tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-71757473505352765822024-03-13T00:34:54.647-04:00Mamacita Spins The GlobeTouring A New Country Each Month Without Ever Leaving Home.Raina @ Mamacita Spins The Globehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08686405668797883267noreply@blogger.comBlogger119125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7175747350535276582.post-4951189359387004822013-11-04T21:05:00.002-05:002013-11-04T21:05:33.077-05:00Italian Crafts: Blackbirds and The Torre di Pisa. <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The littles and I went to the craft store trying to be inspired by some kind of medium to create some Italian crafts. As some of you may remember, I have a special place in my heart for creating projects using Sculpey, but my kids don't feel the same. They find it too hard to work with. So, when we did our "tour" of Panama, we created <a href="http://mamacitaspinstheglobe.blogspot.com/2012/07/tree-frogs-of-panama.html" target="_blank">little frogs</a> using Crayola Model Magic. I like it because it's still sculpting and they like it because it's much softer and therefore easier to manipulate. So, yes, my friends, we are sculpting again. I would call it an illness, but it's too much fun for that :) </span><div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This time around, I thought it would be fun to try to sculpt the Torre di Pisa (The Tower of Pisa). Aiden thought it would be a great idea to sculpt little black birds, inspired by the story that we read and I posted about <a href="http://mamacitaspinstheglobe.blogspot.com/2013/10/stories-of-italy.html" target="_blank">last time</a>, where the white birds turned black in the chimneys while trying to stay warm. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, here are a few pics from our sculpting adventure. We kept the details simple, I mean.. really... who could reconstruct The Tower of Pisa? </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Aiden working on his Tower.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Eliana adding details to her Tower of Pisa with a toothpick.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Eliana's Torre di Pisa.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My completed Torre di Pisa</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Blackbird making</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Aiden thought his bird should be perched on top of his tower. That is one BIG bird! </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Eliana's Blackbird. Isn't it cute????</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Not surprisingly, the towers leaned quite well on their own and we actually had to lay them down to dry, or they would have tipped over all on their own. Clearly, we are not architects. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While we were sculpting, we talked about The Tower of Pisa and we spent some time on Wikipedia learning some of the details about the structure (I'm sure there will be some questions about it when it comes time for us to have our dinner and our Italy Trivia ;) )</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As we are wrapping up our learning and crafting, we are beginning to think about our Italian dinner and we have also recruited a "Traveling Friend" to be our guest on the blog soon. I hope you'll continue to enjoy these travels with us! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thanks for popping by! </span></div>
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Raina @ Mamacita Spins The Globehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08686405668797883267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7175747350535276582.post-30309441674847813532013-10-24T08:36:00.000-04:002013-10-24T08:36:15.364-04:00Stories of Italy<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When we went to the library a couple of weeks ago to pick up books for our "Tour of Italy", there were two that I was absolutely certain that I wanted to look for. The first being part of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Italy-Cultures-World-Kohen-Winter/dp/0761415009/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1382542373&sr=1-1&keywords=cultures+of+the+world+italy">The Cultures Of The World series</a>. We always borrow books from this collection and they are super informative and really well written for children to be able to understand. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The second, was part of another series that we have borrowed before as well. This series is what I can assume would be called the "Favorite Fairy Tales" series. We borrowed a Favorite Fairy Tales book when we learned about </span><a href="http://mamacitaspinstheglobe.blogspot.com/2012/04/scottish-books-of-culture-and-fairy.html" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Scotland</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> and we really enjoyed reading the tales that have been handed down through generations and modified as time passes. Once we had those two books, we started browsing for other books that would be fun to read and learn more about Italy and it's culture. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I really wanted to start this book review out with some stellar review about <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Favorite-Fairy-Tales-Told-Italy/dp/B0024C0JGC/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1382542314&sr=1-3&keywords=favorite+fairy+tales+told+in+italy">"Favorite Fairy Tales Told In Italy" Retold by Virginia Haviland</a>. My littles and I sat down with the book and snuggled in close to each other under a blanket (really, those moments are the best aren't they???) and opened the book. I started reading the first story and it was a variation of a Cinderella Story. I thought it was interesting because last year, I participated in a "Cinderella Around The World" book review with several other bloggers and I reviewed a <a href="http://mamacitaspinstheglobe.blogspot.com/2012/09/cinderella-around-world-caribbean-book.html">Caribbean Cinderella Story</a>. At that point we did read several of the other Cinderella stories that other bloggers reviewed, so we decided to skip to the next story. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The next story was about a King whose three daughters went missing and as he was so tormented with worry, he asked for help finding his daughters, the reward being one of his daughters' hand in marriage. When I got to that part, my skin began to crawl and then my quick witted Eliana said, "Hey! I don't like that!" "Why not?", I asked. "I wouldn't want someone telling me who I had to marry." (Have I mentioned how much I adore this kid?) So, collectively we agreed to skip that story as well, when the third story we read started out with a man trying to find a missing woman to win the reward of her hand in marriage (yes, this is another story all together), we decided to stop reading the book. So, I apologize that I am unable to offer any real kind of review on that book, though if you're into the fairy tales where a man rescues a woman and her dad forces her to marry the hero, you should check out this book. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After that, I was thrilled to open another book that we found while at the library, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Days-Blackbird-Tomie-dePaola/dp/0142402710/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1382542252&sr=1-1&keywords=Days+of+the+blackbird">Days of The Blackbird by Tomie dePaola</a>. This book is a fictional story based on a true tale that is told in Northern Italy. Aiden was really excited about this book, because at school a couple of years ago, his class learned about Tomie dePaola, so now whenever Aiden sees anything by him, he acts like he is his best friend. BFFs til the end my friends ;)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The tale of the blackbird is that the birds started out white, but when winter came it was so cold that they would hide in the chimneys to stay warm, thus turning black. In Tomie dePaola's story, there is a man who lives with his daughter and they enjoy sitting and listening to the bird songs. Especially that of the white songbird. When the cold weather moves in and the birds start to leave for warmer weather, the father falls very ill and the daughter begs the white bird to stay through the winter so that it may sing to her father help his health. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This story was a delightful story and the father didn't even make the daughter marry the bird after they saved his life, so that made me even happier ;) All in all, I give this book the honor of being my favorite Italy book that we borrowed from the library. Of course, I am still very fond of the Cultures of the World series, but Days of The Blackbird is nice little story that was enjoyed by all three of us. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">***Just in case you missed it, Mamacita Spins The Globe has a new sponsor. Check out <a href="http://buckwheatbabies.com/">Buckwheat Babies</a> cloth diapers.***</span>Raina @ Mamacita Spins The Globehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08686405668797883267noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7175747350535276582.post-33077169747502794942013-10-10T09:37:00.000-04:002013-10-10T09:37:14.155-04:00A New Adventure. A Fresh Start.<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here we are again. Making a fresh start. There are a lot of changes happening here and we are pretty excited to be back to our cultural exploration. Last week we went to the library and picked up some new books to start learning about a new "destination". I know that many of you have been waiting for a new post from me and I apologize for being so absent in the blogosphere. I have missed this immensely. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now, to give you a brief intro intro to some of the new changes happening. Both of my kids have greatly enjoyed learning about the world and all of the various cultures that this wonderful world hosts, but they also have many other interests. I have been trying to figure out a way to work in some of their other interests so that I can continue to share our adventures. One of the things that has been a really big interest for Aiden as he is getting older is that he loves to read. He loves to read about history and he loves science as well. So, I have figured out a way to meet his interests and still keep us in the hands on learning mode, while connecting all of that to our global studies. There will be a full post soon about that, but in the mean time, I hope that you'll be able to sense my optimism and feel as eager to see what's next as we are. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With all of that said, I posted yesterday on my <a href="https://www.facebook.com/MamacitaSpinsTheGlobe">facebook</a> page a picture of some construction paper, announcing that we were making a flag and suggested that people try to guess which country we are focusing on now. Many of you guessed it right, and I got a lot of other guesses that I think I will add to our list for future adventures. If you guessed that the new country is Italy. You were right. We're pretty eager to learn about Italy and I have a few potential aces up my sleeve to make this an exciting tour (though these potential aces could just be jokers and that would be a bummer, so I'm not sharing that yet ;) ). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here is a photo of the littles with the flag. Some flags we have made have been very detailed and time consuming. Italy is not one of them. The flag of Italy was a quick one to make. Since I knew it wouldn't take too long to make, we also read some books about Italy which I will share with you in an upcoming post. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The little bonus here is that my kids actually look like they love each other in this pic (and I didn't have to take 85 shots to get it). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you're still reading my blog, if you have been patiently waiting while I work through some real world stuff, thank you for being here. Thank you for reading. A big thank you to those who have hounded me looking for me to post something new. I hope you all enjoy following along as we embark on yet another new journey. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Raina @ Mamacita Spins The Globehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08686405668797883267noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7175747350535276582.post-23322191938789403842013-01-23T08:31:00.000-05:002013-01-23T08:31:02.877-05:00Bonjour! <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In my last post, I told you that we were back and that we had set our sights on a new country. Now, you get to see which one. In case the title didn't give it away, we are taking a virtual tour of France. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A while ago, I had seen this really cute project on Pinterest that I was really wanting to make with my littles. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">*** This is not my photo. I found it on Pinterest, pinned from <a href="http://ediblecrafts.craftgossip.com/eiffel-tower-cookie-sundae/2010/07/13/">Craft Gossip.com</a> ***</span></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">However, as soon as I told them that France was our next country, Aiden eagerly jumped up and down saying, "Can we build an Eiffel Tower with popsicle sticks?" Since this whole adventure is geared toward giving them experiences that they enjoy, I love when they have ideas of ways to do that. So the sugar wafers will not be brought to our house this time around, instead, we are using some serious hard core building materials. ;) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I forgot what it's like to have Preston around for our craft projects, and as I mentioned in my <a href="http://mamacitaspinstheglobe.blogspot.com/2013/01/were-back.html">last post</a>, he is going to college and his hours are such that he is home a lot more right now. So, I asked him, "What kind of glue do you think would be best for this?" If you know my husband, you know this is a silly question. He immediately starts riffling through his glue supply: super glue, Gorilla Glue, etc. I laughed and reminded him that our littles would be using the glue at the same table that we eat at and he put his glue away. After settling on the "right" glue (tacky glue), we sat down with our materials and a photo of the Eiffel Tower. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Next up was cutting some of the popsicle sticks. I asked Preston to cut them. He started looking for .... wait for it.... a saw! (Are you seeing a pattern here?) I told him that probably my pruning shears from my gardening box would suffice for cutting popsicle sticks. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Aiden started sorting the popsicle sticks (aka craft sticks) into piles of "straight" and "not straight". So that we would be sure to only use ones that were straight. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Believe it or not, constructing The Eiffel Tower with popsicle sticks was harder than we had imagined. We played around the sticks before coming to the conclusion that we needed to create four sides, then attach them to each other. We made sure that we measured them so when we put the four sides together they would line up correctly. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After the glue was dry on our four sides, it was time to put them together. My little El loves to glue, so this was her job. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Putting it together took the grown ups though. The littles couldn't quite get that part. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After it was standing, Eliana added glue to the edges. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The picture below is actually before the glue went on, but I wanted to put this here to share with you that we were planning to leave it like this, but once we saw it standing up, it looked like it was missing the very top part. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After brainstorming some ideas, Aiden and Eliana glued 8 popsicle sticks together and we slid them into the gap at the top.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We might end up painting this black for authenticity, but we haven't decided yet. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What structures have you created with popsicle sticks? Have you built bridges like <a href="http://www.busykidshappymom.org/2013/01/unplugged-play-build-bridge-challenge.html">these fun ones</a> that I found on Pinterest a couple of days ago? Or do you stick to making popsicles with them? </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Of course, I'm also dying to know if your significant other always goes for the "big guns" (or do you?) when tackling a project, or is it just my hubby who goes a bit overboard in this department? </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(For fun facts about The Eiffel Tower, we visited <a href="http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/sciencefacts/engineering/eiffeltower.html">this site</a>, and of course, we checked out what <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eiffel_Tower">Wikipedia</a> had to offer for information as well.)</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">***Don't forget, the highlighted blue words are links :) ***</span><br />
