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The years fly by!

Next week my oldest son will begin school. Thinking back to his very first day makes me realize I have nothing to worry about.

When he first begin it was me that was worried and concerned, he loved it, for him it was a smooth transition. Now I think to myself why was I so concerned? My main concern was that he would have difficulty communicating with others.

Even though we live in the country-side of Italy, at home we speak entirely English. For my son's first three years of his life we spent ever day, or almost everyday together. Mainly all Italian he would learn would be from my husbands family.

To my surprise and happiness, once he began attending school all day, he immediately began speaking Italian fluently. At this point I am now completely confident everything will go amazingly well this year!

Now when my two year old begins in a year, that may be another story!!

Take a look back at his very first day here.  

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An Italian Town Rich With.....

... Art, Beauty, History, and so much more!  Would you like to be transported  to an Italian Medieval town?  The tour may last two hours, but you will be guided to some amazing locations that are filled with history.  

Located about 140 km southeast of Bologna and about 45 km south of Rimini you will find the beautiful city of Pennabilli.  It's name derived from a comination of the names of two castles, Penna (now Roccione) and Billi (now Rupe). It is located in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna in the Province of Rimini.


Amazing facts of Pennabilli:

- Tonino Guerra was a resident of Pennabilli.
To read more about this amazing poet visit

- On the morning of June 15, 1994 His Holiness Tenzin Gyatso, the XIV Dalai Lama, visited Pennabilli.
Click here to find out more about Pennabilli and Tibet.


- On February 24, 2011 Pope Benedict XVI visited Pennabilli.  

- The area of Pennabilli is 69.6 km².  Which means if you were to have almost nineteen Pennabilli's you would have the city of Los Angeles, California.  This is an interesting fact and it is amazing to know in the city of Pennabilli, there exists FIVE museums!

Museums:

I Luoghi dell'Anima
It begins from the mind of the poet - writer Tonino Guerra, installations, almost each of them located outdoors, it is made up of seven themes:

    1.)  The Orchard of Forgotten Fruits: it preserves endangered species of local fruit-trees

    2.)  Sundial Path:  The way of sundials proposes building facades embellished with seven sundials

     3.)  The Stone Garden:  hosts seven "ceremic carpets"

    4.)  The angel with a mustache:  Moustached Angel located in the Chiesetta dei Caduti

    5.)  Sanctuary of thoughts:  embellished by oriental- garden sfor meditation and inner dialogue
Take a look at my first visit here!

    6.)   Refuge for Forsaken Madonnas:  contains a collection of sacred images once decorating the shrines placed at the crossroads of country roads in the Upper Marecchia Valley

    7.)  The Madonna of the Rectangle of Snow:  situated in the woods it is a small church allegedly built under divine direction
     
   
  Il Mondo di Tonino Guerra
The world of Tonino Guerra is the title that the poet has chosen to define the space in which  his poetic and artistic work are presented.
 
Mateureka
A space used to inspire the visitor to deepen their knowledge of mathematics. You can even take a virtural tour, visit their site!!!

Museo Diocesano
The museum was first established in 1962 by Msgr. Antonio Bergamaschi, bishop of San Marino-Montefeltro (1949 - 1966), to preserve the works of art coming from the churches of the diocese.  After several years of closure,  the museum was opened to the public on July 8, 2010.

Museo Naturalistico
The Museum and Nature Center is located in the heart of Val Marecchia and is home to many species of wildlife dioramas containing the most representative of the area.

Continue the Adventure- September 30th, 2012:

The unique characters, amazing scenery, and the history which one is exposed to is not contained in the two hour tour, it will continue in the hearts and minds of whoever is fortunate to experience it!

"Camp Estivo" Pennabilli 2012- Teatro

 Our little town is beautiful , but there is much to be desired for the toddlera, and children of our town.  In town all you find is a park, which half the time is taken over by trash, or broken pieces to whatever minor children's play items might exist.  Now as a mother for me it was a little strange that a summer camp did not exist, I grew-up with Girl Scouts and other things all around! 

