BOOK REVIEW: A Yearbook of Seasons and Celebrations

A Yearbook of Seasons and Celebrations by Joanna Bogle. I have such trouble trying to remember this title... I KNOW I have accidentally called it the wrong name on this blog before, and I am SO SORRY!!! I blame that on the fact that her previous book is called A Book of Feasts and Seasons! Yearbook, is really a companion to A Book of Feasts and Seasons. It elaborates on the liturgical seasons mentioned in the first book, and adds in some saintly festivals too. Joanna Bogle has a very engaging style of writing, and her passion for bringing back the celebration of the liturgical year is very evident :)
She has recipes, ideas for games and ways to celebrate with your children. I was very pleased to see that she had included the Saints and some of the more Minor Church Feasts, these are the ones you inevitably don't have the slightest ideas for ;)
The book, as with the first, is divided into the various feasts, according to the liturgical calendar. That means the book begins with advent and ends with St. Andrew :)
If you have her first book, this is a recommended addition to it, fleshing out the ideas as it does so :) DO have a kitchen scale handy, as all the recipes are in their original English measurements!

If you do not have her first book, I recommend you get it- you'll find it a pleasing addition to your seasonal celebration library!

I give it 4 **** Stars.

Bards and Dragons

Sounds like a game doesn't it?
Well, actually today is the 444th birthday of William Shakespeare AND it is St. George's Day!
So with all this ENGLISH celebrating going on, what are YOUR plans for the day?

• My kids are in their English outfits (Well... most of their clothes are English, but Rebel's is the England rugby shirt ;)).
• We will have Shepherd's pie for dinner (I admit, THAT was planned BEFORE I knew what today was ;))
• We have English weather today. (OK I had NO hand in that one ;))
• We will listen to the Homeschool Radio Show Specials
• I will trawl the blogs in search of other ideas like the Dragon Cake for teatime!

Happy Birthday Shakespeare and Happy St. George's Day Everyone!

My Planner

I am not the best lesson planner in the world. In fact, I tend to give up on the whole 'planning' thing after a while, because, well, I'm a perfectionist... and I try to do too much.
There is this strange competitive streak in me, that I blame entirely on going to public schools... oh, AND being the eldest of a relatively large family. Somehow, I just have to try and do it all.
THAT is an attitude I am trying to stop. So, with that aim in mind, I made myself a planner.


It is very simple... just three months long (so I don't waste too much paper). I borrowed heavily from Dawn's idea, but figured out how I wanted MINE to look. It is definitely personalised.
The front is scrapbook paper. I pasted pretty printouts on the cover.
Next, is a yearly calendar.

I have noted particular dates on here. Eventually it will be a quick overview... special dates, appointments and such.
Then I have the monthly calendar for August.
I decorated THAT with some printouts of images from the Catholic Culture Liturgical Calendar site. I wanted it to look pretty. I added in the dates of interest (both liturgical and personal) and colour coded the days according to the liturgical use. And on the side is my colour code guide. Just in case I forget.
After the monthly calendar, there are weekly calendars, interspersed with the monthly calendars at the end of each month/beginning of the next month.

Each of these are designed for lesson planning notes. I have already gone through and picked ONE feast/saint per week to study. My aim is to have a weekly tea (again like Dawn) with an activity, food and book related to the day in question. This one shows Michaelmas, which is on a Saturday. This particular week, I set the Friday as the day for 'tea', and I have written in ideas for activities and things to do, as well as any recommended books (usually from Catholic Mosaic).

The plan is to get my planner spiral bound and then try to use it to plan out the schoolwork and liturgical year activities :)

Photo Catch Up...

Here are a few pictures from the last few weeks that I never managed to get uploaded on time due to illness, tireness and sheer unavailable time! ;)


Our Mardi Gras/Pancake Day Dinner... notice pancakes... and Mardi Gras masks :)

This is M'Lady's cat mask... I asked her what kind of mask she wanted... she said "A cat". I drew it, cut it out, and helped her decorate it (that is, I applied the glue and rolled the tissue paper... she told me where the glue was to go. This is the result!

Rebel's mask was more robotic looking... it has drawings of birds and snakes and other creatures over it... quite inventive really :) And ALL his own design!


