Sweeping Out The Year

Tonight at midnight we will be sweeping the old year out the back door. One of us (Papa)will sneak around to the front door ringing the doorbell welcoming  2010 in.

Happy New Year !!!!!!!

Anyway

 

Mother Teresa’s Anyway Poem

People are often unreasonable, illogical and self-centered;
Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;
Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.

What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;
Build anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;
Give the world the best you’ve got anyway.

You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and your God;
It was never between you and them anyway

The original version of this poem was written by Kent M. Keith.

If Ever Thy Soul Is Weak

“If ever thy soul is weak, if ever thou believest that the goals of earth-existence are beyond thy reach, think of man’s divine origin and become aware of those forces within thee which are also the forces of supreme Love. Become inwardly conscious of the forces which give thee confidence and certainty in all thy works, through all thy life, now and in all ages of time to come.”   Rudolf Steiner

http://wn.rsarchive.org/Lectures/Dates/19111226p01.html

12 Holy Nights

These next few days represent the 12 holy nights starting December 26 until the feast of kings January 6. It has been said that during these nights the spiritual world is closer to the physical world than any other time of year. This is a great opportunity to really take the time and focus on our inner work. To dive deep into a study with a group or by ourself. I love how Marsha Johnson from Waldorf Home Educators explains it. “To take the time to really meditate on the upcoming year, to take into our sleep deeper questions. What is my task this year? What am I to do with myself , my energy , my contributions? Where can my hands, mind, and heart be most useful or productive? Who and What is calling me? Am I listening ?” Taking our study into our sleep life and paying close attention to the answers we might receive. Keeping a journal by your bedside writing down  your dreams these next few nights might be interesting. Papa and I have sat down these last few nights uninterrupted making a list of goals we would like to see reached in 2010. This will be our fourth year doing this and how rewarding it has been to look back at last years list and see how much we really have accomplished. What a life changing journey we have been on ,one that I do not regret for a minute. These next few nights I will be spending time diving into the gospel of Mark(I feel it really speaks to my temperament) then listening to Steiner’s lecture on the same gospel http://rudolfsteineraudio.com/gospelofmark/gospelmark.html.

Peace and light to all for this years upcoming journey.

Merry Christmas

 All the hustle and bustle that this holiday season brings , all the last-minute preparation touches, now it is time to be still and enjoy our time with loved ones. To await the arrival of the Christ child.

” Shh, shh,shh… What is that I hear?     The cry of Baby Jesus, oh so dear!”

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas. May peace, love and joy find you this holiday season.

Happy Winter Solstice

King Winter paid us a visit this morning leaving behind big powdery snow flakes. The Little’s were so excited he came on the first day of winter. They awoke to find King Winter on the nature table and as every seasonal change they found the winter stories had been placed in the story basket along with a new one. They also found Mama still in bed, so with stories in hand we snuggled up and first  read the new one. Next comes the Little’s favorite which is Winter Awake by Linda Kroll and Little Sis’s favorite I Like Winter by Lois Lenski. Then I make it into the kitchen to start breakfast but sweet Papa volunteered and made pancakes and bacon. This also marks the fourth and final week of advent.

 The fourth light of advent is the light of humankind. The light of hope that we may learn to love and understand.After clean up we made our Christmas stars and paper snowflakes. I love the color the stars give in contrast with the grey of winter. A tutorial can be found here. http://www.duofiberworks.com/journal/2009/1/5/window-star-tutorial.html

Wishing everyone a very happy and warm winter.

Family Traditions

I’m not exactly sure when or why it started but there is one tradition that has been in my family for a while.This to me is what makes holidays memorable. I don’t remember what I received that year for Christmas but I do remember my grandmother always dumping to many pretzels in the crock pot at once. I remember her always getting chocolate on her fingers which of course led her to licking it off (hum coincidence ? I think not). These memories and the many that followed are what have stuck with me on my journey and I plan to pass them down for my children to take along with them.

What about you? What family traditions do you plan to pass along?

Unschooler At Heart

I’ve always liked the word Unschooler, even though we are not. Yes I am a Waldorf groupie but there is truth in the word. I laugh while talking with other homeschooling mothers about  Christmas “breaks”. Even though our rhythm will be different these next few weeks we are never really on a break. In my opinion it’s during these” breaks” when the real learning takes place. Each day there is a new discovery waiting to be found. Miss Sky has taken it upon herself to learn cursive and is copying sentences I have written out for her. There have been new games invented.

(Picture above taken by Miss Sky)

Not to mention all the math we have used this last week baking gifts for friends and neighbors. Plays that need to be written for our Christmas eve performance. Songs being wrote with the penny whistle, and of course the discovery of a great reading spot to snuggle up in front of the fire while snowflakes quietly fall to the ground behind you unnoticed.

 Here’s to taking more breaks.

DIY Craft Kits

I love giving gifts that the recipient has to put together themself. The Little’s always find a shared gift waiting for them under the tree on Christmas. This year they will find the book A Donsy of Gnomes by Sieglinde De Francesca along with everything needed to make their own gnomes. Here is a link to some other great last-minute handmade gift ideas. http://www.kidscraftweekly.com/diycraftkits_issue.html

I have to say the wooden spoon puppets were a huge hit with The Little’s and wooden spoons are now a staple in our craft cabinet. I think we will be trying our hand at the match box car next.

 Peace

The Gift of Sun

The Little’s and I have been busy making Christmas gifts for friends, family and each other. I think this year has been my favorite so far. I quit putting pressure on myself of what I “need” to do and just have been enjoying the season of giving with my family. I love beeswax. It feels so alive whether we are modeling it or drawing with it, but especially when it is lit. Marsha Johnson from Waldorf Home Educators yahoo group wrote a magical story about The Boy Who Loved Summer. It can be found in her files section under Advent. It’s about a boy who decided to search for the warmth of summer when the season started to change. It ends with a gift of a beeswax candle from the fire fairy to remind him of the sun and it’s warmth. After I told the story to The Little’s it’s like a light went off as to what we could make this year.

As the light from each candle shines forth this upcoming season remember winter will not last forever, that the warmth of the sun will be back before we know it.

(Update) I just wanted to thank Tonya and her lovely family over at Plain and Joyful Living  for her wonderful smelling beeswax . http://plainandjoyfulliving.blogspot.com/

Warm wishes to all this winter.