Loveliness Fairs Return!!!

Finally!!!

The first 2009-2010 Living Lives of Loveliness fair is up!

This is a combined fair, a hodge podge of beautiful ideas. Back to School Traditions, the Loveliness of Autumn or the Loveliness of Spring, depending on where you live.

I love fall in Minnesota. It is my favorite season ~ crisp air, the lingering smell of campfires, roasting marshmallows for s'mores, brisk walks, falling leaves, and the colors. I love the contrast of dark tree bark with green or yellow leaves, right next to birch trees and their stark white bark, the orange and red and magenta leaves, and the slate blue sky. It's the one season when the colors outside the windows are echoed inside our home.

What are traditions? To me, they are memories of time spent with people you love doing things you love. Some traditions may be new, some may only last a few years, some for decades.

As a child I participated in some great traditions. Occasionally we would spend the night at my paternal grandparent's, and Grandma would get out the pennies and bingo cards. We'd sit at her kitchen table and play bingo for hours, and then walk to the corner store and buy lunch bags filled with candy. This is the same Grandma who let me eat all the chocolate I wanted the day we moved into our newly built house. I was 6. I was very sick all. night. long. I did not learn my lesson about eating too much chocolate.

When we spent the night at our maternal grandparent's we had to be careful if we sat down on the couch. Grandma had it covered in plastic, and if you didn't sit down just fight you slid off and landed on the floor. Ask me how I know. We didn't play bingo over there, instead we would get in the car and Grandpa would fall asleep while driving and Grandma would yell at him to wake up. Then we'd go eat ice cream sundaes at Farrell's.

Our beginning school year tradition, after the obligatory first day picture, was attending our parish Fall Festival. Bingo and cakewalks. It just doesn't get any better! ( And can I just say how dreadful I look in some of those pictures? I mean, a first grader with blue cat-eye glasses? Mom, what were you thinking? No wonder I didn't wear them for the first few months, prompting a phone call from the teacher about my squinting....)

For the last 5 years we've homeschooled, and have had many traditions before each of our official yearly starts. Due to circumstances, we needed a new tradition this year. So, we went to the public school orientation-meet-the-teacher-get-your-locker-smile-for-the-class-picture-day, then we hit the Crab Leg buffet the night before public school started.

YUM.

I love crab legs.

My son wanted to try mussels. He ate 11 of them. On the 12th one he said he didn't like them.

We went home, got in our jammies, huddled under a blanket on the couch and I read-aloud a few chapters of "The Horse and His Boy". Then we ate popcorn and s'mores. It was a bittersweet evening.

Old traditions are full of memories, but new starts can become traditions in time.

And now on to our fair....

Andrea at Running with Perseverance talks about Apple Picking Time.

Laura's post is about School Daze!

Jodie wrote a post about Autumn and the Fruits of Our Harvest.

Erin says Hooray for October!

Renee has some great thoughts on Autumn in our Homes.

My friend Melissa sent me this comment: My only tradition at this point is to take photos of the kids by the schoolroom door. I hang them up on the door with their name printed below. It's like a welcome sign to my students. We also do measurements on a height board I created (a 2x4 that can be removed if we ever moved). We review the chore cards that hang below the photos on the door. Afterwards we talk about the schoolroom, what's new, look through our books, etc. Of course we always begin with a prayer and the pledge before starting assignments. Lunchtime I breakout the lunch trays and a special meal which they love. Later we have a fun snack that has a school activity purpose, such as pretzel letters/#s stuck together with PB. Precautionary: I print on the back of the photo their info in case something happens to one of them and the police need a quick photo.

Caroline had this comment to make: I begin the year with the Novena to the Holy Spirit, which is my only "tradition"! Before we begin, we take a trip to Staples for new notebooks and coloring pencils. Since we usually begin the year sort of gradually (starting with two subjects, such as math and reading, and slowly adding in others), we don't have a single "kick-off" day, so I am like Chari, meandering through the summer doing some things, and then just kind of gradually ramping up the program in the fall. My kids want us to have something cool to do, though! They want to go to the park on the first day of school!

My very dear friend Laura wrote a beautiful post about their First Day of School!

Now my friend Annie is from "down under", so she writes that Spring has Sprung!

Sarah is amazing. She wrote not one, not two, but three planning posts for our fair. Thank you Sarah! Here are September, October, and November.

Lindsay wrote about What Autumn Leaves Behind.

Cheryl's post is titled Over and Over. Very fitting!

Last but certainly not least, Maryan wrote about Oktoberfest!

There you have it ~ the first Loveliness Fair of the 2009-2010 season.

ENJOY!!!

Wait...there's more!!

Sarah has written about School Rhythm. I think we can all relate....