One Hook Wonder

12 Months Of Giving - January

2012-01-27T06:00:00.002-05:00

Our plan for January was to take all 4 kids shopping to pick out items for our local food pantry, and then to bake cookies together to give to the volunteers when we dropped our donations off. Unfortunately on the weekend we were to do this Ellie had an earache and Peter woke up vomiting in the night. No one felt like going to the store and baking cookies at the scene of PukeFest 2012 didn't seem like such a great idea.

Even though our weekend plan involving all of the kiddos didn't work out we still wanted to make a donation to the food pantry, so a couple of days later Sammy and I went to the grocery together after his art class. We both chose items we thought people would appreciate. I tended to go for canned fruits and vegetables, while Sam had other ideas. He picked out some cake mixes and then asked if we could buy some sprinkles to go with them. My first inclination was to say "no" because I felt like our money should be spent on "real food" but then I realized that getting some sprinkles to decorate a cake or cookies with might just be a welcome suprise to someone. Sammy had fun picking out just the right sprinkles.

Sam also asked to pick out some cereal to donate. What's truly funny is that he immediately picked out brands that we have never bought in his lifetime like Frosted Flakes and Corn Pops. I saw him dart a sideways glance at me when he reached for them - sneaky little toad. I guess he figured that even if he couldn't have sugary cereals someone else might really enjoy them. ;)

When we were done we had a nice big cartload to take over to the food pantry. Nicholas volunteered there a couple of summers ago, and whenever I got there early to pick him up I would go in and help also. So while Sam and I were waiting for someone to help us bring the groceries in from our van I was able to show him where the volunteers keep the canned/boxed goods, and that they also have freezers and refrigerators for cold items. After we helped bring in the groceries Sam gave one of the volunteers the package of cookies he'd picked out in the bakery section. We thanked them for being there each week and told them we appreciated their hard work.

While we were planning our act of giving for this month Daniel and I had sat down with all of the kids and talked about the importance of food pantries. As a struggling single mother who worked but didn't make quite enough money to pay the bills (and too much money to qualify for food stamps) being able to access a food pantry made a huge difference in my life when Nick and Ellie were small. We talked about how it is our job to take help care for others as we have plenty to share.

So now it's time for you to share! What was your act of giving for January? Please link up below, and please make sure to place the 12 Months of Giving button in your post so that we can spread the word! If you don't blog, you can leave your story in the comments section or post it on our Facebook page. Thanks for participating and commiting to spread some love in 2012!

Montessori Printed Material Giveaway Winner

2012-01-26T19:49:00.000-05:00

Discovering Montessori

come on down! You've won the giveaway! Shoot me your address and I'll get your cards out to you (and your shipping quote on the materials you wanted to purchase!)

Congrats!

Montessori Materials For Sale (Again!)

2012-01-25T20:55:00.000-05:00

I'm SO sorry for the delay, but I need to wait to give ship totals for those of you interested in the materials till this weekend. Peter has been sick with a stomach virus and has now given a bit of his bug to me! I will announce the giveaway winner at some point tomorrow. Thanks for your understanding.

Waldorf Wednesday

2012-01-25T06:00:00.002-05:00

We used "The Gingerbread Man" as our story last week. The boys greatly enjoyed decorating their own gingerbread men on our chalkboard:

My plan for our baking day was to bake gingerbread men, but the night before Sammy announced that he didn't like gingerbread men. He is funny sometimes about sweets - very often he will help make cookies or a cake and then not want to eat any of it. Peter and I definately do not have that problem! Sam suggested we make no-bake cookies since they "are brown like gingerbread men." Coincidentally, they are also his favorite. ;)

On our painting day we made purple for the first time this year. I told the boys a story I made up about "Proud Purple Beetle." They were so excited to meet a new color friend!

