Memories of My Grandmom

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I had the joy of spending many summer days at my maternal grandparents' home. I was an only grandchild, so I often had their undivided attention. My Grandmom would play board games, card games, and help my imagination grow by playing school and store with me. My Grandpop would often let me go on walks with him to the corner store. It was from him that I learned to walk fast as he was tall and a fast walker.

One of the Polaroid photos taken by my Grandmom of my toys. Now I understand why my own children want me to take pictures of their buildings, racetracks, and train set ups. 

Toys and Games 

One of the fun aspects of spending time at my grandparents' house was that I could play with another entire set of toys. They had kept my mom's and uncle's toys, and I was allowed to play with some of them. There was also a huge box of rocks that were collected by my uncle for his geology class at college that created roadways and parking lots for the toy cars. With the cheaper dolls that were purchased from the corner store, I was allowed to experiment with doll hair cuts. I created my own paper dolls using old Sears and J.C. Penny catalogs.

There was also a great collection of old board games (many of which have modern-day versions) like Go to the Head of the Class, Chutes and Ladders, Monopoly, and Candyland. And there were a few other games that had missing pieces or rules that allowed my Grandmom and I to create our own rules and new games. Sometimes we even drew these new game boards on the back of the original game boards and used stickers to help create the game.

World of Imagination 

My Grandmom helped inspire my imagination in a number of ways. For this, I am very grateful. She spent many hours helping me set up pretend stores, labeling everyday objects with prices, and then allowing me to use the adding machine with tape as my cash register.  She also spent many days pretending to be my student as I was the teacher. I remember using a blackboard to write assignments and reading books to her. She also let me flip a card table on its side to create a cave using blankets, couch cushions, and pillows to camp out in during thunderstorms – both real and imaginary.

From the Beginning to the End 

At the start of each day, my Grandmom would open the curtains saying, "Let there be light." I never realized how much I could miss that simple phrase that I used to find so silly when I was a kid. After my Grandpop died, she moved a few states away to live with her son, my uncle. As she got older, she changed and often the curtains were not opened in their house at all. In the end, my Grandmom changed from the woman who spoiled me to someone afraid of the outside world and strangers – even of me and my mom at the very end.

As an adult, it is much easier to look back and be grateful for all the happy memories we made together. I am willing to embrace those sad memories more and more as I see changes in my own mom. Time is short, and I pray that everyone has more happy memories with their grandparents than sad ones that lead to gratitude and thankfulness.

Homeschooling Traditions for the New School Year

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Every new year, there are expectations as to what will happen on that very first day of school. Many kids (and teachers) can't sleep the night before the first day of school. What about for homeschooling families? Perhaps the first day of a new homeschool year is not as stressful as the first day of a child attending a public or private school but it can still bring joy and fun.

The new school year always brought on the nerves for me. As a child, I was very shy. I still tend to be shy around new people or in new situations. Meeting new people or seeing classmates after an entire summer apart was often very scary for me. When I became a public school teacher, I still was nervous regarding the first day of school. I taught many freshman classes so these students were new to our school and the whole high school experience. How would they react to new systems and new teachers? Would I be able to reach them and help them learn to enjoy studying history?

Our New School Year Homeschooling Traditions

While our children do not have the same worries as I did as a child and we technically homeschool year-round, I do like to start each new year off with special recognition. We started a new tradition of taking a "first day of school" photograph with our three children. I create an individualized poster for each child to hold with their grade, school year, and image to color with the name of our homeschool to hold in the photo. These 8.5-by-11-inch posters are then used as the front cover of their current school year binder.

New Traditions for 2020-2021

This year we are instituting a new tradition for our first not-back-to-school dinner. We will be having dessert for dinner! What a fun way to make the day special ending with a special meal! We have only done dessert for dinner once so far and our kids loved it. We served ice cream, candy, cake, and cookies. I wonder what else we will serve this time.

We also picked up brand new binders for our two youngest so that I can better organize their papers from the various online resources we have access to in our homeschool. I am thinking of using new binders each year for our children will be a great way to create portfolios of their school work.

