Happy Kansas Day!!

I am a transplanted Kansan from Missouri. As a Missourian I always had a bit of animosity towards Kansas. I remember a friend in college who hailed from western Kansas. Each year he would have a big party on Kansas day. All my friends snickered.

Then there was my great uncle also a transplanted Missourian living in Kansas. He didn't go down without a fight. Riding in the car with my father and I one night in Kansas he complained of all the bad "Kansas" drivers and bade my father, "hit 'em with your brights!"

My experience with Kansas has been less turbulent than my uncle's. I loved it from the first. Although Missouri will always have my heart, Kansas has my love too. It is the birthplace of my son after all. We affectionately refer to him as "the Kansan" here. But this state has given me so much more than just a home. Many happy memories and treasured friends are here. So I choose, like my friend long ago, to celebrate it today.

Find some resources for celebrating Kansas with kids here and here.

Free Rocket Kit for Educators!

I just saw this in The Homeschooler's Notebook:

Free Model Rocket Kit Offer
http://www.questaerospace.com/challenge.asp
"All you need to do is fill out the information at the site and
then wait for your free sample kit to arrive. I ordered mine
today. I hope it arrives soon! Enjoy!"
-- Tawanna, member of our HomeschoolingBOYS.com email group

To join The Homeschooler's Notebook, a free email newsletter, send an email to join-hs-notebook@hub.thedollarstretcher.com

This video is 17 minutes long and may be too much for some children but let them at least watch the march at the beginning and see and hear the voice of Dr. Martin Luther King, jr. And do watch it yourself.

Here are more free audio resources for MLK day from Learn Out Loud:

I've Been to the Mountaintop
On this Martin Luther King Day, listen to Dr. King's final speech which he delivered the night before his assassination. In this prophetic speech Dr. King looks back over his life and thanks God that he was able to take part in the victories of the civil rights era.
He makes a passionate cry for nonviolence and freedom throughout the world, and confesses that no matter what happens to him that humanity will make it to the Promised Land. This speech is available on MP3 download and streaming audio & video from American Rhetoric.
I've Been to the Mountaintop
You can also download and listen to Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech and Robert F. Kennedy's "Remarks on the Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr." on LearnOutLoud.com's Great Speeches in History Podcast (these two speeches are listed toward the bottom of the podcast feed).

Festive Cake

I love old community cookbooks. Specifically Church cookbooks. I find that the recipes that women submit to these cookbooks are either a special or unusual dish or something they make particularly well that garners lots of praises. Looking through these books I often find recipes that are "family pleasers." Here is one of them from the Overland Park Christian Church in Overland Park, Kansas called "Cooking with Friends". This makes a large cake and instead of using the ten cup pan I have also used a 9X13 pan with success. It is so moist and delicious you'll have a hard time stopping at one piece. Enjoy!

He Had A Dream

In our house we take time on important days to explain to our children why we are observing something important on that day. Martin Luther King, jr made some praiseworthy contributions to the history of our country and is worth remembering on the day our country has set aside to honor him. He is also an excellent example of a godly man who gave his live for the cause of freedom.

When I'm teaching my children about something important I always like to use books and last year I blogged on my favorite book for children in early elementary, My Brother Martin. My children also viewed a video "Our Friend Martin" about two boys who go back in time to meet Martin Luther King, jr.

Please let me know in the comments if you have found other good resources. Whatever you do on this day take time to remember this great man and to say thanks to God for people like him willing to speak out for all God's people.

Theme for a New Year

I am so very blessed to have a group of friends that I never see, but talk to every single day throughout the day. The are a group of like minded Christian homeschooling women but we are also different in enough ways to keep things interesting! I'm so thankful for them.

One of us introduced the rest of us to an idea we have been using for the past two, maybe three years. My friend Dana listens to God to discover what it is he would like her to focus on in the coming year. You'll enjoy reading her post on her theme this year which is "consider the lilies."

As I said most of the group picks a theme and I thought you'd be interested in some of the others as well. You might find a blog you love as well!

Rachel is focusing on "simple, beautiful." There are so many praiseworthy thoughts in this post.

Dee Ann will spend the year thinking about "simple, lovely, grateful." She is simply lovely and I believe you will enjoy her blog.

Crissy will be "going live" and may be giving up the internet all together, so hurry over. Look for the post "It's (almost) a new year folks..."

And last but certainly not least...Brooke is hearing voices - but it's the good kind!

I'm calling my theme "first things first". Taking care of what's most important first. Carefully prioritizing my day. But that also means seeking God before opening my mouth. Making sure the log is out of my eye, etc...those are first things too. I've already started keeping a list of verses and quotations I come across on this subject that I hope will help to inspire me. If you all can think of some please leave it for me in the comments. Thank you Dana for introducing us to this wonderful way of preparing for a new year.

Even I have been tagged

My dear sweet friend Rachel has tagged me and I feel that I should comply:

1. One book that changed your life:

For The Children's Sake by Susan Schaeffer McCauley. This is the book that started me on the homeschooling path I'm still on.

2. One book that you have read more than once:
To Kill A Mockingbird. Forget Mobey Dick, this is the great American Novel.

3. One book that you'd want on a desert island:

As cliche' as it sounds it would be the bible. It's all there: romance, adventure and wisdom

4. One book that made you laugh:

A Walk In The Woods. I had just had a baby and would read this book in the bathtub and LAUGH. It was sort of like therapy.

5. One book that made you cry:

Technically a short story but A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote always makes me cry.

6. One book that you wish had been written:

A manual for my husband

7. One book that you wish had never been written:

Sons and Lovers by D.H. Lawrence. I grew to hate the main character so much I couldn't finish the book. That is rare for me. And of course I've already mentioned Mobey Dick. But that could have more to do with reading it in a two day period for a graduate English class.

8. One book you are currently reading:

Does Country Living Magazine British Edition count as a book???? This season has been so busy I haven't read any books in awhile.

9. One book you've been meaning to read:

Are you kidding me??? I have a book list of books I want to read that is 70 pages long!!! I am not exaggerating. That doesn't even include the stack beside my bed that I've picked up at sales and want to read. Well, the most recent addition to my huge list is Switched Off by Eric Brende. Several of my friends have read it and recommended it and then I found out at Christmas that he lives in my Uncle's neighborhood.