Peter quickly decided that he wanted to use his hands to mix the red and blue. Of course then Sam thought that was a great idea too:

Since I don't want to encourage them to do that during our wet-on-wet painting time, I then suggested we bring out the finger paints. It began innocently enough:

It ended as fingerpaint sessions always do at our house - a slew of paintings and fingerpaint splattered on the ceiling. And yes, those are elbow-length "gloves" of paint Peter is wearing in the photo below. Guess who had a bath immediately after? I'm glad they had fun, but boy the clean-up was a lot of work!

Sammy's weekly art class is going well. He really enjoys it and I like the fact that it is building his confidance. He was very hesitant to just be dropped off at first but now is just fine. Last week they learned about Picasso and created prints using styrofoam plates and ink. Here is Sammy's hanging on one of our art lines at home:

Next week Sam will attend his first monthly class at the zoo. He's very excited but wanted to make sure I could stay there with him during the class. We had also signed him up for a science class, but when he found out I would be dropping him off he said he no longer wanted to go. Daniel says we should just tell him that it's part of his school and that he has to do it, but I don't feel comfortable with that. Sammy is shy by nature, and he's only in kindergarten - not eighth grade. I don't want him to miss out on fun experiences because he's fearful and shy, but I also don't want to push him. If you have a child like this, how have you dealt with it?

Montessori Materials For Sale

2012-01-24T20:53:00.000-05:00

I just wanted to let all of you know who have emailed me or left comments that I am running behind, so don't worry that I haven't replied. If you are interested in the materials, please send an email to onehookwonder@hotmail.com with your zip code so that I can figure shipping and let you know if the item(s) you desire are available. Thanks! :)

About That Montessori Break...(and a small giveaway)

2012-01-23T06:00:00.008-05:00

Turns out that it hasn't taken that long of a break for me to really realize that we just aren't a Montessori homeschooling family anymore. I think it's important, especially as a homeschooler, to be honest with yourself and admit when things need to change. The Montessori method of education worked very well for us for 3 years, but it's just time to move on. I'm really excited to see where Waldorf-inspired homeschooling continues to take us! I do hope that those of you who initially began to visit my blog in order to participate in Montessori Monday continue to hang around and see what we're up to.

One of Sammy's very first Montessori lessons - age 3:

Peter at age 2 being introduced to our schoolroom:

I have a large number of 3-part cards, "parts of" cards, etc. that I'd like to offer as a small giveway. Everything is laminated and cut. Just leave a comment and I'll draw a winner on this Thursday, January 26th.
If you are interested in purchasing any of our gently-used Montessori materials, please check out my Montessori materials for sale on Flickr. Shipping will be in addition to prices listed. Thank you!

Rainy Day Walk

2012-01-19T06:00:00.006-05:00

I wanted to share a lovely walk the boys and I took last week before the colder weather hit. We have a nice dead-end gravel road to walk on, and we enjoy strolling down to the end of the road quite often to visit the horses who live there:

They both had fun sticking their fingers in the cold mud to make tracks:

And of course every puddle had to be splashed in and run through:

We always stop to say "hello" to the troll who lives in the bottom of this tree. A perfect troll house, don't you think?

A certain someone came galloping to greet us that day:

Then it was onto a path a neighbor has mowed through a partially-wooded area and field:

I never tire of sharing the beauty of this world with my boys. Whether we are walking through the woods in silent reverence or - as happens much more often - with shouts of laughter, it is always with wide-eyed wonder.

