Off My Game

I'm off my game. It's no secret that since the twins arrived, I've been way off my game. I can't just blame the twins. Life got bigger and fuller and busier and well, just more. My husband constantly tells me that "this too shall pass". I get a little sad because I don't want it all to pass too quickly. I don't want to wake up and realize that I missed it all hoping it would pass. It's the 5th of December and I haven't done much in the way of getting ready for Advent or Christmas. I'm going to sound like a total Grinch here, but getting all the decorations out feels like just one more thing I have to do. Of course, I don't want to Christmas to feel like a burden, but, right now, it does. 

The other night, I started reading our Christmas books to Tess and Sammy. This ritual is one of my favorite activities of the season. Sammy flipped out because I asked him to read one of the board books to Tess. He just didn't want to and well, it disrupted our book time. In my mind, reading to my children is one of the things that makes for an idyllic childhood. On the very first night we started reading, my ideal scene turned into a classic meltdown. I was more than disappointed. I felt like Advent was already a loss. Yes, you can say it. I'm very all or nothing. I tried to let go of the awful  frustration do something I struggle with. I hoped that our next reading time would be better. I tried not to dwell on the bad.

I've ranted a lot (on Facebook) about my absolute dislike of the 24/7 Christmas music radio stations beginning in early November. Somehow, the Christmas music seems less magical when it gets nearly two full months of constant air play and don't get me started about how depressing some Christmas music is. Yes, Christmas comes earlier and earlier every year.

Life move pretty fast. If you don't stop and take a look around, you could miss it. Ferris Bueller said that. There's wisdom to be found in Ferris Bueller.I expect that Advent will move quickly, but slow down? Seems impossible.

  I think about that quote a lot. So, maybe finding a way to experience deep joy even in the midst of chaos is the path to choose rather than constantly telling myself that this too shall pass.

We celebrate St. Nicholas day in my house and typically, I get each of the kids a new ornament and some chocolate coins. This year, I wanted to knit ornaments, but I didn't. It's not like I haven't been knitting because I have been knitting in every spare second of my days. I just didn't get to the ornaments. I still might try and knit them, but instead I ordered each child a Christmas/Advent/Winter themed book to add to our holiday collection. I discovered that it's really difficult to find the perfect holiday book for a 13 year-old.  I ordered The Best Christmas Pageant Ever for Luke. I remember reading it when I was about his age and enjoying it. It wasn't my first choice. I think I will dig out our copy of Letters From Father Christmas by JRR Tolkien for him as well. 

Before I started writing this post, I knew that it was going to be kind of a downer. It turns out that I'm not alone.  Christmas can be overwhelming and yet, we're supposed to be joyfully and peacefully awaiting the baby in the manger. My good friend Elizabeth has been posting all kinds of good stuff about Advent and Christmas. She's been my inspiration for years and this year, I honed in on something about gift-giving in her recent post.

Gift-giving is a whole other source of stress. I love choosing just the right gift. I spend a lot of time searching for the best gift. I love buying supplies to make just the right gift. Any excuse to buy yarn or fabric, right? I used to go with the three gift rule for each child. Since the Wise Men brought Jesus three gifts, I thought three gifts per kid seemed reasonable. I think many people use this rule of thumb for selecting gifts for their children. I usually give something that they need, something to read, and something that they want. Five children multiplied by three equals brain overload. I can't do it anymore. Our house is small and the things that go here have to be meaningful. Elizabeth mentioned selecting one gift that really speaks to the child. What a burden lifted! Even with three gifts per child, Christmas started to feel like it's all about the gifts. Gifts are great and gifts are fun and gifts can be magical, but gifts aren't everything. 

So, I'm changing some things this year and I hope that these small changes give me some peace and hopefully, the less-is-more approach will make for a more restful, peaceful, and happy Christmas. Hopefully.

I know that this rant isn't organized and well-crafted. I just let the words come and I didn't try to fix them much. 

By the way, here are the books that ordered for the kids. Board books for the twins. Fancy Nancy for Tess.    

Lighthouse Christmas for Sam. I am enchanted with lighthouses and I hope he will like it as much as I think I will. 

