Have You Met My Dad? Happy Veterans Day!

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My dad is a retired, very distinguished soldier. He proudly served for 22 years in the 5th Group (and 1st Group) Special Forces (Army). He has some remarkable, remarkable stories to tell. The only thing...he won't tell them! And they are super cool, in that top secret kind of way! I remember when I was in high school, I was sitting with my dad in the driveway and we were sharing stories about what we did when he was fighting in the war. We both shared the trouble we had gotten into. From all that I can remember, that's pretty much all I have gotten out of him regarding his story as a soldier. But his story is so incredibly fascinating, that I can't let those stories go without preserving them for my children! You know, my Grandfather had some great Army stories to tell. They are lost forever because he didn't write them down.




My dad, the Sergeant Major

When I was in high school, the Army made a promotional brochure about Special Forces. My dad and his men were asked to be in it. Isn't that neat? {I need to get my scanner fixed, sorry about that!}

I think that this may be the only surviving copy that we have. I really want to get this into a book so that I can preserve how cool this is. My dad is famous!

My dad was in Desert Shield/Desert Storm while I was a Freshman/Sophomore in high school. My favorite memory was the day he came home. Out of every body in the military, his unit was the first to arrive and the last to come home. Only a military family can truly understand the feeling of having a loved one step off that plane during a homecoming. I can't describe it. I can't articulate it. It is the most incredible, overwhelming sense of pride, elation, relief, excitement that anyone can feel. The memory of his homecoming is one that I will never forget and one that I want to share with my children. I cherish that moment. I can still see it vividly today...my dad was the last one off the plane, head held high, as he carried his troops flag and the American flag.

My dad isn't going to sit down and write his memoir. It's just not something he is going to do. But.....he isn't going to get out of sharing this story! My mom is giving me all of his photos for me to scan (when I get it fixed), his paraphernalia, awards, etc. Then, I am going to take the Military Story Starter and my dad fishing! Yes! Something he *loves* to do! My dad and I will spend many a day fishing, as I ask him questions from the Story Starter. We began writing his Military Memoir this summer when he retired from his second job....High School J.R.O.T.C. instructor and track coach. That's a whole other story....

This is a story starter, not the actual book we will publish. Story starters are full of questions, that you answer, to help you write your story.

Do you have a family member who would like to write the story of his or her military career? Email me at kariwilcher at cherishbound dot com to find out how you can cherish these memories forever! You can purchase your own book and story starters at my store, www.kidswritebooks.com.

Happy Veterans Day, Dad! You are an incredible person and everyone who's life you have touched is very proud of you and we all love you very much.

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Cheap Christmas and Hanukkah Gifts!

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If you are like me, I love to give gifts that are either handmade, practical, educational, or ones that bring a family together. Instead of getting something that will be regifted (um, yeah, I have done it!), sold at a yard sale, or thrown away, I have some suggestions that will be well loved! And, you can support a stay at home mom at the same time! These products are linked directly from my Paypal verified store at Kids Write Books.

These Chat Card sets are the perfect stocking stuffers, great for teacher gifts (I used my set of Child Chat cards in my classroom during transitions, circle time, and as journal writing prompts). They are great to keep in the car...we use our during long road trips. I also have a set on the kitchen table and we use them during dinner time. They are great for parties as an ice breaker. I took a set to the family reunion and laid the cards out as table place markers and they were great conversation starters. I love to keep a set in my purse to pull out when my kids are having to wait somewhere (restaurants, the doctor's office).

 Chat Cards
FREE SHIPPING 

Hey, that's me! Ya'll don't make fun of that Southern accent, okay?

Child Chat Cards

$15.50

Get your children chatting with these fun "Child Chat" Conversation cards!

