The Winter List and Preparing for Deep Winter

 

I've always been inspired by the changing of the seasons and I love embracing the special parts of each time of year. Despite my love for the seasons, I also kind of dread our long New England winters. For years I called my seasonal winter bucket list my "winter survival list", but this year I'm taking the "survival" out and just trying to embrace winter and the parts of the season to look forward to. This year, I won't just survive, I'm going to live it to the full!

Evidenced by our Christmas gifts this year, I'm inspired by the Danish concept of "Hygge" and I want to bring the warm, cozy, communal nature of winter to our home as much as possible. I look forward to constant candles burning, string lights and lanterns, warm drinks, piles of blankets, baked goods, good books, crock pot meals and plenty of communal gatherings to share it with friends and family. 

We'll see how I'm feeling come March when the snow is still knee-deep, but at the moment, I'm feeling rather excited for the deep winter setting in and all the good and beauty it has in store for us.

Christmas Project: Hygge Kits

This year, I did less Christmas crafting than usual, but we did come up with a fun concept for our gift giving.  Brian and I have recently read some articles about the Danish word "Hygge" and we were inspired to create kits for encouraging hygge in our family's lives this winter. What is hygge, you ask? Brian wrote the following explanation for our kit:

"Denmark is a land of darkness and frost this time of year. At the peak of it, Winter Solstice, they only get about seven hours of daylight. Like us, they face temperatures in the teens, along with the weight of snow and frost. But the Danes have a secret weapon.

It’s called Hygge (pronounced “Hyoogah”). Popular myth credits Hygge for making Danes some of the happiest people in the world. Hygge seems to indicate a feeling of comfort, cheer, and familiarity (the word cannot be succinctly translated into English). It’s a sense of home, and a sense of casual festivity. 

Though Danes use the word for gatherings and settings throughout the year, winter is considered high season for Hygge. They surround themselves with warm, low lights, comfy socks and sweaters, and treats like cake and mulled wine to stave off the bitter twilight framed in every window pane. They create an intimate day, an inner-light, and they share it. 

So enjoy your Hygge kits. Though Hygge could never be contained in a jar, each item can add to the atmosphere ripe for true Hygge happiness. And as you enjoy the light and warmth in the cold dark, let it be a reminder of our Savior’s incomparable, conquering radiance as well:

The people who walked in darkness

have seen a great light;

those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness,

on them a light has shown.

Isaiah 9:2" 

Our kits included items such as candles, tea, hot chocolate, mason jars to house flowers or candles, comfy socks, twinkle lights, hand cream, lip balm, a good book, hand warmers and chocolates; all things that we hoped would encourage a warm and happy winter. 

Here's to a hygge season for us all!

Levi's Christmas Project: Beaded Snowflakes

Levi worked very hard this year to make his own Christmas presents for family members. These beaded snowflake ornaments took quite a few sessions to complete (we made quite a few!), but they were worth the effort and it was a very do-able gift for an energetic little 4 year old to make. I'm proud of him for sticking it out and I only had to bribe him a couple of times with a hershey kiss or two. ;)

To make these, I took 3 silver pipe cleaners (cut in half) and twisted them together in the center to create the 6 parts of the snowflake. Next, Levi slid metallic beads onto each of the pipe cleaners, leaving about a half an inch at the end for me to fold and twist so the beads stay in place. A simple ring of wire was added for hanging.

Christmas-ing

 (Photo by Jocelyn Cook)

 (Photo by Jocelyn Cook)

Christmas was...

-a new "Christmas Adam" tradition(the day before "Christmas Eve", get it?)with just our family in the Sea Kettle and an intentional quiet end to advent; a homemade candle-lit meal, meaningful letters written and read to us by Papa, hand-painted tea cups for me from Levi, liturgical books and oratory elements for Brian, an adventure pack for Levi and dress up clothes for Maggie
- cinnamon rolls and singing to celebrate Jesus' birthday on Christmas Eve morning and a candle-lit service with our church family
- A comfort food "Hygge" dinner at my Mom's house with a last minute guest who was missing her family in Pakistan. Gifting some Hygge kits (more on that later!) and our traditional all-family sleepover
- Christmas morning excitement with my family and stockings, presents and excited, well-loved kids
- Christmas lunch and gift exchange with Brian's family and a christmas movie to end the day 
- a bittersweet first Christmas without my father; in-between the good food, family, thoughtful presents, happy children, more than ever before I felt the tangible need for Emmanuel, God with us. Which is hard but okay, really, because that is what it's all about.  

20 years from now

I recently read the book, "Teaching From Rest: The Homeschooler's Guide to Unshakeable Peace" by Sarah MacKenzie and it was wonderful. I am so thankful to have found it right at the beginning of our homeschool journey. It held such good insight, wisdom and practical tips to keep anxiety and unrest at bay. 

