Lenten Cleaning Update: Week One

The Lenten Cleaning is going well, so far I've been able to stay on track and keep up with everything else! Breaking the cleaning down into more manageable jobs has been helpful. I washed walls on Friday when the older two were at their homeschool co-op and the little one napped. It felt great to get rid of cobwebs and dust and food (ahh, life with babies!) from the walls. We did the floors, which entailed moving furniture and area rugs, on Saturday and my sweet husband did the bulk of the work. 

For cleaning the walls I used 1 gallon of hot water with 1/2 cup of vinegar and 1/4 cup of baking soda. I found the recipe (though I omitted the ammonia) and other great tips at "How to Clean Walls."

Monday I worked on the fridge and the oven. I chose today for these two since I don't usually bake on Mondays and it's my grocery shopping day, so the fridge is fairly empty anyway.

Tuesday and Wednesday I've done smaller jobs like cleaning out the microwave, dishwasher, washer and dryer, work that I usually only do if catastrophe strikes! Overall I have found the work rewarding; the house has begun to feel deep-down clean. The rest of the week the de-cluttering of the kitchen will begin; I'll try to take pictures as I go. The pictures of the cleaning were quite boring--no one really wants to see my fridge!

The time dedicated to "work with my hands" has given me space to think more about the work of managing a home--it's higher and lower purposes--which I hope to write more on soon.

Cleaning in light of Lent has also led me to pray more while I work which I hope will continue after this season ends. 

And at the times when I haven't prayed, I've tried to just focus on the cleaning itself, working quietly and well as an attempt to worship the Creator and Giver of all of these good things, pushing out worries, those little conversations I have in my head, attempts to compose a blog post while I work! And as a result, I've often felt very blessed that I have whatever it is I'm cleaning. There have been small moments where I've been filled with gratitude for areas I usually grumble about (laundry, dishes). As I take the time to slowly and carefully clean, things shine again, their purpose is made more clear, and my work seems more important. This is very different then my  usual "throw yet another load of laundry in, notice how dirty the washer is getting, and give it a half-hearted wipe down." During those hurried times, I often feel annoyed, grumble about the effects of the Fall, and pine for fancier appliances and a maid. And so in trying to clean as part of a rhythm of work and rest, with goals of simplicity and proper care of His gifts, the work and I become more redeemed.

May His Work continue on my affections, my attachments, my will, and my ambitions as I make our home shine so we may live in His Abundance, capable of appreciating His good gifts.

I pray again,

"Teach me your way, O LORD...give me an undivided heart..." (Psalm 86:11 NIV)

An Undivided Heart.

A Heart that wills one thing.

A Heart detached from vain comforts that do not satisfy.

A Heart Uncluttered. Body and Soul. Our home. Our routine. Our affections.

All United to His will.

P.S. I also wanted to add an idea from my friend Christina, who has decided to not tackle a huge cleaning project right now, but liked the idea of the 40 days/40 bags on a smaller yet still meaningful scale. She writes,

"We are all, even A. [her almost 2 yr old], picking one thing a day to put in a bag that will be given away. Some days we will devote to a specific family and give things they need or might like, but most days we are just trying to clear out and such." What a great plan!

P.S.S. I've also kept the children entertained while I cleaned with The Chronicles of Narnia on CD:

They love this, listening over and over and over again. This edition is a dramatic reading of the books with some sound effects and the parts of the characters done by different actors which has really made the story come alive for them.

Anyone else attempting the 40 bags or 40 areas for Lent? Or have any other insights you've gained in your first week of Lent?

The Children's Lent and Easter Book Basket

Our Book Basket for Lent and Easter isn't as large as our Advent/Christmas Basket yet, but our church library certainly helps. What a wonderful ministry!

This is the first time I've used the Amazon Link which I don't think shows up in a reader, you may want to click over to my page if you're interested in the books!