Waldorf Wednesday

2012-01-18T06:00:00.002-05:00

Last week's story was "Shingebiss" from the Wynstones Winter book. The boys and I both really loved this story. Of course we needed a new chalkboard picture to go with it:

After tasting some chocolate-dipped pretzels that Daniel brought home as a treat, Sammy had said last week that he wanted to make some for Baking Day. So that's what we did! As we melted the chocolate in the microwave the boys and I talked about how Shingebiss' fire had started to melt Big Chief North Wind in our story. It would have corresponded even more nicely had we used white chocolate chips. Once the chips were melted Peter and Sammy were more than ready to dip pretzels. We added some sprinkles for fun:

The dog was told he most certainly could not help:

Needless to say these babies didn't stick around very long:

We continued to focus on our "Shingebiss" story by painting the north wind on our painting day. We used a white crayon resist to make the swirls of the north wind under some light blue watercolor paint. Then we sprinkled salt on top to mimic the ice and snow that Big Chief North Wind brings in the story. Both Peter and Sam had fun telling me what was happening in their paintings as they worked on them:

The boys were *so* excited because just as they finished their paintings the rain outside turned to snow. We decided that the north wind must have heard us talking about him!

Instead of a nature story last week we used "Shingebiss" as the basis for our modeling day as well. Peter still has a lot of trouble with beeswax modeling; he is simply not patient enough to hold the beeswax long enough to warm it, and doesn't care for the amount of effort it takes to form a shape as opposed to our homemade playdough. He does enjoy holding the beeswax for a short time and smelling it, but usually asks me to help him with his figure. Of course, if I wasn't doing Kindy with Sammy then I wouldn't have introduced beeswax modeling to Peter at this point. There is no keeping Peter away from "school" - he loves it and asks to have school quite often!

Sammy asked if he could have some white modeling beeswax so he could make Big Chief North Wind in addition to the Shingebiss ducks we were planning to create:

Once we were done we decided to use our figures to put on a "Shingebiss" puppet show. The boys love to do this and always work so hard to find just the right props:

They built Shingebiss' lodge and even put together some legos as the rushes that he pulls up out of the frozen pond so he can dive below to find his fish. The roving inside the lodge is the fire that starts to melt Big Chief North Wind:

As soon as our puppet show was over Peter and Sammy were only too happy to bring out more things to add on to the playscape they'd made. It was a pretty good way to spend the afternoon!

Because we are taking a Montessori break while I decide if we will continue to pursue that method or not currently we're using the traditional Waldorf 3-day rhythm. Baking and painting days will happen every week, while handwork and modeling will rotate every other week. Three days right now per week seem more than enough, especially once we add in our little homeschool group, an occasional recess co-op, Sammy's weekly art class, and playdates. I received our first grade curriculum just last week; we'll be using the Christopherus package. First grade will be four days a week, which I think will be just perfect as it leaves one day completely free for field trips, etc. I like the curriculum so far from paging through it but I have to admit I'm a bit nervous about the painting and modeling blocks. I enjoy planning the once-per-week painting and modeling now but I'm worried it will be difficult to come up with things to wet-on-wet paint and model twice per week during those blocks!

Bird Nerds

2012-01-16T06:00:00.002-05:00

We are in serious danger of becoming bird nerds over here. It all started innocently enough - a few years ago I decided that I really wanted to learn how to identify birds. I'd always enjoyed watching them and we'd always had at least one bird feeder, but I'd never really bothered to learn their names.

Fast forward to now, where the four feeders located on our living room balcony provide a steady stream of All Birds, All the Time. We spend I-don't-even-want-to-know-how-much-money every month in suet, peanuts, and black oil sunflower seed. We have serious discussions over whether it's "titmouses" or "titmice." When we travel we keep lists of birds we see. We participated in the Great Backyard Bird Count last year and as I mentioned last week, have been counting birds for Project FeederWatch lately. The former has turned us into slack-jawed window-gazing zombies who get irrationally excited over seeing a larger group of chickadees than we saw the week before.

Or maybe that's just me.

So anyway I thought I would share some of my bird nerdishness with you. Because who doesn't like pictures of cute little birds all fluffed up for the winter?

Someone please help me...I found myself thinking as I sifted through my photos..."I need to find the picture that really captures the *essence* of that tufted titmouse"

But see how sweet and shy he looks?

