Advent in our Home

Advent started with "Advent by Candlelight" hosted by the lovely ladies at St.Paul downtown. An evening for ladies only, it's an opportunity to fellowship and worship Jesus in service and song.  Each table is beautifully decorated by a hostess and dessert and small treats are served along with coffee and tea. We are reminded of the true meaning of Christmas - Christ born among us, come to earth to save mankind. 

Here's the lovely table I sat at! It was a much needed evening for me as I was already caught up in the shopping, baking, packing lists. Tis the season for list making and sure failure - either to put it on the list in the first place, forgetting to look at the list or running out of time to do what's on the list. Thankfully, I was reminded that the lists don't really matter. I forget. I admit it! I get soooo distracted! Why do I think Christmas can be bought, baked or packed? Christmas is given in grace. Christmas comes to remind me (because I get distracted) that God saved me - out of his love for me, despite me! That's the gift - unwrap that!

I have several Advent wreaths I rotate yearly depending on my mood. Here's one given and made by my friend and fellow pastor's wife Karen. It's a lovely wreath with 4 votives glued on and a plaid bow. I pop Rowe pottery with the angel cutouts (given to me by another dear friend) in the middle. We have our Advent devotion every night after supper as that's what works for us usually. We're doing a Jesse tree again from here. I like that it goes back to all the familiar Bible stories like Jonah, Noah, Rahab, etc and answers the question - what does this have to do with Christmas? But we've also done "Celebrate Jesus at Christmas", "Countdown to Christmas" and "Family Countdown to Christmas". And a friend recently mentioned to me that Thriving Family  from Focus on the Family has a free one to download on their website. Maybe we'll try it next year! 
I've been personally enjoying "Martin Luther's Christmas Book" for the second year in a row. It's a lovely read on the different aspects of the nativity with profound insight. It has enhanced my appreciation for the ordinary people God chose to involve in the sending of his son to earth. 

Of course, the children have their favourite books too! Some are "relics" from my childhood and others have been added over the years. I was reading "The Miracle of Jonathan Toomey"to Zanna yesterday and started weeping when ...... well, I won't ruin it for you. And good golly, when I read "The Fir Tree" I better have a kleenex box nearby. 
Advent seems to have been taken over by the secular as the season for getting ready for Santa coming. We try our best to stay focused on getting ready for Jesus' birthday!
On a completely unrelated note, our new IKEA store (the biggest in the country) is totally awesome and we also went to see the new Muppet movie and it's hilarious! I loved 80's robot and the 80's music played throughout the movie:)

A tour of the village

When I was growing up, my siblings and I would receive basically 3 items in our stockings on Christmas morning - a bag of M&M's, an ornament and a piece of a collection that the folks had started for each of us and added to every year. My sister had an angel collection, my brother had nutcrackers and I had the Dept 56 Snow Village.  My mother enjoyed the benefit of these collections of ours as she would use them in her yearly decorating. She was devastated enough to start her own Snow Village collection after I moved out and took my pieces with me! Each piece reflects a part of my life, a place we lived or something I was interested in. 

Have to have at least one church in a village! I'm sure it's Lutheran although it doesn't say (haha). The nativity goes next to it. 

This would be the parsonage and there we are at our arrival - The new pastor, his blond wife and baby (Will was 2 but go with me on this). 

Here we have the movie theatre playing "It's a Wonderful Life" and the all important Starbucks. I got this one in it's early days of popularity. Who'd have thought I'd have a Starbucks hot chocolate in China's  Forbidden City?!!

The flower shop is from the year I was married. I also have a hair salon my mother tweaked the sign on to say "Rachel's hair salon". 
I bought the Chinese restaurant 2 years ago on eBay for a steal and it's definitely one of my favourites! 

Here's the music studio - notice the violin playing snowman? Love it! 

This is the limited edition year 2000 house which was the year we had Will. Notice the moving van pulled up to it? Story of my life moving an average of every year and a half growing up. 
I don't have a picture of Graceland but that one is for the time we lived in Memphis, TN. 
Carrying on the tradition for Will, he has a nutcracker collection.

We try and read the story of the Nutcracker every year and have even seen the ballet a few times. 
I have not started a collection for Zanna yet. I'm not sure what to do, but I have a year to figure it out. Any suggestions?

Wrapping it Up

The closer we get to Christmas, the closer we get to "wrapping it up"! We finished our artist study of Van Gogh which was a great thing for both kids to study at the same time. With their age difference, there aren't many subjects we can do this with. I found the free curriculum here. 

We really enjoyed it and they both did their own version of "Sunflowers" and "the olive trees".