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Raina @ Mamacita Spins The Globehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08686405668797883267noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7175747350535276582.post-40090689421280247612013-01-07T09:06:00.000-05:002013-01-07T09:06:50.086-05:00We're Back! <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Some of you may have noticed that I have been MIA from the blogosphere since October. As I mentioned in my <a href="http://mamacitaspinstheglobe.blogspot.com/2012/10/close-to-home.html">last post</a>, I found myself too busy to keep up with everything. I have been wanting to come here and update you all about what has been going on, but I keep hearing my friend Andrea's words, "You will never be able to have a blog that is ONLY about your world studies." As much as I hate to admit it, I think she may have been right. We were so busy with other bits of our life that we had to hit the pause button on our world "travels", thus leaving me without any blogging content. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I could have told you about how Eliana and I participated in a flash mob, or about how I am now working full time outside of the home and Preston is about to become a full time college student after spending too many years in a profession that he didn't love.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I could tell you that my littles have started swimming lessons and they are doing SO fabulously well that we are dreaming of their future with a local swim team. BUT, I didn't share that with you because it was irrelevant. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs4BWP3u455zxarnbn4USpG1hQc_fyWapFApdBgycTbuyGXOyKx70VWM9cHaedXudzxFGf2rGxAG83b6rYWKqZRkqtzBRLBvmUy_rhSmEnRCHq8sCPuLn3dWZEUH68ezX46ouplrndOvw/s1600/E+swim.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs4BWP3u455zxarnbn4USpG1hQc_fyWapFApdBgycTbuyGXOyKx70VWM9cHaedXudzxFGf2rGxAG83b6rYWKqZRkqtzBRLBvmUy_rhSmEnRCHq8sCPuLn3dWZEUH68ezX46ouplrndOvw/s320/E+swim.jpg" width="238" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That's my Eliana, swimming underwater. </span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5vp1bSD_IsCjhIftOcv9Z6lS8NkhukP30kfcnS9hyphenhyphen9mQQiSQzeZzgbN4zm_4hNS2195eE4uDRB-YZ_IszYlqX4-Pvr4VHsB3W3vYPshi2L7WS3Ur-GXGA36GaWIun4n-li6inCCcPS9c/s1600/A+swim.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5vp1bSD_IsCjhIftOcv9Z6lS8NkhukP30kfcnS9hyphenhyphen9mQQiSQzeZzgbN4zm_4hNS2195eE4uDRB-YZ_IszYlqX4-Pvr4VHsB3W3vYPshi2L7WS3Ur-GXGA36GaWIun4n-li6inCCcPS9c/s320/A+swim.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To add to all of that, the truth is, my littles were not enjoying learning about other countries any more. I tried and tried to figure out why since even though the idea was born out of MY love for travel, THEY ignited the fire with their eagerness to "do this thing". Ultimately, I figured out what went wrong. When we first started our "virtual tours", I was not blogging about it. We would sit and learn organically. We would create fun crafts and I never worried about the outcome. Once I started blogging, I felt this pressure to create perfection in every craft project. I felt like in order to build a solid base of loyal readers, I had to have a strict blogging schedule. I was forcing the projects and learning to fit with my blogging schedule instead of with our real life schedule. One day, after begging and pleading with my kids to smile for "just one more picture", I just stopped. I didn't want to make this an awful experience for them. As much fun as we were having, it was all being tarnished by the "quick, let's recreate that really fun moment that just happened so that I can get a picture for the blog." I decided that I needed to listen to my family and just ... pause. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have really missed our world "tours" and I have missed blogging and believe it or not, my family has missed the experience as well. So I am now coming back to the blogosphere to tell you that our travels are not over. We are not quitting. However, we are not following my self-imposed rules anymore either. We will create projects and I will take pictures and write about it, we will sample foods and include as many real life adventures as we can, but we will do these things on a real life schedule. Sometimes a project will have to get bumped back a day or two because Aiden has to study for a spelling test. Sometimes we'll have to wait on making our snack because my littles feel like learning about the phases of the moon that day, instead of spending time in the kitchen. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What I can say for certain is that when we do some culture explorations, we will share what we're doing and learning with you. I have no idea what my blogging schedule will be, but I can promise that we will be learning on some kind of schedule, and when we do something, I will share it. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To those of you who have hung around waiting and/ or watching for a new post from me, Thank you. Thank you for hanging in there and sticking with me. We're going to do our best to give you some stuff worth looking at. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Oh and... we have selected a new country and we are pretty eager to get going on our journey. See you soon! </span></div>
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Raina @ Mamacita Spins The Globehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08686405668797883267noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7175747350535276582.post-66109966882858612052012-10-08T09:49:00.000-04:002012-10-08T09:49:15.305-04:00Close To Home<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are times of the year when things get pretty busy and trying to juggle things can get nearly impossible. This past weekend was one of those weekends for us. We had to put our St. Lucia activities on hold and we spent most of the weekend at a local Pumpkinfest. You may have a Pumpkinfest near you, and I'm not sure what kind of events take place at yours, but at the Damariscotta Pumpkinfest, there is a parade, children's activities, pumpkin hurling, 180 foot pumpkin drop, and a pumpkin boat regatta. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This boat regatta is pretty impressive! People hollow out big pumpkins and turn them into boats. They then race these boats in the cold cold water (seriously, it's cold!). Some have motors, some use paddles. All in all it is incredibly entertaining to watch. Sadly, this year we had to miss the race, as we had other commitments around town. But, </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I found this video on Youtube from the 2011 Regatta, it's pretty long, but if you watch just a few minutes of it, you'll get the idea of the silliness of it all. Though I should add, some of these racers take it very seriously. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In addition to those events, there are giant pumpkins lining the streets in front of local businesses. They are decorated by local artists. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Some are cute, some are pretty, some are funny and some are scary, but they are all impressive. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDCpwpZS52OfGlRUDjkUc9-kokUscHTefKQJuV7ZQDK9UCRXsdsmGmnVWeoYHuO7_JkO9ZZOGiCLGJvL39hRIri8fGT5HgadFLMAn1949DL3AMNbn8qVeQ7tsxmEEgXtzaSYwnvnbb3VQ/s1600/Pug+pumpkin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDCpwpZS52OfGlRUDjkUc9-kokUscHTefKQJuV7ZQDK9UCRXsdsmGmnVWeoYHuO7_JkO9ZZOGiCLGJvL39hRIri8fGT5HgadFLMAn1949DL3AMNbn8qVeQ7tsxmEEgXtzaSYwnvnbb3VQ/s320/Pug+pumpkin.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There's this cute little (big) pug. </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKgb8UpuzJleY09ivT_3s7eyY47CO5HelTYyOeLwFguKHXzKmXBoV_ZDRhxlJv1JaEls0S_cJsKiTWc01A-V9OXjxwHGCwDqbK8pKmFFEHm3OomssPB6YOPrXLJ_JZLpKiO52GS7VJSnI/s1600/Big+bad+wolf+pumpkin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKgb8UpuzJleY09ivT_3s7eyY47CO5HelTYyOeLwFguKHXzKmXBoV_ZDRhxlJv1JaEls0S_cJsKiTWc01A-V9OXjxwHGCwDqbK8pKmFFEHm3OomssPB6YOPrXLJ_JZLpKiO52GS7VJSnI/s320/Big+bad+wolf+pumpkin.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This really bad, big bad wolf (notice the bit of red in his teeth). </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDJxbJrzKuEAahC5NXZJe5eTk3h6K5A1X2b223J2w5Vk7F8eLHa297mGjta9j50USZIh8aivOAB5IJuKEQ7jUZPlan_qdOz9i4WnlbmlbGN4hM7O6600FG9Vr8ic4N9Er1Z5o1t4qpTUo/s1600/Eider's+Pumpkin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDJxbJrzKuEAahC5NXZJe5eTk3h6K5A1X2b223J2w5Vk7F8eLHa297mGjta9j50USZIh8aivOAB5IJuKEQ7jUZPlan_qdOz9i4WnlbmlbGN4hM7O6600FG9Vr8ic4N9Er1Z5o1t4qpTUo/s320/Eider's+Pumpkin.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then there is this guy. He sits in front of one of our favorite Damariscotta restaurants, <a href="http://kingeiderspub.com/">King Eider's Pub</a>, where we enjoyed several meals this weekend. </span></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The big event for us this year was The Pumpkin Derby. My littles each made a little pumpkin "car" to join in the fun and race down a hill. The rules are limited, but they must not weigh more than 20 pounds and they can be decorated however you choose, as long as the kids decorate them themselves. I'm sure you can imagine how fun this is for kids. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This year, Aiden was inspired by Star Trek and made his with a Star Trek Enterprise on top. The pumpkin itself was painted to look like a black night sky with stars. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Eliana painted hers with pinks, blues, a little yellow and a nice magenta toucan on it (she insists that you MUST see her toucan before moving on). </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5QiBdQOK3quZeQgsEIwDDPRY5YFXO3szlS6Ph5a4gcyMCaG9U3Wo2rdIqecDP34L_WkEBUHp0LClrVMH1lc219KZ-qCZmb1dDC_Qe6LigOtgUre9Mudf9QxaJ_U6OuM9fIhYjt4bORnA/s1600/IMG_5613.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5QiBdQOK3quZeQgsEIwDDPRY5YFXO3szlS6Ph5a4gcyMCaG9U3Wo2rdIqecDP34L_WkEBUHp0LClrVMH1lc219KZ-qCZmb1dDC_Qe6LigOtgUre9Mudf9QxaJ_U6OuM9fIhYjt4bORnA/s320/IMG_5613.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We got up bright and early and headed to Damariscotta for registration and weigh in. Aiden's weighed 17 pounds, Eliana's weighed 14 pounds. PHEW, no dis-qualifiers! </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now the fun can begin. Here they are at the starting line. El is on the left and Aiden is in the middle. (Preston can be spotted in his orange hoodie walking away from the starting line, with his coffee in hand.) </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And they're off! </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When these three pumpkins stopped, Aiden's was the farthest out, but if you revisit the picture above, you can see that the little guy on right had a headless horseman on his pumpkin and the pumpkin did a nose dive, so it didn't go a qualifying distance, so they had to do a re-start. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This time around, you can see Aiden's pumpkin veering off to take out the competition (sorry kid, I promise it was an accident) and Eliana's is racing. Though her pumpkin only made it a few feet off of the ramp, she won this race. Aiden was so proud of his sister and Eliana just wanted to eat her croissant that we had bought her for breakfast. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Eliana gearing up for the first semi-final race. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yes! She won the first of the semi-final races! You can see the competition rolling over and Eliana's, again veers off the track only a few feet away from the ramp, but it's enough to make her the winner of this round. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When we told Eliana that she had to go race again, she said, "Aww man." Still thinking about her uneaten croissant. When we saw who her competition was this time around, we knew this would be the end of it for her because the competing pumpkin made it to the bottom of the hill in every prior race and Eliana's only made it 5 feet at most. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Somehow, this pink and blue toucan pumpkin was like a hustler in a game of pool, this time around, it went straight as can be and made it all the way down the hill, leaving the "deer pumpkin" in the dust. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With one only one more race left to the semi-finals, Eliana's pumpkin was racing two other pumpkins for chance to move on to the finals. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This time around, the gold pumpkin in the middle went the distance and Eliana's didn't win. It was a fun adventure, but since at this point Eliana was hoping that it would end, we were happy to be able to hand her breakfast and let her enjoy the moment of glory, of finally being able to lose a round. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I know that it probably seems like we were holding her breakfast for ransom, but really, things just kept moving so quickly, we thought she'd have time to eat in between heats, but since she kept winning (which again, we hadn't really anticipated since there were some pretty serious pumpkin racers there), we kept having to take her food away and send her back to the starting line. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Be sure to check out the <a href="http://damariscottapumpkinfest.com/index.html">Damariscotta Pumpkinfest website</a> to see more photos of the pumpkins and activities. I have no doubt that there will soon be a video of this years pumpkin boat regatta there as well. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We're working on our script for <a href="http://mamacitaspinstheglobe.blogspot.com/2012/10/skittle-skittle-skittle.html">our skits</a> and still trying to <s>agree on</s> decide how many props are really necessary. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What did you do over the weekend? Did you enjoy any pumpkin activities? How about make your kids work for their breakfast ;) ? Did you work on preparing your house for winter? Or maybe you took a much needed break? </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Raina @ Mamacita Spins The Globehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08686405668797883267noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7175747350535276582.post-20146489240918847412012-10-04T08:38:00.000-04:002012-10-04T08:38:25.143-04:00Skittle Skittle Skittle<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I may live to regret this, or I may not live long enough to regret it, but we are about to do something entirely new. There is one aspect of this global tour that I have avoided with great care. One thing that my Aiden has been asking for since our very first country. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Aiden thinks it would be fantastic to do a play. Yes, a play. Now, I know that many of you probably think it sounds great, but here's the thing: I know nothing about writing a play, organizing a cast (yes, he wants to invite friends to join) or putting together a set design, we have a little house that won't easily accommodate a "crew" or an audience when they are ready to perform. Because of these reservations, I have not agreed to do a play. For a good long stretch, Aiden would ask me each month, "Can we do a play this month?" and every single month, I said, "Not this time buddy." Eventually, he stopped asking. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This month, while reading about the history of St. Lucia, I read (many times) that there is little known about the history of St. Lucia, but what is known sounds fantastic! We're talking an Amerindian race that liked to wear beads and feathers, Caribs who overpowered them. Pirates! A good old ridiculously long war. Then finally much later, independence at the hand of a man who was referred to as Ti Jesi (Little Jesus) or Ti Hache (the small axe). This little bit of history really has all things that appeal to a little. Well, really Pirates are all we needed ;) </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, with a great reluctance, I decided that I would "spring the news on Aiden" that this month we were going to do, "a play of sorts". I told him that we would do a series of small skits. This feels more manageable to me and won't require a big set and costume design department. He was thrilled and is already talking about props, cast, crew members and writing the script. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While I read to Aiden and Eliana about the history of St. Lucia, Aiden took notes. </span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjXD55r2tgg3DIdsWjm66ioVT1IQm_h76BIQ3WBLwSGB6-H9EJadqxK34vkOnoTUUfxXWNAGv4IHpa7fEqtMCxt88lQSgatkAfJKLT9OAo2XiAHtalT-AZMc5T3AYqvVfsRCZIp3PP1BA/s1600/IMG_5603.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjXD55r2tgg3DIdsWjm66ioVT1IQm_h76BIQ3WBLwSGB6-H9EJadqxK34vkOnoTUUfxXWNAGv4IHpa7fEqtMCxt88lQSgatkAfJKLT9OAo2XiAHtalT-AZMc5T3AYqvVfsRCZIp3PP1BA/s320/IMG_5603.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Butefl rainforists (Beautiful rain forests), Arawaks, caribs, king= caciques, 16 cent, base for pitrits (pirates), attak puerto rico (attack)</span></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">From those notes, we made another list of how we'd break it down. There are going to be 4 skits and each one will represent a part of St. Lucia's history. I'm not sure exactly at this point how it is all going to come together, but follow along and see what happens. You'll either be delightfully inspired by our brilliance, or delightfully entertained by our failure. Either way, it should be delightful! </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you happen to be one of our neighbors and would like to be involved, or have your little be involved in this project, let me know. Aiden has big plans of involving the neighborhood on this one. (Oh, and if you have a big space for putting on a show, can we do this at your house? ;)) </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Raina @ Mamacita Spins The Globehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08686405668797883267noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7175747350535276582.post-77158870244857913332012-10-01T08:14:00.000-04:002012-10-01T08:14:34.850-04:00St. Lucia Side Dish<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">OK, so finding the right title for this post wasn't easy. Usually after our craft, we make a snack that is from the country that we are currently learning about. St. Lucia is a hard one to pin point, plenty of recipes from The Caribbean, not so many that specify where in The Caribbean. At any rate, we woke up Sunday morning to a cold and dark rainy day. My first thought was that I didn't even want to get out of bed, but my next was, let's heat this house up with some cooking. On a day like this, the only real option for a food that will soothe the chills, is soup. I found a recipe that looked delicious, but was not from St. Lucia. So, I searched for a nice yummy bread to go with our soup. So, calling it a snack is a bit of a stretch, though they could easily be snacks as well. