{This and That} :: Springtime Celebrations

Happy Easter! Are you having a glorious Easter season? I felt a bit like I missed Easter Week since I was out of town for Motherwell, so I am grateful Easter is a season and not just a day or week. (And it was such a nice trip that it did feel quite festive!)

In fact, a bunch of things kind of came to a head here in our home in the last two weeks of April, while I was away from this space. Catching up on our week of celebrations here today...

~~~

The most important celebration of the week was Easter itself, of course. The days leading up to it, the Holy Triduum, are some of my favorite of the liturgical year. I took the older children to the Holy Thursday service as well as on Good Friday.

The little kids kept busy at home...You just can't make this kind of thing up! LOL

And we were all so happy when Easter morning arrived!

 ~~~

Second: we had Exam Week for Term 3 during Holy Week, closing out our school year. We finished on Holy Thursday morning, just in time to spend a prayerful Triduum. I was so happy it worked out that way!

holding their favorite books from the year!

We waited for our Exam Celebration until Easter Monday: cinnamon rolls, recitations, our usual display of work, some kind comments from Daddy...

As always, our little celebratory treat included some books and crafts for the summer ahead:

new stamped embroidery kits for the girls since they finished the others (I find these kinda tricky since the stamping is thick and a challenge to sew through, but they are a good starting point)
quilling kits for the boys (a new craft for us that I think they'll really enjoy)
a big pack of Gelly Rolls for all of their lettering
Timeless Golden Records CDs for some summertime car fun for my littles

And books relevant to the schoolwork we have done...
Brown's Daniel Boone from the Landmark series (to tie in with Year 4)
Little Golden Book's Our Flag (thinking about the Union Jack)
Gibbons' The Great St. Lawrence Seaway (to go with Paddle to the Sea!)
The White Cat retold by San Souci and Spirin (one of our favorite stories from The Blue Fairy Book)
Langstaff's Hi! Ho! The Rattlin' Bog (for summertime piano practice)
Wessels' The Golden Song Book (to replace a beat-up copy)
The Botany Coloring Book (for the line drawings to go with First Studies in Plant Life)
Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, retold by Barbara Cohen and illustrated by Trina Schart-Hyman

I will be giving a closer look at some of the year's work in my wrap-up post, coming at some point this summer! (Here is last year's.)

~~~

I also had a Good Friday birthday boy: Xavier turned nine! We waited until Easter Tuesday, his baptismal anniversary and the Feast of St. George, to celebrate.

Bearskin, illustrated by Trina Schart-Hyman
The Bearskinner, from the Brothers Grimm
Natalie Babbitt's Kneeknock Rise
Raggedy Andy Stories
an over-the-door basketball hoop
a pack of wool felt to make the sewn dagger he has been dreaming up since Christmas :)

~~~

And then on Easter Wednesday I left for Motherwell bright and early. I'll share about that event in another post.

Now I'm home and we're finished with school and I don't have another trip on the calendar until the CMEC Summer Retreat in July! Time to start school planning, house purging, book reorganization, and all of my other summertime projects...as soon as I catch up on sleep. :)

Prepping for Holy Week 2019

Hi friends! Every year at the end of Lent, I pull together my posts from the archives on the beauty that is Holy Week and Easter. Here is this year's round-up! I am going to take some quiet time away from this space until after Motherwell at the end of this month. See you in May, and wishing you a blessed Lent and a joyous Easter.

~~~

If you're wondering about how we observe the Holy Days ahead, I have all the details here: Welcoming Holy Week (from way back in 2013!). Our practice looks a bit different year to year, but this is the backbone of our celebration.

I think we'll have the chance to take the older kids to all the Triduum services this year and perhaps Easter Vigil as well. I'm excited about that possibility because those liturgies are literally the most beautiful thing this side of heaven.

~~~

One year I blogged through the liturgical work of Christina Rossetti, including her poetic meditations for the days of Holy Week.  It begins:

MONDAY IN HOLY WEEK
"The Voice of my Beloved."
Once I ached for thy dear sake:
Wilt thou cause Me now to ache?
Once I bled for thee in pain:
Wilt thou rend My Heart again?
Crown of thorns and shameful tree,
Bitter death I bore for thee,
Bore My Cross to carry thee,
And wilt thou have nought of Me?

