Not even a creature was stirring...

except for a spider (or two), at least that is the story in the Ukraine.  Celebrated on January 7th, spider webs and ornate spiders can be found on Christmas trees through out Ukraine and parts of Germany.  The story goes that a widow and her children spent the year growing their own Christmas tree from a pinecone due to lack of money to purchase one.  

'Twas the night before Christmas and the children were in a panic and crying because of the lack of decorations to decorate their tree.  

Luckily, nearby spiders heard their cries and when the family slept, the spiders decorated the tree with freshly spun webs.

Upon waking Christmas day, the children were delighted to see their tree adorned with the most beautiful shimmery webs that easily made their tree as beautiful as any other tree in the Ukraine.

From illustrious fortezza to tuberculosis treatment center to....

Photo credit

abandoned work of master Italian architect, Andrea dell'Aqua.  Constructed between 1635 and 1640, the Pidhirtsi Castle is a magnificent Renaissance palazzo in Ukraine. 

Photo credit

This impressive castle is the oldest castle in Ukraine and all of Eastern Europe and holds exquisite nightmares from the past. 

The walls of the castle literally hold a dark secret and everyone who has spent the night in the castle since the 18th century have reported seeing a woman dressed all in white roaming the castle. 

It is believed that she was 19-year-old, Mary, the wife of 60-year-old, Vaclav Zhevutsky.  Allegedly, Vaclav was insanely jealous and insecure because of the age difference so he decided to lure Mary to the dungeon and walled her up alive.

Photo credit

After WWII, the Soviets turned the castle into a tuberculosis treatment facility and the ghost of Mary was reportedly seen by workers and patients on a regular basis.

In 1956, the castle caught on fire that burned for three weeks and caused millions of dollars in damage.

Photo credit

In 1997, the Lviv Gallery of Painting bought the property in the hopes of turning it into a museum but as of 2013, the funding was not available so now this opulent treasure sits in silence.  Tourist are allowed to visit the property but no one is permitted inside.

Colluding with the Russians, well, not exactly......

It is so much fun helping out new homeschoolers.  Our neighbors, who have only been in the US for a few years are about to start their first year of homeschooling with their 5-year-old daughter, who only speaks Russian, by the way.

She is such a sweet kid.  Most of the time, she has no idea what we are talking about but she LOVES being around the girls no matter what language they are speaking or what they are saying.  She laughs nonstop.

It has been my pleasure helping her mom get a plan in place so they can experience school in a positive and fun manner.  It is hard to believe this is my last year of being a homeschooling mom but I have loved every minute of it.  I think that children thrive and do better when at least one parent, especially their mother, takes a real interest and genuine care for their children.  They are only kids once and for such a short amount of time so being their for the kids takes priority over everything else in my opinion.  It just makes sense.  I cannot understand how anyone could think otherwise.

I love being a veteran homeschooling mom and mentoring the newbies.  Looking forward to helping out my fellow homeschoolers and graduating my last homeschooling brainiac and so very proud of my straight A student for her first full year of college.  Life is great!

Easter: The (sweetest) oldest and most important Christian holiday....

Here are a few fun/random facts about Easter.

~The term Easter comes from Eastre, an Anglo-Saxon goddess who symbolizes the hare and the egg.

~Did you know that only 12 of the 50 states recognizes Good Friday as a holiday?

~In 2011 in Italy, the tallest chocolate Easter egg to date was created.  It weighed in a 7200 kg (15873.28 pounds).  Taller than a giraffe and heavier that an elephant.

~Pysanka which is the art of painting eggs originated in Ukraine.

~Easter eggs are considered to be a symbol of rebirth in many cultures.

~Where do you start when eating your chocolate Easter bunny?  In America, 76% stated they start with the ears.  Have you ever wondered why the larger chocolate bunnies are hollow?  Well, if they were not hollow, they would be as hard as a brick which would in turn break your teeth.

~Can you believe that over 700 million Peeps are sold in America every Easter?  In fact, Peeps are the most popular non-chocolate candy sold.  Before 1954, it took over 30 hours to make one batch of Peeps as they were hand-crafted and took hours to dry.  Today, that time is down to six minutes.

~Americans eat over 16 million jelly beans during the Easter holiday.

~Speaking of chocolate bunnies, over 90 million chocolate bunnies are produced in America each Easter, as well as 92 billion chocolate eggs, and Cadbury cranks out 1.5 million creme eggs each Easter.

~The Easter Bunny has apparently been hiding eggs since 1680.  He must be exhausted! 

~The idea of the Easter Bunny is said to date back to Germany during the Middle Ages.

Happy Easter

Russia...........

Russia!  Thanks for the nearly 1,300 page views last month!  This is interesting since my largest viewing audience is usually America.
I have many blog posts relative to Russia or related to Russia in some way or another but here are a few cool facts in case you missed those.

