Little Helpers

The girls decided to help out with the Christmas tree and decorations {as they do every year}. And of course this is a cat's way of {helping} us.

C.S. Lewis, Clive Staples Lewis is one of my favorite authors.  He was an amazing versatile writer.  His skills spanned so many different genres: He was a poet, a science fiction writer,  a children's novelist, and adult novelist, and radio broadcaster,and he wrote theological books...and he was a professor at Cambridge and Oxford University.  And actually, he and author J.R.R. Tolkien (the writer of the Lord of the Rings) used to be in a small group together called the Inklings and they used to discuss their writing. 

Every Christmas-tide, I read Chronicles of Narnia whilst enjoying a cup and a treat, and it greatly enhances my Christmas-tide.   Hope everyone has a safe and Merry Christmas!

Breathe

Do you know how to breathe?  It may sound like a silly question but we as humans sometimes forget how to breathe.  From birth, we learned how to take our first breath and are unconscious about it from then on...Our bodies naturally take in the air around us without our conscious being aware.
After years of being on the move, stress, {I got to do this, I got to go here, I got to go there, I got to get to this appointment, etc.} our bodies eventually forget how to perform its basic functions..{breathing, healing}

I recently learned how to slow down my breathing after years of chronic stress, chest pain, and fatigue taking over.  Taking ten minutes a day {before bed-tide} will help your body heal itself from many of the ailments we claim to suffer from.  And it's just a simple slow breath in...and out....and in....and out...In, 2, 3, 4, and out, 2, 3, 4...(each count is one second)...you might see, over time, how things improve.

Now, reader, I am no where near 100% but just learning how to breath all over again has helped in many ways...i.e.{sleeping better, performing daily tasks, working, playing, resting}

I call this {taking a peak at the basics}...learn to walk before we can run...learn your ABC's before we can read...learn your 123's before we can do 1+1...{Reader, can you tell I teach Kindergarten?}  My wonderful model, Abby{pictured above (and below)}, was my inspiration for this entry today. 

Emerging Artist

Life's biggest blessings sometimes come in small packages. Kyra, my muse, made sure nothing got in the way of our (her) photo shoot.

Like any great artist, she needs to survey her area.

Then she takes her first shot.

"...you need to move your subject around to different spots", she tells me...

 

 {Thank you for this wonderful day...you are a joy and an inspiration...}

 

The Vagabond

When I was studying for my undergrad, I sang a series of pieces entitled "Songs of Travel" by Ralph Vaughan Williams and told the tale of a Vagabond, Youth and Love, and the Infinite Shining Heavens among others, and his lonely journey to different places.  The journey took about eighteen minutes {yes, I was tired afterwards}. But the memory lasts forever. The text was set to poems by Robert Lewis Stevenson. 
Have you ever taken a journey {physically or spiritually}?  Was is a rough road? Was it easy? Or perhaps a little of both?

 I have trod the upward and the downward slope;

I have endured and done in days before; I have longed for all, and bid farewell to hope; And I have lived and loved, and closed the door.

-R.L. Stevenson 

Let's Pretend

Truly wonderful the imagination of a child is...kids will tell you the truth {most of the time}...especially at the Kindergarten level.  They listen and notice EVERYTHING!  It's a never-ending journey...almost magical.  Can you remember a time when you used to "pretend"?  When your friends came over you'd say..."Hey let's pretend that we are ___________!" And you can fill in the blank all day long. 

Morning Wishes

What is a wish?
...{to have a desire for (as something unattainable)} Like children, we sometimes revert back to child-like desires...e.g. meeting a knight in shining armor, security, free of pain and suffering.  But perhaps tough times are dealt to us so that we appreciate the many blessing we already have?  And many times, we are made to suffer in order to learn a tough-love lesson.  In my classroom, I give my students many tough-love lessons...they don't always know it's good for them {and I always remind them that I love them more than they know} Sometimes I will put a child in the corner if they are consistently misbehaving in my classroom...most of the time they come back with a renewed look on their face.