This Morning in Maine/Tänä aamuna

We are still up in Maine, preparing our camp for renters. One of our highlights up here are the mornings. We wake up, see the sunlight over the lake, and are so blessed.




I have been taking a quick swim every morning. No laps yet, the water is still freezing cold. This morning I saw the fisherman's boat out on the still lake, and quickly grabbed my camera and headed out on the dock.



I was a little late to catch the shot I had in mind, but saw a loon swimming nearby. I quietly waited to see if he would come closer, and he did.



Once the loon was further away, I put away my camera and went in the water. I was quite startled when, after a two strokes, the loon was right next to me! Almost close enough to touch. I stilled, and just admired this beautiful bird in awe. He wasn't in any hurry to swim away, neither was I.

And when he finally did, after a quick loon call, I looked up at the sky, and the rays of light were magnificent over the lake.



What a beautiful world God has created.




Be glad, Zion Mountain;
    Dance, Judah’s daughters!
    He does what he said he’d do!
Psalm 48:11 The Message

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Niin kaunis aamu tänään täällä Mainessä! Auringonsäteet järven yllä, kuikat, aamu-uinti, Taivaan Isän lupaukset. Kiitollinen mieli.

In the Reign of Terror!! {Review}

As we travel along in our Mothership (or even in our car) we like to listen to audio books. They help the Captain stay awake (usually does the opposite to me!). We have listened to a variety of books, from Narnia to Condoleezza Rice's memoirs.

When we were at the FPEA Convention in Florida,  Mr T handed me a pamphlet on audiobooks by Jim Hodges, and told me to go check them out. So I did.

Jim Hodges was there himself, and had a whole booth of audiobooks. Mr T helped me pick out one for our travels north, and I promised to write up a review, if we liked it.

Mr T picked out In the Reign Of Terror by G. A. Henty - An English Lad in the French Revolution. We have a bunch of Henty books in our camp library (thanks to Grandma and Grandpa!), but none of us had read this particular book.

Storyline as copied from the website:

The storming of the Bastille on July 14, 1789, ushered in the French Revolution. Within four years, the king was executed and a revolutionary tribunal was established to judge “enemies of the people.” Led by Robespierre, the Jacobins sought to establish a “Republic of Virtue” and to achieve it, the property of nobles was seized and “enemies” tried and sent to the guillotine. Known as the Reign of Terror, everyone associated with the monarchy, expressed royalist views, or opposed the committee, faced potential execution. Harry Sandwith, a companion of a French family, wins their confidence and becomes the protector of the three daughters. After the girls are condemned to death in the coffin-ships, Harry saves the girls and the gets them safely to England.


I knew the Captain and the boys would enjoy it. A story of a boy in the French Revolution would no doubt hold their interest, but I was surprised how much Little Miss (8) and I enjoyed it, too! To the point where we had to go back and re-listen parts Little Miss had missed when she fell asleep. This was the first audiobook I was able to stay awake for.

Right before we started our Henty audiobook, we had finished listening to one of the Narnia books we had been in the middle of. Switching from a British accent to an American one took a moment, but only a short one, as Jim Hodges' speaking voice is so amazing. He does the different voices very well, from a young lad to an elderly woman, including French accents!

Very impressive!

And very educational!! We all picked up facts about the French Revolution we had either forgotten or never learned.

We were all sad when our book ended (this one was 8 hrs and 35 minutes), and we decided we wanted to get a bunch more for our next road trip. (And for our next school year!)

The audio books by Jim Hodges are MP3 CDs. The Captain figured out how we could listen to one in our vintage motorhome, and so we all started listening this story. (Mr. T copied the files from the CD to a computer, and somehow transferred them to an iPad, and plugged the iPad into our RV sound system. MP3 CD players are very inexpensive, too.)

Mr. Hodges has many of the Henty books on audio, as well as other books. You can check the large selection here. You can also see his recommendations for younger listeners. The Henty books are appropriate for some eight year olds, but typically for ages ten and up. You can also find study guides and vocabulary lists at his website.

Mr. Hodges, thank you so much for our fantastic time travel to the French Revolution!


You can read our disclosure policy here.

Happy Father's Day!

Happy, Happy Father's Day to all dads, especially to Captain and Grandpa! (Vaari, too, although Finland doesn't celebrate Father's Day today.)

We are so blessed to have such wonderful, hard working, godly, funny, wise, adventurous men as our role models - thank you! We love you!




And Grandpa, you may now open your package. Enjoy:)

Touchtronic Letters Review and Giveaway

Junior Learning has done it, again! They have a fantastic new educational product, perfect for any student, homeschooling, or not.

(We are still loving and using Junior Learning Smart Trays in our homeschool.)



Touchtronic Letters are a new innovation from Junior Learning. The first classroom resource to work on an iPad. Touchtronic Letters are the first tangible alphabet that interacts with an iPad surface, combing the physical and digital worlds of learning.

Included are 26 letters color-coded with consonants in blue and vowels in red. The supporting free App (available from the iTunes store) includes games for teaching letter recognition, phonemic awareness and word building. There are also exciting animations which reward children as they complete each different level. (Read more here.)



At this time Touchtronic Letters app has three games to choose from, but Junior Learning is planning to to provide extensions to the apps, new CVC games, and then bring out some physical numbers in another set. These products are under development now.

