The guilt was too much to handle so I checked out a few more books.
And in those books we learned the Wampanoag ate mostely corn, squash, and beans, plus nuts and berries. So we had a dinner of those things (sort of) minus the squash because I didn't have any that day. If I had planned ahead it would have been better, but truthfully I just hadn't planned anything for dinner that night, Derek was working late, and I threw together a meal that incorporated those elements. I didn't take any pictures for a reason.
OK, this I found a little disturbing. There is a big highlighted caption on the back of this book saying to the effect that everything in this book about the Wampanoag is true, however isn't that a statue of a Ute and NOT a Wampanoag? It looks strangely familiar to a former BYU student and current Utah resident. I think there are three of those statues, one at the Provo Library, one on BYU campus and one up at the U of U campus. But I'm pretty sure none of those statues are depicting the tribes from out in Massachusetts. Just saying. I could be wrong, but I'm still throwing that out there. Calling it as I see it.
We also made the
Mayflower twice and filled it with Pilgrims. This was a fun activity to do. We had made our Mayflowers actually a week or so ago and the kids had used them with their pilgrim stuffed animals. They sailed from England to America. Yes, that first winter there were some casualties, alas, poor pilgrim bulls-eye didn't make it, but indian woody was there the next spring to teach the pilgrims to plant their corn, etc. That was cute to watch.
We scrapped the paper doll pilgrims and made our own wooden clothespin pilgrims, which nicely could rest on top of the ship when they were tired of being down below. Joshua outfitted his pilgrims with enough food to eat (beef jerky and saltines to represent the hard bread cracker things they had) and later I even found a bed pan in there. I was trying to emphasize that life was really really hard for the pilgrims, hence the yucky food and the uncomfortable accommodations. I was trying to show a real contrast between what the pilgrims had, or didn't have, and what their living conditions were like before the Wampanoag came and quite literally saved their lives. My hope is that tomorrow, on Thanksgiving day, we can look at our blessings and think about how hard the pilgrims had it and how truly grateful they must have been that second autumn in the new world.
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| Just a note: That beef jerky is over 5 years old. Derek and I bought it with gift card money from our wedding to stock our 72 hour kids. Neither of us like beef jerky and after we updated our kits we took it out and added MREs. It has taken us this long to finally get rid of it. but actually, there is still some left. |
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| This is either William Bradford... or Indiana Jones |
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| Bed pan :) |
In conjunction, we read this fabulous book about what life was like on the
Mayflower. If anyone out there is ever planning on doing anything related to the
Mayflower this is definitely the book to get. It isn't about the pilgrims or even about living in the new world so much as it is about being on this ship. I thought it was very good. Joshua's favorite part was the sailor who shouted "Land Ho!". He requested a third little clothespin doll to be his "land ho" sailor. His job is to sit on the deck of the ship and every time Joshua's mayflower enters a new room the little sailor gets to shout out "Land Ho!" for everyone to hear.
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| Land Ho!!!! |
We made little replica's of the pilgrim's homes.
I tried very very hard to emphasize to the children this entire month about why the pilgrims were thankful and what this holiday means to us. I tried to help them understand that the pilgrims were extremely religious people and they gave their thanks to God and to their friends. We have spent a lot of time listing things we are grateful for, but while doing so, we are practicing recognizing from what source our blessings come - as of course we are very religious people also. When Derek got his Christmas bonus from work we discussed how this blessing was from Derek's bosses and his job, but also from Heavenly Father who is ever mindful of our needs and wants (and I slipped in the blessings of Tithing in there as well. It seemed appropriate). When the children put on their favorite clothes we acknowledged that these were gifts from their aunts and also blessings from Heavenly Father who is always looking out for us. etc. etc. It is really sinking in, with the children and with me as well. I feel so blessed. I cannot say I have never ever had a need not met and on top of that I have so many numerous wants that are filled every single day. I want my children to feel grateful for the miraculous bounty that they have and recognize those blessings every day. Or atleast as much as a 2 and 4 year old can.
Ok, where am I?
We learned two Thanksgiving hymns. We learned "Fur die Wunder dieser Welt" (For the Beauty of the Earth) and "Der Himmel ist Blau" (I know Heavenly Father Loves Me) which is categorized as a song of gratitude in German, although not in the English songbook. The children have impressed me this year by learning the songs fully (as in all the words of one verse) and quickly (as in much quicker than last year). They love to sing the songs and hopefully I can get them to sing them tomorrow during our mini Thanksgiving program up at Grammy's.
I think that is it for now. We have a few more Turkeys but since one isn't finished and the others I haven't photoed yet, I'll wait to post those with my Thanksgiving Day post. Oh the yummy food. I can hardly wait. My bathroom scale is already cringing. :)
PS. I almost forgot. We also made a pilgrim had and coif (the female bonnet). Joshua liked to wear his hat and indian feather at the same time. I suppose to be non-discriminatory? I don't know. Abby liked to take hers off, hence the photos below.
Happy Thanksgiving!
