Saturday, January 30, 2010

Random Pictures and Tibetan Rituals

I've done a lot of random thought posts recently. Here are some random pictures.

Here is Thing 2. He is so handsome.
And I love, love, love the missing 2-front teeth stage.

This picture represents what an awesome wife I am.
I made all this for Mark to watch sports with his friend.
(I had no interest in said game, but did have interest in said food).


This is a picture of our kick-off NaNoWriMo breakfast --
Dutch Babies, Farm Fresh Bacon, Farm Fresh Sausage, and
Homemade Apple Muffins and various juices.
We know how to incorporate food into anything.

And here we are, later that morning,
kicking off our NaNoWriMo efforts with a toast!


I uploaded the following ones on "small" mode,
so feel free to click to enlarge.
The day we started NaNoWriMo was a full one.
It started with a great breakfast and writing party.

Then our friends took us to the Hands-On-House
and that was a lot of fun:






And then we attended a Tibetan feast and lecture/opening ceremony
with the Buddhist monks who visited the local college
to do a mandala (which we also visited all week long).
It was both delicious and fascinating.
Our pictures didn't turn out so great from the feast/lecture.

That evening, we were all tired, but not too tired not to read before bed:



These pictures came out better -- these are from later that week:

Here is one of the monks working on the mandala --
all that design? All made with sand. Beautiful!

It was fun to go visit it throughout the week
and watch the mandala grow.
They spent HOURS and such attention on it.

We also attended the closing ceremony as well:

The finished product.

After they finished it,
they did another Buddhist ceremony
with a lot of praying/chanting/meditating.



Then they gathered up all the sand,
sweeping it into a container.
You can hear audible gasps.





And we all hiked (and I mean HIKED) to the creek
where they poured the sand in a closing ceremony.

It was gorgeous.
And a neat representation of the principle of non-attachment
as well as many more lessons.
We loved it.

Here is where the monks dispersed the sand with prayer.



Mock Trial Class
Taught by Homeschooling Dad and Lawyer

Here is Thing 1 on the day of the mock trial.
Most hilarious moment?
When the prosecution gave their closing argument
and then Thing 1's defense attorney exclaimed,
"That was BRILLIANT! Why didn't I think of that?!"

And here is Thing 1 at 4-H with the bag she sewed
for a Humanitarian Aid project


I haven't posted a ton of pictures recently and these are all from this past November/December. More to come . . .

7 comments:

Zelia said...

I loved this post. Loved the photos.

Emily said...

I think I gasped too! I was about to comment and ask how they transport sand, and then I saw the video and wanted to cry. It was so beautiful! I guess I could learn a thing or two about being attached to things, beautiful or not.

terahreu said...

Loved the mandala ceremony. Axel and I never cared much for the mandala paintings we saw in Nepal. I seemed to be more drawn to the Thangkas. However, that mandala was impressive! Tibetan artistry is incredible, few cultures compare. The non-attachment lesson is important for Westerners. I feel guilty if I throw away a plastic container I haven't used in over a year.

What a great experience for your kids!

Chelle said...

I am also a fan of the missing front teeth.

That sand art was beautiful. Even though I wasn't there I gasped just reading that they gathered up all the sand. I guess I have attachment to too many things, huh?

That FOOD. What I mean to say is...that FOOD. I love it when you post food. I want to jump through my screen and grab a few of those nachos, and some of those other things. What ARE those other things? Mushrooms maybe? Oh, I know what they are...FAB-u-lous. Better yet, makes me want to jump on a plane or in the car and head to you know where...that's right. PA. One of these days. [sigh]

Boquinha said...

Stuffed mushrooms. And yes, someday. We'd love to have you. I miss you! One of these days maybe I'll even pick up the phone or something (I'm not much of a phone person, so that's saying something!) . . . I do miss you.

J Fo said...

Love that handsome little guy!

I need to remember not to read your blog right before dinner. I'm often left drooling!

You guys find the neatest things to participate in. What a cool experience.

April (Thorup) Oaks said...

The experience with the monks looks so neat. I'm so glad you got to do that.