Ah! That sounded like a little bit of heaven to me.  When friends of ours enjoyed a weekend at home last year while their kids enjoyed some grandma time at the family holiday house, I realised that that was exactly the sort of break Craig and I needed.  No great expense of travelling to some exclusive getaway.  No planning meals or ideas for the kids back home with the grandparent/s or sitters.  Just… Us. Alone.  At home.  Ah!  Bliss indeed.

Thankfully, my folks were keen to fulfil my little wistful dream.  And before we knew it, our chosen weekend was upon us.  Excited doesn’t begin to describe my anticipation of the childless weekend ahead.  Don’t get me wrong: I love my kids.   I love being with them.  And besides the typical squabbles and squawks, they’re lots of fun to be around too.  Homeschooling this bunch has its trials, but overall this journey has been rewarding and exciting.  But, it’s intense.  As parents all over the world can identify, it’s a 24-7, round the clock gig that never lets up.  Taking a break for a couple of days to enjoy our roles as husband and wife without having to parent at the same time was just what we needed.  And I was excited indeed!

I waved goodbye late on Thursday afternoon to four excited kiddies, two well prepared and excited grandparents and one favourite makhulu. 

Walking back into the quiet house was quite surreal.  The world was our oyster!  What were we to do?!

That became our refrain for the rest of the weekend, although thanks to a typo on iMessage, we renamed it “the world is our ouster”.  And we really enjoyed our ouster!  We saw two great movies and one mediocre one.  We read a book from cover to cover – the same one.  We ate out at various restaurants and had adult conversation, thoroughly enjoying the fact that we didn’t have to rush to anyone else’s timetable.  We shopped all over Cavendish for boots – using our carefully saved up vouchers for the occasion.  Craig organised a special spa treatment at Mangwenani Spa on Friday evening – giving us both a much appreciated massage experience.  What absolute luxury that was!  We drove there in the early evening and were welcomed by a most beautiful sunset…

And were greeted by a bevy of beautiful women singing with that warm richness that is singularly African. 

This treatment spa is wholly owned by the employees themselves.  The business model is amazing and the treatment was wonderful after recent illness and the busyness that is life.  From the first note of the joyous music that greeted us at the door, to the welcoming enamel mug of hot chocolate (or sherry), to the meal and treatment we had a really special evening!

We also enjoyed afternoon naps, late morning risings and breakfasts at leisure.  Best part was heading to the Earth Fair market in Tokai where we could taste things at leisure and enjoy a "hearty" breakfast without worrying about children dashing about here, there and everywhere.

We drove around old neighbourhoods and shared stories of our growing up years.  We visited our friends’ church in the morning and enjoyed the evening service of our own church together.  We even managed a visit to Gran gran and Craig’s PA’s little boy who turned 3 in hospital thanks to a nasty burn accident the day before.  And we didn’t miss the kids one bit.

I should feel guilty about that, but I don’t!  Is that terrible?  Perhaps.  But given that our break was a delicious time to reconnect with each other as husband and wife, it was just as well that our time wasn’t dampened with feelings of split loyalty or constant worry.

And, truth be told, I was glad to see them on Monday when we went to pick them up in Hermanus.  We had enjoyed a couple of phone calls with them over the weekend, and it was clear that they were having as much of a ball as we were.  There was not much missing anyone going on!  But our welcome was enthusiastic and warm.  The kids tumbled out of the house with gleeful shouts.  The girls reached us first with their bowl-you-over hugs and kisses.  And, within seconds I had one Micah wrapped around my torso and one Sam hanging onto my hand, chattering away about all the goings on of the weekend.  

We stayed over that night, hearing all the stories of their fun time.  Their grandparents looked remarkably energetic despite their exhausting weekend!  And the stories they told were simply hilarious – like Micah needing a wee on the way to Hermanus.  Stuck in heavy traffic with no exit in site, Granny Sally improvised and let the little guy relieve himself into a tupperware container that once carried a broken bottle of bubble bath.  She had the privilege of carrying the bubbly warm mixture on her lap until the next stop. 

It’s no wonder the kids didn’t miss us too much.  We got periodic pictures from Granny of their fun weekend.  Their first morning started on a high note with special activity boxes that granny made up for them.

A huge hit!

Can you tell how pleased we are with ourselves?

Micah Moo too…

A walk down to the nearby stables was also a big hit – and then an actual riding lesson for the two girls really took the cake!  Kiera was particularly excited as she got to jump for the first time ever.  She did pretty well from what I hear!

The boys also got a chance to sit on the horses and enjoy a walk about. 

