sbcglobal.net by sending the children’s full name and grade

Or mail with payment to: Schmidlings, 18 Eastwood Drive, St. Joseph, MO 64506

My best tips:

1Watch the sales and coupons at Hobby Lobby to buy the science fair display boards and headers more cheaply.

2Younger students seem to like making a report, middle elementary seem to really enjoy doing an experiment or making an invention, and high schoolers needs a greater level of difficulty.

3The library has experiment books and “Kids Discover” magazines to coordinate with the science subject you are already studying at home.

It could have gone better.

It was one of those days...

Our plan for today (well,actually it started out as yesterdays plan, but got moved to today) was to go over to our other farm and get a load or two of hay (big bales). First we had loading issues, then, while on our way home, we lost the two rear bales. One was on top and the other was a bottom bale. (They were stacked 2 high on the trailer). I was driving the truck with Emily and Elizabeth, pulling the trailer while JD and Rebecca were following in the tractor with 2 more bales on the front and rear bale spikes. Suddenly the trailer jerked, felt a little lighter and I just caught the security strap slide off with the last bale. That no sooner happened then Rebecca's voice came over the radio ("Mom, did you know you lost some hay?")Duh.

The bad new was, we were on a county road and at an intersection. The good news was, it was a straight a way and there were no deep ditches for the bales to be lost in. (Currently they are selling for around $45 a bale in our area). It was a bear to reload as the school buses kept going buy, and for a very quiet county road, we suddenly seemed to get a lot of traffic. Traffic out of no where with nothing better to do than to come and watch us reload.... But,...it could have been much worse, or in a bad place in the road, or have hit a vehicle. And now, our horses and cows, rabbits, ducks, chickens....have a stockpile of food. Our farm is warm and snug again.

Only homeschoolers could have so much fun at school....

I did notice while were were there, that the iris bulbs are trying to come up. Some are as high as 4-6 inches. I am afraid though that tomorrows and future freezes could kill them for the year.

That scenario however, caused us to miss our girl scout cookie pickup, which was from 4-5, so we have to get them tomorrow or Sunday now.

Then, it appears the bidder on one of my eBay items retracted their bid....but, I did get the windsock off of eBay, for $2 less than the buy it now price. So, the gamble to auction instead of buy it now paid off.

This afternoon it was in the 60's. Now it is in the 40's with a very gusty wind (thankfully it wasn't windy when we were loading and unloading hay). Tomorrow it could be in the 20's and they are predicting snow and possibly some ice. We will most likely have to go back to using the stock tanks for watering the cattle tomorrow.

Tomorrow the twins have a JBQ tournament in Kansas City. Emily and I are timekeepers. This will be a bittersweet meet as it will be our first monthly meet since there leader, Mrs Linda McDowell passed away unexpectedly. She had led the teams for years. But, she would want the kids to go on, so that is what we are doing.

Day of Science

The twins have been working on a badge for Girl Scouts, "Science and Technology". They have been working on it off & on for days, and most of today. They have worked with a pulley and weights, batteries and lights, robotics and more. The came as a "badge in a box". Its a box that has everything in it to do this badge, and the box goes from troop to troop. It has been kind of interesting. Girl Scout rules state you can't use a school project for scouts....but, Mamma's homeschool rules don't state you can't use a Girl Scout project for a science grade... So, I am counting the time they have been working on it towards their science hours.

We got the rain gauge and a thermometer mounted in the weather station today. I am still the leading bidder on eBay for a windsock, but have 2 more days till that auction ends. The windsock will mount on a piece of conduit that will attach to one of the wooden poles. My idea is that the windsock will be about 10-12 feet off the ground. It needs to be high enough to not interfere with the instruments below it.

I sold a pair of outgrown snow boots on ebay yesterday, and shipped them off today. I also listed an identical pair yesterday. My goal for the year was to try and list one thing a month (I am starting out small), and so far I have done two.

Weather station progress

This afternoon, the girls and I set the final post in the weather station. I also put the concrete in to set it. Ideally I was going to mount the rain gauge, but the batteries in the drill were dead (someone had unplugged the charger). So, weather permitting, I will mount the gauge tomorrow. Right now I am ahead in an auction on eBay for an aviation wind sock. It also will mount in the station along with a thermometer and some other instruments. After giving the concrete a few days to cure, I will dump a load of dirt in with the bobcat to fill up the tire some more. Probably in the spring we well put some flowers in their as well. Our weather station is mounted on posts set inside a large tractor tire. (Those tractor tires are around $600 a piece, so I am getting our money out of this old one...)

This morning we went to the library for a homeschool class. It was a painting class this week. A reporter from the KC paper was there taking pictures. He said it should be in either this week or next, we will wait and see.

The chickens are still laying again. However, our little beagle has suddenly discovered them and is chasing them. Each time we catch her she is getting scolded and put into an empty rabbit hutch for 30 minutes hour. (How demeaning is that? A rabbit dog in a hutch for punishment.) Since she is a puppy, I am hoping she grows out of this soon. It is funny to watch our old black Lab bark at her when she does it, it is as if he is scolding her. Sometimes I think he is grinning at her when she is inside the hutch.

Weird weather continues

Sunday morning we had ice covered trees and took the 4 wheel drive truck to church. It was slick in spots. Today it is in the 60's again, with mud everywhere. The chickens were glad to be set free from their coop. I have been keeping them in on the days when it is in the 20's or lower.

