Urgent Prayer Request

I received the following letter from Jennifer Atkins last night. Jennifer has been in our homeschool group for several years but has not been able to join us yet this year. Please keep them in your prayers.

"We are letting those who don't know yet that our son Trey has been diagnosed with neuroblastoma. We should find out in the morning which class he is in and that will decide if we go to St. Judes or stay at St. Louis Childrens. We are asking for prayers, first for God to heal and second that he will give us strength to get through this time. We know that God has put this in our life for a reason and that whatever he is teaching us through this, we hope to learn. This has pulled us closer together as a family and drawn us closer to God. I pray that you don't take life, family and your children for granted.

In Jesus Name
Jennifer and Jimmy Atkins"

Friday's Meeting

Our elective for this month is Archaeology! I am excited to sit in on this one!

Amy McGowan is our Art Teacher for the month and if anyone has any extra oatmeal containers or coffee cans, we need them for art.

Hope to see you all there!

Mom's Night Out

When? This Thursday, November 9th between 6:00 and 8:00.

Where? Jennifer's House: 906 Fredrick, Mtn. Grove

What? Tastefully Simple: delicious goodies that are great to have on hand and great to give as gifts. Perfect for Thanksgiving and Christmas!

Shannon Nelson, our Tastefully Simple consultant, will have a delicious spread set out for sampling at 6:00. Please join us for good food and good fellowship.

Race Day

We had a great speaker on Friday, I hope you all enjoyed it! Thank you Denise for setting that up! PLEASE be sure to send our guest a thank you note. It was very generous of Mr. Ratterree to take the time to speak with us (especially out in the cold rain.) Please let him know how much we appreciated the visit.

His address is:
Bob Ratterree
HCR 73
Mtn. Grove MO 65711

Also, I got pictures of most of our students sitting in the car. If you would like a picture, please email me for a copy.

Correction

Originally, I posted that we would meet 3rd Friday in November & 5th Friday in December and then back to normal in January.

For the next 3 months, we are now meeting the 3rd Friday of each month. I would really appreciate your feedback on something though: since we're meeting the 3rd Friday of these 3 months in a row, would you like to just finish off the last 3 months doing the same? We could then just state that we are meeting the 3rd Friday of every month and not confuse anyone by switching back to 4th Fridays in February. It doesn't matter to me one way or the other, my only concern was that someone might forget and try coming on the 3rd Friday in February.

Fourth Friday

This Friday is our next meeting. Our guest speaker for the younger and middle classes is Bobby Ratteree, a race car driver. If there are any racing fans in the family, this should be a huge treat! Be sure to come with questions. Info will also be available from Coaster Cars of the Ozarks, a local organization that encourages families to build and race their own derby cars for racers aged 7-14.

Scholastic Catalogues are available for anyone interested, just see Jenn.

More details on Moms Night Out

We will be playing a fun auction game during the party. Fun ways to earn Auction Dollars. Auction dollars will help you win great prizes.

Arrive on time = 200
Bring invitation = 200
Bring an adult friend = 500
Bring something with a pumpkin on it = 1000
Photo of your family = 1000
Pumpkin recipe to share = 5000

Hope to see you there, however if you are unable to attend, visit our website at: www.homeandgardenparty.com

Mom's Night Out

When: Thursday, October 19th
Time: 6:30 p.m.
Where: 906 Fredrick, Mtn. Grove

For an excuse to sit and visit with other mom's, I'm hosting a Home & Garden Party next Thursday night at 6:30 at my house. There is a chance it will also include a Tastefully Simple sampling party, but if not, there will still be finger foods available. This is open to anyone, not just homeschooling moms, so bring a friend and come hang out.

Directions: From Mcdonald's, drive South (toward square) until you get to E. 17th (just after China Grove on your left.) Turn left on 17th and drive until you reach Hovis (1st Baptist church will be on your left.) Turn right onto Hovis and drive until you reach E. 10th. Turn left onto 10th and drive until Fredrick. Turn RIGHT onto Fredrick. My house is on the corner of 10th and Fredrick.

Braums Book Club

I received the following email this morning about signing up for Braum's Reading Reward program:

Braums Book Buddy's are IN!
PLEASE read the following carefully and follow the directions given. Thanks.