Not every moment was fun and games.  Poor Sam had a headache one day and had a little wobble.  But granny to the rescue!  This photo is of a little boy on wobble number 2 – scared of the curtains, and the potential lurking monsters, in his room that night.  So granny’s bed was where he fell asleep before being carried back to his own bed.

Ah!  It was a weekend worth repeating.  I came home feeling really relaxed and since then I have not felt that weighty tiredness that bears down on me from time to time.  That also may have something to do with the fact that I’ve been eating a whole lot better these past two weeks and detoxing with milk thistle!  Whatever it is, the weekend was a balm to the soul, body and mind!  I highly recommend it!

The day arrived quickly though, and off the girls and I went to the Centre for Conservation Education in Wynberg.  The same organisation that does loads of outings and focus groups on various conservation issues also happens to be the Cape Education Museum in Cape Town.  It started in 1902 as the Lady D’Urban School of Industry for Girls.  Later it became the Aliwal Road Primary School.  When that closed in 1988, it made way for the opening of the museum in 1989, as well as the Centre for Conservation Education.  But, we were primarily interested in a true Victorian classroom experience.

The kids had been encouraged to get into character by arriving wearing collared shirts (boys) and dresses (girls), bringing a morning tea typical for that era: brown paper bags, glass bottles, sandwiches on home baked breads perhaps.  I missed the memo on that one completely, however.  And in my lack of preparedness, I had managed only to throw together a quick snack of corn style rice cakes, water, almonds and fruit.  Turns out our 21st Century snack was quite appropriate for our early 20th Century re-enactment!  Kiera jokingly referred to it as “cornbread and water” a la Little House on the Prairie! 

We arrived there at 9am and soon the kids were settled in a modern day classroom – bright posters, table desks and plastic chairs, even an OHP (over head projector) and the distinct smell of classroom.  There was an air of nervous anticipation as the kids listened to their “teacher’” explain a little about the centre and its purposes.  With a little chuckle to myself, I watched my non-traditional classroom child’s eyes glaze over within seconds, while my would-thrive-in-the-classroom child listened with great attention, despite a rather disjointed delivery from up front.  I even managed to capture it on camera.  No guesses who is who!

Then, Mr Fontein got to the business of explaining What to Expect in the Victorian Classroom.  He prepped the kids, dished out some specific roles to play to the hesitant group of kids and then led the way out of the 2012 and towards 1902…

Here you have – 1902, in film-grained sepia for that ‘genuine’ effect …

The hallway in the museum building was lined with old school bells from schools that had closed down or had changed their names.  According to our guide, there was a Mr Van Rensburg, who formerly worked at the centre, who personally collected many of these bells from the far corners of South Africa. 

We got to enjoy displays and artefacts from a bygone era, including these model kids who depicted the kinds of clothing the kids would wear.

Then it was time to “suit up”.  Over their own clothes, the girls wore pinafores and the boys, caps, waist coat and neck tie.  As expected, the “girls wear a long dress/skirt” mandate did not go down well with Kiera.  I left it, figuring that it was not a battle worth fighting.  Interestingly, that morning she decided to give a skirt a try since it would be “in character” and all.  I was quite proud that she did that all on her own, without the usual heavy mom-persuasion / aka guilt-trip.  But, it didn’t last!  She got as far as putting a leg into her skirt before her sister burst out laughing at the shock of seeing Kiera in a skirt (!) after a solid two years.  That was that.  She was NOT wearing a skirt.  Katie, however, was more than happy to play the role and had me plait her hair just so and chose clothing that closely resembled a Little House on the Prairie scene.  The added white pinafore made her day…

Here we have four young demure Victorian girls ready to enter class…

And Kiera?  Well, she’s not too shy to make things happen for her.  She requested a chance to roleplay being a 1902 boy and so she was.  She looked pretty authentic, methinks?

Although, Marc takes the cake for authenticity and cuteness!

Look at this line of "boys"!  Don’t they look like a cast from Oliver?

The bell rang, the kids lined up, and two lines crossed the threshold from 2012 to 1902 and discovered to their shock that things really were very different.  The kind jovial Mr Fontein turned into a strict disciplinarian.  Nails and hands were checked.  Orders were barked.  Kids who didn’t stand next to their desks, hands behind their backs and address the teacher as Sir were verbally reprimanded.  The "poor boy" was told off for not paying his weekly penny for school fees.  The other boys were reprimanded for their wild marbles games on the way to school.  No one could forget the reminder that throwing stones on the road was not tolerated, nor was making a noise on the way to school, because "speech is silver but silence is golden!". 

