Easter 2018

[Yes, Easter was almost a month ago, but I’m slaying the perfectionist-procrastinator demon today and just posting anyway.]

We had a lovely, low-key Easter celebration with my family. We had a bunch of things going on just before and just after, so it was a simple dinner. This year we also enjoyed the company of my best friend, Char, and her family. It was barely warm enough for a walk after dinner, but we got out there and enjoyed the fresh air.

The three girls are getting so big! I love their cousinship (it’s a mix between friendship and sibling rivalry—ha!).

Christmas 2017

My dear family. I adore them. We had the whole crew as always (including Drake and his wife, Jess) for Christmas. Olive and Little Ben are missing in the above picture, but they stopped by later in the afternoon.

We had breakfast and stockings at home (as usual) before heading to my parents’ house just down the road. We opened gifts there (we always take turns opening one at a time), and Mom had stockings for all of us.

Mom also knitted scarves for all the ladies. (Now Olive had arrived, but Sweden was napping.)

Then dinner. Shannon outdid herself on the tablescape. It was whimsical and so very lovely.

Forest animals. Felt teepees, wigwams, and toadstools. Ferns and branches. Little camp trailers and vintage cars carrying Christmas trees on their roofs. Beeswax candles.

So cheery. (The ceiling was covered in white lights and paper snowflakes.)

Bright laughter, good company, delicious food.

And then our traditional after-dinner walk. It had been a beautiful day of sunshine, and we hit the chill of sunset.

The three little girls above.

The complete Karstens family below. So nice to have Drake home from Chicago. He moves to San Diego (and Jess will join him there) in February for more schooling before landing at the Naval base in Washington in the late spring. We’re so glad they will be less than a day’s drive away.

Sweden, the doll of the family.

The Greatness of Small Things ~ Green Friday

Hours and hours of sunshine for our traditional Green Friday!

Holly, Ilex, and Ivy
Shannon, Rilla, and Sweden
Heidi, Levi, Luke, Leif, and Lola

I was thrilled that Ilex was able to take a break from her studies and join us.

“A man can do worse than be poor. He can miss altogether the sight of the greatness of small things.” [Supper of the Lamb]

"Life is so much more than occasions, and its grand ordinariness must never go unsavored.”

“Only miracle is plain; it is the ordinary that groans with the unutterable weight of glory.”

“Come then; leap upon these mountains, skip upon these hills and heights of earth. The road to Heaven does not run from the world but through it.”

 

“[The world] is a gorgeous old place, full of clownish graces and beautiful drolleries, and it has enough textures, tastes, and smells to keep us intrigued for more time than we have.”

“Man’s real work is to look at the things of the world and to love them for what they are. That is, after all, what God does, and man was not made in God’s image for nothing.”

“For leisure is a receptive attitude of mind, a contemplative attitude, and it is not only the occasion but also the capacity for steeping oneself in the whole of creation.” [Leisure: The Basis of Culture]

Rejoice, Pray, Give Thanks

“You mustn’t wish for another life. You mustn’t want to be somebody else. What you must do is this:
Rejoice evermore.
Pray without ceasing.
In everything give thanks.
I am not all the way capable of so much, but those are the right instructions.”

~Wendell Berry, Hannah Coulter

CC Spring Protocol 2017

For the past several years I’ve been able to photograph our local Classical Conversations Spring Protocol for the high school Challenge classes. [The lighting and pictures turned out the best at the first protocol in 2014, then again in 2015. The venue changed and the lighting was very dim for the 2016 event, and I only posted one picture.]

This year I finally had a son old enough to attend the event! It was a new venue again—not as conducive for photos, but the protocol team (headed by my best friend, Char) did a lovely job decorating and plating and serving. [I tried my hand at my first ever chalk board design.]

The students enjoyed a four-course meal (soup, salad, main dish, and dessert plus bread and a palate-cleansing sorbet) and then an evening of English country dancing under twinkling lights.

Lindsay’s Literary Baby Shower

Do you remember this exquisite wedding (and more wedding pictures and this fun bridal shower)?

Well, my “little sister” Lindsay and her husband, Bob, are expecting a baby in just a few short weeks!

[I took Lindsay’s family pictures back in November, and I’ll post them as soon as my hard drive is recovered!]