One of the simple challenges the author gave was to imagine our children, 20 years from now, being asked about what it was like to be homeschooled.  Next, she asked us to write down the words or phrases that we hoped our children would use to describe their childhood. It didn't take me long to come up with my words: warm, conversational, full of stories and laughter, peace-full, beauty-full, wonder-full, and characterized by grace. 

Brian and I can't control how our kids turn out- what their SAT scores will be, what college they will get into, what job they'll choose, what good/bad choices they will make... but one thing we CAN do is to pray for them daily and create a family environment that encourages goodness, truth, beauty and grace. 

For the foreseeable future, my short list of words will serve as simple reminders to direct how I interact with my kids; how I speak to them, what we'll study, what activities we engage in, how I set up my home, what books we read and how I love and serve my kids day in and day out. Thinking about my parenting/education goals this way has been much more inspiring and positive than giving in to anxieties that can sometimes take over my thoughts and motivations.

I created this image to place at the beginning of my homeschool binder and to hang in my kitchen as a constant reminder of the type of childhood and education I want to give the precious people God placed in my care. This simple exercise made a huge difference in my approach to schooling and parenting this year and I pray our home environment will live up to these chosen ideals. 

these days

These days, I'm ....

- thankful for slower days, the natural cloistering in of winter
- lighting candles, wearing slippers, sipping tea, cuddling under quilts with my family - making the most of the cold weather settling in
- playing my favorite advent albums on repeat: "Prepare Him Room" by Sovereign Grace Music, "Behold the Lamb of God" by Andrew Peterson, "Sounding Joy", by Elizabeth Mitchell, Handel's "Messiah" and the local Christmas radio station thrown in for good measure.
- savoring our daily homeschool morning times, particularly hearing my children happily memorize true and beautiful things
- working on some fun wintery lessons with my students before classes end for winter break
- treasuring Levi's funny, curious, insightful and interesting thoughts 
- listening to Magnolia start to assert herself and communicate her wants, needs, jokes and sweet little sayings. 
- excited about plenty of Christmas festivities planned in the coming days
- painting a commission for a friend and hoping I can finish in time for it to be wrapped up for Christmas
- trying to have "tea" time with the kids as regularly as possible while reading through our current pile of advent/Christmas stories from the library.
- smiling at Brian, as we watch our kids play, talk with and love each other well(most of the time, that is) ;)
- full of excitement in my research and reading of homeschool methods and philosophies; folding laundry and doing dishes to the tune of some amazing, inspirational podcasts
- missing my Dad, at expected and unexpected times and places
- finishing a purposefully slow read through "For the Children's Sake" by MacCaulay and soaking in every word.
- saying some "no's" so that I can say more "yes's" (not easy for me)
- almost done putting together Christmas presents for our family; a little less crafting than usual, but a very fun concept for Brian and I to work on together
- enjoying advent in a more peaceful and purposeful way than ever before

What's in our Morning Basket: December/Advent Term

(Note: I wrote an introduction and explanation of our Autumn Term morning basket HERE.)

Morning Basket: Advent Term

1. Gather the Jesse Tree ornament, treats and activity from the advent calendar.

2. Read the activity for the day and plan when we will do it (is it something we'll wait to do with Dad? Do we need to get anything for it?)

3. Light a candle ("The Lord is my light and my salvation") and read the day's selection from the Jesse Tree devotional "Unwrapping the Greatest Gift" by Ann Voskamp.

4. Prayer: Write down what we are thankful for and prayer requests, then pray for them. 

5. Memory Work: 

-Luke 2:8-12 

-Part of a poem by Christina Rossetti: "What can I give Him, poor as I am? If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb, If I were a wisemen I would do my part- Yet what can I give Him, Give Him my heart."

-This month's motto/habit training: "No fussing, no whining, no complaining, respond with gratitude!" 

6. Hymn: Joy to the World!

7. Picture Study/Art History: Rembrant's "The Adoration of the Shepherds" (see below)

8. Benediction: Sing Doxology

9. Read alouds (to be read aloud throughout December):

A Christmas Treasury Illustrated by Christian Birmingham 

The Tailor of Gloucester by Beatrix Potter

The Legend of the Poinsettia by Tomie dePaola

The Birds of Bethlehem by Tomie dePaola

The Christmas Pageant by Tomie dePaola

An Early American Christmas by Tomie dePaola

Merry Christmas Strega Nona by Tomie dePaola

The Story of the Three Wise Kings by Tomie dePaola

Little Tree by e.e. cummings

Erik and the Christmas Horse by Hans Peterson

The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree by Gloria Houston

The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey

The Christmas Story by Carol Heyer

 Studio of Rembrandt ‘The Adoration of the Shepherds’ 1646