The GIVE Act

Why isn't this being talked about all over the place? This thing, this new program that has already quietly been signed into effect, terrifies me. It terrifies me so much I shared it on email with every mother I know, and was even subject to attack from an anti-Catholic on a home school public group forum. I have since dropped that group as the moderators chose not to say anything about the unacceptable posting from that ignorant woman, even though they did chose to post that home party invites were not ok, but that is another story.

Here are a few articles about the GIVE Act: one from Fox News; their hyped up description from Service Nation; here is the data from Open Congress; be sure to read the COMMENTS; get some more scary details from The Catholic Knight; and watch what could be coming to your neighborhood on this You Tube Video.

On the surface it seems like a great deal, right? WRONG! When a government pays 6 BILLION DOLLARS for a program for FORCED VOLUNTEERISM, there is something WRONG. Why can't that money go to PAYING JOBS? Then there is the whole concept of volunteering, when the group who submits is rewarded and the groups who chose to really volunteer in other ways is punished through the allowance of or withholding of FEDERAL STUDENT LOANS, there is something WRONG. When the Obama nation is coming to your door to get your personal information and signature pledging your support, not to our COUNTRY, but to the OBAMA ADMINISTRATION to put into a national database so you can be WATCHED, that is WRONG.

This thing is wrong on so many levels, but I am here to only give you the resources for you to make your own decisions, isn't that what true freedom is all about?

The ignorant woman I mentioned above compared the GIVE Act to Catholic schools, she saw no difference, uniforms, community service, etc. LADY, when you participate in these things at a Catholic school it is not funded with my TAX DOLLARS!

Spread this news around, it has been signed, it has been funded, but it has not been in the media, and there is good reason....they don't want us to know about it.

Please don't be brainwashed!
Mrs. Murphy

April Fools Day

Tomorrow is April 1st, AKA April Fools Day. So what I am posting today is NO JOKE.

Last year I was googling about something Catholic Homeschooling and was blasted with "bad" sites, pictures, spam and spyware in SECONDS. It over took everything and looked like my screen was exploding. I just pulled the plug from the wall, and well, it never could start again without all this stuff flooding the screen.

We paid hundreds of dollars to some geeks to take it to their shop and remove all the spyware and viruses etc and retrieve our data....the whole thing was a nightmare. (Completely separate and different situation from the Best Buy/Geek Squad deal...)

So, when you see these warnings about April Fools Day viruses, they are REAL. Oh, we had firewalls and scanners and all that stuff....it didn't matter. So, just to be safe, Mrs. Murphy will not even be turning it on for the whole day tomorrow!

And yes, it's because my name is MURPHY!!

Cake Mix Cookies

A few months ago our local Safeway had cake mix on sale for 59 cents a box, so of course I picked up a dozen boxes! We are moving in less than three months and I still have like 5 boxes left, so I need to use up a couple other than the cakes I have planned for birthdays. I remember, years ago when I sold Pampered Chef (no longer) that we made cookies really quick for the cookie press demo using cake mix, so I just googled "cake mix cookie recipes" and found TONS of sites!

After reviewing a few different recipes I came up with my own in the kitchen:

1 box cake mix (this time I used devil's food chocolate, 18.25 oz)
2 eggs
1/2 cup really soft butter
2 Tbls water
1/2 package chocolate chips

preheat to 350 degrees, bake in rounded teaspoons size about 11 minutes, they stayed fresh and chewy as long as they lasted, which wasnt long!

You can check out what is out there on your own, but one site struck me enough to share: The Recipe Godlmine! Here are dozens of recipes you can make from cake mix! So, take advantage of those big sales and go to town!

Mrs. Murphy

KB Teachers

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Do you like Little House?

My oldest is soooo into the Little House series right now, she's got a pop gun, a bonnet, pioneer fantasies... I found this site: Little House Books that give all kinds of tools for expanding on the series and fun stuff to do for the girls too!

Also, I got this neat email today: Hi All Homeschoolers that are seeking college info. Check out Gary North's webpage. You can view a video and download a FREE manual titled Affordable Accredited Colleges: An Unconventional Guide. http://www.lowestcostcolleges.com/.

Every little bit helps, right?
Mrs. Murphy

Why Hellooooo There!

I've missed you too! Well, we finally have our new laptop, and after many go-arounds with Best Buy and the Geek Squad, I will say I will NEVER recommend their store or services, enough said on that. Anyhoo, our house has also been busy PACKING, we are getting rid of tons of junk, packing most of our stuff up and having the house "show ready" as the realtors are bringing people through almost every day now. Looking for a house in Washington? Let me know.

