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Frere Jacques – Brother John with an MP3 Recording in French and English
Saturday, November 14th, 2009Here’s a nice recording of Frère Jacques in both French and English by Ezwa.
Here are the lyrics of the French and English versions of Frère Jacques. The version on the mp3 recording mixes these lyrics…
Frère Jacques,
Frère Jacques,
Dormez-vous?
Dormez-vous?
Sonnez les matines.
Sonnez les matines.
Ding, ding, dong.
Ding, ding, dong.Are you sleeping?
Are you sleeping?
Brother John,
Brother John?
Morning bells are ringing.
Morning bells are ringing.
Ding, dong, ding.
Ding, dong, ding.Enjoy!
Mama Lisa
Pig Latin Musical Video
Friday, November 6th, 2009I had to post this… After my post yesterday about Pig Latin in different languages, I started looking for Pig Latin videos and came across this musical one… it’s sort of catchy… well, it probably would be it you were fluent in Pig Latin!
So let’s have a little fun today… below is the original Pig Latin Musical Video, followed by the lyrics translated from Pig Latin into English, and then, if you’re really hooked, you can watch the video with the Pig Latin lyrics on the screen. It is sort of mesmerizing.
But first, here are the rules of Pig Latin…
Take the first letter off the beginning of each word and add it to the end of the word. Then put “ay” after that. So, the word “tomorrow” becomes “omorrow-tay”. If the first two letters of the word are two consonants making one sound, (like “st”, “sp”, “tr”, etc.) both letters get moved to the end of the word. Thus, “star” becomes “ar-stay”.
Enjoy the show!
Translated Lyrics…
Do you speak pig latin?
if you speak pig latin then you’re cool like me!
I love to mess with people cause I am dumb
I speak pig latin every day and you should too! x 2
I believe everybody has brains
I also believe only half get used
I may say that I am dumb, I am
but don’t think I don’t use my own brains, cause I do
are you ready to test your mind with Mr. Safety
REVERSE
RIDDLE*
Do you speak pig latin?*If you can’t figure out the riddle (in the second part of the lyrics)… it’s not in the lyrics above… it’s a riddle… If you can’t figure it out yourself, you can pause the second video (below) at 1 minute 29 seconds for the answer.
aveHay unFay!
amaMay isaLay
“You’re Not Supposed to Say That!” – Mama Lisa’s Thanksgiving Silliness
Monday, November 2nd, 2009Here’s a Thanksgiving poem I wrote in honor of turkeys all over the U.S. in autumn. It’s geared towards older kids.
You can click on the mp3 below to hear my husband and me recite it…
You’re Not Supposed to Say That!
“Cock-a-doodle-doo!” said the turkey.
“What?!” went the rooster.
“Cock-a-doodle-doo!”
“You’re not supposed to say
“Cock-a-doodle-doo!”
Said the rooster.
“Oh yes I am!”
Said the turkey.
“No you’re not!”
Said the rooster.
“What am I supposed to say?”
Asked the turkey.
The rooster replied,
“Gobble, gobble, gobble!”
“BOOM”
Went the farmer’s gun
And the rooster fell down dead.
“Don’t tell me what I’m
Supposed to say!”
Said the turkey,
“Cock-a-doodle-doo!”Many thanks to my husband, Jason Pomerantz, for playing the part of the Turkey (hee, hee, hee)!
Hope you enjoyed the show!
Mama Lisa
Walt Whitman’s Woods and his Poem "Miracles"
Thursday, October 29th, 2009
We took a walk today in Walt Whitman’s woods in West Hills, on Long Island, east of New York City. I highly recommend taking an autumnal hike or stroll if you can. Then you may feel the truth in Whitman’s line, "As to me I know of nothing else but miracles". There’s much beauty out there. Here are some photos I took in Walt’s woods, followed by his poem "Miracles", and then recordings of two people reading the poem.
Miracles
by Walt WhitmanWhy, who makes much of a miracle?
As to me I know of nothing else but miracles,
Whether I walk the streets of Manhattan,
Or dart my sight over the roofs of houses toward the sky,
Or wade with naked feet along the beach just in the edge of the water,
Or stand under trees in the woods,
Or talk by day with any one I love, or sleep in the bed at night with any one I love,
Or sit at table at dinner with the rest,
Or look at strangers opposite me riding in the car,
Or watch honey-bees busy around the hive of a summer forenoon,
Or animals feeding in the fields,
Or birds, or the wonderfulness of insects in the air,
Or the wonderfulness of the sundown, or of stars shining so quiet and bright,
Or the exquisite delicate thin curve of the new moon in spring;
These with the rest, one and all, are to me miracles,
The whole referring, yet each distinct and in its place.To me every hour of the light and dark is a miracle,
Every cubic inch of space is a miracle,
Every square yard of the surface of the earth is spread with the same,
Every foot of the interior swarms with the same.
