Wednesday 30 January 2008

Fairy cakes & Candlemas

Sunday will be Candlemas. This is the day, when, traditionally, the church candles would be blessed. For us, the candles are a reminder of a much greater light.
Jesus Christ.
This morning, E & I made fairy cakes. She wanted to make black & pink ones, & R requested we make her a red one. (She was off to visit grandma this morning) Here they are in all their goopy-intense glory.

After a leisurely time working on her 'shapes' book, E tidied up & R came home for lunch. We had lunch, then quiet time, then ate a fairy cake or two, whilst reading the history of Candlemas & Luke2:22-40 which is the story of the presentation of Christ in the Temple. We talked about Snowdrops, known as Candlemas Bells, named by the Monks of days gone by for their appearance at this time of year. We also read "the Snowdrop" by Hans Christian Annderson.
Then it was onto candle making...ooooh, this was fun! & very easy! Here is E with her candle

We had a Kit from Myriad online & it was sooo easy! Simply cut the beeswax to the desired size, trim the wick, & roll! Wonderful. Even R had a go, & did a superb job. Here she is, copying her sister's pose;

Once the candles were finished, we displayed them along our mantel, along with some other crafts we had there already.

Happy Candlemas :)

Saturday 12 January 2008

2008 Goals


A fresh new year...I love the feeling of a new beginning..a new start, new opportunities & things to explore.

Here are my new year goals...not resolutions, but goals...goals seem a bit more managable, a little less daunting!
1: Walk humbly with my God (Micah 6:8)
I plan to use my journal much more frequently to help me get more out of my quiet times with God, It helps me to focus &
remember what the Lord is teaching me. I also need to find a comfortable new time for my 'quiet time' with God, as my current time is just not working.
2:Simplify
this is a biggie! my whole mind-set needs to declutter. I want to simplify my faith, my home, my shedule, my mind!
3:Take more care of myself
Spiritually
Take excercise
drink 8 glasses of water a day
take my vitamins
more fruit & vegetables....all this will hopefully result in....
losing weight!
4:Keeping up with my nature journal
I began this last year. Nature journaling is a great source of relaxation for me. I wish to explore the art of water colour this
year.
5:Commit to my household schedules
Do not abandon them the momment they do not work, but keep adjusting until they do!
6:Be a better correspondant
Copy all our notewrthy dates into my planner & set up a little basket with notelets & cards.
7:Plan ahead for a homemade Christmas
Christmas!?! in January!?! Well, this is all part of point no.2 I wish our Christmas to be more simple, more thoughtful. Last
year some of our gifts where homemade, so i wish to continue that theme. I will be posting more on that at a later date.