Holidays – Thanksgiving

Holidays mean so many different things for each individual. Everyone has one or another holiday they prefer over others depending upon which they celebrate in their family. For some, Thanksgiving is their favorite holiday. It conjures up images of families gathered around a large table eating dinner, watching (or playing) football, and relaxing with a cup of coffee and a slice of pumpkin pie.

Memories 

Over the course of my life, Thanksgiving has created many varied memories – from traveling three hours to my uncle's on Thanksgiving day itself or spending time with cousins when I was unmarried to enjoying dinner at our own house to spending it with my husband's family. I even have one memory of working during the early hours of Thanksgiving morning at the zoo helping my fellow Education staff care for our reptiles, amphibians, and insects in our education collection. (That is a fun memory I will always cherish.)

Favorite Foods 

For picky eaters, like myself, Thanksgiving dinner may evoke anxiety and fear. For the longest time, my mom (and later I) would bring something for me to eat in case the typical fare was not something I wanted. To this day, I am still not a huge fan of turkey (but I do love mashed potatoes and gravy!).

Over the years, I have discovered more dishes that I enjoy and found that there are even some that I like which my husband (who is considerably less picky than me) does not like. And of course, if you have children, you know how difficult it can be to find something they might enjoy. Or you find one Thanksgiving they eat everything on their plate and the next one you are bringing a can of Chef Boyardee for them for their Thanksgiving dinner.

Family Fun 

When my mom and I joined our cousins, Thanksgiving meant time to spend together in the kitchen and around the dining room table sharing stories and memories. On a few occasions, we might have played a game but mostly we talked and chatted.

As a parent of small children, Thanksgiving has, at times, been less about socializing with adults and more about keeping the kids entertained or at least not breaking anything. For the last two years, our son has entertained us with a game he created – Toss Pal – using paper (or plastic) cups and teams that attempt to toss their cup onto or into the cup in the middle. He was so excited about playing it this year – especially since Dad bought him his own set of special plastic cups.

The Spirit of Thanksgiving 

With all the food and family fun, it is sometimes easy to overlook that the point of Thanksgiving is giving thanks. Being thankful and showing gratitude for the people in our life is so important on this day and the other 364 days of the year. So let us remember: "Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever" (Psalm 107: 1)

How do you spend Thanksgiving? Is it a quiet meal at home? 

Is it in service to others? 

Looking for more Thanksgiving-related posts? Please check out the following:

I joined up with Timberdoodle to share this Holiday post!

A Quest to Celebrate Gratefulness

There are so many ways to help our children be grateful and celebrate that gratefulness not only during the month of November but all year long. Sometimes it is necessary to look beyond the extra things we use and have in our everyday life to see just what we need to have to make our day to day lives successful.

Grateful for Things 

While watching a commercial for an Internet provider, I realized how very grateful I am for the age in which we live. When I tallied up in my head how much I do during the day that requires access to online programs or sites, I was amazed. On a daily basis if I am working on my blog and homeschooling then I need a computer with Internet access, my phone, maybe the television to watch JellyTelly, and sometimes a tablet for teaching with IXL or Matific Galaxy. Then my teen also needs Internet access for his own homeschooling.

Could we homeschool without Internet access? Yes! We have books aplenty, access to our local library, and lots of great print materials. But I am grateful to have my days go more smoothly thanks to access to the Internet.

Grateful for People 

There are times when I need additional help with my blog and with homeschooling. I am very grateful that my husband can find the time to read and edit my blog posts. I have found that my writing is not as strong as it once was. Is this due to aging, my anxiety and depression, or trying to write coherent posts with multiple interruptions? Who knows? But I am grateful my husband edits my blog.

He also steps up the plate when I need help homeschooling. Some times this means helping our six-year-old with a project for Exploring Creation with Astronomy. Other times I need him to step in and help our teen with mathematics or helping with a Chemistry experiment. I am thankful for the opportunity to raise our children together.

I hope that our children will learn to be grateful for things like the Internet and people, especially their father. At the end of the day, we can be happy people if our loved ones are standing by our sides. We have a home, food, clothes, and each other. Most importantly, we have God.