To me the sea is a continual miracle,
The fishes that swim-the rocks-the motion of the waves-the ships with men in them,
What stranger miracles are there?*****
Kids Halloween Art
Wednesday, October 28th, 2009Here’s some Halloween artwork my daughter and her friends did this week. I thought you might enjoy seeing it to help get you in the mood for Halloween!
“Bones” by Lila
“Skeleton” by Lila…
“Witch” by Sarina
“Graveyard” by Melisa
“Graveyard II” by Melisa
“R.I.P.” by Marisa
Have a Spooky Fun Halloween!
Mama Lisa
Childhood Food Memories – Bananas
Wednesday, October 28th, 2009It’s fascinating to me how different foods can bring back memories. I think that’s why I loved the book and movie “Like Water for Chocolate” so much.
Bananas will always remind me of specific times and people:
In Infancy: I distinctly remember the smell of banana baby food – it reminds me of being a very little child. Then when I was an older kid, I remember buying a jar of banana baby food with friends and eating it… a flood of memories came back – or more like the feeling of babyhood came back to me… I was there momentarily. Interestingly, I expected the banana baby food to taste great – I must have loved it as a baby – but it was gross!
In Childhood in General: When I was growing up, my mother fried sliced bananas in butter for breakfast sometimes and put them on the side with fried eggs – it was a major childhood treat. This is now one of my comfort foods I make on occasions to feel warm and loved! (My own children haven’t taken to the fried bananas too much.)
The Tween Years: I remember making chocolate coated bananas with those kits you’d buy in the store with my mother. The chocolate was artificial, but if was fun nevertheless!
The Teenage Years: When I was a teenager, my grandparents would stay with us in the summer for about a month every year. I remember my grandfather eating peanut butter and banana sandwiches. This will always remind me of him.
Late teens: In college I studied in France for a few months, in Chinese restaurants in France they serve a banana flambé dessert that’s just out of this world! Funny that I think of a Chinese restaurant dessert in connection to France! (Obviously, I have lots of other food memories in France. But I’m limiting this conversation to bananas!)
And no, I’m not a skinny person! Someone who has this many food memories is not bound to be skinny! ;)
Feel free to share any food memories you have in the comments below. I welcome hearing about how other people enjoy bananas (feel free to include recipes).
To fry bananas, you literally slice them and fry them in butter in a frying pan on low to medium heat until lightly brown on both sides. They get caramelized. Then serve.
I thought my mother’s version was a Spanish or Puerto Rican recipe from her friend, but when I looked around the internet, I saw that it’s very American. There seem to be different recipes for fried bananas around the world. The flambé version in France probably includes liquor.
Soon I’ll post some correspondence between Gloria and me about the German cuisine we remember growing up with – it may be interesting for any of you children and grandchildren of German immigrants.
Bon appetit!
Mama Lisa
Ghost of John – Halloween Song with MP3 Recording
Monday, October 26th, 2009My daughter and her friends Marisa and Melisa taught me this Halloween song, which seems to be traditional American. It’s called Ghost of John. Below are the lyrics and two renditions, one by Marisa and one by Melisa, plus a drawing by Melisa.
But first, here’s Marisa announcing it with a Halloween song about Halloween songs…
Halloween is coming soon,
One, Two Three,
If you want a spooky song,
Call on me.Here’s the Ghost of John song…
MP3 of Ghost of John by Marisa
MP3 of Ghost of John by Melisa
Ghost of John
Have you seen the Ghost of John?
Long white bones and the rest all gone,
Ooh, ooh!
Wouldn’t it be chilly with no skin on?While the girls would sing the song they would all stand in the mirror, looking for the ghost of John. Of course, someone would see part of the ghost… like his ear, in the mirror. Then they would all scream. Finally, they ended the game because they were freaking each other out. I guess that’s what Halloween is all about… ghosts!
Many thanks to Marisa and Melisa for singing Ghost of John for us and to Melisa for the drawing!
