Family – Page 2

Mom Learns Too

February 8, 2013 by Carey Jane Clark

If I take pride in anything about myself, it’s that I can always learn something new. I’m not ashamed to admit that there’s a lot I still don’t know. But I’m usually willing to learn.

The thing about homeschooling your children is you begin to realize just how very much you know nothing about. There is always something new to learn. Rare is the day that I don’t say aloud while we are learning together, “Wow, I didn’t know that.” (My kids have started to seriously question my education.)

Whether it’s figuring out how to find the bottom of the laundry pile, remembering what on earth algebra was all about, figuring out how to satisfy quarreling siblings, or finally learning to balance all of that and keep one’s sanity, it’s not just our kids who are learning, we moms are learning too.

In these “Mom Learns Too” posts, I hope to share the lessons I’m learning each week. And part of learning is sharing. So as I share the lessons I’m learning, I’d love it if you’d join me and share what you’re learning too. Won’t you join me?

Beginning next Friday, the “Mom Learns Too” post will contain a linky tool so you can link up your post and learn along with me. For now, you can copy and paste the code below to link up with Mom Learns Too next week.

Finding the Christ in Christmas

December 12, 2012 by Carey Jane Clark

When we moved from Canada to China, there were some things we just couldn’t pack. One was our treasured nativity scene. The one we use in our family had been a gift to me when I was a teenager–something I had asked for for Christmas one year. My father had helped with (read: mostly did by himself) the construction of the stable and all our family members painted the ceramic figures. It has survived a number of moves and the toddlerhoods of three children.

But I didn’t think it was up to a trip to China. And before we moved to this apartment, we wouldn’t have had the storage space to keep it.

So we don’t have a nativity set. Once, when shopping in July or some other random month, I spotted a scene in a store here. At the time, I was astonished to see it. Don’t ask me why I didn’t snatch it up on the spot. I ask myself that now. Now that I have spent two afternoons scouring that market and another with a picture of the desired item, asking at each store, describing the item and what it was. Each time I named the baby in the manger, the shop owner would look at me, shake his or head and report they hadn’t seen anything like that anywhere. One went so far as to tell me, “Chinese people don’t like that kind of thing.”

And indeed, while you can find any number of Christmas trees, singing Santa Clauses, reindeer, flashing lights and glitter, there is no Christ child.

So today, we put aside the homeschool agenda, whipped up a bunch of salt dough, and we each made our own salt dough nativity scene–some with more success than others–items that large can crack in the baking process, and Sweetpea’s Mary didn’t fare so well.

But here are some pictures of Sprout’s little family:

Pumpkin took a great deal of time perfecting his little figures, and in the end, didn’t get time to paint them, but he plans to do that tomorrow:

We found our recipe for salt dough at Allrecipes.com:

4 cups all purpose flour
1 cup salt
1 1/2 cups water

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Mix ingredients together and form into desired shapes, then bake in oven for 1 hour. I would add that smaller items should be checked before that time. Larger items may need longer.

We really put the salt dough to the test with this project. Pumpkin cooked his figures on their backs, and the bottoms became rounded, so we sawed off a little very carefully with a serrated knife and then used a cheese grater to sand off some extra parts. Eventually they were all able to stand on their own. The shepherd was supposed to hold a staff, and Pumpkin made a hole for that purpose, but the salt dough swelled a little in the oven and the hole all but closed up. He’s going to try a glue gun after painting.

We’re going to make a cardboard stable for Pumpkin’s set. Sprout opted to keep hers on her bedside table.

All in all, we’re calling the project a success, and we’re all happy to have found a way to keep Christ in Christmas.

- Carey Clark

Advent Traditions

December 1, 2012 by Carey Jane Clark

Family traditions and memory-making are very important to me. When we moved to China originally, I worked feverishly to finish up my Creative Memories albums and I dragged three giant albums of pictures here with us, much to JavaMan’s chagrin (it meant he could pack less coffee).

But I haven’t regretted it–and JavaMan would agree. It’s been wonderful to have those albums full of memories. Our kids regularly pull them out and have us recount the stories behind the pictures. Each of them has a special memory or two of our life B.C. (before China).

Some things didn’t make the cut when we were packing, and that goes for some of our favorite Christmas things–things that made up traditions we kept each year. It was tough leaving them out. In addition, some things are harder to do here, like Truth in the Tinsel, which we did last year. Although we’d love to do it again, the supplies are just too hard to come by here.

One thing we have done every year, however, is read one of the trilogy of Advent books by Arnold Ytreeide:

Jotham’s Journey
Bartholomew’s Passage
Tabitha’s Travels

This year, we’re using Bartholomew’s Passage. Each story features a first-century child. All the childrens’ lives intersect, and at the conclusion of each story, the children find themselves witness to a special event in Bethlehem, although each child sees the event from a slightly different perspective.

The stories are exciting–there is a cliffhanger at the end of each day’s reading–and there is a brief meditation at the end of each chapter that gives a chance to pause and think about the true meaning of the season as we celebrate Advent: the coming of the Savior.

This is the first year we’re also going to use the Jesse Tree. Since all the activities are free and printable from Ann Voskamp’s blog, it made the perfect substitute for the ones we left behind back “home.”

Advent begins tomorrow, December 2. What will you do to celebrate?

- Carey Clark

Advent

November 29, 2011 by Carey Jane Clark

Christmas has always been my favorite time of year. To me, it always launched the second day of December, on my birthday. As part of my birthday celebrations, we would always put up the Christmas tree. That always seemed early to everyone around us, but for me, it was the perfect launch to the advent season.

When JavaMan and I got married, we began a new tradition–going out and cutting down our own tree at a Christmas tree farm. We carried that on when our kids were born, usually heading north from Toronto, where we lived, to find snow.

Traditions have had to flex as we’ve been a bit more nomadic, and definitely during the Christmases we’ve spent in China. But as the years have gone by, we’ve found ways to bring more and more meaning to the Christmas season, ways to make it more real to our children.

Each year, we’ve read one of the books from the Jotham’s Journey Trilogy, and tried to make a meaningful time out of advent.

This year, we’re adding something new. Since our curriculum is hands-on, and our kids are really enjoying that new focus, I think Truth in the Tinsel is the perfect fit. Rather than following the actual advent season, encompassing the four Sundays prior to Christmas, Truth in the Tinsel starts on December 1st, and counts down until Christmas Day.

There’s a fairly daunting supply list at the beginning, but once you page through the crafts for each day, it’s easy to see how you might improvise if your local craft store isn’t so well supplied.

Christmas is still my favorite time of year. And this year we have one more way to celebrate!

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