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What I found was "Hot Bakes". I put that in quotation marks because when I think of something that has the word bake in the title I assume that it is baked. In this case, these little breads are fried. There was no picture to accompany the recipe, so I'm not sure what size they were supposed to be, but I decided it would be nice for us to have some individual little breads to dip in our soup. I also used a mix of whole wheat and all purpose flour, so they started out golden brown, instead of turning golden brown when they were done. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I served up our dinner and stuck the little hot bake right in the soup. They were super yummy little breads. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLLky6IZRTCDcdE9HtplPGJ5aM7uPvPfQiTDHi8AnuOxeDMoyW50L9Ln4EkRdHbRMHyspiejiKz-pV55X8gGJw4pKW5lpOx_beEB8cmY4KDgUGyPv7ktg13LUxhOn2vlyH16KjlchyphenhyphenBzQ/s1600/IMG_5576.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLLky6IZRTCDcdE9HtplPGJ5aM7uPvPfQiTDHi8AnuOxeDMoyW50L9Ln4EkRdHbRMHyspiejiKz-pV55X8gGJw4pKW5lpOx_beEB8cmY4KDgUGyPv7ktg13LUxhOn2vlyH16KjlchyphenhyphenBzQ/s320/IMG_5576.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My littles agreed. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The recipe for the St Lucia Hot Bakes is <a href="http://bizzz.com/caribbeanrecipes/st-lucia-hot-bakes/">here</a>. And even though the soup isn't a St. Lucia recipe, if you are inclined to give it a shot. It is honey roasted parsnip soup and it is oh so delicious! You can find that recipe <a href="http://amuse-your-bouche.blogspot.com/2012/02/honey-roasted-parsnip-soup.html#">here</a>.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What did you do over the weekend? Did you sample any new foods? Was it cold and wet where you are, maybe you just stayed in bed? </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Raina @ Mamacita Spins The Globehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08686405668797883267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7175747350535276582.post-78642283144091116472012-09-27T09:07:00.000-04:002012-09-27T09:07:04.182-04:00Animals of St. Lucia Art Project<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhclasgjHlaWYELrY6BwKalYINNtCspqBf_dxDpNHjv9PScqUVEtLYq6A6_9BQG1I0VgP3lnirknqrhrQlFx0yZDaD_SOGGxL5FPWaoCyP8ulPDqTadTwAZmnjhkPmBq673zLWzADpqXZU/s1600/Animals+of+St.+Lucia.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhclasgjHlaWYELrY6BwKalYINNtCspqBf_dxDpNHjv9PScqUVEtLYq6A6_9BQG1I0VgP3lnirknqrhrQlFx0yZDaD_SOGGxL5FPWaoCyP8ulPDqTadTwAZmnjhkPmBq673zLWzADpqXZU/s400/Animals+of+St.+Lucia.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A few months ago we (my dad and Preston) built a new deck off the back of our house and when the mess was being cleaned up I saved a few wooden blocks out for a future project. Though I had no idea of what the project might be, they were nice enough pieces of wood that I felt they'd be used. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When my littles and I were trying to decide what kind of project we might do that featured animals of St. Lucia, I was thrilled to remember that we had these blocks of wood and since my littles love to paint, it seemed like a great idea to paint these blocks of wood. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We gathered up our supplies and each of us selected an animal that we wanted to paint.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Eliana was conflicted about whether to paint a sea turtle or a lizard, but she settled on a lizard. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhnFa-ElvEdn-n4OyV8AZKWnpJMBWSz140WvntmVNQru_ogiVjkETmYNQOXQbYQBBVFfvXL4xDZ42pDBAHhNJvMKhxpH_42gdBJm4S_GgBXcos5D9MffVXaFkxWg-AskqUnW-GI79l3HY/s1600/IMG_5548.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhnFa-ElvEdn-n4OyV8AZKWnpJMBWSz140WvntmVNQru_ogiVjkETmYNQOXQbYQBBVFfvXL4xDZ42pDBAHhNJvMKhxpH_42gdBJm4S_GgBXcos5D9MffVXaFkxWg-AskqUnW-GI79l3HY/s320/IMG_5548.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Aiden has had a fascination with snakes for a while now, so I wasn't surprised that he chose to paint a St. Lucia racer. The St. Lucia racer is a snake that was considered extinct until the 1970s when someone discovered one. It has been called the rarest snake in the world and it is believed that there are only 18 of them in existence (though some reports say as many as 100) and all of them are on the island of St. Lucia. The St. Lucia racer is no where near as dangerous as the snakes that Aiden is obsessed with these days (ie: King Cobra), as it is a gentle snake, but it's a snake none the less and Aiden wanted to paint it. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfbQU29gcumP0MRgRkDrOmVHcHCIHOpv7b_Nzdqi3KV335Ed0Fy3DMrVxyDL-Z21YfFLo0aCfMXpQubGnL7fsvb3ocsmo0wtG4gndBB9McIxoz0PsyInoyYpy4HRbLAe90xLGKTy2nxIw/s1600/IMG_5546.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfbQU29gcumP0MRgRkDrOmVHcHCIHOpv7b_Nzdqi3KV335Ed0Fy3DMrVxyDL-Z21YfFLo0aCfMXpQubGnL7fsvb3ocsmo0wtG4gndBB9McIxoz0PsyInoyYpy4HRbLAe90xLGKTy2nxIw/s320/IMG_5546.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Aiden is using the hair dryer to speed up the drying process (he takes after with me his lack of patience).</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Clearly he's pretty hard core about his art. Paint on the face is nothing to bat an eyelash at. </span></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When we were done, we had some colorful paintings and a minor mess to clean up. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Eliana with her lizard. See it? It's the blue part on the right. The spot of green on the left corner is a banana cluster, which is the biggest export of St. Lucia and considered to be "Green Gold". </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Aiden with his St. Lucia racer. </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh6lit4De3dt-Q8Cd7MBojGrXyorPfDiTIFk3I4qp6FZfhEpbLyMiSU435hK6CAIG8H2ev2UiMVxGHpETQjxvQeEyjg0gUv-2fQtezc3x_u6Yiz1KdLMiWr9iWyBxEcmXcxivOKE5XK3U/s1600/IMG_5557.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh6lit4De3dt-Q8Cd7MBojGrXyorPfDiTIFk3I4qp6FZfhEpbLyMiSU435hK6CAIG8H2ev2UiMVxGHpETQjxvQeEyjg0gUv-2fQtezc3x_u6Yiz1KdLMiWr9iWyBxEcmXcxivOKE5XK3U/s320/IMG_5557.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My St. Lucia Parrot with some green bananas as well. (I know, it may be time for me to head back to art school for a crash course or two).<br /></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Have you done any painting projects with your littles lately? How about used some scrap of wood (or other material) that was left over from a project? </span></div>
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Raina @ Mamacita Spins The Globehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08686405668797883267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7175747350535276582.post-44149341736701614232012-09-24T09:22:00.000-04:002012-10-12T09:09:16.120-04:00Cinderella Around The World: Caribbean Book Review<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A few weeks a go I received an email from Becky over at <a href="http://kidworldcitizen.org/">Kid World Citizen</a>. She was organizing a group of bloggers to review different Cinderella stories from around the world. She included me in the invitation to join in the fun. I was thrilled to receive an invite for this project, but admittedly I was reluctant at first for a couple of reasons. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">First of all, I'm not a big fan of Cinderella stories. My littles have not read the books or seen the movies of the Disney produced princess stories because I am one of those moms who doesn't want to teach my daughter that she needs a prince to rescue her, or teach my son that it is his job to rescue a woman (yes, I was one of the people who eagerly awaited the release of Brave, since it was the first princess story, besides Tangled, where the princess did not need or want someone to rescue her). Of course, they are familiar with the stories because we don't live under a rock and the Disney princesses are everywhere. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The second reason that I was reluctant was because I wasn't sure how it would fit into our own world explorations. In the end I decided that it would be cool for all of us to see how these stories are told around the world and somehow we would make it fit. I knew that we were going to be learning about St. Lucia next so when Becky sent out a list of suggestions, I was thrilled to see that there was one that originates in The West Indies, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Cendrillon-Cinderella-Robert-San-Souci/dp/0689848889/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1348445768&sr=1-1&keywords=cendrillon+a+caribbean+cinderella">Cendrillon: A Caribbean Cinderella By Robert D. San Souci.</a> </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixZOFpkLRPF8IWchmdQUO_7CZbkO7rk-nKj8n5xu3xkEmIai5p2-8S7NqRReKnl4Ag48bbDyMDBFSrQyiniWq_EQROR8vMxZhMIs-C8tAWGcNvl-Tr7_8MrjM42SSI2PA8OuTf8JRY37Y/s1600/Caribbean+Cinderella+Story.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixZOFpkLRPF8IWchmdQUO_7CZbkO7rk-nKj8n5xu3xkEmIai5p2-8S7NqRReKnl4Ag48bbDyMDBFSrQyiniWq_EQROR8vMxZhMIs-C8tAWGcNvl-Tr7_8MrjM42SSI2PA8OuTf8JRY37Y/s320/Caribbean+Cinderella+Story.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The book is spotted with some French Creole (thank goodness for the glossary in the back) and all of the characters have brown hair and brown skin. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This Cinderella story is similar in many ways to the well known Disney version, but it is also different. There is a young girl (Cendrillon) whose step mother is cruel and forces her to work like a servant. Her godmother though, is not a fairy, but a real woman who possesses a magic wand. The story is also narrated by the godmother. When Cendrillon comes to her to tell her of the ball that she is not allowed to attend, she tells of the ball. It is a party for a man named Paul and "He is so handsome and well spoken, he's like a prince. Yet he is kind." (p.9) </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On the night of the ball, the godmother waves her wand and changes a breadfruit into a coach, and agoutis, lizards and a manicou become horses, footmen and coachman. Then the godmother waves her wand and Cendrillon is wearing a blue velvet dress and beautiful jewels, along with pink embroidered slippers. The godmother also waves the wand on herself and is adorned in a "fine red dress" so that she may chaperone Cendrillon. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The rest of the story is pretty parallel to the Cinderella story that most of us know, they go to the ball, they leave in a hurry when the clock strikes midnight and get away just before they are returned to their servant clothes and the animals that had been horses, footmen and a coachman, scurry away. When prince-like (but kind) Paul goes about the next day looking for the beautiful young woman that he had danced with the night before, Cendrillon's step mother tries to squeeze her daughter's foot in while lying that there is no other young woman in the home. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The godmother waves her wand and makes Cendrillon look as she did the night before and Cendrillon tells her, "no" because she felt that the only reason that Paul liked her was because of the magic of the wand and not for who she really is. So the godmother waves her wand again and Cendrillon is transformed back to her normal self. Paul sees Cendrillon and slips the slipper on to her foot and tells her, "You are as beautiful this minute as you were last night." Then they got married and one can assume that they lived happily ever after. After all, there was plenty of chocolate sherbet, so really how could anyone not live happily ever after with that around? </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After reading the book I asked my littles, if they thought someone could get married after only having known each other for a few hours at a ball. Aiden said, "Definitely not." I tend to agree. However I will say that while this story carries a lot of the same messages as the Disney version, it felt a little less fairytale-ish since they were not royalty and while the man did "save" the woman from her wicked step mother, he saw her as she was and not as a woman in a fancy dress. I also appreciate the fact that Cendrillon insisted that her godmother put her back to normal before she saw Paul. Oh, and there was none of that glass slipper nonsense, who can really walk in those anyway? </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When Becky does her post with links to all of the other Cinderella Around the World Reviews, I will share the link with you all. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Have you read any Cinderella stories from around the world? Did you find that they were parallel to the well known Disney version? Were there any quirky details that made you smile, such as the bit about Paul being like a prince, but kind? (This makes me chuckle like you wouldn't believe.) </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">UPDATE 10/12/12: Here is the link the the Kid World Citizen post that compiles all of the stories reviewed for this project. <a href="http://kidworldcitizen.org/2012/10/11/cinderella-story-around-the-world/">http://kidworldcitizen.org/2012/10/11/cinderella-story-around-the-world/</a></span>Raina @ Mamacita Spins The Globehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08686405668797883267noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7175747350535276582.post-36479176033173715262012-09-20T09:09:00.000-04:002012-09-20T09:09:36.951-04:00Island Life For Us... Almost. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After winding down our summer vacation, and sending the kids back to school, I had big things planned for starting a virtual tour of a new country. If you <a href="https://www.facebook.com/MamacitaSpinsTheGlobe">"like" us on facebook</a>, then you already know, I got hit with the "start of the school year virus" that happens every year. I'm slowly recovering and finally feeling well enough to get back to our world tour. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We started out by making a trip to the library to pick up a few books (which I will be telling you about soon). The first project we always do is create a flag for our "destination" country. This time, we are super excited to be heading through The Caribbean Sea to The West Indies and setting our sights on St. Lucia. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">St. Lucia was a country that made it's way to the list back when we <a href="http://mamacitaspinstheglobe.blogspot.com/2012/01/mapping-out-2012-where-do-we-go-from.html">mapped out our year</a>. We put a bunch of countries in the hat and pulled out which ones we'd be learning about. The list was comprised of readers' suggestions, our personal interests and of course we spun the globe a few times. St. Lucia was one that Eliana had heard the name and her heart was set on learning about it. So, now, she is one of the happiest littles around because "finally" we are learning about St. Lucia, the country that she has come to call "My country". </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So here, it is, our recreation of the flag of St. Lucia. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkqiX66HQ76EMx4KWz90VFXtHgr1-6HE2z2DQWwXNOLzoVxTgRChntJvINDzik1o_dAiTEdDkiXjYIPsPFSwVEs490S2L4pR3ZVuxWbVqAZ2CaTw9XPs1uZoi1QICDI45sPiJJhRd-1gs/s1600/IMG_5536.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkqiX66HQ76EMx4KWz90VFXtHgr1-6HE2z2DQWwXNOLzoVxTgRChntJvINDzik1o_dAiTEdDkiXjYIPsPFSwVEs490S2L4pR3ZVuxWbVqAZ2CaTw9XPs1uZoi1QICDI45sPiJJhRd-1gs/s320/IMG_5536.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We've got some fun ideas for the upcoming weeks. I hope you'll check back in with us and see what we're doing! </span><br />
