Kit Kittredge, An American Girl

I borrowed Kit Kittredge, An American Girl
from the library last night. Princess and I watched it today.
I found it disturbing. I wanted to like it, great cast, thought
I would get caught up in the period style.
It didn't feel period. It felt timely.
Princess enjoyed it, thinks getting a basset hound would
be great,lol. Didn't get why the children would be
embarrassed by their family being "egg sellers".
(She really wants chickens or ducks of her own.)
I was unsettled, disturbed, and a little depressed.
The movie was nice. I'm sure if we weren't all standing on the edge of the same abyss,
it would feel more entertaining.Instead, I felt scared.
We are at a moment of time in our country's history that will
either be recorded as one where we got our act together and
made things better, or we blew it big time.
I wish I had more faith in you America,
but you have let me down before.I am a bit of a pessimist, my Grandfather
always said.." I usually expect the worse, that way, I am not caught off guard when it happens,
and if it doesn't..I'm pleasantly surprised." I must take after him.
I know we are luckier than some, we can make our mortgage payment every month,
I don't consider if I should buy milk or not. No one is going hungry here.We are lucky.
I am smart enough to know I am not that different from many of the people who are in
serious trouble..not really. My mother used to say "but for the Grace of God.."
I try not to make the mistake of "judging" the poor, or even the middle class.
I came from there, and I know it would
only take a couple of bouts of bad luck and one or two bad decisions to end up there again.
Sometimes things happen that are out of a families control.One sick child or spouse,
and people who are insured (and paying a good chunk of their salaries to be that way) find out how little their insurance coverage "covers". The executives of your company make some bad decisions and you have no job.
Maybe you ran up dept "keeping up with the Joneses", or maybe you just took out another loan to put your kids through college. It's not just "them" it is "all of us".Socialist you say? Fine, I'll take that label too, along with..
"East Coast Liberal Intellectual" (my Grandfather always said"AKA..literate")..whatever.
"Redistribution"? Yeah, well..in my neighborhood, we call it making sure the rich pay their own way just like us.

OK, I'm going to take a deep breath, and get off my soap box now before I fall flat on my face.
By the way, if you or anyone you know are having a hard time putting food on the table,
check out The Angel Ministries.
If you are not having a hard time, you can still check them out and make a donation.
Not your "kind" of organization, donate to one that is, maybe this one .





Or, you can drop off a basket of muffins, or a baked chicken or casserole at a house for a family you
know that is finding it tough right now. Or just invite them to dinner.
If you don't want "big government" to do it for you...then let's really start taking care of our own.

Do you want to see what the mailman delivered?

All the way from Alabama.....















and inside this pretty little package....














I couldn't even get a photograph that does it justice.
This is truly lovely.
I have been toting it around with me on my errands.

Are you jealous that I won the giveaway over at My Inspired Heart ?
Don't get too upset, if you really want one so you can be as cool as me...
head on over to my friend Sandra 's blog and her lovely new etsy shop and
pick one up! She is even running a sale right now.

Are you still here reading my blathering? Go visit...the weather is bound to be
nicer down her way.I bet she'll have a glass of sweet tea ready and a slice of
home made bread with some of that yummy looking pumpkin butter she made last week....

Thank you Sandra, from the bottom of my (not quite as inspired as yours)heart,
Kate

Diwali

Yesterday was Diwali.....but I forgot to come back and "release"
this post...oops!

Princess and I read a couple of books about Diwali,
(I'll list them on my sidebar)
and we were going to pick up some Indian food
for dinner, but it snowed here!! It started out as freezing rain and soon became..






Reminded me of the story we read last year about Diwali

We were so blown away by this, that we did very little
"school" at all.Instead we made homemade tomato soup for lunch,
and put the winter sheets on the beds.
We did use these sites to learn about the holiday
and for some pictures to color..
http://www.theholidayspot.com/diwali/pics_to_color/

http://www.theholidayspot.com/diwali/traditions.htm

As it got dark, we lit some candles...



I know they are supposed to be oil lamps, but this is what we had.
I am all about using what we have on hand. ;-)

It was also my Goddaughter 's Birthday...her 21st Birthday!!
Where did the years go? Hopefully we will get to see her soon,
she has been very busy working full time and going to college
for a degree in Early Childhood Education. We are very proud of her!!

