Advent Calendars

I like Advent Calendars to enjoy the daily countdown till Christmas. There are a lot of different kinds that I have thought of or my family used growing up.

* Lego has some you can buy where you put a little creation together every day.
* Some people have special felt trees and ornaments that you pin on.
* I have a small Christmas tree to hang 2 ornaments on every day.
* I also made snowflakes to hang a snowflake somewhere in the house every day.
* I made a __ days till Christmas sign that you change every day by writing on a paper and putting it in a page protector so we could write the numbers with a dry erase marker.
* My parents found a chain of small stockings that you pull something out of each day (candy, toy,  family activity)
* A kiss a day till Christmas is a chain of candy kisses made by wrapping them in plastic wrap and tying in between each with ribbon and you cut one off and eat it each day.
* If you had window clings or other decorations of a winter scene or nativity you could put one up every day.
* If you had a lot of presents and had them in advance you could put one under the tree every day, but that is a lot of gifts. Ours usually just get put out as they get wrapped, or growing up my family wouldn't put my presents out till Christmas Eve or ban me from touching them, because I would guess what it was even though it was wrapped.

The past two years we just had the small tree. This year we added the snowflakes and days till Christmas sign. That's still only three and there are four of us, but I guess we'll have to look at Lego ones earlier next year.

What kind of Advent Calendars do you like?

Edmund's captain's log, life date 1y9m21d:

Captain's log, life date 1y9m21d:

I think I should be at home getting ready for bed, but I guess I would rather ride in this shopping cart instead.  Apparently they have giant blow up Christmas decorations available already even though they still have the scary Halloween stuff out too. This world is strange sometimes.

It's past my bedtime. Maybe if I don't remind Mom or Dad, they won't put me to bed. I'll just come along for the ride.

What are these round, fluffy, white things? If it's supposed to go in my mouth, why is it quite the mouthful? Well, either way, marshmallows are delectable.

Come on, Mommy; Let's see what Daddy is doing outside. Ooh. Fire. Why won't they let me touch it? Why can't I even get close? What's the big deal with putting your marshmallows on a stick over it? Yum; Daddy has chocolate. Oops, I keep dropping those graham crackers on the ground. At least I didn't need to put my marshmallows on a stick; sometimes they catch fire that way. Brother said he didn't mean to do that.

Mommy, why are you putting all the sleeping bags and stuffed animals on the living room floor? Daddy, where are you taking the couch cushions? Why do you need them under your sleeping bag?

Whew, it's getting late. We finally got ready for bed, but now they want me to lay down in the family room. This room is for playing, especially if you leave all these stuffed animals out and the humidifier within reach. I don't want to lay down out here, I tell you.

Here we are in my bed sweet bed, and Daddy even brought in my animals and my humidifier. Goodnight, World. See you tomorrow.

camping in your living room

Benefits of camping in your living room:

No tent to set up and take down.

No crying kids in the next tent over.

You don't have to make sure to feed your pets before you leave and when you get back or arranging for someone to do it for you.

When your one year old decides he would rather play than lay down with you, even when it's two hours past his regular bedtime, you can put him in his bed so he can fall asleep practically instantly.

The floor isn't as cold and lumpy as the ground.

You can use the restroom without having to unzip the tent, clamber out, and get your shoes on.

You can get changed into your pajamas in your own bedrooms instead of taking turns in a cold, dark, cramped tent.

You can brush your teeth at a real sink instead of a water jug spigot.

When your ten year old keeps wanting to play, you can threaten to send him to his bed if he doesn't lay down.

Dinner List Dilemma

What to do when you are having trouble coming up with dinner ideas.
In our house we make a list of dinners for the week and then make the grocery list for the week so that we usually only have to go shopping once a week. When I sit down to make the list, but run out of ideas, I can...
1. Ask family members what they would like to eat.
2. Consult the list I have made of dinners we frequently eat.
3. Look in the pantry for anything I want to use.
4. Look in the freezer for anything I want to use.
5. See if I have any good coupons to use.
6. Browse a cookbook for new recipes to try.
I'm currently looking for good, healthy, vegetarian recipes, if you have any. We also just planted a garden, which adds another option.
7. See which fresh produce is ready to be harvested and find meals to use it.