The material monitors, of which Kiera was one, were required to hand out the reading books. 

The poor monitors did a miscount and had to endure a lecture and a story.  A great story, mind you, of 6 brothers that went out one day and didn’t return until long after they were expected. Turns out that they were missing a brother and wouldn’t return until he was found.  They would’ve still been away if a stranger hadn’t happened to find them and discover their dilemma.  Every time they counted each other, they only tallied 5.  The stranger solved their problem by counting them himself.  Of course he tallied 6 as each brother forgot to include himself.  Much like the material monitors! 

Throughout the morning, I had to restrain myself from laughing out loud!  The kids’ faces were priceless.  My heart went out to these kids who all looked a little shell shocked and horrified at the whole experience.  But at the same time I wanted to giggle like a naughty school girl.  Mr Fontein made the lefties write with their right hands, as lefties weren’t tolerated in those days, as sneakily evidenced here when Kiera went up to the board to complete a maths sum.  (Sneakily because we weren’t really allowed to spoil the authenticity of the morning by taking bunches of photos during the experience – but I snuck just this silent and surreptitious one from my cell phone.)

After reading aloud and repeating endless proverbs "speech is silver but silence is golden!" "cleanliness is next to godliness!" it was time for tea break.  Wendy Y‘s daughter, Sarah, had made a delicious Victorian tea cake for everyone to share. 

And the kids got to enjoy playing with some toys from 1902…

(no that is not Sam to the right in the picture below, although I now know what Sam is going to look like when he is about 10!) Front and centre in this pic is Wendy M’s son, Zach, who did a great job with this gadget.

And Katie loved the tin stilts!

Soon it was back to class time, where handwriting and maths was attempted.  This time the kids got slates, slate pencils and lappies (cloths) to complete the authentic picture.  Even then, the lefties had to practice fancy cursive Fs with their right hands.  Katie, who has never done cursive, did quite well considering.  As did Kiera, with her handicapped right hand. 

The children responded really well.  I don’t think I’ve ever taught or observed a class quite as diligent, quiet and obedient as that class.  Mr ’1902′ Fontein had these non-traditionally schooled kids – who are not well versed in the customs of classrooms like standing, ‘sir’ring and silence – shipshape in no time.  Most surprisingly of all was how much Katie loved it.  My system-bucking child who is bored in a matter of minutes revelled in the entire experience.  Perhaps it is not so surprising after all, since she is almost always in her element when she is playacting!  But, honestly, butter wouldn’t melt in the mouth of this teacher’s pet!  Sitting up front, all ‘little’ and blonde and angelic, she was the picture of the perfect little school girl!

The last lesson of the day was a nature lesson on the Cape Robin.  Facts were learned and repeated.  A test was warned of that Friday.  And I’m pretty sure another proverb or two was repeated somewhere in the process.  Just before close, Wendy Y, the "visiting teacher" (aka the homeschool mommy who arranged the outing) was called to hand out certificates to the kids for "attendance", "best handwriting" and "most well behaved".  Kiera scored herself "most well behaved", Marc "best handwriting" (to which his mother had a good chuckle, but I get to see his Xhosa books and that boy does write neatly!) and Zach, who role played the "new" boy in the class, got "best attendance"!

At the end of it all, Mr Fontein called the kids back to 2012 and let them debrief from their experience then and there.  He also allowed us to take photos from then on out, which accounts for the photo above and below. The kids told him what they thought, which was mostly that he was a strict and scary teacher!  Again, my Katie surprised me – all eager to answer the questions he posed them with angelic sweetness.  She was loving every minute of her morning! 

I wasn’t surprised that Kiera was enjoying herself, as I was fully expecting her to.  Of course, role playing a typical boy from the period was a double bonus for this little tomboy. 

Despite the crazily strict school rules, like the ones below, the kids absolutely loved the entire experience.  No ways would they want to go to a school like that every day, but to pretend was simply priceless!

What was also priceless was my seating arrangements. The moms observed from the various chairs that lined the back wall.  By the time I arrived, the only chair available was this one …

The priceless part came when I tried to get out of it by stepping on the footrest and just about somersaulted out of the thing.  I didn’t take into account physics in that moment, and so I almost destroyed a museum artefact.  Lovely!  Fortunately Mr Fontein had a good sense of humour and fortunately the chair remained intact!