More Autumn Knitting

Okay, full disclosure: I made her pose with this book (the inspiration for Pip's Acorn Hat).  We are fans of Elsa Beskow's picture books around here and after seeing Jenn's little hat, I had to knit one too. It can be a little tedious with so many p3tog stitches, but it's worth it and it knit up very quickly. This particular hat is going to a friend's daughter. Poor Tess. She models so many things that she doesn't get to keep, but she knows I'll knit her her own little Acorn hat. I used Berrocco Vintage in Mocha.

                     

Tess reads Pride & Prejudice!

Yes, you read that right. My two year-old daughter is getting a head start reading Austen. Okay, I stumbled upon this delightful board book at the library this past week. It's a counting book in which she can count fancy ball gowns, marriage proposals, English villages and more. I think I'm going to have to buy Tess her own copy just because it's so darling and well, funny too. This just might be my favorite board book in a very long time!

Little Star

We read lots of Christmas picture books each year.  I love sitting down with the kids with a small stack of holiday books.  Over the past few years, I've collected some favorites that I pull out and read only during Advent and Christmas.  We've got books about Winter, The Nativity and some holiday fantasies like The Nutcracker and The Polar Express.  This Year, my oldest son checked out at least six different versions of  the famous poem, 'Twas the Night Before Christmas.  He wanted to compare all the art work of each version.  So, yes, we truly enjoy Christmas picture books around here.  In fact, I hope to collect a few more treasures this year in addition to Anthony DeStefano's Little Star. 
I sat down to read this book to my two older sons a couple of weeks ago and I've been meaing to post about it since, but life with infant twin boys has made me a little slow about reviewing Little Star. 
Little Star is delightful.  It tells The Christmas Story from the perspective of a tiny ignored star (kind of reminded me of Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer a little bit- read it and you'll see why). This humble little star is the only star who understands that the baby Jesus is a king and that he's just little. Little Star  "gets it" because he's also little.  The tiny little star wants so badly to touch the baby and warm him that he uses all of his strength to reach out with his light to the earth.  He burns brighter and brighter with love for the baby King and he ultimately burns himself out.  With so much love, Little Star sacrifices himself for the cold baby.  The star reminds us that Jesus is the light of the world and Little Star's sacrifice points us to the ultimate destiny of that tiny baby as well.  It's a keeper.  DeStefano's Little Star keeps the Christmas story fresh with some vivid artwork even if the stars look a little cartoon-ish.  This little story not only tells the story of the birth of Jesus, but reminds us that true love is sacrifice..

Merry Christmas friends!

Spring and the beautiful butterfly

In honor of 40th anniversary of the publication of The Very Hungry Caterpillar, tonight, I read it twice to Sammy. I love the way he finishes the book for me by saying, "beautiful butterfly." Happy Spring!

The 4x10 Reading Challenge

Today, we have a new president and I just realized that the first month of the new year is more than half over already. How does that happen? I said earlier that I don't usually make New Year's resolutions, but I do set goals for myself in many different areas. I've been thinking about making a quilt for Tess. I pieced a quilt for Sammy a few days after he was born, but after I finished the topper, it stayed incomplete until this year. I don't want any unfinished projects and I think one year is enough time to make a nice quilt for my baby. I bought a quilt pattern that has squares with applique cupcakes. Each square has a slightly different cupcake (very Andy Warhol, but for a child). I also have to knit another Wallaby sweater for Luke after I finish Sammy's. I'm so close to being done! I'm knitting the hood now (in-between nursing the baby). Luke wants some outrageous yarn color (he mentionend something about yellow and black yarn so that it would look like a bee)... So, we will have to make some sort of compromise on that. When I bought the cupcake quilt pattern, I also purchased a kit of fun floral prints for another quilt. The colors are very bright and lively and I can tell that I'm already looking forward to Spring even though I am determined not to dislike the snow too much this Winter. Anyway, I've been definitely thinking about my quilting and knitting plans for the year especially since I became the VP of the Colorado Chapter of Newborns in Need and I will also be loom-knitting hats for premature babies. I haven't yet set a goal number of hats yet, but in any spare time (spare time?), I will be making hats and hopefully small blankets too.

