This is a cute idea!

I want to make one of these. I'll probably never get around to it, but I want one! I have and idea where it would go in the basement, if I ever get it made... in the meantime, I'll just share it and dream!


Cute, huh?

Audio Books

I've recently discovered that both Borders and Barnes and Noble carry children's audio books for $10. They're the kind with a CD and corresponding book, often for the same price, or less, than the book itself would be. I've been thinking these would be great for road trips, but the road trip Ellie and I had planned for this weekend got canceled due to weather.

Since we don't actually have a working CD player in the house (MP3s are our preferred audio format), we haven't listened to them much. I did discover, however, that (note the light bulb going off above my head) I can just stick them in the laptop and we can listen to them that way. It works great, so long as the audio player isn't set to shuffle. =D

So far Ellie has two favorites, of the 3 audio books we've purchased...

1. Tiki Tiki Tembo, read by Marcia Gay Harden. Actually, I'm not sure that Ellie's even heard the CD to this one, though I've listened to it. I read her the book a couple times, and it was an instant favorite. She calls it, "Tiki Tiki Tembo, about the boy who fell into the well!" In fact, as I am sitting here writing this, I let Ellie choose an audio book to listen to and she chose that. She's sitting and "reading" along right now! Every time the gong sounds, she turns the page. It's great!

2. Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, read by Ray Charles. We listened to this on our drive up the Beartooth a couple weeks ago. It was fun to have in the car! Ellie loves saying the "BOOM BOOM" part, ha ha! There are a few songs on there, plus a few song versions of the book.

The third book we have is actually the first we got. It's Peter Pan, read by Dawn French. Eliana hasn't been that much into this one, but the woman reading has a British accent that makes it a little harder to listen to. Still, I think it will be a good one when Ellie is a little older, or if we're in a car for a longer drive.

We also have a book that accompanies Sandra Boynton's Rhinoceros Tap, which is a lot of fun. It doesn't really count as an audio book, but I figured I might as well mention it. =D

Jelly Telly

So... the people who originally made Veggie Tales have a new-ish website called JellyTelly. They put up a new 20 minute movie every day on the website. It's sort of cute!

Mommy and Ellie Day

Today I needed to run into town to pick up some pictures at Costco. It was the only thing from town that I needed, so when Eliana asked if we could go to the Museum of the Rockies (or the Dinosaur Museum, as she calls it) I sarid yes.

We had a great day. We went through the exhibits and she rode in the stroller when I asked her to or held my hand when I asked her to, and asked to get out and see things close up (or play with the interactive ones) and didn't whine. She did a great job. We made our way through the TREASURE exhibit first, and then through the rest of the museum. When we were done with the Dinosaur exhibit (which we always do last, because she loves it and would spend the whole time in there if she could!) we went upstairs to the children's play room. We were the only ones in there for about half an hour, then as we were getting ready to leave another family came in. This is where the only problem of the day was, because she didn't want to leave once her "friends" were there. Still, she didn't throw a fit, didn't scream, or cry, she just tried to ignore me a couple times and then got into her stroller like I'd asked and told her friends goodbye. When we got out to the car she asked if she had obeyed me. I told her that overall she had a wonderful day and I was very pleased with how well she obeyed, but that when she didn't get into her stroller like I asked, that was disobedient. I am really pleased that she wants to obey.

After MOR we were driving down the road and I asked if Eliana wanted to go to the dollar store. She usually doesn't, but this time she said she did. So we went. She has several friends with birthdays this fall, and I am usually running way behind on gifts, just getting something the day of. It's sort of stressful. So this year I'm trying to get them taken care of early. =D I already have one or two gifts, but really want Eliana to learn about gift giving herself. So she was allowed to pick out two girl presents and one boy present for the first round of birthdays. She chose a fairy wand for one girl (which is perfect for that girl, I must say!), and a set of 3 squishy balls for the other girl (which she insisted the other girl would want, even when I suggested other things I think she might like better. This gift really is from Ellie, and I love that she tried to get things FOR that person!), and she decided that the boy would like some dinosaurs. They are nice-sized sturdy dinosaurs, so we actually got 4 of them and that will be his gift, picked out by Eliana all by herself! I was proud of her. I also let her get one gift herself, but she had to choose between two things she really wanted: a fairy wand (that makes sounds) or a set of heart barrettes. It was a tough choice and she wavered back and forth, but eventually chose the wand and stuck with it. She didn't even complain when we had to put the barrettes back.

I am excited about Ellie getting to give gifts she chose herself. It means a lot more this year than it did last year, when she seemingly randomly picked out things that she wanted herself and had a hard time giving up. This year she chose them FOR those people and she knows who they go to. She also made birthday cards by herself, which will be another post. 3 is an exciting age, I think!