We can't wait.




Touchtronic Letters are geared toward five and/or six-years olds, but my 8-year old really enjoyed reviewing the product. The games were easy for her, which made her feel very good.

Would you like to win a set of Touchtronic Letters? One lucky reader will be chosen on June 21st.


The Nitty Gritty of our Giveaway (Sweepstakes, really):

1. Prize: Touchtronic Letters by Junior Learning.

2. How to Enter: No super annoying raffle copters here on our blog where you have to do all 58 steps in order to have a small chance at winning! Easy peasy: Just leave a comment on this blog post with a way to get in touch with you. If you would like a second 'ticket', leave a second comment telling us you like Our Mothership Adventures Facebook page - if you do, that is (it's not annoying, I promise). Any additional comments will be deleted before the drawing.

This contest is open to USA only.

3. Duration: A winner will be chosen on June 21st by Random.org.


Good luck to all our readers!!!


You can read our disclosure policy here.

8/365

Busted/Kiinni jäit!

Uh-oh, busted! Both Little Miss splashing all over the bathroom, and mama for secretly snapping pictures during bath time. Is anything sacred anymore??




I should have realized this wasn't going to be any regular bath time when Little Miss asked for her swim goggles.




And reached for the turkey baster. Turkey baster makes a great bath toy. It can really spray water far.




Baths sure are fun.



A fun way to wash the bathroom floor ;-)

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Niin jäi kiinni Pikkuneiti vedellä roiskimisesta kuin mama (salaa) kuvaamisesta! Kivaa oli molemmilla, ja tuli vessan lattiakin pestyä hyvin:)

In Maine And 365

To our great surprise spring had sprung to Maine while we were gone:) Apple trees are finally blossoming.




On our first night in Maine I walked to the water (really, no more ice!), and to both of our great surprise I saw a beaver, and the beaver saw me! We've seen the evidence of beavers in our waterfront, but don't often spot them in the water.




First morning in Maine...




And our first moose sighting on our way to the post office! (Of course the camera was at home.. This is the best I could do with my phone.) We also saw wild turkeys, and Mr. T spotted a porcupine.




While we were gone we had the rest of the countertops installed in the kitchen, some painting, staining and electrical work done, and the yard is being worked on. Not only is it muddy outside, the inside was coated with a fine layer of construction dust... So since we arrived, we've been hard at work. So much so that I was given the note above. To her great disappointment work continued today (and still will all week long)... Mama clearly didn't get the meaning of her little love note! (Haha!!)

I am attempting to take a photo, edit it and post it every day this year. I just started on June first. Some of them probably will show up here on the blog (like three of these), but not every one. I'm hoping to grow in photography, and also to tell a story of our year. I might make a blog for the photos, but at this point I'm posting them in SmugMug. Feel free to bookmark the link.

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Kahden päivän aikana täällä Mainessä olemme jo nähneet hirven, majavan, villikalkkunan ja piikkisian. Omenapuut kukkivat, ja ulkona on edelleen mutaista, ja sisällä pölyistä. Poissaolomme aikana oli tapahtunut niin remonttia sisällä kuin pihatöitä ulkona. Olemme saaneet olla oikein superahkeria paluun jälkeen (jee). Ja vaikka Pikkuneidin lappunen muuta toivookin, niin työt jatkuvat vielä huomennakin (ja loppuviikon, heh heh):)

The Captain Drove/Kapteeni ajoi

He drove, and drove, and drove...

And.. our trip. It's over. Sort of. For now.

We left St. Pete Friday evening, and while I fell asleep near Ocala**, the next morning I woke up in Georgia.

Saturday night we pulled into my sister's street (in Virginia) for a quick pit stop. But once the Captain stopped driving, he decided a good night's sleep was in order. So after (much needed) showers, great meals, and with clean laundry we started driving again Sunday morning.

Pretty close to midnight Sunday night I went to bed in Connecticut, and woke up in New Hampshire on Monday morning! The Captain had pulled into a state liquor store parking lot to catch a few winks, and that is where we woke up. What a way to start the week ;-)

On our last leg of the trip we stopped at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Grandpa wasn't there, but we visited with Grandma and Nanny, Aunt C, the cousins, and their visitors for a little while. We picked up our car, too, and I drove it back to our camp (with a stop at Sam's Club to pick up provisions).

** In Ocala, at a rest stop, a man knocked on my windshield. He showed us a picture of the Mothership - from two years ago!! He had admired our unusual rig at a campground, and was surprised to run into us, again. Pretty funny! So that's him in our collage above holding his phone:)

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Kapteeni aloitti ajamisen Floridassa, eikä oikeastaan lopettanut, ennen kuin pääsimme perille asti pohjoiseen. Lähdimme perjantai-illalla, ja maanantai-illalla olimme omassa pihassa. Yhden yön nukuimme siskon luona Virginiassa, muuten tuli torkuttua siellä täällä tien vieressä. Aika rankka tapa matkustaa, mutta tulosta syntyi nopeasti:)

Kollaasin yläosassa oleva mies tuli koputtamaan ikkunaan yhdellä pysäkillä. Hän näytti puhelimestaan kuvaa asuntoautostamme kahden vuoden takaa - silloin oli nähnyt meidät leirintäalueella ja ottanut kuvan. Aika hauska oli 'törmätä' uudestaan!