The Rescuer and the Captive. part 3

I remember the large one

       When the lights came back on and the large one came back, it moved my cell. It moved me outside, but higher up, probably not on ground level. I hoped if I was outside I could somehow escape and find my way back home. Maybe there were more of my kind around in this area who could point me in the right direction. Or if they had never heard of my area, maybe I could live with them for a while before traveling around to find my way back home. If the large one would go away and leave me unattended for a while I might try the door again. I guess I could have tried acting friendly in hopes that the large one might open the door, but it was safer to hide and wait for it to leave. Any time it touched me it was so big I feared it might crush me even accidentally. And who knew if it might hurt me now even though it seemed to have helped me before. Generations of hiding from the large ones can't be overcome that easily. Being a cautious race has kept us safe for the most part from the large ones. When we stay undetected, we stay safe. We've heard that those who have revealed their numbers have been hunted down and captured or killed. So I waited.
      Even after it went back in the building I waited. What if it was going to come right back? But what if I waited too long and missed my chance. I had to try now. I passed food and water as I got to the door, but I wasn't brave enough to try any of it. It might be a peace offering, or it might be a trap. I would be better off just ignoring it and focusing on figuring out how to squeeze out through this door. If I wiggled just right I might make it. For a minute there I thought the large one would come back to find me stuck half in and half out of the door, but I kept twisting and pushing. Finally my body was free. Then my suspicions were confirmed; the large one had put the cell up on a ledge or shelf, one that it could easily reach, but that was at least ten body lengths above the ground for me. Well I couldn't just sit on this ledge till it came back for me. But, could I climb down, or would I just be injured in the fall? I would have to risk it, but I would leave a note first. I wasn't sure the large one would understand it anyways since it had not responded to my attempts to communicate earlier, but I still felt I should explain why I had run. Maybe someday our races would come to understand each other and hostilities would no longer be necessary.

To my Rescuer,
Thank you for helping me in my time of need. I am very grateful for your assistance. However, since I cannot seem to communicate with you to understand your motives in keeping me here, I felt it would be wisest for me to try to find my way home on my own. If we meet again, can I count you as a friend?
Sincerely,
A Grateful Little One






Nathan and I have been reading some science fiction stories lately about the communication barriers between humans and aliens, and I got to thinking of the barriers even between races from the same world: beings that live in the same overlapping territories but can't communicate with each other because they communicate in different ways. This story is actually based on true events, but I don't want to ruin the affect by telling you what they were.

The Rescuer and the Captive. part 2

I remember the cage
      When I started to get dry and warm, I started being able to think more clearly and move. I was stuck in a cell about four body lengths long and two wide, with the fluffy stuff, but the warmer was actually outside the wall. I could see through the walls, but not very clearly. It was dark, but occasionally it would get light and a large one or two would come look at me through the walls. Were they my rescuers or my captors? I was warm and dry and could hobble around some, so I was getting better. But what did they intend to do with me when I got better?
       The large ones made their vocal noises at each other, but I couldn't determine if they were hostile or friendly, if they meant me ill or well. In all remembered history no one had ever been able to decipher their language. (But that's going on the assumption that their vocal noises were their means of communicating.) And they had never understood us, as far as we could tell. Those who attempted to live among the large ones ended up in captivity or dead. So if you wanted to be free, you stayed well away from then and didn't let them see you. Well, it was too late for that now; they already had me inside of one of their big buildings in this impenetrable cell. How was I supposed to get out of here and find my way back home?
      For whatever reasons the large one had, it moved me to a different cell. This one was larger, about five body lengths long and three wide, with a higher ceiling with small holes high up in the walls and ceiling; those would be too small even if I could get to them. However, the holes in the wire mesh door were bigger; unfortunately only my head fit out the first time I tried climbing through. Then I hid behind some more of that fluffy stuff and under a box. Was this large one intending to keep me in here? Did it heal me just to keep me prisoner? What did it expect to learn from me? Would it take me back closer to my home and let me go? Or at least let me out here to find my own way back somehow? Asking it all of these questions got no response. Maybe it couldn't even hear me. Though they respond to each other's vocal noises in a conversation like fashion, I never got any response. I was left in the dark again, literally and figuratively.

