Simple Girl

My daughter, Anna, and the rest of her fourth grade class, concluded their Native American studies with a Field Trip to the Stone Mountain Indian Festival and Pow Wow.  The Stone Mountain Indian Festival is the largest Native American gathering in Georgia and was named a Top 20 Event by the Southeastern Tourism Society. Here, the kids observed many demonstrations, including The Flight of the Raptor falconry. They viewed animal skins and cooking vessels. They experienced and interacted with "East Meets West Encampment"  demonstrations and learned about weapons and open-fire cooking. They crawled inside tipis and... Viewed authentic Native American dress and dance competitions - (fortunately worn here with optional shorts!) Here Anna and Abigail participated in a Native American Friendship dance. Best of all?  Hot chocolate on a cold and wet day! Anna says this was the best field trip ever!

As I exercised my right - my privilege -  to vote today, I thought about our leaders and the responsibilities that they hold.  Serving the people, protecting our rights, changing the world for the better.  Isn't that what they are supposed to do?  These are important, noble, lofty goals.  These are goals that can make a difference in the world. I then remembered a news segment I watched on TV that included an interview with First Lady, Michelle Obama.  In this segment, she was giving the journalist a tour of the White House.  As they strolled through the decorated hallways, she was asked, "Do you find The Presidency and living in the White House stressful on your family?"  Her answer surprised me.  Her response was, "No."  She explained that so many of the things that cause us stress in our normal life are now being taken care of for her.  Somebody else does the family's laundry.  Somebody else cooks the meals.  When Th...

Happy Halloween From Our Family to Yours! Even my husband joins in on the festivities! This year we found on our street Rapunzel, A Firefly,  A Housewife in Robe and Curlers, A Pirate of the Caribbean and a Very Impressive Captain Hook! I dressed up as a Pirate Wench, but, hey, somebody has to take the picture!

I love 2nd grade Bug Day because it offers me yet another opportunity to make - CUPCAKES!  These bug and butterfly cupcakes look impressive, yet are fairly easy to make. These two ideas, from the book  Hello, Cupcakes!  by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson, start with a standard frosted cupcake and are topped with creatures made from candy melts and M&M's. Simply melt the candy melts in a gallon sized freezer ziploc bag, snip a quarter inch hole in one corner and pipe the chocolate on to parchment paper with a copy of the book's template underneath. For the monarch butterflies, fill in the outline with orange candy melts. Drag a toothpick through the still wet chocolate to create veins and swirls. Top with white non-pareils. To assemble, tuck the wings into a frosted cupcake and prop them up underneath with a chocolate candy melt.  Insert piped antennas.  Follow similar piping and tracing instructions for the bugs, and add M&M's for body parts...

It's become a tradition - an early doctor's appointment followed by a long lunch.   The restaurant of choice?   The American Girl Bistro, of course! It's a place where a girl can bring her bitty friends, drink out of bitty teacups, have a big or bitty lunch and.... Enjoy really good Birthday Cake Ice Cream! Playing hooky from kindergarten? Priceless.

How cute are these?   I got the idea for these Owl S'mores from Amy at  Living Locurto  and decided I just had to make them for the fourth and fifth grade Friday treat.   Of course, that involved making an entire flock of owls!  Not to worry, however, they are as easy as they look.  I found this free clip art owl and added it to "Wise Owl" tags. I printed the tags on orange cardstock, cut them to size, folded them over and simply stapled them to sandwich bags. WHOO will you surprise with this fun snack?