Let’s Talk Turkey

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Stranded in a hotel in a land that barely gets chilly – much less autumnal – it’s really, really hard to feel the holiday spirit. Thanksgiving is coming and if I’m going to be stuck in this hotel for it (which I may, or may not be. Isn’t not knowing fun?) then it’s going to be Thanksgivingy, darn it! In that spirit, I’d like to present Improvised Turkeys.

Would you like to make your own?

Materials:

  • Construction paper – I used 1 sheet each of orange, yellow and red and 1/4 sheet of black paper per turkey
  • Paper plates
  • Scissors
  • Crayons
  • Tape
  1. Fold the red and yellow paper into quarters (so you have a paper about 8″ x 2.5″) and cut out a feather shape.
  2. Freehand a turkey shape – Charlie said it looked like a peanut, and that’s fair – out of the orange. Cut it out.
  3. Fold the remaining orange into thirds and cut out a feather shape.
  4. Cut out a little black pilgrim hat!
  5. Decorate all your pieces. I talked with my boys about what it means to be thankful for something and had them draw or write things they were thankful for on the feathers.
  6. Tape the hat to the turkey and the turkey to the back of the plate; then tape the feathers to the other side. If your kids decorated them, make sure the drawings face out!
  7. Tape them on the walls. Take that, hotel blahs!

It’s Cultural Shock

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So, this weekend it was the Navajo Weaver’s Festival at a local museum, and I went. I dragged my family along with me, too!

They were just thrilled.

Before we went in, we tried to explain to the kids what kind of place we were visiting.

“It’s a museum,” I said.

“A dinosaur museum? An airplane museum?” they asked.

“No, it’s a Native American museum.”

“Huh?”

“It’s Indians, kids,” Greg said.

“Indiany?”they asked, excited. Indiany is what they call Indiana Jones. “It’s an Indiany museum?”

“No, kids, no,” I hurried to undo the damage. “Indians – Native Americans – are the people who lived here before we did.”

“But we live in Arizona now,” Max said, suspicious.

“Yes, we do, and they do too, but…uh…let’s just go in.”

The festival was pretty awesome. We saw weaving in progress, finished weaving, expensive weaving for sale – one blanket we saw was priced at $25,000 – and we even saw one woman spinning her yarn.

Check out that spindle! I’ve used a drop spindle before, but the end of hers was propped on the ground! (The internet tells me that it’s called – wait for it – a Navajo spindle. Cool!) It looks like an excellent way to make larger quantities of yarn.

As we wandered around, Max said, “Look, mommy! They’re all Japanese people!”

“Shhhh, no, honey, they’re not!”

“Well…they look like it.”

We’re going to have a fun time explaining that one to the kids.

This man was one of several working on a project on a loom, but let’s just zoom in there, shall we?

Hey, look! Navajo weavers use Lamb’s Pride!

Neat, huh?

I certainly enjoyed looking at all the handiwork, and I think the kids were impressed, but on the way out Max said –

“I want to see the Indiany stuff.”

Happy Halloween!

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Superman and Indiana Jones would like to remind you to stay safe, have fun, and that ultimately (for them, at least) today is all about candy.

This marks the second year in a row that my boys have gone out in purchased costumes. What can I say, we were awfully busy last October. I did end up making a little something for Tommy and Teddy, but we were more than happy to buy something off the rack for Max and Charlie and call it good. This year was supposed to be a little more leisurely, but then we went and moved four months early and here we are again, living out of suitcases and waiting.

Greg and I have promised each other that next year, we’re gonna do it up right.

We should have the time to do it, too – right now our plans are to stay here for four years. Whoooohoooo. That gives me chills. Four years is almost twice as long as we’ve ever stayed any one place, ever! Ever!! I’m really, really excited to have the opportunity to invest in a house and a place and friends for such a long time. Since we’re buying a house, as well (the seller accepted our offer yesterday, so the end of hotel living is in sight!) who knows? We might even stay here longer.

But for now, up! Up! And away!

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