Happy Family Times #23--Birthday Party

Have you done something with your family this week? Come share it with me and Kelly from Happy Whimsical Hearts! Each week we collect the different activities we do with our families in hopes to inspire each other to have more quality family time! Please share yours below!

This week we went to a friend's birthday party. He turned three! He is the son of our hairdresser. We really enjoyed this party. They had a blow up water slide, a bouncy house, a castle slide and swords and shields for all the kids plus knight hats for the boys and princess hats for the girls. It was a castle themed party which is what the birthday boy asked for. I had not brought Hazel's swimsuit even though the invitation said to, because when I got my haircut a week ago, I was told they were unable to get the water slide. A lot happens in a week. We let her go in with just her regular clothes and we borrowed a towel. She had a great time.

When we first arrived most of the kids were playing in the water. Hazel could not wait to join them. It took her a bit to climb up. Steve went over to help the first few times. I went after that and taught her how to do it. Then she was successful by herself. She loved being in the water! Look at how wet she is. It took forever for her shorts to dry, but she loved it.

After eating some great food, the princess and knight clothes were passed out. I got Hazel to dress up but then she wanted to go back in the castle without any of her tools. Unfortunately by that point all the kids were having sword fights in the small castle, so she didn't last long in there. We headed over to the bouncy house.

She had a great time in the bouncy house. The other kids came and joined her as well. For the most part we stayed over here. Then the lollipops got passed along. Our friend made Jolly Ranger Lollipops. All she did was put jolly rangers in the oven for 5 minutes at 250 degrees. When they melt stick lollipop sticks in them and put them in the fridge until they harden. Everyone seemed to love them including Hazel.

Then Hazel got interested in her sword again. It started with me. I held her shield and she would try to hit it with the sword. Then I got Steve to play with her so I could get a picture. We got to bring one of the extra swords home so we can have sword fights. Oh, and we got a knight's helmet for Hazel as well.

Then it was time for cake. Our friend does not usually bake cakes, but she saw a castle kit at AC Moore. So here is her castle cake. (She is saving all the plastic pieces for me since we are doing a princess theme this year!)

Isn't it adorable? It was quite tasty too. Then for a favor she had her aunt make chocolate lollipop castles. These are so cute as well!

Now it is your turn to share how your family has spent some quality time lately.

~ please link up (family time oriented giveaways are ok, but please no Etsy shops)
~just crafts will be deleted since this is to share family times ~ use our button so others can join the fun

Button Code:

<a href="http://craftymomsshare.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g424/cpericola/HappyFamily-003-1.jpg" /></a>

~ we'd love for you to follow us Crafty Moms Share and Happy Whimsical Hearts
~ check out our Happy Family Times Pinterest board where we will be pinning some of our favorite ideas

Ok, now for our PARTY!! Please share your FUN Family Times!!

Multicultural Monday--Princess Grace

You can still enter to win a copy of My Garden by Kevin Henkes (the August author for the Virtual Book Club for Kids), but hurry!! Time is running out!

Sharing Saturday is also still open for you to share your child-oriented crafts and activities, or stop by just to be inspired!

It feels like it has been awhile since I have had a Multicultural Monday post. Today I would like to share a wonderful book that Hazel chose from the library awhile ago.

Princess Grace by Mary Hoffman is apparently another book in a series of them. Grace is a young girl who loves the idea of being a princess. When an opportunity arises to be a princess on a float in a parade, Grace asks her grandmother to make her a dress (before she knows whether she is chosen). Her grandmother asks her what she would like the dress to look like and what princesses do all day. After some help from her teacher Grace and her class discover princesses like Princess Amina of Zaria, Princess Pingyang of China, Princess Anastasia of Montenegro, and Princess Noor Anayat Khan. To the entire class these princesses sound much more exciting than the storybook princess they knew. I mean warriors, spies and more--true adventure.

Now, I know I did not know anything about most of these princesses, so I did a little research on-line for you. I have to say I love that it introduces our children to a different breed of princess than the ones that wear ball gowns all the time and drink tea. Now mind you, Hazel saw the cover and picked this book because of the ball gown and tiara Grace is wearing on the cover. However we both enjoyed reading it and learning more about real life princesses.

Source

Princess Amina of Zaria (now a province in Nigeria). Her mother Queen Bakwa Turunku built the capital  Zazzau at Zaria (named for her youngest daughter) in the sixteenth century. Princess Amina was her oldest daughter and apparently inherited her mother's warlike nature. Princess Amina is credited to have created the strong earthen fortification walls around the city and the captured cities. It is said she made war on cities until her kingdom reached the sea in the south and the west. Source

Source

Princess Pingyang of China also was a great war hero. In 617 her father Li Yuan had decided to attack the emperor who had imprisoned him. He sent word to his daughter and her husband, Chai to come to a safe place. Chai worried that it would not be easy for them to travel safely together. Pingyang insisted he go first since it would be easier for a woman to hide than a man. She stayed on and eventually distributed her wealth to the needy which bought their support for her father's cause. Basically she began her own army with the people she helped. Others offered them food and drink when they saw them since they viewed them as a group that would save them.  Eventually she and Chai set up separate headquarters as generals and her army became known as "the army of the lady." Eventually the emperor yielded his throne to Li Yuan and he made Pingyang a princess and bestowed much honor upon her, much more than his other eighteen daughters. When she died she was given a military funeral. Source

