Baked Alaska

What could Lil' Monster being smiling about? 

 The weather!!!!!

 

 And the fact, that he FINALLY gets to use the "HOT" tag for our daily calendar.
Several months ago, Lil' Monster complained because we 'never' could use the HOT tag on his daily calendar. He kept asking when we could. I explained, up here in AK we might not ever use it.
Boy, am I glad I was wrong!

 Right now up here in Alaska, we are cookin'.
We LOVE it.
This is our third summer here and we are toasting at lovely mid 70's temperatures. The past several years we were lucky to get into the 50s and 60s. The rain poured and poured.
Summer Solstice meant more daylight - it sure didn't seem like it with the grey skies. We were told that was the norm. How sad it made us. Then we have had two long, snowy, and bitter winters. In fact not 4 weeks ago we had snow and temps in the 20s. For the last several weeks we have had constant sun and temperatures that have been utter bliss.
This Summer Solstice we might just have to stay up all night to see that the sun really does give us 20 hours of sunshine!!!
We have been truly blessed!

Feels like heaven.

Don't you just love he is wearing a long sleeved sweater still? He doesn't own many "warm weather" clothes. The summer clothes he does have, he has already worn and I am currently washing them.

Sunday Play

In our home, we try to make Sunday's different than any other day of the week.

We are commanded to keep the Sabbath Day holy. (Exodus 20:8)

We interpret that to be more than just going to church for a few hours.

A day consists of 24 hours.

That can be a very long time with children.

We are not so strict like the puritans of old, where meetings and reading the bible all day was all you did.

But we don't want to be so relaxed about it, that we consider it a free day to play, catch up on chores, sleep all day, or laze around.

We have come up with some solutions.

After church attendance, we encourage quiet activities like reading (scriptures, church magazines, or other uplifting books), journaling, letter writing, goal setting, watching a spiritual and uplifting movie, calling family and friends, serving others, and sitting with each other simply talking.

Yet, even these activities can be quite difficult with young children.

Young children like to play, not sit quietly.

So, we have set aside certain toys and games for Sunday use only.

These items are not played with at all during the week.

This not only keeps the novelty of them alive; but it also is a way for our child to mark that the Sabbath Day is a different day than the rest.

A few of these toys are scriptural action figures.
They are great fun for our son.
They definitely keep him entertained and busy.

Which Way Does the Wind Blow?

A Grand-MOTHER's DAY

This year Lil' Monster prepared early for Mother's Day.

First he made a card for Granmaw G.

He put flowers all over it because he knows she loves to garden.

 Then he used the format of "Roses are Red" poem and put his own words in the last part.

Because Granmaw G lives far away we sent it off in the mail.

For Mamma, Lil' Monster made these:

These made Mamma so happy!
Aren't they lovely?


We invited our adopted Grandma R for Mother's Day dinner to celebrate.

She is teaching Mamma how to perfect her crochet skill.

She loves on Lil' Monster and is so delighted with him.

 

Lil' Monster is sharing his Baby book with her.

She is real special to him,

because he doesn't share it with just anyone. 

 It is fun explaining to her all about it.

And telling her all about his life.

Lil' Monster sure loves his Mamma and many Grandmas.

Have a Happy Mother's Day!

Presents and Play Dates

Remember Christmas?

I know, it was ages ago -

but really it was just 4 months ago.

This past one,

Lil' Monster received an odd gift from Santa

(a white elephant re-gift in fact)

Can you see what it is.

He were not that impressed.

He preferred the Christmas treats, Legos, and other assorted gifts.

This particular gift was put to the side and quickly forgotten

(as are all too many gifts).

 

Here it is 4 months later and

Lil' Monster had a play date.

He and his friend were 'bored'

(as kids tend to become with whatever they are allowed to do)

When a light bulb struck -

here was the perfect time to pull out something that didn't really mean anything special -

but it was something messy and edible (which most young ones love).

