Ratatouille Wins Best Animated Film At the 80th Academy

Ratatouille has won the Best animated Film at the 80th Academy Awards. Congratulations to the little guy. All the rats must be very proud. Ratatouille beat out Persepolis and Surf's Up.

Ratatouille is the Academy Award, Golden Globe, BAFTA Award and Grammy Award winning animated feature film produced by Pixar and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures.

The story is about Rémy (voiced by Patton Oswalt), a rat living in Paris who wants to be a chef, but negative feedback from his family and the prejudice of humans threaten to hinder his dreams. Remy the rat longs to exercise his talents as a gourmet chef and gets the chance when he finds himself in a famous Parisian restaurant after becoming separated from his family during an escape through the sewers. Rémy does his best to live the life of a gourmet.

When his secret improvements to the restaurant's food are mistakenly attributed to Linguini, the garbage boy, the two team up to form an unlikely culinary partnership that will benefit them both. Rémy meets yet another obstacle in the form of a famous as well as antagonistic food critic named Anton Ego, "The Grim Eater."

The film was the eighth movie produced by Pixar, and was directed by Brad Bird,

The title is a pun on the French peasant dish ratatouille.

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The True Story Of Santa Claus

Is Santa Claus merely a fictional character created to make children happy or was he a real human being who existed. According to history Santa Claus and the spirit behind him is based on the life of a real saint who spent his life being kind and compassionate to all he met especially children.

The true story of Santa Claus begins with Nicholas, who was born during the third century in the village of Patara. At the time the area was Greek and is now on the southern coast of Turkey. His wealthy parents, who raised him to be a devout Christian, died in an epidemic while Nicholas was still young. Obeying Jesus' words to "sell what you own and give the money to the poor," Nicholas used his whole inheritance to assist the needy, the sick, and the suffering. He dedicated his life to serving God and was made Bishop of Myra while still a young man. Bishop Nicholas became known throughout the land for his generosity to the those in need, his love for children, and his concern for sailors and ships.

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Under the Roman Emperor Diocletian, who ruthlessly persecuted Christians, Bishop Nicholas suffered for his faith, was exiled and imprisoned.

He died December 6, AD 343 in Myra and was buried in his cathedral church, where a unique relic, called manna, formed in his grave. This liquid substance, said to have healing powers, fostered the growth of devotion to Nicholas. The anniversary of his death became a day of celebration, St. Nicholas Day.

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Through the centuries many stories and legends have been told of St. Nicholas' life and deeds. These accounts help us understand his extraordinary character and why he is so beloved and revered as protector and helper of those in need.

One story tells of a poor man with three daughters. In those days a young woman's father had to offer prospective husbands something of value—a dowry. The larger the dowry, the better the chance that a young woman would find a good husband. Without a dowry, a woman was unlikely to marry. This poor man's daughters, without dowries, were therefore destined to be sold into slavery. Mysteriously, on three different occasions, a bag of gold appeared in their home-providing the needed dowries. The bags of gold, tossed through an open window, are said to have landed in stockings or shoes left before the fire to dry. This led to the custom of children hanging stockings or putting out shoes, eagerly awaiting gifts from Saint Nicholas. Sometimes the story is told with gold balls instead of bags of gold. That is why three gold balls, sometimes represented as oranges, are one of the symbols for St. Nicholas. And so St. Nicholas is a gift-giver.

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Another story tells of three theological students, traveling on their way to study in Athens. A wicked innkeeper robbed and murdered them, hiding their remains in a large pickling tub. It so happened that Bishop Nicholas, traveling along the same route, stopped at this very inn. In the night he dreamed of the crime, got up, and summoned the innkeeper. As Nicholas prayed earnestly to God the three boys were restored to life and wholeness. In France the story is told of three small children, wandering in their play until lost, lured, and captured by an evil butcher. St. Nicholas appears and appeals to God to return them to life and to their families. And so St. Nicholas is the patron and protector of children.

Through the centuries St. Nicholas has continued to be venerated by Catholics and Orthodox and honored by Protestants. By his example of generosity to those in need, especially children, St. Nicholas continues to be a model for the compassionate life.

Rockefeller Center and the Famous Christmas Tree,
Rink and Decoration, New York City, New York

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Widely celebrated in Europe, St. Nicholas' feast day, December 6th, kept alive the stories of his goodness and generosity. In Germany and Poland, boys dressed as bishops begged alms for the poor—and sometimes for themselves! In the Netherlands and Belgium, St. Nicholas arrived on a steamship from Spain to ride a white horse on his gift-giving rounds. December 6th is still the main day for gift giving and merrymaking in much of Europe. For example, in the Netherlands St. Nicholas is celebrated on the 5th, the eve of the day, by sharing candies (thrown in the door), chocolate initial letters, small gifts, and riddles. Dutch children leave carrots and hay in their shoes for the saint's horse, hoping St. Nicholas will exchange them for small gifts. Simple gift-giving in early Advent helps preserve a Christmas Day focus on the Christ Child.