Here are some that we will be reading; 









While this next book isn't about the Passion of Christ specifically, it is a parable of Christ's forgiveness that has really struck a chord with my daughter.





For the littlest ones, we have this in board book form for little hands.

Here is C reading in the PEACE chair:

I've also included a few books on Prayer since this is an important discipline of Lent. The children love the beautiful illustrations by Eloise Wilkin.



G especially loves this book of envelopes with little letter prayers:



I will also put out books about St. Patrick as his feast day draws near.

Do you have any books you'd recommend for us as we look to expand our repertoire? Please share!

Good Reads: Our Children's Poetry List Winter 2009

I grew up with poetry: my grandfather quoting it; my mother writing her own; memorizing it in school; a 4th grade teacher reading us "The Cremation of Sam McGee" for good behavior. But it wasn't until I started teaching poetry to AP students and then adults that I grew to love it. It wasn't just that I was forced to learn it and help others understand it, that helped, but more because I was then able to see poetry's ability to speak to so many different human experiences in such a simple yet profound ways.

A turn of phrase, an apt metaphor, a broken rhythm...brought forth rich discussion in class and food for thought long after the class was over. So often my own experiences are better understood in the light of poetry and I've started to enjoy writing in lines (here and here) rather than straight prose.

So reading poetry with my children is also becoming a part of our day. We've started reading poetry right before nap time. It calms them down but is short enough, they always are asking for more.


Here are the three anthologies we're reading right now:

The Green Tiger's Illustrated Mother Goose. We spend time pouring over the beautiful illustrations from over 100 artists dating from the 1880s to the 1940s in this wonderful edition I found at a used bookstore. It also maintains the older language so its syntax and vocabulary are much more interesting.

It's so easy to think of Mother Goose only for the very young but Nursery Rhymes build an ear for language and rhyme, increase musical and rhythmic awareness, aid memory, build phonemic awareness and even develop math skills. Many of the poems are just fun but others teach moral lessons.

Although the older editions are more complex, I have found that since the children already know the nursery rhymes so well that the complexity helps them learn more about the art of reading poetry.

The Complete Book of Flower Fairies by Cecily Barker

The children are smitten with this beautiful anthology of fairies of the trees and flowers. Each poem has an enchanting illustration of the fairy and a realistic depiction of the flower, leaf, or fruit. The poems are sweet, humorous, and thought-provoking, containing elements which actually teach the children a bit about the flower or tree. We're working our way through the Alphabet Fairies (which you could buy separately as its own book). The poems have led to imaginative play, tree and flower identification, and a deeper appreciation of nature. When an acorn drops they wonder if it is a fairy; they are quiet around Willow Trees, hoping to gain a glimpse; when our yard was filled with clover, they spent a good deal of time looking for the clover fairy! The book has a companion CD of the poems put to music and a wonderful coloring book. I hope to post more about our love of fairies soon!

The Ambleside Collection of Poetry. An online collection of over 200 classic poems for children arranged by month and season. I've printed and placed them in a binder. I also print a few to place on our seasonal bulletin board that has the children's art work and seasonal pictures. I pick and choose from the collection a few days a week. If the poem is too difficult for the children I encourage them just to sit back and enjoy the sounds of the words rolling together and ask what they heard, rather than forcing it.

Hope you're inspired to read poetry! Love to hear of other ways you've introduced poetry to your children and your favorite collections!

A New Other World

"Have you ever been up at five o'clock on a fine summer morning? It is very beautiful. The sunlight is pinky and yellow, all the grass and trees are covered with dew diamonds. And all the shadows go the opposite way to the way they do in the evening, which is very interesting and makes you feel as though you were in a new other world."

-E. Nesbitt Five Children and It

Well, I'm finally posting after a month of silence. Is there anyone left reading?!

Our summer has been so full, it has been difficult to find the space mentally to write and once I stopped it was hard to begin again. It makes me appreciate even more my husband's ability to write, fitting his writing in between classes and office hours, or late at night when we are all asleep!

