bits of sunshine

about a day

last night, it was snowing and the wind was whipping the fresh snow into drifts when i finally headed to bed.

this morning my alarm went off at 5:25 and i looked out the window at the myriad of stars twinkling in the clear, dark sky.  it was beautiful.  

i hit my snooze button.  

a few minutes later the phone rang and a recorded voice let me know that school would be two hours late.  

that was a welcome notice.

i slept two more hours.  

school today consisted of a game of Clue, then learning about the water cycle and the hydrophere and weather (which needs heat, air and water) and Luke Howard who named the clouds with wonderful Latin words that have now been used for the past 220 years or so.  cirrus and stratus and cumulonimbus (and seven other cloud names).  at the end of the day, we wrapped up our gifts for parents and grandparents.  

i drank plenty of coffee.  and probably not enough water.  (i just poured myself a glass of cool fresh water.)

maybe tomorrow we will have a full day of school.  we will learn about Wilson Bentley and how snowflakes are formed.  we will look at the sky and classify the clouds and write in our outdoor journals.  i will mark my final grades into the gradebook.  we will make sure we are ready for our party on friday.  

tonight i will finish getting gifts ready for the kids at school and for my far-away family and friends - some to bring with on our trip, some to send off through the mail.  

i will read another of our advent passages to my family after we share a meal.  we will have candle light and twinkle light.  

i will hug my children and kiss my husband.

i will call ben's mom to plan some a bit more for our visit and my mom to tell her that i can't wait to see her on saturday morning!

go gently and be wonderful, my friends. 

 

advent thoughts :: merry and bright

sunlight through the windows as i worked on lesson planning.

this advent season has been different for us again. of course.

i am doing december as a teacher. that encompasses all kinds of shenanigans. parties and programs and secret santas and such. we had our program at school last thursday evening. it went well and was very festive and fun. maddie and isaac played a trio with their band teacher. their music was wonderful!

and they played again at the main county school last night. and they'll play again at the other country school in the county on thursday evening.

i've been incorporating december poetry and favorite christmas stories into our mornings and our language arts studies. this part of teaching is my favorite. i love sharing words and stories and ideas that strike a chord with me. i love watching my class, diverse as it is, get into reading a story, get into writing their words and thoughts, get a math concept, see the connection between the book we are reading aloud for fun and the study of where all it is taking place on the map. and while we have the maps pulled down and the globe out, let's see where these countries are in relation to each other. and in relation to us. and wow! russia is big! and it's on two continents! but the ussr was really, really big! and now, this is some history, too.

and as i look at the countries of the world, and think about the little bit that i know about what is happening now, and as i listen to my own kids and my other two students, i know that the reality of advent, the waiting for the light of the world to come and to dispel shadows with his great might and love, i know that i am living in advent. i am waiting for the arrival. and while i wait, i will do my best to shine with his light. to share joy. even when my flesh is weak. i have a safe and comfortable bed in which to rest my weary body. not a bed of hay. not a pile of rubble. not a refugee tent. always, joy and light come with the practice of gratitude.

this advent, the light is coming to me in the beautiful skies of early morning and midday and as evening falls in brilliant colors. i light candles. we have two strands of lights in our living room. no tree this year. the first year since ben and i have been married that we haven't put up a tree. but our home still feels festive. there is no snow on the ground, yet we are still merry and bright.

we are in this new place. this new town. this new state. nine hours of driving to our closest family members. so this year, we will drive. drive to my parents. drive to ben's parents. drive to our siblings' homes. drive and drive. and visit and hug and see and connect. and drive some more. two full weeks of goodness. two full weeks of not our usual christmas time. i have had mixed emotions about this. about not putting up a tree, about not being in our own home for any of the days surrounding christmas. but really, my home is wherever the four of us are together. and everyone we visit will have a tree and all the trimmings. and i am really looking forward to driving off, car full of little gifts for our family, just embarking on a little adventure.

i hope that this advent season is merry and bright and full of goodness for you, my friends.

go gently and be wonderful.
~e

hoar frost

yesterday morning i woke to a thick and beautiful hoar frost.  as soon as i was ready for the day, i stepped outside into the magic of the morning.  i breathed the cold deeply into my lungs.  i crunched ice crystals under my boots.  i captured some of the beauty with my camera.

the hoar frost clung to everything, each twig, each blade of grass, all day.  clouds moved over, breaking and joining and breaking again, and when the sun shone through, the light caused every crystal to sparkle. 

i kept looking out the window by my desk.  i'm so grateful that there is a window by my desk.  that i can see out, even when i can't be out. 

at lunchtime, i took a few moments to walk away from the school yard, to walk to the fairgrounds at the edge of town, to look out and away, to move, to breathe, to listen to silence, to capture a few more pictures of the beauty God dressed our little corner of the world in today.

really, what a perfect way to welcome december, what a gorgeous way to step into the advent season.  beauty simply found.  beauty to be noticed and intentionally captured.  this season, i am intentionally capturing the best moments.  this year will look different for us.  already, i have been playing christmas music for weeks (gasp! since well before thanksgiving!) as i prepare to play for the school christmas program - which will take place this coming thursday.  maddie and isaac and i have been doing a slough of christmas crafting in preparation for a christmas craft fair/market day - which will take place this coming friday.  i am working at doing what i can and doing that the best that i can.  there are only so many hours in a day, in a week.  and i want to enjoy those hours.  i want to help my family to enjoy those hours.  so far, we are doing a really good job of avoiding the crazy that can come along with this season.  we are enjoying our preparations.  we are working together and smiling and listening to music and laughing as we make some christmas gifts and christmas trimmings. 

one of these days, i do hope to get a good picture of the four of us to use for a christmas card.  i wish that we were all standing on the road together in the picture above - wouldn't that be a lovely christmas card?  we'll see what we come up with in the next few days.  that's one thing that i don't want to give up.  (i think that saturday will have to be the day - we should all be home together during day-lit hours.)

i hope that this advent season will be full of peace and blessings and moments to be savored, my friends.

go gently and be wonderful.  love, ~e