The Rescuer and the Captive. part 1

The Rescuer and the Captive
I remember the terrible storm
      What a terrible storm... So much water and wind... I woke up in a daze. My head was so foggy. My legs wouldn't work right. The large ones would come if I stayed out in the open like this, but I couldn't run, couldn't even walk. I tried to pull myself along, but it was painful going. I was too slow; they found me before I could make it to cover.
      I had been taught since my youth to stay far away and out of sight of the large ones. They dwarfed us in size, so maybe they assumed they were the dominant species. It's not like we could ask them. They had me surrounded. They were watching my distress. I still couldn't see well in my dazed state, but they were poking me with something. Then they just left, I was too groggy to fathom the reason. Maybe they'd already learned what they needed from watching me. Maybe they thought I was as good as dead anyways. I was too tired to dwell on it. I would just rest.
       Wait! I had been trying to get somewhere. What had I been doing? Oh, I needed cover, but I was so tired. It was too hard to move.
       One of them was back, or maybe it was a different one; I couldn't be sure, but I was too spent to run now anyways. Couldn't move enough to fight back. And so cold and wet. The large one picked me up and put me in box. It took me away. It seemed we were traveling somewhere faster than I was used to ever going by foot even when I ran. When we got wherever we were going, I was taken in the box into one of their big buildings. Some fluffy dry stuff was put in the box on me and something radiating heat was put next to me. I just lay there, devastated; getting taken by a large one meant you didn't come back.

Asher's quiz

given to Asher after listening to him complain.

Why should I feed my fish?
A) to bug Asher.
B) because I'm mean.
C) because it's my responsibility as a pet owner.
Why should I watch my fish after I feed them?
A) to make Asher jealous.
B) to make Asher mad.
C) to make sure I don't over feed them.
Why is it bad to over feed them?
A) it's actually not bad to over feed them; I just lied.
B) it's actually not bad to over feed them; I just made that excuse up.
C) over feeding messes up the water and can kill the fish.
If it's after 7:30 and you aren't ready for bed yet, what should you be doing?
A) getting as much play in as you can before your parents bug you about getting ready for bed.
B) doing whatever you want; eventually your parents will nag you enough to keep you on task.
C) getting ready for bed; a consistent bedtime routine helps you fall asleep faster and sleep better.
If it's after 8:00 and you aren't in bed yet, what should you be doing?
A) getting as much play in as you can before your parents bug you about getting in bed.
B) doing whatever you want; eventually your parents will nag you enough to get you in bed.
C) getting to bed as soon as you can; your growing body needs sleep to stay healthy.
Mom will want to share her fish with you when you ________
A) are rude to her.
B) accuse her of always being mean to you.
C) are respectful to her.

Poem Bouncy Balls

Random poem/song I came up with while playing with Edmund:

Bouncy Balls

Sign a song of bouncy balls.
They are everywhere:
All over the carpet,
Underneath my hair.

Edmund loves the bouncy balls;
Loves to dump them out.
He asks for them everyday,
And spreads them all about.

To the tune of Sing a song of six pence

kids journal prompts

If you or family is having trouble journaling, try some prompts. Also try drawing pictures to go with what you're writing about. It is also good just to free write even if it's just writing silly stuff and not actually recording what you have been doing with your life.


My name is




I live in




My address is




I am           years old.


I am awesome!














!
I want to learn:

1.


