Wintry wishes

Wishing everyone peace, joy, love, and hope during the holidays, and always.

Tis the season

for crafting...

And creating delicious treats in the kitchen...

And more crafting...

And for bringing the spirit of joy into our home...

It's been slow to find us this year, that joyful spirit, but I can feel it creeping in ever so slowly, and cautiously. I hope that it finds you this holiday season as well.

This Moment

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

Inspired by

http://soulemama.com/

My Seaside Naturalist

D is taking the Seaside Naturalist class offered through the Fieldtrip Research Center this year. This is a monthly class run at Northeastern University's Marine Research Center in Nahant. We've taken many homeschooling classes over the years, and this is by far the best class that D has ever been a part of it. It is well-organized, interesting, challenging, and super fun. The homework is interesting but not overwhelming and D has learned so much these past four months. Marine Science is his passion so I'm thrilled that we found a program that offers him so much new information in a fun and engaging way. During the past four classes D has learned about tides, currents, micro-organisms, algae, sponges, and jellyfish. They even collected sea moss and made their own carageenan, a thickening agent used in many food items. Then they made egg nog using their own carageenan! It looked quite interesting and I had to bribe D to try it. Although it was an awesome experiment, I don't think sea-moss egg nog is going to become a staple in our home any time soon.

Checking out cniderea and sponges under the microscope.

Some pressed algae D made.

One of the coolest things about Northeastern's Marine Research Center is that the lab is basically in a bunker, which is built into the hillside, right on the ocean. Every time we go there I feel like we are on the set of 'Lost' and I keep waiting for the doors to open and for someone in a brown Darma Initiative uniform to greet us.

Nahant is absolutely beautiful and I was able to snap some pictures while the girls and I were exploring the area on Monday.

For information on FRC, click here: http://www.fieldtripresourcecenter.com/
For information on Northeastern Marine Research Center click here: http://www.northeastern.edu/marinescience/
And to check out the Seaside Naturalist Book that they are using in the class, click here: http://www.amazon.com/Seaside-Naturalist-Guide-Study-Seashore/dp/0671765035/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1323265176&sr=1-1

This Moment

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

Inspired by http://soulemama.com/

A Little Christmas

I absolutely loved the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder when I was growing up. I read them, and re-read them, delighting in my favorite tales of life as a pioneer girl many times. I especially love the story of Christmas in the big woods of Wisconsin, where Laura Ingalls was born. She wrote of Christmas,

In each stocking there was a pair of bright red mittens, and there was a long, flat stick of red-and-white-striped peppermint candy, all beautifully notched along each side. They were all so happy they could hardly speak at first. They just looked with shinging eyes at those lovely Christmas presents. But Laura was happiest of all. Laura had a rag doll...The other girls were not jealous because Laura had mittens, and candy, and a doll, because Laura was the littlest girl.

This year I would really love for our Christmas morning to feel so sweet and simple. I know it might not be possible, - it's only December first after all, and I am already feeling overwhelmed! But I would really love to find the simple, special meaning of the holidays with my children and downplay the pervasive consumerism that seems to be all around us. I want my children to have wonderful memories of the holidays and of the things we did together as a family - not of the things they unwrapped under the tree on Christmas morning. Most of all, I want them to feel that Christmas is about family, and giving, and love.

Hope everyone out there is breathing deeply, and feeling the love this holiday season.