Easter Day 2011

I love that I get to participate in all of the Holy Week services at our church as a member of the choir. Maundy Thursday, or the Last Supper; Good Friday, with its many hymns and homilies on the meaning of Christ's sacrifice; the change from darkness to light during the Easter Vigil, when the evening light glows through the stained glass, the candles are lit, and we can finally rejoice aloud, saying, "Alleluia! Christ is Risen!"; and of course, the glorious celebration of Easter morning.

It is, of course, difficult to take pictures while holding a hymnal. ;)

But no photos could truly capture the incredible majesty of our risen Lord. We'll have to settle for homely snapshots, memories of Easter traditions and adorable boys, wearing spring-colored outfits in celebration of Life.
 

 

 

Alleluia, Christ is risen!! 

The Lord is risen, indeed!!

Merry Christmas (and Happy New Year)!

I know a lot of people have already ripped down their decorations, but technically it's only the seventh day of Christmas, with five more to go... so I'm not actually late in wishing you a merry one! ;)

We've been cozying up at home all week, enjoying new toys and games and books and each other, after a lovely Christmas Eve and Day...

I caught the boys' cough and sniffles the day after Christmas, so I've done a lot of lounging, dreaming about renovating our kitchen this summer, making kindergarten plans for Littlest, and catching up with old friends on Facebook.

I think I was feeling a little manic (in my own lazy way) after the Christmas goodies I ate, and now I want to spend New Year's weekend just knitting and reading... and maybe a little reflecting on 2010. (Scott wants me to give up baking for Advent next year, but I swear we didn't eat that much sugar! And aren't these gingerbread reindeer the cutest?)


But tomorrow's a new month and a new year, so this cold needs to go out with the old!!

We'll get no help from the weather -- we woke up to frost this morning, the coldest morning of the season so far. We already traded in Christmas cookies for frozen fruit smoothies, but now it's time for hot cider and chicken noodle soup!

How are you spending the last day of the year?

Where November went

Obviously I've been lazy on the blog the last few weeks, so I'm catching up. My brain was otherwise-occupied this month, it seems. First with my Dad's birthday party, and then with the possibility that I might be pregnant. (I'm not, but it certainly gave us something to think about!)

In the meantime, life went on...

First hot chocolate of the season...

Tea and sweater knitting (I'm making Scott a pullover with the yarn Farmer's Market yarn I bought during our road trip)...

 Neighborhood walks in our beautiful November weather...

     

A Thanksgiving potluck with new homeschooling friends...

 First snow of the season (forty minutes uphill), and a play day with favorite old homeschooling friends...

And the first half of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" in the theater! We finished listening to books five and six on CD before we went, but we'll save book seven for after Christmas. In the meantime, the big boys have been reading off their own shelves...

Today we're off to the library to turn in our fall books and gather new books for Advent. I'll let you know what we find!

The Roman Legion and the Armor of the Lord

We finished reading the Narnia series a few weeks ago, and I wondered how I was going to continue that boy-inspiring literary and Bible-themed path -- or, rather, I wondered where the Spirit was going to lead us next.

Last week in our Lively Latin history, we studied the Roman legion -- how the army was organized, what the soldiers wore, etc. And it all came together...

 

We read, discussed, and began memorizing Ephesians 6:1-18, specifically the references to our spiritual armor:

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.
Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

We sang...

I may never march with the infantry,
Ride with the cavalry,
Shoot the artillery,
I may never fly o'er the enemy,
But I'm in the Lord's army,
Yes, Sir!

I'm in the Lord's army,
Yes, Sir!
I'm in the Lord's army,
Yes, Sir!

I may never march with the infantry,
Ride with the cavalry,
Shoot the artillery,
I may never fly o'er the enemy,
But I'm in the Lord's army,
Yes, Sir!

And we discussed the possibility of dressing up as Roman soldiers for Halloween... but decided against it.

This site had helpful discussion questions and more activity ideas if you're interested.