We also discovered the knitting loom. For the needle challenged, this makes a great craft for all of us! After Will made his hat, Zanna wanted in on the action and made one for himself. I made one (although I look stupid in a hat) and we just finished one for Grandpa! We're limited to hats at this point but I do hope we can branch out to some scarves.

They each had one last cooking class for the year. Zanna learned the difference between fruits and vegetables and we even took a little tour of the produce department. They they made some fruit kabobs and a vegetable salad. Will's class made a pizza wreath, "holiday sticks (fruit), and a tree cake. Very cute!

I took Zanna to the ballet for "A Little Princess" and last week the whole family went to see the musical "Oliver" at the NAC. In view of our fast approaching trip to the UK, these fit right in! We've been singing the songs from Oliver ever since and Will thanked God that night "for food, glorious food". 


Will finished up SHEP and his study of the Canadian fur trade and the Weather. He had projects for each and a test in each. We're very proud of how well he did! 


We celebrated American Thanksgiving pretty low key. Started the day watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade followed by our tradition of "The Muppet Christmas Carol".  Turkey late lunch while the Packer game played in the background and dessert spent at a friend's home who is also in a "mixed marriage" (Canadian/American) while their adorable kids ran around in pilgrim costumes! 


Hanging out with my "church ladies" at the Christmas wreath making workshop was a blast!

These great gals made the wreaths now hanging on the church doors. They're gorgeous!! (the wreaths and the ladies)

We gorged ourselves at lunch beforehand at 5 Guys Burger and Fries with too much burger and fries! Then off we went to be creative!

Not too shabby! Can't wait to do it again next year:)

It beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

As I write this, the snow is falling on ground that up until this point remained snowless. My snow village was put up last night with it's lights twinkling. A chicken carcass simmers on the stove for homemade chicken noodle soup for our lunch. And my wreath is on the door - a product of a church women's outing last weekend to a local tree farm.

I went with square this year instead of the usual round. I opted for dried hydrangea as opposed to a traditional bow. And I threw in a cute sparkly bird for good measure!

I heart Pinterest

A good friend of mine (who shall remain nameless, Lisa) reminded me of another thing I don't do - Facebook! I have not tackled that social media giant as of yet nor do I Tweet. I do, however love, love, love Pinterest!!! I've started fairly recently so I don't have a whole lot yet going on but you can check out the items I've "pinned" here. It's great for when I'm roaming around the internet and finding great ideas be it seasonal, holidays, crafts, education, recipes, whatever. When I've found the great idea I pin it on my board and I won't loose it. I can also look at what others have pinned and repin them on my board, get inspiration, etc. Who needs magazines anymore - I can get all of the ideas, no advertisements and nothing to throw into recycling! So if you're a Pinterest pinner, let me know and we can "follow" each other!

Reality Check

I think reading blogs can be a great place to get ideas, encouragement, inspiration and share tips. They have the potential to promote a sense of online community amongst like minded people. They can also be a place that makes us feel guilty about all the things we're not doing, places we'll never visit, ideas we should have come up with ourselves, projects we'll never follow through with ..... anyone with me on this? 


It's easy to post the good stuff. If I only write when I'm in a good mood on a good day, that's what I'll write about. I have yet to reveal the truth behind the havoc of Canadian Thanksgiving 2010 that found me weeping in the backyard as our guests arrived. I'm still scarred by the memories myself - I'll share the details someday:) Blogging can be like the annual Christmas letter - makes me think of the Everyone loves Raymond  episode when they sat around reading the Christmas letters and made fun of all the bragging and seemingly perfect lives of their relatives they knew were overinflated. So in an effort to "keep it real", here's my reality check. 

Sort of embarrassed by this picture - this is an actual action shot. I don't recall who took it, what was going on at the time, details, etc. I only know that the look on my face is not patience. Clearly, we're disagreeing and I am frustrated. It happens - EVERY DAY! 