Happy Birthday Teddy!!

Today is Theodore Roosevelt's Birthday (well, it would be if he
were alive, he'd be 145) To celebrate, Princess and I will have a Teddy Bear Tea
later today. We looked him up this morning on this site
and she is coloring this
For fun we will also read this
book.
We may also do some of these crafts
maybe with a bit of variation..allowing for Halloween to enter perhaps.We will also
read a couple of "bear themed" Halloween books...see the link on the sidebar
for a couple of examples. We will also pull out her counting bears for math today.
Somehow we need to fit in the Unplug Your Kids project.
The theme is Thin this week. Be sure to head on over and check out
what the other participants have done this week.Fill out the Mr Linky on
Mom Unplugged's site if you decide to play along so we can all see!

I'll post photots of all we do today a bit later..now we need to do "maths"..lol.

Friday through Sunday

in one little blog post! Friday we spent
the day with "the twins". My good friend's
a teacher in our town, and they had an in-service
day on Friday. Her girls spent the day with us.
An almost entirely unorganized "Camp Katie Day".
They are pretty busy most weeks, school, dance,
brownies, all on top of an already busy social life,
so I thought free play might be enjoyed more than an
organized day.However they did ask for a craft.
I supplied one. ;-)


We also made pizzas for lunch.


While the pizzas were in the oven, they
worked on their Halloween Bat Finger Puppets.
The tradition is to eat in front
of the t.v. while watching a movie, and this time


Barbie's Mermaidia was agreed upon.
It can be hard to get a three way tie.
About half way through they decided to act out


the movie instead of watching it. Then I decided it
had become nice enough outside to go play, so we did.


They played with the doll houses in the 3 season room while
I chatted with their Mom upon her arrival. It was another good play date!

Saturday, Princess and I went to a local theatre for their free "cookies and milk" series.
We had a great time, although she was a little upset by a girl about her age in the audience
who insisted on sitting directly in front of the performers set up, and proceeded to pull out
a hand held video game DURING the performance. WT? I had to restrain her from going
over to reprimand the girl herself.Finally, the mother sent her son down to remove the
game from the girls hand. Princess still wanted to go over and explain why she should listen to
the musician."This is good music..what's her problem?"
We stopped at a dunkin donuts on our way to the parking lot and got a treat, and stopped to check
out one of the old churches in the area. Princess loves these big red doors.


Farmer Dad was working around the back yard when we got home,


so we hung out with him for a bit and then it rained.
We all went inside and spent a cozy afternoon and evening, eating, watching Halloween movies,
and playing board games together. Sunday has been much the same.
We have a pot of gravy on the stove and snacks ready for the football game.
I will be back Monday with an unplugged project, and I'll show you something awesome I got in the mail this
weekend.

The play date that wouldn't end....

Peanut came over to spend the day with us Yesterday.
The two girls usually get along, so I didn't expect a bad day,
but it went better than I thought it would. They literally played
without a fight, or tear from 10:30 in the morning until 4:30 in
the afternoon.Here they are crab walking
and then putting on a show for me.


I moved all the furniture back out of the way so they could spread out
with blankets and pillows, and there was much "fort" building.
We had two small tears, and they were good again
(Princess accidentally insulted Peanut's choice in shirts).
Princess apologized, Peanut dried her tears, we were over it.
The sweet Prince and his Mom stopped by for a cup of coffee,
they all played well together, Farmer Dad came home and the
girls followed him outside

to check on the greenhouse.

We all played
outside until I got too cold,

and once inside we played a board game (Clifford's B-Day game)
and had a snack.Peanut's Mom came, and we could not round up the girls for
her to go home. They were downstairs playing guitars and drums with Farmer Dad,
they were watching a movie he put on for them, finally they came back and they went home.
It was pretty funny, her Mom could have had another hour or two to work on
her kitchen. ;-) Today it will be just me and Princess, until dinner time when Peanut will be back.
Her Mom is getting a rare night out with grown ups and Peanut will have a PJ Party with us.
Princess is really looking forward to it. I hear tell, there will be baking. ;-)

Wow! It's already Wednesday!