Addendum:  I forgot to mention where the inspiration for this lesson came from... We got to see Go Fish perform at a local church the weekend before last, and discovered that an updated version of "Army of the Lord" was on their newest album. The boys latched onto it, and I decided to teach them the old-fashioned version with hand movements!

Middlest turns 8

Can it really be eight years since that chubby-faced baby landed in my arms for the first time? My first home-birthed babe, the nursling content to be in a sling wherever his mama went, who put up with toddler head-bonk kisses from his "big" brother, slept quietly tucked beside me every night, whose one desire from life was to nurse and be cuddled?

Yes, it really can. Yesterday, we celebrated his birthday, starting with presents at home before I'd even had my tea. This was the year of the pocket knife. Scott gave Eldest one when he turned eight, and Middlest waited another 18 months for his. First use: opening the box of a new Bionicle set.

The weatherman had threatened 50-mph winds and rain all afternoon, but we prayed for a birthday blessing and received sunshine instead.  The weather was beautiful just long enough to spend a few hours at the park, to eat bbq hot dogs and chocolate cupcakes, play tag, and bob for apples -- the only nod to his autumn, nearly-Halloween birthdate.

No orange and black, please. He didn't want a fancy theme or costume party (although I'm open to that next year when the big day's on Saturday). It's not easy competing with Halloween party weekend, but we try to keep the focus just on our boy -- the middlest one.

It's Quidditch er, trampoline season again!

In some parts of this country, kids play outside during the summer. But where we live, summer is for leaving town, hiding out in the A/C, or making friends with someone with a pool.

Autumn, on the other hand, is trampoline season. The boys have been on ours every afternoon for the last two weeks.

And yes, they're playing Muggle Quidditch. Please don't tell my insurance broker.

Meet my boys

I've really been enjoying the Not Back to School blog hop at Heart of the Matter -- it's so fun to see how unique our homeschooling families are! I'm excited to welcome those of you who have found my blog in the last few weeks! I'd love for you to meet the three boys I am blessed to call my sons...

Eldest, age 9, fourth grade:

Our energetic, talkative firstborn, the scientist, who loves learning new things as much as he loves telling you about it. He's our champion chess player, Lego fanatic and kung fu green belt. He loves all of God's creatures, even the ones the rest of us would prefer never think about. He'll have his own classroom or Nat Geo TV show someday. But this year he's looking forward to taking cello lessons, learning more math, and studying the Ancient Romans.

Middlest, age 7, third grade:

Our secondborn is perfectly positioned between his brothers to be the team player that he is. Always available for a hug or a game of tag, he is happiest when surrounded by people who like to move as much as he does. He loves language, and is excited to study Latin and German this year. Some day he'll be a missionary, a mediator or an electric violin-wielding rock star.

Littlest, age 4:

 

Our youngest boy is the quiet one with the iron will. He'll either charm your socks off or bite your head off -- but he'll be sure to kiss it afterward! He loves dinosaurs, playing with his brothers, impressing us with his with Lego Bionicle creations, and being read to. At this point, his future is limitless!

A very full day -- at home

We've had a lot of exciting days out of the house lately, but today we had plenty of fun right here at home. I didn't think to get the camera out until after lunch, so you'll just have to trust me that the morning was productive -- the story of Ruth and Naomi, Vv is for Vikings... and violin practice, "Stink and the Incredible, Super-Galactic Jawbreaker"...

And a science experiment I'd procrastinated for weeks. (It took a whopping 2 1/2 hours, so that might explain why! More to come when the final results are in.)

After cleaning up, I retired to my bedroom, and let the boys run wild (of course)...

Even just 20 minutes of Monopoly counts as math, right?

I think the kids invented some game involving boogie boards, sprinklers, and jumping, 'cause there was sure a lot of noise coming through my bedroom window!

The daily pile of Legos...

And, Bionicle pirates?

Anyone up for waffles and 9 By Design at Nana and Papa's house?