They are having a gift shop sale and I thought it may help you get something for your Laura Ingalls Wilder collection at a sale price, while helping contribute to the financial well being of the site. Check out their flyer.

They do mail order, you can call them at: Monday-Friday, 8:30am-4:30pm at 515-278-5286.

Sarah S. Uthoff blogs at TrundleBed Tales; look for her on Twitter and YouTube and Blog Talk Radio
Laura Ingalls Wilder Legacy and Research Association, Vice-President and Membership Chair

Of course I wanted this ring the minute I saw it advertised so I called Walnut Grove to get more information. The ring is based on a drawing from a 1884 Montgomery Ward’s catalog that resembles Laura’s written descriptions. 1884 is the year Laura and Almanzo got engaged. Now we don’t know whether Manly got Laura’s ring from a catalog, he could have gone to one of the local jewelry stores in De Smet, but we do know they ordered other things from the Ward’s catalog (such as their first Christmas gift to each other, the glassware set that included the famous oval bread plate) so it’s not a stretch to assume he ordered Laura’s ring from Montgomery Wards as well, especially if he didn’t want gossip spreading all over town that he was buying a ring.

The museum is taking orders for the initial batch of rings for just a few more days, the order will be sent to the jeweler on October 3.  Since the rings take 4 weeks to make, this is probably your only chance to get the ring in time for Christmas. The museum will continue taking orders after October 3 but the jeweler needs a minimum of six orders for each production run. The initial prices ($299/10k gold, $199/sterling silver) are good through December 31, 2011.

The museum will be taking prepaid orders at Laurapalooza next year but wouldn’t you rather have your ring by then? I know I would. Luckily I have a birthday coming up in November so the timing couldn’t be better. What’s your excuse reason?

Here’s the ordering information for you one more time – go make that phone call so that you can show me your ring at Laurapalooza 2012!

“For a full year my daughter loved this Disney Princess Collection. Finally I was like, I can’t do this anymore! Now we are reading Little House on the Prairie“.

It is great to know that the Little House collection has more clout with parents than stories about Princesses!

“Images of the Past” at the

Laura Ingalls Wilder Park & Museum

Tours/Gift Shop Open:
Saturday, 9 am-5 pm (closed for parade); Sunday Noon to 4 pm

Events on Saturday, June 25th

• “Wilder 5-K” Run-$15 (includes T-shirt),
registration opens: 7:30 am (bank) run starts: 8:00 am
• Spelling Bee / Indian Bead Stringing (every _ hr. 9-10, 11:30-4:30)
at the Red School House starting 9:00 am
• Bouncy House / Children’s games 9-10:30 am
• Food Tent (closed during Parade 10:30-11:15) 9:30 am -3:00 pm
serving Brats, Chicken Sandwiches, Hot Dogs, bars, pie, drinks & more!
• “Images of the Past” Parade (236th Avenue) 10:30 am
• Founder’s Park Dedication presented by Iowa Senator Mary Jo Wilhelm 11:15 am
• Pedal Tractor Pull Contest (in front of museum) 11:30 am
Checkers Tournament (tables under the tent)
Stage Coach Rides (on 236th Ave. across from museum, $3/ea, every 15 minutes until 4 pm)
• Musical Entertainment: The Bread and Butter String Band (Big Tent)
Noon-1:00 pm and 1:30-2:30 pm
• Interactive Children’s Games Noon-2:30 pm
Pioneer Crafts and Hands on Activities (tents near shelter)
Face Painting (tent near shelter),
Horseshoe Pitching (by basketball court)
• Sarah Uthoff presentation: A Day in a One-Room School (Big Tent) 1-1:30 pm
• Pie Auction Fund Raiser: A dozen pies offered to tantalize your bidding 2:30 pm
• Little Miss Laura / Young Almanzo Winners Announced (Big Tent) 2:40 pm
• Sarah Uthoff presentation: Through the Eyes of a Child (Big Tent) 3:-3:30 pm
• Coloring Contest Winner Announced 3:30 pm

Events on Sunday, June 26th

• Ecumenical Pioneer Worship (Big Tent) Bring your lawn chair 10:00-11:00 am
• Community Pot Luck meal (shelter) 11:00 am
• Raffle drawing Noon
• Museum Tours and Gift Shop Open Noon – 4 pm
Evening events at Barney’s Bar and Grill 8 to 12 pm
Friday, June 24 Deep River Band Saturday, June 25 DJ Dewey

www.lauraingallswilder.us email: museum@lauraingallswilder.us
3603 236th Avenue, Burr Oak, IA 52101 phone: 563-735-5916

Granted, they don’t look all that much like Mother Wilder’s donuts, but hey, they’re donuts made from scratch right on the property. What’s not to love?

And we can vouch: they were scrumptious.

We understand that life happens, so please let us know if you need us to reassign your chapter.

