Election Lesson

I've wanted to try a lapbook w/ The Prophet for a while now. I found information about elections & thought today would be a great day to do one. We spent about an hour & a half this morning compiling it & he really enjoyed it.


First, we started our day w/ our regulars prayers & the Pledge of Allegiance. I disected the Pledge so that the munchkins would understand what they're saying & why.

For the lapbook, I first had him color a picture of the US flag to put on the cover. On the inside, we had several different shaped pop-ups w/ information of various aspects of elections, including the following:

- a Comparison of the two major parties

- a Vocabulary list

- Why is it Important to Vote?

- When is Election Day?

- VOTE - which answers questions pertaining to The Prophet (How old he has to be to vote, How many years until he can first vote, & What year that will be)

- Guidelines for candidates (age & US residency)

Once they were completed, I had him color them & arrange them on the file folder however he wanted them. (With my scrapbooking background, this was tough for me since he didn't put them in a layout I would do, but this is his after all!) He finished it off by adding foil star stickers & sqiggles to fill in the spaces. His finished product turned out quite well & we look forward to future lapbooks. I think after the first of the year, we'll do a state study & make one for each state.

One Word Meme

Only one-word answers, please!

1. Where is your cell phone? Purse
2. Where is dh? Work
3. Your hair color? Brown
4. Your mother? Voting
5. Your father? Work
6. Your favorite thing? Family
7. Your dream last night? Forgotten
8. Your dream/goal? Heaven
9. The room you’re in? Family
10. Your hobby? Reading
11. Your fear? Cancer
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Country
13. Where were you last night? Home
14. What you’re not? Patient
15. One of your wish-list items? Peace
16. Where you grew up? Ohio
17. The last thing you did? Nachos
18. What are you wearing? Clothes
19. Your TV? Off
20. Your pet? None
21. Your computer? PC
22. Your mood? Mixed
23. Missing Someone? DH
24. Your car? Mini-van
25. Something you’re not wearing? Shoes
26. Favorite store? Target
27. Your summer? Over
28. Love someone? Yes
29. Your favorite color? Lavendar
30. When is the last time you laughed? Today
31. Last time you cried? Recently

Wall Music

The Princess is sitting at the kitchen table coloring in one of her books. Every so often, I hear a big sigh out of her. The Archangel is sitting on the couch holding The Saint & playing w/ his toy laptop. He found out yesterday that it plays music & has been enjoying the Christmas songs on it. More sighs come from the kitchen. Finally I ask what is wrong.

She says, "That music is driving me on the wall."

Chicken Recipe - Follow Up

The leftovers were just as good as the first day! For dinner on Thurs., I put some of the chicken in flour tortillas, topped it w/ some cheese & heated it in the microwave. Then I added just a small dollop (I love that word!) of sour cream. Add a side of Mexican rice & dinner was delicious. I was going to try to make some rice like Casinodad's aunt does, but we still had some of hers from our recent visit.

Casinodad really liked his lunch leftovers on Wed. - when I put the chicken in with some egg noodles.

This is definitely a recipe I will be using again. It's effortless, delicious, & goes a long way! And I can't say enough about Target's Archer Farms Peach Pineapple Salsa. What a wonderful combination!

Hallowe'en 2008

Well, due to our wonderful economy this year, I told the munchkins that their costumes had to come from things around the house. Until about 2pm, the day of Trick-or-Treating, I didn't know for sure what each would be.

The Saint just wore a Hallowe'en bib.

The Princess was a Ballerina. She wore her dress-up tu-tu. I put a little of my sparkling make-up on her eyes, blush on her cheeks & lipstick on her lips.

The Archangel was Clone Trooper, using The Prophet's costume from the last two years.

The Prophet went for a play on words - a "Smartie-Pants, Quarterback. " I taped a bunch of Smarties on his pants & put some quarter stickers all over his back.

Casinodad even joined in on the fun - he went as a Bandito. (His Fantasy Football team this year is Los Banditos.)

I stayed home to hand out candy & watch The Saint while they went around the neighborhood. I never know for sure how many trick-or-treaters we'll have. The first few years wehad quite a few & many of the neighbors were handing out candy. Last year was pretty sparce. This was a good year. We had just enough to give out.

Hope you had a great one!

Chicken Recipe

These days, most people are looking for cheap & easy meals. Our local grocery store had whole roasting chickens on sale last week - buy one, get one free. What a great deal! It just so happened that I came across an easy slow cooker recipe the other day, too. Put the chicken & a jar of salsa in. Cook 6-8 hours on low & voila!

I made this for dinner tonight & it was delicious. The chicken was so tender, it fell right off the bone. I used a large jar of Archer Farms (Target's brand) Peach Pineapple salsa. I poured a light coating into the Crockpot, poured a little into the chicken, placed the chicken in, & poured the rest of the salsa over it. It was a hit for Casinodad, The Princess & me. The other munchkins are too picky! Casinodad is taking leftovers mixed w/ egg noodles to work tomorrow. For dinner Thursday, I'll use the rest of the leftovers w/ tortillas.

Variations: use any flavor salsa; add a packet of taco seasoning mix; use other chicken parts if you don't like whole ones; the possibilities are endless!

Enjoy!

Book & Movie Review - Lists & Wishes

With four munchkins, I don't have much time for reading anymore. When I was on bedrest with this last pregnancy, I read 10 books in 2 1/2 weeks. In the last three months, since The Saint was born (yes, believe it or not, he's three months old already!), I have read two books. I've started several, used a few for reference, but only started & finished two novels.

Just the other day, I finished the book Twenty Wishes by Debbie Macomer. It is one of the books in her Blossom Street series & was pretty good. A small group of women formed a widow's group. They decide to make a list of twenty wishes to help them find happiness as they start a new phase of life w/out their husbands. Some of their wishes include: a trip to Paris w/ someone loved, dancing in the rain in barefeet, bringing joy to a stranger, learning to knit, etc. Throughout the book, they mention their lists to others, who in turn decide to make their own lists. The characters learn that wishes can come true, but not always in the expected way. (Isn't that the same as our prayers to God?)

That leads me to my movie review - The Bucket List w/ Morgan Freeman & Jack Nicholson. Casinodad & I watched it a few weeks ago & loved it. They play two terminal cancer patients from different backgrounds who forge a friendship & decide to make a list of things they want to do before they "kick the bucket." Yes, it does deal w/ a serious topic, but being Jack Nicholson, the movie is full of humor. We laughed & cried. There was one conversation towards the end that had us laughing so hard, tears were rolling down our cheeks! The Prophet came downstairs at the time the characters were skydiving, so we let him watch for a bit. He thought it was hilarious, but it's not really a movie for kids since the F-bomb is used a couple of times.

Both of these have lead me to start thinking about my own list. I think the best books & movies are the ones that stay w/ you & keep you thinking long after they're done. Perhaps I'll start my own list here on my blog...