Forward

Ever since Christmas day I have been focused on the new year. This week so far has been full of plans and work to make things ready for 2011. We cleared out the closets that so easily become over-run and even tackled the basement in this effort to start fresh. Everything is plain, clean, and simple today.


Brian and I have some very different ideas about what daily life should be. This book-nerd girl married a tech-geek guy, and while there is sometimes a clash born out of that difference, there is one thing we agree on: Keep It Simple.


Last year I named my year presence. Brian was in school 20 hours for his last semester of college plus working 60+ hours a week and I felt a little crazy keeping everything together with house, kids and studio while he was mostly absent from daily life. The focus on presence helped me to narrow my mind to only the task at hand, instead of my brain scattering through all the tasks for the day and even week.


And did I accomplish what I set out to do? Sort of.


The thing is, I tried to do it. I tried to make it happen instead of truly making it prayerful and focused with God in the center. I tried to make it the way I wanted it instead of letting God shape it, and what a more glorious thing that would have been! Oh what I missed due to selfishness!


Has it really been 5 months since I felt like God dropped me so that I would have no choice but to let Him re-make me? I know now that it was the only way to have such a massive change of attitude. I know now that He didn't drop me, I hit that bottom on my own where I could finally admit my defeat and all I could say was

God, I cannot do this. I need you.

As I thought about a word for this year, there have been many to cross my mind. I can hardly settle on one, it seems, because no one word seems to encompass my spiritual need.


For this year, my word is Change.


If I could subtitle it for clarity I'd include: Grow, Reach, Be Willing, Abide, Pray.


And it's all a little scary. I mean, at any time God could ask me to really grow, to reach for God-sized things, to be willing to go, to stay, to do hard things... And if He really asks? How do I step forward? What is the next thing?


... and that's where I get stuck. That's why the word for this year is Change. I revert again and again to my natural state of doubt and worry, my need to know what the next step will be, what exactly might be asked of me so I can plan for it and be prepared...


And yet God doesn't always give us next steps. And I think in my case He may not for a very long time if ever because I seem to desire that information so very much. I need a re-boot, a full change in perspective, if you will, and this is the year for change.


Is it simple? Not at all. I'm a little worried about that, since it so goes against the established order around here, but this is my step forward in faith. Taking the things that are a little messy, a little complicated, a lot different, and proceeding anyway. Praying, centered on God, trusting that He guides my progress.

*****

Ann Voskamp invites us this week to define the coming year. You can visit her at A Holy Experience.

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Christmas Knits, Part 1

This year I made more of our gifts than ever before- 7 gifts in all knit over the last three months. I was so worried about not being finished in time that I started in October with the Kernel scarf, and kept going straight through.

First up on the Christmas Knits tour are the Elf Shoes [Rav link]:

Please forgive the flash photos, but Christmas came early in the morning this year- this is the first year Ezra has really understood how Christmas morning works and his usual waking time is about 6:30 a.m., so it was even earlier than that....


My boys have wide feet and since I felt like the felting process would be pretty forgiving I made them both the youth size. I was a little nervous about the sizing, but it turned out well. The boys definitely needed the extra width!

I took them yarn shopping with me for this project, but told them it was for a secret project. They did catch me working on them once or twice, but fortunately at points in the projects when they couldn't tell what they were!


These took about 4-5 hours per pair to knit and then 2 cycles through my washer to felt to the correct size. I used plastic bags wadded up inside the slippers to block them since I didn't want the boys to know what their gift was and I was surprised at how well that worked! Again, I was nervous after they were dry that they had felted just a bit too small, but they turned out perfectly.

Knitting is Dangerous

... or so my husband says. Since the incident he has made every effort to convince me to give it up.


So I was carrying things upstairs a few days ago- just a random assortment of end of the day stuff- a book, a few little green army men, a shirt, my knitting... and I tripped on the stairs.


I just happened to be using metal needles in my knitting (which I rarely use these days!) and my thigh now has a lovely hole the size of a US 5 needle 2 inches deep.


I could share a really gross photo, but I'll forgo that and just wish you all a blessed Christmas week. I had fully intended to share a few more snapshots from our Advent waiting and Christmas preparation, but I've mostly been hanging out on the couch with my leg elevated, knitting and reading with my boys, the camera put aside. We had a lovely weekend with one side of the family and this week is quiet as well as we await Christ's birth.


