16 posts tagged “traditions”
Yesterday was Miles' 3 month birthday, so I whipped out the camera to take what has become my goofy traditional 3-month shots of the boys. They all have worn the same outfit (given to Strider by Aunt Katie and Uncle Dan, back when they were students and shopped at the Nike Outlet in Grove City! Thanks, Kate and Dan -- it's been a long-lasting gift, as you will see below) They also all have the same silly toy bat in the picture --and is anyone else, besides ME, impressed with myself that I have been able to find that same toy for each photo shoot? Usually this house is a black hole for toys and other items -- things disappear, never to be seen again when I actually want them!
Anyway, see if you can match up the right boy with each picture (answers below):
I'd venture to say they look like brothers!
And, thankfully, they have a sweet sister that they can take care of -- and who can take care of them! It's a big task for her, but she says she can handle it.
[Answers to the picture quiz: 1.) Colsen, 2.) Strider, 3.) Strider, 4.) Miles, 5.) Miles, 6.) Colsen ]
We love this special day. Do something anonymously for your neighbor this weekend!
We are entering another significant season today: the season of Lent. Our family has really benefited from learning more about the traditional Church year and so we are excited to embark on this season once more.
This year, we have the added fun of celebrating with our friends as well. So here's where we were last night:
http://coleclan9rdfc.vox.com/library/post/shrove-tuesday.html
Thanks, Alleyn, for documenting this for us! And thanks for all the great pancakes, games, lessons, and even the Gilligan's Island Psalter song. :)
For the last few years when we've celebrated Epiphany, we've had family members in from out of town to participate with us. But this year, having no company in the house, we decided to celebrate with our good friends, the Cole Clan. In typical Howard-Cole-fashion, he jumped right into his inaugural Epiphany celebration with both feet, and learned all kinds of cool things to share with us that we had never known about! He told us all about Ignatius writing 100 years after Christ about the magi, giving them names and descriptions, and about some interesting traditions that the Church has followed for centuries concerning this holiday.
Steve and Paige also contributed to the merriment by creating some fun games for the kids.... Steve led each child through a very dark house with his flashlight, as they "followed the star" to find a treasure. And Paige put together a collection of mysterious items in a large sock of Howard's (which we all hoped was washed!) that we had to take turns trying to decipher by feeling. Then later the treasures were "revealed" in the spirit of an epiphany and the most discerning and observant among us won. :) Howard had us all compete in tongue twister contest with some sort of convoluted statement involving a star and sages... the Coles dominated in that game!
Then we all participated in a new tradition that I can't wait to do again next year: chalking the house. This is something people have done for centuries and centuries and has several layers of meaning to it... the primary idea being that we ask God to bless the house, and use the inhabitants to bless any visitors this year.
And, finally, we broke into the traditional (at least in our house) Treasure Box Cake.... although finding the toothpick hidden in it was somewhat anticlimactic since it fell out during the cutting. But Alleyn, the winner-designate, still led us in a rousing rendition of "We 3 Kings."
We love having these holidays -- not only to continue building family traditions -- but also to have more opportunities to celebrate with good friends! Thanks, H, A, T, S, P, C and S for making it such a fun evening for us!
To commemorate the closing of 2008 and the beginning of 2009, we once again spent some time with our Year Boxes. After looking through all the items we had collected from 2008, talking about various memories, we moved on to creating the design for our 2009 box. What the kids ended up getting the most joy from, however, was seeing how much paint they could get on themselves, and ultimately each other. Oh well... Should I really be surprised by that at this point?
The last several years we have enjoyed celebrating Boxing Day -- primarily because the idea of giving to others out of the abundance of what we have is appealing right after Christmas. We usually fill some boxes up to take to a donation center, and then get together with the extended family for some other "box-related" fun.
This year, though, most of us felt like we weren't quite up for another big gathering right away, so we've decided to mix it up a little. We did go through the house and find a bunch of things we no longer needed to box up and give away, but we're going to do our big group gathering next week. This year we've decided we're going to have a "Trash-to-Treasure Auction" to raise money for a charity. The idea will be that everyone can bring items they no longer want but would still have value to someone else, and then we'll auction them off to the highest bidder. (We may also throw in some baked goods or other homemade items as well, to see if there are any interested takers there) Whoever brings the item that garners the highest bid will be rewarded by getting to choose the charity the money goes to. We'll probably also combine the auction with a boxed lunch of sorts, to carry the the boxing theme through. Otherwise, we'd have to go with what Strider votes for, which would be boxing matches...
So, if anyone wants to join us, feel free!
This morning as we set out in the car to go visit the greater Wray family, we were all bubbling with excitement. We started to talk about all the things we were most looking forward to...
Strider said he was most excited about the pizza for lunch and the cookie contest. Had he known just how varied the different homemade pizzas would be (Santa Fe BBQ chicken; Spinach, sausage and herb; cheeseburger; katahuna (or something like that?); etc., he might have been even more giddy. And had he known that the cookie contest, known as the "Great Uffle-Off" was going to be as tasty as it was (with entries of mint oreos, mint frosting, peanut butter rice-krispies, and orange/coconut varieties, as well as the original Druffle) he would have talked about that for hours.