Don't get me wrong, I love summer: there are a million and one ways to spend a day and the freedom to do it. Yet by August I begin to look forward to the more structured routines of normal life. With all of the fun of summer, I've found it difficult not just to blog but to have time alone...to read, write, reflect...

And so, I have begun a new habit of waking up in the early morning. I'm loving it so much, I hope it will continue into the Fall but it may just be for this season of my life. I know there are seasons it certainly wouldn't have worked--the last months of pregnancy, night-wakings with a nursing baby, lots of late nights in a row. But though my days have been busy, I've been getting good sleep for the first time in a long while! And though I'd covet a few more minutes of sleep, the idea of time all to myself to do with as I please, is enough to get me going.

What do I do with these hours to myself?

It's been varied. But mainly I have good coffee and good books, time in prayer and Scripture, and end with a run and a shower.

Time to experience quiet. Experience peace. Experience beauty. The Nesbitt quote above says it so well. In the early morning, when the house is hushed, all seems good and fresh and new. And a hope and a desire build that the day will continue this way. Okay, with a house of little ones, it will never stay hushed, it shouldn't, right?! Not so quiet then, but an inner peace that overflows and fills the house.

Have you noticed how a mother's mood infects an entire household?

I know when I don't get this personal space, I become impatient and irritable, snapping instead of training, ignoring instead of correcting. I also get an overwhelming desire for escape and so can fritter away time on a project or on the internet. I am not present to the people and tasks at hand. I do dishes and daydream. I fold laundry and mentally compose an email. I cook dinner and plan meals for the week. It is no wonder I then do not enjoy these tasks.

The message our culture sends us is "faster is better; more is better." Susan Wise Bauer writes in the recent magazine article entitled, "Stop cleaning the kitchen and read a book" in the The Classical Teacher that to take the time to read a good book

"pushes back against our society, which tells us that the faster we work, the more we do, the more we produce and accumulate and experience, the better we are...But classical self-education helps us reorient ourselves away from that which is a market ethic. Speed and productivity are not moral goods. It is not ethically superior to do more and to be faster. Reading to yourself in the mornings, instead of doing something else (something "productive") pushes back against the speed ethic, the 'more is better' ethic. It resists the message that says to us: In order to be worthwhile, you must produce something tangible. When you choose to read instead of clean the kitchen you are refusing to accept that your worth as a person is measured by the visible results that you produce in the world. You are asserting, instead, that your worth as a person is based on who you are and who you were created to be...created in the image of God."

And so I may be tempted in this time to plan. I love my lists! Plan our day, our lessons, our grocery list, but I want to resist that. I may be tempted to catch up on internet reading, facebook, emails, but I want to resist that. Not that these things are in themselves problematic, but once the day begins there is little time for reflection or reading or sustained prayer. We always must respond to the urgent--the skinned knee, the hungry belly, the dirty bum. A moment of calm and we decide to de-clutter a desk, send an email, call the doctor, get a head start at dinner (all at the same time!). By the time the children are in bed, we feel like falling into bed ourselves but resist for time with our spouse, a favorite show, an entertaining book, our latest hobby. Picking up the stuff of real meat is rarely likely. Susan Wise Bauer's words are helpful but they are not new. The need for mothers to continue in self-education is of vital importance, evidenced even in the 1892 journal edited by the educator Charlotte Mason entitled "Mother Culture":

"There is no sadder sight in life than a mother, who has so used herself up in her children's childhood, that she has nothing to give them in their youth...is there not some need for "mother culture"? But how is the state of things to be altered? So many mothers say, "I simply have no time for myself!" "I never read a book!" Or else, "I don't think it is right to think of myself!" They not only starve their minds, but they do it deliberately, and with a sense of self-sacrifice which seems to supply ample justification... Each mother must settle this for herself. She must weigh things in the balance. She must see which is the most important--the time spent in luxuriously gloating over the charms of her fascinating baby, or what she may do with that time to keep herself "growing" for the sake of that baby "some day," when it will want her even more than it does now...The wisest woman I ever knew--the best wife, the best mother, the best mistress, the best friend--told me once, when I asked her how, with her weak health and many calls upon her time, she managed to read so much, "I always keep three books going--a stiff book, a moderately easy book, and a novel, and I always take up the one I feel fit for!" That is the secret; always have something "going" to grow by."

