Spring, Flowers and Wildlife

Now one of my favorite types of days is where you do not have to worry about getting somewhere by a certain time, so when you open your garage door and see a turkey, you can take the time to try to see it and get a picture of it--oh, and of course try to feed it. Yesterday was one of those days and yes, when I opened my garage door there was a turkey right there. Hazel and I tried to get a good look at it, but it ran away. We left it some cracked corn, but it was a few houses away by then and I do not think it came back.

Then today after I picked Hazel up from school, we ran to AC Moore for some craft supplies and stopped at KMart for some plants. It was unusually warm here in Massachusetts (20 degrees higher than average) so we spent the afternoon outside. Hazel could not wait to plant some flowers.

We bought an English daisy and three six-packs of pansies. We also bought some lettuce, sugar snap peas, basil and some tomato plants (which we will keep inside for another couple of months). 

Doing the Gardener Dance

Hazel planted the pansies with a little help from me, but actually did most of it herself!

We decided to plant some in a pot on the front steps and some around a tree in the front. Then Hazel also planted some in her garden (my old garden that we are letting her play in). I planted the vegetables there as well since Daddy hasn't dug me my new garden yet. 

While planting in the back we had a sure sign of spring. Our ducks returned. They came up looking for food, but when we moved to get them some, they flew back in the water.

We threw some of the cracked corn into the water for them. Then after dinner I looked out and saw two males. Now we had this problem last year. Some other male comes and attacks the female trying to mate with her. Her mate does his best to chase him away, but it can takes days until he leaves them alone. Anyway, I went out to see what was going on. The extra male flew away, but he started flying circles as I kept seeing him come back. I think he was checking to see if I was gone yet. Then he landed back in the water and went after the female. She kept trying to hide in the tunnel (the creek goes underground on our property), but he followed her. Her mate chased him out and down the creek by the bend where their nest is. She came out and I stood very still waiting to make sure she was safe. She must have decided I was safer than the water, because she came up and sat about 7 feet from me. I stayed for awhile and then slowly moved far around her to check on the males. The attacking male flew away and her mate same down to where she was and came up. They stayed there for quite some time. It looked like she was sleeping some of the time and he was guarding her.

The last time I looked out, they were gone--I'm guessing back to their nest. All I cared about was they were safe and she was not being attacked/raped. (I know it is natural for ducks, but I don't think the female should be attacked when she doesn't want to be with him and she is happy with her mate.) So that was our duck drama and our fun day outside! Tonight the rain will come and bring the temperatures down again, but at least we got one day outside in the warmth.

Friendship with Charlotte's Web

This weekend Hazel and I went to the local music theater to see a production of Charlotte's Web. Now I have fond memories of the book and story from growing up, but I haven't read it (or seen the movie) since I was a child. In preparation of the show, I took the book out of the library. I also found the picture book, Some Pig by E.B. White at the library.

We started with the picture book, but I was disappointed that it really only told the story of the first chapter. Charlotte was not introduced in it at all. So then we started reading the original Charlotte's Web. We would read a chapter or two a night. Hazel really enjoyed this. I also wanted to prepare her for the ending with Charlotte dying. I must admit at first Hazel had trouble keeping the characters straight, especially only reading a chapter a night. But at the end she knew who was who by name. We finished reading the book last Monday night. We went to the show on Saturday.

Coloring Page Source

Now we have gone to this theater to see Goldilocks and the Three Bears, The Three Little Pigs and Rapunzel. (We have tickets to see Cinderella's Wedding, Snow White and Beauty and the Beast this summer there.) At the end of Charlotte's Web, Hazel cried. She cried because it was over and she did not want to leave the theater. She wanted to see the show again. I convinced her to stop crying by telling her we would break our no television rule and let her watch the movie, so we had to make a trip to the library before they closed Saturday to get the movie. She also announced that Charlotte's Web was her favorite show of them all. I was a little surprised since we had already seen Rapunzel, but she liked Charlotte's Web more. 

Now my favorite part of this story is the friendship. There are so many wonderful messages throughout this story. First there is the message when Fern asks her father how it is fair to kill the pig just because it was born small. 

"'But it's unfair,' cried Fern. 'The pig couldn't help being born small, could it? If I had been very small at birth would you have killed me?'"

Such a wonderful message about nature and God's creatures without the religious part even being mentioned. For those that do not know the story, her father let's her keep the runt of the litter and she names him Wilbur. Well, Wilbur grows quickly under Fern's care and eventually her father says it is time to sell him. He decides she can offer him to her uncle who lives down the street for $6 and that way she can visit Wilbur any time she wants. So Wilbur moves to the Zuckerman's farm and lives in the barn cellar. 

Around the barn cellar are the sheep who do not want much to do with a pig, a rat named Templeton and a goose who is sitting on her eggs waiting for them to hatch. Wilbur is looking for someone to play with him like Fern always did. Then he hears a voice saying she will be his friend. Wilbur does not see who is talking since it is night time, but is happy to have a friend. The next morning he discovers his new friend is a spider who eats flies or rather drinks their blood and is named Charlotte. This disgusts him a bit, but a friend is a friend and he was desperate. 