I have been also planning a winter menu. When I'm not nursing, I've been poring over my cook books trying to plan a two week menu that we can stick to over the next three months. We are determined to live a lot more frugally this year and that means way more cooking and baking. As always, I'm really looking forward to becoming a more competent cook. Plus, I really want an excuse to use our new food processor more! So, my menu is complete. Now, we just have to be disciplined enough to follow it consistently. Another part of my kitchen endeavors plan is to transform my uber-picky first-born into a discerning gourmet. Okay, that might be the unattainable goal, but I'm actually hoping to expand his tastes a little in the coming year. Just the other day, Luke told me that his worst fear is having to try new foods! Imagine that being your worst fear!

Over the past week or so, I've been trying to come up with a list for the 4x10 reading challenge that I read about Sweetness and Light even though she read it somewhere else. The goal is to read four books in each of ten subject areas. I believe that real life will get in the way, but life is always better for me when I set challenging goals. So, here's my somewhat incomplete list:

Reading Categories
I.
Children's Literature (ages 6-10)

1. A Day on Skates
2. Betsy-Tacy Somehow I missed this Betsy collection as a young girl. I did, however, read all of the Carolyn Haywood "Betsy" books.
3. In Grandma's Attic
4. The Milly-Molly-Mandy Storybook

II.
Children's Fiction (ages 10-14)

1. City of Ember
2. Swallows and Amazons
3. Twilight Seriously, what's the big deal with this series? I'm sure that this is more for the young adult reader, but I put it on this list anyway.
4. The Crystal Snowstorm

III.
Adult Fiction - Classics

1. The Lord of the Rings -How could I have not read this by now? It's probably all of those orcs.
2. The Bird in the Tree
3. The Count of Monte Cristo
4. The Scent of Water

IV.
Personal Improvement/Faith

1. Grace Cafe
2. It's So You! Fitting Fashion to Your Life

3.
4.

V.
Parenting/Family

1. The Creative Family
2. The Duggars: 20 and Counting!
3. The Surprising Power of Family Meals
4. Peaceful Parents, Peaceful Kids

VI.
Education

1. Haystack Full of Needles
2. The Politically Incorrect Guide to American and English Literature
3. Instead of Education
4. Laying Down the Rails: A Charlotte Mason Habits Handbook

VII.
Adult Fiction

1. A Reader's Delight
2. The Shack I received this book for Christmas from my father-in-law. I had never heard of it before, but then I find out it is this huge bestseller. Despite hearing that it's theologically "very different", I feel compelled to read it myself. I want to know what all the fuss is about. I'm not sure that I'd have picked this book out on my own though.
3. A Woman's Place
4. The Ten Year Nap
5. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
(one extra book just for fun!)

VIII.
World Politics

1. Three Cups of Tea

I will add more titles later. Any suggestions?

IX.
History and Biography

1. A Walk With Jane Austen
2. Jack's Life
3. Priestblock 25487: A Memoir of Dachau
4. Beatrix Potter: A Life in Nature

X.
Science/Nature
1. Longitude
2. Winter World: The Ingenuity of Animal Survival
3. A Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady
I will add some more titles later. Any suggestions? Steph the science teacher, if you're reading this, I know you have suggestions! I need three more. Maybe I should finally read Lost Moon.

I reserve the right to change, add or delete books from this list as I know there is always something else exciting to read!

First Day of School

We began our new school year this past Monday on September 8th. I had actually thought that I would start the day after Labor day, but my dad was visiting during the week and it just wasn't the right time to get going and I admit that I wasn't ready yet. We started off gently as we began the day with read alouds. Both boys sat on either side of me as we eased into a new school year. I read Toy Boat, The Snow Bears and a favorite from last Fall, Christopher's Harvest Time. Christopher's Harvest Times helps us to close the door on Summer and to welcome the Autumn. It's an absolutely enchanting read and I'm glad that Luke likes it almost as much as last year. We read more books about the changing seasons today. For Sammy, we enjoyed The Busy Little Squirrel about one little squirrel that's in a hurry to gather everything he needs to rest for the winter. The colorful pages show big beautiful pumpkins and falling oak leaves. There is a sense of urgency for the little squirrel to be prepared for the coming winter. We've had Woody, Hazel and Little Pip for a while, but haven't read it until now. It's another imaginative nature story by Elsa Beskow. Luke read It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown to Sammy.