We headed home after 3 hours of living learning.  I could write an entirely separate and equally wordy blog post on the virtues of role play in learning!  Instead, I’ll just say that like living books, role play learning manages to ignite a passion for the subject at hand and deeper understanding of it.  We could’ve studied this era by doing worksheets or reading textbooks.  Instead, the kids got to experience it first hand, writing on the same slates from that era, sitting in the same desks in the same classrooms.  I doubt they will ever forget what they learned that day.  And, testimony confirms this – when I shared about the kids’ experience on Facebook and our homeschool group, numerous people came back reporting that they too had gone to the museum, some 20+ years ago, and experienced that same classroom, with vivid memories of what they learned. 

It’s no wonder the girls want to return.  And return we will, when the boys are old enough to enjoy the experience too. 

_______________________________________

For more information from the Centre for Conservation Education (Cape Education Museum)…contact the programme co-ordinator at:
Sigi Howse (the programme co-ordinator)
Centre For Conservation Education
9 Aliwal Road, Wynberg, 7800
Tel: 021 762 1622
Fax: 021 762 8690
Email: post…@cce.wcape.school.za

Currently the cost is R8 per student to attend the morning experience.

(source: http://www.rsa-overseas.com/explore-sa/centre-conservation-education-cape-education-museum.htm)

Big thanks to Wendy Y for organising this!

Just as receiving their moved-to-Nelspruit-to-do-his-intership-babysitter, Luke’s postcard in the mail was a huge hit, so finding a padded envelope addressed to the three older kids caused all sorts of intrigue and interest.  After ripping it open, we found that the penpal was really for Sam.  Well!  Just imagine one young little chest swelling with pride and self-importance! 

Finally!  Mr Sam has A Very Important Experience all to himself.  A task that neither of his big sisters have had.  The paper and pencil couldn’t make its way to the coffee table soon enough!

And to my utter surprise, my sweet little guy sat down and wrote the first letter he has ever written right there and then.  I was amazed. 

Yes, I am his teacher.  I should know where his capabilities lie.  But, you’ve got to know that this guy is mostly self-taught.  I’ve not put the mom-hours into him as I did back when I was a green and over-keen homeschooler.  Kiera got mom in panic mode trying to tick the boxes and ensure she was at least grade level (or, truth be told, a step ahead, in keeping with my defensive desire to squash the naysayers with my child prodigy who could actually socialise!)  Katie got a slightly less intense version, but still plenty of “gotto get this right” attention in the early years.  Sam?  Sam got mellow-mom.  I’ve realised that kids learn whether you want them to or not.  My plan was always to gradually introduce him to the three R’s closer to Grade 1, but to be open to his lead.  Well, aside from starting Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons with him last year, I did little else.  Turns out that Sam was going to learn whether I taught him or not.  He wrote his first words without my direction.  Next he started sounding out everything within sight.  By the end of last year, I tagged the first three Explode the Code phonics workbooks on to our Sonlight order as a last minute thought: perhaps I could start with Sam midway through the next year.  Well, Sam went ahead without me.  He’s 1/3 of the way into the first book.  It’s a strange experience having my 5 year old boy happily plugging away at workbooks of language, maths and handwriting, and insisting on reading his Sonlight readers aloud to me, while my 7 year old girl needs to be dragged off her bike and back to the table regularly throughout the morning.  

In no time at all, Mr Sam had written his first ever letter.  Bear in mind, he is mostly self taught, so we’ve got some work to do on handwriting, letter case etc, but that aside – this mom was bursting with pride in her little guy’s learning.

He ran out of steam after the first page, so I finished scribing his letter while he dictated.  It reads …

Dear James

my house is made out oF bricks and pAt (paint). GreEn and pink are my favorite (favourite) colours. I am Five do you have brothers and sisters?  I have three.  Two sisters and one brother.  How many do you have?  Do you get pocket money?  Do you have a TV?

Love Sam

PS I am turning 6 on October 19th.  When do you turn 6?

His letter answered James’s two questions – what is your house made of? and what are your favorite colours?  Sam had about a gazillion questions back, but he finally settled on just four (okay, five!).  A few days later, he tackled the drawing he planned for James.  He drew two robots and wrote his signature attribution at the top “Sam to James” (he always places his name before the person he is addressing – I could wallpaper our lounge with mini masterpieces signed “SamtoMom”).  We added some photos of the family and a picture of him at Lunch Bunch.  Mr Sam proudly displays his package contents for his new penpal – James in Illinois!

After swimming lessons that day we headed to the post office to have the letter weighed and stamped.  Sam’s sense of Great Importance was clearly still quite strong when he marched confidently up to the counter and said, “good afternoon, ma’am.  Please may I get a stamp for this?”  The lady was delighted and so was Sam.  A huge grin was plastered all over this guy’s face as he paid for the stamp, stuck it down and jumped down from the counter to post it in the box.

