The recording was done by recording a phone call over the internet. Thanks to Nyango Melissa for calling and singing this morning! She made my day! Now you can enjoy her singing too! Just click the mp3 link below and read along with the lyrics. Enjoy!

MP3 of Good Morning to You

Good Morning to You
(In English, French, Hausa, Mbonge & Swahili)

Good morning to you,
Good morning to you,
In English, I speak
In English, I speak
Good morning to you,
Good morning to you,
In English, in English I speak.

Bonjour Mesdames,
Bonjour Messieurs,
En français, je parle
En français, je parle
Bonjour mesdames, bonjour messieurs
In French, in French I speak.

Salam alekum
Alekum sala
In Hausa, I speak
In Hausa, I speak
Salam alekum
alekum sala
In Hausa, in Hausa I speak.

O-we-li-ni-e
O we li ni e
In Mbonge, I speak
In Mbonge, I speak
O we li ni e
O we li ni e
In Mbonge, in Mbonge I speak.

Hujambo bwana,
Hujambo bibi
In Swahili, I speak
In Swahili, I speak
Hujambo bwana
Hujambo bibi
In Swahili, in Swahili I speak!

It’s the 2nd time we were able to easily use this technology of recording a phone call. If anyone else would like to sing a traditional (non-copyrighted) song for us, or recite a rhyme, please email me at lisa@mamalisa.com for directions.

Nyango has sent us many songs from Cameroon over the past couple of years. It’s great for everyone to finally hear her voice! She recorded 6 songs today. You can find them on the Cameroon Pages at the link just above. They’re the ones with the MP3’s.

Many thanks to Nyango Melissa Nambangi of the Minnesota African Women’s Association for contributing and singing these songs for us!

Mama Lisa

*****

Minnesota African Women’s Association has products available that were stitched by their sewing group. They’re available for purchase online at Etsy. They have beautiful pillows, dolls dressed in traditional and contemporary African fashions, tote bags, hats and more!

We’ve been working on a volcano for my daughter’s Science Fair.  She’s doing it with a friend.  They’re in 2nd and 1st grade respectively.

It’s been fun to test out the lava.  Here are the tests that we’ve been doing for the "explosion"…

Volcano Lava Test 1

8 Tablespoons Baking Powder
1 Cup White Vinegar (mixed with Red Food Dye)

Put Baking powder into bottle and then slowly add in the food dye vinegar mixture.

Results: Not thick enough!  It would make a huge mess at the Science Fair.

*****

Volcano Lava Test 2

3 T. Baking Powder
2 T. Corn Starch
1/2 Cup White Vinegar (with red food dye mixed in beforehand)

Mix together the baking powder and cornstarch in the bottle.  Then slowly add in the food dye vinegar mixture.

Results: Better, but it can still be thicker so it doesn’t end up all over the floor.

*****

Volcano Lava Test 3

3 Tablespoons Baking Soda
2 Teaspoons Liquid Dish Soap
1/2 Cup White Vinegar

Results:  This is the best eruption we’ve made in terms of looking like lava and not being too watery – all we need is to add more dye and we’re set!

*****

I think it’s great to encourage kids to join a Science Fair.  I tried to subtlety warn my daughter that not everyone will win.  Because that’s not what’s important in doing it.  It’s the process.  It’s completing a project through to the end.  It’s seeing at a young age that you can do a scientific experiment, even though it’s tricky.  It’s even learning that sometimes your experiment doesn’t work (which happened with an electricity experiment my son tried one year).  That’s science too!  Not all experiments yield positive results. What’s important is to see the process of the experiment from the first step through to the final step.  And, I hate to say it, but for girls, there’s also the matter of making science  accessible and friendly.  That’s so important too.

If you can encourage your child to join a Science Fair, please consider doing it!  It’s a great experience for children to have.

Mama Lisa

blue and yellow from edison on Vimeo.

…Important to remember with children too!

Thanks to Andrew Sullivan for pointing out this cool video!

Mama Lisa

BROKEN RHYMES.

Scold, cold, old.
Skate, Kate, ate.
Brink, rink, ink.
Trice, rice, ice.
Crash, rash, ash.
Sledge, ledge, edge.

It’s from 1880… Harper’s Young People, March 9, 1880
.

If you, your kids, grandkids or students think of any others, feel free to share them in the comments below!

Enjoy!

Mama Lisa

What you will need:
25 Hershey Kisses (Plain)
50 Snyder’s of Hanover Pretzel Snaps (they are little 3 square x 4 square rectangular pretzels)
1 large sheet pan
Aluminum Foil or Parchment Paper (to cover the sheet pan… who wants to clean? LOL)

Math: You will need 2 unbroken pretzel snaps for every 1 kiss. You will probably want to make more. (This is good for the kiddies, they can count out the kisses and double the amount of pretzels per kiss).