I don't iron - we are frequently wrinkled. Don't look too close.
I don't sew
I don't knit with needles - last time I tried, I took up a bad habit of swearing and throwing knitting needles, narrowing missing my husband. 
I don't do things perfectly. Nothing would ever get done. I recently pulled out my kitchen appliances after 5 years and cleaned behind them. Looks great  now - it'll have to do for another 5 years. 
I don't keep up with scrapbooking anymore - I'm 2 years behind on my Christmas album and it'll be 3 years behind next month. 
I don't do anything after 8pm. I have no energy left. No will. No short term or long term memory. I can barely hold a conversation.
I don't handle lack of sleep or hunger well. It's really bad. My blood sugar plummets and I can't think straight. Wayne wonders who he married. My kids know to offer me a snack.
I don't make sure my kids can speak French and neither of them can ice skate proficiently. This is a BIG deal in Canada, specifically where we live. 
I don't enjoy playing with my kids. Doesn't that sound awful?!! I'm not a game board player, I don't like kid's crafts, I don't play with matchbox cars. I don't play sports.  I have been known to do up some doll's hair and rearrange the doll house furniture, but my intentions are not play. 
I don't grow things - plants are a struggle for me to keep alive. All indoor plants are fake. I hose off the dust every other year. I killed a cactus in high school. Will had a cactus once I was threatened by (Wayne had bought it for him) and in a fit of anger one day I threw it into the street. bad scene  BTW - if you're at our church you may notice a cactus in the church office. This is because my family doesn't dare have it in our house. 
I don't drive a stick shift. This angers me even to think about because I've tried. It makes me feel stupid, especially when my husband bought a car 9 years ago that reminds me every day that I can't drive it. 
I don't do "normal" (whatever normal is) pastor's wife things like teach Sunday school and play the organ. 
Well, I could go on but my reality check is starting to depress me. I think I'll go read some of the Christmas letters we've sent out in the past to remind myself how great our life is (haha).
The real reality is that I can do nothing - by myself. I should be reading God's Word instead of my Christmas letters. The Holy Spirit builds me up daily through his means of grace (the gospel in Word and sacrament), grants me patience, gives me strength and  forgives me when (not if) I fail. He made each of us uniquely  different with varying strengths and weaknesses, likes and dislikes and opportunities. I try to remind myself of this when I'm feeling guilty about not allowing frogs in the house to observe their life cycle, covering my table with a map so while we're eating we can discuss current events, volunteering as a family in a foreign country or baking all my bread from scratch - all wonderful ideas that some wonderful women I personally know do in their lives. I don't, I just do some other things. Guilt can eat away at us and fill our lives with regret. It's not about what we do or don't do or what someone else has or hasn't done, but do it all to the glory of God! 

Quebec City

Wayne and I were able to squeak away for two nights to Quebec City. My Dad and Mom suggested it, having been there a month earlier on their Harley ride. They spoiled watched the kids and we took off!


We had heard nothing but good about Quebec City (as opposed to our personal experience in Montreal which was not so good). But a couple days alone without kids? We'd go practically anywhere! (Not that we don't love our kids:)

We ate well. I think it's impossible to not eat well there! We also took a tour of the city with a tour guide and a small group.  QC is the only North American city with walls still surrounding it. It's the oldest city in Canada. The history is amazing! And the people were extremely friendly, even to us English speaking peasants. 

The fall colors were lovely - it was a great time to go. We walked a lot and our shins were killing us from all the hills - we felt old as we complained about our shins and swapped pain killers. Ha!

We enjoyed the 5 hour or so car ride - listening to a book on the iPhone and having a grown up conversation! And the kids had a great time with their grandparents here at home. 

What can happen when the TV is off

Almost two weeks ago, Will made some poor choices that resulted in a loss of all screen time for a week - this includes TV, Wii and computer. A few days into the punishment, he made a few more poor choices that extended the punishment by a week. With the exception of the recent Packers/Vikings game which happened because we had guests over and I wasn't paying attention, there has been no screen time. 
I've heard of families that have made the bold choice not to have these "screen items" in their home at all. I must admit I admire people that have said no to cable or satellite, TV or just limited their viewing in some way. I held off on the video game system as long as possible and even then there are strict rules attached. But I admit it - I don't have the guts. I'm chicken. I'm a little selfish thinking what would I do without American Idol? What about Treehouse, PBS or TVO Kids? 
Well, this punishment of Will's gave a little glimpse into what happens when our kids don't have the TV to zone off on and what I as a parent do when the kids don't have the TV as a default babysitter. 
They read. Will is three quarters way through Lord of the Rings. That's a BIG book! Also, I read to the kids more. And check out his other accomplishment!

He knitted a toque. He made it himself. While listening to books on CD. 


Unfortunately, he had the flu one day during his no screen time. Usually being sick means he can have the little TV/VCR in his room and watch movies all day. Not this time. Zanna to the rescue!

She read to him! Now granted, she didn't actually read the words but rather her own interpretation. Looking out for her brother!
And while Zanna wasn't banned from TV, I made some extra time for her and we made a homemade apple pie based on the book we've been reading.

It was delicious! Good job, Zanna:)
The punishment is over this Friday. So this weekend the Wii privileges resume, the TV is back on (limited time per kid) and my babysitter is back. But it wasn't as bad as I thought it maybe would be. It was wonderful!

