At least since the 50's according to John Stormer of 'None Dare Call It Treason' (a book every American should read and research!!!):

"Since 1956,American aid has provided about half of Communist Yugoslavia's national income. In 1961, they instituted their own foreign aid program to spread communism to under-developed nations of the world. (1)

Poland and Yugoslavia were not the only Communists to benefit from Eisenhower's generosity. Achmed Sukarno received the planes, tanks, and guns he used to crush  the last anti-Communist resistance in Indonesia from Eisenhower's mutual security program. (2)  Since 1955, Sukarno Indonesian government has received $479-million from the United States. (3)

Patrice Lumumba was widely known as a Communist terrorist in 1960 when he became Premier of the newly independent Congo in Africa. Eisenhower and the U.S. State Department gave Lumumba's prestige and his treasury a big boost with a Washington welcome and $20-million in American foreign aid. (4) Even so, he was deposed and later killed by the anti-Communist forces in the Congolese government.

By the time Eisenhower's two terms ended, direct economic and military aid to Communist and "neutralist" nations totaled over $7-billion."

(1) Yugoslav Communism, A Critical Study, SISS, Oct. 18, 1961, pg. 258-9,282

(2) Morris, No Wonder We Are Losing, pg. 207

(3) Report, U.S. Foreign Assistance, Agency For International Dev., Mar. 21, 1961, pg. 38

(4) Ibid., pg. 89

When JFK was campaigning for the coveted position of President of the United States, he was very critical of the current Eisenhower administration's Cuban policy. Because of this, Americans were hopeful to see JFK remove Castro from authority in Cuba. JFK said:

"We must attempt to strengthen the non-Batista democratic anti-Castro forces in exile, and in Cuba itself who offer eventual hope of overthrowing Castro...thus far, these fighters for freedom have had virtually no support from our government."

So on April 17, 1961, an invasion that was planned, financed, and controlled by the U.S. State Department and the CIA as well as approved by JFK was set in motion. 1400 anti-Castro Cubans, with complete assurance of air cover promised by JFK, invaded Cuba at the Bay of Pigs. Within easy distance, carriers loaded with fighting planes stood by ready for the call to come to their aid. In a summary of the event, U.S. News and World Report, in its September 17, 1962 issue said in part:

"Secure in this assurance of air support, the invaders went ashore...1400 armed men reached the beaches...In the battle that followed, Castro's troops suffered heavy casualties...Castro's tanks, coming up to the battle were sitting ducks for attack by air. Confidently the little invading force waited for its air support to arrive. Its leaders had assurance of that support. It was provided in the pre-invasion planning.

Hours before, on Sunday evening, a small but potent force of B-26's was sitting in readiness on an airstrip 500 miles away, waiting to take off for the Bay of Pigs.  Those were planes of the invasion force with Cuban pilots.

But those planes didn't take off. The reason: President Kennedy forbade their use.

That was the fateful decision President Kennedy made on that Sunday evening. He decided that the anti-Castro Cubans could not have the support of their own air force during the invasion. Without that support, the invasion failed."

Who were the real sitting ducks? Those poor men who had blindly taken the US Government at their word. But this story is still not over. Careful examination of the facts show that the whole plan was a deliberate sabotage!

According to columnist Edith Roosevelt:

"A nearly impossible supply problem was created when the CIA armed the 1400 man invasion force with weapons requiring over 30 different types of ammunition. The guns were purchased in second-hand stores "to avoid identifying the invading forces with the U.S."'

She further shares that the invaders were then supplied with the wrong ammunition for their weapons. An oversight by the CIA? Surely not. These are intelligent men right? I could go on and share more incriminating details that show and obvious deliberate sabotage, or I could go on and tell you about all the money that our government then turned around and gave to Castro just weeks later, but I think this is incriminating enough to make the point I want to make. And that point is this, Can we blindly trust our, or any, government officials to do what they are telling us they will do? Is it patriotism to vote officials into office and then sit back and relax and let them do their job without any interference from us in complete trust that they will do what is best for us? Our Founding Fathers did not believe this. They warned us to be vigilant and never trust anyone holding a position of authority. We Americans have been duped over and over and we are not paying attention. We are in the same position as these poor men confidently waiting at the Bay of Pigs with complete assurance that the US government had their backs. We are being told one thing while our government all the while intends to do something else! We need to learn from our history that we can not blindly follow our leadership but instead we must be watchful of everything they do! Consider the following quotes:

"The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government -- lest it come to dominate our lives and interests."
~Patrick Henry

I love the amount of reading my children do and am always on the lookout for the very best in children's literature to feed their hunger for books, books, and more books. I have found the local thrift store to be a good source to find many of the classics. Library sales and Paperback Swap (see the link in my sidebar) have been the other most used sources for building our growing library.

I have found many great book lists to use for directing me in choosing the very best. Here are some of my favorites:

-1000 Good Books (just click on your child's reading level)

-great living books (a fantastic book finder with only their very favorite recommendations for 'twaddle'*  free books) *Twaddle = dumbed down literature; absence of meaning.

I also love the great recommendations found in these wonderful books:

-Honey for a Child's Heart

-Books Children Love: A Guide to the Best Children's Literature

-Books That Build Character: A Guide to Teaching Your Child Moral Values Through Stories

And as we have read our way through many of these wonderful stories, these have been some of our very favorites:

-Ned: Barnardo Boy (A must read - I can't tell you how much I cried through this one!!)

-Joel: A Boy of Galilee (Grabs your heart right away in the first scene)

-Heidi (Everyone has heard of this classic, but have you read it? It is precious!)

-Treasures of the Snow  (Another must read story!)

-Teddy's Button (So sweet!)

-Five Little Peppers and How They Grew (Another treasure!)

-The Railway Children (The BBC movie of this one is very good too - but nothing beats the book!)

-Farmer Boy (Our very favorite of Laura Ingalls Wilder's books with Little House in the Big Woods coming in a close second)

-Caddie Woodlawn

-The Swiss Family Robinson

-An Old-Fashioned Thanksgiving (you just can't go wrong with any of Louisa May Alcott's stories!)

-Hinds' Feet on High Places (This is a wonderful arrangement of this classic written for kids)

-Abigail Adams  (We have read many of these wonderful Sower Series biographies, but this is by far our favorite so far!)

-Winnie the Pooh (If you have only watched Disney's version of Pooh, then you are missing out on the wonderful whimsy of A.A. Milne)

-The Chronicles of Narnia  (Of course our list of favorites is not complete without this series even though I have not read them myself, my children assure me that they are the best!!)

-Kingdom's Dawn (Part of the Kingdom Series - we have the audio and the kids have been clamoring for the next one!!)

We have so many wonderful books that we have not yet read together and these are some of our up and coming books that we will be trying to complete this year ( I am sure I will have some new favorites to add by the time we are done!):

-The Bark Of The Bog Owl (From the Wilderking Trilogy - My friend Jen, my Mom and my Garrett have all read this now and have all said "You have got to read this book!!!" - I think I will take their word for it!)

-Hans Brinker, or The Silver Skates

-Carry On, Mr. Bowditch

-Benjamin West and His Cat Grimalkin (Marguerite Henry - an author we love! I am also trying to locate another of her titles called Cinnabar the One O'clock Fox - it has been hard to find - have any of you read it? Is it worth purchasing?)

-Pink Motel

-My Side of the Mountain

-The Hedge of Thorns

-Christies Old Organ  (we also enjoyed this author's title Saved at Sea )

-Titus: A Comrade of the Cross

-That Printer of Udell's

-Stepping Heavenward

-The Runt

and last but not least...

-Mother Carey's Chickens

These oughta keep us busy reading this winter! So what are your all-time favorite books?

Anyone else drowing in a sea of zucchini right now too? You have come to the right place - I have recipe links to share (sorry - I am taking the lazy route here - I have some wonderful recipes that I could type up for you, including a fantastic Zucchini Brownie recipe a friend gave me recently - but...well, like I said, I am being lazy, so there you have it)!