All in all our Mommy-Ellie day was great. She fell asleep in the car on the way home and is sleeping now. It's not ideal, but I'm glad for a little peace and quiet, even if it means a later night tonight. We have been trying gluten-free this week, and the days we go GF (like today) are great! Her attitude is better, we have fewer fights.... It might just be worth the switch.

The Box House

While we were in Texas, Poppy made Eliana a box house. It was wonderful. It was made from a long, narrow box, like a giant hallway. It had a door, several windows, and an A-line roof. Mommom and Poppy even put  doorknobs on the inside and outside of the door. Eliana loved it. She thought it was perfect.

Then, Poppy got an idea. While Ellie was playing in her box house, Poppy built another box house just like it, minus the door. Then, when Ellie was outside of her box house, Poppy began cutting a door in the the other side of it, so he could match the two houses together and make an even bigger play area for her. She watched him cut into her box house with horror in her eyes and cried, "Poppy! Please don't cut my box house! You're ruining it!!"

Poppy's answer was simple, "Eliana, you're just going to have to trust me that I am making it even better."

Isn't that what we do to God? We cling to the life we have, no matter how small, how battered it may be, and we cry out to God, sobbing in the darkness for Him to stop cutting it, because couldn't He see that He is runing it? In His infinite wisdom He tells us to trust Him, that He is making it better. He is preparing a palace for us, one beyond any of our wildest dreams, and we are clinging to a cardboard house as if it were a treasure.

Poppy did attach the second room to Ellie's cardboard house, and she did like it, even better than at first. But those moments between her trust and sight were painful for her, just as they are for us. We may not see the greater plan while we are here on earth, but we can trust in the knowledge that He IS making us better, if not for now then for eternity.

C is for Children... and more...

Looks like I've gotten a little lax about posting Ellie's verses over the past few weeks. Really, the last couple weeks I've even gotten lax about doing them! We go over the ones she's learned so far, but haven't introduced any new ones lately. Summer makes me lazy. =D (Okay, so really I'm pretty lazy in general, and I just like to use Summer as an excuse...) So here's where we are so far:

C is for Children:
"Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right." Ephesians 6:1 (She goes around saying this one a lot!)

D is for Draw:
"Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you." James 4:8 (She can say this one, but I'm pretty sure she doesn't quite know what it means. When she messes up she tends to say it, "Draw near to God and he will draw your neighbors." I think she thinks that "near to God" is an object you can draw. So we're still working on that. =D)

E is for Even:
"Even a child is known by his deeds, by whether what he does is pure and right." Proverbs 20:11 (This is by far Ellie's favorite verse so far. She spouts it to random people and then asks if they know that verse, too. It's cute to see her enthusiasm.)

F is for For:
"For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Romans 6:23

And that's where we stopped. We will keep going with them. I really like them, and I think she does, too. I took the CD out of the car so we could copy the songs to mp3 (I will be taking an mp3 player to Texas with us), so we haven't had the regular reminder in the car to go over verses. We also haven't ripped the songs yet, so that's not helpful. Really we've been off schedule completely for a few weeks, since thing got so busy in June! It won't slow down until next week, though, when we head to Texas! So... it may be Fall before we move on to G, but I've heard her singing the song in her room so I know she already knows it. ;)

Book Review: America The Beautiful

Happy Fourth of July!!

As part of our 4th of July celebrations today, Ellie and I read "America The Beautiful" by Katharine Lee Bates (the original poet) and Susan Winget (illustrator).

It contains the original poem by Katharine Lee Bates, as well as a short bio about the author and the story behind the poem. The illustrations are very Americana, but done beautifully, providing some conversation topics to discuss along with the poem. I appreciate that the illustrations are not merely pictures of what the words are conveying, but representations of history. Covered wagons, ships, soldiers on horseback, farms, bald eagle, Abraham Lincoln, flags, George Washington... all of these open the way for further discussion, even with small children.

The poem is long, but the pages go by quickly and the illustrations held Eliana's attention. She did not appreciate me singing the words, though, after about the third page. Still, she was happy to listen to the whole book and ask questions about the pictures. It was an enjoyable read and one that I'm glad we have in our library. I give it 4 out of 5 stars.

********************************* end of review ****************************

Next year I'm hoping we can read Robert Sabuda's version of the poem. I am loving his pop-ups and hope to add this one to our collection, too. Maybe it will go on sale after the holiday! ;) I got a couple Christmas ones just a few weeks ago at Borders for $5 each (!!) and can't wait to read those with Ellie this winter. How fun!