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.

You Know You Are Tired When...

you fall asleep here:

even though bedtime is 45 minutes away.