My sister Shannon (with friends Jessye, Tinsa, and Domini) knocked it out of the park again with the baby shower decor. It helped to have such a fabulous location.

The literary theme was carried throughout the room. Each guest table was topped with a stack of gorgeous old books.

Lindsay with her daughter, sister-in-law Domini, and mom:

Chalkboards with literary quotes were sprinkled throughout the room. This was my favorite:

Lovely brunch food:

The guest book was a darling picture book version of Anne of Green Gables. Guests signed the inside cover.

This adorable illustration of Anne of Green Gables was custom created by a friend. Lindsay received the original piece of art, and the image was the cover of the invitations.

What happens when Heidi is given the task of planning the baby shower game? The guests are given a literature quiz!

I gave them each a paper with 20 children’s book quotes and 20 children’s book titles, and they had to match them.

Want to give it a try?

QUOTES

1. “Safe?” said Mr. Beaver…”Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.”__________

2. Kuplink, kuplank, kuplunk.________

3. In an old house in Paris that was covered in vines… ________

4. Better drowned than duffers if not duffers won’t drown. ________

5. “Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.” _________

6. Second star to the right, and straight on till morning. _________

7. “When I say ‘salutations,’ it’s just my fancy way of saying hello or good morning.” __________

8. We can’t go over it. We can’t go under it. Oh no! We’ve got to go through it!  _________

9. It is more fun to talk with someone who doesn’t use long, difficult words but rather short, easy words like “What about lunch?” ________

10. The Herdmans were absolutely the worst kids in the history of the world.  _________

11. It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye. _________

12. For the strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack.  __________

13. So please, oh please, we beg, we pray,
Go throw your TV set away,
And in its place you can install
A lovely bookshelf on the wall.
Then fill the shelves with lots of books.  ___________

14. “You were Real to the Boy,” the Fairy said, “because he loved you. Now you shall be Real to everyone.” __________

15. “Please, sir. I want some more.” _________

16. “No, Miss Minchin, you are not kind. And this is not a home.” _________

17. “I read in a book once that a rose by any other name would smell as sweet, but I’ve never been able to believe it. I don’t believe a rose WOULD be as nice if it was called a thistle or a skunk cabbage.”  ___________

18. And for all I know he is sitting there still, under his favorite cork tree, smelling the flowers just quietly.  ___________

19. A person’s a person, no matter how small. ___________

20. As long as I’m living, my baby you’ll be. _________

 

TITLES

A. The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf

B. Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie

C. Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome

D. Love You Forever by Robert Munsch

E. The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams

F. Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey

G. Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne

H. Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens

I. Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White

J. Horton Hears a Who by Dr. Seuss

K. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

L. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis

M. We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Helen Oxenbury

N. The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling

O. The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson

P. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

Q. A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett

R. Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery

S. Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans

T. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

A Family Christmas

We had our fair share of bad attitudes and mishaps and too much sugar, but these are three of my favorite ambiance photographs from our day of celebration. I can’t claim the presentation above; those are family gifts from my sister Holly and her family. I can’t claim the home below (my mom and dad’s) or the table-scape (created by my sister Shannon) or the food (I only contributed store-bought rolls and our family-favorite jello mousse) or the road (my parents’ country road). But I’ll claim the pictures.

Advent Reading

Every year I add to our Christmas book collection. After all these years, it’s rather extensive. I’ve gathered links to some of my favorites here.

This year, our new Christmas books correspond with my current literary projects. Just this month I revealed my Tolkien project, and Tolkien’s magical Letters from Father Christmas, with reproductions of his delightful illustrations and handwritten letters, is just perfect for me to read aloud to the kids!

I haven’t yet posted about my second ongoing literary project, but you might guess it from the second title. Yes, I am also immersing myself in G.K. Chesterton. This simple Advent and Christmas reader will be perfect for my own studies, and I am deliberating whether to read it aloud to the family. It contains 28 Advent readings and 12 readings for the days of Christmas. Each reading includes a short selection written by Chesterton (a poem or quote from an essay or book), a short bible passage, a prayer, and an “Advent Action.”

Have you added any books to your Christmas collection this season? Share in the comments!