...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!

Turkey Tails

I borrowed this cute idea from Laura at My Montessori Journey.

She has the greatest ideas and many are seasonally inspired, which is right up my alley.
It was easy to make with some felt and buttons I had already on hand.
Whipped it up in a night.
And he can play with it year after year.

 This is a great way to build skills
and
have fun at the same time.

This was also good practice in dealing with frustration.

Lil' Monster doesn't have much patience and quickly jumps into fits or avoidance.

But he persevered and look at him!

Proud as a Peacock....

I mean Turkey!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

The Model

Here's a follow up to this post:

+=

 Still confused?

 VS.

 The Recipient of Mamma's Endeavours,

And

The Handsome Model:

 He always melts me at the knees,

Even when he is hamming it up...

 This is my first handmade scarf.

Don't look too close, you might see what an amateur I am.

But it will keep him warm, and it provided good activity for my hands these cold dark nights.

Next goal:
Make a scarf for a Christmas gift for a special woman out there...

details to follow.

Jack-O-Lantern's Many Faces

This is actually a project I did last year with the Lil' Monster. 

I borrowed the idea from Laura at My Montessori Journey.

This is a great way for children to make their own Jack-o-Lanterns without knives or mess.

It is easy to make and provides hours of fun.

I took orange felt and cut out a pumpkin pattern, then drew some crease lines.

Took black and yellow felt and cut out different shapes for mouths, eye, eyebrows, and nose.

Made a little stem and a couple of leaves.

 (Mamma Sass's example)

Enjoying the fun.
He can't remember the fun from last year,
so it feels new and exciting this year.

Creating his own Jack-o-Lantern.

With so many pieces,

there are so many possibilities

'Tis the Season.

Happy Autumn!

Happy Halloween!

What Do You Get...

when you take this

 +

 +

=

???

This Mamma is going to attempt something she has never tried before.

I am trying to develop the domestic and frugal self.

Beautifully Strung

Having Mr. Elskan home certainly creates a lot more space for creativity everyone can enjoy.

Today we played with string, fingers, and paints.

Have you ever tried it?

You should.

It is easy and fun to do!

 Beautiful colors.

 

Mamma and Pabbi's joint effort of string/finger painting.

Masterpieces were produced today.

Masterpieces of Childhood Memories.