Prayers

Dear Friends,

 

Please be praying for my family. My father is very ill. We are very overwhelmed and ill-prepared for this. Love, light, prayers, and wisdom are all needed.

 

Sincerely,

The Justices

Our Waldorf Lenten Garden

We follow Lent to follow him

A time of sacrifice and prayer

We give something we might desire

That his example we might share

- excerpt from a Lenten poem by Elena dal Friuil

In the night the children are convinced that the leprechauns brought them our new Lenten garden this year. This year once again Easter is early, so Lent began last week.

For the past 4 years we've made a Lenten garden of moss and other materials to help the children prepare their hearts for Easter. I wrote an article for Rhythm of the Home magazine about that celebration a few years back. My old blog post about it can be found here but without photos.

Here are some of the old photos of our Waldorf Lenten gardens from years past. 

This year I decided to do it again. I used an old woven tray, moss for the grass, blue rocks for the river, and a small pot for Christ's tomb. New this year however, for each of the 40 days of Lent a little red mushroom will appear- slowly making a path towards the tomb. Each day that kids are with me, we'll read from our Lent activity book and talk not only about Christ but also about our own hearts and how to better love one another. 

We are also getting ready for March and with that Saint Patrick's Day. I'll be incorporating him into Lent this year as well. Thanks to Mama Kopp we now have some Saint Patrick's figure for our nature table!! The kidlets and I are so pleased. You can find her shop here.

Until next time, love and light-

Nicole 

Colonial Snowland

February Verse:

(From Elsa Beskow's Around the Year)

Blue skies and ice, wherever we go

Slipping and sliding, deep in the snow

Uphill and downhill, neither leaf nor green

The sun bring and clear, no grass to be seen

Wollies and hoods, on toboggans all day

Gloves on our hands, and Spring far away

Back home Mama's baking, big loaves and small

How hungry we are, we'll soon eat them all! 

Our Justice Family Snow Cream:

1 Cup Whole Fat Cream

1 Cup Powdered Sugar

1 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract

A full medium sized bowl and fresh snow

Directions:

Mix it together and eat it up quickly! 

This past week here in Virginia it has been cold, wet, and very snowy. The snowiest I can ever remember it being here in my 28 years.  Granted, I grew up near the ocean in Virginia Beach (and because of that we rarely got snow) but still. The children were out of school for the whole week and I out of work for most of it as well because of that. We Virginians don't do cold and snow well. I and my old lady Grand Marquis did not drive anywhere all week long. 

So we took full advantage of that and played in the snow. We played and played and played some more. So much play time. Then we made snow cream over and over again until we got brain freezes. 

We also did quite a bit of inside play and crafting, but I'll save that for a different post. 

We very blessed right now. We get to work and live in Colonial Williamsburg. The home we rent belongs to the Foundation and was built in 1753 by Benjamin Powell for his brothers. It large, old, and so so beautiful. There are lovely woods behind it that back into at National Park, the Colonial Parkway. Seeing everything here covered in snow was just magical. Even though by day 5 I was sick and tired of it, the beauty of the snow covered landscape nonetheless just blew me away. 

Next year... we're getting proper snow gear. 

Love & Light, 

Nicole 

Making Time For Play

Tonight was such a fun evening. We played and played and played. Right now our playroom, which is in our finished basement, is quite cold! Virginia has quite a bit of snow on the ground. So since it's a bit nippy downstairs, we've been bring up our toys into the study to play with. 

This evening the kids wanted to play with the farm. But then the knights attacked and the jungle animals came to the rescue. This went on and on for some time. I love that the children are still playing with toys that they've has since they were toddlers, and they're showing no sign of out-growing them yet.

Brynna is just discovering creative cooperative play in full force. I love to watch her role playing. It is such a joy. It also is a joy to see them playing with things that I made for them. The farm mat, the knitted animals, and a few wooden one were made my yours truly. Even now, as I am now working and have less crafting time, it warms my heart. They also remember that "Mommy made this for me". Then they will fight about WHO I made it for before I reassure that I made it for ALL of them (even if one of them wasn't born yet at the time)! 

Ah, those goof balls. Once played ended, we ate dinner, baked a whole cake (Deirdre's request since we don't seem to eat cake often...hmmm...) and then snuggled before story time. I am going on 5 years of stories about David the Gnome and well I think I need some new material. I might have to read up on other gnomes stories.

Until next time... 

Love & Light,

Nicole

A New Place, Huzzah!

Welcome to this space! I am happy to have you. But I suppose we ought to get acquainted?

Who is "Justice League"? Well that is a good question. Technically I, Nicole, am. Justice is my last name and was/is the name that I mostly go by and have gone by since my school days. My friend Joey in high school was the first one to call me Justice League and it has just been a fun nickname since then. That was until my children got older. When they figured out my nickname, they adopted it as our family nickname. So our little quartet became referred to by them as the Justice League. So naturally Justice League Headquarters became the name for our home. We I live there with my sister, so we include her and a few others who don't live with us, like my partner Liam, in the mix as well. 

Who are my little people? Well I am a Mommy to three kidlets, Miss Deirdre (8 in December), Mister Jonas (6 next February), and Miss Brynna (3 in April). They are the lights of my life. I just love them so. I was incredibly blessed to be able to stay home with them all for close to 7 years before going back to work. Two of those years I formally home-schooled them. While I miss that part if our lives immensely, I also am enjoying the new life we have. It is healthier, more stable, and more blessed than I could have ever imagined. 

During those years was when I first began blogging, I fell in love with Waldorf Education while completing my Master's degree in Teaching. Waldorf came to shape my mothering, home life, and educating. It's rhythm and community has carried us through so much. It deepened my faith as well. While I no longer home school and my children go to traditional schools, it is still very much apart of our daily life and mommy afterschooling. I cannot recommend it enough. 

You might have stumbled upon us before at my old blog, Doting on Deirdre. I loved that place and I still adore it. But it was time for a move. My children are older. I am not just doting on Deirdre, but Jonas and Brynna too. Moreover, my life has changed... for the better. The blog, even with all the happiness I was able to cling to amid a very dark situation, reminds me of that hard time. The move to this place has helped me have a greater degree of separation from those bad memories, and with that comes more healing. 

I am sure one day I will want to write about all of that more. Right now is not that time. There is some more about it on the old blog if you are curious (most of my old photos are gone on it as well due to old joint accounts). But it boils down to an unhealthy, addictive, abusive situation that I ultimately chose to walk away from after trying to fix during 15 months of painful soul ripping therapy, to no avail. The proudest day of my life was when I left. It is amazing when you become a parent how your children shape your decisions. I ultimately looked to them and thought of what I was teaching them about love and marriage if I stayed, and that thought disturbed me. That as women my daughters should be alright with being treated as I was. That is wasn't wrong. And to my son that he should treat his wife and other women that way. That is was alright to objectify them...and that was it for me. After all the therapy and teetering, my line in the sand was them. 

That day was also the scariest day of my life, but oh so liberating. It is amazing how when you're brave, chose health, and live in a way that honors your soul- what then God will manifest in your life. The kids and I have been blessed since then, more so than I could have ever imagined. It just awes me every day. 

So this is where you find us. A working mother with three rays of light. I have the best job ever. I get to live and work in Colonial Williamsburg. Our house is immense and beautiful, oh wait and it was built in 1753. My children go amazing schools. We have a phenomenal church (Bruton Parish) and extended family/village here. It puts a smile on my face daily.

So thank you for stopping by. Enjoy and stay awhile. This year will be a huge year of change for us. I can't wait to share it!