If you'd like to read more, you can find them here.  (Just scroll down to the bottom of that search page and work your way forward through the week.) 

~~~

A couple years ago I shared a simple tutorial to make your own Easter candle: check it out here!

~~~

Last but not least, if you're still looking for some fun ideas for Easter baskets, I did a little round-up of favorite odds and ends a couple years ago. Enjoy this post {From the Archives}...

Let's chat about Easter baskets!  We don't do much candy and I really try to avoid the little odds and ends that accumulate when gifting baskety items for eight young kids.  Over the years, I have come up with more ideas than I could ever use! So I figured I'd pull together some ideas off the top of my head.  And if you order in the next couple days and have Prime shipping, it will all arrive with time to spare. ;)

:: We love our growing collection of Schleich animals!

:: I like to include replacement outdoor "toys" like sidewalk chalk and bubbles.  We got a couple nice quality jump ropes last year.  We also do gardening supplies like pots, spades, and seeds or baby plants to watch and tend.  (I have a black thumb, so whatever the kids grow is pretty much all we attempt.)  Also, new beach toys are always welcome!  We have particularly liked the Ikea shovels.

:: Nature study supplies are always a hit.  Binoculars are a bit pricey for a basket (but make a great birthday gift for middle-aged kids through adults!), but loupes are perfect.  Insect growing kits for a butterfly or praying mantis are great heading into summertime, or you could just get a habitat and do some critter collecting of your own!  (We're planning a snailery thanks to the Handbook of Nature Studyand Pets in a Jar.)  Watercolor postcards, pocket watercolors, and waterbrushes make a simple portable art kit. You could even tuck them into a little zipped pouch.

:: Handicrafts are my favorite category for Easter baskets.  We give craft kits pretty much every year: we have done kits for embroidery, sewing, paper crafts, woodburning, and more. My older boys are getting these Maker Kits that I picked up cheaply -- we'll see how well they work!  I like the look of these string art kits but haven't tried them yet. Older kids who already have developed some skills get extra supplies for the projects they love, like stacks of wool felt, more kite paper for suncatchers. peg people, roving for felting, or a new project book that's a bit above the beginner level.

:: Fun school supplies work also.  Gianna and Cate have been experimenting with lettering -- gelly rolls come in every color and can be a nice addition to schoolwork.  We go through a lot of post-its here!  I buy a multi-colored package and give one color to each child to use for bookmarks.  And have you jumped on the Frixion bandwagon yet?  Erasable pens that actually work!  We use these for almost all of our lessons.

:: Small (or travel-sized) games make fun additions and tuck into a basket nicely: Set, a miniature chess set, Uno, Skip-Bo, Spot It, Phase Ten. Quirkle, Tangoes, Dutch Blitz, Sleeping Queens.  Mad Libs and Doodle Books fall in this same category and are nice to have in the car.

:: My kids love miniature books and they are so perfect for baskets!  A few favorites:  Elsa Beskow has lovely miniature hardbacks and we enjoy Sendak's Nutshell Library.  Another option is to get a bigger set, like the Brambly Hedge collection (or even a boxed Beatrix Potter collection!) and break them up to put one in each basket or give to the same child but over a few years.

(Links are affiliate links -- happy shopping!  Thanks for your support.)

{This and That} :: Holy Week

Hi there, friends!  I hope you had a great Palm Sunday -- Lent is almost finished, and Easter is on its way.  Just popping in with some updates...

~~~

If you're wondering about how we observe Holy Week and Easter, I have all the details here: Welcoming Holy Week (from way back in 2013!). Our practice looks a bit different year to year, but this is the backbone of our celebration.

I think we'll have the chance to take the older kids to all the Triduum services this year and perhaps Easter Vigil as well. I'm excited about that possibility because those liturgies are literally the most beautiful thing this side of heaven. Praying everyone can stay well (we have been dealing with one cold after another this winter/spring) and our plans work out!