FREE SHIPPING

Family Chat Cards

$15.50

Get your family chatting with these fun Conversation cards. Whether the setting is a family get-together, your family dinner table or a baby shower, pass out these cards and you'll all be swapping stories in no time at all.
FREE SHIPPING

Gathering Chat Cards

$15.50

Have a gathering planned with your family and friends? Pass out these fun conversation cards and get everyone chatting.
FREE SHIPPING

Teen Chat Cards

$15.50

Teen Chat cards are designed specifically to get your teen talking. With great questions that range from though provoking to silly, you and your teen will enjoy this fun Q & A!

I am offering FREE SHIPPING on Chat Cards to all of my Snail's Trail readers!  This offer ends November 30th. Free Shipping is for the United States only.

Later in the week I will share with you the new gift certificates in my store so that you can give to a child for them to write and publish their own book! 

{This is a Cherish Bound product. If you are interested in joining my successful Cherish Bound team, send me an email at kariwilcher@cherishbound.com}

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Handmade Holidays 2009!

We had so much fun with Handmade Halloween, I thought it would be super fun to have a Handmade Holidays Blog Carnival.

What do your blog friends want to see? Anything handmade for Thanksgiving (because this short holiday often gets overshadowed by anything that comes in December), Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza, or National Anything Covered in Chocolate Day!

We'd love to see handmade decorations, gifts, learning games and activities for kids, holiday unit studies, family traditions, crafts for kids, and holidays around the world. Basically anything you want to share that is handmade for the holidays!

How do you participate? Just add your post to McLinky. It is best that you add the direct permalink to the list so that we don't have to find your post. If you need to know how to do this, please see directions by clicking here. If your link does not link to an appropriate post, I will delete the link. Sorry about this, but we don't like spam.

You can also add the Handmade Holidays Blog Badge to your blog post or blog. The code is in the sidebar to the left. If you need help using the code, just send me an email. I might add your picture of item to this post (with a link back to you with a citation, of course!). I will send you an email with a request if I do this.

Here are some things I have made in the past:

Little Snail's Christmas Dress '08

This was my first time not using a pattern...(my mom said, "Yeah. You can tell.").

I am proud of my applique and hand embroidery...I designed it to match the fabric.

Little Snail's Thanksgiving Outfit '08

I made this outfit for my sister's bridal shower and Thanksgiving dinner. The pants are from a 70's pattern that my Grandmother used for my handmade clothes. I *heart* this fabric. Here is a secret: the brown solid fabric is a bedsheet. I use $3 bedsheets from WalMart for making clothes! It's soft, durable, and cheap! The top, I think, is a McCall's pattern..I need to hunt it down. This was my first collar and I can't believe it came out right! Now all I need to tackle is zippers....

 

Handprint & Footprint Tiles

When the Snails were born, the nurses at the hospital told me that they would put the kids hand and foot prints on whatever I wanted. Silk ties, fabric, pillowcases, mugs, whatever. I sent Daddy Snail off to Lowe's and told him to get as many plain white tiles as he could. I preserved the prints with clear lacquer spray paint. For Christmas the year Big Snail was born, Grandparents and Aunt Snail got a footprint tile. I saved mine with visions of retiling the backsplash in the kitchen with handpainted tiles from the kids, including these tiles. My tiles haven't made it to the kitchen, instead they are on plate stands and sit on my mantel.

If your kids aren't newborns, you can get ceramic paint from the craft store and let them paint the tiles. 

Personalized Ceramic Ice Bucket

I got the ceramic ice bucket on clearance at Target and cut the vinyl letters with my Cricut. I have the Sure Cuts A Lot software and I used a font that is on my computer. I won't share how much this cost me because the recipient (my BFF) is a reader...but, if I told you, your mouth would drop because of how cheap this gift is! Now that I have a Cricut, I keep my eye out for anything that can be personalized.

As I pull out my Christmas decorations, I will share with you handmade Christmas decorations and crafts from years past.








