Circling Through This Life

Today is December 6.  Many people around the world celebrate December 6 as St. Nicholas Day.   I don't ever remember not knowing that December 6 is Saint Nicholas Day.  I knew that our American Santa Claus has its roots in the very real St. Nicholas of Myra.  Growing up we didn't have a fireplace, so my sister and I didn't hang traditional stockings or put out our shoes on December 6th.  We did, however, lay out our own socks on December 24th.  Real socks. Not Christmas Stockings. That means they were little girl socks so not very big.  My other always put an orange in them and sometimes chocolate.  I didn't realize at the time that oranges and chocolate were very traditional St. Nicholas gifts. Are you familiar with the stories and legends surrounding St. Nicholas of Myra?  St. Nicholas of Myra was a real historical figure though not much is known about him.  One story is about how he gave coins to a poor widower for daughters' do...

The Homeschool Review Crew hosts a Monthly Challenge with a theme for each week of the month.  The theme for the last week of November is Preparing our Hearts for December. It made me think of Advent which is more preparing our hearts IN December but then I realized that Thanksgiving helps my family's hearts to prepare for preparing our hearts in December. We celebrate Advent.  Advent is the preparation for the feast of the Nativity of Christ or Christmas.  So how does Thanksgiving, an American holiday celebrating the Pilgrims coming to the New World, prepare hearts for Advent? Well for me it is because I do not view Thanksgiving as just about the Pilgrims.  The Pilgrims had a feast because they had gratitude.  They were grateful for surviving.  They gave thanks to God.   It is that same vein of gratitude, the gratefulness to God for all things, that girds my family's celebration of Thanksgiving. 2020 has been an especially tough year. It is diffi...

Thank you Ancient Faith Publishing for providing the coloring book Beautiful Christmas for review. Coloring is not just a great way to practice fine motor skills but it is also a wonderful tool for exercising your brain. When you color you develop planning skills and build your creativity muscles. My special needs daughter is developmentally delayed both cognitively and physically. While chronologically outside the intended age range of 5-12 this coloring book was perfect for where she is developmentally. From the back the cover: Beautiful Christmas is a 64-page coloring book for children aged 5-12. As they color Christ in the cave or the shepherds glorifying God with the angels, they are cultivating their own sensibility to beauty while learning to recognize some of the meaningful symbols, elements, and motifs of the Church. May this small book bless those children who color and create within its pages. I love the wide variety of coloring pages.  Some pictures have la...

Recently the Homeschool Review Crew had the opportunity to check out the Music & Creativity - Foundation Course from Simply Music . This course is free so every member of your family, with their own email address, could create their own Simply Music account.  With their own accounts, they can move through the program at their own speed and keep track of where they left off. If you have thought about piano lessons for yourself or your children but are unsure if it would be worth the time and investment you'll want to check out this free online piano course . As part of the Leadership Team for the Homeschool Review Crew, I do not typically write reviews.  I volunteered to write this review. Originally I was thinking I would have family members use this program and tell me their thoughts and I would just tell you about the program.   I set up an account for myself and then I encouraged my family to set up their own accounts. Honeybear, Turtlegirl, and BooBear...

Lent is fast approaching Today is Meatfare Sunday.  As a community, Orthodox Christians will not eat meat again after today until the fast is broken on Pascha.  But Lent is more than just not eating meat or dairy .  It's a time of preparation.  We renew our minds by focusing on the spiritual.  Along with fasting we pray more and do almsgiving.  Many of us turn to books to help us renew our minds and focus on the spiritual.  The Wilderness Journal: 365 Days with the Philokalia by Angela Doll Carlson is an excellent choice for preparing for Lent. First let's talk about the Philokalia. The Philokalia is not a single continuous book with one author. It is is a mult-volume collection of texts from the 4th to the 14th centuries focusing on spiritual living. The writers are all spiritual masters in the Orthodox Christian Tradition. The Wilderness Journal is a devotional tool we can use  to pursue Holiness by mediating on God, faith and...

Yes I am specifically writing this post to link up to the Friday (I know it's not Friday!) Homeschool Blogger Link Up hosted by the Homeschool Review Crew a division of The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine.  This Crew Blog's post is Homeschool Review Crew Needs You.   Yep we want to grow the crew an to do that we need more home educating bloggers.  But not just bloggers.  We want Vloggers too!  Are you an active You Tube Vlogger?  We have a section in the 2019 Crew Application just for you! Now that you know why I am writing this post let me tell about my long term love affair with the Homeschool Review Crew.  We meet to speak when it was brand spanking new in 2008.  An online friend and co-moderator with me of an online email group for home school support had just embarked on the Maiden Voyage of this new concept of receiving home school product in exchange for a review!  Back in those days you didn't have to be a blogger you just had to...