Zucchini Cakes  (like crab cakes)

Summer Zucchini Casserole

Sweet Zucchini Relish (this is almost identical to our family recipe - substitute mustard seed for the nutmeg and don't add cornstarch and you have our favorite recipe - I am not really a huge fan of relish but this stuff is so yummy - I love it mixed into tuna for tuna melts!!)

Fabulous Zucchini Grinders

Zucchini-Coconut Cookie Bars (wouldn't these be good topped with Nutella?)

Grilled Zucchini Pizzas (perfect for those giant zucchinis that sneak up on you!)

Blueberry Zucchini Bread  

Mediterranean Tabbouleh Salad

Be sure to try throwing some on the Grill  the next time you are BBQing or replace your  Lasagna noodles with lengthwise slices of zucchini! Yumm! Oh and don't forget to participate in the national "Sneak Some Zucchini Onto Your Neighbor's Porch In The Middle Of The Night' day! When is it, you ask? Whenever you want to, no one will ever know the difference right? And I won't tell on you if you don't tell on me! (  ;

So what are your favorite zucchini recipes?

    "When the identity of the church is transferred from living people to inanimate buildings, the table is set for a serious feast of hypocrisy and confusion.  The church becomes a place where we go to be holy and give God His due so that we can go on with life as usual the rest of the week.

   To the world this flawed understanding pigeonholes the church as a place for "perfect" people, or more realistically, a place where hypocrites go to feel good about themselves. How can the world think otherwise? They never see the "church," because its activities are largely confined to a building.  Too many unsaved see Christianity as a clique that meets for self-congratulation or theological debate or purely social activity, and has little to do with the struggles of everyday life.

   The irony is that the world, those who are indifferent to Christianity, have the same view of the church as we do. I think it is safe to say that in many respects, they know us better than we know ourselves.

   These erroneous thoughts are the recipe for confusion. It seems that God's people are confused about who they are, and most importantly what the church is. For many Christians, the apostle Peter's description of the church as a "house of living stones" has become a spiritual-sounding metaphor that is difficult to relate to the modern church as we know it.

   If we want to see the church truly become the living, breathing, life-giving representation of Christ on earth, then we need to be willing to let God work through us to rebuild His house - from the ground up."

-Excerpt taken from 'Uniting Church and Home' by Eric Wallace, pg. 44

Recipe #1

Thai Peanut Quinoa Salad

My new favorite ingredient to cook with lately has been the very yummy and very good for you Quinoa (pronounced keen-wa) and I have been experimenting with it in all kinds of different recipes. I have used it as a replacement for rice when serving gumbo and curry and I have used it as a replcement for pasta in salads. This recipes is a Thai inspired salad that I made up to please my Thai ingredient loving taste buds! It is still a bit of a work in progress but it got rave reviews at a recent family get-together! Enjoy!

Peanut Dressing:

1/4 cup vinegar of your choice (I prefer seasoned rice vinegar)

1/4 coconut milk

4-5 T. peanut butter, creamy

1-2 fresh garlic cloves

2 T. sugar

1-2 T. fresh lime juice

1/4 t. chili sauce (also found in the Asian section of your supermarket), opt.

Process these ingredients in a blender until smooth and combine with the following:

2 cups dry quinoa cooked in 4 cups chicken broth according to package directions and chilled

1 cup frozen peas, thawed

2 cups cooked, cubed chicken, chilled

2-3 slices of pickled ginger, juliened (found in the Asian section of your supermarket)

1/2 cup fresh cilantro, roughly chopped

Chill salad in refridgerator for a couple hours, Just before serving top with chopped peanuts and more chopped cilantro. If you want to make it pretty you can make a rose out of the pickled ginger to place in the center. (  :

Recipe #2

Sour Cream Lemon Pie

This was my Aunt Evelyn's recipes and 'oh my' is it good!

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup cornstarch

1 1/4 cups milk

3 egg yolks, beaten

1/3 cup lemon juice (I used a little more because I like it tart)

1 t. lemon zest

1/4 cup butter

1 cup sour cream

1 pre-baked pie crust

Whipped Cream, store-bought or your own homemade

In saucepan, stir together the sugar and cornstarch. Add milk gradually, stirring until smooth. Stir in egg yolks, lemon juice and zest, and butter. Over medium heat, stirring constantly,  cook mixture until it boils or becomes as thick as pudding. Pour into a large mixing bowl and refridgerate about 45-50 minutes or until colled but not completely set. Fold in the sour cream and pour into the pie crust. Refridgerate 2 hours or until firm. Top with the the whipped cream and a twisted slice of lemon. Enjoy!

