Homeschool Goodies

from my principal!

At the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. — Philippians 2:10

The month of January is dedicated to the Most Holy Name of Jesus.

The Jesus Prayer
O Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

Here are some links for you and your family to enjoy:
• Litany of the Holy Name of Jesus in English and Latin.
• St. Bernard of Clairvaux’s Prayer to the Most Holy Name of Jesus.
• Waltzing Mathilda’s beautiful Most Holy Name of Jesus coloring pages.

Check out this list of 10 drawbacks to homeschooling!

Keep it going, add to the list.

This week’s Catholic Carnival is being hosted at 50 Days After. Short prayers introduce some fabulous posts!

Next week’s Carnival is being hosted right here at Homeschool Goodies!

Learn more about the Catholic Carnival. Get involved, and submit a post!

The Feast of the Epiphany, also known as Twelfth Night, is celebrated on January 6 marking the arrival of the Three Kings at the birthplace of Our Savior. The king cake, baked in honor of the Magi, is traced back to several different cultures.

In Latin America a figure representing the Christ Child is placed inside the cake. Other cultures bake a coin, pea, or bean into the cake. In medieval France the finder of the coin was to make a donation to a worthy cause. In other parts of Europe, finding the pea or bean meant you were king or queen for a day.

In New Orleans, where bakeries sell an average of four to five thousand cakes each day during the Carnival season, the person who finds the “baby” has to host the next king cake party.

The cake itself is like a sweet bread, or brioche, decorated with bands of purple, green, and gold colored sugar. Today’s cakes range from the simple iced versions to the extravagant fruit or cream cheese filled varieties. Traditionally served on Epiphany to family and friends, today the cake is served throughout the “Epiphany season,” or until Mardi Gras.

KING CAKE RECIPE:

1 package yeast
1/4 cup warm water
6 tablespoons milk, scalded & cooled
4 cups sifted flour
melted butter
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
3/4 cup sugar
4 eggs (reduce if eggs are x-large)

Dissolve yeast in warm water. Add milk & enough flour, about 1/2 cup, to make a soft dough. In another bowl, combine butter, sugar, salt & eggs with electric mixer. Remove from mixer & add soft ball of yeast dough. Mix thoroughly. Gradually add 2 1/2 cups flour to make medium dough that is neither too soft nor too stiff. Place in a greased bowl & brush top of dough with butter. Cover with a damp cloth & set aside till doubled in bulk, about 3 hours. Use remaining 1 cup flour to knead dough into oval ring shape. The center should be about 7 x 12 inches. Connect ends of dough by dampening with water. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour. A bean or one-inch plastic baby may be placed in the cake at this time.

Bake in 325 degree oven for 35-45 minutes or until lightly browned. Drizzle top of cake with white glaze icing (melted tub icing works fine) and alternate bands of purple, green and gold color sugar. (Color sugar by adding a few drops of food coloring & shake in tightly covered container until desired color is achieved.)

Skip the baking – order a king cake from www.haydelbakery.com or www.gambinos.com

According to this week’s USA Today:

The ranks of America’s home-schooled children have continued a steady climb over the past five years, and new research suggests broader reasons for the appeal.
. . . keep reading

And, their top reasons why we homeschool:

• Concerns about the school environment (including safety, drugs, peer pressure): 88%
• A desire to provide religious or moral instruction: 83%
• A dissatisfaction with instruction at other schools: 73%
• An interest in a non-traditional approach: 65%

Source: Top home-schooling reasons in 2007 Parent and Family Involvement in Education Survey

We don’t have that many friends, but the ones we do have are good friends. This Christmas we experienced the generosity of several of these good friends. Knowing our situation, family of 7 with the breadwinner currently unemployed, these friends confirmed to us that it is a wonderful life!

One couple gave us a $50 grocery gift card, and then gave each of our 6 kids a $25 Kohl’s gift card! My second oldest daughter’s employers, who we have gotten to know and become friends with, gave us a $150 grocery gift card! On Christmas Eve a fully cooked turkey was dropped on our doorstep. This was a gift from another family who was originally just a professional acquaintance. Now we are good friends. Our neighbors are taking all of us to Pizza Hut in a few weeks. Recently, we’ve had trouble with our van overheating. My very best friend’s husband spent 2 days of his vacation working on our van, and is planning to come back and work on our other car as well.

Merry Christmas Bedford Falls, it is a wonderful life!

This is something that comes up every time we serve sweet potatoes, or is it yams? What is the difference? I finally looked it up. Yams in the U.S. are actually sweet potatoes with relatively moist texture and orange flesh.

According to vegweb.com:

In the early 1900’s, sweet-potato promoters used the word “yam” to represent the deeper orange, moist-fleshed varieties. They used the words “sweet potato” to refer to the smaller, yellowish-orange, dry-fleshed varieties. To this day, most supermarkets still use both words to mean the same product. However, no matter which word is used, what they sell, no matter if it is fresh or canned, is not a true yam but in actuality is a sweet potato.

Mystery solved!

General: That the family may become more and more a place of training in charity, personal growth and transmission of the faith.

Mission: That the different Christian confessions, aware of the need for a new evangelisation in this period of profound transformations, may be committed to announcing the Good News and moving towards the full unity of all Christians in order to offer a more credible testimony of the Gospel.

This week’s Catholic Carnival is being hosted by Sarah at Just Another Day of Catholic Pondering. The Christmas Rosary Carnival presents the Glorious Mysteries from Mary’s viewpoint.

Learn more about the Catholic Carnival.

Jingle, jangle, jingle
Here comes Mr. Bingle
With another message from Kris Kringle
Time to launch your Christmas season
Maison Blanche makes Christmas pleasin’
Gifts galore for you to see/Each a gem from MB!

Blatant commercialism, but Mr. Bingle, Santa’s holly-winged, elf snowman helper, is fondly remembered by many New Orleanians. Created in 1948 as an advertising gimmick of Maison Blanche department store in New Orleans, Mr. Bingle has become a New Orleans holiday icon.

Here’s your chance to get to know Mr. Bingle:
Bingle Crafts
Mr. Bingle Nostalgia
Even A Mr. Bingle coloring book!

The selection of Christmas gifts, although very enjoyable, can sometimes be quite painful. The following gifts were “hits” with my kids:

For the kid who is fascinated with boxers:
a life-size stuffed boxer!

For the boy:
a junior weight set and hand grips.

For the newest digital photographer in the family:
a cool camera bag, mini tripod, full-size tripod, rechargeable batteries, and a 1gb xd card.

For the aspiring ballerina/Rockette:
a professional make-up case, with some goodies inside.

For the herpetologist (always a tough one):
inline skates and elbow/knee pads.

For the salsa queen:
a red KitchenAid food processor.

I am anxious to ride this beautiful red Christmas bike from Daddy Claus! Today was warm but we had torrential downpours all day. Praying for good weather so I don’t have to wait till spring to go for my first joy ride!

My Mom came up from New Orleans to spend Christmas with us. We had a great time. Here is my Mom with the kids. The dog is stuffed!