Over the past year I begain researching Homeschooling.  I hold a MFA in Costume Technology, I am not in the profession of a children's educator, but I am a mother of two and I continue to learn so much!  I was nicely surpised at the amazing sources I encountered on the internet!  Feel free to stop by and visit my, "Teaching Time" Pinterest board.

In the beginning I thought of having mini-classes for my boys (the youngest is 2 and the oldest is 5 years old), then I thought, huh there is not anything for the many children that attend pre-school with my son.  So I began talking to the parents of the children which attend school with my son.

So I organized and started a Summer Camp or as I call it, "Camp Estivo."  I first began with a list of all the subjects I wanted to cover, then I made a list of all the interesting things our city contains.  Which looking clearly at my list, our town have much to offer, it is small, but it contains three museums, an amazing Cathederal, and a historical Theatre! 

Not being a mother-tongue in Italian, and noticing some of the differences in American to Italian customs has been sometimes challenging.  But I am enjoying it, and the children are enjoying it all the same!  Most sessions contain from 14- 20 children from the age of 3 to 5 1/2.  (  I had 20 children on our morning of English!)

And hours of research and learning, and months later we are now have two more sessions to go!  I thought, why had I not started posting sooner?  So for now I will begin from this session, which will take place in two days, and continue to the first session!

I am really excited about our next session!  I will be giving a tour of our theatre:

 TEATRO VITTORIA

 La nostra cittadina è bella, ma c'è molto a desiderare per il bambino, i bambini della nostra città. In città tutto ciò che trova è un parco, che è preso la metà del tempo su di spazzatura, o pezzi rotti a qualsiasi elemento giochi per bambini minori potrebbe esistere. Ora, come una madre per me è stato un po 'strano che un campo estivo non esisteva, sono cresciuto-up con Girl Scout!Nel corso dell'ultimo anno ho begain ricerca Homeschooling. Ho in possesso di un master in tecnologia Costume, io sono lontano dalla professione di educazione dei figli, ma io sono una madre di due! Sono stato piacevolmente mi sorprende alle fonti incredibili che ho incontrato su internet! Sentitevi liberi di fermarsi a visitare la mia "ore di insegnamento", pensione Pinterest.All'inizio ho pensato di avere mini-classi per i miei ragazzi (il più giovane è 2 e la più antica è di 5 anni), poi ho pensato, eh non c'è nulla per i tanti bambini che frequentano pre-scuola con mio figlio. Così ho cominciato a parlare con i genitori dei bambini che frequentano la scuola con mio figlio.Ho iniziato con un elenco di tutti gli argomenti trattati, poi ho fatto una lista di tutte le cose interessanti la nostra città contiene. Che chiaramente guardando la mia lista, la nostra città ha molto da offrire, è piccolo, ma contiene tre musei, una cattedrale di incredibile, e un teatro storico!Non essendo un madrelingua in italiano, e notando alcune delle differenze in americano doganale italiana è stato a volte difficile. Ma mi sto godendo, ei bambini stanno godendo lo stesso! La maggior parte delle sessioni contengono 14-20 bambini a partire dall'età di 3 a 5 1/2. (Ho avuto 20 figli sulla nostra mattinata di inglese!)E ore di ricerca e di apprendimento, e mesi dopo ci sono ora due sessioni in più per andare! Ho pensato, perché se non avessi iniziato a mandare prima? Quindi per ora inizierò da questa sessione, che si svolgerà in due giorni, e continuare con la prima sessione!

Sono davvero entusiasti della nostra prossima sessione! Mi darà un tour del nostro teatro:

After the tour I will present the main character or people who make each presentation in the theater possible and show some examples on my IPad ( I love my IPad, I have found many was of usining it in my sessions for presentations.  Taking into consideration the age group of my camp, visuals have worked perfect!)

