Advent Table Week 3

Advent Table Week 3



Coming of the Animals



This third Sunday of Advent we add the animals from our ceramic Nativity Scene. We have used these same figures since the children were tiny. 

We celebrated the third Sunday of Advent by:

• Put the animals and Shepherd on the table
• Turn the lights down low
• Read chapters 12,13,14 & 15 from the Festival of Stones by Reg Down.  "Mice on Ice, The Gathering, The Festival of Animals Begins, and The Myth of Ellah-Jah."
• The 3rd child chooses a Christmas carol and we sing the first, second and third weeks carols together as a family.
• My daughter and I play a Christmas carol on our soprano recorders.
• My daughter plays a Christmas carol on the flute and piano.
• Light the candles on the table. We do this every night during Advent.
• Put up a star.  The children rotate nightly to do this during Advent.
• Say the Unity Prayer of Faith.  We do this every night during Advent.
• Blow out the candles and off to bed

We also hear the story of Santa Lucia and prepare for the celebration the next day.



Advent Table Week 2

Advent Table Week 2


Coming of the Plants

On the second Sunday of Advent we add plants to the table.  This year I bought some basil and carnations from the supermarket.  I snipped a baby spider plant from my big plant and collected moss for the stable.

We celebrated the Second Sunday of Advent by:

• Adding the plants
• Turning the lights down low
• Reading chapter 10 & 11 " Jeremy Mouse meets Olivia" & "The Festival of Plants" from Reg Down's book The Festival of Stones
• The 2nd child picks a Christmas carol and we last Sunday's and this Sunday's as a family
• We light the candles on the table and say the Unity Prayer of Faith as a family
• Off to bed

We will also put our shoe out for St. Nicholas and hear the story of St. Nicholas.  



Advent table week 1

Advent Table Week 1

Coming of the Stones

Each year we celebrate Advent with this stable, blue sky cloth and cream base cloth.  On the first Sunday we add the stones.  When the children were little I would put them on when they were asleep or out of the house.  Now that they are older we put the stones on together.

This year we celebrated the first week of Advent by:

• Putting on the stones
• Turning the lights down low
• Reading the chapter "The Festival of Stones" from the book "The Festival of Stones"  by Reg Down
• Youngest gets to choose this weeks Christmas Carol to sing and we sing as a family
• Light the candles on the Advent table-1 for each child
• Put up a sticky star on the blue sky cloth
• Say the Unity prayer of Fiath by Hannah More Kohaus as a family
• Children blow out their candles and off to bed

As the weeks go by we add plants, animals and finally the people.  The children look forward to the coming of Mary and Joseph



The Simple Woman's Daybook

The Simple Woman's Daybook






Outside my window...I see the frozen bird bath.



I am thinking...about taking care of myself this holiday season.



I am thankful for...my good health.



From the kitchen...warm lemon water to start the day.



I am wearing...capri’s, turtleneck, light sweater and bare feet.



I am creating...a knit horse.



I am going...to take pictures of our Advent table and post them to my blog.



I am reading...The Backyard Homestead-Madigan and Organize Now-Berry.



I am hoping...that it will snow.



I am hearing...the heater and the dog’s nails on the kitchen tile.



Around the house...we are having school.



One of my favorite things...the new color of our living room and kitchen walls-jonquil.



A few plans for the rest of the week:

• Eating more veggies.

• Going to the post office to mail off Color-a-Smile pages.

• Working on my knitting.

• Thinking about doing a 3 day fast/cleanse.

• Hanging out



Here is picture for thought I am sharing..

I miss the snow at Christmas even though I spent my childhood in California without snow.  I have become used to the four seasons and look forward to the changes.

Festival of Santa Lucia 2010

Festival of Santa Lucia

This is our second year celebrating the festival of Santa Lucia.
The night before my daughter and I get the food ready for the early breakfast celebration.

