Happy 133rd Birthday, Franklin Delano Roosevelt!

FDR, our only president to be elected four times, actually turned 133 yesterday. And we did celebrate on the correct day, but I was SO BUSY, I just couldn't bring myself to sit down and write the blog about it yesterday. I knew it was going to be a crazy three weeks, with our Mosi classes a trip to Miami, a total of 5 presidents birthdays, an upcoming Disney trip, Hayden's birthday, a couple of aquarium classes, Valentines Day, the Florida State Fair and a Superbowl Party. But, I've made it a third of the way through. (Only a third?!?) 

I'm really only posting now so the Snackadium (which I am yet to build) and the party get their own highlight, and FDR gets his well-deserved Waterstraut Waterspout blog. And, really, I procrastinating cleaning out the laundry room of everything home school. (Have I mentioned lately I really need a bigger house?) But, we're going to do this quickly, because if you paid ANY attention in school, you know a decent amount about out 32nd President. 

The boys woke up to some FDR owl mail. They really didn't want owl mail to go away after Harry potter week, and I don't mind our cute little owls sitting there anyway, so I'm going to make use of it every once in awhile. 

Asa was in the office Friday because of a swap for Monday, so it was lovely that FDR's favorite foods were things like grilled cheese and hot dogs. I could totally handle that all on my own. 

And he secured the "wet vote" in his first presidential election against good old Herbert Hoover (fun fact: Hoover and I share the same birthday!) by running on ending prohibition. (Among other things like the "New Deal", but pshhh.. Alcohol!) I made the boys our famous prohibition cocktails that we had during decades week (Sprite and cherry juice, with a couple of cherries thrown in for fun), for them to have during the toy timeline. This was going to be a LOOOOONG one, so I wanted to give them added incentive. 

And, I pulled out the axis and allies board so they would see an overview of WWII. 

I don't have a FDR pez dispenser (if anyone's looking for something to get me, I'd really like that volume!), so the natural replacement was our turtle, Delano. Delano is actually named after FDR. Peyton just wanted to be a little more subtle about naming his tortoise after a president. He's the only child of Elsa and Captain America... err.. I mean James Roosevelt and Sara Delano. Actually, he was a huge mama's boy and Sara once said "My boy is not a Roosevelt at all, he's a Delano". But, anyway, he was born in New York and had a pretty privileged life, even if his mother put him in dresses until he was 5. 

Oh, and thanks to Peyton for snapping a few pictures. Our historical photographer was MIA (or in the office earning his paycheck), so we had to make do. 

Also, the guy was just born to be president. He's related to 11 other presidents, either by blood or by marriage. He's also related to Winston Churchill and Jefferson Davis. Of course, the most famous was Teddy, his fifth cousin (and uncle to Eleanor-- he even walked her down the aisle!) 

Little known fact, his dad took him to the White House when he was 5, and he met Grover Cleveland. Who told him "I have a strange wish for you, it is that you may never grow up to be President of the United States" oops. 

Being a Roosevelt, politics may have been in his blood. But, being a democrat was like blasphemy.  When Republican Teddy was running for VP with William McKinley (see how well their birthdays being close together worked out for me?), Franklin actively campaigned for William Jennings Bryan (I was way too excited that I got to use Dr. Dufenshmirtz to portray William Jennings Bryan two days in a row, this is what my life has come to, people) 

Of course, there weren't too many hard feelings, since Teddy walked his niece Eleanor down the aisle to marry Franklin. The two got married, had six kids ( 1 girl and 5 boys- but one died in infancy). 

You guys have to know the whole rest of the story- polio (although did you know two days before he became paralyzed he even helped locals put out a Forrest fire before running two miles home and then going for a swim? He was kind of badass.), the mistress (awfully Olivia Pope, Fitzgerald Grant don't you thin?), the great depression (25% of Americans out of a job, 38 states with closed banks, 2 million people homeless), the new deal, the 99 million three letter programs, being elected a record FOUR times , and WWII. 

I had NOTHING to do with the Hitler mustache on Ham the pig, by the way, that was all the boys. 

And, then he died after having a massive stroke while having his portrait painted in Warm Springs Georgia, his beloved dog Fala (seen here as Archie the Scare Pig) by his side. Really, the dog went everywhere with him, nobody else was allowed to feed him, and people often cut hair off the dog as souvenirs. His mistress, Lucy was also there, a meeting arranged by his daughter. Oh, and Delano got uncooperative and we had to replace him with Iron Man. I mean, it makes sense, the dude used metal braces to stand upright. 

FDR was the first president on Airforce One, so the boys put together an airforce one puzzle. 

And in honor of his mother, Sara, making him wear dresses until he was five, and kilts until he was 8- we had some FDR paper dolls. 

In addition to all the usual info, I drew a couple pictures to note some more interesting facts. He inspired the 22nd amendment (two terms limit for presidents), he collected stamps, he was the first president on TV, the first to give radio addresses, he was president when the golden gate bridge and mount rushmore were completed, and he was very superstitious (hated the number 13). 