Let's see, Dr. appts for the twins, my own kiddos, field trips, Little Flowers, constant drop offs to the Goodwill, even getting ready for the granparents as we are going to El Paso for a few days of house hunting-we have been all out BUSY. But today, I finally feel caught up and I think that going to the 9am mass as opposed to the noon mass really helped, plus my hubby vamoosed to go shooting so I have my attention focused on tasks at hand. No worries, I will make penance service on Tuesday and for sure working on this Sunday will be on my list of sins, but I have to admit, they were ALL necessary.

So, through my emails I have found the resources collected and saved just for YOU. WARNING: THIS IS LONG! But, VERY worth your time!

Remember that list of 100 sites I promised to personally go through and organize? Well, ha ha ha ha ha ha on me...I should NEVER make such promises. Here, in this post I will give the link for you to go directly to that list and peruse yourself. About all of these sites I will tell you, are secular. The list comes from Homeschooler.com, which does have tons of fabulous resources and links, but here is the direct link to their Top 100 educational websites of 2009 . Both are well worth an hour of quiet and hot tea.

Looking for good wholesome reads for your teenager? Visit Come Home to Image Cascade Books.

Have a highschooler looking at colleges? Ave Maria's open house is April 3-5, go HERE to view the pdf.

Have kids who like contests? Be sure to check out the contests at HSLDA. Also, here's the 2009 KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS STATE POSTER AND ESSAY CONTEST (Applies to the Olympia/Tacoma area of WA only, sorry!)

THEME: God’s Gift is Life
POSTERS
The largest poster board acceptable is 20" x 24". The smallest poster is 11" x 14"
Acceptable -media: crayons, colored pencils, ink, collage and paint.
Media that is NOT acceptable: charcoal, chalk, glitter, pastels and pencils

ESSAYS
Legibly hand printed on college ruled paper. two sheets maximum.
Typewritten (computer or typewriter) with at least one-inch margins all around.
Smallest font is 10. No fancy font styles.
Single or double-spaced. one page only.

RULES
There are four divisions. Each Student is allowed only one entry.
Division 1: (1st and 2nd grades) Posters only. No essays accepted.
Division 2: (3rd and 4th grades) Posters only. No essays accepted.
Division 3: (5th and 6th grades) Posters only. No essays accepted.
Division 4: (7th and 8th grades) Essays only. No posters accepted.

ALL POSTERS AND ESSAYS MUST BE CLEARLY IDENTIFIED WITH FIVE ITEMS:
1)Student's name. 2) Grade level. 3) School Name. 4) Council Number. 5) Grand Knight.
DO NOT PUT STUDENT NAME ON THE FRONT OF THE POSTER or ESSAY.

WHEN AND WHERE TO SUBMIT

Essays: 7th/8th grade essays are to be mailed to reach the Pro-Life ESSAY Chairman on/or
before April 1st. 2008. Mail to: Jim Toth , Pro-Life Chairman, 504 North Road 40, Pasco, Washington 99301

Posters: To submit posters, please call Ed Sauley at 360-491-0610 and he will hand deliver the posters to the Olympia Council for preliminary judging.

How about gardening? Check HERE for all kinds of awesome gardening info!

Looking for some fresh Catholic Blogs to peruse? Check out Overheard in the Sacristy and the Catholic Homesteading Movement (I love it! YOU KNOW I want to form that Catholic compound!) This lady is AWESOME, I don't know if she is Catholic but she states in her bio that she is "God Fearing" and that her family is part of the military, right up my alley too, oh, and her website is about everything FRUGAL, check out my new BFF, the Happy Housewife! Have I mentioned Unplug Your Kids before? I think so, if not, check it out! LOTS to do! On the subject of saving $, check out 5$ Dinners! Organic and Thrifty is another fav I've been checking out, btw the author of this blog, Carrie Thiennes, will be speaking at the NW Catholic Family Education Conference on "Nourishing your Family the Traditional Way". No Time for Flashcards is SUPER CUTE, great stuff for your preschoolers! It has crafts, songs, book reviews, alphabet activities, naptime creations, a parents corner and lots more, check it out & thanks Sherry!

Want to go to college for free? kinda? Now is the perfect time to improve your education. I know what you're thinking, though. You don't have the time or money to enroll in a college class. That's no excuse! Thanks to the Internet, you can take college classes on your own schedule. And, you can do it for free. The OpenCourseWare Consortium links to many universities around the world. You can listen to lectures and watch videos of special events. You can also access course materials. The courses cover a variety of different disciplines. But I recommend that you check out the courses on personal finance. You'll learn how to save for your child's college education. Or, you can get help planning for retirement. The courses will also help you reduce your spending and increase your savings. This is something anyone can love! These courses won't count towards a degree. That's okay. What's important is that you're learning new skills. www.ocwconsortium. org