Our menu:
Namaste Foods Gluten Free Spice cake muffins
Sliced peaches and bananas
Hot Cocoa & whipped cream
Coffee

In the morning Santa Lucia gets up, dresses, puts on her wreath of light and starts the kettle for hot water.  She makes the cocoa and coffee and lets us know when she is ready for us.

The family comes to the table in their pajamas and we sing as she serves the oldest person in our family first.  Star boy follows with his wand until his food is on the table.  It is an early morning for us as a family but we are all together for breakfast.

Michaelmas Festival 2010

Michaelmas mobile

 Michaelmas 2010

Dragon Bread

Our first celebration of the school year.

We read St. George and the Dragon during circle and talked about St Michael.

We downloaded some pictures of St. Michael and angels to make a mobile to hang in our rooms.

For lunch we made Dragon bread using pumpkin seeds for the scales on the tails and chili to represent the blood. 



In the afternoon we wet on wet painted St. Michael fighting the dragon.

St. Michael facing the dragon

All in all it was a great festival.  Both my 5 and 10 year old enjoyed all the activities.

Looking forward to Martinmas!

Penny

The Simple Woman's Daybook

Outside my window...I see the goldfish swimming in the pond.

I am thinking...about going to the dentist tomorrow.

I am thankful for...how hard my husband works.

From the kitchen...we had sausage bean soup and bread for lunch.  Craving fresh veggies!

I am wearing...capris, a life is good t-shirt and a fleece vest with barefeet.

I am creating...clothespin fairy dolls and a small knit coin purse.

I am going...to walk the Canfield Trail with my kids today.

I am reading...Just Shy of Harmony-a quaker minister talks about all the characters in his small home town.

I am hoping...I can buy a new pair of roller skates for outdoor exercise.

I am hearing...the hum of the fridge and the swish of my son's foam swords.

Around the house...we are having quiet time. 

One of my favorite things...the smell of fresh herbs cut from the garden.

A few plans for the rest of the week:

• Checking the greenhouse plants.
• Putting away the snowpants and snowboots for the year.
• Working on sitting up straight all week.
• Prepping for our next block of lessons, Idaho state history, Lewis & Clark, and Native Americans.
• Going to the library.

Here is picture for thought I am sharing..

My mother used to use the peeled bark to write her own poems on.

Knitting news and fairies

Ruthy finished up her knitted recorder case and is starting a coaster.  We did our projects backwards...large to small.  She is learning the purl stitch with the coaster and plans on making 4 of them for her Grandma.

We are using the Little Acorn Learning guide for the month of March which has this weeks theme as fairies.  We made fairy bread on Monday, watched Thumbelina on Tuesday and made clothespin fairies today.  Tomorrow we will make homes for our fairies and then sew fairy pouches on Friday.  I was not sure if my 5 year old son would be interested in fairies but it turns out that there are several manly fairies in the Thumbelina and Tinkerbell stories.  Teddy's fairy has a sword like Cornelius in Thumbelina.  Handy for taking care of the bad guys!

Cornelius and the Feisty Fairy Fiona.  Fiona is the main character in the Little Acorn Learning guide story "The Feisty Fairy"  who steals the singing gem.

Terrence and Thumbelina resting from a big morning of flying around and saving fairies.  Thumbelina is really debating if she wants to marry Cornelius or Terrence.  Cornelius is a bit brash, always swinging his sword around and trying to stab people.  Terrence is quite the dapper dresser and is much kinder.  I think Thumbelina will probably choose Terrence, but it is still early in the day.

A Simple Woman's Daybook

I love this idea of a short journal with a picture.  I am going to make an effort to do this weekly but you know how life is.  Here is the link to join:  A Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY
February 25, 2010


Outside my window...the sun is shining and the greenhouse has moisture on the inside.

I am thinking...about keeping a true lenten.

I am thankful for...the ability to homeschool my children.

From the kitchen...I am sipping a banana strawberry protein powder drink.

I am wearing...my bathrobe.

I am creating...balloon race cars with my children.