Mama Lisa
There was an Old Woman All Skin and Bones – A Hallowe’en Song and Video
Saturday, October 24th, 2009I’ve posted several versions of this great Halloween song in the past… It’s called There Was an Old Woman All Skin and Bones.
Here’s yet another version below from Matt Vaughan and his friend Pam. They explain how to make it spookier for Halloween!
Here are the chords from Matt…
Am – Dm Am / Am Dm Am – ://There was an old woman all skin and bones
Ooo oo-oo-oooo
She lived down by the old graveyard
Ooo oo-oo-oooo
One night she thought she’d take a walk
Ooo oo-oo-oooo
She walked down by the old graveyard
Ooo oo-oo-oooo
She saw the bones a-laying around
Ooo oo-oo-oooo
She went to the closet to get a broom
Ooo oo-oo-oooo
She opened the door and…
BOO!Have a spooky-fun Halloween!
Mama Lisa
Grandma’s Sayings
Monday, October 19th, 2009Oscar Teliz told me his grandmother used to say in Spanish, “No hay mal que dure cien anos, ni cuerpo que lo soporte” which is an obscure saying meaning, “No bad occurrence will last forever, and if it did, you wouldn’t be able to stand it anyway.”
My grandma always said, “What will be, will be.” In other words, “Don’t worry about it! The future will take care of itself.”
Feel free to share your grandmother’s sayings or words of wisdom with us in the comments below!
Mama Lisa
Mama Lisa’s Puppy Hunt Blues
Saturday, October 17th, 2009I’m a bit dismayed at how difficult it can be to find a puppy. I mentioned in a previous blog post how we’re looking for a hypoallergenic dog that’s good with kids. That’s not such an easy task! Hypoallergenic dogs are generally purebreds. Many purebred dogs have genetic health problems. So we’ve been trying to narrow down our search to dogs that don’t have too many health problems… or if it can be determined if they’re healthy based on the health of their parents and genetic testing. Bichon frises seem to fit the bill, but we wanted a slightly larger dog – about 30 to 40 pounds.
We’ve narrowed our search down to Lagottos (which are very hard to find) and either 2nd generation Goldendoodles or Labradoodles. But now we’re having a hard time finding a puppy in these breeds. If anyone knows of any good breeders where we can find these types of puppies, please email me at lisa@mamalisa.com .
Thanks!
Mama Lisa
Pennsylvania Dutch Version of Dies Ist der Daumen – This Is the Thumb
Saturday, October 17th, 2009I’ve been asked several times for the Pennsylvania Dutch Version of the German rhyme Dies Ist der Daumen – This Is the Thumb. Today I received the version below thanks to Luke and Mary Martin. Here’s what Luke wrote…
My wife and I are also familiar with many of the German songs. This morning while looking for them, I found the finger rhyme, and your question about the Pennsylvania German variation. This is the song my father used to sing to us – seven children. Pennsylvania German has many varieties of spelling, and perhaps you can sharpen up the spelling. (My wife, Mary, and I worked at the pronunciation and spelling of the Pennsylvania German Finger Song. Mary grew up speaking Pennsylvania German.) Here it goes…
Des ist die Daume
Des ist die Daume
Der schittelt die Plaume
Der laest sie ouf
Der traught sie Haem
Und des glae Bopplemaul
Bopplet alles mit’n ahnna da Haem.This is the thumb.
This [one] shakes the plums,
This [one] picks them up,
This [one] brings them home,
And this little tattletale tells everyone at home.It was always spoken, not sung.
Thanks for your work in collecting old songs.
Luke Martin
(Pennsylvania)If anyone would like to give other variations of the spelling, feel free to in the comments below. Many thanks to Luke Martin for sending this version of the rhyme to us!
Enjoy!
Mama Lisa
Birthday Chant and Jump Rope Rhyme – Apples, Peaches, Pears and Plums
Wednesday, October 14th, 2009My daughter and her friend Marisa taught me this birthday rhyme in the car the other day. They chant this in class to talk about birthdays and months of the year.
Apples, Peaches, Pears and Plums
Apples, Peaches, Pears and Plums,
Tell me when your birthday comes?January, February, March, April,
May, June, July, August, September,
October, November, December?Some people only chant the first 2 lines and then another person will answer with their birthday.
This is also a jump rope rhyme. Two kids hold a long jump rope and swing it around in a circle. They chant the rhyme. You jump in on your birthday month. Then the girls start counting 1, 2, 3, etc. until they reach the number of the day you were born on. Then you jump out.