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</span>Raina @ Mamacita Spins The Globehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08686405668797883267noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7175747350535276582.post-50089377623478729342012-09-10T08:31:00.000-04:002012-09-10T08:31:31.479-04:00You're Where???<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://mamacitaspinstheglobe.blogspot.com/2012/09/hitting-first-mile-marker.html">Last week</a> I told you that I was excited to have been blogging for a year and that it has been a really fun journey for me, learning about the blogosphere, and getting to know other bloggers.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A couple of months ago my brother came to visit and we were discussing my blog and tracking page views and traffic sources. I told him that one of the things I have enjoyed since the beginning was seeing where people were reading from. I told him that I have hits from all over the world and that I was certain I had followers in more than a few countries, based on my page views. The next thing he said almost stole my thunder (it would have, but I was to busy being excited about having readers from around the world that I didn't let it.) He asked, "Are you sure that they're people and not robots?" Who? What? Robots? Are you kidding me? So maybe I don't have people in Russia reading my blog???? </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwMwmHk3H6mUuNaRatqdZrcCPJwrGxiFuQpzJxtxlw9Z5HyySX0sFjLjSoYKD6QMhFWXWaHjAsT1k3t_m8EmJldTRpKH4ma73FE5jUtFlZaFh6iFniaAnp5nVDbYPysx3yzqEgTCmHzug/s1600/Picture+14.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwMwmHk3H6mUuNaRatqdZrcCPJwrGxiFuQpzJxtxlw9Z5HyySX0sFjLjSoYKD6QMhFWXWaHjAsT1k3t_m8EmJldTRpKH4ma73FE5jUtFlZaFh6iFniaAnp5nVDbYPysx3yzqEgTCmHzug/s320/Picture+14.png" width="282" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">These are the top 10 countries viewing my blog. NOW, I don't even know who's really viewing it. Thanks to my brother, pfft. :D</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, now that I've shared that I may or may not have people reading from around the world, not just here in The United States, I thought it would be really cool if you would comment below and tell me where you live. No, I don't want your address, just which country, or if you live in The United States, which state. I think it would be interesting to see and fun to share with my littles. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you actually are in Russia reading this, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE post a comment, so that I can give my brother a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blowing_a_raspberry">Bronx Cheer</a>. If you are not in Russia, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE comment, I really would love to hear from you! Don't worry if it's not in English, I will use <a href="http://www.freetranslation.com/">www.freetranslation.com</a> to read your comments! </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thanks a bunch for reading! I am having such a fun ride. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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</span></div>Raina @ Mamacita Spins The Globehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08686405668797883267noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7175747350535276582.post-86034640270993115012012-09-06T08:28:00.000-04:002012-09-06T08:28:13.221-04:00Hitting The First Mile Marker<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As I mentioned in my last post, I have come upon a big milestone. To some of you, this might not seem like a big deal, but to me, I feels like an occasion to celebrate. Sometime last year, we started this journey of virtually touring countries around the world and after several people poked and prodded and practically begged me to start a blog, I did just that. On August 31, 2011 I posted my first ever blog post. I wrote more on my journey of becoming a blogger in my "Truth Be Told" post last December, you can check it out <a href="http://mamacitaspinstheglobe.blogspot.com/2011/12/truth-be-told.html">here</a>.</span><br />
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</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In my first blog post, I shared the journey of our study of </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://mamacitaspinstheglobe.blogspot.com/2011_08_01_archive.html">Greece</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. This was one of my favorite posts. I'm not sure if it was because I was finally making the leap into blogging, or if I just loved it, because it was the beginning of our journey. Either way, it still remains one of my favorite posts. Sadly, as I learned, the first blog post gets very little attention, though, slightly more than the second since all of my friends wanted to check out what I was up to and now many of them get the idea and don't read anymore. I know, my own friends don't read. I can't fault them for not being interested though. What I am doing here is for my children, whether people read or not. </span><br />
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</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When I decided to start blogging, I was nervous and excited all at the same time. I had never even considered blogging and I knew very little about the blogosphere. Admittedly, I know very little about the blogosphere still, but at least now, I feel a bit more welcome. I have gotten to "know" other bloggers and many have welcomed me with loving arms. I've seen my page view stats go from around 15 to 268 on some posts! (My top "hit" post is this one, of how we made <a href="http://mamacitaspinstheglobe.blogspot.com/2012/01/banana-leaf-table-decor.html">Cuban banana leaf placemats.</a>) It has been a fun journey to say the least. </span><br />
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</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thank you all for reading and for taking this journey with us. In the next few posts I am going to tell a bit more of my journey as a blogger, though I won't be offering any tips since I'm still a "puppy" in the blogosphere and fumbling my way through. I am also working on another giveaway. I hope that you'll all continue to join us as we forge ahead. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thanks</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9LTw_Q4YXbxyC0nOSUcmJ1JKSYRgiobPsgkitbuKcJVPfxyPB4Bb9MiC4f2Ydr95pEMAXmCMsoUs4O-hUN8OZDJgImTNpsmPmF-ZBdvehlvLcXaQWe9VfATwC-DjntMMRW3UKwf12jmo/s1600/IMG_3562.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9LTw_Q4YXbxyC0nOSUcmJ1JKSYRgiobPsgkitbuKcJVPfxyPB4Bb9MiC4f2Ydr95pEMAXmCMsoUs4O-hUN8OZDJgImTNpsmPmF-ZBdvehlvLcXaQWe9VfATwC-DjntMMRW3UKwf12jmo/s320/IMG_3562.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And everyday!</span></td></tr>
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</span>Raina @ Mamacita Spins The Globehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08686405668797883267noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7175747350535276582.post-70698139298747672342012-09-04T08:31:00.000-04:002012-09-04T08:31:26.304-04:00Saying Goodbye To India<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I know that some of you probably think that after my <a href="http://mamacitaspinstheglobe.blogspot.com/2012/08/indian-drink-debacle.html">failed attempt at Aam Panna</a>, I threw in the towel all together on this world adventure that we are on. I assure you that I don't quit that easily. I do however, take a somewhat last minute camping trip with my littles before the school year starts. I could tell you about how we drove nearly 4 hours to a State Park campground, or how we made up a story of a teeny tiny hedgehog that was about to start kindergarten (coincidentally, Eliana is starting Kindergarten). I could tell you about playing Go Fish and Crazy Eights in the tent when the rain came, or hiking on a beautiful trail while the rain lightly sprinkled. I could tell you about finding a fun recipe on Pinterest for <a href="http://www.chefjessicabright.com/campfire-cones.html">campfire cones</a> which we definitely had to try, or how early one morning when the tide was low Preston and the littles headed out to dig for clams and get covered in mud. I COULD tell you all about how much we enjoyed each other for the last little bit of summer before school starts, but I won't. Instead I will share of other delights.</span><br />
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</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Before we headed out of town for a few days, we finished up our tour of India. We knew we were ready, because we had made the <a href="http://mamacitaspinstheglobe.blogspot.com/2012/08/india-here-we-come.html">flag</a>, made <a href="http://mamacitaspinstheglobe.blogspot.com/2012/08/indian-animal-art-adventure.html">animal batik inspired artwork</a>, read wonderful <a href="http://mamacitaspinstheglobe.blogspot.com/2012/08/reading-india.html">books</a> (Yes, I know. For those of you who are keeping score, I did promise more book reviews, so let's agree to chalk this up to a regretfully broken promise. I'll make it up to you somewhere), and had a <a href="http://mamacitaspinstheglobe.blogspot.com/2012/08/a-surprise-sequel-to-our-adventure.html">surprise India lesson</a> on an adventure to the local children's museum. </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnJ7TS7ABHOrgfp4Z0qXiRM_-FIx7PQsnzqxGajgGchBl72TvmbEeHU8RFyZccgQNqt06Zhb_C6-0M3YUOiExh_j5ufhl-h-I3fFwM5lVQSYgcQTMR_oe-2wwcLPF9NQnXdKT4Oo4b3SA/s1600/An+Indian+Dinner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnJ7TS7ABHOrgfp4Z0qXiRM_-FIx7PQsnzqxGajgGchBl72TvmbEeHU8RFyZccgQNqt06Zhb_C6-0M3YUOiExh_j5ufhl-h-I3fFwM5lVQSYgcQTMR_oe-2wwcLPF9NQnXdKT4Oo4b3SA/s320/An+Indian+Dinner.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Of course, I had <a href="http://mio.to/#/">Indian music</a> playing as I spent the afternoon in my kitchen preparing for our end of the month/ end of the tour of India dinner. I set up our dining room buffet with our globe, the flag that we made and the books that we borrowed from the library. I really like to keep the books handy during our dinners, because we always end up discussing something that we read in one of them and decide to flip through and revisit some of the stories at the end. </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We ate <a href="http://www.indianfoodforever.com/snacks/vegetable-pakora.html">vegetable pakoras</a>, <a href="http://www.indianfoodforever.com/snacks/daal-kachori.html">dal kachori</a> served with mango chutney, <a href="http://www.indianfoodforever.com/non-veg/chicken/chicken-vindaloo.html">chicken vindaloo</a>, and <a href="http://www.indianfoodforever.com/vegetables/aloo-palak.html">aloo palak</a>. We drank <a href="http://www.indianfoodforever.com/drinks/ginger-fruit-punch.html">ginger fruit punch</a>. In other words, we washed down a whole bunch of yummy with some yummy. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While we ate, we continued to listen to Indian music, we discussed all that we had learned about India. I asked the <a href="http://mamacitaspinstheglobe.blogspot.com/p/international-trivia.html">trivia questions</a> that I created to gauge what my littles had learned. (If you're new to my blog, don't miss out on the trivia fun, make sure you click the <a href="http://mamacitaspinstheglobe.blogspot.com/p/international-trivia.html">link</a> to see what we talked about.) We discussed where we were heading next and an upcoming big milestone (don't worry, I'll share that with you next time). </span><br />
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</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Just so you can see this meal, from my perspective, here is a shot of my dinner plate.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-H2n3v4wrEC7sLgTI3Ph5N6hWcUN7OEfR3LsIrFTJokEKBd6B24EZcSVcfZkb_CsYhBVCWRseT5HUkCk-a_a0N1QDVIMkyIVQfMBUyRBkmv97ZcCzVhs14ucYACrLm2TJqZirzXXCKW8/s1600/IMG_5494.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-H2n3v4wrEC7sLgTI3Ph5N6hWcUN7OEfR3LsIrFTJokEKBd6B24EZcSVcfZkb_CsYhBVCWRseT5HUkCk-a_a0N1QDVIMkyIVQfMBUyRBkmv97ZcCzVhs14ucYACrLm2TJqZirzXXCKW8/s320/IMG_5494.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Incase you feel like you missed out on those things that I decided not to tell you about, here is a little snippet of our summer send off. </span><br />
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</span>Raina @ Mamacita Spins The Globehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08686405668797883267noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7175747350535276582.post-23861594547020833442012-08-27T09:43:00.000-04:002012-08-27T09:43:28.533-04:00Indian Drink Debacle <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSLxQCVsuqrpInDT2aTaCJdlwGqUf_sLLjelsvpaTh40DXLGATORsuwVgyPYU00EMg7Indlpqnc-9WTR3rBM3Kcw9H9vghBB8IFYewP_NK9K8jJYMDD439Zrf2IkF05tK7PgSD0No8z98/s1600/Aam+Panna.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSLxQCVsuqrpInDT2aTaCJdlwGqUf_sLLjelsvpaTh40DXLGATORsuwVgyPYU00EMg7Indlpqnc-9WTR3rBM3Kcw9H9vghBB8IFYewP_NK9K8jJYMDD439Zrf2IkF05tK7PgSD0No8z98/s320/Aam+Panna.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here we are ready to sample our first taste of homemade Indian treats. We searched through many recipes and settled on Aam Panna. Aam Panna is a mango drink with mint and other spices. Since we love all things Mango (and they happened to be on sale at our local grocery store this week), this was an ideal option for us. </span><br />
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</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We started with six green mangos. </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY8DaBC3jJKiCf6F4tzU0ca3uuwLjzaO7gbdKg59w15BMM_gHJecxJfJrHRfFr_zUEKZ9-g4ZW5jx3hyphenhyphenAsNZ900DaKInjSSOKyWw8-Cl869qA5oalT3Y58HppprwCu4o8rKWP_wtYBTno/s1600/IMG_5478.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY8DaBC3jJKiCf6F4tzU0ca3uuwLjzaO7gbdKg59w15BMM_gHJecxJfJrHRfFr_zUEKZ9-g4ZW5jx3hyphenhyphenAsNZ900DaKInjSSOKyWw8-Cl869qA5oalT3Y58HppprwCu4o8rKWP_wtYBTno/s320/IMG_5478.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The next step is to boil the mangos. This step really surprised me as I have never boiled them before, but I dropped these green beauties in and turned up the heat. </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYLIdbmajQ_blgatOCg57_NKm53-HGlh9RFBgjoxpHufeWXgpWNosdk4zM7Z4npsJAV0mmoB5LZJR-K1HRT72rqB8hJzPpdlU2tzQwQZje8MeNvTQ_KlqrDlHDQz72lO9rULvDVnpQ0DQ/s1600/IMG_5479.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYLIdbmajQ_blgatOCg57_NKm53-HGlh9RFBgjoxpHufeWXgpWNosdk4zM7Z4npsJAV0mmoB5LZJR-K1HRT72rqB8hJzPpdlU2tzQwQZje8MeNvTQ_KlqrDlHDQz72lO9rULvDVnpQ0DQ/s320/IMG_5479.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY7HfNlgwZwghNkP-fYi4YUhDRTGqvfptdVOkGniuXlfidI_ZEUAwiC7WEhR6k4HMDV87mK4SoVoySdTOpXKXT1_sViaaI8-QWORfT-PKnQzYuHO5AYfDzRvCv7ePPIv1yyf-5twO06VQ/s1600/IMG_5481.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY7HfNlgwZwghNkP-fYi4YUhDRTGqvfptdVOkGniuXlfidI_ZEUAwiC7WEhR6k4HMDV87mK4SoVoySdTOpXKXT1_sViaaI8-QWORfT-PKnQzYuHO5AYfDzRvCv7ePPIv1yyf-5twO06VQ/s320/IMG_5481.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The part that surprised me the most was the color change. I don't know why I was surprised, most foods change color when cooked, but for some reason I was surprised to see the bright green turn to a dull olive green tone. </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitl_iobN2fpiXIts2PHytFpoe6XT5Pi29OJcEoPjawJzith0PtFhZwZ-XhHtgaJOJ6BAS_BDgUqJvJvOygKg5xAbFhCEdeswrccP8zFMO9aHE1RDLvxJOTU_LmhEVFuadPWPY294d2hgU/s1600/IMG_5483.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitl_iobN2fpiXIts2PHytFpoe6XT5Pi29OJcEoPjawJzith0PtFhZwZ-XhHtgaJOJ6BAS_BDgUqJvJvOygKg5xAbFhCEdeswrccP8zFMO9aHE1RDLvxJOTU_LmhEVFuadPWPY294d2hgU/s320/IMG_5483.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKlyMT1SPjIdaP0tK9Cfdmxk0H3zt3IkoNzrW3yNtAaYOKakWbDJPr9fui_vLRSGT3k5g4k5IzLAo5OnmxKZ8K4qiBq-lSltu0yxWNDpq2SGXoKRSlGkCkgbYn0eze8S4k5fqHpFjGhkc/s1600/IMG_5484.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKlyMT1SPjIdaP0tK9Cfdmxk0H3zt3IkoNzrW3yNtAaYOKakWbDJPr9fui_vLRSGT3k5g4k5IzLAo5OnmxKZ8K4qiBq-lSltu0yxWNDpq2SGXoKRSlGkCkgbYn0eze8S4k5fqHpFjGhkc/s320/IMG_5484.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I then peeled the mangos and pitted them. The recipe that I was following said to mash them with a spoon, but they were way too tough for that. I decided to puree them in the blender.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpedPYBX80gXbZ5lwhc8OLoDibAXcx7nzI-E4Ae6mBYRt4u4iZ3HKMilxVY9W1iJ4DMttzTbpkqeotwB2PNxtftpbZqBvhhNaVU_j8lOJFSi4jznx3t0OS_J1mmrHMWFKU1qrOnkJjjkw/s1600/IMG_5485.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpedPYBX80gXbZ5lwhc8OLoDibAXcx7nzI-E4Ae6mBYRt4u4iZ3HKMilxVY9W1iJ4DMttzTbpkqeotwB2PNxtftpbZqBvhhNaVU_j8lOJFSi4jznx3t0OS_J1mmrHMWFKU1qrOnkJjjkw/s320/IMG_5485.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This next step was one that had me worried. We were to add cumin, chili powder, salt, sugar, mint and water. We like all of these ingredients, but combining them seemed a bit strange.</span><br />
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</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ingredients added. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiowZmVcOnietcPk_tROflnUaSYRr5n7PbW4vc8xbArExCvALCAoLU7x8nHm6vGRtZDMskwJ3dt8If-7uHpL2lm38FNLBXAA2Rgx0iR2lzAHngFH3v8QKc7CwhhlaOwTkqThZP7h3ClcJo/s1600/IMG_5497.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiowZmVcOnietcPk_tROflnUaSYRr5n7PbW4vc8xbArExCvALCAoLU7x8nHm6vGRtZDMskwJ3dt8If-7uHpL2lm38FNLBXAA2Rgx0iR2lzAHngFH3v8QKc7CwhhlaOwTkqThZP7h3ClcJo/s320/IMG_5497.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well they looked delicious...</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhidyi1GfLTE8Vga-ov7KLihHLJENcoWNbDX7NV8_g-oV1kKIkCc8eBGJ7R-pQoTWIkcWO-UKsZuRaI5voiK_LAeRPYM6ggg5vN6GY6hIazrtwcLS9t5bhXwVBpqFF5_Tm43wAFmroqJNY/s1600/IMG_5498.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhidyi1GfLTE8Vga-ov7KLihHLJENcoWNbDX7NV8_g-oV1kKIkCc8eBGJ7R-pQoTWIkcWO-UKsZuRaI5voiK_LAeRPYM6ggg5vN6GY6hIazrtwcLS9t5bhXwVBpqFF5_Tm43wAFmroqJNY/s320/IMG_5498.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
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</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sadly, this Aam Panna earned thumbs down all around. The sweet and savory flavors did not mix as well as we had hoped. The upside is that we decided that if we put it in the freezer and pull it out on a cold winter's evening add some more savory ingredients, perhaps some black beans, it will make a delicious soup. Yes, that's right a drink that we anticipated would taste sweet and yummy with those beautiful green mangos will become a savory soup some cold night in the future. </span><br />
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</span>Raina @ Mamacita Spins The Globehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08686405668797883267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7175747350535276582.post-50643601663899996802012-08-20T08:46:00.000-04:002012-08-20T08:46:56.908-04:00Indian Animal Art Adventure<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8QmCfybM_LglaCSkOl0Rp1kAeQie_3N7sk9cTvLw_dmX-VLM2VwbYSNJHlVHfpYQ2lwFVT4DIJpt0Ak-APort5pqTBkPNAJVQXTHrFX39YU4UjG2IkBKgqTeYqozRBer4oYhJQnfAwGs/s1600/Batik.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8QmCfybM_LglaCSkOl0Rp1kAeQie_3N7sk9cTvLw_dmX-VLM2VwbYSNJHlVHfpYQ2lwFVT4DIJpt0Ak-APort5pqTBkPNAJVQXTHrFX39YU4UjG2IkBKgqTeYqozRBer4oYhJQnfAwGs/s320/Batik.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sometimes you have an idea and it seems like the best idea ever. Sometimes, those ideas get shot down quick. Sometimes the outcome is as good as the vision. Other times, the idea gets taken down bit by bit and you are left having to either abandon your idea or modify it and hope for the best. This story is of the latter. </span><br />