Celebrating Gratefulness 

I joined up with other Timberdoodle bloggers to write about Thanksgiving, gratefulness, and thankfulness this week.

Building Character in Our Home

Disclaimer: I received this unit study for free from the author in return for my honest opinion. All thoughts and opinions are my own. This post also contains affiliate links. For more information, please see my Terms of Use and Disclosure Policy. Thank you

Bringing up our children to be good Christian citizens who do their best to personify the character of Jesus is very important to my husband and I. Reviewing Volumes 1 and 2 of Character Building for Families by Lee Ann Rubsam from Full Gospel Family Publications has provided us with the ability to start focusing on the character traits we would like to see developed in our family. Each volume focuses on different traits and presents them in a similar manner.

Over the course of over 200 pages, parents can use the manuals as either family devotions or in a homeschool setting. One of the fantastic things about Character Building for Families is the way in which the information is presented. Even though each lesson is labeled by days, it isn't set up by weeks so you can work your way through each character trait and not worry if you don't use it on a set schedule (like Monday-Friday). The twelve topics of Volume 1 are spread out over 165 lessons while the five topics of Volume 2 are spread out over 135 lessons. If you are interested in seeing more, you can view a sample.

Our family only needed the manuals and our copy of the Bible to study the character traits. Each lesson contains one or more references to the Bible and many even incorporate the memorization of Scripture. All of these things help reinforce the importance of each character trait as being rooted in the Bible.

What Characters Traits Will Be Studied?

Volume 1

• Obedience
• Orderliness
• Diligence
• Loyalty
• Deference
• Cheerfulness (Joy)
• Gentleness (Kindness)
• Contentment
• Gratitude
• Truthfulness
• Servanthood
• Hospitality 

Volume 2 

• Stewardship
• Teachableness
• Mercy
• Patience
• Desire for Jesus 

Even though Rubsam has listed out the character traits in the order that her family studied them, she reminds us in the opening that families can follow any order that God wants us to follow. 

What We Like 

This is really a character study that can be tailored for one's own family. We can all learn together and improve all of our lives. Even through there are many lessons, they can be taught however they best fit the needs of your family. If your children need more time on a concept, you can extend lessons. Conversely, if your children are older, you may wish to combine lessons. For example, when looking at Contentment in Volume 1, you may not need 17 days because your children may be familiar with the Scriptures discussed or memorization may come easily to them. 

I also find this to be an excellent way to introduce the idea of Scripture memorization to our family. As I was reading through the lessons, I was highlighting the verses referenced and creating images in my Bible app to share with my family. Another way to reinforce the memorization could be copywork. 

I wrote out the shorter Bible quotes on notes to include in the book for easy reference.

These volumes by Rubsam are easy to read, understand, and apply to our family's life. But they still have a deep and powerful message of building important character traits that will help them be good Christian citizens.  

Let's Highlight One Trait from Each Volume 

Volume 1 – Gentleness (Kindness) 

Gentleness is one of the Fruits of the Spirit and very important to display in a family. Being thoughtful of others' feelings and caring for others are important character traits for siblings. Over the course of 14 days, our family reviewed Galatians 5:22-23, the story of the Good Shepherd, how Jesus treated children, the Parable of the Good Samaritan, and other stories from the Bible that emphasize gentleness and kindness. 

Each day we were able to review Scripture, discuss the Bible, work on memorization of key Scriptures, and pray for thoughtfulness, sensitivity, and compassion. By spending two weeks on the topic, our family was thoroughly able to examine the character trait. 

The Good Samaritan

Volume 2 – Patience 

Another one of the Fruits of the Spirit is patience or longsuffering. Even though this is a difficult character trait and will require constant practice and revisiting, I think it is an important one to work on with our family. 

The character study states: "God is patient. Can you think of any stories in the Bible that show us God's patience with people?"

This is an excellent opportunity to review the Bible stories that our children already know. Day by day, the character study presents various examples of God's patience including examples from Genesis, Exodus, the Psalms, the Epistles, and more. Each day ends with a reminder to pray and thank God for His help. 

