Getting Ready for Christmas Daybook

Outside my window... It has been cold and gray for several days now. Maybe snow this weekend? We'll see...


I am listening to... Manheim Steamroller. It makes working around the house a more exciting venture!

I am wearing... Jeans, a long sleeve tee-shirt and cardigan, and knee socks. This type of outfit is fast becoming my "uniform" now that it's so cold.

I am thankful for...

Quiet mornings

laundry done early

an unexpected free hour to read, write, knit, whatever...

my sisters

I am thinking... about knitting. My brain is stuck on the Christmas projects yet undone, and I'm trying not to stress. I have plenty of time for what needs done, but I'm sure something will go wrong....

I am reading... Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, more Elizabeth Zimmermann, and continuing our family read-aloud of Treasure Island.


I am creating... Christmas gifts in the evening hours, lesson plans in the early morning.


Always learning... We're taking care of basics each morning in about 30 minutes then spending the rest of our time on great Christmas books, making cookies, making art, and being all around relaxed.

Around the house... I'm in "maintainance mode" until Christmas break in the studio. Once Christmas break is here though I'm finishing up the closet revamps we started on Thanksgiving break.

I am planning... for next semester. and I'm resisting the temptation to start working on first grade stuff. At least until February or so.

Towards a growing faith... Brian and I are continuing our reading in the New Testament, almost done with Matthew. My own reading has been in Colossians this week.

I am praying... for a new nephew arriving in late April/ early May.

One of my favorite things... hot chocolate. Mmmmm....

A few plans for the next week... Finishing up this semester in the music studio, marking the days with the Jesse Tree, singing together and celebrating early with extended family.

Holy Mess

It was a long day Sunday. I rose early to get to church ahead of my family, ahead of most of the congregation.  Eight of us meet early to rehearse praise music and be sure we know all the cues for the service. We sing, play, pray, and ready ourselves for worship. We work hard in rehearsal and worship God in the service, no matter what might happen. We’ve seen proven time and again that even if a weird buzz pops up on a speaker mid-song or the musicians aren’t quite together for a few bars God still uses that imperfect music to call hearts to Him.

We pray together,  the eight of us, for job interviews that might finally pay off after a year or more of unemployment, for an unsaved sister, we praise Him for the work He is doing in our church these last few months.

I try to focus on this time of worship, but my brain is jumping hoops remembering all the work waiting at home. If only all the externals would vanish when its time to worship. I whisper words begging forgiveness for my unfocused mind. Father help me be here instead of worrying about later...

And I remember that long ago it was Mary and Joseph over-full with worry- after all they were called on to go take care of taxes when the birth of Jesus was imminent!

Faithfully they headed off to be counted, awash in the scandal of pregnancy before marriage, Mary heavy with child for the journey, and traveling so long only to find no room to stay, the babe so close to birth… 

Complicated, disgraced, MESS.

And in the mess of life, in the hay and the imperfect place to bear a child our salvation is made possible.

In the faithfulness of a young girl and her husband-to-be our salvation is here.

From such humble beginnings is born the babe who will renew our hearts and minds, transforming us in His grace.

Stable, manger, HOLY.

Ann Voskamp invites us to write about Advent this week. Won't you join us?

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Math Experiments: Capacity

Welcome to our lesson on capacity! We read the book Capacity** together and gathered containers together to compare capacity. We decided to use only clear containers so that we could see the water very clearly.

First, the boys filled each container with water. Ezra used a 1 cup plastic measuring cup that we usually use in our rice sensory box, and Ender used the small pitcher we usually keep in the fridge so that they can pour their own drinks. We had a sponge and a towel on hand just in case of spills!

Ender estimated which glasses held different amounts of water from greatest to least, and we lined them up in that order.

Ender poured each container into a 4 cup measuring cup and measured each amount to see how his estimations worked out.

We learned that "tall" doesn't necessarily equal "most".

** We love this series of math books by Henry Pluckrose. Our library has most of them and they've been a really fun way to introduce new concepts.