For fun, here's our bird count from last week. For FeederWatch you watch two days in a row and record the highest number of bird species you see at one time. This keeps you from counting the same bird over and over and over! We count any birds we see at our feeders, in our driveway, and just a bit into our woods (you use the same count location every time).

Tufted Titmouse - 5

Chickadee - 3

Goldfinch - 8

Crow - 1

Nuthatch - 2

Cardinal - 9

Downy Woodpecker - 2

Junco - 5

Blue Jay - 15

House Finch - 4

Red-bellied Woodpecker - 1

Mourning Dove - 2

Peter has been throwing corn out into our driveway for the deer, and that's what has attracted the large groups of blue jays and cardinals. Sammy has taken it upon himself to make sure the feeders are full at all times (they usually need to be refilled every other day). Right now as I'm sitting here there are 14 different birds at our feeders - a combination of finches, titmouses, chickadees, and juncos. Though they flutter back and forth in a flurry of wings, I love how they encourage me so often throughout the day to slow down, look out the window, and smile.

Save Me I'm Going To Be Trapped Inside With Two Wild Children All Winter Long

2012-01-13T06:00:00.002-05:00

I knew the mild weather had to end sometime. The predicted high for today is 29 degrees. Ok, I know that's not all that cold, but it's only going to get colder. I definately encourage the boys to play outside even when it's chilly, but the amount of time they wish to spend outside when it's super cold is far less then they spend outside on a mild day.

Which means the boys will only get wilder, and I will only get crazier as I'm forced to put up with them.

As I mentioned in a previous post, Peter in particular NEEDS outside time every day. His behavior is so much better when he has a chance to let some of that wild boy energy out in the form of running, screaming, digging, pushing the doorbell to make me come to the door and then scampering away, etc. Plus I want my children to experience nature blah blah blah but really a lot of the outside time is for my sanity. And don't get me wrong - Sammy definately gets in on his fair share of rowdiness as well. There is only so much chasing and shrieking I can take inside the house before I want to pull my hair out.

We are planning to get Peter a Rody for his birthday in mid-February. My friend gave one to her daughter for Christmas and says so far so good. Hopefully both of the boys will enjoy hopping around like crazed popcorn kernels on Rody, and hopefully that will help dispel some of their overly-abundant energy.

The boys definately stay *busy* while in the house. Most of the time too busy. Here's a picture of our living room last winter:

So...the question is...how do I help them burn off some energy inside while not tearing the house apart and sending me downtown on the crazy train? If you've got suggestions bring 'em on!

Waldorf Wednesday

2012-01-11T06:00:00.002-05:00

We had a very gentle return to our formal homeschooling last week. Our story for the week was The Star Money from Grimm's:

Besides being a gentle return to our homeschooling, last week was also my chance to practice being flexible. I had planned to bake sugar cookies in the shapes of stars for our Baking Day, but Sammy and Peter asked if they could work with their new clay projects instead. They'd received them as a holiday gift and were very excited:

Sammy was able to create a dinosaur and Peter made a lion. They were both very proud of their creations.

Art was definately in the air around here last week. Sammy attended his first art class. Each week they will briefly learn about a famous artist and then create something in that style. Last week they created an open composition by using charcoal pencils and chalk to draw part of a small wooden mannequin. The teachers seemed very nice and went through step by step with the children. They did say that the sessions will vary and that often the supplies will already be out and the children will be asked to just use their imaginations to create. So hopefully it's a good blend! Sammy seemed to really enjoy it:

It was our turn to host the little homeschool co-op we're part of last week, and that meant another art project! I showed Sammy, Peter, and their friends how to create salty watercolors. All of the children had a good time with this and were very focused on their pictures. And hey - dumping out a bunch of glue is always fun!