Praise God for:

:: The preparation I did earlier in the month. Even though not all my plans will happen I don't feel like we're missing anything.

:: That all the Christmas gifts are taken care of! Everything has been ordered and received and knitted or sewn. I was done early for the first year ever and thank goodness for that small fact!

:: That my husband was home when the needle incident happened and he kept our boys from seeing what happened, especially Ezra who is so very sensitive about injuries.

:: That I do not have to work for the next two weeks- no climbing up and down stairs to the studio while my leg heals!

:: Tetanus shots.

:: My two sweet boys who took Daddy's words to "take care of your mama" very seriously when he left for work this morning.


I'll be back soon to share our Christmas with you, and maybe sooner pending the doctor's decision tomorrow.

Advent Postcard #2

Marking the days with easy crafts,

simple ways to focus our minds on the calm of the season.

The fresh clean white is like a breath of renewal in our home.


craft links:

yarn wreath

coffee filter wreath

Advent Postcard #1

After lighting the candles each day

we watch Mary's progress,

ever closer to the stable where she will give birth

to the Christ.

Getting Ready for Christmas Daybook

Outside my window... It has been cold and gray for several days now. Maybe snow this weekend? We'll see...


I am listening to... Manheim Steamroller. It makes working around the house a more exciting venture!

I am wearing... Jeans, a long sleeve tee-shirt and cardigan, and knee socks. This type of outfit is fast becoming my "uniform" now that it's so cold.

I am thankful for...

Quiet mornings

laundry done early

an unexpected free hour to read, write, knit, whatever...

my sisters

I am thinking... about knitting. My brain is stuck on the Christmas projects yet undone, and I'm trying not to stress. I have plenty of time for what needs done, but I'm sure something will go wrong....

I am reading... Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, more Elizabeth Zimmermann, and continuing our family read-aloud of Treasure Island.


I am creating... Christmas gifts in the evening hours, lesson plans in the early morning.


Always learning... We're taking care of basics each morning in about 30 minutes then spending the rest of our time on great Christmas books, making cookies, making art, and being all around relaxed.

Around the house... I'm in "maintainance mode" until Christmas break in the studio. Once Christmas break is here though I'm finishing up the closet revamps we started on Thanksgiving break.

I am planning... for next semester. and I'm resisting the temptation to start working on first grade stuff. At least until February or so.

Towards a growing faith... Brian and I are continuing our reading in the New Testament, almost done with Matthew. My own reading has been in Colossians this week.

I am praying... for a new nephew arriving in late April/ early May.

One of my favorite things... hot chocolate. Mmmmm....

A few plans for the next week... Finishing up this semester in the music studio, marking the days with the Jesse Tree, singing together and celebrating early with extended family.

Holy Mess

It was a long day Sunday. I rose early to get to church ahead of my family, ahead of most of the congregation.  Eight of us meet early to rehearse praise music and be sure we know all the cues for the service. We sing, play, pray, and ready ourselves for worship. We work hard in rehearsal and worship God in the service, no matter what might happen. We’ve seen proven time and again that even if a weird buzz pops up on a speaker mid-song or the musicians aren’t quite together for a few bars God still uses that imperfect music to call hearts to Him.

We pray together,  the eight of us, for job interviews that might finally pay off after a year or more of unemployment, for an unsaved sister, we praise Him for the work He is doing in our church these last few months.

I try to focus on this time of worship, but my brain is jumping hoops remembering all the work waiting at home. If only all the externals would vanish when its time to worship. I whisper words begging forgiveness for my unfocused mind. Father help me be here instead of worrying about later...

And I remember that long ago it was Mary and Joseph over-full with worry- after all they were called on to go take care of taxes when the birth of Jesus was imminent!

Faithfully they headed off to be counted, awash in the scandal of pregnancy before marriage, Mary heavy with child for the journey, and traveling so long only to find no room to stay, the babe so close to birth… 

Complicated, disgraced, MESS.

And in the mess of life, in the hay and the imperfect place to bear a child our salvation is made possible.

In the faithfulness of a young girl and her husband-to-be our salvation is here.

From such humble beginnings is born the babe who will renew our hearts and minds, transforming us in His grace.

Stable, manger, HOLY.

Ann Voskamp invites us to write about Advent this week. Won't you join us?

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Math Experiments: Capacity

Welcome to our lesson on capacity! We read the book Capacity** together and gathered containers together to compare capacity. We decided to use only clear containers so that we could see the water very clearly.