-www.saintnicholascenter.org

Christmas Story: God's Perfect Gift

Christmas was when God sent Jesus into the world. He was God's perfect gift to us so he could conquer death for us so that we can live forever. Because of Jesus we will never grow old or die in the new world that God has planned for us. All we have to do is believe. Jesus is our Joy and Hope of an Eternal Destiny!

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Melody Koert
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The Christmas Story: The Immaculate Conception

One night a long time ago, Mary was staring out her window daydreaming of her life with Joseph, her future husband.

All of a sudden, a shining light startled her. An angel of God appeared and spoke to Mary, "I am the angel Gabriel sent by God to tell you that God loves you very much and is very happy with you. He has chosen you to be a mother of boy Jesus. Jesus will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest."

Mary said, " I will be the handmaiden of the Lord, I will yield to His Will; let it be."

And then the angel Gabriel disappeared.

Mary suddenly felt great peace and the Holy Ghost came to visit her.

Later,sometime around December 25, the powers of the Highest overshadowed her and she became pregnant.

Nine months later, in September, Jesus was born in israel in a little town called Bethlehem

Christmas is the celebration of when Jesus Christ the son of God enter the World. He was God gift to the world. Jesus Christ is the savior of all people. Because he was the Son of God he could live a perfect life as a human being without sinning. (sin is when you do something wrong like lying, stealing, wanting what your friend has etc. Because of sin we get sick and grow old and eventually die.)

But Jesus turned that all around by living a perfect life and dying on the cross, and rising from the dead, for the sins of the world. All we have to do now is believe on him and we to will be able to live again when we die just like Jesus did when he died. Until then we just have to believe and God sends his holy spirit to live in us making us better people until we are resurrected in to our new perfect bodies that Jesus has prepared for us.

Jesus Christ is our Christmas miracle

Thanksgiving in Canada

How Thanksgiving got to Canada

In Canada Thanksgiving is celebrated on the second
Monday in October. Canadians give thanks for a successful harvest.
The harvest season is earlier in Canada than in the United States because
Canada is further north. Thanksgiving in Canada was also celebrated
43 years before it was celebrated in the United States.

Canadian and Quebec Flags at Full Mast, Montreal, Canada

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Thanksgiving started in Canada with the English explorer, Martin Frobisher,
who was on his way to the Orient. He did not make it to the Far East but
instead established a settlement in Northern America. To give thanks for
surviving the long journey he held a formal ceremony. This took place in 1578 in
NewFoundland.This was Canada's First Thanksgiving. Other settlers arrived
and continued these ceremonies. He was later knighted and had an inlet of
the Atlantic Ocean in northern Canada named after him - Frobisher Bay.

French settlers also crossed the ocean at that time and arrived in Canada
with explorer Samuel de Champlain, also held huge feasts of thanks.
They even formed 'The Order of Good Cheer' and gladly shared their food
with their Indian neighbours.

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During the American Revolution, Americans who remained loyal to
England moved to Canada where they brought the customs and practices
of the American Thanksgiving to Canada. There are many similarities between
the two thanksgivings such as cornucopia and pumpkin pie

On January 31st, 1957, the Canadian Parliament proclaimed...

"A Day of General Thanksgiving to Almighty God for the bountiful
harvest with which Canada has been blessed ... to be observed
on the 2nd Monday in October.

Both Canadians and Americans celebrate Thanksgiving with parades, family gatherings, pumpkin pie and a whole lot of turkey!

Children's Thanksgiving Stories

Easy Thanksgiving Decorations

String of Leaves

Supplies needed:

Construction paper (orange, red, yellow, brown, and other earth tones) Crayons or markers Scissors Glue, tape, or staples A long piece of green or brown yarn or string 1. Draw a leaf on a piece of construction paper. Make sure to draw a thick stem on the top (your leaf will hang from this stem, which will be folded over). 2. Cut out the leaf. Draw the leaf veins if you wish. Fold the leaf's stem in half. 3. Attach the leaf to a long string using tape, glue, or staples. Make more leaves and attach them to the string. Hang your string of leaves across the room for a wonderful Thanksgiving decoration.

Kids Love Thanksgiving: Korea

The next series of posts are going to be about how children around the world celebrate Thanksgiving. In most countries Thanksgiving is most commonly known as a Harvest festival but the spirit behind each is basically the same. Children and their families come together to celebrate and give thanks for their blessings and life.

I will focus on the most popular festivals known around the world finishing with How children in America celebrate Thanksgiving. It is the best known Thanksgiving Festival in the World.

Korean Thanksgiving: Chusok

Chusuk is Korean Thanksgiving where families gather over a huge meal to talk about the good old times and to catch up. It’s also a time to see celebs all dressed up in gorgeous hanboks to spread the Chusuk spirit.

Korean celebrities spreading the Chusuk spirit

It is held on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month. Chusuk means a great day in the middle of August but it can happen in September or even October depending on the Chinese calendar. This year it took place on September24 - September 26. It occurs during the harvest season. Korean families take this time to thank their ancestors for providing them with rice and fruits.

Traditional Korean clothing, the hanbok, worn for Chusuk

The celebration starts on the night before Chusuk and ends on the day after the holiday. Korean families take three days off from work to get together with family and friends.