Send me a LONG SASE (self addressed stamped envelope) to

Annette Way
3665 W. Page
Springfield MO 65802

I will mail back the coupon booklet and instructions.

For those of you who signed up 3 or more children, you will need to send me
2 LONG SASE. Only 2 booklets will fit in a long envelope.

These will NOT fit in a small envelope, please send the long one and remember to add a stamp to them!

Thanks and get those children excited about reading!!

Annette

Field Trip at Simpson's Farm

Join us at Simpson's Farm where we'll take a hayride tour of the strawberry fields, grape vineyard, pumpkin patch and Indian mounds. Native Americans of the Shawnee tribe lived in the area until 1830. They placed their teepees on earthen mounds to keep the rainwater out. We'll travel back in time before electricity and running water as we visit the 1850's log cabin museum and blacksmith shop. We'll get lost in the 2-acre corn maze! Every child gets a small pumpkin (while supplies last). Bring a picnic lunch and enjoy a relaxing autumn day on the farm.

When: Thursday, October 12th, 2006

Time: 10:00

Where: North 95 (past Wal-mart) about 6 miles on your left. There is a sign for Simpson's Cabinets at the dirt road you'll turn onto. This is across from Laura Smith's house, where we met for our August planning meeting.


Cost: $2.00 per child, $4.00 per adult

Book It

If you are interested in participating in this year's BookIt program, you need to get together with Laura this Friday. She will be teaching gym most of the day, so you can reach her between classes in the activities building

September Elective

Our Elective for this Friday is the Flight Club, visiting with their flight simulator.

Our Art Teacher for this month is Angela Forrest.

Hope to see you there!

Schedule

Every 4th Friday, our group meets at First Baptist Church of Mtn. Grove.

First Baptist is located on E. 17th street. From McDonalds, drive South (towards the square) until you see China Grove on your left. The street just past China Grove is E. 17th. Drive West on 17th until you see the church on your left (less than a mile.)

During the months of November and December, our meeting dates will be different due to holidays. In November and December and January, we will meet on the 3rd Friday rather than the 4th Friday. So our meeting dates for the rest of the year are:

September 22nd
October 27th
November 17th
December 15th
January 19th
February 23rd
March 23rd
April 27th

Skating will follow each of these meetings.

Our rotations are as follows:
(scroll way down for the table, I have spent an hour trying to get rid of this giant space and I am giving up for the day)

4th Friday

	9am-10am	10am-11am	11am-12pm
Younger	Gym	Elective	Art
Middle	Elective	Art	Gym
Older	Art	Gym	Drama

Park Days are at the Cedar Center Park on the 2nd Friday of every month, beginning at 10:00 a.m., while the weather permits.

Directions:
Driving from McDonald's toward the Mtn. Grove square, you will turn left at the stoplight just before the square. You will then be on State Street, also known as Old 60. Just keep driving until you see an old Caboose parked on the right. Turn into the parking lot directly after the caboose. The park is behind the buildings toward the right.

Roller Skating info:

Roller skating is every 4th Friday from 1:00 to 3:00

Directions:
Driving from McDonald's to Wal-mart, you will see a road going to
the right down toward Pizza Hut before you get to the Wal-mart
entrance. Turn there and keep going. You'll pass a motel,
restaurant, alignment shop...not sure what else. The Comet Club is
on the left and has it's name painted on the roof. You may bring
your own skates and rollerblades, but they recommend you only use
rubber wheels - the plastic wheels do not do well on their floor.
The cost is $3.50, but if you bring your own skates, it is reduced
to $3.00. There is no fee if you are not skating. They have a
concessions stand, but everyone is welcome to bring their own snacks
& drinks. All drinks must have lids: cups with lids/straws or sippy
cups to avoid spilling. There are chairs and tables for anyone
wanting to sit on the sidelines. If anyone has any books or
curriculum to get rid of, you are welcome to set them on the table.

Hope to see you there!