Autumn - Again

This morning I was teaching Zanna about the seasons. We were discussing what we like best about each season - the moments and events we looked forward to. It's so predictable, isn't it? It's Autumn and soon it will be Winter followed by Spring and most assuredly, Summer! There is some comfort in the monotony of it all. At least we know what to expect. We know when to bring the kiddie pool out, the rakes, the bikes, the snow blower. We know when to put away the turtlenecks, cozy duvet comforters, the Christmas tree! 


During Fall we look forward to apple picking at an area orchard, our weekly trip to the local Farmers' Market, a hayride in the pumpkin patch. When we see these things as just predictable, that's when the gift of it is lost.  I recall the thoughts of G.K. Chesterton in his book Orthodoxy :


Because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged.  They always say, "Do it again"; and the grown - up person does it again until he is nearly dead.  For grown - up people are not strong enough to exult in monotony.  But perhaps God is strong enough to exult in monotony.  It is possible that God says every morning, "Do it again" to the sun; and every evening, "Do it again" to the moon.  It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike; it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never got tired of making them.  It may be that He has the eternal appetite of infancy; for we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is younger than we.  The repetition in Nature may not be a mere recurrence; it may be a theatrical ENCORE. Heaven may ENCORE the bird who laid an egg.

I love the idea of the "theatrical encore" in heaven! That's certainly what the children and I did in our backyard when we discovered our mama bird's eggs - we danced around, hooted and hollered!! Don't we see things worthy of a theatrical encore all around us?!! 


How about the apple tree that looks positively dead and cold in the winter, only to show signs of new life in the spring. Little buds followed by sweet apple blossoms that ... gasp... turn into fruit we can eat? Bravo!!!!

I make an effort to bring this into our home as a centerpiece - may we never get tired of seeing what's before us and loose the miracle.

Our favorite regular outing right now is the weekly trip to the Farmers' Market. To buy our produce right from the growers themselves and enjoy the fresh flavors of the garden - do we just expect that the fertile soil will yield a mouth watering harvest? 

Bravo!!! Encore!!! Happy dance!!! Thank God that he never tires of making them! 

A Canadian Hawaiian Luau

Here is the first meal we've enjoyed as we eat our way across the Eastern Hemisphere! First stop - Hawaii (the Pacific Islands). With the help of some dollar store leis and a plastic grass skirt Zanna came home with after attending a friend's birthday party luau, we were ready to celebrate! 
We enjoyed Kalua pork and rice, roasted sweet potatoes and pineapple with ice cream for dessert.

Complete with some Hawaiian mood music playing in the background thanks to the local library, we had a party rocking!!




The volcano eruption ended up being a bust. We were disappointed - anyone know how to make a volcano? 


 Now that we were all in the mood, everyone voted for a viewing of the Brady Bunch 3 episode special of when they went to Hawaii. I mean, how long does it take to figure out that it's NOT a good luck charm?!!!

Zanna's week in France

France - sounds good, huh? We may not have actually been to France this week but we traveled in our imaginations! 


Zanna's book for the week was Madeline. Don't you love her little toilet paper roll Madeline in the picture?! She made a lapbook through the week and we assembled the pieces the last day. We used the free lapbook templates from Homeschool Share. 


Will's off to the Pacific Islands but the pictures will have to wait for the volcanic eruption and Hawaiian luau. To be continued!! 

The 1st Week of School

Yep, this is what I have to work with. Scary, huh? Actually, he's in good humor here. I can't say that it lasted for the whole week.

I'd like my readers to imagine a home environment where Mama is surrounded by her two adoring children, eager to hear what wisdom their mama has to instill on their growing minds and innocent hearts. We wake in anticipation every day expectant to the waiting mysteries of life that will be revealed to us that day. Math unfolds as a symphony of numbers reflecting a supreme God of order. We wonder. We are awed. Work is done with joyful hearts knowing that it's for our good and glory to the Lord. 

Now for the reality, my friends. We are imperfect parents with imperfect kids who struggle every day. While my dream is reminiscent of that family above, our days are battles. We fight over what Me wants over that what God wants. I complain over dishes, messy floors, mounds of laundry, having to clean the house, etc. Kids complain over what's for dinner, math assignments, having to clean their rooms, brushing their teeth. Our battles are within ourselves - with ourselves. Me over God.  And this is education. Yes, we do math, reading, writing, history, science - but the stuff that matters? Character, attitude, compassion, thoughtfulness, diligence, hard work, glorifying God in ALL circumstances is what we are trying to teach our children and learn for ourselves. What a privilege. What a daunting task. 