SCOUTING SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE: The Eastern Orthodox Committee on Scouting, an agency of SCOBA, offers two scholarships annually. The recipient for first place will receive $1,000 and the runner up will receive $500 upon acceptance to a four year accredited college or university. The candidates are evaluated on their involvement in their church, school, community, scholastic achievements, and Scouting. Applications are due by May 1, and guidelines and application information are available online at http://eocs.org/?page_id=21

SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATIONS AVAILABLE: Applications are now available for scholarships to be awarded for the 2009-2010 academic year from the George and Naouma Gioles Scholarship Fund, which is administered by the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. The Gioles Scholarship Fund was established in 1997with a generous gift in memory of George and Naouma Gioles. At least three scholarships of $1,500 each will be awarded for the 2009-2010 academic year. For application criteria and requirements visit http://goarch.org/news/giolesscholarship-02-04-2009.

Be alerted to price drops! The convenience of online shopping just can't be beaten. You can avoid crowded shopping centers. Parking and long lines are never a problem. Of course, you'll often find better prices online, too. That's because Web sites don't have the overhead associated with retail locations. But these days, low prices aren't enough. We need to find the lowest prices possible. Fortunately, the Internet makes comparison shopping easy. You can check an item's price on numerous sites in a matter of minutes. There's no driving all over town or making endless phone calls. To make online shopping even easier, try Price!pinx. All you need do is install a bookmark in your browser. Then, when you're on a site's product page, highlight the price. Next, click the Price!pinx bookmark. Price!pinx does all the work for you. You'll receive a notification if the price drops! Price!pinx can also help you with low-price guarantees. It's great for cash-strapped families! www.pricepinx. com

Job searching the easy way! Even in the best of times, job hunting is no picnic. But these days, you need all the help you can get. Fortunately, there are plenty of online job boards. You can search for your dream job from the comfort of home. With all these job boards, your search can quickly become a job of its own. You can spend hours hopping from board to board. That is, unless you visit Simply Hired. Its goal is to build the largest online database of jobs. That's a lofty goal! Simply Hired has a good start, though, with more than 2.5 million listings. These jobs aren't on Simply Hired's site. Rather, Simply Hired does the heavy lifting for you. It searches other job sites and lists openings in one place. To make things even easier, Simply Hired will alert you to jobs that match your search.

Are your kids now interested in online social networking, like Myspace and Facebook? But of course you are smart, and know the dangers these places possess for our young, well a Catholic Mom has created a safe social networking place for KIDS ONLY. Check out Yoursphere. Read the whole article about it HERE from Zenit.

Here is just a super neat site called Our Earth as Art that contains amazing satelite photos of our beautiful planet from space. Thanks NASA!

Kids want to learn to type? HERE is a link for FREE typing lessons!

Have vacation on the mind? All homeschoolers, their family, friends, and inquisitive neighbors are invited to attend this one-of-a-kind Not Back to School Days Rally and Conference at Disneyland in Anaheim, California Sept. 14-17, 2009.Please plan to join thousands of homeschoolers as we gather to rally our cause - the positive growth of homeschooling! ! Have you ever wanted to stay at a Disney property hotel? Now is your chance - our rates are about 50% off the rack rates, our park hoppers are 45% off the gate price (and they come with free YES classes), and the conference is going to be awesome! This will be the family vacation of a lifetime.For more information, please visit the new and improved website:www.southwest- home-education. com. There will be weekly free information sessions beginning this Thursday. Membership in SHEA is not required to attend the conference, all are welcome!

Is this enough? Did I make up for the time lost? I hope so!

I love hearing from you! Keep it coming!

with love during a "Lent that chose ME",
Mrs. Murphy

I'm Back....sort of

Well, my prayers always seem to be answered by the grace of Our Lord! I prayed for more family time and less time on the computer during lent....the next day the cpu DIED. Yup, it was over 6 years old and just couldn't even start. All kinds of panic and mayhem, we finally took it to the Geek Squad at Best Buy and asked to just have the info transferred to a new laptop we purchased. Days later, my husband goes back to pick it all up, "what lap top?" I swear the man is going to have a stroke....and soon.

So, we have some data backed up on disc, but NO LAPTOP. I've pulled my 8 year-olds cpu just for internet for the meantime and have hundreds of emails and messages to sort through....so just bear with me!

We also have been praying for orders to someplace WARM, being Marine Corps this would take us to San Diego, North Carolina, back to Hawaii....even Tampa. What do we get? A joint tour at Fort Bliss in El Paso Texas!! Yup, it will be warm and yup, we are BACK with the ARMY. It will be fine, I will breathe... So, anyone know anything about the El Paso area? I've been trying to make some contact with other homeschoolers there but with not much success.....sigh.

sorting, muddling
Mrs. Murphy