Then there were the Wholewheat Pretzels (recipe in the King Arthur Whole-wheat baking book) I made for Ash Wednesday. They were really yummy! I sprinkled a little cheese (Parmesan) and garlic salt on them.
Now... for the gardening adventures, check out the garden blog :)

I keep meaning to write...

after all, it is supposed to be a blog about life at our house.

Of course... life also means illness. And that is what struck us down a couple of weeks ago... and you know when the kids are ill, you just dont feel like doing much. Then of course you get ill... and the cycle continues.

But, interestingly enough, just a week ago, my hospitality theme was actually put into action. I invited my friend and her family around... hosting them for dinner.
On the Menu:
Cola Roast
Cous Cous
Broccoli
Lima Beans

And a Lemon Drizzle cake for dessert... YUM! So much for my Lenten fasting... luckily I fasted from meat a couple of times that week... a habit I have tried to keep up in memory of the older Christians.

The following day, we were invited out to dinner with other friends. This couple are an older couple, Jacobite used to work with the husband, and was even his best man a couple of years ago. The meal was delightful... and the kids were angelic.
Then, the day after that we were invited to a friend's church. These friends are another older couple... the wife used to be best friends with my MIL before she died. The church was hosting a homecoming dinner and concert, and we attended. Even though it was longer than we had planned, the kids were again, angelic. Thank goodness for small mercies!

This weekend I have been planning and playing in the garden... hopefully I will be able to blog and post pictures on my garden blog later :)
And maybe I will get to the mardi gras masks the kids made... amongst other things...
So many things to do, so little time!

Monday 5th, Tuesday 6th and Wednesday 7th February

Monday… late start to the day. The cold is making everyone miserable and grumpy, but we perservere.

Lessons go more or less as planned, but Rebel doesn’t listen during two of the three stories I read. Never mind, he did manage a good narration of the third.

Good news… the new math books come!

Monday nights are library nights and so we venture off to the library to grab the books I pre-ordered.

Tuesday goes much better… the Latin call card drill is a success, he actually knows them now. Wednesday will be a new stack of cards to learn.

Today is history, a subject we all enjoy a LOT. A map page is done, a colouring page, then I start to make the monk’s robe for our “Monk’s Supper” tonight. It is soup night, and Jacobite has requested Bean Soup, so I put the beans in the crockpot and cook ALL day. I bake some bread, and serve up a hunk of cheese for the kids.

While we wait for the bread to proof, M'Lady and I make boxed cakes... she can do most of it herself, but I measure it out so she can pour. She falls asleep while the cakes cool, and I wake her up after 1/2 an hour to ice them. This is a great way to wake her up... less fuss, guaranteed to get her up well within the time limit before the nap takes away from her night's sleep.

Once the cakes are done, the bread is baked and as soon as Jacobite gets home, I serve the "Monk's Supper" up (idea courtesy of the Story of the World volume II book).

They LOVED it, and here are the photos to prove it :)

Rebel in his 'monk' outfit. OK there is no hood, but it doesn't matter.

A Slightly blurry picture of the monk's supper. I had to use this one because it was the only half decent one where the candlelight shows well. Yes, we went in for atmosphere too :)

This is a picture where you can see the "supper" laid out.

A nice fresh loaf of bread, hunk of cheese and the bean soup. Definitely just what the doctor ordered on a cold day... considering the temperatures never get above 30 degrees Fahrenheit (-1 degrees Celsius), it was definitely needed! When Jacobite came home mid-afternoon to take something back to work, he took a bowlful and ate it, and claims that it really cured his sinus headache. I say it was the cayenne I made him add... my favourite sinus remedy!

Wednesday:

Start on time for the first time this week. Unfortunately, someone is not tempted by his new math books to work on them much. I extend the lesson 10 minutes to make him finish the page and move on.

The Latin drill goes better than hoped for, and we enjoy it... although the lesson extends into the break time, it is not by much. I make Rebel enjoy break.

Copywork is easily done when Rebel gets the sentence:
Those who lie down with dogs, rise up with fleas. Apparently he finds it hilarious!
Bible and religion goes fairly well, but Rebel does not listen to the First Miracle. I make him re-read it before narrating it to me. Making the narration page is a hit, and I leave off for the day.
M'Lady decides to go missing at lunch... I run around the house, panicking because I can't find her, only to run into her with sticky hands and face from the cakes she was eating under the table. I feel relieved and stupid... and very shakey!