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</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While trying to come up with a good India craft, I thought it would be a lot of fun to try to create some batik fabric. Since we like to incorporate some of our other lessons into our crafts. We were going to make batik with animals on it. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Just having this idea should have made me realize that we'd need a back up plan. Batik is an art form that is practiced and mastered, and here I was about to attempt to make it with a 5 and 7 year old. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What's more is I had decided to try use silk and to dye it with kool-aid. As we were gathering up our supplies, we were unable to find the wax, not a huge shock considering our location, but still pretty disappointing. Then, we couldn't find any silk. I did however find some "silky" material on clearance for $1.50 yd. Such a good price, I bought 2 yds (I'm sure I'll find a use for the rest). We picked out some kool aid and I decided that we could use glue as a resist. Water based craft glue, if we waited for it to dry, then we could dye our fabric, then wash the glue out. Since I had bought some extra material, I decided to do a test run. The kool aid went right through the fabric and left barely a hint of color on the fabric. *sigh* </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Finally, I had another idea. Acrylic paint, over craft glue on our not silk silky fabric. It's almost the same as batik right???</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzg82I1UenoSR-ViBlVyD4h5PnYs8xu-kF7hlOiqniuY6xM5mo7AqjNbeWMOlWbOZQ0cozG0o-rh79ItakoINAjgcuJKaEjb6KJTG6WXTn2DiqwCcCsOeyOJSttoqHB3mNHA4GNI8yJY0/s1600/IMG_5447.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzg82I1UenoSR-ViBlVyD4h5PnYs8xu-kF7hlOiqniuY6xM5mo7AqjNbeWMOlWbOZQ0cozG0o-rh79ItakoINAjgcuJKaEjb6KJTG6WXTn2DiqwCcCsOeyOJSttoqHB3mNHA4GNI8yJY0/s320/IMG_5447.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Eliana making tigers.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL4BAOoQMuQLpX3Z01vpkJWNfCm6sBeCsOcqzgI6_SLmGHTboUJB8Pf6Rsaj69K9x0Akf4NYMMttqcMvC5HskLQ6mNvWLYkVfjASIEgSyl6vTZmWUuMNGfA797wJ4S03Bric-aGQ1J5sM/s1600/IMG_5451.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL4BAOoQMuQLpX3Z01vpkJWNfCm6sBeCsOcqzgI6_SLmGHTboUJB8Pf6Rsaj69K9x0Akf4NYMMttqcMvC5HskLQ6mNvWLYkVfjASIEgSyl6vTZmWUuMNGfA797wJ4S03Bric-aGQ1J5sM/s320/IMG_5451.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Aiden making snakes.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxmROz_aav0NiyXtCocDib-74JpjXdtC2ybviqu5DFYkSHFayRzBHPEeqW7B8g9W9bCkrMdmFse3KKvt5gsP5cgVvDA-bcOiO-US1eI58gMNHhK2I4HpGjTd5jNPNw5VCBMuudbnaxVb8/s1600/IMG_5449.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxmROz_aav0NiyXtCocDib-74JpjXdtC2ybviqu5DFYkSHFayRzBHPEeqW7B8g9W9bCkrMdmFse3KKvt5gsP5cgVvDA-bcOiO-US1eI58gMNHhK2I4HpGjTd5jNPNw5VCBMuudbnaxVb8/s320/IMG_5449.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My elephants.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Letting these dry was a hard test of patience. We wanted to get right to painting them, but the glue was thick, the fabric was thin and the table cloth underneath was vinyl. Ultimately, they sat overnight to dry. </span><br />
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</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The next step was to paint them. </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhoqwK2UB3ZUgH_AhNO7QoHiw_zlvBtRNYyiJu8K_ydZBn9SrUuH9EUPUJ_7LntaNwkt93Ag3-lWQSzz8wQd_O6WewBc54R8eBxe6_ZpArFpBdaro1TIhd7LL5J0erJ-gAMepFm0sAtro/s1600/IMG_5457.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhoqwK2UB3ZUgH_AhNO7QoHiw_zlvBtRNYyiJu8K_ydZBn9SrUuH9EUPUJ_7LntaNwkt93Ag3-lWQSzz8wQd_O6WewBc54R8eBxe6_ZpArFpBdaro1TIhd7LL5J0erJ-gAMepFm0sAtro/s320/IMG_5457.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiX9SGElBAGTtN3v0bSKBhK-Tse180RCGZ-RjCKbuO3GHetdOdj94pCLFNPsiJlrzEqFtvNXUDynsbQ6z47HXH7sAXnoYX_hZ_a8VhUyIv9qkQdntQZqsZQMhLati5af2gvFQJgC1Nm8M/s1600/IMG_5458.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiX9SGElBAGTtN3v0bSKBhK-Tse180RCGZ-RjCKbuO3GHetdOdj94pCLFNPsiJlrzEqFtvNXUDynsbQ6z47HXH7sAXnoYX_hZ_a8VhUyIv9qkQdntQZqsZQMhLati5af2gvFQJgC1Nm8M/s320/IMG_5458.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then, letting them dry again. Wet paint, thin fabric, vinyl table cloth....</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeJO28iVFsBjopjpQdPoBKcKs0wnTceOXGMy-vD3v3fJas60HDQi_-rcl6vDhypwPzcYY77KfIZlWw_h-QhqiXrX9xH_MWHMEvx1JylKif3VGN0kxDX5v95ISOd1imzsodvya4vpxho8M/s1600/IMG_5460.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeJO28iVFsBjopjpQdPoBKcKs0wnTceOXGMy-vD3v3fJas60HDQi_-rcl6vDhypwPzcYY77KfIZlWw_h-QhqiXrX9xH_MWHMEvx1JylKif3VGN0kxDX5v95ISOd1imzsodvya4vpxho8M/s320/IMG_5460.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I know this picture looks a bit weird, but the table cloth is yellow, the red, blue, etc are the painted cloths drying. </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mine was dry first, so I eagerly rinsed off the glue... and the paint. The fabric was certainly stained or dyed as I had hoped it would be, but it came out very pale and I was bummed that the color didn't "stick" better. I decided to leave A & E's and see if letting the paint stay on longer would make a difference. </span><br />
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</span> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg4i-_Wk7OOJV6Nti10BQHDz10dvi1zvA_bglNEsdBLB4TIe7o6yPGv8LfBsQ3WY2Jyq2FJOIsEHDu5Vy8UdxXuuBxaXCExI1so7ts1IxPYus_k1WpLH6KZdSNigWGkRHb0severz91XU/s1600/IMG_5468.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg4i-_Wk7OOJV6Nti10BQHDz10dvi1zvA_bglNEsdBLB4TIe7o6yPGv8LfBsQ3WY2Jyq2FJOIsEHDu5Vy8UdxXuuBxaXCExI1so7ts1IxPYus_k1WpLH6KZdSNigWGkRHb0severz91XU/s320/IMG_5468.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Indeed it did! Success! It took more elbow grease to get the glue and the thicker layers of the paint off, but the finished products are colorful and beautiful. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSUKrlr6Oj5g-j_Izs9nQ1TxRglXXAhVOQp4Lhr6PS98tl2nUGkyaC1sIXZLMyLPzfAgu6i1_4Njv28uBcVA5NhVBNUYEs8gkJ5xq-nCFbuoRPDueF-dfyxhFbM_EgiO413dFfhaTP434/s1600/IMG_5463.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSUKrlr6Oj5g-j_Izs9nQ1TxRglXXAhVOQp4Lhr6PS98tl2nUGkyaC1sIXZLMyLPzfAgu6i1_4Njv28uBcVA5NhVBNUYEs8gkJ5xq-nCFbuoRPDueF-dfyxhFbM_EgiO413dFfhaTP434/s320/IMG_5463.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Eliana's finished Tiger. (The title picture is also one of her tigers, from the middle of the piece of fabric.)</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3CQXiPS9_jwO4tNVyRLSIrL-22YzQzvdFeNCWwlVqcVLZ2Q3cygU13NSoyP7JRKR0jFvcjv0IyEfrLBkwCS19F34WJEsTyn7_RF-FEWDz5hrdQo1rsdTYqX8VzJID9CWJaUh9PKXPLR8/s1600/IMG_5464.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3CQXiPS9_jwO4tNVyRLSIrL-22YzQzvdFeNCWwlVqcVLZ2Q3cygU13NSoyP7JRKR0jFvcjv0IyEfrLBkwCS19F34WJEsTyn7_RF-FEWDz5hrdQo1rsdTYqX8VzJID9CWJaUh9PKXPLR8/s320/IMG_5464.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Aiden's finished snake. </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I had hoped to be able to photograph each entire piece of fabric for you so you could see them in their entirety, but being that far away with the camera lost the details of the designs. All you could see were the colors, so you'll have to take my word for it when I tell you that they look fantastic. </span><br />
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</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The moral of this story. The first plan might fail. The second plan might fail. If you keep trying and really exercise your patience, you will be rewarded with beautiful works of art. Or, just read a blog like this and let them (me) experience all of the fails for you and you can just skip right over all of that. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>Raina @ Mamacita Spins The Globehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08686405668797883267noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7175747350535276582.post-54867194474679457072012-08-16T08:24:00.001-04:002012-08-16T08:25:20.937-04:00A Surprise Sequel To Our Adventure<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In my <a href="http://mamacitaspinstheglobe.blogspot.com/2012/08/going-to-see-world-and-giveaway.html">last post</a>, I shared with you photos from our visit to see Eartha (man, she really was impressive!) Then because I had so much fun and wanted to share the delight with you, I picked up a couple of small souvenirs and offered them up in the form of a giveaway to one lucky reader. The winner of that giveaway is <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: orange;">KatieCoffee</span> and she said,"</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Here in Portland, OR, they set the Guinness record for most number of people wearing sombreros with over 1000 people wearing them on Cinco de Mayo this year. There was also a, "world record attempt for flying lawn chairs." Not sure how that turned out..</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">." Congrats Katie!</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw5w_5XlKU3PWhVSlsOKD6SaGqr9chgyXZX0OdobtEwgJdl_wdEMECaT9qUIZXuBV83HEZVFwM-99C686KnxpL95iUHr8JCBBO-nxWPPXu4MOZu_8KnOPlxqpu9GJ_qhoTiT36oA8chVM/s1600/Finding+India.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw5w_5XlKU3PWhVSlsOKD6SaGqr9chgyXZX0OdobtEwgJdl_wdEMECaT9qUIZXuBV83HEZVFwM-99C686KnxpL95iUHr8JCBBO-nxWPPXu4MOZu_8KnOPlxqpu9GJ_qhoTiT36oA8chVM/s320/Finding+India.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After leaving Eartha, we headed further South in Maine to <a href="http://www.kitetails.org/">The Portland Children's Museum</a> for a day out with the littles. I was both shocked and thrilled to discover that on their second floor they feature a section that is dedicated to a country from around the world and I was even more delighted to learn that the country that they are featuring right now is also the country that we are learning about, India! </span><br />
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</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In a place like this, there are kids running wild. I mean, WILD! So in order to make sure that we didn't lose one of our littles, we split up. Preston was <s>chasing </s> watching one while I was <s>chasing</s> watching the other. We switched back and forth so that we didn't miss the fun with either of them. For this part of the tour, I was on "Eliana Duty", so sadly, there aren't pictures of Aiden learning about India (I'll explain this further in just a few), but I assure you, he also experienced these fun things. </span><br />
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</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The first part that Eliana and I discovered was a little room that had a table with Hindu Gods and Goddess in a puzzle like manner. You could lift the god/ goddess of your choice and read about them. Naturally, I had to read each and every one of them. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg01hKxWC51D2-fEGIqHv-INi_lngstS_vYwEEgg4Tx_FuRKb85C3GPVBA1sHg3BA9gwWBD-onbxF-HeJ9HhngcZj5zKUKXoGdZYjv6J1767XcWaYqEy0HS_co8GT1hTHUA5ia6zh3dz-g/s1600/IMG_5416.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg01hKxWC51D2-fEGIqHv-INi_lngstS_vYwEEgg4Tx_FuRKb85C3GPVBA1sHg3BA9gwWBD-onbxF-HeJ9HhngcZj5zKUKXoGdZYjv6J1767XcWaYqEy0HS_co8GT1hTHUA5ia6zh3dz-g/s320/IMG_5416.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was ridiculously hot in there as you can tell by El's rosy cheeks and shiny skin. </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There was a small shrine with a mini buddha and a pretty sari, along with some lovely little flowers. There were several books as well, I started to pick them up and look at them, but I couldn't. I just couldn't bring myself to think of all of the India books that I had to turn away from, even though I borrowed so many from the library, as I mentioned in the <a href="http://mamacitaspinstheglobe.blogspot.com/2012/08/reading-india.html">library post</a>.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoIcviV_aQ-ITvHhEpwHc23peVsmlSaeB3adomibD_r-OuOlg21QXiZ-0Wn-QHuWKLv0z_yeBp6cATIx3oYXOCbHbckjWVBwgSOIV6ihdfGvsujD0TYwo9NbRuAWD_LfAxkfJm5o4HpSk/s1600/IMG_5418.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoIcviV_aQ-ITvHhEpwHc23peVsmlSaeB3adomibD_r-OuOlg21QXiZ-0Wn-QHuWKLv0z_yeBp6cATIx3oYXOCbHbckjWVBwgSOIV6ihdfGvsujD0TYwo9NbRuAWD_LfAxkfJm5o4HpSk/s320/IMG_5418.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The next thing that we discovered was that there were stations spread around the India space that had a little button to push and you could hear how to count in Hindi. </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv0kMS60jLUBO4PpHpPOqB8R_-ba0URKrdrrI_zpXjvVCcKc44cZMCSxCwBOJPlW4IidoePQrMZOvcfm6t6RvDhOjBGxR2S1QymFIIjlVvmr2oyQTpM7Thc5j-odcvgsObkz1vjskgLzQ/s1600/IMG_5419.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv0kMS60jLUBO4PpHpPOqB8R_-ba0URKrdrrI_zpXjvVCcKc44cZMCSxCwBOJPlW4IidoePQrMZOvcfm6t6RvDhOjBGxR2S1QymFIIjlVvmr2oyQTpM7Thc5j-odcvgsObkz1vjskgLzQ/s320/IMG_5419.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">They also had a small area that was set up like a play kitchen, complete with several spice jars and lots of beautiful saris. Behind a shield of plexiglass, there was a presentation of Indian spices. </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8p0OO_CtCP7GnIOAVpwgElgelpBSmB8auufsY6_Xyzq7oBVvZIOwc1QQ0w-Y9LTCuxUqGEckT72jBu-h5jIP_p_f0N8L8j8E0Bfv08IplZ1uJ2sZMQOR59nggY1jL24dKBNe5vDmEC4M/s1600/IMG_5421.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8p0OO_CtCP7GnIOAVpwgElgelpBSmB8auufsY6_Xyzq7oBVvZIOwc1QQ0w-Y9LTCuxUqGEckT72jBu-h5jIP_p_f0N8L8j8E0Bfv08IplZ1uJ2sZMQOR59nggY1jL24dKBNe5vDmEC4M/s320/IMG_5421.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Inside another glass case there were Rajasthani Puppets. </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9zFEh1kFB7u9Qudwp3SM8loBC2verTC5LXYsuiZXeMbro3-X5exi2YLxLpM34quPGDqgOijoAtfsbCWGYT5dFXkyv07RltpJH0HTvus_7lTE3MSMIGDv6HArJKDl4gtOIFXl0j8uXZeo/s1600/IMG_5425.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9zFEh1kFB7u9Qudwp3SM8loBC2verTC5LXYsuiZXeMbro3-X5exi2YLxLpM34quPGDqgOijoAtfsbCWGYT5dFXkyv07RltpJH0HTvus_7lTE3MSMIGDv6HArJKDl4gtOIFXl0j8uXZeo/s320/IMG_5425.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Right in the center of this section featuring India is a giant globe (clearly, no where near as magnificent as Eartha, but still quite cool). This globe has a button that you push and it begins to blow air so that you can <s>turn</s> spin the globe. There are barcodes on many of the countries and when you spin the globe to line up the bar code with a code reader, a little television comes on and features a child who lives in Maine that is either from the country that you have selected, or has relatives from the country that you've selected (like a parent or grandparent). This was really fun, and while we would have loved to have scanned every single barcode on that globe, there were other kids eagerly awaiting their chance to spin the globe. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdRVxLnzaCtNDtpZv8gSZRpQS2-p3uiFVgeD2bb6QyDJ_jyFv96gA-w5rLjWpxbLbcJEpyLJOvk2gGF78fteUtZV_jDp9ZdM8uTZeaUs3XE3Gl2pohy-YnCtfyLFbZ3lZuJ8mRW4Azkjo/s1600/IMG_5424.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdRVxLnzaCtNDtpZv8gSZRpQS2-p3uiFVgeD2bb6QyDJ_jyFv96gA-w5rLjWpxbLbcJEpyLJOvk2gGF78fteUtZV_jDp9ZdM8uTZeaUs3XE3Gl2pohy-YnCtfyLFbZ3lZuJ8mRW4Azkjo/s320/IMG_5424.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Aiden Spinning the Globe... El Niño Spins The Globe???</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If I had known before going to the museum that India would be featured, I would have been sure to bring an extra memory card for my camera, this way, I could have gotten more pictures that included both of my littles in the India "room". I also would have likely not dressed Eliana in her Frida shirt. It seems a little weird to look at pictures of her experiencing India while wearing clothes that feature a Mexican artist, no? </span><br />
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</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All in all it was a fun day. Starting with Eartha and moving on the museum. It felt very enriching and the littles were delighted with both adventures. </span><br />
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</span>Raina @ Mamacita Spins The Globehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08686405668797883267noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7175747350535276582.post-16113928943253968752012-08-13T08:46:00.000-04:002012-08-13T08:46:30.573-04:00Going To See The World and A Giveaway! <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGwZGSQqtMlM03fQ1jYMjbMkOc-ZSyXYckKws11T6SEi8Ghn4jyPz1C3O23Xz5Z_4gJz9jjHRoHD0RgmYg3c0stlThpphvHYl4IuGMgBL_NeA3MqB8Qk_fr29Nyo-wMDhmnDVbNaoWsEA/s1600/Eartha.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGwZGSQqtMlM03fQ1jYMjbMkOc-ZSyXYckKws11T6SEi8Ghn4jyPz1C3O23Xz5Z_4gJz9jjHRoHD0RgmYg3c0stlThpphvHYl4IuGMgBL_NeA3MqB8Qk_fr29Nyo-wMDhmnDVbNaoWsEA/s320/Eartha.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We woke up early Sunday morning to head out on an adventure. We headed to Yarmouth, Maine to the DeLorme Map Store. Why is this exciting (beyond looking at a whole bunch of beautiful maps and other fun stuff)? Because The Map Store is the home to the world's largest rotating globe. She is magnificent and her name is Eartha. </span><br />
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</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Eartha lives one hour from our home and we have driven by her many times. We have been in awe of her beauty as we pass by her while driving on the highway, but for some reason we had never stopped. Today that changed. Today, Eartha was not just something we drove by but an adventure that we drove to. </span><br />