Of course, I had to complete the experience with more photographic evidence!  And of course, two of his siblings had to get in on the picture!

Tada!  Letter going in!

And gone!  So now we wait to hear if James gets his letter.  We hope he does soon!

Well, imagine their surprise when an unexpected postcard addressed to all the kids arrived in the mail.  Their regular babysitter from last year moved up to Nelspruit to do his internship.  Luke graduated last year from UCT and now officially Dr Luke.  Hooey – typing that makes me feel super old.  Wasn’t it just yesterday that I taught little Luke Grade 8 English?  Back then he was easily amongst the smallest in the class – now he towers over just about everyone and looks every bit of the dashing young doctor!  The kids adore him and even Micah, who used to howl at the idea of us leaving the house without him, took to Luke and would be happy to see us go if Luke was coming!  Sadly, his move meant bye bye babysitter. 

But it also meant “hello postcard!”.  The kids crowded around me as I read it aloud to them.  We all had a good chuckle as Luke writes just the way he talks which made it feel like he was in the room with us.  They all felt pretty special that Uncle Luke would be writing to them from all the way across the country!

The excitement of receiving a postcard translated into immediate desire to write back!  Well, eventually mom got into action and found them some unused postcards.  And off they went…

We waited until we knew that Luke was back from visiting his lovely and beautiful girlfriend in Germany before we finished the process – posting!  Again, grand excitement!

And our postcards reached their destination!  Luke enjoyed their postcards and reported that he had a good chuckle too   He kindly responded to my request to take a photo of the evidence – here is some vintage Luke for you…

Yip – delighted children!  And a pretty cool babysitter!

But, without further ado, here are some shots of young faces that will be all grown up before we can catch our breath.  At least here they’re forever young…

Katie, Joey and Tyge

Micah, Sam and Holly

Mr Tigger…

Sies, Kiera-Lee!  That’s highly offensive in some cultures, you know!

Relaxing after lunch…

Grandpa Tony and his only grandson…

I can so imagine what is going on here – that’s Katie’s typical surprise/excited shock look that presents itself fairly regularly in reaction to the funny things that happen in our home.

Mr Micah!

Young Phoebe…

Wild and crazy time with dad in the garden…

Joey boy…

Such cuteness!

Sonlight, our favoured curriculum, is built on the principles of Charlotte Mason’s philosophy of education.  And central to that are living books.  But what are living books exactly and how do they form a framework for anything?

Here’s where my difficulty arises – adequately describing living books is almost impossible.  I can tell you that they are books that ignite the reader with enthusiasm, interest, warmth and emotion.  I could say that they’re usually written by someone who has intimate knowledge of their subject matter.  I could point out that they could be anything from prose to poetry, fiction to non-fiction – they can vary from subject matter in degrees so vast that one living book may examine the intricacies of insect life, while another living book will explode with colourful descriptions of early South African history.  I can even direct you to websites that explain with clarity what is meant by the term “living book” – like this website, for example, or over at Amblesideonline too.  And I most certainly can tell you what it’s not.  It’s not dull.  It’s seldom a dry boring textbook or compendium of collaborated ideas.  In fact, just about every school book I ever encountered would never touch the hallowed honour of living books. 

But, even armed with this information, how do you know which book on that dusty shelf is a living book?  What elevates it above others and causes it to pulse with life? 

Ah!  And here’s the rub.  You don’t know.  Not until you know.  Yes, a great many people have gone before us and discovered beautiful gems of living books that will probably be living books in anyone’s hands.  But, when you read that book that causes you to learn with great strides of interest and enthusiasm; that ignites within your gut a delight in the words, the images, the concepts that spill from each page; that leaves you with indelible memories of not only what you learned but what you felt while you learned – then you know that you hold a living book in your hands.

Since embarking on our Living Book adventure, we’ve interacted with books that have brought us great joy, sadness, understanding, learning and insight.  I have watched my young children understand social concepts I only began to grapple with in high school.  I have seen them be filled with passion for the gospel and heard their heartfelt prayers for people groups across the world.  I have heard my own heart sing with joy as I watch their little minds turn over a new idea with great delight.  I have been amazed as the living book we’ve enjoyed didn’t end at the last page, but instead continued chapter upon chapter in the interests and lives of my children – from play acting to further study to creating contraptions of their learning. 

