Good times

The Halletts have been busy with various projects and celebrations. I share some photos of our recent happenings:

Wesley decided he really did want his two front teeth for Christmas!


Eva finally earned enough money to buy her American Girl Kit doll. No small task - that doll cost $119!! Here she is just after opening the box.


We have our first successful Arizona garden! The secret was a fall garden, not a spring one. I should say it's EVA'S garden because she badgered me until I caved and we planted. We have already harvested and shared radishes.


Alice has been busy with Pinterest projects. After Thanksgiving I decided I needed to pretty up the hallway. I also needed a spot for the children to show off their artwork and projects. Hmm. Here's the outcome. The end of the hallway has shelves for origami and other creations plus the frame with artwork:




The side of the hallway has a frame and hangers for artwork. I love the color we chose. It makes me smile.



(Sorry for all the amateur photos. Iphone pics + bad lighting + amateur photographer do not mix) The frames and hangers are all the same color even though it doesn't look like it. I used clearance frames, wooden hangers that were given to us a while back, and .77 craft paint. This was also my first foray into vinyl lettering and I am thrilled with the outcome. Our house is slowly becoming a home we love.

After that we had to think about Christmas. I loved this scrabble ornament I found on pinterest. But I thought they were a little plain and I knew we could make some cuter ones.


So we came up with these:




Adorable if I do say so myself. Originally we cut the tile holders to size, stained them, and super glued them on. But we ran out of the tile holders pretty fast so we painted some of Wesley's City Blocks pieces and I think they turned out great too. And please try to be surprised if you end up with some of these creations this season :).

We are so blessed. The Lord is so good and merciful. Through all these fun times and fun projects, I think of how the Lord has truly blessed us. And most of all he has blessed us with the gospel, a nearby temple, and his Son Jesus Christ.

Tissot

I've always loved the arts. Performing theater in high school, attending live symphony concerts, and basking in the art exhibits at BYU when I have the opportunity are some of my favorite memories. Thus it's no surprise one of my favorite times of the week is Picture Study time. I gather 6-8 works by a particular artist and we study one a week. I think we will study James Tissot next.

I first learned about Tissot at Education Week in 2010 when BYU had an exhibit of his religious works. Here is an extract from my journal about what I learned from that time:
"Tissot is an 19th century artist who never achieved great status, especially among the art movement. He grew up well off and was a very worldy, materialistic person. He had a relationship with a young woman who eventually died of consumption. In his grief he went to a a church. While there, he saw in his mind a vision of a grief-stricken couple who is surrounded by rubble. They are clearly not alright and in need of support. The Savior comes and sits by them and comforts them. After that epiphany, Tissot painted only to glorify God and he turned his life around. He painted scenes from Christ's life and printed the Tissot Bible that contained prints of his works...Most of all, I love his passion and testimony."

Clearly, I love this conversion story. But I also love the beautiful watercolors that have come from it. Sometimes I can tell a Tissot just from the clothing in his works. The beautiful fabrics and patterns he paints are a relic from his earlier, worldlier days. He visited the Holy Land twice in order to portray the scenes accurately.

Healing of the Lepers at Capernaum


Jesus Sits by the Seashore and preaches


What Our Lord Saw From the Cross


Christ on the Mountain


One of the works at the Life of Christ exhibit at BYU was "Massacre of the Innocents." It depicts Herod's soldiers killing the young baby boys in order to kill the next king, Jesus. It is a truly gory work that depicts bloody babies being hurled out a window, landing in a tree, and dozens of bloody children in a heap on the ground. It was shocking. I was truly overwhelmed with disgust of the subject matter and of how it was portrayed. Truthfully, I was disturbed. While the rest of the exhibit was testimony building and lovely, I couldn't get this one work out of my mind. Here it is. And keep in mind a copy on the internet does not do it justice (you may want to search "James Tissot Massacre of the Innocent"s on Google Images to see a larger picture).

This painting churned in my mind and I couldn't stop mulling over how depicting this scene could in any way point someone towards knowing Christ, except I suppose for showing a scene from his life. Then slowly, slowly, the pieces came together. The tree. The blood. The atrocities committed. Oh how could I not have seen? The precious babies spilling blood for Jesus, who will one day sacrifice his blood for them. The bloody children in the tree, foreshadowing the Savior's future atonement on his own tree. All that gore, just as Christ's blood will atone for the acts committed against the innocent. And the blood that must stand as a witness against Herod.

Now I can see this work, and I still wince. But I wince knowing that Christ has overcome all, even my own sins, the sins committed against me, and for the world.

