Seasons of Joy Looking for a way to bring peace and joy to your day?
Seasons of Joy is my 10-week seasonal guidebook to add rhythm and fun to your daily routine. Each guidebook has ten weeks' worth of circle times, stories, arts, crafts, and handwork, painting, playtime activities and more!
Seasons of Joy seeks to empower families to create peaceful rhythms and routines and joyful celebrations that follow the circle of the year. The blog also chronicles our adventures in living simply, loving exuberantly, and Waldorf inspired homeschooling.
|
Phew! Hear that? It’s the sound of mama breathing a sigh of relief now that Vacation Bible School is over. Not that things are ever really quiet around here, mind you. Not with a 12-year-old who is in a musical, a 10-year-old ballerina, a 7-year-old with an invisible army of minions to control, a 4-year-old who seems to have found his screaming voice, and two babies who are just on the cusp of crawling AND getting teeth. Then again, if we had a quiet week, we probably wouldn’t know what to do with it!
Here’s what’s on tap for us this week. Read more...
A blessed Holy Week to you! We typically take the week before Easter fairly easy and the week after Easter off altogether, so we have a pretty low key week ahead of us. We’ll do a little planning, a little cleaning, and hopefullyhave some fun.
Tuesday is Passover for my Jewish friends.
Thursday is, of course, Maundy Thursday. We have church and Michael will be getting his feet washed.
Friday is both Good Friday and Earth Day, so we’ll be foregoing Earth Day celebrations this year. We’ll do something for Arbor Day next week. Read more...
Mmmm… not a whole lot going on this week, at least as far as feasts and festivals go. It’s still Lent… it’s still winter. We do have April Fools Day on Friday, but it being a Friday (fast day!) during Lent might dampen things a bit.
School-wise we’re all learning about the ancient Egyptians together. We’ll start mummifying an apple– I just couldn’t give up a chicken to the cause; it seemed too wasteful– and will also work on the Egypt part of our History Pockets book. We’ll also be exploring some early writing systems such as cuneiform and hieroglyphics. Who knows what else we’ll come up with? Read more...
Planning for this family is a whole-weekend affair.
Sometimes, it feels like a tapestry. It’s an overused metaphor, I know, but hang with me. First, I have the strands of the season. Then I have holidays, birthdays, namedays. There’s a saint’s day pretty much every day, but we pick the ones we want to make a concentrated effort to celebrate and throw them in the pot– how’s that for a mixed metaphor, LOL!– and then I work in the liturgical year as well. Each new month brings new main lessons for Michael and Katie Grace. Nicholas and Daniel don’t have main lessons yet, but they need planned for as well. There are church events and homeschool co-op events and musical events to be woven in as well. That’s a lot of strings to weave into our month! Read more...
Sigh. Another crazy busy week.
Monday, May 4
Katie Grace has ballet dress rehearsal at 5, and a soccer game at 6:30. Michael has soccer practice at 5:30, followed by Scouts. Once again, we have to figure out how to be several places at once.
Tuesday, May 5
We have a day off school today since we need to travel up to State College for eye exams. All three of the older kids failed their vision screening. Since Michael has to see a pediatric ophthalmologist, we figure we may as well take all of them to see someone who specializes in children. We may visit the visitor center at Beaver Stadium while we’re up that way. Read more...
Monday, April 27:
Soccer for Michael, followed by Scouts, and the rest of the day is business as usual
Tuesday, April 28:
Ballet for Katie Grace
Wednesday, April 29:
Daniel turns 2 today!
Also, the feast of St. Catherine of Sienna
Thursday, April 30:
Nothing going on today except chimes for Michael and Brownies for Katie Grace
Friday, May 1:
Feast of St. Joseph the Worker and of course, May Day
I also plan on leaving the kids with Chip in the morning so I can go to the co-op mama meeting unhindered by small people.
Today is also First Friday, so we might check out what’s going on downtown.
Saturday, May 2:
Two soccer games today, one at 9:30 AM and one at 2. It’s also Scout Day at Knoebels.
Sunday, May 3:
Church in the morning and children’s choir at night, as well as the feast of Sts. Philip and James Read more...
Monday, December 8
Feast of the Immaculate Conception! We like to celebrate Mary’s birthday with a cake.
Also, Michael has Scouts and Katie Grace has basketball practice.
Tuesday, December 9
Nothing but Katie Grace’s ballet practice. Whoo hoo!
Wednesday, December 10
Human Rights Day
Thursday, December 11
Blessed Franco Lippi
Chime choir and basketball for Michael, Brownies for Katie Grace.
Friday, December 12
Our Lady of Guadalupe, which means Mexican food for dinner! Then tonight is the church hike down Candy Cane Lane, followed by cocoa and cookies.
Saturday, December 13
Santa Lucia!
This is also the day of our family Christmas party. Read more...
I made the impromptu decision that we’re going to mostly take this week off school. We have 90 of our 180 days, so we can afford it.
Today we got the living room clean… mostly. You’d never know it to look at it now, though. We also had homeschool book club–Sarah Plain and Tall–and some friends came over to watch a movie this afternoon. Read more...
Monday, November 24
I don’t understand how November is over already. 
Ah well. Monday brings our homeschool book club- we’re reading Sarah Plain and Tall this month– as well as a pack meeting for Michael and basketball practice for Katie Grace.
Tuesday, November 25
St. Catherine of Alexandria
I don’t know if Katie Grace has ballet today or it’s been canceled.
Wednesday, November 26
The children’s choir sings at the Thanksgiving service today.
Thursday, November 27
Thanksgiving! We’ll be leaving bright and early to travel to Lancaster, and then leaving around bedtime to come back home. Read more...
Monday, October 27
Holy Hannah, how did we get to the end of October already?!?!?!
Today we have our homeschool book club. We’re discussing Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
Michael also has orchestra all week, and a soccer game tonight. I think it’s the final soccer game. Hooray! We made it through another season!
Tuesday, October 28
Saints Simon and Jude.
Just ballet for the girl-child today.
Wednesday, October 29
Soccer for the middle two, and that’s it.
Thursday, October 30
The Brownies have their Halloween party. Poor Michael just has chime choir. Read more...
|
Our Current Read Aloud: On the Banks of Plum Creek
In the car we’re listening to… The Incorrigable Children of Ashton Place and the Hidden Gallery
Nursery Rhyme Nursery School Rain on the green grass,
Rain on the trees,
Rain on the rooftops,
But not on me!
 Character Counts! This month we’re learning about… Sincerity
2 Corinthians 1:12
For our boast is this, the testimony of our conscience, that we behaved in the world with simplicity and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God, and supremely so toward you.
Blessed Mother Teresa, Pray for Us! 
Love begins by taking care of the closest ones - the ones at home.
~Mother Teresa |