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</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">She is housed in a room surrounded by windows, so before we even went in to really see her in all of her glory, I posed my kids in front of her windows and snapped a photo. </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4TmYmU74r2ywMcQ2QCYX1eCzpoin16imZILjUSnrbKRHGNJaFyJIH3YP663Uf_OVSl42ZdtROlRhOdysEbuOSHakHIrd0f8llt9lsByQTnP4xuqgbL_NDmezzptBofRkRjX7kTGI0pQE/s1600/IMG_5395.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4TmYmU74r2ywMcQ2QCYX1eCzpoin16imZILjUSnrbKRHGNJaFyJIH3YP663Uf_OVSl42ZdtROlRhOdysEbuOSHakHIrd0f8llt9lsByQTnP4xuqgbL_NDmezzptBofRkRjX7kTGI0pQE/s320/IMG_5395.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Can you see how big she is?!?!? </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0raSYJxYnbXF6aVXGxqbRmQsbjqiVilYpd__XGm9C5EchhNoZpwmXnJtqEcKefixsc4hg86WcJVn1aV3NQPp5FBz50DF814VBwaxZ9BTAnswaQpFKDI9CIopZANEK1Np_a_v-3jeVKSw/s1600/IMG_5398.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0raSYJxYnbXF6aVXGxqbRmQsbjqiVilYpd__XGm9C5EchhNoZpwmXnJtqEcKefixsc4hg86WcJVn1aV3NQPp5FBz50DF814VBwaxZ9BTAnswaQpFKDI9CIopZANEK1Np_a_v-3jeVKSw/s320/IMG_5398.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My littles hanging out "in" the South Pacific. </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I felt like a kid, seriously. I Wanted to take pictures of her every angle. We discussed which continents we were looking at and tried to narrow down specific countries. We even found the edge of "the elephant ear" which meant we found India, our current destination. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4clxr06JRpEUB4ewdGv2227GrKOlRO0iWix2yWmE_PtJBe_UxbOjwtIgMzqV0CXurKl7_5PjvtVjyjRwizsLhujeRnoiODyYN2Uwkhyg17sl5aHxIdrI0VgxskfGQfs8n26ql1XPkh6Q/s1600/IMG_5399.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4clxr06JRpEUB4ewdGv2227GrKOlRO0iWix2yWmE_PtJBe_UxbOjwtIgMzqV0CXurKl7_5PjvtVjyjRwizsLhujeRnoiODyYN2Uwkhyg17sl5aHxIdrI0VgxskfGQfs8n26ql1XPkh6Q/s320/IMG_5399.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Australia. </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Since I mentioned already how I felt like a kid, you can imagine how excited I got when I saw that we could go upstairs and see Eartha from another angle. Not just one more story, but two!!! That's means there are three levels to get to know Eartha! </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheloQjZQP5Dk847cTywy8qUEzW-AiH901O27XDTxDMKFOOPZnGjBVZdrhwXBolXnKMsBxgdyQbu5bpmoJw13t7K72Mx6_o2eGEV6MbHEv1Cail7w8CF48Of2__EFF2BbXp4nJg0eWW4Y4/s1600/IMG_5402.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheloQjZQP5Dk847cTywy8qUEzW-AiH901O27XDTxDMKFOOPZnGjBVZdrhwXBolXnKMsBxgdyQbu5bpmoJw13t7K72Mx6_o2eGEV6MbHEv1Cail7w8CF48Of2__EFF2BbXp4nJg0eWW4Y4/s320/IMG_5402.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiamLtlbypLEfcgyAi7lLgALFeBtgu5pDR0ntc_77sbmAsqrBvU72zHJSxhn4NKU8P_0p_z8KZPgxz3-iB7Dzn_OfdjgIlxvCPdVdfd4Ggxc2_4U6nlhfCoP9RJGPJzNwC-EVeL5oPX9GU/s1600/IMG_5403.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiamLtlbypLEfcgyAi7lLgALFeBtgu5pDR0ntc_77sbmAsqrBvU72zHJSxhn4NKU8P_0p_z8KZPgxz3-iB7Dzn_OfdjgIlxvCPdVdfd4Ggxc2_4U6nlhfCoP9RJGPJzNwC-EVeL5oPX9GU/s320/IMG_5403.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here is the view from the second floor. </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I know, I know. She really is incredible isn't she?</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBjXqhNWYEXOFZ2-fHg_vyGMIFbnHu92rB_IavtNRPYWZeX32MhTTUx4hNLF18wG7G1CCSPbWNDgzamafknU4ccfxdemh_ACW_I1ovCRdMChd1O7DSxb2e8mUcxZElNPvI-JWSofb2sgI/s1600/IMG_5406.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBjXqhNWYEXOFZ2-fHg_vyGMIFbnHu92rB_IavtNRPYWZeX32MhTTUx4hNLF18wG7G1CCSPbWNDgzamafknU4ccfxdemh_ACW_I1ovCRdMChd1O7DSxb2e8mUcxZElNPvI-JWSofb2sgI/s320/IMG_5406.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHwbYbUeQvpOG3YvrDjA63OiWNDDpJosMgP1yjkdM120j0uPojRwNAXCMBK8ABrm35SCX8pxzUscgZWiUThSpH4CeMKCHvZAm4yXsJRIG7hpz15F8gucZyRUQ-9rECyaFogs5hyphenhyphenq9tKn0/s1600/IMG_5408.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHwbYbUeQvpOG3YvrDjA63OiWNDDpJosMgP1yjkdM120j0uPojRwNAXCMBK8ABrm35SCX8pxzUscgZWiUThSpH4CeMKCHvZAm4yXsJRIG7hpz15F8gucZyRUQ-9rECyaFogs5hyphenhyphenq9tKn0/s320/IMG_5408.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">View from the top floor.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You might be asking yourself, since Eartha is a globe, how does she rotate? As you can see in the picture below, she has an axis that sits underneath her holding her up and slowly turning her to display her beauty.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGQfXFMDFPK801lB6KqeyUiOF7jzhAAfT1AFdwPoDUBx4rOPqaIrZQ2DDdxSvQrU2MGnapJR0ou5uyyeql4Z5YICSDhxopVdJieiBaUyqdVpaAbVI9UeT8ImLh7oJq5mpV46TVac6e02E/s1600/IMG_5396.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGQfXFMDFPK801lB6KqeyUiOF7jzhAAfT1AFdwPoDUBx4rOPqaIrZQ2DDdxSvQrU2MGnapJR0ou5uyyeql4Z5YICSDhxopVdJieiBaUyqdVpaAbVI9UeT8ImLh7oJq5mpV46TVac6e02E/s320/IMG_5396.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you live near Eartha and you drive by her often as we did, for goodness sake, stop and see her next time you're passing through Yarmouth! </span><br />
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</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">***You can visit The DeLorme website <a href="http://www.delorme.com/default.aspx">here</a> and read more about Eartha <a href="http://www.delorme.com/about/eartha.aspx">here</a>. ***</span><br />
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</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Are you having fun yet! I am, and I think the fun might only be getting started. I had so much fun that I decided to get you a souvenir! Ok, well I WANTED to get each one of you a souvenir, but I only got one. So that means it's giveaway time. See the details below to enter to win an Eartha Tote, an Eartha Folder, a card with a photo of the DeLorme Store displaying Eartha with Eartha facts on the back, and a map bookmark. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhcMwZY_37CdzSchuRInqJ8jkploKSSb5vRGXyCWtNsjeLUeKkV0wS67_9G87IvbnNAFgcIQ83CYYJN2zjpNtVCKgpwZB5r1M2uOs_-ldUHseUzk-QqH5fKafexnkRu0GLvPFpODxlvGM/s1600/IMG_5427.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhcMwZY_37CdzSchuRInqJ8jkploKSSb5vRGXyCWtNsjeLUeKkV0wS67_9G87IvbnNAFgcIQ83CYYJN2zjpNtVCKgpwZB5r1M2uOs_-ldUHseUzk-QqH5fKafexnkRu0GLvPFpODxlvGM/s320/IMG_5427.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This little group of goodies could be yours! </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here's how to win (and other rules and such):</span><br />
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</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- Comment Below telling us what Guinness Book World record holder is closest to your home (If you don't know or don't want to google it, just comment about how impressive Eartha is ;)) </span><br />
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</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- Please, only one entry per person.</span><br />
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</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- I will use Random Number Generator at 8:00 am EST on Thursday August 16, 2012. Then, I will notify the winner. The winner's name will be posted on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/MamacitaSpinsTheGlobe">my facebook page</a> along with a brief announcement in the next blog post. </span><br />
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</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">-The winner will have 24 hours to claim the prize and if it goes unclaimed, I will use RNG to select a new winner. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">-Sorry, I can only ship to addresses in The United Sates. :( </span><br />
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</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- Please share this with your friends, because giveaways are fun and your friends will be happy that you shared it! Thanks a bunch! </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">This giveaway is not sponsored by DeLorme and DeLorme is in no way responsible for any part of this giveaway. </span></span><br />
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</span></span>Raina @ Mamacita Spins The Globehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08686405668797883267noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7175747350535276582.post-67348774252455692962012-08-09T08:50:00.000-04:002012-08-09T08:50:23.082-04:00Reading India<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After a fun filled day of catching a movie, then hiking a nature trail and having a picnic lunch with friends, we made our trek to the library. It's a little early in the month for this, but our Panama books were due back and while we were there, we decided to get our India books. </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnIMAGxOSsztVSwlKZnKPgJX6SyOEJViscN_2wCbfZgFHZRFHHNVy5CeBE1IM0Gs2Fs2KXqsoYO_MWHXGH2Msuf7NM1RTceQmlzzRBsScjhJXAwkECNOYUhXuvkL0ZF5R5Zzsid1dsyQY/s1600/India+Books.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnIMAGxOSsztVSwlKZnKPgJX6SyOEJViscN_2wCbfZgFHZRFHHNVy5CeBE1IM0Gs2Fs2KXqsoYO_MWHXGH2Msuf7NM1RTceQmlzzRBsScjhJXAwkECNOYUhXuvkL0ZF5R5Zzsid1dsyQY/s320/India+Books.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Some months, we hit the library and scour the shelves and leave with very few books or options. This month is not one of those months. I actually had to decide to leave some books behind. I mean, how many books about India can we read anyway? (Truth be told, probably all of them, but I try to make things a l</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ittle less intense for my littles.) Anyway, as it is, I walked out of the library with six books. Yes, six. Since today was a long busy day for my littles, we only managed to read two of them after bathtime. So, I am going to tell you about those two and as the we work through the rest, I will tack reviews on to the end of other posts. Deal? Ok, good. </span><br />
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</span> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1j2C42NafeqOPmuZT662DmZLUJjsJDU5QCqEyHSljUhmpZ7eoIOer8F5dCN5X3akgv_nY2TRxN-jYmmAQxIrHUPchpKwn0W855b-taejRAmzXzhx6mIKecwwargNH2oYWgRQa-tCr4-Y/s1600/IMG_5388.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1j2C42NafeqOPmuZT662DmZLUJjsJDU5QCqEyHSljUhmpZ7eoIOer8F5dCN5X3akgv_nY2TRxN-jYmmAQxIrHUPchpKwn0W855b-taejRAmzXzhx6mIKecwwargNH2oYWgRQa-tCr4-Y/s320/IMG_5388.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The first one that we read was called "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Elephant-Dance-Theresa-Heine/dp/1905236794/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1344470552&sr=1-1&keywords=elephant+dance+memories+of+india">Elephant Dance, Memories of India</a>" By Theresa Heine. It is about a grandfather who tells stories of living in India to his inquisitive grandchildren. This story teaches about the climate, "A rainbow in India, Ravi beta, is seven silk saris hung across the sky to dry..." it tells about geography, "'Is there snow in India, Grandfather?' said Ravi. 'Yes, Ravi. High in the north are the Himalaya Mountains. The snow on their tops is a giant ice cream, very cold and white, melting on your tongue.'" </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The story moves through family dinner, consisting of daal, fish and many wonderful spices, then focuses on Grandfather telling of elephants walking in a procession for the feast of Divaali. After dinner, the children sit down with their Grandfather and make a map, where Grandfather tells more of the geography, "'The shape of India,' said Grandfather, ' is the ear of an elephant." They discuss other wildlife and geographical landmarks. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the back of the book, there are five pages of facts, ranging from geography and religion, to animals and food. This book has made it to my top ten list (well, if I had a top ten list, it would be there). I absolutely loved this story and so did my littles. Wonderfully told with love from a grandfather to his grandchildren, we learned so much about India. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifg37Yq6VOxLRZmwk3QDMZtIP13iDv93FOnwqdNlryLceWYuk3H2f0_gOld_TAT7xG-aMBnxaT8cXNMHsRE8FjgZNULLyFtul3UQpMNlIktLgoSd7InTHCF3HJfVZ0NVMm94FeO-Xoeq8/s1600/IMG_5389.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifg37Yq6VOxLRZmwk3QDMZtIP13iDv93FOnwqdNlryLceWYuk3H2f0_gOld_TAT7xG-aMBnxaT8cXNMHsRE8FjgZNULLyFtul3UQpMNlIktLgoSd7InTHCF3HJfVZ0NVMm94FeO-Xoeq8/s320/IMG_5389.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The next book that we read is called "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/One-Grain-Rice-Mathematical-Folktale/dp/059093998X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1344471356&sr=1-1&keywords=one+grain+of+rice+a+mathematical+folktale">One Grain of Rice: A Mathematical Folktale</a>" Retold By Demi. In this folktale, a village woman outsmarts the raja. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The village people are going hungry and the raja refuses to give them rice, even though they gave him rice to keep in the event of a famine. The villager notices rice falling from a basket on it's way to the raja and when she gathers it up, she returns it to the raja, he in turn wants to reward her. He promises to give whatever she asks. She asks for one grain of rice today and then double the grains tomorrow, and each day for the next thirty days, she asks him to double to number of grains given the day before. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This story follows as the raja initially feels that this woman is foolish for asking for such a small reward, but by the end of the thirty days, the raja sees all of the rice that he has stored being given to the villager, who in turn shares it with with the entire village. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What a fantastic story! We found so many lessons tucked away in this one. First of all, the obvious mathematical aspect of multiplication, so fun to watch the grains of rice increase to such a large amount so fast. Then, the importance of keeping ones word, the value of being humble and the true gift in being charitable. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Both of these books are highly recommended by this Mamacita and her littles. We are super eager to read the rest of out library finds. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We have a fun outing planned for this weekend and I will be sharing the details of that with you on Monday. Until then, have you read either of these books? I'd love to hear your thoguths on them! Do you have a top ten book list, or does it change almost daily? If you have not read them, but decide to check out either of these books, I'd love to hear from you too! </span></div></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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</span></div>Raina @ Mamacita Spins The Globehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08686405668797883267noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7175747350535276582.post-91621423401678621072012-08-06T10:14:00.000-04:002012-08-06T10:14:29.114-04:00India, Here We Come!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpqphsIxOxzb-TIEx8JyJoyLhJ5mWcQgwHbQ-ZGEPxx9ZOY5gT2OM-i0H6g444AiOg5Ud9NqmMaMTJjUQcRSRHfLlhQWKOAsdop4D0WNk5IbVs_Aw3iqAfWknx404M1Bo3Rpwg2GMAK7E/s1600/Flag+of+India.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpqphsIxOxzb-TIEx8JyJoyLhJ5mWcQgwHbQ-ZGEPxx9ZOY5gT2OM-i0H6g444AiOg5Ud9NqmMaMTJjUQcRSRHfLlhQWKOAsdop4D0WNk5IbVs_Aw3iqAfWknx404M1Bo3Rpwg2GMAK7E/s1600/Flag+of+India.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpqphsIxOxzb-TIEx8JyJoyLhJ5mWcQgwHbQ-ZGEPxx9ZOY5gT2OM-i0H6g444AiOg5Ud9NqmMaMTJjUQcRSRHfLlhQWKOAsdop4D0WNk5IbVs_Aw3iqAfWknx404M1Bo3Rpwg2GMAK7E/s320/Flag+of+India.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"> </span></div><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am super excited to tell you that our next destination is India. We have made our construction paper flag and I have some fun stuff planned for the month, I hope you'll follow along and see what we're up to! </span><br />
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</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you remember, not long ago, I posted about how hard it is to get my littles to cooperate for a photo (see it <a href="http://mamacitaspinstheglobe.blogspot.com/2012/05/new-country-and-photo-adventure.html">here</a>). Generally, I have a great shot of one of them, but the other is blurry, or eyes closed, or refusing to smile. You get the idea. Well, today was no exception. For some reason the flag photos are the hardest for them. I'm not sure if it's because we only have one flag and they don't really know how they can both be a part of the picture, or maybe because I am only asking for one and the pressure gets more intense. Whatever the reason, there are always a kazillion "not good" pictures for the one that I post. Today while trying to get the perfect one, Aiden had a "surprise" sneeze and it made both of my littles giggle uncontrollably. Here is one of the giggle shots, there is nothing better than the sound of little laughter. </span><br />
