Symfully Sweet Saturday

Has it become apparent how fond I am of Sami over at Symmetry in Motion yet? My Blogger hyperlink button almost has her website link memorized. For how much I talk about her at home, I'm just waiting for my husband to say, "Well, why don't you just marry her then?!".

Well, it's all one big fat ploy I tell you. I've just spent the last several months buttering her up so I can win THIS little contest!


Sami is hosting her first linky party and it promises to be saaaaaa-wweeeet!

The Big Idea: Sami picks a candy each month and we, the bloggers, looking for any viable excuse to bring more candy into our homes think of something fun and creative to DO with that candy. (Check out THIS post and see what other linked up bloggers have done.)

As for me and my household...

We are in education mode around these parts. With two little ones in school and one dying (and crying) to go every time she sees her siblings putting on their backpacks, I just knew I had to take a scholarly approach to our little tootsie roll assignment. I bought my supplies (one KING-sized bag of tootsie rolls) and set about brainstorming for a few days.


I can't really remember how I came to it, only that I woke at 4 am, absolutely convinced I had the most brilliant and winning idea for our monster-sized bag of tootsie rolls. (Anyone else think they have one up on Einstein at 4 am too? Did you ever notice that by 9 am, those 4 am ideas somehow lose some of their potency?)

My Big Idea: Tootsie Rolls=Abraham Lincoln


That's right! Chewy little chunks of chocolate and Good ol' Abe! Wait for it.

First of all I showed the kids some pictures of Abraham Lincoln and explained who he was. We learned that Abe is the man who appears on one of Jeigh's favorite things: pennies!

Did you know?

...Abe's mother died when he was nine years old (she was only 34). His father remarried and, whew! no evil step-mothers here, Abe loved his step-mother even calling her "Mother".

...he only had 18 months of official classroom instruction. He was a self-educated man.

...he hated hard work and was even considered lazy by his family and friends.

...Abe was a talented wrestler.

...Abe didn't like to kill animals and refused to hunt and fish.

...Abe suffered from "melancholy" or clinical depression as we would call it these days.

...he had only one child live to adulthood. Abraham's wife, Mary, was committed to a "mental health asylum" after suffering the losses of her sons and husband.

And of course, the one thing we all remember from grade-school...Abraham Lincoln grew up in a one-room log cabin. And what do you build log cabins out of? Lincoln logs. And what yummy little candy bears an uncanny resemblance to Lincoln logs? TOOTSIE ROLLS!

After our little history lesson about one of the greatest men who lived, we set about making log cabins out of our pile of tootsie rolls.


Elle's technique: Build a log cabin in her tummy. At least that's where all her "Lincoln logs" went.


Jeigh had a more abstract vision for her log cabin. Although I doubt it would be very useful in keeping out rain and attacking Indians, it sure had an artistic feel. Maybe it would look nice on the hearth of the fireplace of someone else's cabin.




I was totally impressed with Dee's engineering mind. He immediately set about building a stable structure with support and symmetry (extra points, Sami?). As you can see by his expression, he was pretty darn proud too. And he was the one to stick with me the longest on our project. The girls wandered off about as quickly as they got their fill of sugar for the week.


Here's the beginning of our official little house on the prairie.


And here's the {almost} finished result, Pre-Abe Lincoln residence. Dee and Jeigh helped me figure out to make the roof. Couldn't have done it without them.


And never one to leave well-enough alone...A little Abe Lincoln to live in the little log cabin. I thought the penny added a nice touch. Maybe he could use it to buy a door so he can actually get in his house. (Oops!)

We were pretty proud of our afternoon logging skills. The kids so much so that they gave free house tours to all the neighbor kids for the rest of the day.

At the end of the day, when Joe got home from work and found what we had been up to, I lined up the children, prepared to amaze him with the sweet rewards of my home-school efforts. I told the kids, "Go ahead and tell Daddy who we learned about today!".

... ... ... {blank stares}

The lasting impression: Tootsie rolls make good houses.

Oh well.

Maybe I at least have a chance of winning Sami's linky party with my original and one-of-a-kind idea...

Wait a second!! Rats! Looks like great minds think alike.

Well, it was a fun afternoon spent with my kids anyway. Thanks for the inspiration Sami! And for hosting the "symfully" fun linky party!

And I promise I'm not just saying that to convince you to pick me. But if it helps...