Very Cool Kitchen Tip

I saw this on the Food Network awhile back and had to try it. Incredibly it worked very well and you will never have to buy green onions again if you try it! How does it work? Very easily! Just add a bunch of green onion to a glass of water and place in your kitchen windowsill. When you want some, snip off the tops and within a few days they will regenerate themselves! How cool is that?

 I made this salad last night and it is sooooo yummy! A perfect summer dinner!

Layered Caribbean Chicken Salad

4 cups torn lettuce (any kind you want - I personally love a good mix with lots of fresh spinach included)

3 cups cubed cooked chicken (here is how I prep mine)

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 1/2 cups grape tomatoes, halved if you like

2 mangoes, peeled and cubed

1/2 cup each corn, diced red onion, diced red bell pepper, and diced avacado

1 cup corn tortilla chips, crushed

Layer the above ingredients in whatever order you like and drizzle with the following dressing (or serve the dressing on the side):

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1/3 cup lime juice (fresh is best, if using fresh add the zest from it as well)

1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves

2 fresh garlic cloves

2 T. sugar or honey (I prefer honey)

3/4 t. salt

1/4 t. ground cinnamon

Cayene pepper to taste if you like a little spice!

Throw all the ingredients into your blender and blend until thoroughly blended. This dressing is so yummy! I think I could bottle it, sell it and make a fortune - it is that good! The fresh garlic, lime and cilantro with a little sweetness is such a fantastic combination!

Enjoy!

If you love books and reading as much as I do then you probably also know what it is to be reading 4-5 or more books at the same time. There just is not enough time in the day, week, month, year to read all of the books I want to. There is nothing like a good and challenging book - I find it so exciting to read the thoughts, the beliefs, the convictions, the truths that others have come to. I love when a new idea challenges me to think, to chew on something new or to reconsider my current view of issues.

So, what are my current thought-provoking reads?

The image is of the original version of this book first published in 1964, but I am reading the updated version titled None Dare Call It Treason - 25 Years Later.  Wow! This is a well documented book about the uinderground movement to bring communism to America. What do you think....are they succeeding?The author, John Stormer, has also written a must-read book by the title NONE DARE CALL IT EDUCATION.

All types/forms of government fall somewhere on a very simple government spectrum. At one end you have tyrrany (total government control) and on the other you have anarchy (no government control). In the middle of the spectrum you find a balance of control and freedom called self-government. But since anarchy always leads to tyrrany, it becomes even more simple as it boils down to two choices: govern yourself or be governed.  Either you be responsible for you or  the government is responsible for you. You can either be dependent on the government or on yourself.

It's funny how this seems so simple until you are actually living it out. I think most individuals would choose to be responsible for themselves initially until they start seeing what all that entails. The Israellites, when in bondage to the Egyptians, cried out to God to deliver them. God heard their prayers and raised up Moses to be their deliverer. Everyone is familiar with this part of the story and know the happy ending as the Israellites traversed through the middle of the sea towards freedom.  What a happy moment for them when the sea closed up behind them and they could finally breathe easy and enjoy the liberty they had just been handed. How many know the rest of this story though? The Israellites quickly realized that freedom takes hard work, character! It was not an easy road. Many began to clamor to go back to Egypt. They had become too dependant in character.

I wonder what we Americans would do if we were given back that total responsibility for ourselves. I think we don't even realize how dependant in character we, like the Israellites were, are.  There has been a recent movement of the American people crying out for smaller government; wanting to get back to the nation we began as.  "Let's get back to the Constitution" we cry! Have you ever thought about what that would really look like?  Our Founders believed that the sole purpose of civil government was to protect those who were obeying the law from those who were not. To protect the natural rights of every citizen; the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. So if we want to get back to these basic roles, all of the social programs that you and I benefit from would be cut. What social programs am I referring to? Take a good long look at this enormous list (scroll down a bit to get to the beginning of the list)!  A little overwhelming when you see all of the social programs that we, the taxpayers, pay for, isn't it?