~~~

Last year I shared a simple tutorial to make your own Easter candle: check it out here!

~~~

I'm on the Schole Sisters' podcast this week talking about elevating teacher prep to schole through notebooks!  Go have a listen if you'd like to hear more about keeping, my weekly school prep session, and my pre-reading journal.

Next week I'll be sharing a mid-year peek inside my journal -- I have added and learned so much since my first post about this notebook!

~~~

We're in the midst of yet another cold -- this has been a looong winter. One of the sad parts about being sick so often is we have been cooped up inside, missing the start of wildflower season here. BUT we did get out on Friday with our group, and reveled in the blue skies and green hills. A joy!

~~~

Special news from my other online home, Instagram: our @charlottemasonirl account celebrated its one year anniversary last week!  I shared my reflection on the year, as did the other seven curators. I am so thankful for this group of mamas.

If you haven't joined in the fun yet, please do! It's a public account, so you don't have to be an Instagram user to follow along. Just add the @charlottemasonirl page to your toolbar and you can click over and check what we're up to.

I'm hosting again next week -- I think we're going to talk about GROWTH in the Mason homeschool. Just in time for spring!

~~~

Last but not least, I'm sharing something from the archives! If you're still looking for some fun ideas for Easter baskets, I did a little round-up of favorite odds and ends last year...

Let's chat about Easter baskets!  We don't do much candy and I really try to avoid the little odds and ends that accumulate when gifting baskety items for eight young kids.  Over the years, I have come up with more ideas than I could ever use! So I figured I'd pull together some ideas off the top of my head.  And if you order in the next couple days and have Prime shipping, it will all arrive with time to spare. ;)

:: We love our growing collection of Schleich animals!

:: I like to include replacement outdoor "toys" like sidewalk chalk and bubbles.  We got a couple nice quality jump ropes last year.  We also do gardening supplies like pots, spades, and seeds or baby plants to watch and tend.  (I have a black thumb, so whatever the kids grow is pretty much all we attempt.)  Also, new beach toys are always welcome!  We have particularly liked the Ikea shovels.

:: Nature study supplies are always a hit.  Binoculars are a bit pricey for a basket (but make a great birthday gift for middle-aged kids through adults!), but loupes are perfect.  Insect growing kits for a butterfly or praying mantis are great heading into summertime, or you could just get a habitat and do some critter collecting of your own!  (We're planning a snailery thanks to the Handbook of Nature Studyand Pets in a Jar.)  Watercolor postcards, pocket watercolors, and waterbrushes make a simple portable art kit. You could even tuck them into a little zipped pouch.

:: Handicrafts are my favorite category for Easter baskets.  We give craft kits pretty much every year: we have done kits for embroidery, sewing, paper crafts, woodburning, and more.  My older boys are getting these Maker Kits that I picked up cheaply -- we'll see how well they work!  I like the look of these string art kits but haven't tried them yet. Older kids who already have developed some skills get extra supplies for the projects they love, like stacks of wool felt, more kite paper for suncatchers. peg people, roving for felting, or a new project book that's a bit above the beginner level.

:: Fun school supplies work also.  Gianna and Cate have been experimenting with lettering -- gelly rolls come in every color and can be a nice addition to schoolwork.  We go through a lot of post-its here!  I buy a multi-colored package and give one color to each child to use for bookmarks.  And have you jumped on the Frixion bandwagon yet?  Erasable pens that actually work!  We use these for almost all of our lessons.

:: Small (or travel-sized) games make fun additions and tuck into a basket nicely: Set, a miniature chess set, Uno, Skip-Bo, Spot It, Phase Ten. Quirkle, Tangoes, Dutch Blitz, Sleeping Queens.  Mad Libs and Doodle Books fall in this same category and are nice to have in the car.

:: My kids love miniature books and they are so perfect for baskets!  A few favorites:  Elsa Beskow has lovely miniature hardbacks and we enjoy Sendak's Nutshell Library.  Another option is to get a bigger set, like the Brambly Hedge collection (or even a boxed Beatrix Potter collection!) and break them up to put one in each basket or give to the same child but over a few years.

