The Land of the Free...Candy

Last year for Independance Day,

we were blessed with BEAUTIFUL weather,

so we went the Distance. (Read about it Here)

This year we stuck closer to home.

We attended the Independence Parade in our neighboring city.

We arrived early and placed ourselves at the beginning mark of the route.

Bundled up, as it was freezing.

By the end of the parade

we could hardly feel our fingers and noses were running.

 Nevertheless, our hearts and souls were warm with joy.

Waiting for it to begin.

As each float, car, or group passed us by, something or other was handed out:

such as flags, sweets, advertisements for local happenings, and more sweets.

This cute group of senior women had a dance they performed.

These deafening bikes thrilled Lil' Monster and about made Mamma deaf for an hour.

Each child received a bag to hold their treats.
Lil' Monster filled his to the brim by the end.

Pabbi and Mamma had to hold his bag so he could have free hands to chase after the candy.

We've never seen so much candy! I, along with other parade-watching Mammas, all tried to give each other their children's candy so we didn't go home with so many bags. Lil' Monster did not even care about the candy - he just liked to chase into the street to grab what was thrown.

Pabbi and I joked that this parade was easier than Halloween. For Halloween, we have to dress the up in costumes, take him from door to door (or in some cases trunk to trunk) to collect a bag full of candy. However, for this Holiday, the paraders have to come decked out and in costumes, with tricks, and they walk block after block passing the candy out....

Motorcycles, sports cars, buses, go-carts....

vehicle after vehicle.

The boy LOVED it!

Since it ended up raining we were unable to have a typical All-American BBQ post-parade.

So we settled on the next best All American meal:

Pizza.

Then we curled up together and Thanked God for our Freedom to enjoy.

We also prayed that Uncle M and his fellow soldiers currently in the Middle East were protected.

Thank you Uncle M for fighting for us.

Thanks Auntie B for your sacrifice.

Happy Independence Day!

First Pickin's of the Season

The other day I was on the porch, cleaning....when Lil' Monster calls to me..

 Mamma! I have a surprise for you!!

Flowers! For you.

Because I love you so much!

They are the first flowers of the season...

he picked them just to tell me how he felt.

Warmed my heart, and brought tears of joy to my eyes.

I love this little guy!

Mini-Model for Iceland

When Mr. Elskan, returned from his trip

(to bring up the rest of our stuff from storage)

he brought along a package from dear Amma and Avi.

In it, was the much beloved rain coat/pant set

(Icelanders know how to make decent the best rain/wind clothes - as they should);

Lil' Monster were elated!

He (our clothes horse) was especially delighted

 because his old set was so tight and so uncomfortable.

He immediately dressed and then modeled them.

 I think he should be Iceland's face for such clothing - don't you?!

Where does he learn to do this

- as we don't watch TV, have magazines with models, or shop...?

Maybe he was born with it ;) ?

He was very excited because it rained for several days after.

