Two Kid Schoolhouse
On The Twelfth Day Of Christmas Jan. 5, 2006
A
very mysterious gift - a spiral-bound manuscript of a 245-page book
written by... my nephew! Meant to call about this tonight but too
late once again. I don't know if this is something I should
remember, or... The title is Andy Robinson and the Secret at Willow Wood Manor. My quick browse through it makes me think it's Hardy Boys-inspired. Hmm... more details may follow.
And
now I'm confused. Today is the twelfth day of Christmas but
tomorrow is called Twelfth Night. Did we start a day early or is
tomorrow really Thirteenth Night - a name which would never do?
The 12 drummers drumming - 12 beliefs stated in the Apostle's
Creed. Or, possibly, the 12 tribes of Israel, or the 12 gates of
heaven. Lots going on here!
This was sure fun! We
have a bunch of photos in that disposable camera to send back.
The kids are working on their thank you notes. Sorry, though, J
cannot bear to write about every single item! E will go very
heavy on the glitter glue so hers will take a couple days to dry.
I'm
sure the kids are a little disappointed that the gift-a-day is over.
They don't know that Dad and I have a couple of small gifts for them
for tomorrow. They were meant to be Christmas gifts but when we
counted up the pile on Christmas Eve we decided to hold some
back. One of them is a set of the Chronicles of Narnia. Not
that we needed more reading material around here.
Thanks Suz and girls!!
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On The Eleventh Day Of Christmas Jan. 4, 2006
The
kids almost argued over this one - a book light. Now, they have
no need of a booklight because even though they have discovered the
great joy of reading in bed, they now have separate rooms so there is
no one to disturb.
However, I could use one... I guess we will share.
Eleven pipers, eleven faithful disciples spreading the Word!
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On The Tenth Day Of Christmas Jan. 4, 2006
Yum,
hot chocolate and the cutest little "mini-bags" of microwave
popcorn! I'd never seen these before. Individual
bags. Good thing, too, because I love popcorn and my popper's
broken so I can't make "real" popcorn and when I pop a whole bag of
micro corn, I will eat the whole bag, of course.
So our teatime today (oops, yesterday, I'm late) was popcorn and swiss miss.
10 lords a'leaping... hmmmm, come on, we all know this one... 10 commandments!
Almost finished with our stack of gifts. Then comes E's birthday
and then... the post-holiday blues? Or, lots of Valentine's Day
preparation??
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On The Ninth Day Of Christmas Jan. 2, 2006
Oooh, cool book. The Children's Book Of Questions And Answers.
A encyclopedia kind of book. J loves these kinds of books and E
was pretty excited by it too. Published in 1974.
Random page sample: Where is the Levant? Where did soccer begin? Where is the Hermitage?
Here's an
interesting page: When is Twelfth Night? When did
Woolworth's begin? When would a person be excommunicated? When
were traffic lights invented?
Since it is
apropos here: Twelfth night is the night of the twelfth day after
Christmas. It is one of the oldest festival days of the Christian
Church, and was celebrated as long ago as the 3rd century.
Another name for the festival is the Epiphany, or the Feast of the
Three Kings. It commemorates the showing of the infant Jesus to
the three Magi, or holy men, from the East. According to
tradition Twelfth Night is the day Christmas decorations are taken
down. (This page includes a detail from Botticelli's Adoration of the Magi.)
Who reading this is too young to remember Woolworth's? That one is too long to type up.
The nine ladies
dancing represent the nine fruits of the spirit: But the fruit of
the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. (Galations 5:22-23)
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On The Eighth Day Of Christmas Jan. 1, 2006
A
tie for Dad! And it is a nice one. Suz didn't know this
but he had asked for a tie for Christmas. Kids and I looked all
over the place and couldn't find one we thought he'd like. I am
not good at picking out ties. This one is very nice! He
likes it a lot!
The first origami project is a penguin. Very cool!
Eight maids a'milking. 8 Beatitudes. The link: nourishment for the body, nourishment for the soul.
Happy New Year!
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On The Seventh Day Of Christmas Dec. 31, 2005
Oh
my. Big grins and excitement. An origami "fold a day"
calendar. Already agreed that E will get to do the first one
tomorrow. We have just been bitten by the origami bug around here
so this is timely and perfect!
Seven swans
a'swimming. Everyone knows the story of the ugly duckling who
grew into a lovely swan. As we utilize the seven Gifts of the
Spirit, we can turn our ugly old selves into lovely new creatures
too. See Romans 12:6-8 for the reference. And don't
remind me that there are other Spiritual Gifts. I didn't write
the book.
But it's probably time to mention again that the "twelve days" information is from a lovely book called The Real Twelve Days of Christmas by Helen Haidle, published by Zonderkids. May be out of print, though.
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On The Sixth Day of Christmas Dec. 30, 2005
Aunt Susan gave to me... a book called Dinosaurs A to Z. Sing it!
Well of course this was a hit. It's a large-format book with
large drawings, lots of white space, and short but useful descriptions
of dinos. Perfect for a not-so-struggling-anymore young reader.
6 geese a-laying... eggs, creation, 6 days!
The kids are having a lot of fun with this. The anticipation is
great fun, of course. The understanding that the gift may not be
exciting for everyone is a good sort of lesson in patience. This
will be remembered for a long time. It's gonna be tough to top this
one, Suz and girls!
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On The Fifth Day Of Christmas Dec. 29, 2005
Aunt Susan sent to us... 2 silver rings... a pair of earrings, actually. Those were for me!
The 5 gold rings
represent the 5 books of theTorah, or the Pentateuch. Who
knew? (Probably lots of people, but it's news to me.)
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On The Fourth Day Of Christmas Dec. 28, 2005
Today's gift was not too exciting for J, I
have to tell the truth. It was a bundle of cute little
cookbooks! But he started to get more interested when E started
going through the cooky book and finding all sorts of
delights! But even though he didn't find the gift super
exciting, he is still enjoying the process and does remember that the
gifts could be for anyone in our family! Of course we will
all benefit from these!
Four calling birds represent the four Gospel writers! "Like birds
calling with loud and distinctive voices, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John
spread abroad the news of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection."
(from The Real Twelve Days of Christmas by Helen Haidle)
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On The Third Day Of Christmas... Dec. 27, 2005
we opened a cute tube-shaped tin full of
.... CANDY! Oh did the eyes light up on that one. I
think E figured she'd for once get candy right after breakfast.
Well, no deal, especially not in front of the grandparents!
(Side note: E asks for candy every day - no lie, every single day
- right after breakfast. She is waiting for me to slip and
set the precedent, I know. So even today I couldn't do it.)
The three French hens symbolize the wonderful gifts of the three wise
men. These hens were very valuable in the sixteenth
century. Don't know if they still are today!
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Musings of a slacker homeschool Mom
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