Even Cleverbot knows the Truth.

Jazz's first conversation with Cleverbot went as follows:

!!!!!!!

Remembering Jim Henson

My kids and I were privileged to experience Jim Henson's Fantastic World at the National Heritage Museum in Lexington, MA in the spring of 2010.  There were several short films available to view within the exhibit, and this one was one of our favorites.



For more to watch, check out The Jim Henson Company on YouTube.

Happy birthday to a much missed genius!

Five questions, in which I play a round of tag.

Alex at Canadian Home Learning tagged me, let's see now, three weeks ago!  Yikes.  Evidently there is a black hole in my house that is sucking all the time into it.  Not to mention socks.  And my sanity.  If only The Doctor was here to save me.


Anyhoo, the game goes something like this--another blogger tags you with a number of questions to answer.  You write up a post answering them and tag another set of bloggers to answer a new set of questions you've made up.  Both Alex and Barb (Harmony Art Mom) used five questions, so I'm going to go ahead and see if I can come up with that number, as well.


Here are Alex's questions (centered around the theme of "favorites"), and my answers--


1. I have been looking for some simple but interesting halloween crafts/decorations, what is your favourite one to do with your children? please include a link if you have one. 
It's a good thing I didn't wait too much longer to answer!  Hmm.  I'm not the most crafty of people and have been wanting to try the shrunken apple heads my friend Lynne did a year or so ago, but if we're talking Halloween crafts the kids and I have actually done together, I'd guess I'd say salt dough ghosts like these.
  
2. What is your favourite way to spend a rainy day with your children?
Cozying up on the sofa, reading (aloud or separately) and watching movies.   If I can tie in an enjoyable movie to something we're studying, that's nearing perfection for me.


3. What is your favourite fall food? 
Apples, apples, and apples.  Apple pie, apple crisp, apple-carrot-ginger juice, mulled cider, or just plain, raw, in-their-own-skin apples.  Though that pumpkin spice latte at the corner coffee shop is awfully tasty, too.  I'm working on creating my own non-dairy version at home, but without success as of yet.
  
4. What is your current favourite read aloud book?
That's a tough one.  We did just finish up The Phantom Tollbooth, narrated by David Hyde Pierce, and it was excellent.  If I had to pick one that *I* enjoyed reading aloud the most, I think it would be Charlotte's Web.  Our current read-aloud is The Master Puppeteer by Katherine Paterson, but we're not far into it enough to know whether or not it will be a favorite.


5. Last one just for Mom..what is your favourite novel? 
That's an easy one.  Pride and Prejudice wins, every time.  And it was even my favorite before Colin Firth was Mr. Darcy.

Now on to the most difficult part of the assignment game: coming up with my own questions!

1. What book from your childhood do you remember the most, and why?
2. What type of music do you enjoy the most?  Please include examples!
3. What subject do you find most challenging (to teach or to learn)?
4. What is your favorite hot drink?  Bonus points for including the recipe!
5. About what new book, movie, or tv series do you want to let others know?


And now for the tagees, in reverse alphabetical order, as that is how my brain is working these days:

Suji at Funschooling
Sheila at Greenridge Chronicles 
Renee at Days with My Daughter
Lynne at 3-Ring-Binder
Cori at Wonder in the Woods


Have fun!

Books as birthday gifts for kids

I love giving books as gifts, but every once in a while I'll find a combination book/toy gift that is a real winner; for example, a set of pentominoes with Chasing Vermeer, by Blue Balliett (Jazz and I have loved all three of her books that have been published so far and are anxiously awaiting a new one from her).

Here is my latest favorite combo, and it was a big hit with JaneG. just last week:

The gift was Grace Lin's Where the Mountain Meets the Moon and Douglas Toys' red dragon.  JaneG. will sit with both book and dragon in her lap and is currently devouring the story.

Happy 4th of July!

To go on my "mad money" list

Just in case you don't read Cyrillic, the composers are, left to right, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, Rubinstein, Mussorgsky, and Scriabin.