I am going...out for a walk around the block.

I am reading...A Journey North by Adrienne Hall...one womans thru hike of the Appalacian Trail with future husband.

I am hoping...I can finish all the laundry today.

I am hearing...Cat Stevens singing.

Around the house...we are doing the big Spring cleaning.

Here is picture for thought I am sharing...

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Ruthy working on her Outdoor Cooking Junior badge for Girl Scouts.
 
 
http://thesimplewomansdaybook.blogspot.com

McNary Wildlife Refuge-Bird Count

We spent Saturday the 13th at the McNary National Wildlife Refuge for the Great American Bird Count.  The Refuge is just in Burbank, Washington just east of the Richland/Pasco. 

There were a few activities in the Environmental Education Center for kids. 
Teddy made a bird feeder from an old milk jug and got a coloring book.

Docents and volunteers were banding and counting song birds for the count.  They had a net set up about the size of a volleyball net to catch the birds.  After the birds were banded, weighed and logged in they were released.  Both Jose and Ruthy got to release white crowned sparrows. 

That day the Refuge had about a zillion Canadian Geese on the water.
We also saw mallards, coots, canvas backs, northern shovelers, gulls and tundra swans.  On the shore in the reeds we saw red-winged blackbirds, white- crowned sparrows and heard lots of others that we could not identify.

The weather was beautiful and we had a great time.

Norse Myths 4th grade Waldorf Homeschool

We are in the middle of our first 4 week block about the Norse Myths.  We are using "D'Aulaires' Book of Norse Myths"  and making a main lesson book.  There will be 2-4 week blocks of Norse Myths this year to finish off the book.  At first I thought they would be too violent and gruesome for my fru fru 10 year old daughter, but she loves them.  It is possibly her most favorite subject so far. 

Each day I read the story and then ask her to tell me everything she remembers about the story.  Then we discuss it and talk about ideas for a picture in her main lesson book.  Below are a couple of photos from her book.  This is her first year of Waldorf main lesson book and form drawing.

Candlemas/Groundhog festival 2010

Yesterday we rolled beeswax candles for Candlemas and will make clay holders tomorrow.  We read about the history of candlemass and how candles were the only light most people had during the "olden" days.
The Apple Crepes finally happened for dinner last night and were delicious!

We checked the website for the groundhog weather report and made cute paper groundhog door hangers. For circle time we read "Gretchen Groundhog It's Your Day!" and "Andrew McGroundhog and His Shady Shadow." 

Knitting Recorder Case Waldorf Homeschool

We are currently doing a mix of Waldorf homeschool and Charlotte Mason. Knitting usually happens in the earlier grades at a traditional Waldorf school but my daughter was not ready to learn to knit until this year.  Here is her first project..a recorder case...she has been working 5 rows a school day for about a month.  She is a little more than halfway through and has moved up to 7 rows  a school day this month. 

St. Brigids Feast Day 2009

Today we celebrated the feast day of Saint Bridgid of Ireland as a preparation for Candlemas tomorrow.  We read the story "St. Bridget and the King's Wolf" and each of us made a Brigid's Cross out of pipe cleaners.  The one in the picture is made from waxed string called "Bendaroos." Tomorrow we will make butter and Apple Crepes to celebrate.

Below is a picture of our chalkboard drawing for this week.  We will celebrate Saint Bridgid's Feast Day, Candlemas and Groundhog day with lots of fun crafts, stories and baking.  Tomorrow we will roll beeswax

candles and then make a small clay candle holder the next day.  On Thursday we will make a felt groundhog peeking out of the ground. 

New to Blogging

I need a blog man!I need it to post the great things we are doing in our homeschool and life. We are starting the Handbook of Nature Challenges and I want to share the beauty of our area as well as wildlife.  North Idaho is rich in natural treasures with four beautiful seasons....except for that record sno fall last winter.  This year we had very little snow and it is already gone.  I need to get the camera out to make this happen.  Besos!