Some of these books I’ve written about here on our family blog. Such as …

And the Word Came with Power - a wonderful autobiography of a young American farm girl who became a bible translator in the remote jungles of the Philippines.  It’s a wonderful example of a living book impacting on not only our knowledge but our hearts too.  The beauty of this book is that it led to the girls interacting with the author herself, enabling them to find out what has transpired in the last 20 years since the book was written:  Balangao People today.

The Door in the Wall spoke directly into my eldest daughter’s life experience – despite being written about a young boy during the times of knights and castles, this book impacted her in an unforgettable way. 

Follow my Leader taught us more about the facts around the life of the blind than any textbook ever could.  And shortly after reading this inspiring story, we met a blind woman by chance, with her beautiful dog Jet.  It led to a fascinating conversation – and another example of how living books continue to teach us long after the final chapter has been read.

The Apple and the Arrow was one of our first experiences of reading a true living book that I’d never have chosen myself.  Seeing how it impacted my kids when I never imagined such a book would, made me glad that I was following the Sonlight curriculum.  For, despite knowing a living book when you’ve read one, choosing what to read beforehand was a task I found daunting.  Sonlight took care of that fear.  With their huge selection of some of the best books I’ve ever encountered, we are spoiled with living books that have shaped us, grown us, taught us and educated us beyond my wildest imaginings!

But plenty of other books have broadened our learning experience too.  And I say “our”, because despite the focus being on the education of my children, I too am learning, growing and delighting.  Greek Myths, A Child’s History of the World, George Muller, Understood Betsy, Missionary Stories with the Millers, Grandma’s Attic, Johnny Appleseed, Twenty and Ten, the 100 Dresses, Red Sails to Capri, White Stallion of Lipizza, Strawberry Girl, The Little Riders, Gladys Aylward, Tales of Robin Hood, Walk the World’s Rim, The Sign of the Beaver and much much more have touched our heart and caused us to learn. 

And, with a shelf filled with yet to be read gems from our Sonlight programme for this year, we look forward to encountering many more books that will become alive in our hands, our heads and our hearts.

______________________

This post features in the upcoming South African Carnival of Homeschooling Bloggers April 2012 Carnival.  Feel free to pop over to Melanie’s blog to read more from other homeschoolers about their favourite living books.  And feel free to share some of YOUR favourite living books too!

After supper, we enjoyed our resurrection egg making session.  This time we used silver balls.  BIG FAIL.  I wanted to stay away from nuts because all the oil in the nuts can cause the meringues to flop – plus the kids aren’t too fond of the nutty/meringue mix.  But the silver balls WOULD NOT break!   I have a year to come up with an alternative plan.  Although I may consider making tomb buns aka resurrection rolls.  I’d make a home made dough, methinks.  Or use shortcrust pasty, ready made. 

I really enjoyed doing the resurrection cookies this year as each child was thoroughly involved and engaged.  It’s exciting watching each child "get” the gospel at the level of their own understanding. 

Here is the photo evidence…

The balls that wouldn’t break!

Some rapt attention – not consistent, I’m afraid!

Dad reads, while mom tries to get the recipe right.  After 5 years of doing the same thing every year, you’d think I’d know it off by heart!

My turn!

Talking about Jesus’ followers’ salty tears…  Such serious little faces!

A not so serious moment – daddy Craig attacking mommy with tickles. 

Dad helps Micah with his meringue drop.

Sam shows off his muscles for grandpa Peter.

The next morning!  Time to open the oven to reveal the empty tombs.

Oh, the sweet anticipation.  The kids were so excited.

Lovely hollow meringues.  The first time we did them they came out flat.  There are lots of things that can cause meringues to flop.  Mostly – not beating enough between adding sugar; too much moisture in the air; ANY grease or oil in the mix, including the bit of residue left on a plastic bowl from a previous project.  That’s why it’s better to use a glass or ceramic bowl and utensils. Sometimes the oil from the nuts causes it to flop.

After reading about how Jesus rose again and shouting, “He is RISEN!” the kids stuffed crumbly meringue into their mouths and enjoyed every minute of it!

We also got to see our resurrection garden – resurrected!  I forgot to take a picture of it all dead and limp after two days of no water.  A quick dash between downpours yielded these beautiful flowers to show a resurrected garden and an empty tomb (aka potato!).

The rain did not let up for Resurrection Sunday – but it did not dampen the spirit of the day. We enjoyed an inspiring sermon at Christ Church, Hermanus. Despite some hungry and thirsty kids at the end of morning who whined a fair bit in my ear, I did manage to chat to Tracey who also homeschools and has just taken permanent foster care of a sweet little four year old girl from Hawston. That moved my heart – what a wonderful picture of God’s adoption of us into His family, and on this Easter weekend making it doubly poignant.