Traditonal Chuseok Food

The celebration starts with a family get-together where rice cakes called "Songphyun" are served.

Like the Chinese with their moon cakes, the Koreans have songpyon (full-moon rice cakes stuffed with sesame, beans, chestnuts, or Chinese dates).

Then the family pays respect to ancestors by visiting their tombs and offering them rice and fruits.

Little doggie all dressed up for chuseok

In the evening, children wear their favorite hanbok (traditional Korean clothing) and dance under the bright moon in a large circle. They play games and sing songs. Like the American Thanksgiving, Chusuk is the time to celebrate the family and give thanks for their blessings.

During Chusok, Korean child love listen to their favorite Korean fairytale while gazing at the moon.

I have found three differentways of spelling Chusuk, Chusuk, Chuseok.

South Korean Kindergarten Pupils Plant Rice Seedlings

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Dream of Cupcakes and Cream

Cupcakes

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How Cupcakes and Fairy cakes came to be?

Once upon a time, there was a young kitty called Cupcake from Australia.
Cupcake was a fine cat and all the children loved her. She loved curling up on the couch, purring and cozying up with everyone.

Cupcake loved cream very much. It was her favorite thing. She like it even better than fish. You knew that because there was never a drop of cream left in her dish. Whenever Cupcake took a nap everyone would say she must be dreaming of cream.

But what they didn't know was that Cupcake was dreaming of fairies. Tiny little people with wings on their backs. They were always very busy making beautiful cakes. All with pretty frosting impossible to resist. All the fairies loved Cupcake very much and gave all the cakes she could every eat. They were so rich and creamy that Cupcake thought she was in heaven.

There is a connection between children and cats. If they both went to sleep at the same time their dreams get intertwined. And this is what happen to Cupcake one day. Usually Cupcake was not allowed to sleep in the children's room because of the myth of cats sucking the life out of the children when they sleep. But one day when Katie, who was 3, was having an afternoon nap Cupcake crept into Katie's bed and went to sleep. And this is when Katie entered into Cupcake's dream world.

Katie had never seen a fairy before. Children can only see them through a cat's eye. She was amazed and bewildered. She had never seen such tiny creatures before. They were about the length of a ruler and they all flew around like busy bees. When she saw Cupcake she ran to her but that was when she got the shock of her three year old life. Cupcake could talk. Instead of meow she was talking. This was very weird for Katie knows that cats don't talk, they meow and purr.

Cupcake asked if she would like some cake. Of course Katie said "Yes, please!" But these cakes were the size of cups although to the fairies they were full size cakes. Watching Cupcake and Katie devour a whole one each and ask for seconds must have seemed like gluttony.

And this is how the cupcakes got their name. And this is why children also call cupcakes fairy cakes.

You see when Katie woke up she ran to her mother and asked her to make her a cake. But she insisted on putting the cake batter in tea cups. Her mother was a little puzzled but she tried it anyway. When they were ready Katie's mother took them out of the oven and all she just naturally and instinctively said was "the cupcakes are ready." Katie and Cupcake came running into the kitchen. "Not cupcake Mommy, Fairy cakes," Katie retorted. But Katie's mother had no idea what she was going on about. But everyday Katie would go on and on about the fairies making cakes in cups. Her mother never really understood and just kept on calling them cupcakes.

And this where Cupcake got her name. Before Cupcake was Cupcake she had no name. Everyone just called her Kitty because that was what she was, a kitty cat. But since Katie got her Mom to make the cakes in the teacups Kitty just couldn't seem to get enough of them. Everyone just started calling her Cupcake because she was always eating a cupcake. It seemed that Cupcake lived, ate and dreamed cupcakes. Cupcakes seemed to be competing with cream.

What do you think happened? Did cream get replaced by cupcakes?

Cupcakes

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Fantasy is a necessary ingredient

Dr. Suess, Theodore Geisel, was a beloved American Writer and Cartoonist best known for his collection of children's books. 1904-1991

Books like "The Cat in the Hat," "Green eggs and Ham," and "Oh, the places you'll go!" are some of my some of my favorite. I still enjoy reading them over and over to the kids. And it always seems like I am reading it for the first time whenever I read one of the stories. Amazing and timeless!

Hope You enjoy these because children all over the World know and love Dr. Suess.

Dr. Suess quotes, fine art prints, posters and calendar

“A person's a person, no matter how small.”

Dr. Seuss

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“And will you succeed? Yes indeed, yes indeed! Ninety-eight and three-quarters percent guaranteed!”

Dr. Seuss' Numbers

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“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose. You're on your own.
And you know what you know. You are the guy who'll decide where to go. Oh, the places you'll go!"

Oh, the Places You'll Go!

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“I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, It's a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope. Which is what I do, And that enables you to laugh at life's realities.”

The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss (Video Release)

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“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not.”

Author Project - Dr. Seuss

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“Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.”

More Dr. Suess Quotes

“You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.”

“Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.”

“Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened.”

“Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple.”

“I have heard there are troubles of more than one kind. Some come from ahead and some come from behind. But I've bought a big bat. I'm all ready you see. Now my troubles are going to have troubles with me!”

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.”

“I meant what I said and I said what I meant.”