Source

Princess Anastasia of Montenegro is the only one of which I had previously heard. She was born a Russianprincess however when the last czar was thrown out of Russia, her family had to flee the country for safety. She and her second husband briefly stayed in Italy with her sister who was queen there and then left for France where they lived the remainder of their lives. Source

Source

Princess Noor Anayat Khan was the great-great-great-granddaughter of Tipu Sultan, the Muslim ruler of Mysore. She eventually becomes a spy for the British Army during World War II. She was the first female radio operator sent into Nazi-occupied France. Since her family had moved between France and Britain during her life she spoke both English and French fluently and this was extremely helpful in becoming a spy in a time when most women would not be considered. She went against her father's Pacifist beliefs and joined the army to fight the Nazi. She was praised for flawless transmissions. In October she was betrayed and captured. After trying to escape with others she was sent in chains and solitary confinement at Pforzheim Prison in Germany in November 1942. There she was beaten and abused, but she never talked. In September 1944 she was sent to Dachau to be killed.  Source

Another interesting topic brought up in Princess Grace is that many cultures have similar fairy tales. Rhodopis is mentioned. In Princess Grace it is said to be the Egyptian version of Cinderella. With the help of Wikipedia I see it is considered the oldest version of Cinderella. How much fun it would be to compare our versions with versions around the world.

Peach Jam

Have you entered to win My Garden by Kevin Henkes yet? If not, you only have a couple more days to do it!

Sharing Saturday is still open. Stop by to share or to be inspired!

Remember how I posted we went peach and raspberry picking. Well, I ripened the peaches a bit in a paper bag (Hazel was so excited to pick them, she didn't quite get them ripe) and we made jam today. I have to say I am still mad at myself for not bringing my camera to the farm. It took us literally ten minutes at most to pick a peck of peaches! She was so excited to be picking them. We also saw so many animals there and had such a good time, plus they had various play things for kids. Oh, well. Next time.

Today Hazel and I started making the jam. She washed the peaches. Then I sliced them and peeled them. Then she put them in the food processor and finely chopped them.

We needed 4.5 cups of finely chopped peaches for our pectin box. Then she helped me measure the three cups of sugar. Then you take a quarter cup out of the measured sugar and mix it with the pectin. She did this. Then she wanted to take her apron off and go play which was fine. I squeezed the lemon and started boiling the water in the pan I use as a canner (I don't have one).

Then I poured the boiling water over the lids and let it sit. Then it was time to start cooking the jam. I put the peaches in my large sauce pan and added the lemon juice and the pectin-sugar mix and heated this to a rolling boil (where the bubbles do not go away when stirred). Then you add the rest of the sugar and bring it back to a boil. Boil it for exactly one minute and then start ladling into the jars as quickly as you can.

Then you wipe the edges of the jars and cover them with the prepared lids and the screw tops. Then you put them in your pan of boiling water and make sure they are covered by a couple of inches of water (add more boiling water if necessary) and put the cover on and let them boil for ten minutes. Remove and wait for the tops to pop which means they are sealed. If any do not seal properly eat the jam within a week.

I made seven jars with this recipe. I used low sugar pectin so I wouldn't need as much sugar as in some jams. I hope you enjoy it!

Sharing Saturday #34

Crazy Week...Swimming, Sleeping Beauty, Peach and Raspberry Picking, Doll Doctoring...

Have you entered the giveaway yet? I am giving away a copy of My Garden by Kevin Henkes and many of the other blogs hosting this month's Summer Virtual Book Club for Kids are giving away some of his other books. Harper Collins is providing us with the books.

Ever have one of those weeks where you feel like you haven't sat down, but also feel like you haven't done anything. That is me this week. Hazel had her last week of the summer swim lessons. They are redoing the YMCA indoor pool for the next three weeks or so and the next session doesn't start until after that. We also signed her up for a dance class to start in a couple of weeks. My goal is not to overbook her this year.

Tuesday we went to our local McDonalds and she met Sleeping Beauty. We took one of Steve's distant cousins with us who is eleven and Steve's mother met us there.The eleven-year-old loves to play with Hazel and Hazel loves playing with her. 

Wednesday we had her last swim lesson and then we went to the yarn store and then to Connors Farm to pick raspberries and peaches. We were there around lunch time, but the only prepared food they had was ice cream so we had frozen yogurt and raspberries for lunch. Oops! We are going to be making peach jam soon!

Today we were suppose to go to the zoo in Boston with a friend, but due to a stroller in the wrong car we didn't. We were tired and kind of wanting a day at home to sit and enjoy. Of course we went out and ran errands. I bought some knitting needles so I can start on Hazel's Three Little Pig dolls. I bought yarn yesterday for them. Tomorrow we are going to see a musical version of the story. Hazel is so excited!

While at Joann's we decided to look at fabric for Hazel's Halloween costume. She has decided she wants to be Rapunzel. I picked up a pattern last weekend when they were on sale for $1 and we decided to go with cotton instead of satin. I'm hoping she will be able to wear the dress for her birthday party as well since she wants it to be princess themed and thinks all of her dress up clothes are itchy. Though I did get a picture of her today dressed up in one. The expression is due to the itchiness.

Then of course I have been playing doll doctor. I'm making some progress. I haven't sewn on Carrie's hair yet, but at least have it ready to be sewn on. I'm still working on Angel's, but this type takes a long time and a lot of patience. Then I got this book from the library. It is by the person who wrote the pattern for Angel. My mother also made several others of her doll patterns which are in this book. There are also animal patterns including an entire Noah's Ark. I can't wait to try some of them. I bought a used copy off of Amazon and cannot wait to get it. 
What have you been up to this week?