(Links are affiliate links -- happy shopping!  Thanks for your support.)

~~~

That's it for now. I'll be quiet here during Holy Week and back after Easter. Wishing you a blessed time.

{This and That}

It's Holy Week!  I'm going to have a quieter online presence this week so that I can get some Spring Cleaning and spiritual prep going here before Easter arrives.  But before I do so...

Some of my Holy Week posts from past years:
Welcoming Holy Week (from way back in 2013!)
Some Spring Arts and Crafts for your Easter season
A few Easter Basket ideas (I've got more coming below!)

~~~

Also, one year I blogged through the liturgical work of Christina Rossetti, including her poetic meditations for the days of Holy Week.  Here is yesterday's:

MONDAY IN HOLY WEEK
"The Voice of my Beloved."
Once I ached for thy dear sake:
Wilt thou cause Me now to ache?
Once I bled for thee in pain:
Wilt thou rend My Heart again?
Crown of thorns and shameful tree,
Bitter death I bore for thee,
Bore My Cross to carry thee,
And wilt thou have nought of Me?

If you'd like to read more, you can find them here.  (Just scroll down to the bottom of that search page and work your way forward through the week.)  We are reading them again this year because we're covering Year 2 poetry in Morning Basket.

~~~

While we're on the topic of Easter: let's chat about Easter baskets!  We don't do much candy and I really try to avoid the little odds and ends that accumulate when gifting baskety items for eight young kids.  Over the years, I have come up with more ideas than I could ever use! So I figured I'd pull together some ideas off the top of my head.  And if you order in the next couple days and have Prime shipping, it will all arrive with time to spare. ;)

:: We love our growing collection of Schleich animals!

:: I like to include replacement outdoor "toys" like sidewalk chalk and bubbles.  We got a couple nice quality jump ropes last year.  We also do gardening supplies like pots, spades, and seeds or baby plants to watch and tend.  (I have a black thumb, so whatever the kids grow is pretty much all we attempt.)  Also, new beach toys are always welcome!  We have particularly liked the Ikea shovels.

:: Nature study supplies are always a hit.  Binoculars are a bit pricey for a basket (but make a great birthday gift for middle-aged kids through adults!), but loupes are perfect.  Insect growing kits for a butterfly or praying mantis are great heading into summertime, or you could just get a habitat and do some critter collecting of your own!  (We're planning a snailery thanks to the Handbook of Nature Study and Pets in a Jar.)  Watercolor postcards, pocket watercolors, and waterbrushes make a simple portable art kit. You could even tuck them into a little zipped pouch.

:: Handicrafts are my favorite category for Easter baskets.  We give craft kits pretty much every year: we have done kits for embroidery, sewing, paper crafts, woodburning, and more.  My older boys are getting these Maker Kits that I picked up cheaply -- we'll see how well they work!  I like the look of these string art kits but haven't tried them yet. Older kids who already have developed some skills get extra supplies for the projects they love, like stacks of wool felt, more kite paper for suncatchers. peg people, roving for felting, or a new project book that's a bit above the beginner level.

:: Fun school supplies work also.  Gianna and Cate have been experimenting with lettering -- gelly rolls come in every color and can be a nice addition to schoolwork.  We go through a lot of post-its here!  I buy a multi-colored package and give one color to each child to use for bookmarks.  And have you jumped on the Frixion bandwagon yet?  Erasable pens that actually work!  We use these for almost all of our lessons.

:: Small (or travel-sized) games make fun additions and tuck into a basket nicely: Set, a miniature chess set, Uno, Skip-Bo, Spot It, Phase Ten. Quirkle, Tangoes, Dutch Blitz, Sleeping Queens.  Mad Libs and Doodle Books fall in this same category and are nice to have in the car.

:: My kids love miniature books and they are so perfect for baskets!  A few favorites:  Elsa Beskow has lovely miniature hardbacks and we enjoy Sendak's Nutshell Library.  Another option is to get a bigger set, like the Brambly Hedge collection (or even a boxed Beatrix Potter collection!) and break them up to put one in each basket or give to the same child but over a few years.

(Links are affiliate links -- happy shopping!  Thanks for your support.)

~~~

Charlotte Mason West's next event just opened for registration last week: the Conference at Puget Sound, coming this September!