There are so many chapters I love in Little Town on the Prairie; I couldn’t choose one even though I was offered. So I let the pages fall where they may and took this chapter, undoubtedly one of the shortest in the book. The shortness of this chapter does not take away from the realism of its subject matter. There’s a lot there that clues us, yet again, why the Little House books remain timely books, not only our children to read but, for us to reread.

There is basic 2011 reality hidden in this Little House chapter: financial needs, raising college funds, job layoffs, and the realization that the more we have, the more we want. Contentment seems to be harder to obtain nowadays than a job. That’s pretty bad.

In reading Laura’s books we are repeatedly yet calmly and joyfully reminded how to pull up our work boots and put our best foot forward. We are also reminded how to find contentment in the face of adversity. It kind of helps us to remember that people faced the same problems in the 19th century that we still face in the 21st century.

At the beginning of this chapter Laura is told that the spring rush is over and Mrs. White will no longer need her. Laura has spent that beautiful spring working indoors and has earned only nine dollars. Laura admits:

“One dollar had seemed a great deal of money only six weeks ago, but now nine dollars was not enough.”

Sound familiar?

Yeah, in my little house too.

And Laura is left feeling “cast out, and hollow inside.”

Why do we do this to ourselves? And to our families? We’ve all done it. Gotten something then wanted something more. Right?

When Laura began work, one dollar seemed like a huge amount. Six weeks later, nine dollars is insufficient.

Then Laura discovers that Pa will be out of work that summer as well. “Oh, Pa!” she begins to fret.

But Pa stops her with a pep talk. No matter how unexciting our job is or how unstimulating the work (even Laura would question sewing buttonholes), we can go home with a sense of satisfaction and at the end of the day say as Pa taught us, “You’ve done good work. It’s a good job well done.”

It was the pioneering spirit to be upbeat and undefeated. It still is!

With his pep talk, Pa delivers a “bushel basket covered with a grain sack” in which there is a “rasping of claws, and a cheeping chorus” of chickens! I especially love this part of chapter seven because I have a two-acre hobby farm of sorts on the edge of town where I care for a chicken tractor full of Rhode Island Reds and I love my chickens. Nothing says lovin’ quite like my chickens do. This chapter motivates me to try some of Ma’s crumbly bran mash, well peppered. I’m questioning the pepper. Has anyone tried that?

Pa reminds us that we cannot sit idle and ignore the tasks at hand. We still have hay to make while the sun shines and we have our little chickens to care for. On that same page, Laura reminds us of the joy of coming home and the contentment our housework, our gardens (vegetable or flower), our families, and our homes can bring us if we allow it. Ma assigns her girls different chores in caring for the baby chickens. Everyone plays a part in the raising-up of a family. Ma reminds us of orderliness which fills hollowness.

Then there is the talk between Laura and Ma that night of sending Mary off to college. With Laura’s help, this will happen sooner than expected. Laura again feels a sense of pride in the nine dollars she has earned; yet, with that pride, there comes the realization that the nine dollars is what makes the next seven years a reality.

Seven long years. “Mary would be gone. All day long, Mary would not be there.” How many parents have realized that no amount of money could ever buy back our children’s youth?

Suddenly the nine dollars becomes insignificant again and the seven years is a lifetime of hollow.

Lucky are those of us who have visited the Little Houses. They helped put our priorities into perspective. They assisted us in weathering storms. Thanks to Pa and Ma, we were shown that the most precious things in life come from within our homes and not from without.

*****

Here’s a nice lapbook template that read-along participants can do with their children or grandchildren: http://www.homeschoolshare.com/little_town_on_the_prairie.php

There are still plenty of chapters to go around! Don’t be shy. Simply read your chapter and write up a summary of sorts, include your own thoughts and feelings. Don’t worry! You will not be graded! We just want you to have fun. If you’d like to get an idea, look back to Chapter One of the read-along to The Long Winter.

We ask that you submit your chapter post to beyondlittlehouse at gmail dot com by the time the chapter ahead of yours is posted. Please include your name so that we can give you credit. We will post a new chapter every couple of days.

Any more questions? Don’t hesitate to ask in the comments below or email.

The survey will be available through May 1, 2010.

Yes, it was two years ago this past Saturday, on March 5, 2009, that Beyond Little House was launched. I’m sure all will agree that it has become THE place to gather to learn about all things Laura Ingalls Wilder related!

I have been a very enthusiastic follower from the very beginning, taking in every word “hot off the presses”. It has been a thrill for me to be a guest contributor and talk about my Laura adventures with so many others like me. Who else loves that you can come here to read and share with people who “get it”?

In the past two years, I have made friends and learned so much more than I ever knew before. And the most exciting part is that I was able to meet those friends and gather even more knowledge at LauraPalooza! That was, for me, one of life’s great highlights. All of this thanks to Beyond Little House and the group of women who pulled it all together so that we would all have one place to meet, discover and share.

Thanks, Beyond Little House! I look forward to continuing my Laura travels with you.