Pinterest and Halloween

With Cody and Eva off at a daddy/daughter campout, Wesley decided it was time to do some crafts. I thought this would be a good idea as he wouldn't have the opportunity to turn into Mr. Destructo if we spent the day crafting. And as I had just registered with Pinterest the day before, I knew that was the place to get some crafty ideas. However, seeing as how we do not keep an abundance of craft supplies on hand, our only car was camping somewhere in the woods, and I don't have the patience for fru fru crafts anyway, our choices were limited to something that could be done with what we had on hand. Our first project was toilet paper pumpkins.

We placed the toilet paper roll on a sheet of fabric approximately 18 in. square (this is where saving fabric scraps, old clothes, sheets, and cloth napkins comes in handy). Wrap it up and stuff the excess down the top. Roll up a paper lunch bag, glue the end, and put it in the top of the pumpkin. Then I wrapped green fabric around some cardstock and glued it all together for some leaves. Felt would be easier and look good but I didn't have any. At first I tried to cut out a real pumpkin leaf shape but that was too difficult. The apple looking leaves are still cute and much easier to make. Next, Wesley wanted to do something with frankenstein. We had some green fabric so I suggested we do a toilet paper frankenstein.

We rolled the toilet paper in some green fabric and hot glued the back seam. Then tuck the extra into the holes. I couldn't find any black fabric or felt so I used an old black sock (really dear, you hardly wore that pair anyway!) and just pulled it over the top for his hair. I think it looks great. Tuck the extra in the top and then use an ultra fine sharpie to create the face. I think this guy is my favorite of the day. Ghosts were next on the list.

Canning jars and milk jugs rounded out our ghost families. We used glue dots to make construction paper faces on the jars and Wesley experimented with sharpies and paint on the milk jugs. He's so proud of his creations.

Picture Study/Art Appreciation

I found this at the library and I've been devouring it this week. It is a reference book so I haven't read the whole thing, but this book has really helped me understand the works of art we study in homeschool. It is fun to read a few pages at a time or you can just look up a subject. It is arranged alphabetically. Sometimes I wish it would go a little deeper into explanations but it is definitely a good starting point. I just love learning little tidbits such as that a pomegranate represents the Resurrection and that a Griffin can represent the dual nature of Christ - His divinity (bird) and humanity (lion).

I really could have used this book last spring when we studied Raphael. I would've known that "The Knight's Dream" shows Scipio's dream in which his grandfather appears and describes "the heavenly abode to which the great and honourable on earth are admitted." The sword and book respectively represent the active and contemplative virtues needed for a full life. The sprig of myrtle (symbol of Venus) offered from the more alluring virgin represents sensual pleasure, also a necessity for a full, harmonious life.



I also would have known that unicorns represent purity or chastity.



And I would have known the story of Galatea who loved the youth Acis, yet who was loved by Polyphemus, a cyclops. I would have known that Raphael depicted the scene of Galatea standing in her cockle-shell chariot on the sea, fleeing Polyphemus.



But now I know and I can use my newfound knowledge as we study Durer, Caravaggio, and Eugene Delacroix this year. I have a feeling I'll be checking this one out from the library quite a lot from now on.

Twaddle

Can I just say that I enjoy saying the word twaddle? It is a fun word! I always thought that Charlotte Mason invented the word twaddle, which she defined as dumbed-down, foolish literature. But I just googled it and apparently it is a word that originated in the 1780s and is defined as trivial, insignificant speech or writing. Lately I've been shopping thrift stores for quality books to send to my niece. Of course I know that many books sold today aren't worth looking at, but as I went through three bookcases of children's books, I found maybe 10-15 books that I thought worth purchasing. It was depressing to think that the majority of children are reading drivel.

Which books are twaddly?

To me, twaddle is one of those things that "you'll know it when you see it." I recognize twaddle when it is dumbed-down and/or talks down to children. Most baby and preschool board books are twaddle. Anything "abridged" should be avoided. But the most prevalent, and also the most distressing, twaddle items for children are ones that try to teach a moral lesson and also religious books. Many well-intentioned writers and also the consumer parents assume that if a book teaches a moral or is religious, it must be worthwhile. In my opinion, that is not so! Ms. Mason tells us that children should learn to hear the words of the scriptures from a young age and that their first exposure to scripture stories should be straight from the scriptures themselves. Some secondary sources may certainly be used, but I would look to see that they incorporate phrases and words from the scriptures and do not try to simplify concepts for "little minds." In our home we use only the scripture stories from the LDS online store in addition to scripture.

Which books are not twaddly?