And here are some of my favorite places to find inspiration for Handmade Holidays:

Sew Momma Sew


One Pretty Thing 

Skip to My Lou Handmade Holiday Gift Guide   and

Handmade Holidays at Flikr

Roots & Wings 8 Weeks of Heartfelt and Handmade Holidays

Christmas Around the World Unit Study and Lapbook

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TOS Homeschool Crew Review: American Heritage Education Foundation

As an Army Brat, I can honestly say that I have a true understanding of "FREEDOM, UNITY, PROGRESS,RESPONSIBILITY." It's kind of hard to not understand these things as you listen to Lee Greenwood sing "God Bless The USA" as your dad marches proudly off a plane, carrying the American flag, just back from a war.  But for the rest of America's kids...these understandings are hard to naturally come by. Patriotism is learned (you aren't born patriotic) and should be taught in American schools. {This includes respecting and supporting our President, even if he is not who you voted for.} 

The American Heritage Education Foundation (AHEF) is a non-profit organization that:

" is a non-profit, non-partisan educational foundation (501.c.3) dedicated to the understanding and teaching of America's factual and philosophical heritage to promote constructive citizenship and Freedom, Unity, Progress, and Responsibility among our students and citizens.

AHEF accomplishes this patriotic mission by writing, producing, and distributing FREE K-12 lesson plans to teachers, students, and families in all 50 states and through additional initiatives, programs, and partnerships.

AHEF is inclusive of individuals of every race and creed and every religious or non-religious persuasion."


As a member of the TOS Homeschool Review Crew, AHEF gave me a CD with their FREE K-12 curriculum. You can download their complete, FREE, standards-based, curriculum by visiting their website, here. I love that as a homeschooler, I can use this as my History curriculum for the next 12 years. If you already have a curriculum you love, this would make a great suppliment. In addition to their free curriculum downloads and CD, you can purchase the complete K-12 curriculum for $19.95 in a binder. 


My kids are in elementary school, so I mainly focused on these lessons with my own kids. Here is an overview of the elementary curriculum: 

1. Introduction
2. American Heritage Themes
3. Colonial American: Causes of the American Revolution
4. Declaration of Independance
5. A Famous Signature
6. George Washington: Our First President
7. The U.S. Presidents
8. The Great Seal
9. The History of Thanksgiving Day
10. The United States Flag
11. The Star Spangled Banner
12. The National Motto
13. The Statue of Liberty
14. The Pledge of Allegiance and Creed
15. America The Beautiful
16. What is An American?
17. Teacher Resources: Religious Expression in American Schools
18. Character Education
19. Additional Supplements for Grade 5: An Adventure in Liberty
    

What I like best is that this curriculum is FREE. I also like that this organization provides links to primary sources for social studies and American history. As an educator, I try to only use primary sources for my teaching in these subject areas. If you are ever searching for sources for social studies or American history, just visit (and bookmark) their link list. They have included every possible source you would ever need. 


I recommend this curriculum! We love it!


To read more reviews of this product, visit The Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Review Crew.  

I was given these products as a member of The Old Schoolhouse Review Crew. I got to keep these products and not return them to the vendor. I was not paid for this post. These results are my own and might not be the results you get. Thanks, FTC.  

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Using Google Maps to Teach Geography & Map Skills

The Snails have been learning about maps and our local community. Today we went to Google Maps and found directions from our house to Grandma's house. With Google Maps, you can get a car side view of your street and neighborhood! Big Snail was telling me how to get to the grocery store, the park, and his friend's house.

To do this, when you search for directions, you will see a little icon of a camera in the turn by turn directions list. Click on the camera and you get this new view (click on picture to make it larger):

Click on the yellow/blue routes and you can "move" your car!

Have fun exploring your neighborhood with your kids! See if you can start at your house and let your kid give you directions to specific locations. Then, let your kid draw a map of their community. Sooo much fun!

P.S. I spent an entire semester for my Master's degree learning how to use Google Earth for Geography. I had to map my entire route to our Florida Vacation from our house and include pictures along the way...you can even find pictures of my family in Google Earth at Universal Studios! I can post about that another time, but if you want to get started here are some resources:

Google Earth for Educators
Google Earth Lessons
Juicy Geography
Google Earth Blog....just to get you started.

If you want to know how to spot a GoogleMaps car, check out this post.

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