Weird But True Facts About New York City & Craft Round-Up

 

Disclosure: I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Have you been to New York City? I have several times and have taken Hazel a couple of times. I have a good childhood friend who lives outside of the city so she takes Hazel and me in when we want to go. My nephew just moved there. It has been his dream to live there. He is hoping to establish residency and attend City College at the resident rate. While he is exploring the city and finding his way, I jumped at the chance to review National Geographic Kids newest edition in their Weird But True! Series. This one is Weird But True! New York City. It is recommended for ages 8 to 10, however it will be in my 19-year-old nephew's stocking this year!

Ways to Use a World Atlas in Different Lessons

Disclosure: I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

How do you use a world atlas? Do you use it when you are teaching/learning geography? Are there other ways to use it? Today I am sharing with you the 6th Edition of National Geographic Kids World Atlas. And I am going to share ideas of different ways to use it in different types of lessons. They are not all social studies either! The World Atlas is recommended for ages 10 and older. 

Autumn Crafts - Leaf Embroidery & Autumn Fairy

 

I haven't been crafting much lately. Every once in awhile I work on a diamond painting, but otherwise life has been busy. Awhile ago I saw beautiful embroidered leaves on a Facebook ad similar to these.  I thought that was so neat and wanted to try it. I went out and gathered leaves, wiped them and left them to dry, but didn't get around to them until they were really dry. However I decided to try them out. I did some research and found a few places that give directions including one for kids. 

Losing a Beloved Pet -- RIP Pumpkin Girl

 

Today my heart is heavy and my home is a bit emptier. Last night Steve and I had to make the difficult decision to put our sweet Pumpkin girl down. We noticed she was losing weight and not eating or drinking water like she usually did. She also had changed her spot to spend most of the day. She wasn't being her normal self. I moved her vet appointment up a week because we were growing increasingly worried. She was due for a well visit next week. When our vet saw her she knew something was wrong. After a quick examination she told us she needed to get an x-ray, bloodwork and some liquids into her. She was very dehydrated. She asked us to give her about 20 minutes. We sat on the porch of the vet clinic and waited. When she got all the results she called us in and brought Pumpkin to us. She was fighting tears as she told us that Pumpkin definitely had cancer. She had liquid in her chest and abdomen. We had two options. Take her to a vet hospital ER and let them try to remove the liquid and start chemotherapy or put her down. We couldn't imagine having our sweet Pumpkin girl spend nights in a cage away from us while the poked and examined her, so our decision was clear. It broke our hearts to say goodbye. 

Book of Haikus about a Japanese Poet

 

Disclosure: I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Today we are talking about haikus. I love a good haiku and love that they are relatively easy to write. A haiku is a simple three-line poem that usually follow a syllable rule (five syllables in the first line, seven in the second and five in the third). They started in Japan and are often about nature. Today I am sharing a new book (released today) about a Japanese poet, Matsuo Basho, and his journeys. Basho is generally known for making haikus a poetry genre. He lived in 1644-1694. After suffering some personal tragedy he went out on five long journeys which he recorded in travelogues. This book is about his journeys based from his travelogues. It is Basho's Haiku Journeys by Freeman Ng and illustrated by Cassandra Rockwood Ghanem.