The other way to play the jump rope game is to skip the numbers. You still jump “in” when your birthday month is called. The other kids then repeat the rhyme and you jump “out” when you hear your birthday month the second time around.
Enjoy!
Mama Lisa
Geocaching – Fun Treasure Hunting with the Kids and a GPS
Sunday, October 11th, 2009This weekend we geocached with our daughter and a couple of her friends. Geocaching is “a high-tech treasure hunting game played throughout the world by adventure seekers equipped with GPS devices. The basic idea is to locate hidden containers, called geocaches…” with the help of your GPS guidance system.
We used my husband’s iPhone to guide us on our adventure. We knew there were a couple of geocaches in a nearby park. So we headed there.
My husband had previously downloaded a geocaching app for his iPhone called Geocaching.com Intro. At the park, the app finds the closest geocache and guides you to it.
The app found a geogache for us to find. The girls took turns with the iPhone pointing the direction on a compass.
Eventually you usually go off the path. (If they were on the path, people who didn’t know about the game might take them.) Then you follow the directions until you (hopefully) find the cache. The two we found today were in small plastic tubs. You’re supposed to sign the log that you find inside the tub. There are also trinkets inside the tub. You’re supposed to leave a trinket and you can take a trinket in return. We made sure all the girls had trinkets to exchange.
It was a lot of fun!
We had tried this last weekend in a more public park and never found the geocaches. Our theory is that people who didn’t know how the game might have found the caches because it was a more public place and took them. The game seems to work better in larger parks with more vegetation.
If you have a regular GPS system you can go to geocache.com and type in the zip code for the area you are going to. Then you can find different geocaches nearby. Pick one and find hints for finding it. I think it will give you the final coordinates too. You’ll need to sign up and read all about it!
Have fun!
Mama Lisa
It’s Rosh Hashanah – Shana Tova Umetukah – A Good and Sweet Year!
Saturday, September 19th, 2009Today is Rosh Hashanah… the Jewish New Year. Much about the holiday centers around the theme of having a sweet year.
One of the greetings for Rosh Hashanah is “Shana tova umetukah”, which is Hebrew for “A good and sweet year”.
Apples and honey are served as a symbol of a sweet year. People dip the apple in the honey.
Noodle Kugel is often made as a side dish for its sweetness.
Challah bread is served to symbolize the cycle of the new year – in the shape of the circular bread.
In synagogue, on the second day of Rosh Hashanah the shofar is sounded. The shofar is made out of a ram’s horn. You can hear it here…
Shana tova umetukah – a good and sweet year!
Mama Lisa
Robert Frost’s Proverb: “Good fences make good neighbors.”
Friday, September 18th, 2009The proverb “Good fences make good neighbors” has been around for a couple of centuries in different forms. One place it can be found is in Poor Richard’s Almanack by Benjamin Franklin. His version is: “Love your neighbor; yet don’t pull down your hedge.”
It’s interesting that the specific wording of the proverb, “Good fences make good neighbors” is fairly modern. It comes from Robert Frost’s poem Mending Wall from 1914. The poem centers around this concept and questions whether it’s true or not. Here’s the poem…
Mending Wall
Something there is that doesn’t love a wall,
That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it
And spills the upper boulders in the sun,
And makes gaps even two can pass abreast.
The work of hunters is another thing:
I have come after them and made repair
Where they have left not one stone on a stone,
But they would have the rabbit out of hiding,
To please the yelping dogs. The gaps I mean,
No one has seen them made or heard them made,
But at spring mending-time we find them there.
I let my neighbor know beyond the hill;
And on a day we meet to walk the line
And set the wall between us once again.
We keep the wall between us as we go.
To each the boulders that have fallen to each.
And some are loaves and some so nearly balls
We have to use a spell to make them balance:
‘Stay where you are until our backs are turned!’
We wear our fingers rough with handling them.
Oh, just another kind of outdoor game,
One on a side. It comes to little more:
There where it is we do not need the wall:
He is all pine and I am apple orchard.
My apple trees will never get across
And eat the cones under his pines, I tell him.
He only says, “Good fences make good neighbors”.
Spring is the mischief in me, and I wonder
If I could put a notion in his head:
“Why do they make good neighbors? Isn’t it
Where there are cows? But here there are no cows.
Before I built a wall I’d ask to know
What I was walling in or walling out,
And to whom I was like to give offense.