The boys made their usual birthday cards. 

Not sure Eleanor and Lucy would be thrilled with his card. 

FDR's hashtags: #AllIdoisWin #12MoreYears

I had gotten a presidential cookbook for Asa, and it has various family recipes from all the Presidents. But, I was super excited to see one actually called "Franklin Roosevelt's Birthday Cake" 

It's more of a bread, and even though it used a cup of black coffee, I rather enjoyed it. Asa loved it, and the boys all tried it, but weren't too impressed. 

Then we had hot dogs for dinner. Again, thanks to FDR for his simple american food tastes. Made lunch and dinner SUPER easy for me. We were eating like kings and queens--literally, as FDR once served hot dogs to the king and queen of England. 

Today is Super Saturday. It's really more testing the boys on what they've done this month, but they always think it's super fun, and Super Saturday sounds way better than 'Test Day' or something lame. 

You know, the usual Mr. Potato Head spelling and such. Plus, this year we'll be doing a 'Name that President' game, where I say different things about a president, and they have to name the one I'm talking about. If they get it correct, they get a pez from the right president. I actually have some buzzers on the way to use for next time. Pretty excited about that. 

And they got to drop their Plinko Chips that they've been earning all month. 

Tonight we play Jeopardy. Categories this month include: I probably wasn't paying attention, I'm sorry but it's Math, LBD (Lessons by dad), Happy Birthday Mr. President, and Jeopardy Re-do. 

And now the blog is done, so I can check that off my list, get to straightening up my home school shelves and building the snackadium. 

Next Up: It's Super Bowl Mania! 

Happy 172nd Birthday, William McKinley!

Today we celebrate all things William McKinley, the 25th President of the United States. I really didn't know much about the man, even though I've visited his tomb (it's probably one of --if not THE--most impressive ones we've been to). But, as I read about him, the more I read, the more I liked the guy. So, Millard Fillmore was boring and uninspiring, Richard Nixon was sneaky and a cheater, and William McKinley was just a REALLY nice guy. People loved him. And he was so nice to everyone. Teddy even once said "McKinley has no more of a backbone than a chocolate eclair", but he STILL picked Teddy to be his Vice President, because that's what everyone wanted, and he was a people pleaser. For real, everyone just LOVED him. I kind of want to vote for him, and he's been dead for over 113 years. Now, most people know he was assassinated. Or, at least I think most people know that. But, in case you didn't. He was, and he saved his assasins life (for a bit, he was eventually killed in the electric chair for his crime) by telling the mob "don't hurt him!" as he was laying down with two bullets in him. And man, was the guy an AWESOME husband. People in Washington talked about how devoted he was to Ida. Yet somehow, he doesn't quite have the legacy I'm sure he hoped to have had. 

He wasn't too fancy in his food tastes though. He was a big fan of breakfast, and always made sure to eat breakfast with Ida everyday before he left for work. (As governor, he made sure his office was across the street from his house, so he could cross the street, and wave to Ida from the porch before he went to work. Then everyday at 3 o'clock, he would stop whatever he was doing to wave from her from the window-- such a nice guy!) 

Calib and Peyton helped make brunch. 

To make it more accurate, we should have had bacon instead of sausage. But, bacon wasn't on sale. Sorry, William. He didn't have any favorite deserts that were well known, but a Congressman from Georgia once sent McKinley a prize winning 80 pound watermelon! 

And we had some ketchup from the Phillipines on our eggs. Why the Phillipines you ask? Well, the U.S acquired it after the Spanish-American War, even though they didn't really want it--- Or know where it was! McKinley had to have someone bring him a globe to find it, and even said "I could not have told where those damned islands were within two thousand miles" 

After breakfast, we got to celebrating! 

First up, the toy-timeline. We're going to speed go through this though, because TGIT comes back tonight. I might be a very smart girl, into history and geography, but I also love some good Thursday Night girly TV my friends. 

Thanks to the photography of Asa, I have the time line all documented. 

So, William grew up in Ohio, he was the 7th of 8 kids. He liked camping, swimming, hunting, and loved books. (Not Millard Fillmore I'd save the Library of Congress from burning love, but he and his father did wear his fair share of books thin.)  

He went to college in PA, but had to come home after one year because he worked and studied so hard he was suffering from physical exhaustion. By then the Civil War broke out, and 18 year old William, sick and pale, went off to fight. He got put in the kitchen basically serving the guys who were serving, but earned respect from soldiers by bringing rations to the front lines. He was sure he was going to die. But, he said at least he would die (literally) serving his country. I mean, he brought rations to the guys at the Battle of Antietam. That's some serious stuff. He worked his way up the ladder though, and when the Civil War ended, he went home a strong, confident guy. Oh, and he worked under a guy you might have hear of, Rutherford Birchard Hayes! (My pez of him seems to be MIA, so I had to make do with Gandolf. They had similar beards!) McKinley would end up becoming a lawyer, and campaigning for Hayes when he ran for president. Which opened up the world of politics to him. 