And so, I've been waking up "at 5 o'clock on a fine summer morning" and have found myself in a "in a new other world." One of books and ideas, freedom and peace, reflection and truth, Word and Light.

Tuesday Review: Honey for a Child's Heart

I know, I know, it's Wednesday! I had this post almost ready to go for yesterday but just couldn't get a chance to sit at the computer! Having Hubby gone for 10 days now, I fell into bed at 8:15pm, read three pages and went straight to sleep!

So here it is, better late than never:

I just finished Honey for a Child's Heart: The Imaginative Use of Books in Family Life by Gladys Hunt and immediately bought one for my brother for his daughter's first birthday. I wish I had read it sooner.

This book is divided into two main sections. The first is 9 chapters on the importance of reading as a family and what it can look like: "a good book is a magic gateway into a wider world of wonder, beauty, delight and adventure" (p. 14). She writes that books can help children to savor life, find security, develop a compassionate heart and develop a way with words. She discusses how tv and a busy schedule are the enemy of reading and pleas "don't let your children live in spiritual poverty when abundance is available" (p.25).

She further explains what makes a good book, encourages the use of picture books, and explains what to do with reluctant readers. She even devotes a whole chapter for the subject of fantasy, a taboo for some Christians and a complete chapter for poetry!

Hunt's description of the family culture that can develop around books is an alluring one:

"Reading aloud as a family has bound us together, as sharing an adventure together always does. We do know the same people. We have gone through emotional crises together as we felt anger, sadness, fear, gladness, and tenderness in the world of the book we were reading. Something happens to us which is better experienced than described--a kind of enlarging of heart--when we encounter passages of grand language and nobility of thought" (p. 75).

Dad Reading with Baby G in 2005

I appreciate that this book is written from a Christian perspective. She laments that "tragically, Christians often seem most inhibited and poverty-stricken in human expression and creativity" and encourages us that "Truth and excellence have a way of springing up all over the world, and our role as parents is to teach our children how to find and enjoy the riches of God and to reject what is mediocre and unworthy. (p. 17).


The second section is a bibliography with books every child should have the opportunity to enjoy from preschoolers to mature readers. There is also a poetry section and books that will help teens grow as Christians. Each book include a short, helpful description. As a literature teacher and mom of three I agreed heartily with the books I knew and look forward to finding these new suggestions at the library or adding them to our Amazon Wish List!

You can also check out Gladys Hunt's blog for more reading tips, like "Boys and Books" and "How to encourage preschool literacy."


I love getting book recommendations. What good books have you read lately? Leave suggestions in the comments or a link to a review from your own blog!

Any suggestions for choosing quality children's literature?

My Summer Reading List

Here are the books I hope to read over the next few weeks while we're traveling or hubby is away from home. Most I was able to find at the library, if we don't already own them. We have a moratorium on book-buying until we can afford more book cases!!

But we don't always save up to buy books from one of our top 5 favorite book store in the country, the Inklings. The store owners have the "vision to promote 'the good, the true, and the beautiful,' with a special concern for fostering good reading from a Christian world-view." If you are in ever in Lynchburg, VA, you must stop to browse and enjoy a plate of Beignet!

I cried when the Harry W. Schwartz Bookstores, after 82 years in business and surviving the Great Depression, closed in the Milwaukee area this last year. Its founder was one of "the first champions of then-controversial 20th-century authors such as William Faulkner and Ernest Hemingway. He also sold erotically charged literature, including "Ulysses" by James Joyce and "Tropic of Cancer" by Henry Miller." They made their business successful by knowing good books and the community. Schwartz distilled a philosophy he believed would help his small chain survive: A book is "a precious article that can change people's lives... it is a social prophet; we have a social contract. The bookshop is larger than a place of commerce. It really believes in the book and bookstores and the people. This is not something you can buy. This is not a clever marketing concept." But sadly this was not enough after all for this bookseller.

