Lesson #19 Dia de Los Muertos-Day of the Dead Festival

Copied from Wiki:

Day of the Dead (Spanish: Día de los Muertos) is a Mexican holiday celebrated throughout Mexico and around the world in other cultures. The holiday focuses on gatherings of family and friends to pray for and remember friends and family members who have died. It is particularly celebrated in Mexico, where it is a national holiday, and all banks are closed. The celebration takes place on November 1 and 2, in connection with the Catholic holidays of All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day. Traditions connected with the holiday include building private altars honoring the deceased using sugar skulls, marigolds, and the favorite foods and beverages of the departed and visiting graves with these as gifts. They also leave possessions of the deceased.
Scholars trace the origins of the modern Mexican holiday to indigenous observances dating back hundreds of years and to an Aztec festival dedicated to the goddess Mictecacihuatl. The holiday has spread throughout the world: In Brazil, Dia de Finados is a public holiday that many Brazilians celebrate by visiting cemeteries and churches. In Spain, there are festivals and parades, and, at the end of the day, people gather at cemeteries and pray for their dead loved ones. Similar observances occur elsewhere in Europe, and similarly themed celebrations appear in many Asian and African cultures.

We really like to dress up, and what a great opportunity to dress up and learn about another culture at the same time. Also personally I like that in this tradition children are not afraid of the skulls, the dead, souls returning, ect.  For the last 6years there has been a Dia de los Muertos festival in Lexington, KY and we traveled up with some friends to enjoy it. It was so much fun to do each others make up and take pics! There were Mayan and Aztec dancers/drummers, authentic Mexican food, ofrendas or alters built for the dead, fire dancers (a friend of mine), a candlelit walk to the cemetery where several tombs were decorated fully for this celebration of the dead. Honestly just a fabulous experience! This will definitely be a field trip we do again!

Lesson #18 Halloween 2012 Festivities!

We LOVE Halloween at our house, we spend a lot of time participating in fun activities with friends and each other as a family. This year Halloween itself didn't go so smoothly do to bad timing of work schedules, but we still had fun! Below are some of the awesome things we did with friends!

 First was the 2nd Annual ZOMBIE WALK in our downtown! Celebrated this fun time with lots of friends a Thriller Dance, and we won a trip to Savannah GA for my hubby being the best male Zombie! We also sold the official tee-shirts!

Next a Pumpkin Carving Party!

Then came Trick or Treating on the Houseboat Dock with friends who have a boat!

Of course there was actual Trick or Treat night...which was a day early and really super cruddy rainy cold wet weather...

Last but not least was a Grosser than Gross party on actual Halloween! We had to have something to do, and another reason to have yet another costume on :) So Chris and Tina saved the day with a party! The kids were mad scientist making gross stuff, I made crazy (dangerous) looking bloody cupcakes. there was also tongue tacos, brain cupcakes and an entertaining time making halloween shrinky dinks. I think the adults played more than the kids!

Lesson #17 Last Soccer Game of the Fall 2012 Season

Evie's soccer season concluded in Frankfort KY a few weeks ago. She played really well and although they lost she had a great attitude about it. Evie has been playing soccer since she was 5 years old. She played for the same coach for about 5 years and she was sad when it was time to say goodbye to that team. Her teammates/their parents/siblings ect. had become like family to us and us to them. I was extremely anxious for her when it was time to search for a new team to play with (she had aged out of that league). Not to mention they won almost ALL the time.

I have been beyond pleased and so has Evie with her new team. They haven't won yet, and she doesn't care. She really loves her teammates and feels just as close a connection to them as she did the old team. I would say that the fact that her team is a team of homeschoolers is what has made the transition so smoothly. They are kind and supportive of each other, have great attitudes, and really just love to get together and play. I feel also that she enjoys being around more homeschoolers her own age because they can relate to each others life experiences, just as public school children do. Evie loves practice and looks forward to it EVERY week! I also love her coaches attitude. She inspires me, and makes Evie and I really appreciate her greatly when she talks about trying to reach out to kids, help kids, and just give them  positive reinforcement. We are blessed to be a part of her and her son's team! Looking forward to practicing indoors all winter and the 2013 Spring Season!

Lesson #16 International Festival at the Local Community College

The International Festival day at our community college is something we have attended every year since we began homeschooling. It is a fun day that is extremely educational and diverse, especially for our small, rural town. Some of the highlights from this year for us included Native American dancers, African Drumming circle, fire eating and dancing, an art reception of beautiful fiber arts made from artist own sheep, and the Mariachi Band. We also enjoyed the ethnic food prepared by the college's culinary students, all the booths with info and pictures from different countries and ethnicity, and the displays of "heads" from the cosmetology students who have displays of hair/make up from different parts of the world on barbie like heads.This is an event I know we will continue to attend!