Peter spent a good deal of his time creating "Mount Everest"

For our handwork day last week the boys created foam lacing stars. They each got to pick whatever color of foam and yarn they wanted to use. I traced Peter's star and cut it out while he had a blast snipping yarn:

Sammy was able to trace and cut out his star on his own:

I used the hole puncher for the holes; they were difficult to manage. Both boys needed help remembering to start from the top or the bottom from time to time but they both did well and really enjoyed the process:

Sammy asked to hang his in our hallway:

Peter was very excited to hang his above his bed:

We had a beeswax modeling day planned, but happily cancelled it when a friend and her children came over to spend time with us. The boys had a fabulous time playing, and we all walked up to the end of our road to visit the horses. We also took a short walk through the woods.

The weather has been so mild lately that the boys have been spending tons of time outside. Peter in particular starts having behavioral problems if he doesn't get enough time to romp and explore, so Daniel and I have had the boys outside every chance we can get. They have been very busy in our yard - today they dug a "well" with their shovels, and earlier in the week they hauled large limbs up from the woods to set against our large pine tree in order to create a "shelter." We have also gone on several walks and hikes as a family. I think we'll be kind of sad when this mild weather disappears!

The boys have also been busy observing birds. We finally started counting our birds for Project Feeder Watch and their new morning routine seems to be curling up with me on the couch and watching what birds visit our feeders. Daniel put up a new platform feeder for us and Peter and Sammy have really had fun watching the tufted titmouses, blue jays, and woodpeckers swoop down to grab peanuts. Sammy has noticed that the titmouses tend to go straight to the pine tree where they sit and eat, but that the blue jays fly out of sight with their peanuts. He wondered if they were taking them to their nest, so we talked about how blue jays are known as great hoarders of food. We also talked about the different types of nests birds create.

What did you school week look like?

Outdoor Hour Challenge - Galls

2012-01-10T06:00:00.002-05:00

I think our first reaction to this challenge was, "Oh! So that's what those things are!" Both Daniel and I had a vague idea that the bumps all over several of our trees were created by insects, but it wasn't till this challenge that we took the time to learn about them and teach the boys.

The four of us did some reading in our Handbook of Nature Study book and discovered that galls provide a safe place for insect larvae to develop. Insects lay their eggs on tree and plant leaves or branches, and due to a chemical secreted the plant or tree grows around the eggs. This results in a funny-looking bumpy growth that is particularly easy to identify in winter when everything is bare.

During our walk through our yard and our woods we were able to find 4 different types of galls. Some of our trees are absolutely covered with them:

Sammy remembered finding some under a particular tree in our yard over the summer, so he led us over there. We were able to examine the galls still on the tree as well as many on the ground. One of the opened ones on the ground still held some sort of insect shell inside:

Both Sammy and Peter were interested to learn that different types of insects make different-looking galls. In addition to galls like the large ones above, we also found some shaped like spiky balls:

Daniel identified the tree we found them on as a pin oak, and some internet research later taught us that those galls are created by a type of wasp.

We remembered seeing some funny-looking brown things in one of our cedars over the summer, and sure enough a check of the tree revealed a few of these small, light-brown galls:

These particular galls are actually caused by a fungus instead of an insect. From what we understood of our reading, these can cause a fungal disease in apple trees. The fungus spores in the galls are eventually released and can travel long distances on the wind. If those spores then land on a young apple tree they can infect it with something called Cedar Apple Rust.

Our Handbook of Nature Study book had put forth the challenge of finding galls on goldenrod, so we went looking for those. Like the other galls, they were very easy to find:

If you look at the bottom third of the picture above you can see it on the goldenrod stalk. Here is is close up:

These galls are formed by the goldenrod gall fly.

We brought our nature journals out, but Peter was busy riding his bike and Sammy had other plans for his journal besides drawing galls. He has been *obsessed* with keeping a list of all the birds he sees in his journal!

Even though we didn't do our nature journals in the usual way we all learned a lot from this challenge. I love how much we always discover when we do these!