So what do you think?  Do you want to continue to hand all of this responsibilty for you over to our government or are you ready to cut out the middle man and take back those responsibilties for ourselves? Stay tuned for part 2 where we will consider the cost of being dependant on government and part 3 where we will discover the character it takes to live in liberty and to maintain that liberty.

As a teacher to my children for the past 11 years I have learned many valuable lessons about education. God has been slowly defining what education is and what it is not for me using experience coupled with His manufacturer's manual, the Bible. I have learned that education takes place every second of the day from the time we wake up to the last waking moment as we snuggle down in our cozy beds each evening. Education is taking place when my children delight in the woodpecker pecking into a nearby tree or as they observe a fuzzy caterpillar crawling up a twig. Learning is taking place when we share the responsibility of feeding, watering and cleaning out the pen of our new baby chicks, or when we share in the daily chores of maintaining our home and yard. It happens when we are learning patience standing in line at the grocery store, or as my children see me calculating which is a better buy.  Education happens when helping a neighbor in need by taking a meal or mowing a yard.

I have learned that money spent does not equate a good education. Many of the very best lessons in life are free for the taking. In fact I have discovered over the years that  one of the most valuable and often overlooked assets we have to learn from are right under our very noses and completely free. They are just waiting for someone to come enjoy and absorb the wealth of wisdom and knowledge that experience has taught them. They are a treasure trove of gems and nuggets gleaned from their own trials and triumphs, failures and victories.

If you have not guessed it already, I am speaking of the elders that are all around us, in our communities and our churches, in our families and in our  local rest homes. These are the people who have raised their own children and are now in the empty-nest stage of their lives and beyond.  They have so much to offer to our children and ourselves and we are missing out if we do not seek out what they have to share with us.

I can't write up lessons that parallel  what the elders in our life have taught us. Here are just a scattering of examples.

-We have a couple in our church who have a passion for botany and were so gracious to invite us to their house last fall and to teach us all about the plants and herbs in their yard (they used to run a green house where they sold these herbs). The wife was also so very happy to accompany us on a nature walk around our house where she taught us all about the weeds and plants right here in our neck of the woods. We were thrilled to learn about the many edible and medicinal plants there are all around us. She also taught us what kind of traits to look for when seeking to identify plants. And guess what? She also knows how to dry these different kinds of plants and makes the most beautiful baskets out of them! And what's more? She is happy to teach us how!

-We have a neighbor lady that lives just down the road from us. Last summer just shortly after we moved in, she was so sweet to invite us to come and pick cherries and raspberries from her yard and we were happy to accept. When we got there she first invited us in for a bit of conversation. As the conversation began to unfold we learned that she had grown up in the very house that we were now living in and that when she was little, her three bachelor uncles had built the house themselves. She had so much to share with us about growing up out here - memories of making apple cider, of climbing Tekoa mountain and looking down over their farm from up on the hillside, and even of a local huckleberry patch that they used to pick from. We hope to locate it!

-Last fall as we were visiting with with my grandparents one evening, my grandpa started telling the kids about a pet monkey named Jake that he had when he was in the Phillipines serving our country during WWII. The next thing I know he was pulling out a picture album, that I didn't even know existed, of pictures he had taken while over there. Amazing photos depicting Grandpa's life during that time. Photos of  Grandpa and Grandma as young newlyweds just before Grandpa's deployment. Photos of Grandpa and his brother Glen in their uniforms - so handsome! And yes, even a few pictures of Jake!  This led to a discussion about the war. Pretty soon Grandma joined in and the account they shared of what it was like back then was amazing to listen to. The emotions, the patriotism and courage, the fear and heartbreak were still present as they recounted the different memories they had. I learned more from that conversation than I had ever learned about the war throughout my own education, and all the while my kids were listening and learning as well.