I would recommend these books for families who are desiring to develop character traits that will help them be more like Jesus. 

Do you want to learn more about the author – Lee Ann Rubsam? 

Lee Ann Rubsam homeschooled her children for 25 years, until they reached adulthood. Character Building for Families was originally written for her family. She continues to mentor younger homeschool mothers through social media and writing, including The Character Building for Families Blog.

You can find her at: Character Building for Families

So Close, So Far Away

Please welcome my husband (my editor) in this guest post as he reflects upon Thanksgiving and my late Grandmom-in-law. This post was originally going to be published late last year but we wished to share his thoughts with the family prior to sharing it on my blog.

Thanksgiving. The day we gather as family and proclaim our thanks to God for what we have, what we have been spared, what we have learned, what we have experienced, and what we have been given. Perhaps some of us are hearty enough to be thankful for what is no more.

Thanksgiving conjures up memories of browns and oranges and yellows and reds. Smells of turkey, gravy, stuffing, casseroles, vegetables, breads, rolls, cakes, pies, cookies, egg nog, and firewood smoke come to mind. These sense memories pale, though, compared to the memories of being with my family, such as hearing Grandmom talking with someone, or the laughs of my aunts, or the banter of uncles and cousins around the fire outside the vacation home or in the living room in our hometown. The crack of the pool table in the den or NHL video games on a giant basement TV screen. The day could be represented by a family serving dinner spread out over a wide table in a dining room, a wife cooking for her small family in a small town, or an aunt and uncle with the rest of their families gathering around the light and warmth at whichever house is the host venue.

Grandmom left this Earth the day after Thanksgiving – Black Friday. So named for other reasons, this year it carries a heavier, deeper meaning. Black Friday is so close to Thanksgiving, but so far away because the calendar only moves in one direction. Black Friday is the furthest day from the next Thanksgiving. So, too, Grandmom is now so far away from her family – or (more accurately) from her earthly family. Yet, in reverse, she is so close to the next generations like Black Friday is close to its prior day. Her pedigree is in our very souls. Her laughter, wisdom, and fondness for music in our minds. Her love flows in our hearts. Now, she is among “the cloud of witnesses” the writer of Hebrews tells about in his epistle:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. (Hebrews 12:1-3)

Last week, Grandmom joined Grandpop – my forebear in both name and generation, her sisters, my late first wife, and countless others who named Yeshua Mashiach – Christ Jesus – as Lord and Savior. Because Grandmom believed in her Savior, surely she heard those words we long to hear after we shed our own mortal coils: “Well done, good and faithful servant.” For those who know Jesus, death is merely falling asleep and waking up renewed in Heaven in Jesus’ arms. How else could David and Paul write, “O Death, where is thy sting? Grave, where is thy victory?”

As Thanksgiving gives way to the Christmas season, I am thankful for being Grandmom’s grandson – and for the culture of love that Grandmom fostered in us all. Who else was so forgiving (“Maybe there is an illness in the family.”) or longsuffering (“Maybe they were having a bad day.”)? This is not to cover all of Grandmom’s flaws – as we all have them – but certainly her strengths have taught me many things that I shall treasure until I join her where she is (in glory)—So Close, So Far Away.

If you would like to read more about our family, please see the following posts about our annual Pollyanna Party and more:

Family Fun: Fall Crafts and Activities

The Autumn season is upon us...even if the official start of Fall isn't until later in September. Seasonal items are appearing on the shelves in stores to help us celebrate Autumn and Halloween. If you are looking for sunscreen or pool towels for a late holiday, you may be hard-pressed to find them in stores.

Over the years we have shared our fall crafts and activities at A Mom's Quest to Teach. In order to help find those posts, I am sharing them again in one convenient place – right here!

Fall Crafts 

Paper Plate Scarecrow 

Corn Sun Catchers 

Owl Puppet Craft 

Pumpkin Coffee Filter Sun Catchers 

Corn Shaker 

Fall Activities 

Pumpkin Picking 

I linked up with Timberdoodle's Hello, Fall! Blog Hop. Please visit the other posts for some fun fall ideas!