If you'd like to learn more about Outdoor Hour Challenges, hop on over to the Handbook of Nature Study Blog:

Winter Nature Table

2012-01-09T06:00:00.002-05:00

I always look forward to switching our nature table out at the beginning of each season. It feels like a clean, fresh start every few months. This year I hung up the felt gnome picture I sewed last year in the corner above our table:

The boys were very excited to find King Winter reigning above all. Peter added some pretty crystals from his collection to our table, and I love the beautiful red holly berries a friend gave me from her tree:

We received many of the items you see from the winter Waldorf swap I hosted. I need to round everything up so I can share it all with you later this week!

What's on your winter nature table so far?

Outdoor Hour Challenge - Winter Cattails

2012-01-06T06:00:00.001-05:00

While we were on our New Year's hike we made sure to observe the cattails around the lake. We'd studied them back early August and were eager to see how they'd changed. What a difference!

Just as we'd read would happen in our Handbook of Nature Study book, the cattail ends had gotten all fluffy so they could disperse their seeds:

Back during the summer we were able to collect a few so we could split them open and examine the seeds:

We wanted to examine the fluffy ends this time, but no luck. All I ended up with was a wet boot for my troubles - good thing they're water-proof! The boys were able to examine and handle many of the stalks and leaves though.

Noting the differences in the cattails was so much fun that I think we'll go back in the spring and have another look.

If you'd like to learn more about Outdoor Hour Challenges, hop on over to the Handbook of Nature Study Blog:

Mother Nature

2012-01-05T06:00:00.005-05:00

I found this embroidery pattern over at Urban Threads the other month and immediately fell in love. They titled it "Mother Nature" but I think my color choices turned her into a Rainbow Goddess:

I embroidered this by hand on an off-white linen using stem stitch. And I love, love, love it. She is hanging framed in a simple hoop on my bedroom wall - right next to my dream board for 2012. She makes me smile every time I look at her:

Like most crafters, rarely do I ever make something that's just for me. I'm thinking I should do it more often.

What crafting projects have brought you joy recently?

New Year's Hike

2012-01-04T06:00:00.002-05:00

We had a lovely day here on New Year's and decided to take advantage of the weather by going for a hike. The boys have most definately been missing their outside time and were full of energy. Peter actually trotted most of the way around the lake:

He got so hot he ended up having to take off his jacket and hat. Look at those rosy cheeks!

It was so nice to get outside for a bit. Between the weather and Daniel's recovery from surgery, we haven't done much hiking at all lately.

The boys had fun pretending to be lions in the tall, tall grass:

On our way back up to the van we were able to see the milkweed plants we studied at the very beginning of the fall:

Hopefully this was only the beginning of many wonderful hikes in 2012!

You're Invited - 12 Months of Giving

2012-01-01T20:46:00.005-05:00

I'm so excited to ask all of you to join in a new project with me. I've been thinking over the past few months about what I really want to teach my children. I'm not talking about the easy stuff, like reading and math. I'm talking about the hard stuff, the intangible stuff, the important stuff. Without fail one thing that tops my list is kindness. I want them to understand that we are all in this great big life together, and that we need to care for one another.

I want to teach my children to give. I don't think I've done too terrible of a job so far. Like most people we donate to our favorite charities a few times per year and stuff some cash in the Salvation Army kettle in December. But I think we can do better. I think *I* can do better.

I want to teach my children to live a life of compassion - a life of giving. And the best way to do that is to live it.

So each month during 2012 I will be doing a special giving project with my children. I want to give to others in ways that directly involve my children and that they can understand.

And here's where you come in. Because I'm asking you to do it too. I'm asking all of us to commit to 12 Months of Giving with our children. It doesn't matter how big or how small our giving is; what matters is that we do it. Be creative!