My Dad used to catch and collect butterflies with some of his buddies when they were little and he still remembers so much about what he learned doing this 40 years ago. For Christmas my parents got nets and a butterfly guide for the kids with the promise that they would take them bug and butterfly hunting this summer. This will be a wonderful lesson in entomology that can't be found in a textbook.

My mom has spent many days baking with my children. She also knows how to make reed baskets and is excited to do this with us!

My best friend in high school has an amazingly talented mom. She was so sweet to offer an art class to my kids and I where she taught us how to make Pisanki Eggs.

Some friends of ours had a dear sweet lady that loved to spend the day sewing with their two young girls, teaching them all she knows.

I could go on and on about the amazing talents and knowledge that surround us just waiting to be passed on, and I can't think of better examples of outstanding character that I would want my children to spend large amounts of time around.

I truly believe that this is what God intended when He told us.....

"He that walketh with wise men shall be wise"  Proverbs 13:20

"I don't care about crime, I just want to get the guns." - U.S. Senator Howard Metzenbaum (D-OH), 1994.

Wow! These are bold statements! I think it is important to take a good look at the consequences of gun control and then decide if that is what we want for our nation. Here is an excerpt from 'Where Does Gun Control Lead?' by Hal Lindsay. I have shared this here before but I think it deserves repeating.

The Turkish Ottoman Empire established gun control in 1911. It then proceeded to exterminate 1 and a half million Armenians from 1914 to 1917. 

The Soviet Union established gun control in 1929. Subsequently, from 1928 to 1953, 60 million dissidents were imprisoned and then exterminated. 

 China enacted gun control laws in 1935. After the communist takeover, from 1948 to
1952,  20 million Chinese, unable to defend themselves, were murdered.

Nazi Germany fully established gun control in 1938. That helped the government to round up 13 million defenseless Jews, Gypsies, homosexuals, mentally ill and impaired human beings.  Many were imprisoned in concentration camps, then destroyed.

 Guatemala passed gun control laws in 1964. Then, from 1964 to 1981, 100,000 defenseless Mayan Indians were exterminated.

 Uganda established gun control measures in 1970. Predictably, from 1971 to 1979, 300,000  defenseless Christians met a similar fate.

 Cambodia established gun control measures in 1956. Subsequently, from 1957 to 1977, 1  million Cambodians met their deaths.

 Our Founding Fathers had good reason to include in the Constitution "the right for each citizen to bear arms." They came to this country with vivid memories of what an all-powerful government could do to its defenseless citizens.
 In America, the following evidence clearly demonstrates the impact upon criminals that armed citizens have. Vermont has a genuine right-to-carry law. That means no permit is required. Yet Vermont boasts the lowest crime rate in the nation. Nationwide in the USA, concealed-carry laws have resulted in a drop in crime rates. A comprehensive national study in 1996 determined that violent crime fell after states
made it legal to carry concealed firearms. The results of the study showed that states, which passed concealed-carry laws, reduced their murder rate by 8.5 percent, rapes by 5 percent, aggravated assaults by 7 percent and robbery by 3 percent. By extrapolation, if the states that do not have concealed-carry laws had adopted such laws in 1992, approximately 1,570 murders, 4,177 rapes, 60,000 aggravated assaults and 12,000 robberies would have been avoided yearly.

"Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it." -George Santayana

Got this off of a homeschool loop I am on and had to share:

What it took to get an 8th grade education in 1895...

Remember when grandparents and great-grandparents stated that they only had an 8th grade education? Well, check this out. Could any of us have passed the 8th grade in 1895?

This is the eighth-grade final exam from 1895 in Salina , Kansas , USA . It was taken from the original document on file at the Smokey Valley Genealogical Society and Library in Salina , and reprinted by the Salina Journal.

8th Grade Final Exam:

Salina , KS - 1895

Grammar (Time, one hour)

1. Give nine rules for the use of capital letters.

2. Name the parts of speech and define those that have no modifications.

3. Define verse, stanza and paragraph

4. What are the principal parts of a verb? Give principal parts of 'lie,''play, ' and 'run.'

5. Define case; illustrate each case.

6 What is punctuation? Give rules for principal marks of punctuation.

7 - 10. Write a composition of about 150 words and show therein that you understand the practical use of the rules of grammar.