2.


3.


4.




These are my pajamas:



















Doodle of the day:












How to clean your room
1.

2.

3.

4.




The most delicious pizza needs to have










The hungriest person I know








The smartest person I know








The bravest person I know








The                          person I know








I'm grateful for

















I wish I could change

















Where I'm sitting:













From here I can see





















Dear                         ,












                                        Love,




If I was face to face with a wild animal I would...

















When I'm at the beach,


















If                                        could talk,
















Hot                                Cold













A mystery:





















A dream:















A secret:



















I like it best when...
















I used to...




but now I...













I wish...






I will...




only if...






No one should ever in his/her wildest dreams...
















Never say...











Once in a great while, I get to...











The last time I...

Book recommendations for parenting

Here are some books that I recommend that are available from the Greater Phoenix Digital Library. You just need a library card with a pin to one of the local libraries.



Secrets of the Baby Whisperer by Tracy Hogg
Unfortunately this one is only available as an audiobook.



The Diaper-Free Baby by Christine Gross-Loh
I only found this recently, so I haven't really tried it with my baby yet.



Love and Logic for Early Childhood by Jim Fay
I haven't read this one yet, but I did like Parenting with Love and Logic by Foster Cline and Jim Fay (not available from the library).



What to Expect when You're Expecting and What to Expect the First Year and others by Heidi Murkoff
There are more of these books, but I've only read the first one so far.

Poem School

I like to use a sing song voice for this one kind of like the Fun song from Sponge Bob.

School

S is for summer vacation is over.
C is for citizenship.
H is for heaps of homework.
O is for outstanding grades.
O is for observing the rules and instructions.
L is for lots of learning.

Poems Haiku

They aren't really Haiku or even that good, but I was just messing around with the 5-7-5 syllable pattern one morning when I couldn't sleep. I decided to give them titles.


Reading

If the Braille bug bites
When you read in the darkness,
You can feel the words.


Crunch

When eating apples
Be prepared for the crunching;
Most like them crispy.


Begging

Eating bananas?
Prepare to share with babies;
They love bananas.


Thomas

Sit in a window.
Watch out for little fingers;
Do not ever harm.


Knick Knacks

Sitting on a shelf,
But I'm not a Christmas elf:
Forgotten treasure.

Scripture Mastery fill in the blank 2

I need to make more of these for family home evening activities.

2 Nephi 32: 8-9

8 And now, my beloved brethren, I perceive that ye ___________________ still in your hearts; and it grieveth me that I must speak concerning this thing. For if ye would hearken unto the ______________ which teacheth a man to ______________, ye would know that ye must pray; for the evil spirit ______________________ not a man to pray, but teacheth him that he must not pray.

9 But behold, I say unto you that ye must pray __________________, and not faint; that ye must not perform any thing unto the _________________ save in the first place ye shall pray unto the Father in the name of Christ, that he will ______________________ thy performance unto thee, that thy performance may be for the ___________________ of thy soul.

Jacob 2:18-19

18 But before ye seek for ____________________, seek ye for the _________________ of God.

19 And after ye have obtained a _______________ in Christ ye shall obtain riches, if ye seek them; and ye will seek them for the ___________________ to do good—to clothe the naked, and to feed the hungry, and to liberate the captive, and administer __________________ to the sick and the afflicted.

Mosiah 2:17

And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn ___________________; that ye may learn that when ye are in the ____________________ of your fellow ____________ ye are only in the service of your God.

Mosiah 3:19

For the natural _________ is an enemey to God, and has been from the _________ of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the ________________________________, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the ____________________ of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a ___________, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth ________ to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his _____________________.

Mosiah 4:30

But this much I can tell you, that if ye do not _________________ yourselves, and your thoughts, and your ______________, and your deets, and observe the commandments of God, and __________________ in the faith of what ye have heard concerning the coming of our Lord, even unto the end of your ________________, ye must perish. And now, O man, ____________________, and perish not.