We're also easing back into our other subjects and I'm still thinking a lot about how I want to handle this Fall semester especially with the new baby coming at the end of November. I admit that I'm not nearly as prepared as I usually am especially with all the transition coming. Luke is reviewing a lot of math skills right now and I'm trying to make our days have a gentle rhythm. Luke still enjoys eating his lunch up in his room while listening to a book on CD. Right now, he's listening to Alice in Wonderland. So far, he says it's a strange book. (I know. I tried to read Alice when I was younger). He's put a few books on CD on hold at the library and he has dedicated reading time in the afternoons. I hope that he will learn to fall in love with curling up with a good book. I noticed this past summer that he wasn't as interested in reading as usual. I hope that now that we're back to our learning schedule he'll get excited about reading again. We've checked out By the Shores of Silver Lake to listen to in the car so we can all enjoy Little House. I'm hoping to transition Luke to a more independent style of learning this year as I know that I'm going to be really busy in the next few months and we have a lot to accomplish. I want to him to grow more responsible for his own work while having me still being fully available to him.

Our classroom is mostly ready, but we haven't moved the books yet and Paul picked up a desk off of Craig's List for Luke so that he can have his own dedicated space instead of kitchen table. He just needs to sand it down and stain it to clean it up. Paul's biggest complaint last year was that there were books everywhere! The new classroom should take care of that! Well, it's a start.

St. Patrick's Day

I know that St. Patrick's Day has been moved this year due to Holy Week, but Luke and I have been reading several books about St. Patrick and this one has been his favorite. This book combines the legends of both the Loch Ness Monster and that of St. Patrick driving the snakes from Ireland. The Illustrations are just whimsical. I'm not sure he's going to want to return this one to the library.

Favorite Autumn Picture Books

This Autumn, we've enjoyed quite a collection of picture books that reflect on the wonders of the Season. I've already blogged about Christopher's Harvest Time. This might be our favorite from this Fall. We just loved the gentle and sweet illustrations. I was seriously reluctant to give it back to the library. We've also enjoyed Tasha Tudor's Pumpkin Moonshine also because of the illustrations. Like Elsa Beskow, Tasha Tudor has a talent for gentle and lovely illustrations. For the past two months, we've relied heavily on Poetry for Young People: Robert Frost for copywork. This book has the poems of Robert Frost divided up by the four seasons. So, he copied many poems from the Autumn section. This is definitely one for our bookshelf as I had to give this one back to the library as well. I think Luke really enjoyed the poems too. I recently checked out Harvest Home by Jane Yolen again. I love this book! I think I enjoyed this book more than Luke, but I was completely taken in with the beautiful pictures by Greg Shed. I could almost feel the hot sun on me as I imagined myself harvesting wheat. I looked on Amazon and it appears to be out of print. What a bummer! Also, I read the Autumn Story by Jill Barklem to the boys this week. It is part of the Brambly Hedge collection and several of these books seem to be out of print as well. The story was cute, but the pictures are very reminiscent of Beatrix Potter and I know that will appeal to a lot of you. Another book we've enjoyed is Over the River and through the Wood. This book is the famous poem written by Lydia Maria Child and this book is illustrated with woodcuts which evokes that wonderful winter outdoors-y feeling. Luke liked this because he also used this poem in copywork and then memorized it. I hear him humming and singing this song a lot! We also enjoyed Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert. This big, over-sized book is just wonderful! There are so many colorful Fall leaves in transition. It's fun to see how a single leaf can contain so much color. There are tons of maple of leaves to enjoy up close. Finally, we recently read Raccoon Moon and well, raccoons just seem to embody Autumn. This picture book has beautiful artwork and well, we needed to read about some animals we see here in our back yard!

Now, it's time to gather a collection of treasure in the form of Advent, Christmas and Winter picture books. I know there will be more favorites to add to the list!