Sweet Stuff

THE TASTE OF SUMMER:  Today was field day up at the place the kids attend classes on Wednesdays. We couldn't stick around for the hours and hours of fun, but we did manage to go, help set up a little bit, and drop off some summery cupcakes baked fresh this morning.

I used my standard dee-licious strawberry recipe for the cake, but invented a 'lemonade' frosting to top them, making it a strawberry lemonade treat. They smelled glorious. 

After dropping the tray off, I was really regretting not having actually eaten one of them! The kids report they were wonderful, however. 

MORE MOTOWN:  We're still stuck in the '60s, musically speaking. Today we learned more about some Motown artists, including Smokey Robinson, who was both a songwriter for other groups and a renowned performer in his own right. I should have shown the kids a Motown-era video of Smokey, but I couldn't help but dredge up this gem. I used to love it on Sesame Street.  http://youtu.be/ws_vnXup7so


I found old footage of a "Motown Revue" that featured Little Stevie Wonder performing his first Motown hit, "Fingertips Pt. 2" from 1963. Stevie was only 12. Wow! We also enjoyed the Four Tops singing "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)" from a 1965 television appearance (1965).

We also started to learn about Soulsville USA/Memphis Stax. They had a very different approach than Motown's hit makers. Booker T & the M.G.s was the house band, backing the Stax artists. They did chart one hit on their own through, "Green Onions" - what a great groove that song is!  

STATE OF CONFUSION:  For awhile now, I've had a couple of blank maps of the United States with the states outlined sitting around. Today, I finally asked the kids to fill in the blanks - put state names on all the ones they were certain they knew. 

They were both Very Not Pleased with how many they didn't know. Basically the entire Midwest for both of them was blank. Oops. Guess what we'll be working on for the days to come?!

I played The Animaniacs' great song naming all 50 states and their capitals after they got stuck: http://youtu.be/MSvJ9SN8THE

We listened to/watched a few other state song videos. Most were forgettable at best. However, this one (Tour the States, from Marbles the Brain Store) was a standout. Catchy tune and neat-o animation.


GET A CLUE: This evening, we played a new twist on a classic board game, "Clue."  The setting was a waterfront park, but the characters and murder weapons were the same. 

I am proud to report that for once, I won! I could sense that at least one other player (Christian) was about to make a guess as to perpetrator, weapon and locale on their next guess, so I had to take a leap of faith and I guessed/deduced correctly.