Spiritual Armor

An excellent talk by Fr. Martin Fox at the Dayton Homeschooling Conference.

MARCH Planning Meeting and Cook-Off

Midsummer is upon us and already it is time to begin thinking about the Fall. Therefore, it is also time for our annual MARCH Fall planning meeting, at which we will discuss ideas and make plans for homeschool activities for the coming Fall semester. This meeting will also feature our annual MARCH cooking contest!

The theme of the cooking contest this year will be The Old South. Can you fry up a great batch of Hush Puppies? Do you make Chicken Fricassee just like Grandma used to do for Sunday dinner? Can you make the best Fried Green Tomatoes this side of the Mississippi? Then this event is for you. Break out your favorite southern-style recipe, and join us for an evening of good down-home cooking.

Who: All are invited. Dads too. Cooking has historically been a
male-dominated field, so come on, you menfolks. Enter a dish in the contest, and show the ladies what you can do.

What: Southern-Style Cook-Off and Planning Meeting.

When: Saturday, August 22, at 3 p.m.

All dishes entered for competition will be judged by a panel of inexpert, amateurish, inexperienced judges--namely, the homeschool parents who come to the meeting. If you are not too tuckered out after working all day on your dish of hog jowls and redeye gravy for entry in the Cook-Off, then you might also consider making an entry in the Dessert Cook-Off, to be held the same evening and to be judged by a separate panel of extremely discerning and excruciatingly honest judges--our kids! Just think of all the mouth-watering Southern specialties you might present for the dessert contest: pecan pie, sweet potato pie, Mississippi mud cake, pecan pralines, Georgia peach pie, shoo-fly pie... the possibilities are endless. And if you just want to bring chocolate chip cookies, that's OK too.

And, as always, if you are a timid soul and if you are afraid of competition and don't want to enter a dish in the contest, that's fine. Just come on down, y'all, and eat hearty. But bear in mind that those of us who do participate in the competition will have more fun than you.

For further information, e-mail Jordana Adams (adamsjct -- at -- gmail.com) or Karen Pagan (kpagan -- at -- catholicweb.com). So bring your appetite, bring a rib-stickin dish to share if you can, bring your calendar, and bring your ideas.

MARCH at Nashville Public Library

Join us on July 9 in the puppet theater for a presentation of the Nashville Public Library's new adaptation of Cinderella!

Compare Notes on Curricula

Bring your favorite books and programs so that we can all look at books before we order next year's curricula. Bring anything you want to get off your shelves and send to a new home, so that someone else can try it out.

For more information e-mail adamsjct -- at -- gmail -- dot -- com

Homeschooler's Craft Fair to Support Assumption Outreach

Sunday, June 7 after both Masses, there will be a sale of craft items handmade by the children of Assumption parish. Half of the proceeds will go to Assumption Outreach, and half to the children. Any unsold items will be donated to be sold at the Assumption Country Store Oktoberfest booth. There will be a maximum price of $10/item. This event is organized by the parish's homeschoolers, but all Assumption children and teens -- homeschooled or not -- are welcome to participate.

Totus Tuus at Assumption

Mark your calendars! Totus Tuus is coming to Assumption early this summer. It will run from Sunday May 30 to Friday June 5. Totus Tuus is a summer catechetical program for children and youth from first grade through high school. The content is strong on Catholic identity and Marian spirituality, and the experience is lots of fun. Contact Karen Pagan (kpagan -- at -- catholicweb.com) for details about registration.

Annual Gingerbread House Building Day

The annual gingerbread house building party and donation to Sister Sally's outreach is coming up! We'll be at Assumption on Thursday, December 11.

Bring:

• box or 2 of HONEY MAID graham crackers to build houses (quality REALLY counts
  here generics tend to break which causes frustration)
  
• pretty candy to share for decorating.
  
• item to donate to Sister Sally, this can be canned or boxed non-perishables, diapers wipes, really, anything.
  
• low $ gift to play pass the present (1 per participating child), please wrap this.
  

Also, bring cardboard if you have any around. This is good for building the
houses on.

The icing must be made ahead of time. Let Phoebe know if you are (or even might be) coming. Better to have too much icing than not enough.

Questions? pkhoover -- at --bellsouth.net