{Preparing Children to Choose}



Wise parents prepare their children to get along without them. They provide opportunities for growth as children acquire the spiritual maturity to exercise their agency properly. And yes, this means children will sometimes make mistakes and learn from them.

~~~~ Elder Larry Y. Wilson ~~~~

Where the Wind Blows Us

Yesterday, we just had to get away.

We had to leave it all behind...

And let the wind blow us wherever.

It blew us to one of the many nearby

lakes.

It was freezing cold.

It was only 49 degrees.

But with that wind it felt

much

much

much

Colder!

It was an unplanned trip.

We didn't bring anything but ourselves...

and a camera.

Lil' Monster stayed entertained with his toy of choice:

sticks!

Here, he is showing off his horns.

(Remember this post?)

Then the idea of fishing came:
He throws a stick,

the waves bring it in,

and with other sticks,

 he fishes the first stick out.

Clever.

Lil' Monster's catch.

It was great to just go and be blown around.

A day of the simple joys to be found in life.

Our Place



June 2011

This is not an old memory  - not even a full year has passed since this photo.

Lil' Monster  was playing here,

moments later all had gone quiet.

This is what Mamma Sass found.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Our Landing -

into the loft which is currently our little homeschool -

is a place of interest for us all.

It is 4 ft. by 4 ft. 

But it is the most used place in our house.

Our love for this little space has grown in this last year.

In fact,

maybe we should give it an official name;

just not sure what would be clever enough.

For Lil' Monster it is his play house

(even though he has one in the LARGE closet inside the loft room).

One evening Mr. Elskan and Mamma Sass were chatting on the couch in the living room.

When she looked up and this is what she saw.

For Mamma, the landing (as you can see in the background) is an extra storage for things she uses regularly, like the vacuum, or as a temporary pit stop for items between the homeschool and the rest of the house.

 We use it as place for our

intercom

(shouting loudly to the lower levels for instructions etc.)

observation tower

(checking out who is coming and going outside)

Podium

(for singing, speeches, or general announcements)

Hang Out

(we sit and chat out there)

Reading Roost

(a place to pile books and sit and read while watching the folks downstairs)

Our Little Landing has many purposes.

Maybe it is time we name it.

Any ideas?

He Lives

He is not here: for He is risen

Matthew 28:6 



He Lives by Simon Dewey

 

"...they saw a Man descending out of heaven; and he was clothed in a white robe; and he came down and stood in the midst of them; and the eyes of the whole multitude were turned upon him, and they durst not open their mouths, even one to another, and wist not what it meant, for they thought it was an angel that had appeared unto them."

 "And it came to pass that he stretched forth his hand and spake unto the people, saying:

 'Behold, I am Jesus Christ, whom the prophets testified shall come into the world.

 And behold, I am the light and the life of the world; and I have drunk out of that bittercup which the Father hath given me, and have glorified the Father in taking upon me the sins of the world, in the which I have suffered the will of the Father in all things from the beginning.'"

3 Nephi 11:8-10

I know that He Lives.

He has redeemed us.

He is my Savior.

May your

Easter

bring you the

peace and joy

of the season.

Nammi Numbers

An activity we did today

(idea borrowed from My Montessori Journey)

Using cheap dollar store ice cream bowls, spoons, with some fuzzies (pom-poms).

We practiced matching numbers with 'scoops' of ice cream.

Lil' Monster counts out scoops into the bowls: 0-6;

Then mixes up some flash cards;

than matches the flash cards to appropriate bowls.

Some eating pretend eating happens along in the process.

Learning new numbers, I leave the cards in order (7-13).

He uses his memory of how to count orally 1-20,

to match up with what he sees.

Then he counts the right amount of scoops into bowls.

He takes the flash card and bowl and lines them up off to the side when completed.

Then I 'check' his work and encourage him along.

It's an easy thing to do, and makes a big impression.

It is a far cry from just learning to count pictures on paper in order to learn numbers.

For a more hands on child, this really helps to cement his knowledge.

And it is soooo

DELICIOUS!

P.S. Nammi means yummy in Icelandic

Little Ray of Sunshine

Today's activity was based on the story "Stealing the Sun" a story from Africa found in our copy of Stories From Around the World.

 First, begin with a black piece of construction paper

- faded in the sun and some crayons.

Next, mix yellow and orange to make a sun. Draw some lines for the rays.

It was great to see how straight Lil' Monster's lines were for the rays.

 Then put the paper on the floor and then hand a push pin to your young 4 yr old.

He really likes this - such concentration.

Finally, put your picture in the window to see the suns rays shine through.

with flash

without flash

I didn't think it was a phenomenal project,
but Lil' Monster was ecstatic to see the sun cloudy light shine through.
It's a quick, easy, and satisfying!
Makes it a hit with Mamma and the little one.

Late. Typical.

March

April

It's been a month since I posted these pics.

See any improvement?

March

Most of the thick snow has melted into ice

April

Maybe Spring really is coming...

it's just Running Late.

...Go

Yesterday, Conference sessions were - well, unplanned.

What? you might say.

Well, I was ready, but our dear friends stayed home sick, and by noon I had been struck with a migraine.

Ugh.

Today went so much better.