Arithmetic (Time,1 hour 15 minutes)

1. Name and define the Fundamental Rules of Arithmetic.

2. A wagon box is 2 ft. Deep, 10 feet long, and 3 ft. Wide. How many bushels of wheat will it hold?

3. If a load of wheat weighs 3,942 lbs., what is it worth at 50cts/bushel, deducting 1,050 lbs. For tare?

4. District No 33 has a valuation of $35,000.. What is the necessary levy to carry on a school seven months at $50 per month, and have $104 for incidentals?

5. Find the cost of 6,720 lbs. of Coal at $6.00 per ton.

6. Find the interest of $512.60 for 8 months and 18 days at 7 percent.

7. What is the cost of 40 boards 12 inches wide and 16 ft.. Long at $20 per metre?

8. Find bank discount on $300 for 90 days (no grace) at 10 percent.

9. What is the cost of a square farm at $15 per acre, the distance of which is 640 rods?

10. Write a Bank Check, a Promissory Note, and a Receipt

U.S. History (Time, 45 minutes)

1. Give the epochs into which U.S. History is divided

2. Give an account of the discovery of America by Columbus

3. Relate the causes and results of the Revolutionary War.

4. Show the territorial growth of the United States

5. Tell what you can of the history of Kansas

6. Describe three of the most prominent battles of the Rebellion.

7. Who were the following: Morse, Whitney, Fulton , Bell , Lincoln , Penn, and Howe?

8. Name events connected with the following dates: 1607, 1620, 1800, 1849, 1865.

Orthography (Time, one hour)

[Do we even know what this is??]

1. What is meant by the following: alphabet, phonetic, orthography, etymology, syllabication

2. What are elementary sounds? How classified?

3. What are the following, and give examples of each: trigraph, subvocals, diphthong, cognate letters, linguals

4. Give four substitutes for caret 'u.' (HUH?)

5. Give two rules for spelling words with final 'e.' Name two exceptions under each rule.

6. Give two uses of silent letters in spelling. Illustrate each.

7. Define the following prefixes and use in connection with a word: bi, dis-mis, pre, semi, post, non, inter, mono, sup.

8. Mark diacritically and divide into syllables the following, and name the sign that indicates the sound: card, ball, mercy, sir, odd, cell, rise, blood, fare, last.

9. Use the following correctly in sentences: cite, site, sight, fane, fain, feign, vane , vain, vein, raze, raise, rays.

10. Write 10 words frequently mispronounced and indicate pronunciation by use of diacritical marks

and by syllabication.

Geography (Time, one hour)

1 What is climate? Upon what does climate depend?

2. How do you account for the extremes of climate in Kansas ?

3. Of what use are rivers? Of what use is the ocean?

4. Describe the mountains of North America

5. Name and describe the following: Monrovia , Odessa , Denver , Manitoba , Hecla , Yukon , St. Helena, Juan Fernandez, Aspinwall and Orinoco

6. Name and locate the principal trade centers of the U.S. Name all the republics of Europe and give the capital of each.

8. Why is the Atlantic Coast colder than the Pacific in the same latitude?

9. Describe the process by which the water of the ocean returns to the sources of rivers.

10. Describe the movements of the earth. Give the inclination of the earth.

Notice that the exam took FIVE HOURS to complete.

Gives the saying 'he only had an 8th grade education' a whole new meaning, doesn't it?!

Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks of me,
Christ in the eye that sees me,
Christ in the ear that hears me.

I don't know about you all but we are forever searching for really good movies with a really great message. This can often be a daunting task as we try to wade through a plethora of absolute garbage in the entertainment industry. Well, I am glad to report that we have come across some really fantastic movies lately dealing with courageous individuals fighting or trying to escape communism. Will make for some really great discussion in your homes! (warning - some of the content might be a bit too scary for little ones around preK-2 or older depending on your child)

My 5yo son just came up to me and in a very sad voice lamented,

"Ohh - I wish we could go to Paula Deen's house."

"But honey, she has not invited us over" I explained.

"She hasn't?"

