Restoration Place

Merry Christmas!

 

Merry Christmas to you and your precious families! 

Maggie's Glittery Toothpick Stars

Maggie has been crafting by herself and she's come up with something very pretty: delicate, glittery, toothpick (and craft stick) stars:

The stars have to be made a day before you apply glue and glitter, that way they will dry thoroughly and not fall apart when you're decorating them.

I'm sure we will have an entire collection of glittery stars for the Christmas tree--or even for a garland to drape across a door way--before she's through.

Christmas Doings Around Here Lately

We've been enjoying Christmas preparations here and I thought I would give you a peek at what we've been up to.

Cinnamon-applesauce ornaments.We make these every year, and I thought the children might be a little tired of making them. They were very offended that I could think such a thing, and made loads of ornaments.~smile~

 

Holiday pretzel treats. (They are originally from Family Fun magazine, but I couldn't make a direct link work). These are easy to make and very yummy. We are going to make several batches to share with friends and neighbors. (HT: Make and Takes).

  

Homemade holiday playdough. (That's not the recipe we use, but it is very similar. I always make a double batch). We mixed in food coloring, essential peppermint oil, and gold and silver glitter. The play dough is warm, peppermint-y, and glittery.

 

Choosing and cutting the Christmas tree. This year we chose a Douglas Fir. It's very fragrant and the needles aren't quite so sharp. We usually get a root-ball tree that we can plant, but last year's tree died. We think there's not enough sun on our property for a young tree to get a good start.

 

More updates to come!

Thanksgving Blessings to You!

We'll soon be off for house church tonight and and sharing a Thanksgiving meal with those dear ones, and then giving thanks and feasting tomorrow with just our immediate family.

I might be away from here for a few days for the break, but I wanted to wish you all a very blessed and joyful Thanksgiving. See you soon!

Handprint and Footprint Turkey Craft

We made these Handprint and Footprint Turkeys while Nana was visiting so she could take turkeys to Brad and Aunt Kristin (hi!). I was looking for a turkey craft that my 6-and-4-year-olds could enjoy, but that went beyond a simple one-handprint turkey.

The craft comes from Enchanted Learning which I highly recommend you join for the mere $20 per year it requires. You'll get printer-friendly and ad-free pages, and I bet you'll use it several times a week, like I do, if you're a home educator or have young children in your home.

Jacob, young engineer that he is, even made his with movable feathers (" 'cause that's how they are in real life, Mom!"

 

Calvary/Resurrection Scene Activity

We really enjoyed creating this Calvary/Resurrection scene today. The idea is not mine--I found it at Lifestyle Homeschool blog (scroll down through the Easter Family Bible Study) through my friend Deb at Four in a Row (thanks, friend!).

We gathered peat moss, green living moss from our yard, small stones, sand, tiny twigs, embroidery thread, a small glass jar, tea light candles, and a rectangular food container (I had already shopped for the items we needed and the children gathered the rest from the yard):

We scooped peat moss into the container, building up one corner to serve as the hill where Jesus was crucified, then we layered the peat moss with green moss:

Wrapping the twigs together to serve as crosses:

Here you can see that the hill in the corner has been built up with peat moss, covered with sand, and the three crosses placed in:

In the opposite corner we mounded up the peat moss and dug out a place for a glass jar tomb:

Here's the a view of the tomb with the large stone in place in front of it:

Here we see the stone rolled away and the lit candle inside. This was the most exciting part of creating this scene for my children. We noticed that the candle only stays lit if the rock is rolled away from the opening of the tomb. If the rock is put back in place, the candle is snuffed out from lack of oxygen. Interesting, isn't it?

The last thing we did was to create a stone pathway off to the side which led from the cross to the tomb. I think the original idea might have been to make the path Jesus's friends took when they came to the tomb with spices for his body, but we didn't have enough space.

This activity is described at Lifestyle Homeschool blog as an Easter dinner table centerpiece. We chose to create the scene for us to look at and place with this week as we won't be having a traditional Easter dinner in our home on Easter Sunday.

I'm sure we'll be lighting and relighting the tea light as we re-enact again and again the glorious discovery that Jesus's body was indeed gone, and that he had come to life again!