Did you ever wake up and realize half of your week was over and you barely remembered being in
the first half? That is how I felt this morning. Where does my time go?
Yesterday we had our weekly homeschool play date, I was still not pleased with Princess's
behavior, but I am hoping it is a stage and will pass, as the others before this have.


(Big Hugs) For my Sister of the Moon, Patience, for reminding me every once in a while
that it will.
We shared coffee, cupcakes, and veg from the garden over conversation almost entirely without
interruption by the children (although it was not quiet, my daughter sang the entire time we were there).


We collected some more leaves (they have different ones in their yard)


She left begrudgingly, but without major melt down. The late afternoon was spent reading, and making pizza
and calzones for dinner.We colored and did a few crossword type puzzles together until bedtime.
Bedtime is getting easier as well. Less cajoling, more story time, sleep.
I need my sleep. Today we will have our Little Peanut over for a visit while her Mom gets some
work done. Princess is really looking forward to it. I hope you all have a lovely day today.
I am hopeful that even if we don't, this too shall pass quickly.;-)

Now I have a few more baskets of the above to tend to.....

Tuesday 's Book Post

Today, I have it on good authority, is Tuesday.
Therefore, it is time to tell you a bit about what we've
been enjoying from our local library. One day soon,
I may have time to write a book post about some of the many
books that line our shelves, but for now....


Maria Molina and the Days of the Dead
Princess is slightly fascinated with the Days of the Dead
after seeing some pictures over at Mariposa last year.
This book tells of a little girl and her family in Mexico, remembering
her baby brother and her Grandmother who have both died.
She wonders what it would be like to live in America and celebrate Halloween
instead. Eventually, she moves with her family to America, and misses celebrating the Days
of the Dead in Mexico. Her family sets up an ofrenda (an altar) in their home (much like Ami had)
to honor their dead.Princess enjoys learning about how children around the world live, so this was
a great find for us.

Cranberry Autumn
The whole town of Cranberryport needs money for winter clothes and coats
and things, so they decide to clean out their attics and have a sale.
(you know we'd show up!)

Everyone had old things in the attic, old things
become scarce.They become antiques.

People come from all around to attend the sale, which is a big hit and
makes enough money for them to take care of their winter needs.
We enjoyed this book, although it did make us itch to attend a yard sale
or two. ;-)
In honor of the Presidential race, we have been reading
(with much glee)the very funny George Washington's Cows
A silly story about how America's first President ended up
in politics. We giggled the entire way through it.

On a slightly more serious note we also read If I Were President.
This book opens with a brief introduction into how and what a president actually does,
and the rules about who can become president.Princess enjoyed pretending along with
the little girl in the story about how great it would be to be president.
Personal chef,bowling or movies without leaving the house,working together with other world leaders to make the world a better place for everyone,giving medals to people who had done brave deeds,
maybe getting your face on money.
I think it did a pretty good job of "teaching" a good deal about the presidency without it feeling like a "lesson". Our favorite line...the last one of course.

And who knows? Someday I just might be president of the United States!

It could happen, many past presidents were homeschooled you know. ;-)

Unplugged Group Project

Mom Unplugged organized another group project.
This week's theme was Wax.

We decided to play along since we have been planning
to wax leaves for a while.

First we went outside to find leaves.


Then we spread them out on newspaper, and unrolled some
beeswax.




Then we melted the wax in a tin can inside a pot of water.


Then we dipped the leaves in the wax and put them on the newspaper to dry.

I was too nervous to take pictures of her dipping ..I was right on top of her..
repeating over and over "it's very hot!"

Then we punched holes in them and Princess strung them up.
We will continue as we find good leaves until we have a long enough piece
to hang over the kitchen windows.
Most of our trees still have their leaves.

If you joined in be sure to link over here so we can all see what you did.
Even if you didn't make something, be sure to check out all the creative ideas here.


That is how we came to making these...

Princess just had to make some of these..our version had to be different,
because we used what we already had out. ;-)

Weekend in the garden..

The weather was cool, but beautiful here in the Garden State.
Princess spent most of it in the garden. Helping Farmer Dad
clean up and preparing for the first frost, which we are expecting tonight.
She harvested some carrots too.

And helped decorate for Halloween..



You can see more of what we got done here
We took time for fun as well.