I'm not organizing this Seattle-area event, but a lovely group of ladies are heading it up and the wonderful Nancy Kelly is giving all the talks!  I've heard that the retreat center is quiet and beautiful, right on the Sound.  I'm not sure if I'll be attending yet -- it depends on how I feel after baby arrives in July, God willing -- but if I end up going, I'd love to see you there. Either way, it promises a great time. Head over for more details!

~~~

This week is our last week of the school year!  We will have exams during Easter week and then we'll be off for summer.  I'm making a monster list of projects that I'm hoping to take on with my free time during naps. Only half of it will likely get done, but I should at least have nesting energy helping me along because I also just entered the third trimester!  Hitting lots of exciting milestones over here.

Speaking of exams, I haven't shared any of our exams for this year yet. I'll be playing a little catch up on those posts at the end of this month because I like to have them "filed" here for my own records.

~~~

Our nature study outing was rained out again this past week, so I contented myself with catching up on the March wildflowers in my nature journal, painting from my photos from previous weeks.

A very pleasant way to spend a Sunday afternoon!

~~~

Wishing you a blessed Holy Week, friends!  I'll be back after Easter -- or you can catch me over on Instagram sharing some peeks into our devotional observances.

{This and That} :: Easter!

Alleluia, He is Risen!

Hope you all had a blessed Triduum and a joyous Easter Sunday!  We had a beautiful Mass, a delicious breakfast, and I got a photo of all the kids together, so it was a happy day all around. ;)

the Easter breakfast table is my favorite of the year

lotsa baskets!  or in our case, repurposed ice cream tubs. (obviously we eat a lot of ice cream.)

Someone asked what was in all those Easter baskets, so I thought I'd do a little round-up:

:: free coloring pages courtesy of GraceLaced
:: WoolPets felting kits (I'll review these once we have a chance to try them out!)
:: Mad Libs and Sudoku
:: holy cards for their holy card rings
:: more Schleich animals for our collection
:: more notecards and gel pens for the big girls
:: puzzle cards for the little girls
:: and a bit of candy, with chips for the hubby ;)

And books, of course!  Details on those coming soon in my {What We're Reading} for April. ;)

I also gifted myself a new loupe for nature study, which has a pretty terrible smell right out of the package but works wonderfully!  I ordered a second one, a different model, to try out and compare, so I'll let you know which loupe wins. :)

~~~

I shared our annual Easter candle project over on Instagram, and someone asked for a quick how-to.  There are already some lovely tutorials out there: one for a more ornate candle than ours using the same materials (I always love Jessica's work!) and one for a simple form you can do right now with a grocery store "novena candle" and a printer (thanks, Jennifer!).

For ours: I buy a short plain beeswax pillar because we only light it during our rosary times through the Easter season.  (This two pack is also good value, and then you'd be a step ahead the following year! ;)) If you want a cheaper option, you could definitely just do this on a non-beeswax pillar.  Or you could opt for a taller pillar candle and keep it going longer!

The other item you'll need to buy specifically for this project is a set of decorating beeswax sheets.  (You only use a very tiny bit for each candle, so this box can last for years and years.)

First, you'll need to buff up the beeswax, as it sometimes gets a cloudy sheen if it has sat too long.  We just rub it all over with a rag until it's nice and clear.

Then you're ready to cut out all the bits from your beeswax sheets!  I just use regular scissors and cut:
:: two strips for the cross
:: the alpha and omega signs
:: the numbers for the year

This is definitely the trickiest part!  Straight cuts are super easy, but curly letters and numbers like 0 and 6 can be a challenge.  I often just cut a somewhat rounded shape, then use my fingers to form the figure I need.  The wax is very pliable.  Since our candle is small, we're cutting very small shapes.  We only use about a square inch of each, red and blue.

I place the figures lightly onto the candle as I go to eyeball size.  Once all is cut and ready, press the pieces on firmly with your finger.  They'll easily "stick" to the candle.

Last but not least, you need some kind of marker for Christ's five wounds, as in the prayers Jennifer provides on her tutorial.  We used jewel stickers, like these, but you could use cloves, grains of incense, or even cut circles from the wax sheets in gold or silver.