First, the boys filled each container with water. Ezra used a 1 cup plastic measuring cup that we usually use in our rice sensory box, and Ender used the small pitcher we usually keep in the fridge so that they can pour their own drinks. We had a sponge and a towel on hand just in case of spills!

Ender estimated which glasses held different amounts of water from greatest to least, and we lined them up in that order.

Ender poured each container into a 4 cup measuring cup and measured each amount to see how his estimations worked out.

We learned that "tall" doesn't necessarily equal "most".

** We love this series of math books by Henry Pluckrose. Our library has most of them and they've been a really fun way to introduce new concepts.

{This Moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, visit Soulemama to leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

 

 

Australia Unit

We spent this month learning about Australia.

Our focus for these continent units is not to be all encompassing, but to give Ender a little look at the people and animals that live in different places. We are not keeping to a specific schedule, but generally we read a little each day, Ender gives an informal narration and about once a week I write down his narration and he illustrates his work. We did use a few components from some lapbooks available on Homeschool Share, but we used them as crafts or notebook pages instead of creating an actual lapbook.

These books were selected for my kindergartener, though this unit could be used with older or younger kids by adjusting the amount of written work. My 3-year-old tagged along during the reading and on a few coloring pages, but of course none of the written work. We did not use lapbook components that included an inappropriate amount of writing for my son's age unless we could adapt them in a way that he could write something shorter, but by including all of those components this could work for a student through 3rd or 4th grade.


Books:


Australia
Great Barrier Reef
Australia in Colors
The Pumpkin Runner
Wombat Walkabout
Dingoes at Dinnertime
Katy No-Pocket (Sandpiper)
Aboriginal Designs


These two links are to DVDs that we really enjoyed, found at our local library:

Families of Australia
Marsupials


Other Resources:

Australia activities and lapbook
The Pumpkin Runner activities and lapbook
Marsupials lapbook


Activities:

 World Map Outline (we used the robinson projection with no labels for this project)

1. For the first activity we found Australia on the map. Ender traced around Australia with a marker and we talked about how far away Australia is from our home.

2. For our second activity we found Australia on the map again and discussed the types of habitats that can be found there. I had Ender guess what types of animals live in Australia based on the habitats, and then we talked about the animals that actually live there.

3. We used the book Aboriginal Designs as a starting point for some interesting artwork.


Other Continent Work:

Continents and Oceans

Asia

Waiting for the Manger

As we brought boxes out of storage last weekend in preparation for Advent, we gave the "big job" (the tree) to Ender and Daddy. It was Ezra who came alongside me to open the most carefully wrapped pieces. 

"Who is this?" he asks, holding the pregnant figure carefully.

"Mary. She has a long way to go. Do you see her belly? There is a baby in there."

His face lights up. "That's baby Jesus!"

We pull Joseph from his wrapping, followed by a few sheep and a donkey. Next a shepherd, and he listens closely to the story again.

Where were the shepherds that night? In their fields, and it was the angels who came to tell them!

"They should go in the stable now."

I explain that it isn't time yet. We have to wait.

The creche is empty, waiting for a pregnant mother tired from her travels, ready for a moment of rest. My little three-year-old looks at the pieces scattered around our living room- wise men together in one place, the farthest to travel, the shepherds in makeshift fields, Mary and Joseph traveling... and he says "That's a long wait."

That night we light the first purple candle and Ender fills his little brother in on Advent. "It's a lot of waiting, but it's exciting!" he says, and Ezra catches on.

This is expectation at its finest; the very best of endings where a babe is born to become the man who will save the world. He is the reason we sing, the reason we celebrate, the reason we give of ourselves.

At the end of the evening shepherds, wisemen and a young couple are set for their slow journey to the manger over the next month. There is a tree ready to hold Jesse Tree ornaments and a circle of candles as our reminder of the wait- one lit, the others awaiting their turn.

Every little piece is for these two boys, to show them the journey taken by a young expectant mother and her husband, a journey taken by lowly shepherds and great kings- the journey they too must take to find the manger, the Christ!

Ezra lingers downstairs, and he reaches to touch Mary.

"When does the baby get home?" he asks.

"Soon." I say. "Every day they get a little bit closer, and on Christmas we will get to see the baby."

He smiles. "I can't wait to see Him."

***

Ann Voskamp invites us to write this week about preparing for the coming of Christ.

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