The Snowy Day Daybook
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Outside My Window::
::a sparkling winter wonderland of fluffy light snow
I am Listening to::
::big boys entertaining Sarah Annie.
I am wearing ::
:: corduroys, a Hanna Andersson ski sweater that is older than 7 of my children (does that make it vintage?), warm socks...
I am Thankful For::
::piles of blankets on a well made wintertime bed. I'm a total sucker for linens and quilts.
I am Pondering:
::St. John Bosco on training children:
The repressive system may stop a disorder, but can hardly make the offenders better. Experience teaches that the young do not easily forget the punishments they have received, and for the most part foster bitter feelings, along with the desire to throw off the yoke and even to seek revenge. They may sometimes appear to be quite unaffected, but anyone that follows them as they grow up knows that the reminiscences of youth are terrible, and some have even been known in later years to have had recourse to brutal vengeance for chastisements they had justly deserved during the course of their education.
"In the preventive system, on the contrary, the pupil becomes a friend, and the assistant, a benefactor who advises him, has his good at heart, and wishes to spare him vexation, punishment, and perhaps dishonour. By the preventive system pupils acquire a better understanding, So that an educator can always speak to them in the language of the heart, not only during the time of their education but even afterwards. Having once succeeded in gaining the confidence of his pupils he can subsequently exercise a great influence over them, and counsel them, advise and even correct them, whatever position they may occupy in the world later on.
For these and many other reasons it seems that the preventive system should be preferred to the repressive".
I am Reading:
From the Kitchen::
::snow ice cream:-)
I am Thinking:
::About this video. And because some of you have insisted on full disclosure about such things: I have loved Katrina Kenison since I was a mother with three little boys and only one girl, since before the internet, but I kept Mittenstrings for God near and dear to my heart, steadfastly avoiding online conversations of it a couple years back, lest they end badly. In Mittenstrings, Katrina gratefully acknowledges the influence of Waldorf education and Rudolf Steiner. 'Twould be a shame if you didn't hear what she's saying because you've eschewed all things remotely Waldorf, but I offer you the fair disclosure that it's so.
This video is beautiful and rings clearly with truth.
I am Creating::
::Photo books at Snapfish and I am so thrilled with them!
On my iPod::
:: I am finding that it takes iBreviary, Universalis Lite, and Divine Office to really put together a Liturgy of the Hours program that works for me and doesn't have gaps or glitches.
Towards a Real Education::
::We are settling into a pure Charlotte Mason February. That means we're hunkering down and digging deep and lighting fires instead of filling buckets.
Towards Rhythm and Beauty:
::All the blinds are up today to let the bright, snowy sunlight in.
::To Live the Liturgy:
::Today we celebrate the feast of the patron of our home education adventure: St. John Bosco.
:Daily Mass four days this week.
:Candles to be blessed for Candlemas on Tuesday.
::confession on Saturday.
:Oh, and an order to King Arthur Flour to provision before St. Valentine's day. Someone mentioned homemade Oreos and creme brulee just before he boarded a plane to the sunny south. I was reading some of the comments here, and thought to myself that it sure is a shame to turn up one's nose at a perfectly good excuse to celebrate love. We should not let a single one of those slip by. So, I'm definitely giving serious consideration to all things chocolate and to sweet heart-shaped ramekins for creme brulee.
::I am Hoping and Praying:
::For Mike as he works long days far from home .
In the Garden:
::It's cold and white and a half dozen soccer balls sit forlornly in the backyard goals.
Around the House:
::The contractor is currently AWOL, with about 400 square feet of flooring left to nail down and all the furniture on the main floor out place and/or draped in plastic. STILL .
On Keeping Home:
::The one thing I miss most of all is eating dinner around the table. Both tables that are big enough for all of us are inaccessible. I can't wait for a tablecloth and a civilized meal!
One of My Favorite Things:
::Snow days. Really can't get enough of them. Hot chocolate, snow ice cream, wood fires, damp and rosy cheeks. I count it all joy.
Sarah Annie this week:
::She is suddenly in love with books. She begs anyone who looks her way to read to her all day long. Look for a post a little later about her favorite books..
A Few Plans for the Rest of the Week:
::Oh, good grief! Just finish these floors please! I can't plan anything else until the floors are in, I move everything back into place and I finally dust every. single. surface. The limbo of it all is starting to make me nuts.
A Picture Thought I'm sharing:
The utter joy of chocolate chip pancakes:-)!
