As I read my last post and realized it has been some time in posting, I thought I'd give a quick post-Christmas and winter update.
The Christmas Village never got put up and we enjoyed lots of family time together.
Our time this Christmas truly was time spent honoring Jesus' birth. Dare I say, I'm even considering Craig's listing my village.
Our New Year began and still continues with a Sunday that is a true Sabbath rest. I don't check e-mail, or use the computer, we have been having family read aloud time and devotions, and we often will go out on a nature walk.
I've even tried to make meal time restful - the crock pot has become the Sunday appliance. I will either make a breakfast casserole that can heat up on low overnight in the crock pot or I'll have pre-made egg & cheese sandwiches that can get heated up before we leave for church. I'll often throw a meal into the crock pot before church so when we get home we have our big meal of the day around 1:30.
We've even managed on a few Sundays to get in a nap. The early evenings have been just a nice family time of either board games or reading and on a rare occasion we might pop in a family movie. The disconnect for the technology has been a delight.
Our homeschooling year is going great. As we wind down the year we are considering a few options for next year including possibly switching to a classical model of study. Whatever way we go, I know it is what God has in our plan. We are always aware that God equipped us to know our children better than any school teacher ever will and when we teach mindful of their mind, heart and soul it is a whole different perspective.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Simplified Christmas
It has been an interesting Christmas season for me this year. In years past I was always quick to get up the many decorations, enjoyed putting up my 20 building Christmas village, loved to bake cookies and breads, etc. However, this year with homeschooling, homeschool co-op, and not really having lots of visitors coming over, I decided to go as simple as possible focusing more on de-cluttering and organizing the house so that the New Year will be a little easier going.
It seemed odd to not pull out the large, 5 tiered, ornament box and go through the years of ornaments contained within. However, the joy of having a nice looking tree and it being decorated in about 18 minutes was delightful. I spent $7.25 and got a box of red balls, 3 spools of red velvet ribbon with gold and green designs on it, and a box of 2 dozen candy canes. The trade off was a free afternoon of making foam oranments that Paul then got to put on the tree and the chance to snuggle up on the sofa and watch Santa Claus is Coming to town.
I've not yet ventured to put up my Christmas Village and it may not get up this year. Instead the time will be used baking with Paul. Teaching him how to roll out dough and watch him have a field day with red & green decorations to go on top of the baked goods.
Despite my heavy desire to go back to PA for part of this Christmas season, we will be spending it here in Colorado. We've enjoyed a theatrical production of A Christmas Carol as well as a Christmas Revels concert. Both were very enjoyable and Paul really loves watching live productions. The face of the child watching his perceived reality is amazing.
Even Paul has managed to keep it simple for us this Christmas. He has only asked Santa for 3 things - all of which are easy to find in the stores and items that don't break the bank. They are already wrapped and ready to go.
The best part of this simplified year has been the time to read many family devotions on Christmas to Paul and to have my own time of reflection on our true reason for the season. The divine birth of Jesus; who had nothing more than a simple Christmas.
It seemed odd to not pull out the large, 5 tiered, ornament box and go through the years of ornaments contained within. However, the joy of having a nice looking tree and it being decorated in about 18 minutes was delightful. I spent $7.25 and got a box of red balls, 3 spools of red velvet ribbon with gold and green designs on it, and a box of 2 dozen candy canes. The trade off was a free afternoon of making foam oranments that Paul then got to put on the tree and the chance to snuggle up on the sofa and watch Santa Claus is Coming to town.
I've not yet ventured to put up my Christmas Village and it may not get up this year. Instead the time will be used baking with Paul. Teaching him how to roll out dough and watch him have a field day with red & green decorations to go on top of the baked goods.
Despite my heavy desire to go back to PA for part of this Christmas season, we will be spending it here in Colorado. We've enjoyed a theatrical production of A Christmas Carol as well as a Christmas Revels concert. Both were very enjoyable and Paul really loves watching live productions. The face of the child watching his perceived reality is amazing.
Even Paul has managed to keep it simple for us this Christmas. He has only asked Santa for 3 things - all of which are easy to find in the stores and items that don't break the bank. They are already wrapped and ready to go.
The best part of this simplified year has been the time to read many family devotions on Christmas to Paul and to have my own time of reflection on our true reason for the season. The divine birth of Jesus; who had nothing more than a simple Christmas.
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