"Nope."

He thinks about it for a second and then asks "If you have her phone number could you call her sometime?"

"I'm sorry honey but I don't have her phone number."

"You don't?"

"Nope."

And, sadly, he walks away, really bummed with the fact that he may never get invited over to Paula Deen's house.

So Paula, if you are reading this my little boy would really like to come over to your house for a visit.

After the success of  Studying Winter last month, I decided to pick 'Birds' as our theme for February. A little browse through our library's catalog let me know that I would certainly not be lacking for books on the subject, but my dilemna was knowing which books were good ones to use so I requested every juvenile book I could find (my poor librarian!) on birds for children along with several field guides to use for identifying the many birds we hope to attract to our yard.  I bought this fantastic guide a few months ago and can't wait to begin using the February suggestions for types of feed to put out and maybe even use their suggestion for a bird spa (a bird bath with a deicer in it). I again found many fantastic activity ideas in The Kids' Nature Book, as well as in The Little Hands Nature Book ,and I also used our Keepers of the Home/Contenders for the Faith Handbook's bird section to guide me in my planning. I also will be adding Sunday devotionals this month with this wonderful book.  So, besides doing lots of bird-watching, here is what else we will be learning and doing:

Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
Watch Ask The Geese  and discuss Job 12:7-9. Read the chapter on Canadian Geese and Mordecai in Character Sketches Volume 1	Read Feb. section in For the Birds and  make several Bottle Bird Feeders, put them and our Suet Feeder out	Using More Fun with Nature look up berries that grow right around us that we can dry next summer and feed to the birds	Learn all about bird-watching, read the bird-watching section of Field Trips and look through this book to see the different types of equipment used	Discuss God's individuality in types of birds. Read Crinkleroot's 25 Birds Every Child Should Know  and Birds, see how many the kids know w/o looking at the name.	Learn more about bird identification. Read Crinkleroot's Guide to Knowing the Birds. Make (using this fantastic guide)and begin keeping a bird journal to record the birds that come to our yard.	Read When Agnes Caws  and take a nature walk, listening for different birds.
Learn about Great Horned Owl and Amasa in Character Sketches Volume 1	Learn about migration. Read On the Wing: American Birds in Migration	Read A Year of Birds and discuss which birds winter in our area	Discuss God's individuality and design in Beaks	Read about Baby Birds and How They Grow	Examine a feather	Make  Birdseed Biscuit Valentines for the birds.
Read chapter on the Pied-Bill Grebe and Abinidab in Character Sketches Volume 1	Learn about our STATE BIRD	Help the birds Feather Their Nests with this project.	Read about Ornithology	Look through Birds' Eggs , discuss God's individuality in eggs.	Try our hand at learning some different bird calls.	Learn about the different types of nests birds make, try making our own to see what an amazing process it is. Go on a nest hunt.
Read chapter on the Crow and Saul in Character Sketches Volume 1	Read about Hunters in the Sky	Read poetry about birds from bird chapter in Favorite Poems Old and New: Selected For Boys and Girls	Read about Amazing Tropical Birds	Listen to Robin at Hickory Street	Read the Hawk chapter in Wild Babies, a Nature Sketchbook and go watch our local hawk down the road.	Learn about flight. Read Birds: Nature's Magnificent Flying Machines. Take a nature walk to observe bird flying.

 As I planned this month's daily nature studies I learned a few things that I thought might help you in your own planning:

-Keep it simple, when you plan too much it becomes more of a chore to get to it then a joy. As one of my favorite homeschool encouragers, Katherine Dang , says 'You don't have to teach a lot to teach a lot."

-I struggled with keeping it simple this month - there are a lot of great books and related activities on the topic of birds. I could truly do another full month of daily lessons and I probably will another time; so don't feel like you have to cover it all.

-Don't inundate your library with requests for all of their juvenile bird books in an attempt to find the very best books they have on the subject; they don't appreciate it .  It will not give them a favorable impression of homeschoolers.

-Using a Blank Monthly Calendar, fill in each day with what one aspect you want to cover that day and then look for an appropriate book or activity to go with it. This will help keep it simple. ,