Good, quality literature will challenge minds with beautiful, elevated language. It will espouse Ms. Mason's living ideas of "the great human relationships, relationships of love and service, of authority and obedience, of reverence and pity and neighbourly kindness; relationships to kin and friend and neighbour, to 'cause' and country and kind, to the past and the present."

Do not overlook the illustrations. I personally think there is such a thing as "picture twaddle." Look for well-illustrated books whose pictures are refined, and that develop an affinity and attraction for beauty.

Since I've lately been searching for books for Kindergarten and younger, here are some of my favorite Non-Twaddle Authors and Books for that age:

A. A. Milne (his books are a good example of literature that talk to children, not down to children)
Margaret Wise Brown
Barbara Cooney
A nice Mother Goose collection
Aesop's Fables
A Child's Garden of Verses
George and Martha books
Beatrix Potter
well-written and well-illustrated fairy and folk tales

A Twaddle-Free Home Library?

While there are certainly some books that are unquestionably good literature, I also think that each families' ideals will be slightly different. I come from a family with a great sense of humor and a love of fantasy and monsters (don't ask), so our list of favorite books that would probably not be included in Ms. Mason's canon includes the Sesame Street book "There's a Monster at the End of This Book" and Dr. Seuss classics like "There's a Wocket in my Pocket."

I've also found that children invariably receive twaddly books as gifts. I never disparage the gift but I've noticed that my children do not ask to read those books as often and when we do decide to thin our collection, those books are quietly disposed of.

When picking out books at the library, I usually allow my children to pick two or three books of their own choosing, whether they fit my standards or not. I then check out many other quality books and I think that over time children will become accustomed to good literature and will be able to discern what is twaddle.

Things That Work

I've been thinking of things that don't work at our house. (And I don't mean appliances that are broken.) Reason being to figure out how to make them work. That got depressing. So, to lift my spirits, I decided to make a list of things that DO work around here. Here we go:

Going at our own pace with homeschooling. Beginning of summer I thought Wesley would never read. Now that he's had a few months to mature, he's reading words with short vowels and I'm ecstatic!

Memorizing scriptures and hymns. As part of our morning meetings, we work on memorizing a scripture or hymn each week. This helped enormously when the children needed to memorize their parts for the Primary Program. They had them memorized within a day and I think were the only ones that had them memorized at the first practice.

Having a set day each week to get certain household chores done. A flylady idea that helps me keep up with clean sheets, towels, paperwork, coupons, errands, and shopping.

Reading scriptures before starting my day. If I don't do it first thing, it doesn't get done and I know it.

Spending the time to bargain shop. I've been yard saleing all summer and keeping an eye out for good deals and now I have almost all my Christmas shopping done. That will be a great load of stress I don't have to deal with come December. Not to mention the cost of Christmas is spread out over half a year so there is no extra expense during the holidays.

Love notes by text message. Now that we have unlimited texting, it's been fun to send (and receive!) love notes to the handsome hubby at random times during the day.

Now I'm gonna rip up the list of things that don't work, because having a list like that around just doesn't work for me.

Scripture Study

How do you study the scriptures? My own daily scripture study has evolved over the years from reading a chapter a day to reading fewer verses with greater pondering to studying the weekly Sunday School lesson with a journal nearby. After attending Education Week this year though, something clicked for me and I've been able to see the scriptures in a new light. I've been able to see the lessons the Lord has for me in a few simple verses.

I've pondered John chapter 5 verses 2-9 this week because I've been thinking about this awe-inspiring work by Carl Bloch that I was able to see at the BYU Museum of Art.



Verse 3 explains that there is a great multitude of impotent folk waiting for the moving of the water. However, Christ singled out one invalid to heal. Similarly, although He is the Redeemer for the whole world, He is still my personal Savior and is here for me individually in my time of need.

The next thing that jumped out to me was the invalid's reply to Jesus's question "Wilt thou not be made whole?" He answers "I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me." He could not heal himself. He needed a Savior. I am an invalid. I am absolutely helpless to heal myself. I need a Savior to heal my sorrows, to comfort me, to take away my sins, and to redeem me from death.

I also noticed that this "great multitude" was waiting at the pool for a superstitious angel to come and trouble the waters when they could have been looking for Christ. What "pools" do I have in my life? A cupcake to cheer me up when I have a bad day. An opportunity to get out of the house when I feel smothered by my household duties. A good book to escape the hardships of life. Don't I really just need time to remember He who has already carried the cross?

Finally, what I love about the painting by Carl Bloch is that it shows Christ lifting us from darkness to light. There is no other way to eternal life, except through Jesus Christ who has given us all.

"Rise, take up thy bed, and walk."