We took a break from most our homeschooling the past week, since we had company and the holidays, and today the girls are cleaning their bedrooms. They each have their own, so no one is to blame for their mess except for themselves. They are bringing me some snow boots they outgrew, so I will try to get those on eBay shortly.

This evening, we will watch some videos that we will count in our learning. I have a series from the library on inventors and animals. So we will watch those and return them tomorrow when we go to the library.

Our company is gone, and I am debating on giving the girls the rest of the week as a break, or resuming homeschool full time. I think however, that we will just do a little work. The public schools are still on break and I know I will hear that as an argument if I assign math!

My laundry soap making is all finished and put into containers. Probably next week I will make up a batch of automatic dish washing soap (powder). It too comes out to about a penny a load.

Our back pasture continues to be full of wild geese. Last week when we went into town we even saw a few pheasants. I have not seen wild pheasant since we moved here. I also keep seeing coon tracks around again. So far, they have not bothered the chickens. The last time we had coons it was helter skelter in the hen house. That is when JD started calling our one surviving duck "Rambo". He fought off the coons and has the scars to prove it.

This is for Friday

I just noticed...Fridays entry is not here..So, I will put it in now. Maybe I can even figure out how to get it in the proper place...maybe..

Friday we worked on school work and then went to our 4H wrapping meeting. This party had been rescheduled several times due to weather. Our 4H group had adopted a family for Christmas. Everyone chipped in and brought the gifts and we all wrapped them together. Then we delivered them to the family. My daughters really got an eye full. I never made a comment to them, but they brought it up on the way home themselves. They had already been told that the family didn't have much money and that was why they were being adopted. But, they picked up on stuff during their visit, and quizzed me about it. This is what I heard on the way home.

"If they were so poor, where did they get the money for all those cartons of cigarettes they had?"

"Did you see their TV? It was a flat screen plasma and it was huge"
"Forget the TC, did you see how many DVDs and movies they had? They had more than the library has"

"Mom-why do you think they bought that TV instead of fixing the holes in the floor and walls. Snow was coming in through one of them"
"Maybe that was why they had the huge pile of dirty clothes (really huge-touched the ceiling) in the living room. Maybe it was covering up another hole"

"Did you see all those cats?? Boy did it smell bad in there"

But the killer was this one..."Mom, soap really doesn't cost that much does it?? and it doesn't cost anything to be neat and clean...I guess that is why mom makes us clean up our messes...we are lucky. I think they just had their priorities wrong".

Out of the mouth of babes..

It really was bad. Very similar to what you see on some of those TV shows.

Snowing again, and its no warmer outside

It has been snowing all day. Just a real light snow. The kind where you really have to look to see the flakes as they float and dance to the ground. Right now we are at our daytime high of 29 degrees.

We finally got the deep freezer my parents gave me two weeks ago unloaded from the pickup today. This is the second nonworking deep freeze I have collected for the purpose of storing grain and feed in the barn. Since I put the chicken and rabbit feed in the first one that I got a few months ago (found it on craigslist.org) I have noticed a decrease of birds in the barn. It was a small freezer. This one we unloaded today is a larger freezer that will house the cracked corn and sweet feed. The small one I have now is holding both rabbit and chicken, so I need to find another small one so I can split that feed up. This system is working well to eliminate fee waste. It is also driving the chickens nuts. We have a few hens that in the past liked to spend the entire day in the chicken feed barrel sitting. At least 5 did this, as on the average day we would find 5 eggs in the chicken barrel. Can't blame them, who wouldn't want to sit all day surrounded by food.

The weather forecasters keep predicting an ice storm. We had one light one, and missed two that we were supposed to have gotten. We are about out of firewood (we have probably enough for a six hour long fire), so today we broke down and ordered some. I am getting a cord of oak, split, delivered and stacked for $150. That was not only the closest source, but also by far the cheapest source. Some in our area are wanting up towards $300 for a cord of mixed woods. Had we picked a different wood and went to pick it up, we could have gotten it for a low as $120. But for only $30 more to have oak, and have them deliver and stack it, it is worth it.

I had someone ask me what type of curriculum we use in our homeschooling. We actually use several. Our math is Saxon. Health, Science and Language are Abekka. For history we do a lot of history channel, free reading and some Abeka. Reading comprehension is from Instructional Fair. Our free reading and videos come from our rather large personal library and also from the Mid Continent Library.

We suppliment a lot with video and books. We are about to finish a unit on Pearl Harbour. We do have an old public school history book that I use as a guide, but it only devoted 2 pages to Pearl Harbour. So, in addition, we checked out videos from the library and a few books to go along with the books from our library.

In addition, we have several on going projects. Each girl has an "animal notebook" that she is making. Each week they are to add at least one new animal to their book and insert it under the proper classification in the animal kingdom. We also watch the weather and are making a weather station. We have taken storm tracker classes as part of our weather study. Each girl also has a voculabory book, and daily they have to look up their word, write the defination, and use the word in a sentence.

Often we overlap studies. In our *reading comprehension we may read a story about lake Superior. If that fits in with our social studies or history, we will use that one assignment for both history or social studies and our reading.
*Reading Comprehension is where we read a non fictional story or article and then take a short quiz at the end.

Of course we also supliment with homeschool classes at the library and with the internet. There are lots of free worksheets and such on line.