Hi everyone! We had a good planning meeting, but many people were not able to attend so we are sorely lacking in volunteers so far. Without volunteers, we are also sorely lacking in classes that we can offer. So far, we have 4 volunteers for Gym, but could use 2 more. Matt Boatright has volunteered to teach animated drawing to the older students, but we do not have any art teacher prospects for the younger classes. Elaine has offered to share ideas if any moms would like to volunteer to teach art to the younger or middle students. Amanel has volunteered to head up drama. There were many great ideas for classes shared at the mom's meeting, but we'll need volunteers in order to offer them as classes. Here is what we have so far:

Unless we get many more volunteers, we don't have enough classes offerred to necessitate meeting twice a month. So far, we have settled on meeting once a month, every 4th Friday. Classes will begin September 22nd. Skating resumes this Friday, August 25th and will continue every 4th Friday from 1:00 to 3:00.

The idea of clubs was introduced and we already have one started: Emily Klug and Theresa Green have started a writing club. If you are interested in joining this club, please contact Emily at homeschooler4jesus@yahoo.com. A volleyball club already has competition asking for some games. If you would be interested in playing volleyball, please contact Luke Smith @ 926-4047. Clubs are organized by students, but need adult sponsors to provide a place to meet and supervision. Writing and Volleyball already have sponsors, but if you are interested in starting or supervising a club, please contact Jennifer @ 926-6908 or by email chrisjenn@ilovejesus.net. Some other ideas mentioned were Keepers of the Faith/Home clubs, Debate, and domestic art clubs. Do you know how to quilt or knit? Would you be willing to teach others in a club setting? Not just students - many of us moms want to learn these skills too!

Also for moms, we are going to have park days while the weather is still nice to give kids an opportunity to play and moms and chance to visit. Our first park day will be September 8th, the 2nd Friday in September. We'll meet at the Cedar Center Park at 10:00 am. Everyone is welcome to join us.

Square dancing is a great family activity and it meets every Friday night from 7-9 p.m. If you are interested in joining, contact Laura Smith @ 926-4047 or Ruth Carter at 926-5507.

If you have any other ideas or suggestions, please share! I'm looking forward to seeing you all again!

It's that time again!

Parent meeting at Laura Smith's house August 11th, 9:00 a.m. Kids are welcome, too. Please come ready with ideas for our new school year. If you will not be able to attend, please let Jennifer or Laura know. If you need directions please email Jenn at chrisjenn@ilovejesus.net

Correction - Roller Skating for July has been cancelled. Regular skating will resume in August. Also, it's time to set up a date and time for a planning meeting. If you know of a time that will NOT be good for your, please let me know by either posting a comment here or emailing me at chrisjenn@ilovejesus.net. Thank you!

Don't forget - we still have Roller Skating every 4th Friday from 1:00 to 3:00.

Our planning meeting is coming up next month. Miss Elaine will not be able to teach our Art class this next year. She will be teaching full time beginning this fall, which is an answer to prayer, but sad for us at the same time. She has certainly been a blessing to our group!

Please be thinking of things you would like to see done this year or areas that you would be interested in helping.

See ya soon :)

Hello, all! I am going to be busy with my church's VBS until mid-June, but after that I will be able to update the website. If you have any questions or anything you would like added to this website, please email me at chrisjenn@ilovejesus.net

We have a lot of changes this month, please read carefully.

* The church will be closed on Good Friday, so our 2nd Friday meeting has been rescheduled for the 3rd Friday, April 21st.

*Some serious issues have come up and we MUST have a parents’ meeting. I need to speak with all parents at 11:00 on April 21st in the mom’s room.

*All Art displays need to be brought in ASAP. Please bring in your child’s projects by the 21st.

*At the art show, there will be a corner for Science Fair Exhibits if anyone has a science project they would like to share.

*We will need parents help with Geography on the 4th Friday meeting. Students will pair off and work on different countries/continents using posterboard, magazines, and art supplies. They will only have an hour, so parents will be needed to keep them from getting side-tracked. Also, many families may be at the Convention and not available to help that day.

Our First Attempt at Online

Several have asked if they could access our newsletter online. Online is MUCH easier on me, but unfortunately, most of our members are not connected to the internet. This means that I will have to create two separate newsletters....but it's worth it, right?