Preparing for Easter

We usually wait until the end of January to take down the Christmas decorations anyway, but with all that's happening in our lives, it took longer. I got Christmas put away, just in time to decorate for Easter. It was an exhausting day. But we're ready to begin our Easter readings. We use story circles and Scripture verses to read the Easter story from the Gospels throughout Lent. 

Cookie Baking and Decorating

The girls are taking a cookie decorating class at co-op. 

So they're doing a lot of cookie baking in this season. 

I've actually lost track of the number of batches they've made at this point. 

They're learning a lot, especially with all this extra practice at home. 

Here are a collection of photos from different batches. 

Did I mention they're learning a lot?

I just wish I could say they cleaned as well as they bake and decorate at this point. 

Sometimes I wipe my counters and I can still feel the candy coating left behind by all the powdered sugar wiped up but not all the way gone.  

It's a definite change for me to let them mess up my kitchen so often. 

I would not have allowed my oldest to bake (mess) this freely or frequently. 

But now that my oldest is in college and cooking for herself everyday, I have new perspective. 

I can see how essential these skills are and how short the time is. 

So I'm glad they're learning and practicing these things that will bless themselves and others for a lifetime now. 

Also, I don't mind eating some of the cookies. 

 

Foundations Review Game- Bucket Game

At our local Dollar Store, I found a number of colorful buckets that matched the colors of the CC Foundations Memory Work flashcards. 

So I purchased a yellow bucket (for science), blue (for history), turquoise (for timeline), violet (for geography), orange (for Latin), pink (for math), and multi-colored striped (for wild). 

I gathered all the CC Memory Work cards that we needed to review that week in class (the current week plus the six previous weeks.) 

I let my class line up and toss a pom-pom into the buckets one at a time. 

I gave them a memory work question that corresponded to the color of the bucket (subject) their pom-pom landed inside.

For example, if a pom-pom went in to the yellow bucket, I gave the student a Science question. 

The class usually answered as one unless the student really wanted to answer alone. 

If the pom-pom went in to the violet bucket, I gave a geography question. 

Everyone gathered around the map on the wall, but the student who tossed the pom-pom in pointed to the items on the map. 

If the students tossed the pom-pom into the multi-colored bucket, I let them choose the subject they wanted to answer a question about. 

If they missed all the buckets and the pom-pom landed on the floor, I gave them a question from English, since I didn't have a green bucket to match those cards. 

I did this until the English cards were entirely used. After that, if their pom-pom landed on the floor, I gave them a random card from any subject. 

*We got through all the memory work with this game.*

If/ when that happens, I give my class a prize at the start of the next week's class, so everyone becomes motivated to stay on task and keep the game moving. 

Classical Conversations Review Game- Simple Board Game

 

I made a simple board game to use for review in my Foundations class. 

I drew a winding path about one inch wide on an 11 by 17 sheet of paper with a sharpie. 

Next, I portioned the path into squares of equal size. 

I labeled one end of the path "Start" and the other "Finish." 

With a black pen, each block has the title of one subject "History, Timeline, Math, etc." 

I used colored pencils to fill each block with the color that corresponds to the CC Memory Work cards- Math is pink, History is light blue, Timeline is a blue-green, etc. 

Each student got a different game piece. 

(In my case, I actually made game pieces for each student out of unused Jenga pieces, acrylic paint, super glue, goggle eyes, and a Sharpie. The pieces look like the students with the same hair color and length, etc.)

If I hadn't made custom pieces for each student, I could have used a collection of various game pieces from other board games. For example, a combination of Monopoly and Sorry game pieces would work. Students just need to choose a unique piece and use it for the duration of the game.  

I pulled out all the CC memory cards for all the weeks we are reviewing (the current week plus the six previous weeks). 

We gathered around a table in our classroom to play. 

Students went in the order they stood around the table to keep the order straight. 

Students rolled one dice (or used a dice app on my phone when I forgot to bring a dice) to determine how far they went on their turns. 

If they landed on a History square, I pulled a random History memory work card. 

In my class, the entire class answers the prompt on the card together unless the student wants to try to answer the question without any help. 

We have used this game for review more than once, so I keep the game pieces for now, but I plan to give my students their look-alike game piece at the end of this year as a keepsake. 

A Terrible Season

It's a terrible season. Dwayne's dad is in hospice. The whole family took a trip to see him at his home in Florida. Even Norah was able to come from college in Tennessee. It was a mini-reunion for a few days filled with equal parts joy and sorrow, so lovely to be all together, so sad to be there for that reason. We spent some time on the beach everyday with cousins, nieces and nephews, and the great grand babies. The beauty of the ocean ministered to my sorrowful soul. As I played with my niece's babies, the same niece who was a flower girl in my wedding, and as I helped her hold their hands as they splashed in the waves, I meditated on how quickly life goes by. It was not long ago that I was a young mom with babies. Now I am a seasoned mom with lovely, older daughters, now big enough help with the great grand babies, too. I meditated on how unimportant much of what I spent much of my attention on for years was, but how important other people are, especially family. Dwayne's father was so filled with joy and hospitality during our visit even as he suffered great pain. He has always been the most generous, faithful, and disciplined man. He knows and walks with the Lord. He's our family's glory and our crown, truly. He took time to bless each grandchild and each of us before we said, "Goodbye." It was a powerful moment I'll never forget. Dwayne is still with him and his siblings and his mom. Norah's back at college. I'm home with our younger girls, remaining faithful to our routine, which feels like a sacramental blessing right now. I'm just going about everything that needs to be done slower, more deliberately, with extra thought to prayer, conscious of God, thankful for this good life as simple and mundane as it often is. I am encouraging Dwayne as often as I talk to him on the phone or via text. We're trusting in God's perfect timing for Dad's life and continuously putting our hope in Christ. He's our Resurrection and our Life. If a man believes in Him, He will live, even though he dies. Because of our faith in Jesus, His victory of death, and our victory through Him, we can have hope in the midst of this terrible season.