The sheep and rat tell Wilbur that the people are fattening him up so they can kill him for meat. He becomes distressed. Charlotte promises him that she will find a way for him not to be killed. She finally thinks of one and begins writing messages in her web. The messages are "Some Pig", "Terrific", "Radiant" and "Humble." The Zuckermans become famous for having a pig so special that there are words in a spider web. They enter him in the county fair and decide if he wins he will not be killed. At this point Charlotte is becoming very weary and needs to lay her eggs before she dies, but she goes with him to the fair and writes "Humble" in her web there. He does not win the first prize but gets a special ribbon that is even better. Therefore, he is saved. This is when he discovers Charlotte will not be returning to the farm with him since she will die in a matter of days. He takes her egg sac home with him with the help of Templeton. 

Now my favorite quote of the story is Charlotte's response to Wilbur's question of why she wrote the messages in his web. 

"'You have been my friend,' replied Charlotte. 'That is a tremendous thing. I wove my webs for you because I liked you.'"

 With this story being about friendship, it seemed only fitting that we saw Hazel's best friend at the theater after the show. They played for a bit outside on the big rock by the entrance. Hazel posed by the crocuses while he was on the rock (sorry I won't show you his face). I actually got some really cute ones of them both on the rock.

Coloring Page Source

As you can imagine we are thinking a lot about spiders and pigs now. I would expect you may see some crafts along those lines soon. We have already taken some books out on spiders so we can learn more about them and why Charlotte had to die. I also started a Charlotte's Web Pinterest Board if you want to see some ideas. Our favorite character in the show was Charlotte. I may have convinced Hazel to be Charlotte for Halloween. We will see if she wants to closer to the time. 

I also made her a Match Game to go with the book. Here is a copy of it if you want it.

Fairy Tales in Different Cultures--Perrault's Cinderella

In honor of our "trip" to France with Around the World in 12 Dishes, I thought we would feature Charles Perrault's Cinderella. When I introduced this series I gave a little history on Perrault's version. The version I shared however was more of the Disney one that I grew up with rather than Perrault's.  Before going on the story, we will talk a bit about France.

Source

France is located in Western Europe with several overseas territories and regions. It is the largest country in Western Europe and the third largest throughout Europe. It has the nickname l'Hexagone (the hexagon) because of its shape. France is a developed country with the world's fifth largest economy. It is the wealthiest country in Europe. French residents have the longest life expectancy, a high standard of living including the best health care according to World Health Organization and a high level of public education. It is also the most visited country in the world with 79.5 million tourists a year. (Source)

The translation of Cinderella I am using came from The Complete Fairy Tales of Charles Perrault by Neil Philip and Nicoletta Simborowski. We had taken this out to get some French stories to go with our French dishes. It is the first time I had read a real Perrault version.

The story begins with a man with a young daughter of his own marrying a haughty, stuck-up woman who has two daughters exactly like her. The woman takes a dislike to the man's daughter since she is so good and beautiful and it makes her daughters look even worse. She gives the man's daughter all of the worst household chores. The girl does them all without complaint. She knows her father would scold her for complaining. When she finishes her work she would retire to the chimney, so her stepsisters took to calling her Cinderbutt or Cinderella. (The younger one called her Cinderella since she was not quite as mean as her elder sister). Cinderella was also given a room in the attic on a shabby mattress while her stepsisters have beautiful bedrooms with the latest beds.

One day  the prince invites the stepsisters to a ball.  They are so excited and try on many gowns and outfits to decide what to wear. Cinderella offered to do their hair for them and of course they accepted. They teased her while she did their hair by asking her if she would like to go to the ball. Once they left, she watched them until they were out of sight and then she began to weep. Her godmother came by and asked why she was weeping. She was crying too hard to tell her, so her godmother asked if it was that she wanted to go to the ball. The godmother told her she would send her. She sent Cinderella to get a pumpkin. Cinderella looked for the finest pumpkin she could find. The godmother hollowed it out and then tapped it with her wand (she was a fairy afterall) and it changed into a beautiful gilded carriage. She changed mice into horses, a rat into a coachman and lizards into footman. Then she changed Cinderella's dress into a beautiful gown made from silver and gold fabric. She warned Cinderella that she must leave by midnight or everything would be back to what it was. She promised and went off to the ball.

The prince as told a princess no one knew arrived and he went at once to greet her. He even helped her out of the coach. Cinderella made quite the entrance on the prince's arm. Everyone stopped what they were doing to stare at her beauty. She was given a seat next to the prince and he danced with her as well. She even took time to go talk to her stepsisters, but they did not recognize her. She left before midnight and was telling her godmother about the ball and how the prince asked her to come the next evening as well when her stepsisters came home. They were so excited to tell her about the beautiful mysterious princess. 

The next evening the stepsisters went off to the ball and then Cinderella went off in a gown even more beautiful than the one the night before. The prince did not leave her side all evening and she was having so much fun she lost track of time until she heard the first chime of midnight. She ran out and lost one of her glass slippers.

