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Fess Parker, who played Davy Crockett, Daniel Boone, and the father in "Old Yeller" has passed away. We knew him best as Davy Crockett in the vintage Disney series, which is reputed to be the first miniseries in the history of television.

In honor of Mr. Parker, here's "The Ballad of Davy Crockett"

For your St. Patrick's Day dinner, here are my favorite recipes for this day:

Colcannon

2 tsp. vegetable oil
3 tsp. butter, divided
1 leek, halved and cut in 1/2 inch strips
1 onion, halved and cut in 1/2 inch strips
8 red potatoes, baked
15oz. beef broth
salt and pepper
1 green cabbage, quartered, cored, and cut in 3/4 inch strips

1.  Heat oil & 1 tsp. butter on medium.
2.  Saute leek 7 onion until they start to brown.
3.  Add half the cabbage, stirring and turning until coated with oil and wilted.
4.  Continue adding cabbage and stirring one hand full at a time until wilted.
5.  Pour in half of broth and bring to a boil. Simmer until cabbage absorbs broth. Add remaining broth. Cook until cabbage is soft.
6.  Slice baked potatoes and add to cabbage.
7.  Add shredded or sliced corned beef.
8.  Salt and pepper. Add remaining butter.

Irish Soda Bread (from Martha Stewart)

3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1 cup whole-wheat graham flour
2 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 2/3 cups buttermilk

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside. Whisk together the flours, salt, baking soda, and baking powder in a large bowl. With a pastry blender or your fingertips, blend in butter until it resembles small peas. Add buttermilk all at once; stir with a fork until mixture holds together.
2. In the bowl, pat the dough into a domeshaped loaf about 7 inches in diameter. Lift out dough; transfer to lined sheet.
3. Lightly dust top of loaf with flour. Cut a 3/4-inch-deep cross in top, reaching almost all the way to edges. Bake, rotating sheet halfway through, until deep golden brown and a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, about 1 hour and 20 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack.

Have you received your 2010 Census Form? Be sure to fill it out and send it back. Census records have always been an important part of genealogy and I want my descendents to be able to look me up in 72 years.

At my house, we have 2 White Puerto Rican guys, 1 White Puerto Rican girl, and 1 plain ol' White girl. In truth, we're a bunch of ethnic mutts here at my house - something we're proud of but something the census, unfortunately, does not capture.

So, here's my Census 2010 addendum:

1 male Spanish/French/Basque/African or Puerto Rican Indian

and

1 female Irish/Scottish/English/German?/American Indian

married with a boy and a girl

The census asks what color our skin is but I think the bigger question is whether America is a melting pot or salad bowl. I was taught by a teacher in high school that we are a salad bowl, but I am sure now that America is a melting pot. Why else would my little Puerto Ricans eat Colcannon on St. Patrick's Day?

As of July 1, 2010, all Puerto Rican birth certificates will be invalid. This is because of a law enacted by the government of Puerto Rico last December.

It seems it was a common practice for Puerto Rican schools to retain a child's birth certificate while the child was in attendance at the school. Some criminal groups saw those unguarded collections of birth certificates as a way to easily provide illegal Hispanics with American birth certificates, as all Puerto Ricans are born Americans. After many schools were robbed, the government of Puerto Rico decided invalidating all birth certificates and issuing new ones was the only way to prevent fraud.

The new birth certificates will not be available until July 1, 2010 and will cost $5. The fee will be waived for those over the age of 60 or for veterans.

Those living outside Puerto Rico (as does my husband) will need to write the Puerto Rico Office of Vital Statistics on or after July 1, 2010 to request a new, state-of-the-art birth certificate. 

More details are available in this PDF from the Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration.

Because it is the 200th birthday of Frederic Chopin, a free album of his music is available for download from Amazon.

Free - I like the sound of that. And isn't that cast of Chopin's hand really creepy? But not near as creepy as what happened to Chopin's heart. Click on his name to find out what it was.

Monday we participated in the GBBC 2010 and enjoyed ourselves much. This was the most I have exerted myself since my brain surgery in November, so I was very tired afterwards. We stayed in our own neighborhood and didn't travel the local trail, as we usually do. Because of this, we didn't spot as many birds as in past years, but I think we still did well.

Here's our tally:

• 12 Muscovy ducks
• 32 Mallard ducks
• 1 Snowy Egret
• 1 Great Egret
• 1 Little Blue Heron
• 1 Green Heron
• 5 White Ibis
• 1 Wood Stork
• 1 Turkey Vulture
• 4 Common Moorhens
• 1 Northern Mockingbird
• 1 Palm Warbler

See? Not too bad. As you can see, we found many water birds - thanks to the three ponds in our tiny neighborhood.