And that's it!  Your candle is ready to be added to your home altar and lit on Easter Vigil.  (Or Easter Day, if you are a house full of little children and aren't up to braving the Vigil Mass just yet!  Maybe next year. :))

~~~

In non-Easter news, we are on our last week of school, with exams next week and then the start of our "summer" break.  We started our school year last July, so it's wonderful to be so near the end!

My plan is to spend exam week doing my filing and scanning of school paperwork and straightening up binders, folders, and school shelves.  Then I'm off to the CM West :: Retreat at the Beach!  When I get back, it will be a true break for all of us for a couple weeks.

We'll spend May and June doing a very light summer schedule, which I'm pulling together right now, as well as lots of beach days, mornings at the park, and long stretches in the backyard.  My kids keep a list of the activities they want to do during their break--I will share that here soon, because it's a hefty list and going to keep us quite busy in the best of ways.

~~~

Last but not least: Pam kindly invited me to share about doing Morning Basket with all little ones for her Your Morning Basket podcast.  We recorded it last month, but I didn't know it was going to pop up on the podcast channel today until I got a bunch of kind comments on social media.  Thanks, friends!  If you're interested in listening, click on over. :)

{This and That}

Happy Easter, friends!  I know I'm late in sharing these, but I can't resist.  And after all, Easter is a season. ;)  Did you have a blessed octave?

We took Holy Week and Easter Week off of school completely, but this morning we're back with a modified and very light summer schedule.  I'll share more about that soon!

~~~

I mentioned the kids' Easter baskets were full of books, but we did have some other goodies too: frisbees, socks, a wee bit of candy, Schleich animals, and these pencil boxes for my school-aged kids:

I'm not sure why I never thought of this before, but instead of having to grab a pencil, eraser, pen, and their shared colored pencil box before binder work each morning (and arguing discussing whose is whose instead of getting right down to work), each child now has a personal box with a complete set.  We keep them by the dining table (where they do their schoolwork) rather than in by the kitchen table (where we keep the rest of the art supplies), so they're easy to grab and get started.  It's the little things, right?

Here's what's inside:
a set of tristables (we have the 18-count sets, but they also have a 30-count)
a mechanical pencil
frixion erasable pens in blue and black
a waterproof drawing marker
two drawing pencils, 2H and 2B
an eraser
gray and peach crayons (two colors missing from the twistables set)

I've also since added a waterbrush, and they keep a watercolor paint set nearby.

~~~

A couple weekends ago I did the seasonal clothing switch-out, one of my most dreaded chores.  Our standard uniform for girls around the house is long-sleeved knit dress with leggings for winter and short-sleeved knit dress with capri leggings for the summer.  For little ones, knit dresses are so easy to find, but for my 8yo daughter, it is now a challenge.  But after lots of looking, I found my perfect play dress for the right price: these from LL Bean.  I bought three to get us through the summer.  I want to wait and see how much fading/pilling there ends up being by fall, but so far, so good!

~~~

Looking for a boost in education reading to get you through the rest of the school year?  Some of my favorites from the past few weeks:

A Manifesto for Liberal Education
What the English of Shakespeare, Beowulf, and King Arthur Actually Sounded Like
On the Strange Squid Near at Hand
Why America's Obsession with STEM Education is Dangerous
Chesterton and the Meaning of Education

~~~

Last weekend, our local library had its annual chamber music performance.  Afterward, they allow the children to come up and try half- or quarter-sized versions of the string instruments.  Now Gianna is dying to take cello and Vincent violin.  Even Xavier made himself a paper violin and has been madly playing around the house.  I told them we'll see after a few more years of piano.

~~~

From my early-morning hill run this past weekend:

I see more wildflowers on our running group's various hill routes than I do on our nature study outings!  It's too bad I'm, you know, running and can't exactly stop to take photo after photo, but we saw 25-30 different varieties last week, if I had to guess.  It's prime time for flowers here and the elevation plus the remoteness of our usual trails means lots of diversity and color.

I did come home with a snip of Indian paintbrush, a new favorite.  Into the nature journal and then into the flower press!

~~~

I'll be back tomorrow to post the April Keeping Company link-up.  See you then!