The sisters came home and told her again about the mysterious princess and how upset the prince was after she left. A few days later, there was a trumpeted announcement that the prince would marry the woman whose foot fit the glass slipper. After trying it on all the princesses, duchesses, etc., the servant came to the stepsisters. They tried to force their foot into it, but could not. Laughing Cinderella asked to try it on. The servant noticed her beauty and said she should. Of course it slipped right on. Her stepsisters were shocked and even more so when she pulled out its mate from her pocket. They begged her forgiveness for how they mistreated her and she forgave them. She even brought them to the palace with her and had them marry lords. The prince and Cinderella were also married the same day.

For crafts I made Hazel a clothespin doll and shared again some of the pictures we colored the other day.

Sharing Saturday 13-14

Sorry for the late start to this week. We dealt with a sick little girl tonight and took her to Urgent Care at her insistence. Luckily it is not strep or an ear infection and just a virus again. Now onto Sharing Saturday. Thank you to everyone who shared last week (even without my email reminder). If you missed any of them, please check them out. Please make sure you check out the features of my co-host, Having Fun at Chelle's House as well. Now onto a few of my favorites!

1) From Life with Moore Babies: The Paper Bag Princess and Fizzing Rocks (Love the lesson being taught and in such a fun way!)
2) From Gift of Curiosity: Easter Egg Sound Matching Game (What a fun way to learn about sounds and more!)
3) From Teaching Little Ones at Home: Celtic Knot Cross (Ok, as a former geometry teacher, love Celtic knots and what a great tutorial!)
4) From ArtClubBlog: Origami Flowers (Aren't these pretty?)
5) From Mama of Many Blessings: Fun Ways to teach the REAL Meaning of Easter (Great ideas!! Sorry I couldn't grab a picture from it!)

Thank you to everyone who shared last week!! If you were one of the ones picked as a feature here, please feel free to grab a featured button to display proudly on your blog.

Button Code:

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My Week in Review: This week I shared Raisel's Riddle--A Jewish Cinderella, our Resurrection Garden with peg dolls, our French day--food, What the Ladybug Heard with ladybug crafts, and Teaching children to manage money.

 

Now for This Week's Party 
 
A Few Simple Guidelines:
1)  Please follow Crafty Moms Share and Having Fun at Chelle's House via GFC (or one of the other ways that work for you).  

2)  Link any kid-friendly, child-centered post. Please no etsy shops or giveaways, etc.  Remember to link to your actual post. 

3) Post the newly updated button on your sidebar or somewhere on your blog to help spread the word.

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4) I would love it if you would follow me on Facebook, Google+ and Pinterest as well as Having Fun at Chelle's House at Facebook and Pinterest

Disclaimer: By sharing here, you are giving Crafty Moms Share and Having Fun at Chelle's House permission to use your photos for features and to pin your craft at Pinterest. 

A Day in France--Around the World in 12 Dishes

This month we are "traveling" to France with some dishes, crafts and stories. Won't you join us?

Coloring Pages Available at DLTK

Wednesdays are our day to catch up with life and relax since it is the day between Hazel's two school days. This Wednesday we didn't have plans, so we decided to explore France a bit. I had gotten some books out of the library about French cooking. We decided to look at the Fiesta one.

This is a fun series which focuses on celebrations in countries. Each book introduces the country with a map and things about the different parts. There is always something about the religion as well and then it gets into holidays and festivals. The first recipe we found was for Croque Monsieur (or what I call a grilled ham and cheese sandwich). Hazel asked for a grilled cheese sandwich for lunch and I asked if she wanted ham as well on it. She of course did since she has my love of ham. 

Then we saw a recipe for a French Apple Tart. Now apple pie is Steven's favorite dessert, so we decided we had to try it. Before going to the store to get the ingredients I looked for some French themed crafts and found some great ones over at DLTK's Kids including a recipe for a food her family had while in France, so we decided to try it for dinner as well. We went out to run errands and stopped at AAA for a tour book on France and some maps. They gave us a tour book for Europe since they did not have one on just France and some maps. We haven't had time to look at them yet, so look for our follow-up post on our "trip" to France. We also stopped at the library for some French stories. Again, look for details in our follow-up post. Today it is about the food!

We made the French Apple Tart first. My little baker loved helping with cutting the butter and controlling the mixer. She also tried to peel the apples, but had a bit of difficulty. The recipe for the tart came from the Fiesta! France book. It was very simple and delicious! 

Next we made the tartiflette.The recipe came from DLTK Kids. I used of course fat free sour cream and reduced fat cream cheese and fat free mozzarella. The only cheese of the three choices listed our store had was Gruyere. I wish I had shredded it. It did not melt well, but the meal was still delicious!!

We also discovered at DLTK Kids that the rooster is the national animal of France and the iris is the national flower. We also got all the coloring pages from that link.

The France coloring placemat right here and the passport right here. Also check out these great French adventures and add your own here.