Something there is that doesn’t love a wall,
That wants it down.” I could say “Elves” to him,
But it’s not elves exactly, and I’d rather
He said it for himself. I see him there,
Bringing a stone grasped firmly by the top
In each hand, like an old-stone savage armed.
He moves in darkness as it seems to me,
Not of woods only and the shade of trees.
He will not go behind his father’s saying,
And he likes having thought of it so well
He says again, “Good fences make good neighbors.”Listen to an MP3 of Mending Wall as read by Alan Davis-Drake for LibriVox
Listen to a different MP3 of Mending Wall as read by Teresa Montgomery for Librivox
The narrator of the poem is annoyed by his neighbor’s insistence that there has to be a fence between them. If only his neighbor would get beyond his father’s beliefs – originating in an old proverb – and reconsider his thinking.
What’s ironic is that Frost coined the new wording of a proverb: “Good fences make good neighbors”, while questioning the very wisdom behind it!
Is Your Water Supply Safe?
Saturday, September 12th, 2009It’s sad to read about how many chemicals companies are dumping into the environment… and guess what? They’re ending up in our water supply. Check out the New York Times article about how Pollution Grows With Little Fear of Punishment. This has been a world-wide issue – but it’s becoming more of a concern here in the US. Come on people… go check out your area on the NY times site and see the violations… isn’t it time we all complain to our congressmen and congresswomen and senators? The minimum the government should do is ensure its citizens have safe drinking water!
Let’s see if any of you know this rhyme…
Thursday, September 10th, 2009Which one do you say? First is the worst, Second is the best, Third is the one with the… a) wedding dress, b) hairy chest or, c) treasure chest ?
My kids and their friends were debating this one. They disagreed over which answer is the most popular… a, b, or c. Google seems to know b the most. Anyone out there know this rhyme? If so, which ending do you say?
Inquiring minds want to know!
Mama Lisa
PS I asked my friends this question on Facebook and no one answered! Which makes me think it’s a new rhyme that this current generation says. I had never heard it before my kids taught it to me either.
Obama’s Pep Talk to Students on YouTube
Thursday, September 10th, 2009After all the brouhaha about whether or not Obama should speak to American students… he did.. and it’s not political at all. It’s a pep talk to kids to do their best in school. Many students look up to him, so I see this as being a positive! You can watch it here if you’d like…
Parenting the Kid Who Likes to Eat A Lot!
Saturday, September 5th, 2009The New York Times has an interesting article about Parenting and Food. It talks about what to do with the child who wants to eat a lot. The dilemma is that telling your kid not to eat too much can cause eating disorders in the future. Yet, if you don’t help them control their habits, they might just eat everything they want: including lots of junk food!
Here are some possible ways to help your child:
1) Eat right and exercise yourself as an example to your child (most of us could improve our habits!)
2) Have lots of fruit in your house as an alternative to junk food and limit the junk food and soda in your house. (The NY Times article points out that your child will just find the junk food elsewhere. But meanwhile, if s/he’s grazing on healthy snacks presumably your child would be less hungry for other food.)
3) Eat Family Meals together
4) Less Take-in Food
5) Have them Bring Lunch to School (cafeteria lunches leave much to be desired)
6) Find an alternate activity to snacking – like a hobby
7) Have your child help you plan the meals for the family, thus helping them learn how to think about food in a healthy way.
8) Smaller dishes lead to smaller portions. When my friend visited us from France, she was amazed by the huge sizes of our dishes here in the US. If you have smaller dishes and you fill them up, you feel like you’re eating the same amount as a larger dish filled up. Yet your portion is less.
9) Make less carbohydrates. My husband is over 6 feet tall and my 15 year old son is almost 6 feet tall. Sometimes, I find myself making larger and larger amounts of pasta or rice to keep up with them. Lately, I’ve been trying to make less pasta, so we all eat less carbs, rather than making more and having leftovers.
10) We try to take long walks at parks together as a family.
11) We’re considering getting a dog – with the understanding that our kids would have to help walk it. That would be a daily walk for all of us!Please feel free to let us know any advice you might have, in the comments below, for helping children eat healthy food and eat healthy amounts of food, without causing eating disorders down the road.
Reading of The Gingerbread Man
Thursday, August 27th, 2009I love the story of The Gingerbread Man!
Here you can hear someone doing a nice reading of it on YouTube…
Enjoy!
Mama Lisa
________
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