Sunday, November 6, 2011
Sarasota Chalk Festival 2011
Today we went to the Chalk Festival and it was so cool! We had never been, but always wish we had so this year we made a big effort to go. We are so glad we did because it was amazing. Here are some pictures from the festival.
Family Night
Thursday night John said he wanted to surprise us with a family night. Every night for us is family night in a way, but this night we were doing something different and fun. I didn't even know what John had planned! We almost didn't go because John was afraid he wouldn't get off in time, but it all worked out. When we got into the car John said we would be there in around 30 minutes so we were all trying to figure out where in the world we were going. When we got into Ruskin the drive-in I have heard about, but never been to visit came to my mind, but I didn't say anything. I wanted Oakley to be surprised and oh he was! We very rarely watch television and in fact we are cancelling our cable next month because we do not watch it enough to out weigh the costs and we need to save every penny we can these days. When we do watch a movie it is a big deal because it isn't something we do all the time and getting to watch a movie outside was even more awesome for Oakley. We ordered pizza and watched the movie Puss and Boots. It was very cute and clever having several nursery rhymes put together in one story. Everything was very reasonably priced and the screen had a very nice picture. It was my first time being at a drive-in theater as well! Thank you John for the surprise family night! We loved it!
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This Little Light Of Mine
In Oakley's Science and Nature class his teacher, Mr. Doug, brought in several types of turtles. Some of them were familiar to us, but many of them we had never heard of. Mr. Doug brought in a snake neck turtle that was very interesting and also some babies that Oakley really liked. The one Oakley is holding in the picture below is a mud turtle. Oakley is really enjoying his classes at the St. Pete Home-school Co-op. I believe we will sign up for next semester as well.
Something funny that I want to remember happened while we were at school. When we got home and getting ready for bed I noticed that Oakley's amber necklace was missing. I asked him where it was and he said he gave it to a boy on the playground and he put it in his pocket. After he told me this he then started making up other places that the necklace was. After we explained to him that it was not right to make up stories and to tell the truth he again told me that he gave it to a boy on the playground. That he wanted to wear it so he shared it. So I went onto facebook and asked on the school page if anyone had found an amber necklace in there son's pocket and sure enough the son's mother wrote back that she had Oakley's amber necklace. I was thankful we found it.
Having Baron in class with Oakley has been a bit challenging for me lately. He wants to walk around and get into everything. The science class is usually okay since it is early and he is just waking up (he usually sleeps on the way there), but the Waldorf inspired art and handwork class he is usually tired and hard to keep happy so the teacher told me that it would be okay for me to take him out of the class with me and she would help Oakley. I could peep in through the window outside and watch Oakley. He was very good and I feel he actually does better when I'm not in there. He likes Mrs. Yarrow and likes to be independent and do it himself. They made lanterns for upcoming Martinmas Lantern Festival. In our community we are going to have a lantern walk and Oakley will be able to bring his that he actually made. Martinmas is a festival that is explained here:
Each November we have a Lantern Walk to celebrate Martinmas, a festival of inner light in the outer darkness of the approaching winter. St Martin was a soldier in Rome in the 4th century. Legend says that
one wintry night he met a poor beggar, half-naked and freezing. Martin removed the heavy military cloak from his shoulders and, drawing his sword, cut it in two, and gave half to the beggar. That night, Christ appeared to Martin in a dream, wrapped in the same piece of cloak Martin had given the beggar, and said: “Martin has covered me with this garment.” Martin became the patron saint of beggars, drunks and outcasts, dedicating his life to assisting pariahs. Celebrating Martinmas serves as a reminder that each of us has a divine spark that we must ferry out into the world and share with others. The children hear the story of St. Martin, sing songs and, as darkness falls, venture out into the night with their lanterns walking along a path lit with glowing luminaries, carefully carrying their lanterns in a mood of quiet reverence. This symbolic act brings home the deeper truth, in the words of Siddhartha Gautama, the founder of Buddhism (563-483 B.C.): “There isn’t enough darkness in all the world to snuff out the light of one little candle.” St. Martins Day or Martinmas will be this upcoming Friday. We may make another lantern for fun, bake some apple bread to give away, and share the story and learn some songs. Here is a blog sharing there festivities during Martinmas. My goal is to explain to Oakley to be like St. Martin. We are not Buddhist, but believers of Christ. So I am going to interpret this teaching in a way that he can learn more about Jesus' love for us. Explaining to him that darkness in this world cannot snuff the light of one little candle which can symbolize the love from Jesus our Savior. We will sing "This Little Light of Mine" and explain to him how we all need to let our light shine for the Lord. It may seem a little over his head, but a seed will be planted and we will continue to nurture and help these little seeds of faith grow.
Something funny that I want to remember happened while we were at school. When we got home and getting ready for bed I noticed that Oakley's amber necklace was missing. I asked him where it was and he said he gave it to a boy on the playground and he put it in his pocket. After he told me this he then started making up other places that the necklace was. After we explained to him that it was not right to make up stories and to tell the truth he again told me that he gave it to a boy on the playground. That he wanted to wear it so he shared it. So I went onto facebook and asked on the school page if anyone had found an amber necklace in there son's pocket and sure enough the son's mother wrote back that she had Oakley's amber necklace. I was thankful we found it.
Having Baron in class with Oakley has been a bit challenging for me lately. He wants to walk around and get into everything. The science class is usually okay since it is early and he is just waking up (he usually sleeps on the way there), but the Waldorf inspired art and handwork class he is usually tired and hard to keep happy so the teacher told me that it would be okay for me to take him out of the class with me and she would help Oakley. I could peep in through the window outside and watch Oakley. He was very good and I feel he actually does better when I'm not in there. He likes Mrs. Yarrow and likes to be independent and do it himself. They made lanterns for upcoming Martinmas Lantern Festival. In our community we are going to have a lantern walk and Oakley will be able to bring his that he actually made. Martinmas is a festival that is explained here:
Each November we have a Lantern Walk to celebrate Martinmas, a festival of inner light in the outer darkness of the approaching winter. St Martin was a soldier in Rome in the 4th century. Legend says that
one wintry night he met a poor beggar, half-naked and freezing. Martin removed the heavy military cloak from his shoulders and, drawing his sword, cut it in two, and gave half to the beggar. That night, Christ appeared to Martin in a dream, wrapped in the same piece of cloak Martin had given the beggar, and said: “Martin has covered me with this garment.” Martin became the patron saint of beggars, drunks and outcasts, dedicating his life to assisting pariahs. Celebrating Martinmas serves as a reminder that each of us has a divine spark that we must ferry out into the world and share with others. The children hear the story of St. Martin, sing songs and, as darkness falls, venture out into the night with their lanterns walking along a path lit with glowing luminaries, carefully carrying their lanterns in a mood of quiet reverence. This symbolic act brings home the deeper truth, in the words of Siddhartha Gautama, the founder of Buddhism (563-483 B.C.): “There isn’t enough darkness in all the world to snuff out the light of one little candle.” St. Martins Day or Martinmas will be this upcoming Friday. We may make another lantern for fun, bake some apple bread to give away, and share the story and learn some songs. Here is a blog sharing there festivities during Martinmas. My goal is to explain to Oakley to be like St. Martin. We are not Buddhist, but believers of Christ. So I am going to interpret this teaching in a way that he can learn more about Jesus' love for us. Explaining to him that darkness in this world cannot snuff the light of one little candle which can symbolize the love from Jesus our Savior. We will sing "This Little Light of Mine" and explain to him how we all need to let our light shine for the Lord. It may seem a little over his head, but a seed will be planted and we will continue to nurture and help these little seeds of faith grow. 
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