It happens almost every Monday morning — the Big Backpack Cleanout. Most often, it unfolds in the van on the way to school, when the kids realize they’ll need a clean slate for the week ahead. Often, I’ll be waiting at a red light when the papers start spewing forth. It’s almost as if there’s a homework-making machine hidden somewhere in the back seat and the kids have pushed the output button, and like a slot machine at Vegas hitting “Jackpot,” the treasures pour forth at an overwhelming rate.
This morning, from among the hoards of papers that made their way to the front of the van during the Big Backpack Cleanout, I recovered a shiny, golden coin that stood out from the others and promised more than any jackpot win. It absolutely set my morning right!
Now that the pink candle of our Advent wreath has been lit, we know that Christmas is very near, and our first-grader’s artwork further illustrates just where we’re at and why.
I wish you all a particularly peaceful and fruitful week ahead as the Advent season begins to cresendo toward the climactic moment — that infant’s cry that will change the world as we know it.
Have you experienced peace this Advent? If so, what have you done to help cultivate it?
I love the pictures! I felt peace this weekend as I wrapped presents for my children and husband. I felt so much love for them and so thankful for the family I’ve been blessed with. 😉
These pictures are amazing. What a fabulous artist you have! Treasures within the pile of rubble. Quite sweet.
We have the same problem on Mondays! My car is still filled with worksheets from last week 🙂 Those pictures are beautiful. What a fun thing to have and save.
What an awesome little artist you have on your hands. His drawings depict advent so beautifully. God bless you and all – see you Thursday!
so nice. And good drawings too!
best wishes and enjoy the snow out there!
These pictures are great! Worse than the Backpack Cleanout, for me, is the Van Cleanout, in which the Van spews forth its hidden and disgusting contents. LOL!
OK – I’d better come up with something peaceful, too. My peace is knowing that I gave the kids a gift on Sunday, with our Christmas program. The peace of giving lasts a long time.