What to do:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Unwrap the kisses. Foil is not tasty.
Place parchment paper or aluminum foil on the sheet pan.
Place pretzel snaps on the sheet pan.
Place a Hershey Kiss in the center of each snap. (See Photo 1)
Put kiss/pretzel in the oven for only TWO MINUTES… NO MORE!  Remove from oven.
Place a Pretzel snap on top of melted kiss, push down slightly to make a sandwich. (See Photo 2)
Allow Grids to cool… or place in the refrigerator for quick cooling.

Getting ready for their quick melt in the oven.  (They will retain there kiss shape but will be soft).

Voila! These are soo good… perfect for those salty/sweet moments!

Corrine wrote, “I must thank my wonderful sister-in-law, Jenny for bringing this recipe into our lives… Enjoy! xo xo”

Here are some variations to the recipe given by Corrine’s friends:

Cindy Roter wrote:  “How clever! I can so see topping those little babies with peanut butter… Thanks for the share. Cindy”

Chelle Baldwin wrote: “I can top this one! Same idea but different ingredients. Get the pretzels, top with a rolo.  Heat on low in the oven for a few minutes, then take it out and smoosh the rolo down with either a pecan or another pretzel. Super yummy!”

Susan Leonard Evans wrote:  “Hahhaa, AWESOME! Thanks for sharing, I’m definitely going to try these. Also, I’ve had similar treats using "pastel-colored" chocolate wafers. Someone made them around Easter – they were yummy AND festive! Just an option :) Thanks again – xo xo xo xo”

Thanks to all of you for the great, yummy ideas!

Mama Lisa

Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the US. It celebrates the life of such an important American who had the courage to speak up for equal rights for all. Here are some activities to do with children to help them learn more about him…

You can listen to his I Have a Dream Speech online with your children. It’s his most well-known speech.

You can have your kids do an animated Martin Luther King Jr. Jigsaw Puzzle – choose Easy, Medium or Hard.

Let your school-age kid go to the site called America’s Story to read about Martin Luther King Jr. (with your help if needed).

Speech Accent Archive – If you’d like to hear or study accents in English check out this site. People from all over the world recite a paragraph in English.

Internet Slang Dictionary & Translator – also translates internet acronyms like lol

Nice Translator – Uses the Google translator, but displays text in a way that’s easier to read.

Verbix – Conjugates verbs in many languages

WordReference.com – online translation dictionaries translates words from English to: Spanish, Italian, Russian, German and French (translates in both directions).

Hello World – language resources for Kids

LanguageGuide.org – Visual Dictionaries in various languages

Feel free to mention any language tools or sites you like in the comments below.

-Mama Lisa

Here are some of the ideas I wanted to point out:

-Give magazine subscriptions as gifts (good idea with the December holidays approaching)

-Collect simple recipes and allow your child to cook them. There are some good cookbooks available at the local library for kids.

-Always leave lots of notes for your kids. Put them in their lunch boxes, at different places around the house, etc.

-Play board games that encourage reading.

-Buy your child books about subjects s/he loves – even if it’s something like Barbie dolls or Pokemon. What’s most important is that your child is interested in the subject and wants to read.

-Read classic chapter books to your child at night. Better yet, read them to the whole family. My husband reads books like The Wizard of Oz, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Harry Potter to all of us. We all look forward to this special time together at night.

-Find internet sites and computer games about topics your child enjoys. My son has been interested in the weather since he was in preschool. (He’s in high school now.) He has checked the weather reports online since he was about 3 1/2 years old (no joke!). His interest progressed to reading and learning about the weather on weather related sites.

-If your child is singing a song and doesn’t know all the lyrics, look them up with him/her. Let your child see the lyrics onscreen and try to read them. Every chance you get to have your child read is excellent no matter what the reason.

-Buy your child books s/he’ll enjoy for the holidays.

Some books my kids have liked over the years are:

Captain Underpants Books
Henry and Mudge Series (younger kids)
Five Little Monkeys books by Eileen Christelow
Magic School Bus Books
Eric Carle/Bill Martin Jr Books
Amelia Bedelia
Fancy Nancy
Guinness Book of World Records
Ripley’s Believe It or Not
Harry Potter Books
Roald Dahl’s Books
I-Spy Books
Wizard of Oz Books
Dr. Seuss
Magic Tree House Series

Feel free to add any good ideas or recommended series in the comments!

-Mama Lisa

My daughter was recently playing on her Gameboy (the handheld gaming system). I said something to her, but she was so absorbed that she completely didn’t hear. So I commented to her friend, who was also there, that my daughter was lost in another world. Her friend asked, “Why? Was she trapped?” I explained that, no, I was just using an expression meaning “when someone is so involved in what they’re doing that they don’t notice anything around them”.

It’s in this type of spirit that the book Butterflies in My Stomach, by Serge Bloch was written. You follow the main character though his first day of school. It’s full of idiomatic expressions that are illustrated literally. For example, the kid has butterflies in his stomach – so there’s an ink drawing of the kid with actual butterflies in his stomach.

Many of these expressions are funny on their own. Children love the expression, “It’s raining cats and dogs.” Bloch has a page where cats and dogs are raining down from the sky. It’s a hoot for kids to see this actually illustrated in a book.

The book gives you a chance to discuss these unique expressions with your child, in a funny way.