Although our friends still stayed home due to illness, we continued on with our plans. 

We woke up and made these delicious biscuits.

 We added some whip cream and a glass of milk to the recipe.

Lil' Monster devoured it before I could get pictures.

Then we began watching, taking notes, coloring, activity books, and enjoying the inspirational messages. 

 

 Our Spring Conference Garden was growing fast!

Lil' Monster bored after some coloring and quietly playing,
took to leading the Tabernacle Choir. 

Of course, it's not as fun without someone to play along with you...

It was a great weekend of inspiration, togetherness, and upliftment.

Can't wait until the next one:

In October.

Ready...get set...

We are ready for everyone to gather round and listen to

 LDS General Conference.

When I was younger it was great to sit together with family and friends, catch up on some quiet projects, take notes, and become inspired to be better and do better.

 I really loved these weekends.

But, the past few years have been such duds.

We've been unable to really get focused.

We've done nothing special to hold on to the goodness these conferences offer.

In fact, it has been a pain - if I am being really honest.

For three years now, we have only caught a session here and there. We can read it later in the Ensign, but it just isn't the same as listening and being a part of it. Our life has been so chaotic. Lil' monster, has been so needy and distracting that it has been hard to attend the conference, in any way. Nevertheless, we know it is important to watch and be attentive. More importantly it lifts us up, inspires us, and encourages us.

This year I was ready for something different.

So, I decided to be prepared.

I did some serious google searches and came up with an abundance of ideas to help children

(and adults)

focus and get more involved rather than just being passive listeners.

I am excited and hopeful this will be the key to a great weekend.

This was my favorite idea:

a Spring Conference Garden

We need some spring here -

the snow is too much!

The Garden is "built/grown" during conference and then can be used during the next several months to remind us what we learned.

(There is a cute idea for the Autumn Conference I am sure we will use in October).

It can be used to inspire Family Home Evening (FHE) ideas.

Maybe even talks for Sundays.

at the very least, it will brighten our wall for a few weeks ;)

To make our Garden area,

we chose our still bare

 (but needs to be filled and painted)

 wall in our living room.

I made some grass and stems from some construction paper,

 one night while listening to a book with Mr. Elskan (he helped out some).

Then we taped it onto the wall.

I put this up a couple days early

to inspire excitement and curiosity.

It worked.

There were lots of questions and excitement. 

Then I made the flowers, for both the really young ones and older ones. During Conference, they will color them, write the topics of discussion, and then tape them to the stems. Thereby growing a garden.

I also pulled some notebooks together for adults and created some activity packets for the kids.

A great resource for some ideas can be found on Sugardoodle.

I used a few ideas here, a few there -

all catered to my boy specifically, and to the girls who were coming.

I added some extra quiet activity kits just in case they still got bored. 

I feel soooo accomplished - usually I am a day, week, or year late.

But this time:

I am READY!!!!!!

Let, the sessions begin!

Rational as an Animal



I'm a bear!

Lil' Monster's favorite activity is to play "animals." Everyday he assigns us each a different animal to be for the day:

horse,

big horn sheep,

rabbit,

frog,

snake.

 Every times he gets in trouble he turns into a sweet little

fluffy cat -

who possibly couldn't do anything wrong - right?

When he wants to assert his dominance:

a bull or billy-goat-gruff.

When he is feeling adventurous:

a bird -

oh the nightmares this Mamma has as he goes jumping off things.

When he eats:

a pig

(Thanks to a "Christmas Story"),

drinks: 

a dog

You get the picture right?

The other day during homeschool, Lil' Monster and I were learning about animals.

We learned that animals:

live.

move.

reproduce.

after we finished reading, we discussed:

Mamma: Are we animals?

quick as a fox L'M replied: No.

Mamma: Well,... People live. People move. People reproduce.

L'M: hmmmmm. (thoughtful as an owl) Are we animals?

Mamma:Yes.

L'M: Really!!! (giddy as a goat)

         What animal are we? (buzzing with delight)

Mamma: We are Human Beings.

L'M (curious as a cat): Human Beings? What is that?

                 Mamma: That is the name of animal we are called. Just like cats are called cats, even though we might give them a name like "Co-co" or "Fluffy."

He was tickled as a tiger with this new information.  

Being an animal, named a Human Being was strongly imprinted on him
(pun intended).

Later that day, while shopping Mr Elskan and Lil' Monster were talking turkey when Lil' Monster said:

  Pabbi, we are animals!

Mr. Elskan: Really? What Kind?

 (I am sure he was thinking of Lil' Monster's typical response: billy goats, cats, moose)

L'M: Human Being!! (Proud as a peacock I am sure!)

Mr. Elskan:Yes, you are right. We are rational animals.

L'M (stubborn as a mule): NO! WE AREN'T!

Mr. Elskan: You're probably right.

Spring Is Coming?

I keep hearing that spring is around the corner.

 People have been proclaiming that this is one of the warmest

Winters

that many states have experienced.

 Others have said that they missed out on winter, skiing, snow, and winter activities this year.

 Some say this summer could get extremely HOT!

 Many have tried to convincingly insist that G.lobal W.arming is in full swing as many states have seen really high temperatures the past couple of months.

With Spring only 17 days away,

I'm NOT Convinced.