And I will cry again if the Inklings ever closes due to economics, the Internet or the big box "bookstore" chain.

So though I have linked the books to Amazon.com for easiest reference, if you have a great bookstore in your neighborhood like Schwartz or the Inklings, by all means, go now before it is too late!

Christian Non-Fiction:
Evangelical is Not Enough by Thomas Howard
A User's Guide to Holy Eucharist by Christopher Webber
The Eucharistic Way by John Baycroft
rereading and working through Sabbath Living by Norman Wirzba

Homeschooling/Parenting:
Honey for a Child's Heart: the imaginative use of books in family life by Gladys Hunt
When Children Love to Learn by by Elaine Cooper, Eve Anderson, Susan Schaeffer Macaulay, and Jack Beckman
A Charlotte Mason Companion by Karen Andreola
Start The Original Homeschooling Series by Charlotte Mason if I can save up money to purchase it!

Fiction:
Home by Marilynne Robinson, sequel to Gilead
The Known World by Edward P. Jones
More of Wendell Berry's Port Williams series


Food/Gardening/Cooking:
The Busy Person's Guide to Preserving Food by Janet Chadwick
Ball's The Complete Book of Home Preserving
How to pick a peach:The search for Flavor from farm to table by Russ Parsons
Local Flavors by Deborah Madison
Slow Food Nation: Why our Food should be Good, Clean, and Fair by Carlo Petrini
Second Nature: A Gardener's Education by Michael Pollan
Plenty: One Man, One Woman and a Racuous Year of Eating Locally by
The Green Gardener's Guide by Joe Lamp'l


With the Kids:
Classic picture books according to the letter of the week. This week is K-K-Kangaroo.
Little House on the Prairie at bedtime

Christian Books with the kids:
A Children's Guide to Worship by Ruth Boling
Come Worship with Me by Ruth Boling
A Child's Guide to the Holy Eucharist Commentary by Sarah Horton
What we do in church: An Anglican Child's activity book by Anne e. Kitch
The Bible in Pictures for Little Eyes by Kenneth Taylor

Tuesday Review: The Poetry of Piety

I recently picked up The Poetry of Piety: An Annotated Anthology of Christian Poetry at our church library. I wish I had know of it earlier. Back when I was teaching literature in Trinity University's REACH program, I would always have students who were exposed to poetry in a meaningful way for the first time. They would then ask, "What do I read now?"

A compilation of 28 poets ranging from John Donne, TS Eliot, and CS Lewis to Langston Hughes and John Updike, The Poetry of Piety contains a well-written analysis covering a brief biography of the poet, a poem, a section called "The Poetry" on the poetic devices and techniques for each poem, then a section called "The Piety" on the Christian themes of the poem, and then finally ends with "Questions for Reflection."

As an example, I enjoyed the chapter on Christina Rossetti. They write in analysis of her poem Easter Monday, "God's yes to life is louder than death's no, and we will one day 'wake without a sigh.' Yet, these things will not be made plain until the resurrection." Then, in the "Questions for Reflection" they ask you, among other things, to "Reflect on God's promises of resurrection (e.g., I Thess. 4:13-17) and ask God to make these the primary images of death/life for you" (p. 98-99).


For those who would like to read more poetry with Christian themes and would like a little help in understanding the poetry's techniques and themes, this is a great place to start.

Another Valentine's Children's Book

Scored this Valentine's Book at the library last night. We had read it last year but I couldn't remember the author and then there it was. But it here on Amazon! Since there is no image available, I snapped my own.

