mamaroots

cobwebs in my brain

Happy Halloween everyone!  Yep- still working through those spider fears, decided to become spider woman this year!  It is a day home from work, cleaning out the literal spider webs in the corners, setting up the fake spider webs for tonight, and enjoying the last day in October.

And right on cue the spider webs in my brain caused me to forget to post the end of the month contest last Friday- it was a fun but busy weekend!  But do not fear, the contest is right here.  Leave a comment between now and Wednesday at midnight and you will be entered into a chance to win the November issue of Herbal Roots Zine for Kristine at Luna Farm.  If you have not discovered Herbal Roots yet you will love it!  Kristine does such a wonderful job putting together this wonderful zine that allows you to explore an herb during the month with your kiddos.  It gets them outside, learning about their world, plants, plant medicine, crafts, and storytelling. 

If you have been wondering about walnuts, this is the issue for you!  Our walnuts usually get devoured by our squirrels, but for some reason our walnut crop was a little light this year, so they decided to eat, um I mean help us carve one of our pumpkins this year, I think I might need to give them a lesson next year!

Hope you all have a Happy Halloween today- be sure to leave a comment for the contest today- always a bonus entry for following both myself and Herbal Roots on Facebook.  

mamaroots

herbal roots

If you check out Herbal Roots this week she is hosting a giveway of a Luna Moth that this spider woman did not wrap up and save for dinner later!  I have always wanted to make a luna- they are so beautiful!- Happy Haunting!

monster munch

Went to a sweet little event in a local river town last night called Monster Munch.  Basically strolling through this little historic town sampling some local agri products and getting a chance to visit fun little spots in town.  Just me and my two fellas- such a simple lovely evening.  I loved these local made pretzel rod treats, Silas the carmel apples, and Jasper the blackberry jam!

So in the spirit, here are a couple more monster reading options.  A couple oldies you could definitely involve some jam for a yummy food element.  Make some bread, grab some jam, and have a monster munch and jam!

hungry time

October is coming to an end and we used a lovely after school afternoon to compost the last of the cut flowers and forage from the yard some fall beauty for the mason jars inside.  No silk flowers here, dried weeds will do just fine!

We also took advantage of the afternoon to have an outside snack reading time.  It really can be super impromptu.  A blanket, leftover chicken from dinner last night, and some apple cider and we were transported into a deep dark wood with Gruffalo!

For today's book highlight this is an goodie from the late 90's that has clever rhymes, and a very clever mouse!  It will get you hungry so having a snack near by is not a bad idea!  I remember a sales rep showing me this title years ago in a book catalog and how much he enjoyed the story.  Little did I know back then that this monster loving crew would enjoy the humor with two strapping lads!

On a lark we happen to come across a movie version of this a couple weeks ago at the grocery.  We snagged it up and enjoyed it with some frozen pizzas (yep Chef daddy was out of town).  It has some great voice actors including one of my favorites Helena Bonham Carter.  It is about 40 minutes long and a clever section on how they made the film which the boys found fun to see how many folks enjoyed the book as well.

Good monster read indeed and you can expand it to The Gruffalo's Child if you enjoy the original Gruffalo.

counting to 31

We are counting all things leading up to 31st:  orange and purple, goblins and monsters too!  If you know the song Over in the Meadow you will have a hoot reading/singing this new book with your kiddos- seriously the illustrations make all the monsters, zombies, mummies, etc so darned cute, how could you not sing this song the Halloween!

Happy Saturday, happy singing!

creepy learnin'

So to continue on our lead up to Halloween, I thought it would be some interesting learning time to go and explore a couple cemeteries in town.  Halloween and Day of the Dead take on such different aspect of the dead.  On one hand there is Hallween where we fear the night when it is thought the veil is thin and it is a time of fear and spook.  And on the other hand there is Day of the Dead where it is festive and a time to remember our ancestors who have died.

So with this comparison and getting ready to do both celebrations shortly we went to the oldest cemetery in town, and a small historic cemetery in town.  Using it as a learning tool it was fun to see how the boys approached it.

1- Jasper was not inclined right away to get out of the car, prefering to view from his seat

2- The boys started to notice all these street names on the tombstones

3- They could tell the older from newer parts of the cemetery based on the style and shape of the stones

In college I was fascinated by the art motifs and designs on early American stones.  I spent lots of time walking around and photographing stones.  It was peaceful and grounding at the same time.  In fact Silas was curious why there were benches in the cemetery and we talked about the contemplation of who we are and the folks may want to just come and sit at times.

We also found 2 governors.  Supposidly there is a famous ragtime musician buried in the first cemetery we went too, but we could not find it.  Maybe another trip back.  

The second historic cemetery we were at was much smaller and on what use to be the family farm, now nestled in between apartments and a Waffle House- hmm too bad.  They both enjoyed checking this one out and learning more about our town from this glimpse of some settlers.

So when we settled down for an evening of reading a selection from the Halloween basket, Silas remembered this favorite read with a tombstone at the end.  Pretty fitting and a great combination of book from an old old poem by Mary Howitt in the 1800's that is set to some wonderful illustrations from fantastic Mr. DiTerlizzi (better known for Spiderwick).  Spider and the Fly is indeed a cautionary tale, rhythmical in its reading and always a favorite for us.  There is just something classic in this black and white treat!

Hope you enjoy hearing about our creepy learnin'- here are a few more pics and my old shutter bug finger got the itch again!  I will be making my way back to another historic cemetery on a haunted weekend adventure with my mama and sis.