Valentine's Day Morning

The children were overflowing with love and secret gifts for me this morning and my heart is full.

The day began with admiring the beautiful flowers Daddy brought for us:

The cat, Brooke, did her part by tolerating a red velvet ribbon:

I received handmade gifts such as this cloth bag with a red "V" for Valentine:

Valentines were distributed:

A fun breakfast was shared while reading about God's love for us, and us loving Him back:

Just between you and me--I'm not really interested in Valentine's day. Like so many holidays, I think the main thrust is commercial and in years past, our family has done only little things to acknowledge the day and our love for one another.

On this day I still feel a twinge of loneliness because I remember clearly Valentine's Day seven years ago. We were living in Texas far from family and friends. My two oldest children were then 3 and nearly 1. Though we were involved in a church and had made some friends, that particular day felt very lonely and painful.

I knew some homeschool moms who all had older children were getting together to celebrate the day and I knew that I didn't really "fit" with them. They were already all established with one another and all had their routines with their older children and I just wasn't at that point in my family and homeschooling life. I think I wasn't invited because my children were so young and they honestly thought because my children couldn't participate in their older child activities, that I wouldn't be interested. But I was. If only to not be alone, and for my children to enjoy the company of the older children they adored.

Now I'm at that very season in my life, and I wonder if there are any moms of little ones in my community who feel left out, as if they aren't really members of the "club," as if they don't belong simply because they aren't in the same season of life.

I  lift a prayer of comfort and love for them today, and connectedness and belonging. I pray that I would not be oblivious to them and their needs. I see now how easy it is to be involved in my own season of life with my older children, which does feel very different from and is much busier than having two very little ones. But I do remember. May God make me aware of and give me His love for those moms I may encounter.

Christmas Eve

It's Christmas Eve and there's a spirit of expectation as the children finish their crab dinner (after five years of living near the Chesapeake Bay they've developed a big appetite for crabs).

The animals are all gathered around the tree (Mom always did this when my siblings and I were little. Now my family does it, too. Must be a Tasha Tudor thing):

Some of the other animals are lazing on the rug:

The Sculpey clay nativity is already celebrating His birth:

The snowmen are waiting:

The angel is trumpeting:

Soon we'll decorate Christmas cookies, the next-to-last Advent door will be opened, and the children will be off to bed while my husband and I finish the gift wrapping, sip some wine, and rest in Him.

May His goodness and joy fill you tomorrow and in the coming days.

Soft & Buttery Christmas Sugar Cookies

These are our very favorite Christmas sugar cookies. The recipe was shared with me by my dear Texas friend. These are soft, yummy melt-in-the-mouth cookies because confectioner's sugar replaces granulated in the recipe. Real buttery, too. Definitely not the cardboard-hard ones we've been so used to eating all these years. We're finally getting around to making them today as some of us haven't been feeling very well the last couple of days. And nobody wants to be left out of making special cookies!

Sugar Cookies
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup butter, softened
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp almond extract
2 1/2 cups all purpose or whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cream of tartar
granulated sugar for sprinkling

Mix powdered sugar, butter, egg, vanilla and almond extract. Mix in flour, baking soda, and cream of tartar. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours. Heat oven to 375 F. Divide dough into halves. Roll each half 3/16 of an inch thick. Cut into shapes. Sprinkle granulated sugar. Bake until edges are light brown, 7-8 minutes. Makes 5 dozen 2-inch cookies. Note: I always double the recipe and I roll the dough thicker than 3/16 of an inch thick.

Now, off to make a couple batches with the children. I'll post some photos later.

Lights Seen From Outside

It is evening and as I was out wandering in the yard with the dogs I looked at the light glowing in the darkness at our house and our neighbors' houses.

Our hummingbird window:

Our Christmas tree:

Lit ficus tree:

Wreath on the chimney:

Looking into the front door. That's a wandering cat and loose shoes inside near the door:

Looking through the woods to the neighbor's amazing light display:

Coming back into the house through the front we see everyone crowded around the real Light:

We, too, crowd around Him who is no longer a little one. He is the Light that will stay long after the lights are taken down and put away.