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</span> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAn-w08RDQaVT-hdmjImOfuDUvrqfCb2BTTOyFGuO-1BX7jRE2E0o3rgEuB5jGEG2Hh6uTs1mPbQUYIjkwjUnAjO64lG6xzIHKzo6izBfgOinVq-Mf2bVFQJezH8CCO7IddQJ60gokCHE/s1600/IMG_5379.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAn-w08RDQaVT-hdmjImOfuDUvrqfCb2BTTOyFGuO-1BX7jRE2E0o3rgEuB5jGEG2Hh6uTs1mPbQUYIjkwjUnAjO64lG6xzIHKzo6izBfgOinVq-Mf2bVFQJezH8CCO7IddQJ60gokCHE/s320/IMG_5379.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>Raina @ Mamacita Spins The Globehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08686405668797883267noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7175747350535276582.post-45227203355072890292012-08-02T08:31:00.001-04:002012-08-02T09:12:42.389-04:00A Nod To The Olympics<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizlJeF2MZvEa6JVXhiT-ZpnQ0aEeYjDnKWtREfazgX6ZZCeKjJmsiqdxXDXuiiiIt_pJPHpT93BuP02gu622PMTT0u-4m_-wiSGpPE_MrXwZF72ENyHEDXAmjQzzq9Xc5x5BYcgYTxF1o/s1600/Olympics.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizlJeF2MZvEa6JVXhiT-ZpnQ0aEeYjDnKWtREfazgX6ZZCeKjJmsiqdxXDXuiiiIt_pJPHpT93BuP02gu622PMTT0u-4m_-wiSGpPE_MrXwZF72ENyHEDXAmjQzzq9Xc5x5BYcgYTxF1o/s320/Olympics.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Olympics. Olympics. Olympics everywhere. I think I got it. I think I know why...</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc-MLxXSVV3plIcukl80zmicJEHU1bPTesYhYS-JXGaOKKAs4aA9yXZ0eSJg50SM2Ss2J_GAPXy8xrXvwH2rM94kkpqFVDcgcqjnDOimlY6yD5Lmqa5uJ4mXMhcVD4oJVDfS4rYsm1vh4/s1600/Picture+14.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="136" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc-MLxXSVV3plIcukl80zmicJEHU1bPTesYhYS-JXGaOKKAs4aA9yXZ0eSJg50SM2Ss2J_GAPXy8xrXvwH2rM94kkpqFVDcgcqjnDOimlY6yD5Lmqa5uJ4mXMhcVD4oJVDfS4rYsm1vh4/s320/Picture+14.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://kidworldcitizen.org/2012/07/10/link-up-your-olympics-themed-activities-for-kids/">Here is the actual link to the Kid World Citizen page</a> where you can link your own Olympics post. Oh and if you do, share your link with us in the comments. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Several weeks ago when</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://kidworldcitizen.org/">Kid World Citizen</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">posted this on my</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/MamacitaSpinsTheGlobe">facebook page,</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I wasn't sure if I was going to join in the fun. I mean, on one hand what a great opportunity to get my blog out there a little bit (and what blogger doesn't want that?), but on the other... The Olympics has always been, in my mind, "just" sports, and while we are a very active family, we are not an athletic family. We know nothing about sports and to compose a blog post that was about sports seemed like trying to write a blog post about quantum physics, I just don't get it. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As that day wore on, I started thinking about how we had read The Magic Tree House book, Hour of The Olympics when we learned about <a href="http://mamacitaspinstheglobe.blogspot.com/2011/08/first-stop-greece.html">Greece</a>, our very first country of this virtual tour. I thought about how the very first Olympics were connected to a country that we had learned about, THIS in and of itself seemed like a good reason to do a quick stop at home between countries to talk about The 2012 Summer Olympics. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">THEN, (yes, there's more) I thought more and more about what The World Olympics really meant. I started to feel like it really wasn't about sports per se, as much as 204 countries from around the world, uniting in one location to compete on a platform which instills pride and camaraderie, and is not violent. When these thoughts came to my mind, I felt a great sense of pride flood into me. We are fortunate to live in a world full of countries that can put aside political disagreements, religious disagreements and philosophical disagreements to come together and create something so incredible. Something so beautiful. These athletes are creating a uniting level of pride and joy among not only their home country, but the world. As far as I can see, this is the closest thing to World Peace that I have been witness to. I know that sounds "hokey", but think about it. All around the world there are people sitting and watching. Yes, cheering for their home team, but all around the world, people are doing the same exact thing. To me this sounds like a quiet hush in the differences around the world. That is what I mean when I say that the world has been united.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Naturally, after analyzing the games to such a degree, I couldn't just skip over it. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I wasn't sure what we might do, I have been trying to come up with a brilliant Olympics tribute for weeks.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> I have intentionally avoided other bloggers posts about what they are doing, because I didn't want to be influenced by other people's ideas. I wanted us to have our own. (I'm psyched to go look at them now!)</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I gathered my littles around the table and we discussed The Summer Olympics. We talked about which sports were in the olympics. We talked about which countries were participating. They were blown away that 204 countries were competing! While, I never did have a great big idea of some crazy awesome activity for us (though I did contemplate trying to get my littles to put together a synchronized swimming routine, that was nixed when I remembered that we don't have a pool and they have only been to four swimming lessons). </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Aiden was the one who had an idea. He was really excited about it and since I hadn't come up with anything anyway, we went with it. He wanted to sculpt an archer, using the Crayola Model Magic that we got for our <a href="http://mamacitaspinstheglobe.blogspot.com/2012/07/tree-frogs-of-panama.html">Panamanian Frogs project</a>. Eliana opted for a swimmer. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7tjPcT1spCdAKH4wKmjleRqXjagQLzjWTv1KMQXfkM2zxvSmxbYkvskOuU6s62nqKpirNG5nT3_V0QyMWnYllU5clNiUi_st_oY2xKWBhs1wdxf-khkbakoG5qSwCugZnv2tW82ieIys/s1600/IMG_5363.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7tjPcT1spCdAKH4wKmjleRqXjagQLzjWTv1KMQXfkM2zxvSmxbYkvskOuU6s62nqKpirNG5nT3_V0QyMWnYllU5clNiUi_st_oY2xKWBhs1wdxf-khkbakoG5qSwCugZnv2tW82ieIys/s320/IMG_5363.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Olympic Swimmer 2012- Eliana</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_8cZFJBZgaIS7kTkukjO3KtLPZZKQqES9V_73FfaxbRmeqj7EeWhBZl2xsur7coTldTqDXIgkc7kCJZ1a9KPnXuj_b4gHHtZi5fSd12d4iudoNzKVYnK5RaVCfGVpRrqM7qymjTCfaw0/s1600/IMG_5359.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_8cZFJBZgaIS7kTkukjO3KtLPZZKQqES9V_73FfaxbRmeqj7EeWhBZl2xsur7coTldTqDXIgkc7kCJZ1a9KPnXuj_b4gHHtZi5fSd12d4iudoNzKVYnK5RaVCfGVpRrqM7qymjTCfaw0/s320/IMG_5359.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Summer / "Sumeer" Olympics 2012. </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I hope that you are all enjoying the Olympics and that you have taken at least one moment to realize how incredible it truly is for this many countries to meet together and create something that can bring the world together and fill it with pride. </span><br />
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</span>Raina @ Mamacita Spins The Globehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08686405668797883267noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7175747350535276582.post-54223691376336820652012-07-30T08:43:00.000-04:002012-07-30T08:43:44.018-04:00Cena de Panama (Panamanian Dinner)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOfSUSdMtHbWrr4vqWBFv8epDmnd3uHFl8FSIDKZrV0BCHRkFZPlHGA-d7Hk-0pAuy9gpmgXrzSjWA2t4-AVa4-vS0e858huh6Hm4VcbogsKvsIIGBnXgmwhdI_4VjgicTPawTwEyc-JE/s1600/panama+dinner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOfSUSdMtHbWrr4vqWBFv8epDmnd3uHFl8FSIDKZrV0BCHRkFZPlHGA-d7Hk-0pAuy9gpmgXrzSjWA2t4-AVa4-vS0e858huh6Hm4VcbogsKvsIIGBnXgmwhdI_4VjgicTPawTwEyc-JE/s320/panama+dinner.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I woke up in the morning and headed to the grocery store with my list in hand. Since I was fortunate to be kid free for this trip, it was a quick in and out. When I got home, I jumped right in making the food for our dinner. The first thing I did was slice up a steak and marinate it in salsa for <a href="http://www.czbrats.com/Recipes/carneim.htm">Carne en Palito</a>. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After doing some other prep work for the rest of the dishes I had planned, I was hungry. I mean REALLY hungry. The only reason that I am telling you this is because I sat down with a bowl of Thai noodles, which I made the day before. Yes, I cannot stop eating Thai food. I felt like I was cheating on Panama to be snacking on Thai food only hours before I was to be enjoying a Panamanian meal. I actually asked myself, "Is this being fair to Panama?" At any rate, I hope that Panama won't mind, but I simply cannot get enough of Thailand. With that said, I have thoroughly enjoyed Panama and it has made it's way to the list of places that I want to visit in reality, not just in fantasy. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After spending a couple of hours in the kitchen, the table was set. I had placed our <a href="http://mamacitaspinstheglobe.blogspot.com/2012/07/oh-how-colorful-wildlife-can-be.html">art work</a>, <a href="http://mamacitaspinstheglobe.blogspot.com/2012/07/central-america-here-we-come.html">the flag</a> that we made and <a href="http://mamacitaspinstheglobe.blogspot.com/2012/07/panamanian-library-venture.html">the books</a> that we borrowed on the buffet so that we could enjoy them during dinner. </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5w-2AEaQoObvqlG4XWpKeGy_VFL0fBstIaIctDytBiNjlHSyinMeWlEJ4nd4HgqcBJTL8g10VAnKkHam3TeCVi_v_NP-u1EFKF17bEOGtrAZE-BDeWCeQvidlSbEzaizR_0HqFHdLM3c/s1600/IMG_5329.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5w-2AEaQoObvqlG4XWpKeGy_VFL0fBstIaIctDytBiNjlHSyinMeWlEJ4nd4HgqcBJTL8g10VAnKkHam3TeCVi_v_NP-u1EFKF17bEOGtrAZE-BDeWCeQvidlSbEzaizR_0HqFHdLM3c/s320/IMG_5329.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I posted this next photo on my</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/MamacitaSpinsTheGlobe">Facebook page</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">yesterday and asked if anyone knew what they were. We did have someone guess the right answer,</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chayote">chayote</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. Then, I said that I would give my reviews. We made</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.czbrats.com/Recipes/corncha.htm">corn with chayote</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and I will admit, I was worried, it's hard for me to go out on a limb sometimes and try something new, but it was SO yummy! I went back for more (and am eager to eat the leftovers). If you are fortunate to be able to get these at your local grocery, I highly recommend trying this dish.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG9KCvkUwEINQPEuBMEIQwnjk2iyqVSROt6qCPTAwpJ_YyNcQcfvBwalixDBSOXRiSZUV7rrJx6W-lZOau2XBW28mxoTruUxJsgTZkjOZxUFBYIgoswtrxB2lk9NGL380khuH6yRWkV3M/s1600/IMG_5322.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG9KCvkUwEINQPEuBMEIQwnjk2iyqVSROt6qCPTAwpJ_YyNcQcfvBwalixDBSOXRiSZUV7rrJx6W-lZOau2XBW28mxoTruUxJsgTZkjOZxUFBYIgoswtrxB2lk9NGL380khuH6yRWkV3M/s320/IMG_5322.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We also made <a href="http://panamanianrecipes.wikia.com/wiki/Arroz_con_Pina">arroz con pina</a>. This is a drink, similar to the <a href="http://mamacitaspinstheglobe.blogspot.com/2012/07/strawberry-horchata-raspados.html">raspados that we made</a>, in that it has a rice base. Instead of strawberry, the arroz con pina, uses rice and pineapple, cooking the rice right in pineapple juice. The flavor was delicious, but the texture was bit grainy for us. We also served up ice water with lime slices to drink with our meal. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The main dish (for the non meat eaters) was a <a href="http://www.czbrats.com/Recipes/bbeanpie.htm">black bean pie</a>. This is a layered dish, with beans, onions, salsa, cheese and tortillas. As you may have guessed, it was full of yummy. Aiden even had some of the leftovers for breakfast, it's *that* good. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When I was searching for meal options, I kept stumbling across empanadas. We made empandas for our <a href="http://mamacitaspinstheglobe.blogspot.com/2012/01/cubano-que-come-cuban-eating.html">Cuban dinner</a> and they were SO good, that we wanted to have them again. I know that it seems strange to have a pie for the meal along with mini "pies" for a side, but when given the option of eating empanadas, we just couldn't say no. For the meat eaters, there were empanadas filled with ground beef, onion, cheese and spices. For the non meat eaters, there were empanadas filled with potato, onion, broccoli and spices (chili, cumin, coriander, oregano, paprika, salt and just a pinch of sugar). </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf3QQVBA-4DAioTIlPEYejOU4fT4rBsU92lZTYaXn6KYYlpBEnbLKG7a3d-jg3pIPi3HOV7yFynhFffu4VZallz1lQ8q76gXjJMpIrazcvXBK0zdDfzkPFG-Zt15v55acEgX8bLVJDxAs/s1600/IMG_5335.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf3QQVBA-4DAioTIlPEYejOU4fT4rBsU92lZTYaXn6KYYlpBEnbLKG7a3d-jg3pIPi3HOV7yFynhFffu4VZallz1lQ8q76gXjJMpIrazcvXBK0zdDfzkPFG-Zt15v55acEgX8bLVJDxAs/s320/IMG_5335.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The <a href="http://mamacitaspinstheglobe.blogspot.com/2012/07/tree-frogs-of-panama.html">little frogs that we made</a> were scattered around the table to watch us eat. </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After eating the delicious meal, we followed it with a dessert of pineapple wedges. One thing that I love about summer is that fruit is in abundance and it is a fantastic dessert option. </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYFpSEuPQnAVcDN7qX_pdGUGLRCLImE5goRziknekCJYIS2_JXHbuzbFf7Wc9iL1j4sG0Z1qLkMhw8MCGoRQvxuksdwl981tLRpIQ-ovfe-xnccl_pCFUfVNQyRUQ5frYxgZrOx_Sd2KE/s1600/IMG_5337.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYFpSEuPQnAVcDN7qX_pdGUGLRCLImE5goRziknekCJYIS2_JXHbuzbFf7Wc9iL1j4sG0Z1qLkMhw8MCGoRQvxuksdwl981tLRpIQ-ovfe-xnccl_pCFUfVNQyRUQ5frYxgZrOx_Sd2KE/s320/IMG_5337.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We listened to some Panamanian radio, streaming free online. I asked the Panama <a href="http://mamacitaspinstheglobe.blogspot.com/p/international-trivia.html">trivia</a> and we reflected on our Panamanian tour, and discussed what was next for our little globe spinning family. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Did you try any new foods over the weekend? How about sampling food from another culture? Or did you harvest some fresh food from your backyard garden? Come on people, I wanna know what YOU ate :) </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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</span></div>Raina @ Mamacita Spins The Globehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08686405668797883267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7175747350535276582.post-21467101028593423382012-07-26T09:22:00.000-04:002012-07-26T09:22:19.091-04:00Tree Frogs of Panama<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGEof0sS8CfyeOBiyyuY5B4eKWjvxQJLIY_3z4YswqH-cyMXx9uoYjZ1C_7JoMiQY2NFRbHKO1qhOICNdY15WQwuU1MITT5zUDBVBOgJwvEkpOT4OgRCossaLB6hz0_GC23Ygeywr1sQo/s1600/tree+frogs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="185" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGEof0sS8CfyeOBiyyuY5B4eKWjvxQJLIY_3z4YswqH-cyMXx9uoYjZ1C_7JoMiQY2NFRbHKO1qhOICNdY15WQwuU1MITT5zUDBVBOgJwvEkpOT4OgRCossaLB6hz0_GC23Ygeywr1sQo/s320/tree+frogs.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As many of you know by now, I love using Scupley. After feeling like I was becoming a bit too obsessed with Scupley, I decided to take a break from sculpting type projects. When I did sculpt, I tried a new kind of clay and didn't care for it much, while it was easier to use because it was softer, it was messier and cracked as it dried. (See it <a href="http://mamacitaspinstheglobe.blogspot.com/2012/03/clay-craft-peru.html">here</a>.)</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I decided that it had been long enough and it was time to buy some sculpey. We made a trip to the craft store and loaded our basket up with some Sculpey, but then, we stumbled upon something else. Model Magic made by Crayola. Air drying, soft sculpting clay. Whoa! I decided that since it felt so soft through the package, it would be far easier for my littles to work with. It was a little bit more expensive per package, but there are 4 oz in a package as compared to 2 oz of Scupley, so really, it's the better price. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While learning about The Red Eyed Tree Frog from the <a href="http://mamacitaspinstheglobe.blogspot.com/2012/07/panamanian-library-venture.html">book that we borrowed</a> from the library, we knew we'd want to do a tree frog project. While we were doing our Panama research, we also learned about The Panamanian Golden Frog. The tree frogs in Panama are all suffering due to a fungus that came to the Rainforest in the 1990s, but Panamanian golden frog is critically endangered because of it, and has become a national symbol of Panama. Some believe that when a Golden frog dies, it turns to gold. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I pulled out my "special" craft tablecloth for the occasion since I had no idea what kind of mess we might be dealing with. Set up the computer with some tree frog images thanks to google images and the book that we borrowed from the library. </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0tBnufshsb6cXn9jEHeQPkwnJ5T6a4x7CN7LIj-7FowYYIDrcX0aPnrmi7sCtoznbzwaz1I2kBL7IVgJbHZZBFkGNrQzVBA0mhdSV2VzuimrPYf2Xt3dOJ8O0iLqRcMlBezuxMQG2O70/s1600/IMG_5303.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0tBnufshsb6cXn9jEHeQPkwnJ5T6a4x7CN7LIj-7FowYYIDrcX0aPnrmi7sCtoznbzwaz1I2kBL7IVgJbHZZBFkGNrQzVBA0mhdSV2VzuimrPYf2Xt3dOJ8O0iLqRcMlBezuxMQG2O70/s320/IMG_5303.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We looked a few pictures of tree frogs and started sculpting. Aiden decided that he wanted to start with a Strawberry poison dart frog. </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEWIQojY_fFXtlJstnEbNF0XSW4XQDMBpqDhKXMDzM4GIcpJdJY8kkG3BT-EJU4Hg66GNM5hqyl5Sq-Rnk5gxeEkZ5QsXQGaZ80A6hfgy2pxbp51R-_LUH3gqFSLTsCyzzt79ao3YItwk/s1600/IMG_5304.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEWIQojY_fFXtlJstnEbNF0XSW4XQDMBpqDhKXMDzM4GIcpJdJY8kkG3BT-EJU4Hg66GNM5hqyl5Sq-Rnk5gxeEkZ5QsXQGaZ80A6hfgy2pxbp51R-_LUH3gqFSLTsCyzzt79ao3YItwk/s320/IMG_5304.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTDoqD7hdjejsL_YlLFnVZ-cghby3S7Q-6BrCknOVEP2kE_-Gsc-jy1Jh30DtXFHYUC_gIQ8u2EhLzOjUdGqR_Pum8-gJgni-FxAq9PcXbxIXBCVlYl34S-pLhfPVtuiaNp6oGjW7iwvI/s1600/IMG_5321.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTDoqD7hdjejsL_YlLFnVZ-cghby3S7Q-6BrCknOVEP2kE_-Gsc-jy1Jh30DtXFHYUC_gIQ8u2EhLzOjUdGqR_Pum8-gJgni-FxAq9PcXbxIXBCVlYl34S-pLhfPVtuiaNp6oGjW7iwvI/s320/IMG_5321.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Eliana opted for a Golden frog. </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKRygs1CPXtCuM98ZkzyVgwtSeEzlyE-kTxP7R3V7YGe2s_AZj6fhU9IXJOxgFzVzuxg8T1wqii7IXjyZzdcVRtJ_mXoGo-s53CCGBAca5eAKHhghQMz3OV9FLgLBP6mpp2j_39TBeIDQ/s1600/IMG_5311.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKRygs1CPXtCuM98ZkzyVgwtSeEzlyE-kTxP7R3V7YGe2s_AZj6fhU9IXJOxgFzVzuxg8T1wqii7IXjyZzdcVRtJ_mXoGo-s53CCGBAca5eAKHhghQMz3OV9FLgLBP6mpp2j_39TBeIDQ/s320/IMG_5311.