We got home and had a delicious brunch prepared by my man.  I prolonged the kids’ anticipation rather cruelly! Enforced rest time before the rest of our Resurrection Sunday fun. 

First – hunting for our Resurrection Eggs…  Let the search begin.  Kids ready in anticipation (but not before exchanging that dummy in Micah’s mouth for a chance to search).

Exciting finds!

Then: the great discussion!  Each egg holds a different symbol of the story leading up to Jesus’ death and including his resurrection.  We bought these from Karmal Books in Bergvliet some years ago, and they’ve been a HUGE hit. 

Then stage two of the hunt – this time for sweeties and goodies for the kids.  And our Wordless Book craft.  Such anticipation as the kids run down the stairs to start the downstairs hunt – our first year hunting INSIDE the house.  Yes, the rain really was relentless!

Their goodies still in the packet – pre-hiding.  Granny hid these while the kids were busy hunting for their resurrection eggs, upstairs.

Oh the delight!  Tigger was guarding this cache!

The funniest was this find.  Granny gave Micah a hint as to where some more of the stash was … “Go make a wee, Mikey,” she said.  While, Micah took her literally, totally missing the loot on TOP of the loo.  The look of sheepish delight when he realised was too precious!

Craft time!  We’ve been doing crafty variations of the Wordless Book theme each year.  We’ve made bracelets, keyrings, books and more.  This year we glass painted honey jars with the hopes that they will dry beautifully and shine the light of a candle as they shine the light of the gospel.

First things first – a retelling of the gospel story using the Wordless Book and the poem I adapted a few years ago: Wordless Book poem.

Granny Sally got hold of the camera while I explained to the kids and captured all my goofy expressions.

And their sweet expressions.  It’s not easy to keep their attention without some serious interaction!  But, between the wriggles and giggles, some sweet and sincere answers pop out.  I love seeing these little faces so earnestly reply…

And my little-big girl so serious as she reads the poem. 

Finally – the craft.  The idea is to use the colours of the wordless book to decorate the jar. 

Here’s a mid-post mini tutorial…

You need:

• honey jars, cleaned of all labels etc
• glass deco pens, specifically the yellow, black, red, white and green colours
• tea light or short stubby candles

Method:

• explain the story of the wordless book using the poem here: Wordless Book. and you can print out a version of the book here: Printed Wordless Book.
• decorate jars with shapes, patterns, pictures in the wordless book colours to tell the story of the gospel.

I struggled to get the sticky labels off back home.  I googled some ideas, trying a few I thought would work, like nail polish remover and the like.  Turns out that the most effective solution was also the cheapest, quickest and most natural.  What got off the sticky labels quickest?   Well, after a good softening session in a basin of hot water, a rub down with COOKING OIL did the trick!  How’s that?  Gotto love Google! 

Micah needed some help – after a few false starts where his decorations were wiped off with great enthusiasm by Mr Micah – so we simply created lines of zigzags down his jar.

Kiera did stripes down one side and, of course, a horse on the other side…

Sam made squiggles all over…

Even granny got into the rhythm and created a beautiful jar…

Granny’s masterpiece.

Katie’s has an intricate story that I’ve still got to figure out!

Our finished products – drying.  Or, at least attempting to dry on this cold wet rainy day!

A lovely celebration of Jesus and his resurrection! 

But first, collect the flowers…

Put it altogether…

And present the final product to mom!

The idea is that over the next few days the flowers will wilt and die.  But on resurrection Sunday there will be fresh flowers and the tomb will be open and empty.  (and if last year is anything to go by, it’ll be a bit mouldy too!)

After a bath and fresh set of clothes, the kids were all ready for a special evening – our Passover.

Jesus is the Passover lamb.  Which is what makes celebrating Passover as a Christian so incredibly meaningful and worthwhile.   This year, Good Friday night and Passover night coincided in dates.  Which meant that while we celebrated on Good Friday, people across the globe also celebrated.  And, most special to us, were Kelly and her family of believers in the midrasha.  Around our table were just 10, while in the middle of the Negev desert, Kelly’s family of 9 joined up with 23 others at Jeanie’s house to celebrate in true style – reclining on cushions!

This year I revamped our Haggadah a bit.