There was

frosting and decorating...

and assessing

and posing

and silly faces

and gnawing on old chewy candy

 and being grossed out

and lots of fun.

At the end I was asked 

"Can we do this again NEXT time?"

PS. Don't throw out those old gifts, they might just come in handy, and then you can send half of it home with a friend.

Spring Fever trumped by Winter Blues

The days are getting longer - which is great.

Unfortunately, with more light, we just realize how much winter is still left.

Spring Fever,

this year,

is setting in strong.

Which is odd, because it seems as if it is a much milder spring than last year.

Therein, probably, lies the reason we are chompin' at the bit for Spring to come.

Today,

staying indoors just did not seem like an option.

It was a beautiful sunny day.

A rarity for this part of the world.

It felt like spring was just around the corner,

although,

the temps were in the low 20's (f).



"I have the Power..."

huge icicle



After doing all that was necessary

(housework, homeschool, bills, etc.),

Lil' Monster and I decided to march outside just for a breath of fresh air.

It was late enough,

that Mr. Elskan,

who had arrived home from work,

just as we were walking out,

was able to join us.

We didn't go far,

just the end of the street - before we were to cold to continue on.

But it was enough.

20 minutes, was all it took.

But it was enough.

We ARE convinced...

it's STILL winter.

Can you see Lil' Monster's 3rd eye? He was a tri-clops for the day, and I apparently was a cone-head.

My snowball is bigger than yours - but who can throw farther?

After a fall - Pabbi to the rescue.

Deep snow

Running for safety

Trying to chuck the "snowball"



Highs and Lows

In our family, we occasionally play "Highs and Lows" at the Dinner Table.
We simply take turns telling each other what the HIGH point of our day was, and then share the LOW point of our day.
Some days it is nice to know that the "low" of one's day was merely "we had to take a nap" (wink, wink). Other times it helps to open up a conversation when our child has a "low" such as when a child was picking on him. It is also a great time for him to see how we as parents may suffer lows as well, and how we cope with them.
 Discussing our "highs," can lead to greater gratitude for all that God does. It also, teaches us that despite having lows in our life, we can still find "highs." Sometimes, the highs are as simple as "eating lunch" or as great as riding on a "four wheeler."

Today was a day of extreme high and an extreme low for Lil' Monster. 

It started out as a typical routine day. Wake up, eat breakfast head off to O.T., have a temper tantrum here and there, come home eat lunch, play, do some reading, some homeschool, and more play. Then the long wait for Pabbi to come home. His arrival brought something more than the simple joy of Pabbi, because Pabbi was carrying a big box is in his arms.

It had ARRIVED!

Lil' Monster's Package had finally come.

For Christmas, Lil' Monster received a "Where's Waldo" book from Santa. He quickly became enamored. Lil' Monster loves 'hidden pictures' and Where's Waldo fit the bill!

Since then Lil' Monster has been vying to own more of them. He pores over the one he has for hours. He has found all of the hidden objects, but he still sits and looks...never bored.

Today's was the arrival of an other Where's Waldo. One that Lil' Monster worked to earn money for, purchased online and then waited for.

He was just so enamored.

Then an hour later, Lil' Monster was running up the stairs, slipped and fell on his face, on the stair above, causing him to bite right through his tongue.

What a fright!

He has bit his tongue before, but this went almost all the way through. We rushed him to the E.R., where they helped the bleeding and swelling to go down. They talked about stitches. but didn't want to go down that path quite so soon. They sent us home, and warned if it did not start to heal in two days, they would put stitches in.

Lil' Monster was frightened between the pain and the large amount of blood. The E.R. was quite a trip. He was so happy to hear the Dr. recommend ice pops, ice cream, smoothies, and anything soft for the next several meals.

 The poor Lil' Monster was quite a trooper.

What a day of highs and lows.

Post Date: Things healed nicely, albeit it took several days. Luckily stitches were note required. He did enjoy copious amounts of cold soft treats for meals. He is going to have a scar for the rest of his life, but he still has a tongue.