Lent, Holy Week, and Easter

Remember our Lent Tree?

Here it is after it is completed!  How lovely!

During Holy Week we followed our Bringing Lent to Life book, and on Palm Sunday we lit our Holy Week candle we made.  During the Triduum, we changed our table to reflect, and set aside, each individual day.  We read from the Bible, watched the Jesus Movie (a lovely cartoon that tells of the life of Jesus), Emily went to Good Friday camp while Oliver and I did an ecumenical walk, we did Stations of the Cross at home together, said family rosaries, and read through the Passion.  Lent wasn't perfect (did stay out of the drivethru and even made it to Confession), but overall I felt it ended on a holy note.

Holy Thursday:  Our table had bread and wine, which we passed around and shared.  We read about the Last Supper and Jesus' time in the garden.  Emily wanted to represent Jesus this year, and washed all our feet.

Good Friday:  table in red, crucifix present (one she made at Good Friday Camp).  We read the Passion, and did Stations of the Cross.

Holy Saturday: We waited with joyful hope and prayed and read from the bible.

Easter!  He is Risen!  Alleluia!

The different table clothes, candles, crosses, etc, were a striking visual to bring home each day's events, to all hearts, young and a little older :)

Teacher's Prayer

Saw this on a prayer card and think it is perfect!

Teacher’s Prayer

I want to teach my students how

To live this life on Earth

To face its struggles and its strife

And improve their worth.

Not just the lesson in a book

Or how the rivers flow,

But how to choose the proper path

Wherever they may go.

To understand Eternal Truth

And know the right from wrong,

And gather all the beauty of

A flower and a song.

For if I help the world to grow

In wisdom and in grace,

Then I shall feel if I have won

And I have filled my place.

And so I ask your guidance, God,

That I may do my part

For character and confidence

And happiness of heart.

What counts as homeschooling?

What counts as homeschooling?

A great article.  My favorite line: 

"We shouldn’t be teaching to the test; we should be teaching to the mind, to the heart, and to the soul.

Because that is what truly counts."

Candle-Making

I bought a couple sets of the make your own beeswax candlestick sets for our Christmas craft this year.  We worked on them over Thanksgiving weekend, but ended up loving them so much, we found a new craft to do for our families :)  As you can see, we had a lovely time doing this together.



 

 

 

 

 

Fast forward to February, and I had pretty much forgotten about the candles.  A certain 5 yr old remembered we still had almost a whole box to make, so we thought of special things that we could do.  And then we got creative.  We first thought of making Holy Week candles and an Easter candle and Emily wanted one for St. Patrick's Day.  Then I made her a special one for her birthday.  We made daddy one, and then she made me mine as I worked on Oliver's.  Then we made birthday candles for the dogs, and she wanted candles to remember her pets who have died (froggy and Sashimi our fish).  We also made one for Vader, her Uncle's cat who passed, and Sunshine, my mom's bird who flew up to heaven.  Not to be left out, we made one for my Sister's cat, Stinkerbelle.  Here she is at the end, proudly showing off our handiwork.  And they all fit so nicely wrapped up in the drawer of my baker's rack for storage.  We had so much fun doing this, especially with celebrations and rememberances in mind.  The candles burn very nicely as well.  We will definitely do this again, and next may try our hand at making our own beeswax jar candles.  Pure beeswax with a cotton wick is the cleanest candle you can burn and smells absolutely divine!  Highly recommend.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lent Tree

Here we are in the midst of Lent, and I am finally getting around to doing our Lent Tree.  This post I wrote last year on my family blog sums up the season quite nicely.  We are using the same book as last year, Bring Lent to Life, and have got our Lent tree up and running.

Here is how it looks this year, bare just like outside.  Wait until Easter to see how beautiful it becomes, similar to our own personal transformation as we work with ourselves through prayer, fasting, and almsgiving during this Lenten season.  Stay tuned for the update!

Announcement

Well, it is now Facebook and Blogger Official.  I have announced to the internets our intention to homeschool next year, for better or for worse.

Here we go!

Sign on a Local Baptist Church

Every home is a school.  What are YOU teaching?

Very true, indeed, in more ways than one.