More book reviews to come . . .oh yes and they are monsters!

ghoulish delights

It probably does not surprise you to hear that this monster loving mama loves Halloween, not the cheese that is entailed in plastic pumpkins and made in china costumes.  Nope- harvest and falling leaves, hot cider and ghost stories, and stories, stories, stories, stories!

So from here until the 31st, my crew and I will be reviewing some of our favorite reads for this time of the year.  Some new, some old, and some vintage.  Sit back and join me with a hot cup of cider won't you?

To start things off- this is a book that is so fun because it is all halloweenie and also combines a food element which is always a fun way to integrate stories and books into you home learning.

Bone Soup is a play on the classic Stone Soup.  We love Finnigan- a portly skeleton that sends the town to fright with his eating stool, his eating spoon, and oh yes his big eating mouth.  I found the illustrations whimsical and ever so slightly strange, afterall how often do you find a fat skeleton?  As you can imagine he is clever in getting the towns witches, monsters, zombies, and mummies to contribute the tasty eyeballs, bat wings, frog legs etc into the soup.

This has become a favorite at our house and a spur for making mock "bone" soup, though you certainly could make up a tasty soup from a good soup bone.  In our case we opted for vege soup and bone bread (yes I did cheat with Pillsbury breadstick dough from the fridge section).  Side note- I did have grilled marrow prepared for me this summer by my chef sis in NYC and it was amazing!  Looked gross but so so tasty!

Warm tummies full of soup, bread and thoughts of Finnigan in our heads started off our week just right! Maybe just one special Finnigan in the shop with a pint size eating spoon!  

llama love

yep- sometimes my job has some llama perks- I hosted a Llama Llama Red Pajama event and read the book I think at least 4 times to some wonderful groups of kiddos, shared some juice and animal crackers and of course the star of the show was Llama!

I never seem to have a shortage of volunteers of people who want to wear the costumes ha!  My boys enjoyed chaperoning the llama around and about!  

In case you are wondering, this fine furry fella is from the book Llama Llama Red Pajama.  I chose the book because it was the Jumpstart Read for the Record title for this October.  I was not familar with Llama Llama, but according to my friends under 3 feet, he is quite adored!

To celebrate here are a couple of my llama picks for you this Thursday from Etsy.

Maybe an adorable print from Holli

and can't help but like this one too from Keep Calm Shop

and then there is just this simple idea from Gnomeacres

maybe one more

Thanks everyone for sharing your snack ideas with us!  I had to mention one more that is a bit of a guilty pleasure- unfrosted but still guilty!

Animal Crackers Animal crackers and cocoa to drink,  That is the finest of suppers I think;  When I'm grown up and can have what I please  I think I shall always insist upon these.  What do YOU choose when you're offered a treat?  When Mother says, 'What would you like best to eat?'  Is it waffles and syrup, or cinnamon toast?  It's cocoa and animals that I love most!  The kitchen's the cosiest place that I know;  The kettle is singing, the stove is aglow,  And there in the twilight, how jolly to see  The cocoa and animals waiting for me.  Daddy and Mother dine later in state,  With Mary to cook for them, Susan to wait;  But they don't have nearly as much fun as I  Who eat in the kitchen with Nurse standing by;  And Daddy once said, he would like to be me  Having cocoa and animals once more for tea. Christopher Morley

 

time for a snack

Snack time is vitally important for my 2 boys after school.  They have been playing and working hard all day long.  Just wanted to share some of our favorites as I usually start to think about what I am going to put in front of their hungry paws each afternoon.

Our five favs are:

*apples and peanut butter

*apples and cheese (local delicous cheese makes a world of difference)

*popcorn with Brags Amino and nutritional yeast

*honey and wheat bread

*homemade ginger tea and shortbreads

How about you- any ideas you want to share with us?

pink is

Pink is really not my favorite color, though I have been liking it more in my older years.  But, pink in October means awareness, sadness, and yes anger at the the ugly thing that is Breast Cancer.  I wanted to take a moment to share a link to a personal story shared through a best friends words.  

Amber- aka Woodmouse- aka Parenting Illustrated with Crappy Pictures (which is totally hillarious and so honest BTW) shares the story of her best friend that is fighting breast cancer- please stop by and read and help if you feel the calling.

My husband's mama is a breast cancer survivor and though I met her towards the end of her treatments, I know if affected her so much and my husband is so glad she is a survivor.

So I made a little piece for the shop- it is Ribbon.  You might wonder why the heck I chose a cat.  Well when I was thinking that I wanted to make an activism piece for the shop I knew I wanted to make the pink scarf, but what animal.  

Having grown up out in the country, well before my baby sister was here for me to witness nursing, I had my outside cats, and as usual on a farm many got pregnant for the toms and then a pack of kittens were in the hay in the barn.  Little bitty I was always enamored with how mama kitty just nursed all those little kittens.  Early on I was aware naturally that mammals had nipples and boobs, breasts, ta-tas- whatever you want to call them for nurtouring and nursing and feeding.  

So in a nutshell, that is how I decided on Ribbon the Cat- a simple part of my past, and well I am a cat person.  Profit from her sale will go to the Susan G. Komen foundation.  Please remember though that this month is not just about wearing pink ribbons; hug your mother, your sister, your friend and check your self out, feel your breasts- I did and it took just a couple minutes to do.