Haggadah means “the telling”.  And that’s exactly what it is – the telling of the story of the Passover and its significance to us today.  There is much symbolism and custom entrenched in the Haggadah and the seder meal.  But, there are literally hundreds of variations.  Not least of which is ours, which is a Christian seder – which finds that Jesus fulfils the story, making it complete.  I put ours together in 2009 when Katie was just 2 and 1/2, with the aim to make it thorough, but not overburdened with long explanations and readings.  I wanted it to be kid friendly.

Now that our kids are a bit bigger, I’ve adapted it a bit – fleshing it out just a little.  It’s a work in progress, and I’m sure that there will be a slightly different version next year with all the tweaking!

Here are some pictures from our evening together.  Starting with calling us to worship with the shofar.  We make it fun for the kids by allowing them all a turn…

And even the adults get a turn – and make it fun for everyone!

This year the Lambs joined us – friends of my parents with a great love for Israel.

Sharing the cup of sanctification…

Craig explains the meaning of the four cups…

Kiera reads aloud, “And when he had taken the cup and given thanks, He said: “Take this and share it among yourselves for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine from now until the Kingdom of God comes.” (Luke 22:17-18)

Our seder plate …

Sam’s sandwich of bitter herbs (horseradish) and unleavened bread (matza).

The Menorah, lit by Lorraine…

Great excitement and anticipation is felt by the kids as granny hides the afikomen – the piece of matza that represents Jesus to us.  Close those eyes!

In the middle of the meal, grandpa Peter found the yarmulke he’s had for as long as I can remember.  It found its way on to Craig’s head…

We played some guessing games, including “talking heads” – each of us had a symbol from the meal stuck to our foreheads.  We had to guess what the words on our own foreheads were by asking questions about it.  Is it a food?  Is it one of the plagues?

A delicious meal was consumed! Roast lamb a la granny Sally!

Finally time to find the afikomen!  Great delight from Kiera who found it in no time at all..

Sam was bummed that he missed it this year. 

Kiera the matza-walrus…

With the Afikomen found, we enjoyed the third cup as part of the communion. 

Traditionally the main meal is eaten after the second cup is complete.  Then the third and fourth cup are presented after the meal.  In the bible, it says of Jesus: “In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.^{[a] 21(Luke 22:21)}  The third cup is most likely the cup that Jesus took up to represent his blood. It’s most appropriate therefore that the cup is the Cup of Redemption, for by his blood we are redeemed! Amen! 

Craig explains how this piece of matza is just like Jesus’ body in so many senses… bruised, pierced, broken, striped …

After everything was complete, we enjoyed dessert prepared beautifully by Lorraine.  Yum yum! 

All in all another lovely Passover meal filled with awesome memories!

For a complete 10 min video of our Passover head to Youtube for our Passover 2011…

The verdict?  Still lots of fun!  Not quite as “polished” as the first one.  This one is housed in an old factory in Obs.  It’s still in the process of being renovated.  Which means not as many “stations” as the old one, a concrete floor and high ceilings which make for a noisy experience when lots of kids are there, and a sense that things aren’t quite complete.  But there is much hope for the place and the cool science stuff that is there is still loads of fun.

Like this dedicated Lego room…

Train tracks – fascinating for any boy!

And loads of cogs and wheels to turn…

This “marble run” had my boys fascinated for ages.  The “marbles” were heavy iron balls that were pulley-ed up and then rolled beautifully through the maze-like contraption.

See?  Fascinated Sam didn’t take his eyes off it.  I love this shot – capturing his reflection in the glass.

As always the Murray & Roberts stand is their favourite… 

Micah spent most of his time here, until he couldn’t see me.  The poor boy went looking for me and then managed to get hold of one of the staff members and tell her that he was looking for me.  I was quite impressed that he told her his name and my name in order to find me.  I found him before they needed to call me over the sound system.  Just as well, because it was so noisy in there, I wouldn’t have heard anyway!

The older girls wanted to go on the Gyroscope.  What fun!  They laughed their entire way through!

I imagined they’d feel a little sick after that, but they seemed just fine!  Next up – air-shooting.  But the high pressure air hose was not working . 

We got to watch the gutter boat races – boys blowing their boats to the finish line!

And Micah, feeling better now that he had mommy nearby, settled in for a lego play. 

We stayed for about an hour and a half.  Next time I’ll come with more food to eat and let the kids have a break outside to eat their lunch so that we can stay longer.  There is so much to do and see.  Fitting it all in in just an hour or so is overwhelming.  I found myself over stimulated by it all.  Also, being school holidays it was over-run with kids and groups.  Next time I’ll take advantage of our homeschooling schedule and pick a mid-term morning rather!