A mix of legend and facts, it tells the story of Valentine they martyr during the time of Claudius and how he brought his captor Asterius to belief in Christ. And tells the legend of how he comforted imprisoned Christians by sending them hearts cut out of parchment, signed "Your Valentine."

Why we teach our children the liturgy

"Some might protest that this...making of wreaths, baking of cakes, crowning of kings, dressing of dolls, cutting, pasting, sewing, planting; that this is not prayer of any depth and certainly not the liturgy of the Church. No, but for people who are learning what the liturgy is, and how to follow the prayer of the Church, who are making their first attempt really to pray it, this is the way to learn. We learn to swim in the shallow water before we are able to swim in the deep. These delightful things to see and touch and smell and taste and hear and make and do are by far the best tools there are to teach the beauty and power of God, and the richness of life in Christ. We provide the natural settings, teach the words, give the ideas, draw the analogies, read the stories, sing the songs, tell the tales, warm all this with our love--and God makes the increase. We are not trying to do His part of the job, only our own--which is to prepare the hearts and minds of our families so that they will respond to Him. If they love the approaches to the knowledge of His love and grace, they will more easily be led to the fountains of love and grace."

Mary Reed Newland, The Year and Our Children

M. dressed as a Wise Man eating his Three Kings Cake,

Epiphany 2007

The Wise Kings journey to the manger!

G. always dressed as Mary with her Baby Jesus

Resource for introducing kids to liturgy

Come Worship with Me: A Journey through the Church Year

A Children's Guide to Worship

This series of Mouse Books by Ruth Boling is so sweet! It's an easy way to introduce children to the the order for worship, the church year, symbols of the church, and holy days.

When the kids have been to sick for Sunday school but not to sick to stay home, I've thrown these books into baby bag to keep them quiet! I love that they can read about it and watch it happen at the same time.

Reviews from Amazon:

"...attractive to adults and kids visually... [Boling]writes with a passion and is enthusiastic about worship." (quoting Rev. Karen Stanley) -- The Virginia Gazette, Williamsburg, VA, May 5, 2001, Ann Efimetz

"...of great worth to children's hearts, minds, and spiritual lives... fills a void that has been empty..." -- Assoc. of Logos Bookstores Children's Notes, Nov/Dec. 2000, Maureen Cole, reviewer

"Boling [addresses]subjects as abstract as the Trinity... and as commercialized as Christmas without lapsing into the sanctimonious..." -- The Concord Monitor, December 10, 2000, Rebecca Rule, Reviewer

"Boling's spare, lyrical writing conveys the sacred aspects of the Christian service in concrete ways..." -- The Sunday Telegraph, Nashua, NH, November 19, 2000, Ellen Grimm

The Tuesday Review: Sacramental Life

Using Liturgy for Spirtual Direction and Formation

"Liturgy teach[es] us what to desire and what to seek from the Lord, both trimming away what is self-serving and opening our minds and hearts to the full range of what God desires to work for us, in us and through us. They form in us the habits of the most significant spiritual disciplines valued by Christian disciples through the centuries--adoration, prayer, self-examination and confession, as well as listening to and being shaped by Scripture. By means of these disciplines, we draw closer to God and grow more attuned to the mind of Christ." (DeSilva, p. 12)

I've been slowly reading through the Sacramental Life: Spiritual Formation Through the Book of Common Prayer by David A. DeSilva, a gift from the wise men on Epiphany! (My husband really, not sure if he counts yet as a wise man or not.) It starts with an introduction to the liturgical life and the BCP. It then is divided into Four Parts: Baptism, Holy Eucharist, Christian Marriage, and Christian Burial with a discussions on how the BCP guides us to think about the topic. I like that each chapter is only 2 pages--enough to digest in one sitting (though it seems with little ones it can be hard to even have time in the bathroom without interruption!). Each chapter ends with a suggestion on "Putting it into Practice," a way for the truth of Scripture to form your life.

I've enjoyed it so far, I hope I'll share more as I go!