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Aiden then made a golden frog as well. </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHHUs1uikyP4nIgkAT17LAfDdaZ2S9Uy_X9wj7oOc842CVlpUgRMPL6-USZs1UKjfWDqItp-AYgqqeP5aIDZfmjh8MOJY4wE52l98c7NIaBR2GEGTAAuRZFXWtrY6jaPmJrhmOu86V0po/s1600/IMG_5312.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHHUs1uikyP4nIgkAT17LAfDdaZ2S9Uy_X9wj7oOc842CVlpUgRMPL6-USZs1UKjfWDqItp-AYgqqeP5aIDZfmjh8MOJY4wE52l98c7NIaBR2GEGTAAuRZFXWtrY6jaPmJrhmOu86V0po/s320/IMG_5312.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yes, we all decided that it made sense to make a golden frog. So we made a few. </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJNBsRq8frtUvW-YezUNa7w4QQNig4PS1ugvBCemLuGYlzw5gdZRLxqn_3SWW31-uzzsMnv4KBDTll-B-NLgx21CZzRInYnLrYQGioJBjhyphenhyphen1qZQMyGN-YqHLPIXVGa_w0lo34HrYVdxvk/s1600/IMG_5319.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJNBsRq8frtUvW-YezUNa7w4QQNig4PS1ugvBCemLuGYlzw5gdZRLxqn_3SWW31-uzzsMnv4KBDTll-B-NLgx21CZzRInYnLrYQGioJBjhyphenhyphen1qZQMyGN-YqHLPIXVGa_w0lo34HrYVdxvk/s320/IMG_5319.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1sHA2uVwom6PaX228ybmLwootiS-XCb-LqDW2fCDjV9Unu1CGFqLa54ErmX3rd3rTXGoHmow0u0IoJisFw7fC3auwLZVOOeGQyfZuydf8RIzbvdbH46TBm33FJSVcyGiksStT1ubq0u4/s1600/IMG_5307.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1sHA2uVwom6PaX228ybmLwootiS-XCb-LqDW2fCDjV9Unu1CGFqLa54ErmX3rd3rTXGoHmow0u0IoJisFw7fC3auwLZVOOeGQyfZuydf8RIzbvdbH46TBm33FJSVcyGiksStT1ubq0u4/s320/IMG_5307.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAv8zcY8fAzSxrC8VpLpwlu0vOgpGwQOslVWV1y_RIdFsVYMsxa0kfudMZE21LoB6m1ateX_FAQAyuyWiI12W63fZ6YNMUY7G-mHFgWDSorCWiskVzyCaNg623OZsrll9NYt3W_dOv2h8/s1600/IMG_5308.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAv8zcY8fAzSxrC8VpLpwlu0vOgpGwQOslVWV1y_RIdFsVYMsxa0kfudMZE21LoB6m1ateX_FAQAyuyWiI12W63fZ6YNMUY7G-mHFgWDSorCWiskVzyCaNg623OZsrll9NYt3W_dOv2h8/s320/IMG_5308.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This Model Magic clay was so easy to work with and incredibly light weight. I think this is maybe what those <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circus_Peanuts">circus peanut candies</a> are made of. ;) My littles decided that they were done and ready to go do something else, but I didn't want to stop, I made several others before I finally decided to put the clay away. </span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJfxnN7XEBE3xTvgMT5X0va9I5CdxBXaMBE7pHFVHtxQIAyfCJUoIl3Wna2I1by1VCd76OQLJKNBAg-RTW7ziNs_bqaNGNIcqFrH7MbkKUoH3TD9cqOISX3B0ch8_9g9FDayliJc2w_Og/s1600/IMG_5318.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJfxnN7XEBE3xTvgMT5X0va9I5CdxBXaMBE7pHFVHtxQIAyfCJUoIl3Wna2I1by1VCd76OQLJKNBAg-RTW7ziNs_bqaNGNIcqFrH7MbkKUoH3TD9cqOISX3B0ch8_9g9FDayliJc2w_Og/s320/IMG_5318.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-L85LOZPt9WrmTJW3rRklxTkxwEaiwuBEGKP1_C7h7WuoCHbrBAKgsSGW0N9q42i_z34uqSD0XzIqfxSNU_f541djQ7UoCCcN8UC_tV2t_jTwkJRIZijODJJXwI7M7QVyv6QWeautCGw/s1600/IMG_5320.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-L85LOZPt9WrmTJW3rRklxTkxwEaiwuBEGKP1_C7h7WuoCHbrBAKgsSGW0N9q42i_z34uqSD0XzIqfxSNU_f541djQ7UoCCcN8UC_tV2t_jTwkJRIZijODJJXwI7M7QVyv6QWeautCGw/s320/IMG_5320.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This one reminds me of a marshmallw peep. </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBZBbTPROogqp_t8hNWusq-JfGVeoe6sIJPC4-3U55-gu7MqsFTluH35APmt0dwQI201WmzMngDqw2kYHT5x30dOPLXtwszo_ucEzZIYY4dmv26EiaptJDrddaNj8HrdTlqvUpAL3sPw8/s1600/IMG_5317.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBZBbTPROogqp_t8hNWusq-JfGVeoe6sIJPC4-3U55-gu7MqsFTluH35APmt0dwQI201WmzMngDqw2kYHT5x30dOPLXtwszo_ucEzZIYY4dmv26EiaptJDrddaNj8HrdTlqvUpAL3sPw8/s320/IMG_5317.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Have you ever used Model Magic before? Did you find it incredibly easy to work with as I did? Or do you use a different sculpting medium? </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am still in search of a reader who has been to Panama to be our Traveling Friend, to be featured next week. Please contact me at mamacitasglobe[at]yahoo[dot]com. </span><br />
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</span>Raina @ Mamacita Spins The Globehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08686405668797883267noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7175747350535276582.post-29931972290574571752012-07-23T10:05:00.000-04:002012-07-23T10:05:52.334-04:00A New Kind of Stamp (Panama)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVg5FvKOtGtdTY3HQB1j4lqJvUiYpLth6S-Fs_5w_BGD3e5zRuIfOTvPh2qC4Jjsv9FJ_jAgFCT1z9epgOHkArpPCKTYytIflX9V84KLe_UPyPZ0C5BSN4f9qS60PvPnXxLEsB-lbrlGM/s1600/Styrofoam+Stamp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVg5FvKOtGtdTY3HQB1j4lqJvUiYpLth6S-Fs_5w_BGD3e5zRuIfOTvPh2qC4Jjsv9FJ_jAgFCT1z9epgOHkArpPCKTYytIflX9V84KLe_UPyPZ0C5BSN4f9qS60PvPnXxLEsB-lbrlGM/s320/Styrofoam+Stamp.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As the end of the month draws near (how can it be time already???) we start checking things off of our to do list. <a href="http://mamacitaspinstheglobe.blogspot.com/2012/07/central-america-here-we-come.html">Flag</a>, Check. <a href="http://mamacitaspinstheglobe.blogspot.com/2012/07/oh-how-colorful-wildlife-can-be.html">Craft</a>, Check. <a href="http://mamacitaspinstheglobe.blogspot.com/2012/07/strawberry-horchata-raspados.html">Snack</a>, Check. <a href="http://mamacitaspinstheglobe.blogspot.com/2012/07/panamanian-library-venture.html">Trip to the library</a>, Check. And now, we can check off "Stamp our passports".</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ever since we <a href="http://mamacitaspinstheglobe.blogspot.com/2011/11/passports-please.html">made the passports</a>, we have been primarily <a href="http://mamacitaspinstheglobe.blogspot.com/2011/12/giveaway-follow-up-and-stamping-our.html">using potatoes</a> to make the stamps. I have ventured off a bit and tried using an <a href="http://mamacitaspinstheglobe.blogspot.com/2012/04/mapping-our-journey-and-getting-our.html">apple</a>, but mostly it has been potato stamps. Potato stamps are cool and work great, but I've been feeling a little bored with the same old potato. I decided that this time I would try something new. Since Eliana recently did a printmaking class (and they both did last summer) I wanted to try to follow some of the printmaking concepts. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I started by drawing out what I wanted the stamp to look like. Since we have been doing some talking about The Panama Canal lately, I wanted to include a map of Panama (since it "features" the canal).</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFiboC0ov0aT5Cm1LyFPYfuWMtSxsV-66eCJqgNTsuXEK81eRAwF9VuFEu1gf2K1yUa5yZWmdfmCdldWhabExX3nIDf7GZW1ICpNrCuJvnIZMz_IRUJ7WN0xtmsJiFfx21u_ANCA74i_k/s1600/IMG_5286.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFiboC0ov0aT5Cm1LyFPYfuWMtSxsV-66eCJqgNTsuXEK81eRAwF9VuFEu1gf2K1yUa5yZWmdfmCdldWhabExX3nIDf7GZW1ICpNrCuJvnIZMz_IRUJ7WN0xtmsJiFfx21u_ANCA74i_k/s320/IMG_5286.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then, using a styrofoam take out container (that I saved from a recent outing), I cut a square of styrofoam.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgby8AcgHAZy3F_jRCP87_E-SLCvLlpweyRvgEEJxYM-nnOOzhb-Ypu9lzrWbw3m4sBQVcIDKj5Feqtz5TvByVJ1nkcFVcTGtjBUnscLK1VJoUkuICo1l_mpcsVmjBREWxGeDG0XZrJ1VM/s1600/IMG_5287.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgby8AcgHAZy3F_jRCP87_E-SLCvLlpweyRvgEEJxYM-nnOOzhb-Ypu9lzrWbw3m4sBQVcIDKj5Feqtz5TvByVJ1nkcFVcTGtjBUnscLK1VJoUkuICo1l_mpcsVmjBREWxGeDG0XZrJ1VM/s320/IMG_5287.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This next step is a crucial step if you don't want your design to end up backwards. (Remember when I made this mistake with <a href="http://mamacitaspinstheglobe.blogspot.com/2011/11/can-i-stamp-your-passport.html">my very first potato stamp</a>?) You must flip your paper over that has the drawn image on it so that it is reversed. </span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh63pZDs-LIxGAwUR5CbEqXeOJnLhHuaA8DGg1k-4vBUEQmXVCczrTti48GSNbUb78hlodQmoqKFYzQ5wlpHys6LEpyMMytmXdPByDt008PJbkuRhiwP3hAzB95Uss3aNLCmf1iYzwW9Vs/s1600/IMG_5290.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh63pZDs-LIxGAwUR5CbEqXeOJnLhHuaA8DGg1k-4vBUEQmXVCczrTti48GSNbUb78hlodQmoqKFYzQ5wlpHys6LEpyMMytmXdPByDt008PJbkuRhiwP3hAzB95Uss3aNLCmf1iYzwW9Vs/s320/IMG_5290.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You can barely see it I know, but if you look hard you can see the image through the paper. (You could try using tracing paper or layout paper.)</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then, you have to trace your image to the side. The reason for doing this is it gets your image where you want it on your styrofoam enough so that you can carve into your styrofoam. </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfUXf_OP1BbG7BNDR-BpssaMxMNAx8EEE9UjWJNXhtn_cA0HuPJ4IfpWrTL7S3En7r-L11SW30iy4R_T1Xw2pUq-FbRrZmB3NhbuzVvj-JJ1QY8yCh-bx1tnTZWCAPrw3MwAnqZ0SPhkQ/s1600/IMG_5291.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfUXf_OP1BbG7BNDR-BpssaMxMNAx8EEE9UjWJNXhtn_cA0HuPJ4IfpWrTL7S3En7r-L11SW30iy4R_T1Xw2pUq-FbRrZmB3NhbuzVvj-JJ1QY8yCh-bx1tnTZWCAPrw3MwAnqZ0SPhkQ/s320/IMG_5291.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWU2X4-Omx66SGA-Q23akVaJx5TzNAJdLd0dJKd-Md7AS_d5lk-3VpD962lei5vcJgP42DEJ3cVZX-htune5ZdPFToB2i4WiUfP2QIbRUCTCChx5p1f8n-mrloOrIA-PU1HOcXQD8a8H0/s1600/IMG_5292.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWU2X4-Omx66SGA-Q23akVaJx5TzNAJdLd0dJKd-Md7AS_d5lk-3VpD962lei5vcJgP42DEJ3cVZX-htune5ZdPFToB2i4WiUfP2QIbRUCTCChx5p1f8n-mrloOrIA-PU1HOcXQD8a8H0/s320/IMG_5292.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Since the styrofoam is so soft, I found that the best (and easiest) way to carve the image into the styrofoam, was to simply draw over the image again with a pencil, pushing down slightly harder than normal to create the carving. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Next up is where the truth is revealed. Does the styrofoam stamp work? I used acrylic paint and a small brush.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihK12XCY7ZeiEhaOFDnPsjU-8WrKfAKBXc5yrIjVotPZP2XtwwAhOG_FNRlu4L_W3lJEBRgio7mmXZTPwKQb0Z9Z_OSu5oxcFuoFXBrWz5iskK2omzFP9oNClRwp2NRvBVYnn7TqhgI4w/s1600/IMG_5294.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihK12XCY7ZeiEhaOFDnPsjU-8WrKfAKBXc5yrIjVotPZP2XtwwAhOG_FNRlu4L_W3lJEBRgio7mmXZTPwKQb0Z9Z_OSu5oxcFuoFXBrWz5iskK2omzFP9oNClRwp2NRvBVYnn7TqhgI4w/s320/IMG_5294.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After brushing the paint on the design, I flipped it over and stamped the trial on paper. </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0sCvEBQ17i7eIi9b9yIY7nUcKR3JrEZ7G3MH7j6YxdK-9OjFCQj889UhU9lH8Zfqev4bHnmdAsRSYLSloVKlSUs1KZCn6OJwhNe6dDAkoVuDe3Rm86bbK3pvleY3WhdMkm8rVXW7ypLM/s1600/IMG_5296.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0sCvEBQ17i7eIi9b9yIY7nUcKR3JrEZ7G3MH7j6YxdK-9OjFCQj889UhU9lH8Zfqev4bHnmdAsRSYLSloVKlSUs1KZCn6OJwhNe6dDAkoVuDe3Rm86bbK3pvleY3WhdMkm8rVXW7ypLM/s320/IMG_5296.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I wasn't crazy about how the word "Panama" came out. I think the letters were just too small so, I decided that the next time around, I would not paint the word. I would stamp only the image of the map and the date, then use a marker to write the word Panama. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It certainly isn't perfect, but I am glad to be sampling new methods of stamping instead of sticking with potatoes. Who knows what next month will bring???</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWYOR8glcuqJeWK00MQJ8AQJgkr4OAOPgkhZ-zZWSZZaVzwxsNPuYqlVmtg-TK3hgIqaVuvUruAXTSAUacbzUqM0kWIUvLzxK5f6fMfmwc9O7J1jxmcXgoOYWCMk7hbM49AKhKIwiR65M/s1600/IMG_5298.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWYOR8glcuqJeWK00MQJ8AQJgkr4OAOPgkhZ-zZWSZZaVzwxsNPuYqlVmtg-TK3hgIqaVuvUruAXTSAUacbzUqM0kWIUvLzxK5f6fMfmwc9O7J1jxmcXgoOYWCMk7hbM49AKhKIwiR65M/s320/IMG_5298.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Aiden "stamping" his passport. </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The last order of business is that we also needed to scratch Panama off of <a href="http://mamacitaspinstheglobe.blogspot.com/2012/01/scratching-surface-and-stamping-our.html">our map</a>. As soon as soon as I mentioned to my littles that we were doing this Eliana asked, "Can I scratch it first?" Since she asked first, I said "yes." When I pulled the map out and started to outline the country for them to scratch, it realized that getting each of them a turn scratching would be tough. Fortunately, we made it work. They each got to scratch for about 3.5 seconds. ;) </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizFr2P0bSQSic66W6OlOyFe3Why2aeAkKHQ7yp1Fct-Hi5MD9kTjKhhA8OUxliyi-u6IQWF4MvRwSncVCDs_HPRSieRCtTSggITsPF1qZF9BwJ-mXE4d-hv8u8PJmkg6VU84Yh4x6L5sM/s1600/IMG_5301.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizFr2P0bSQSic66W6OlOyFe3Why2aeAkKHQ7yp1Fct-Hi5MD9kTjKhhA8OUxliyi-u6IQWF4MvRwSncVCDs_HPRSieRCtTSggITsPF1qZF9BwJ-mXE4d-hv8u8PJmkg6VU84Yh4x6L5sM/s320/IMG_5301.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Have you made a homemade stamp before? What did you use? Did you try a potato? How about the styrofoam printmaking method? </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We're still looking for someone to be featured as our Traveling Friend. If you or anyone you know has been to Panama, please get in touch with me, I'd love to share your trip with my littles as well as our readers. Contact me at mamacitasglobe[at]yahoo[dot]com</span><br />
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</span>Raina @ Mamacita Spins The Globehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08686405668797883267noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7175747350535276582.post-49831403880406210142012-07-19T08:56:00.000-04:002012-07-19T08:56:38.453-04:00Panamanian Library Venture<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Every month when we make our trip to the library we are eager to see what kinds of stories we can unearth that are relevant to our current destination. Some months I know that there will be a large selection of books and stories available, other months, I hope to be surprised, but anticipate far less. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This month, was one of the latter and sadly, the "pickins were slim" as they say. Of course we grabbed the Panama book from the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Panama-Cultures-World-Second-Hassig/dp/0761420282/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1342700814&sr=1-1&keywords=Cultures+of+the+world+Panama">Cultures of The World</a> series by Susan Hassig and Lynette Quek, as we do every month. </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoJcGObRzlDpWg-CNH_bjgp0uar9MkiUzwVh_-auCpdLgjFIiuIKcYU4QLsG-Qv-j1THUgX6SxzAaJJjzdbfPppZSIbPEv70vJKwQJH-AmoFEvK0Ah0WvfPo5jBqzCqLFyOr1hTt3BZyE/s1600/Learning+About+Panama.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoJcGObRzlDpWg-CNH_bjgp0uar9MkiUzwVh_-auCpdLgjFIiuIKcYU4QLsG-Qv-j1THUgX6SxzAaJJjzdbfPppZSIbPEv70vJKwQJH-AmoFEvK0Ah0WvfPo5jBqzCqLFyOr1hTt3BZyE/s320/Learning+About+Panama.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We also found a book called <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Panama-Canal-conquered-smaller-Wonders/dp/1931414149/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1342700895&sr=1-1&keywords=The+Panama+Canal+Elizabeth+Mann">The Panama Canal</a> by Elizabeth Mann, this book is about.... can you guess?.... the history of the Panama Canal. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As I have mentioned before I always like to find other books too. Books that aren't just cold hard facts, but ones that tell a story. They can be fact or fiction, but they need to be connected to our country of the month in some form. Often we find folk tales and we love these. They are stories that help us feel connected to our destination because we know that these stories originated in the heart of the country and it's ancestors. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Since we were unable to find anything like this for Panama, I broadened the search to Central America. In our little local library the only book that was brought up that was an age appropriate book related to Central America was a book called <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Red-eyed-Tree-Frog-Scholastic-Bookshelf/dp/043978221X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1342701022&sr=1-1&keywords=red-eyed+tree+frog+by+joy+cowley">Red-Eyed Tree Frog</a> by Joy Cowley. It follows a tree frog through a night, starting when many other animals of the rainforest go to sleep, the tree frog wakes up. It is looking for food and encounters other creatures if the rainforest, some that it avoids because they don't taste good and bite (ants), others because they are poisonous (caterpillars), and still others because they are predators (Boa snakes). Finally, the little tree frog finds a moth, eats it up and settles in to sleep for by pressing it's green body flat against a green leaf for the day and closes it's eyes. This book has lovely pictures and in the back it has two pages of facts along with actual size photos (2 inches). </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Though I am disappointed to have not found a book of the folk lore and legend of Panama, this book was an informative look at one of the many inhabitants of the rainforest. It is a good book for 3-5 year olds. Aiden is 7 and while the topic was interesting enough for him, it was a little too simple for him. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Have you discovered any great books about Panama? Or how about hit up your local library in hopes of finding a treasure and being disappointed with the selection? </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Also, I'm looking for someone to be featured for our Panama Traveling Friend. If you or anybody you know has been to Panama and would like to be our featured friend, please contact me mamacitasglobe[at]yahoo[dot]com.</span><br />
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</span>Raina @ Mamacita Spins The Globehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08686405668797883267noreply@blogger.com0