And so it's not just my kids who are "back in school" but me as well. Daily I must keep my head in the Word. I can't do this on my own but He promises to help. I need all the help I can get! As my children's teacher, I MUST sit at the feet of THE TEACHER and learn from the only source worth learning from. 

Ready.... Set..... Stay Home!!!!

It's finally done! Rearranging and adding a few things, putting other items in storage for when needed again our schoolroom is finally complete! This is probably the neatest it will ever look - ha!


While our educating does not only take place here, it is a room to keep all the books we need to have easy access to, wall space set aside for learning posters, white boards, etc and yes - desks to do desk work stuff like math, writing, coloring, etc. 

I'm excited about Zanna's little corner with her "new" desk! Next to it are her workboxes. While not the textbook way to implement, I've modified it to fit our needs. I think this will be a way to keep her day going as she works her way through each drawer - some with my help and others on her own. Some days she may find a snack in one, a worksheet to fill out in another, and my iPhone for a fun educational game in yet another! 

I put together her calendar taken mostly from resources found here.
She has great ideas on her blog and I have found them most useful for little ones. She makes up some of her own curriculum - some free, others at a nominal charge. I also regularly check out this blog for other ideas for young children.
I also have a laminated wall map hung low near her desk. This will be for mapping our Five in a Row books. Each day we read the same book focusing on a different subject be it art, history, geography, science, language arts, etc. I used this program with Will for kindergarten and found it to be such a gentle way of learning with children and helped to instill a love of reading, books and stories. Plus, we get to snuggle on the couch, under the covers, or on our backs up in the playstructure! 
She and I will also be making our way through "Egermeier's Bible story book".  I love her age, her thirst for learning and her curiosity! It's so much fun to go on nature walks, listen to her start to put sounds together into words, and watch her light up when she discovers something new!

Here's one of our bookshelves and our new filing cabinet from Ikea.

Of course, we need a bulletin board to post work well done and the Wii time sheet. No Wii is allowed during the week but weekend time earned by hard work, good behaviour and an effort that goes above and beyond what is expected. Slightly subjective on my end but after all - I am in charge :). 

Here are some of the books we'll be reading and studying this year (and maybe next). I am so excited to start this course of study I can barely contain myself. I've been waiting years to get to this years study of Eastern Hemisphere. I mean come on, when do you ever study the Eastern Hemisphere except maybe in college? We'll be discovering China, Japan, India, Africa, Australia - even as I write this I get all exhilarated. 

Here's the All About Spelling board. Will started this last year and got through level 3 by doing it practically every day. This helped his spelling tremendously and I can't say enough about this program. We'll continue with level 4 and I plan on using it with Zanna too as it's a good way to learn your phonograms and helps with reading. 
He'll also continue with his Institute for excellence in Writing which is another of those treasures I'm very thankful to my aunt for recommending. I was at a loss as to how to teach writing and not only is this program wonderful in every way but I've come to appreciate much of what Andrew Peduwa says and have listened to many of his downloads in regards to education. 

Other things Will is doing this year:
The Young Peacemaker
Faith Foundations
Saxon Math 7/6
Sonlight Core F

It's busy as you can see and this doesn't count the SHEP program (Science and History enrichment program) in the fall and spring, violin lessons, karate, field trips, etc. My goal is not to cram everything into a year but take it at a pace we can handle and if we stop to explore something that he finds interesting and we skip over some other stuff, that's OK. I'm so over doing everything suggested and being a slave to any curriculum or coarse of study. We make it work for us. 

Love my little window seat and magazine rack! A good place for reading, snuggling and dreaming.

Another new addition I'm excited about - our clocks! I thought it would be fun to have clocks set to the time zones of our loved ones. So we have England, Calgary, Wisconsin and Ottawa. All done for about $14 I'm pretty happy. I couldn't have done it without my man - I have the vision, he has the plan to make it happen. We're a good team!

Finally, this is Will's daily schedule we implemented last year. Previously, I was struggling with frequent outbursts, temper tantrums and overall attitude issues. Not uncommon at this age but too often that it was a concern and disruption to our day. Thinking that it had something to do with daily expectations and not being clear about what was being asked of him on any given day, I put this together (modified from here) that clearly has the subject or activity scheduled for the day and as he finishes them he takes them off (their velcroed) and puts it in the jar. This way he seeing what the expectations are and has a sense of accomplishment as he goes along. When he's done, he's done. Then he can watch a movie, go play with friends, etc. His freedom is in his hands. He feels more in charge, I think. 


So that's about it for now! I'm excited to start but not too excited that I'm not going to enjoy the last few lazy days of summer!!!!!