~Did you know that Russia is located across nine time zones?

~Russia also shares a border with Norway, North Korea, Ukraine, and China.

~At their closet points, Russia and Alaska are only two miles apart.

~Russia is the largest country in the world (land-wise).

~Moscow is the capital and the largest city.

~The population is around 144 million (2014).

~Russia is one of the largest oil producers.

~Russia (17m km2) is larger than Pluto (16m km2).

~Russia is home to 9 million more women than men.

~Since 1959, Russian scientists have domesticated foxes just like dogs.

~The world's largest McDonalds is in Moscow and seats 700 people.

~Lake Karachay is the most polluted place on earth.  You would be dead within half an hour of being there.

~When money is tight, Russian school teachers can be paid in Vodka (this might make their job easier, LOL).

~Serbia makes up nearly 80% of land mass in Russia.

~It is a crime to drive a dirty car in Russia.

~It apparently also a crime to tell children that gay people exists.

~Russia has more nuclear weapons than any other country in the world by about 8500.

~Amur Leopards are the rarest big cats in the world and are found in Russia.  In 2007, there were reportedly only 30 left but now thanks to Leopard National Park, that number is up to 57 and another ten or so have been spotted in adjacent areas of China.

Russia is undoubtedly a beautiful place.

A few more fun/interesting facts:

~If you are giving a bouquet of flowers during a celebration, make sure you give an odd number of flowers as bouquets with an even number of flowers are reserved for funerals.

~Spilled salt is believed to foreshadow a family argument.

~In Russia, there is no whistling indoors.

~It is said that any Russia whose path is crossed by a black cat will turn and go another way 100% of the time.

~Finished with your bottled (glass) drink?  Clear it off the table ASAP!  Tradition says that empty bottles means heavy drinking, heavy drinking may mean arguments so empty bottles could be used as a weapon.

~It is believed that death is near if a bird flies inside your house in Russia.

~Finding a lilac with five petals will bring good luck.

Thanks for all the views Russia!

Early Russia

We left off at the end of the Byzantine Empire which leads us into early Russia or was it really "Russia?"  The majority of ancient histories always include ancient kingdoms and migrating people but "Russia" was really a group of cities that fused together to make an empire.  The earliest humans settled in Russia around A.D. 500.  These new settlers and the Slavs mixed together and created an empire, the Ukrainian city of Kiev.

This new empire ruled most of European Russia for over 200 years but then was divided into Belarus, Ukraine, and Muscovy.

I am keeping this as brief as possible because there is so much to learn about Russia, it could take a full year just studying Russia.  I just wanted to highlight a few of the most important areas.

Varangians-image from the web

~In the early part of the 9th century, a group of Scandinavian people called the Varangians crossed the Baltic Sea and ended up in Eastern Europe.

~In 862, lead by a warrior named Rurik, they entered into the city of Novgorod.

image from Britannica 

~For reasons that are not exactly clear, Rurik lost his title of leader and Oleg (Prince of Novgorod) was his successor.

~Oleg continued on southward and in 882, Oleg and his group took over Kiev.

~Kiev was a Slavic city that had been around since the 5th century.  Kiev was located along the Dniepr River.  Also know as Kievan Rus' which today is Belarus and Ukraine.

Rurik-image from the web

~Kiev became the central place for trade routes between Constantinople and Scandinavia.


~Around 989, Oleg's great-grandson, Vladimir I, was the ruler of the kingdom that spanned from the Black Sea to the Caucasus Mountains and into the lower reaches of the Volga River.

Vladimir I-image from the web

~Vladimir wanted to establish a faith for all who lived in these parts.  After careful consideration, he decided upon Greek Orthodoxy.  He was against Islam mainly because in the Islamic faith, drinking alcohol is forbidden.  I guess that is as good a reason as any.

~After Vladimir came Yaroslay, the Wise (grand prince of Kiev).  He encourages the arts, enforced laws, and made friends with other states.

image from the web

~Sadly his biggest mistake was diving his kingdom among his children.  He ordered them to get along and cooperate with each other but you guessed it, they did not.

~After Yaroslav died and by the time 1054 rolled around, Kievan Rus' had broken up into smaller power centers.  This did not work out so well.  Their struggles were massive and when the Mongols invaded, Kievan Rus' was obliterated.

~Around 1237, Batu Khan (grandson of the ever famous Genghis Khan) invaded Kievan Rus' from Kazan and over the three years that followed, the Mongols (Tatars) destroyed the majority of Kievan Rus' (Novgorod and Pskov).

Batu Khan-image from the web

This is where we stopped but it picks right back up in the next lesson with the Ottoman Turks.

Crash Course History with John Green-Russia, the Kievan Rus, and the Mongols, #20
The Viking Answer Lady
Russia
BBC Russian timeline
Russia, ancient and present day on Pinterest