The best part of the bird count was that we got a chance to see a newly laid clutch of Muscovy eggs.

A few photos from the bird count:

Shakepeare's plays are an integral part of our homeschooling curriculum. We typically read three of them per year - one play during each school term. After four years of this, we've read most of the most famous ones:

• Henry V
• The Tempest
• A Midsummer Night's Dream
• King Lear
• Hamlet
• Othello
• Julius Caesar
• The Merchant of Venice
• Richard III
• The Taming of the Shrew
• Macbeth
• Twelfth Night
• The Winter's Tale 
• As You Like It
• Much Ado About Nothing

We will finish this school year with Romeo and Juliet and something else.

The reason for all this Shakespeare is for enjoyment, yes, but also because these plays influence our world. From the World War II miniseries Band of Brothers (Henry V) to the TV show Lost (The Tempest), the Bard of Avon touches everything.

If you also enjoy Shakespeare, you might like to participate in Extreme Shakespeare and read 38 plays in 38 days. Sounds fun...and hectic. I'm not sure I have the time. For those interested, the 38:38 group reading challenge begins March 1 and ends on April 7. Check the calendar for the schedule of books. Oh, I just realized something. If the challenge had begun yesterday, it could coincide with the 40 days of Lent - though I don't think Shakespeare would actually qualify as a Lenten sacrifice. 

The picture above is a lovely blank journal I found at a thrift store. I was attracted by the graphic, but the pun makes me smile.

I took a poll of the children's favorite plays. D chose Twelfth Night and The Tempest. S chose Henry V and Twelfth Night. I think I love all of the soliloquies and monologues the best.

Do you have a favorite Shakepeare play?

Today is not Presidents Day (or, Presidents' Day). We are actually celebrating Washington's Birthday. Sorry, Abe, no Federal holiday for you.

But Washington's Birthday isn't celebrated on George Washington's actual birthday. We celebrate it every third Monday in February to give many Americans a three-day weekend. Washington was really born on February 22, 1732 - according to the Gregorian calendar. We use the Gregorian calendar now, but when the stork brought baby George to Augustine and Mary Washington the world was using the Julian calendar. Thus, George was really, truly born on February 11, 1731. Confused? I think I am. This Slate article attempts to clear up things.

Poor George! His birthday keeps moving around the calendar and he has to share his special day with a gaggle of other guys - most of whom he never knew and probably wouldn't like.

Speaking of George Washington, we had so much fun visiting his house, Mount Vernon, during our DC vacation last spring. I think it is one of the best homeschool field trips we've taken. Few things compare to touching a tree planted by George Washington.

I thought it was too late in the season to revisit our Snowman in a Bottle craft, but the Snowpocalypse has changed my mind.

From December 14, 2006:

These bottle snowmen were quite easy to make. I got the idea while I was washing the bottles (which formerly contained coffee drinks - I try to reuse such things whenever I can) and thought the metal lids looked very much akin to snowmen hats. After washing the bottles and removing the labels, I used a black Sharpie to "paint"  the lids black. The kiddies and I filled the bottles with Poly-Fil for snow and used dots of Tacky glue and beads to make the faces. Bits and scraps of yarn, fabric, ribbon, and cord were used for the ties, scarves, and hats. Each snowman represents a family member.

The Tim Tebow commercial which aired during the Super Bowl was supposed to lead to the destruction of life as we know it. This was the event that the Mayans warned would end the world.

Or not.

I'm waiting to hear a lot of backtracking today. More than likely, though, those who made such a ruckus will pretend nothing happened. Maybe being exposed for the Chicken Littles that they were will wake a few people up. I doubt it.

I hope the good folks at Focus on the Family are enjoying all the free press the pro-abortion folks have given them. This tempest in a teacup is still providing press this morning as most news outlets are discussing how non-controversial the ad was. Even the celebrity gossip website TMZ is shocked that this benign commercial was the source of so much hoopla:

After weeks of hype and outrage, the Super Bowl commercial with Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow finally aired Sunday night -- so what was all the fuss about?

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is what the rest of us have been asking since the story on the Tim Tebow commercial first broke: What is all this fuss about?

In case you missed the ad, take a look for yourself:

A successful son and his loving mother - definitely a recipe for apocalyptic mayhem