I said I'm most looking forward to seeing everyone, and doing the Grab Bag game. Had I known that there was also going to be a big group gift with building blocks that are addictive for young and old, that would also have made my list. And had I known the grandchildren were all going to receive special blessings from the grandparents, that would have been at the top of my list.
But when we asked Rayna what she was most looking forward to for the day, her answer was, "Worshiping God." I'm not sure she really understood what she was saying, but I loved Strider's response: He got quiet and then said, "Good point, Rayna."
And it was a good point. He's the reason for all this celebration after all. :) As we drove home tonight, there was a rare moment of silence in the van and I had time to reflect briefly. I thought about how every year Christmas Eve brings at least a few minutes of calm and quiet that is so mysterious and wonder-full. It may not be much of a Silent Night all the time, but it is always a Holy Night, I think.
So Happy Christmas Eve to everyone!
As I type this, the kids are all upstairs (finally), supposedly in bed, and this is the scene by our fireplace. And "dreams that St. Nicholas soon would be there" are likely running through the kids' little heads.
We've had a fun evening celebrating this "Santa" holiday again this year, with some friends joining us for the festivities. Before dinner all the kids enjoyed making little gingerbread ornaments (gingerbread is something like a delicacy the real St. Nick likely handed out in his day), and then after we had our Middle Eastern dinner (food St. Nick would have likely eaten), we all gathered to hear the story of St. Nicholas, read by Mr. Timberlake. Right when the story ended, there was a mysterious "ding dong" of the doorbell, so off everyone ran to see who was there....
No St. Nicholas showed his face, but he apparently left some little goody bags for the kids, which they all enjoyed. But the best part of the evening, in my opinion was when Pete shared with everyone about some kids we had just heard about who are in need this Christmas, who won't have any stockings unless people give them to them. When he asked if any of the kids would like to give away any of their new things they had just received, every single kid -- even the 2-year olds -- enthusiastically brought forward items to put in the new stocking to give away. Just like St. Nicholas would have done!
Now we'll just have to wait and see what St. Nicholas might bring the kids this year while they sleep... And then all of our "Santa" stuff goes away after tomorrow -- and we focus only on the Baby in the Manger now.
So, happy St. Nick's day to you, and to all a good night!
We woke up this morning in this great country, in a time of peace and freedom, and we are so glad! And today we get to celebrate that fact, and honor those who have fought to make it true.
Memorial Day = Parade to us, so since we couldn't go to a parade, such as the Hamilton, New Jersey Memorial Day Parade (our favorite), we decided to do our other version of this tradition, and have our own at home. It took some convincing to get Strider to go along with it this year.... I had to get out our old photo albums and show him how much fun we've had in years past. The last time we had done this was 4 years ago, so I told him, "Let's just make it our every-4-years-tradition!" He said, "Ok -- but I'm NOT doing it again in 4 more years!" So this was our last one in which everyone will participate I guess. Here's how it looked:
.... and sounded:
They decided to sing the U.S. President's song.... we had a hard time coming up with a good, patriotic song. Strider thought "Take Me Out To The Ballpark" was the best choice, but it got vetoed.
And just for fun, here's a picture from our "Memorial Day Parade of 2004":
What a difference 4 years makes!
I think Memorial Day is supposed to be a time of remembering those who have gone before us and given their lives in service to this country -- and we certainly do give thanks for them.... especially my grandfather who fought in WW II. But we also would like to honor those who are still (thankfully) very much alive and also have given much of themselves in service to our country. We are blessed in our family to have many such men... Pete's dad, my uncle Gary, my cousin Mike, and of course....
... my brother who has been to Iraq twice.
So, thank you guys for helping to make this country so great and so free!
I am very, very blessed.
Yesterday turned out to be Teacher Appreciation Day here... to my surprise! Pete and one of his friends whose wife also homeschools their children set up quite a plan to honor us. I was told to "go shopping" for the afternoon (I did not argue with that command!) and was given an envelope to open at 4:40 pm. When I finally opened it, I found the message to come to our friends' house, and when I got there, the husbands and kids were so sweet! They treated the other mother/teacher and me as quite the honored guests, and showed us what they had been working on that afternoon. They had made all kinds of banners, signs, cards, balloons, etc., telling us we were great teachers, and then the dads made us a special dinner -- and even a great carrot cake! It was so wonderful to be appreciated that way... and I am told, in very cryptic ways, that I have another gift coming this week.... something to do with a spa, I believe. (Strider has been very good at keeping all kinds of secrets the past couple weeks... I could tell it was just about killing him, but he never breathed a word to me. Rayna, wisely, was kept in the dark about it all until it happened since her secret-keeping abilities are non-existent)
So not only do I get to do something I love to do (almost) every day -- teach my children -- but I also even get appreciated and honored for it occasionally. I am very, very blessed.
(I am giving this post a "tag" of traditions, because I hope it will become a yearly one! :) )