When he returned home, he met Ida, and they got married. They had two daughters, Katie and baby Ida. But, baby Ida died shortly after her birth. This nearly broke Ida, and she became VERY protective over Katie, hardly letting her out of the house. But, then Katie got Typhoid Fever and died too. Which, just sent Ida into a deep depression, and she developed epilepsy, among other things. She was basically just a mess. But, she wanted William to keep going with his political career, so he did. But he was always there for Ida. 

William worked for Congress for 15 years, before becoming the governor of Ohio and then running for president in 1896. (He's seen here wearing his carnation, which pleased his wife, and everyone thought of as a good luck charm, while Ida is seen here sporting a campaign button- because his ticket was the first to do so!)  He won, beating poor William Jennings Bryan (seen here as Dr. Dufenshmirtz). Why do I feel bad for this guy? Well, because he ran for president three times. 

And Ida? Well, she did ok in the White House. McKinley tried to take special care of her in her fragile state. He broke with tradition, and made sure Ida sat next to him at state dinners. And, when she would have a seizure in public, he'd put a handkerchief over her head to spare her from the embarrassment of having people see her like that, and then simply remove it when it was over, and go on as though nothing had happened. 

McKinley's Vice President was a guy named Garrett Hobart (seen here as Woody). They were buddies, but Garrett didn't even make it through his first term. He died (heart issues, I believe) and McKinley was pretty heartbroken. 

The biggest presidential issue of William McKinley's first term was the Spanish-American War. Google it if you don't know- but long story short Cuba was fighting for its independence from Spain, and America (McKinley) didn't want to get involved. He basically exhausted all options, and the media had worked up Americans so much they wanted to help out the Cubans. 

(And a guy named Teddy Roosevelt was totally on top of that!) 

With McKinley's guidance, the war lasted four months. FOUR. Actually a little less. So, it might have taken McKinley awhile to act, but once he did, he kicked the crap right out of the Spanish. And, then poor William Jennings Bryan didn't really have a chance, but ran again anyway. And McKinley's new VP: Well, Teddy of course. 

So, he's re-elected, things are going well, and he tours the country. After a delay because of Ida's health (seriously, he couldn't just leave poor Ida!), he attended the Expo in Buffalo, New York. He gave a speech to a cheering crowd, and next day was all set for a meet and greet with the public. On September 6, 1901 he bent down and gave his lucky carnation to a little girl. A few people behind her was Leon Czolgosz, a guy who was pissed about government in general. He didn't even have a problem with McKinley specifically. He just wanted to do something he saw as 'noble' for his cause. Leon (seen here as the storm trooper) hid a gun in his bandage and when he got to the president, he shot him, twice, in the stomach. 

When he fell to the ground, he pleaded with the crowd not to harm Leon (they were seriously pummeling him!), and then immediately thought of Ida and told his men around him "Be careful how you tell her". He was taken by ambulance to the hospital, but the only doctor was an OB doctor who couldn't find the bullet and stitched McKinley up, with the bullet still inside.

Leon meanwhile was captured in a near-death state from being beaten from the crowd, and sent to jail. He was sentenced to death in the electric chair just a couple weeks later. 

McKinley looked to be on the mend, and everyone was pretty optimistic he would be fine. But, the bullet caused an infection, and on September 14, six days after being shot, McKinley died. He became the third president to be assassinated. (After this the secret service were put in charge of protecting presidents) 

Making Teddy our 26th president. And, the youngest president at that. (JFK was the youngest ELECTED, Teddy was the youngest to ever hold the office at age 42) 

McKinley's funeral train took him home to Canton, Ohio where he was buried. Poor Ida was so distraught, she didn't even attend his funeral. She died nearly 6 years later, just a month before the completion of the large marble monument in Canton was completed. 

McKinley ranks in the middle of the pack by historians. He's kind of over-shadowed now by Teddy's administration. And, he comes off as having acted on what the people wanted, not what he wanted. (Which, I'm not sure how that's a terrible thing, but thats what historians say). But he was called the "Idol of Ohio" and today over 20 Ohio schools are named in his honor. He even has a mountain in Alaska named after him! 

My gosh, that wasn't really warp speed at all, was it? 

Anyway, our activities today included making our own Campaign Buttons (since his was the first Campaign to use them) 

And we planted some carnations, in red (for republican) pots. 

The boys twitter update for McKinley: Gave my lucky carnation to a little girl #Giveitback #Wherethemdoctorsat

Then they got to work on their birthday cards. 

Hayden's card... 

Calib's card... 

Peyton's card... 

My sad attempt to draw a chocolate eclair, the Cuban flag, and his pet parrot (named Washington Post) 

And a carnation, Mount McKinley, a button, a globe (for the Philippines), and an X-ray (an x-ray machine was on display at the expo, had the doctors had one, they could have located the bullet) 

Our William McKinley board 

Asa and I went out for date night dinner tonight and got some ice cream (thus the William McKinley lunch instead)

And tomorrow he's back in the office. Boo. 

Next Up: Teddy makes another appearance as we celebrate his fifth cousin- FDR!