Holidays: Ukrainian Easter Egg Traditions

This post contains affiliate links. For more information please see my Terms of Use and Disclosure Policy page. Thank you.

My family has been decorating Easter Eggs since before I was born. My grandpop was always the one in charge of the decorating of the eggs with my mom, while my grandmom would handle the dying of the eggs with my help when I was little. After my grandpop died, my mom and I continued the tradition at our own home and now we shared it with my husband and three children.

The History

Eggs have long been associated with the source of life and with the birth of Christianity. The symbol of the egg was likened to that of the tomb of Jesus. Decorating both hard-boiled eggs and raw eggs was a tradition among the Ukrainians during pagan times.  When the people accepted Christianity in the late 900s, the egg was adopted into the Easter celebration to break the fast of Lent and was decorated with Christian symbols. The old pagan symbols were given new life and new Christian meanings. For example, the sun designs now stood for the Son of God, dots would come to present the tears of Mary, and the triangles represented the Trinity.

There are two types of Ukrainian Easter eggs: the krashanky (a hard-boiled egg which is dyed a solid color) and the pysanky (which is raw egg that is decorated and dyed and not eaten). Most families today decorate and dye only hard-boiled eggs but my family also used to decorate blown eggs. (These were disposed of when I was little after one exploded in my grandparents’ living room. I guess it wasn’t properly prepared.)

There are many different legends about the origins of the Ukrainian Easter Eggs. One tells of Mary, the mother of Jesus, preparing a basket of eggs to take to Pontius Pilate while her son was imprisoned. Her tears fell upon the eggs, creating the dots of many colors that are still drawn on today. Another legend tells of a young woman who was returning home from the market with her basket of eggs and jug of water. She came upon a man sitting on a rock and offered him water. The stranger accepted her offer of water and she went on her way. When she arrived at home, she discovered her eggs had transformed into pysanky. The stranger was Jesus.

We haven't used natural dyes but we will in the future!

Natural Dyes

Yellow	Orange peels (a pale yellow) Yellow onion skins (only soak for a short while) Turmeric (bright yellow)
Orange	Yellow onion skins (check for color) Chili powder (pale orange-buff)
Red	Beets Red onion skins
Blue	Red cabbage leaves (light blue – less time; deep blue – soak overnight)
Beige/Brown	Yellow onion skins (long soak) Coffee

Decorating

The writing tool or stylus used for decorating the eggs with melted wax is called a kistka (plural, kistky). My family always used an un-sharpened pencil with a pin stuck into the eraser end. And I recommend beeswax, as it is absorbed more readily into the pores of the egg so it ‘sticks’ to the egg better than man-made paraffin.

Safety Reminder! Melted beeswax is HOT. Do NOT allow young children to participate. Do NOT leave them unattended around melted beeswax. In my family, I was not allowed to participate in the actual decorating with melted beeswax until I was 14 years old. We only recently allowed our teen to start helping with this part of the egg-decorating process.

Designs

There are many different meanings for the various geometric designs, plant designs, and animal designs.

Many eggs will contain lines used for division that encircle the entire egg. They can be thought of as symbolizing eternal life.

Nets and sieve designs have been found on pysanky long before the egg was adopted as a Christian symbol. They can be linked to the fisherman’s net as many of Jesus’ followers were fishermen and became fishers of men.

Another symbol adopted by the Christians was the sun or star to represent God. There are many variations upon this design. 

Among the plant designs there are vines, roses, pine trees, leaves, and wheat. Animal designs are not as easy to make as others due to the small drawing surface but the fish, a symbol of Christianity, as well as chickens, rams’ horns, deer, and horses have been drawn on the eggs.

Of course, there are many other cultures and countries that also dye and decorate Easter eggs including Russia, Serbia, and other nations but this is how my family continues our Ukrainian tradition.

I used our Magic Stix Washable Markers to create the designs on paper this year! 

I linked up with the following blog(s):