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!
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