A poster is then presented of a brief history of theatre, then I present five characters from the Italian Comedia dell'arte.
These are images of masks my older son assisted me in to make a sample of each character:

Dopo il tour che presenterà il personaggio principale o persone che fanno ogni presentazione in teatro possibile e mostrare alcuni esempi sul mio iPad (Amo il mio iPad, ho trovato è stato di molte di usining nelle mie sessioni per le presentazioni. Prendendo in considerazione il fascia di età del mio campo, immagini hanno lavorato perfetto!)

Un manifesto è poi presentato una breve storia del teatro, poi ho presenterà cinque personaggi della Commedia dell'arte italiana.

Si tratta di immagini di maschere di mio figlio maggiore mi ha aiutato a fare un campione di ogni personaggio:

The entire camp is free for local children, so any money spent is out of my pocket.  I have become very resourceful, from making our own glue with flour and water to as seen below:

L'intero campo è gratuito per i bambini del luogo, in modo che qualsiasi denaro speso è fuori dalla mia tasca. Sono diventato pieno di risorse, di fare propria la nostra colla di farina e acqua del sottostante:

Using paper towel rolls I have cut these mask bases to be given to each child to complete there own mask!  I provide found items I have on hand for decorating!

I am excited and looking forward to it!  

Utilizzo di tovagliolo di carta rotoli ho tagliato queste basi maschera da dare ad ogni bambino per completare lì propria maschera! Ho anche fornire articoli trovati che ho a portata di mano per la decorazione!

Sono entusiasta e non vediamo l'ora!

For the love of trees..

'la Republica- velvet.  Dicembre 2008.

Di Giovanni Ciullo.  Illustrazioni Di Durga Bai.  Bhajju Shyam E Ram Singh Urveti.'

"Alberi- 
Le nostre radici Raccontano 
Di giorno: ombra e frutti.  
Di notte: fiabe e miti."


"Trees- 
Our roots tell 
By day: shade and fruit. 
At night: tales and myths."

Moving Along

Happiness is not something ready made? It comes from your own actions. Dali Lama

You can not decide your life. But you can make the best with what you have.

Thinking of what is, of the past, and where I am now.

And do you ever realize sometimes you never acknowledge the fact that so many people always wish you well.

A Day of Celebration!

"The adorationof the Magi"-
Italian Renaissance master Andrea Mantegna.

This morning I woke up realizing I had a very long list of items which I need to do, this year I made sure I wrote my list of Resolutions! I feel as though I am already so behind on my list!

What better day to begin, focused then today. I hear myself telling my son of amost five years old that he can accomplish anything and everything he sets his mind to, he just has to make sure he pushes himself! Now I begin to listen to my own words!

This day in Italy is a huge day of celebration- The Epiphany! This is what adults know this day as, but the children here in Italy know it as the day of the Befana. On this very morning they awake all wide-eyed to stockings full of candy, if they have been good, or black coal (a black sugar candy in chunks).

Growing up in Texas, this day was know as the day of The Three Kings, or the day the Magi/Three Wise Men arrived with gifts forthe baby Jesus. As a child, my mother referred to this day as El Día de los Reyes (The Day of the Kings). This was the official day in which our Christmas tree was taken down for the the year. Older, living in Los Angeles, California I discovered a bread in which every panadería stayed up late and awoke early in the the morning to finish baking this bread. Inside the bread contained a plastic baby, whoever discovered it in there piece would have good luck for the rest of the year.

It does not matter where I am in the world on this dayit is still special!

Hope everyone has a wonderful day!!

I am off to continue working on my list!!

HAPPY 2012!!

So we are now a new year!
So many resolutions!
I have been sketching and creating! Now I am ready to begin listing my new creations in my Etsy shop, but first I would like to make room.

Beginining on
Thursday January 5, and ending on Thursday February 2nd everthing now in my shop will be on sale for 50% off!

Wow, now is the chance to purchase all those items you have been watching!!

Happy Shopping!!