"Zu Zu's Petals", Home School Open House, Award & Giveaway

For my next post, I have been searching earnestly for a picture I wanted to share, and then I remembered it was the Tuesday for Tammy's Home School Open House (okay,really Tammy reminded me).....so I thought I would combine the two today, along with an award and giveaway too. (I hope you don't mind, Tammy...but being the old movie lover that you are, I figured I'd be okay putting this on here today)! And if you came just for the Home School Open House....just scroll on down until you see the button and that's where that part begins!

First of all, about Zu Zu. Do you recognize the name?



If you guessed, It's a Wonderful Life....you're right! Zu Zu was George Bailey's daughter...the little girl that caught a cold and was upstairs in bed sick. Remember him sitting on the side of the bed as she showed him her broken rose petals? Her daddy "fixed" it for her (by putting the broken one in his pocket and handing her back a perfect rose)! I always loved that because isn't that what all little girls (and big ones too) think about their daddies...they can fix anything and make it better?

It's a Wonderful Life is a favorite Christmas movie at our house. It's not a question of IF we watch it during the Christmas season, it's how many times. If you're a fan, you probably know the lines...."Hee Haw", "Hot Dog", "Teacher says, every time a bells rings an angel gets its wings"......And I could go on!

Well around Christmas of 1997, we found out that Karolyn Grimes, who played Zu Zu was going to be visiting our local library and signing autographs. Colt and I stood in line (before a ball game) to meet her. Colt was 8 years old at the time (and Joy hadn't come along yet). He took her a vase of pink roses "to replace the broken petals". She loved it! She was super nice! Here she is with Colt.



Notice the "Z" pin on her suit? Would you believe I've never noticed that EVER before today, and Joy pointed it out to me right when she looked at it. She said, "Look she has a Z on her for Zu Zu." How could I have missed that?

She signed our copy of It's a Wonderful Life.



We bought this ornament (that I absolutely love and treasure) and she signed the back of it too. It always gets a place of honor on our tree and I make sure it's wound tight around the branch.....because my heart would break if it fell off and broke!



This particular picture on the ornament is a shot of her when her daddy (George Bailey) is holding her at the end as all his friends, relatives and neighbors pour in to help George out!

Here's the back:



I love what she wrote! Life is wonderful!

If you've never seen the movies, you're really missing out....it's a favorite here! And speaking of favorites, on another day, I will share my very favorite Christmas movies and I'm also going to ask all my family for THEIR favorites and I'll share that too!



Now on to the Home School Open House sponsored by Tammy of Lattes and Lollypops. Again this time, I don't have a big project to show you...but as usual we have been reading....lots of reading. This particular book has been our read-aloud (from Sonlight) for the past couple of weeks and we sure have loved it....it's probably been our favorite actually so far this year (Joy's and mine).




The name of it is The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare. I remember reading this with Colt when he was younger. It's a wonderful story set in the Colonial Days in the colony of Connecticut during the times when the Puritans would "accuse" people of being witches. It's much more than that though....it has history & courtship weaved throughout too. It also brought the opportunity for Joy and I to discuss what gossip and judging people can do. We also discussed desirable character, how to be a true friend and what to look for in a mate. It's hard to believe one little book could pack that much punch to discuss, but it did......and we loved it! Don't let the title fool you either.....it's a GREAT book to share with your family (or read alone).

And speaking of character, here's a book that Joy and I just started reading together and discussing. This an old book republished...it's been around a long time.



The back says, "What can be more beautiful than the budding and blossoming of girlhood? Those years of transition from childhood to womanhood are filled with wonderful interest and promise. But the young feet that travel this way may be unsteady and unsure. Each could use guidance, a helping hand along the way. To encourage our girls to a nobler life and truer ideals is the task of this book."

And since all that I've shared is reading...here's a picture of Joy doing an experiment she did at home and showed at recitation last Tuesday. Since we are studying astronomy (God's Design Series), we discussed the laws of thermodynamics as an introduction to earth science. This experiment showed the 2nd law of thermodynamics.....that all objects tend to go to a state of rest. (or slow down because it loses energy).



We tied a string around a tennis ball and taped it to the top of a doorway. She stood back the length of the string...holding it to her nose and let it go. By just releasing and not giving it any motion, it just swings out and back without touching her, because it's losing energy as it swings through the air.

On to the last couple of things for today...Here's an award given to me from my bloggin' buddy over at Cat Nap Inn! Thank you so much! I've met so many wonderful bloggers and enjoy so many blogs that I don't want to have to choose, so I pass this award along to ALL my blog readers!


And last of all, if you love Christmas and love to read, you'll love Trudy's giveaway. Click over and pick out your favorite Christmas book she has and if she draws your name out, you'll win your favorite book!



Thanks so much for stopping by today and for the kind comments! I enjoy them all so much and I enjoy visiting your blogs too! I don't get to do so everyday, but I try as often as I can, and I usually catch up a few days a week.

I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving week too! Check back for more Christmas decor pictures!

Blessings,
Tammy