I will be hosting a linky party the last Friday of every month where you can link up your blog post about your giving project for that month. I'd like us to share our giving projects not so that we can brag and feel good about ourselves, but so we can inspire one another and discuss ways to involve our children in giving. I've found that it can be hard sometimes to really involve children in the giving process. Most organizations do not allow young children to volunteer, and often a cash donation is too intangible of a concept for little ones to understand. And if you don't blog, don't worry! You can still get in on the action by "liking" the 12 Months of Giving Facebook page right here. The facebook page will allow bloggers and non-bloggers alike to share projects and photos.

I'd like to invite each of you to not only commit to living 12 Months of Giving this year with your children, but also to grab the 12 Months of Giving button from my sidebar and put it in your blog sidebar. The more people who see the button, the more people will be giving. Please also spread the word about the Facebook page on your own page.

I can't wait to see where 12 Months of Giving takes all of us. I have a feeling 2012 is going to be a rockin' good year.

Outdoor Hour Challenge - Beavers

2011-12-29T08:00:00.000-05:00

A few friends told me that beavers had been very active at one of our favorite hiking spots, so I took the opportunity of having all four kiddos with me to go check it out:

I was worried we wouldn't be able to see the beaver activity very easily. Uhh...shouldn't have wasted my time worrying about that!

The kids and I were amazed at seeing the first-hand results of beavers in action. I suppose there's a reason that the terms "eager beaver" and "busy beaver" exist!

Being able to see and feel the grooves from their teeth was very cool:

There wasn't really any information about beavers in my Handbook of Nature Study book, so after looking at the couple of pictures in it before leaving for our outing we did some more research on the net. Sammy was very surprised that an adult beaver can weigh more than he does. Peter was very impressed by the fact that a beaver's teeth never stop growing and we discussed how important that was since they are constantly gnawing on wood for either food or building. He also enjoyed pretending to be a baby beaver while chewing on our bannister post (ahem). We also looked at some photos of beaver lodges and studied a diagram of one, admiring the way they enter their lodges underwater.

On our challenge we decided to walk a bit further around the lake to look for more signs of beavers and see if we could spy a lodge. We didn't find a lodge, but Ellie greatly enjoyed testing her balancing skills:

We all agreed that although we couldn't find the beaver's home that this area here was the most likely place they would shelter:

As we continued our walk we did see another sign of beavers at work - this tree down across the path:

After a few more observations we sat on the dock to work in our nature journals. It was such a treat to have Nick and Ellie with us for our challenge:

Nick's journal cracked me up. I always stress to the little boys that we only draw what we observe in our nature journals, but the big kids enjoy having more leeway. I figure I'm just happy that my two hiking-haters have agreed to come with us; I'm not going to spend time picking at their journal entries. Besides, who doesn't like cartoons?

To learn more about Outdoor Hour Challenges, hop on over to the Handbook of Nature Study blog:

Walking The Spiral

2011-12-27T12:55:00.000-05:00

Our Solstice celebration at home this year was very low-key. I've been telling friends that we had a Japanese Solstice, as early on that afternoon I realized that the very last thing I wanted to do was make a big dinner and cake. So off we went to a Japanese steakhouse and everyone was thrilled. Nothing like hibachi chicken to celebrate Solstice. We ended up lighting our last Solstice candle during Christmas Eve dinner:

Part of me feels sad that some of our Solstice celebration got lost in the last-minute hustle and bustle of readying for Christmas. The kids each make gifts for one another and for both Daniel and I. We didn't start most of those gifts till a few days before Christmas due to our Florida trip, Daniel's continuing recovery from his surgery, and my own health issues lately (the car ride to and back from Florida caused a fibro flare - ugh). Oh, and because even though every year we plan to start gifts early we never, ever do. We also missed a children's Solstice celebration with our friends due to our travels.

But another part of me reminds myself that it's ok. Not every holiday is going to be magical. And most likely if you ask the little boys they would tell you that watching a hibachi chef make a volcano out of onions was pretty magical indeed. Nick and Ellie are probably still thanking their lucky stars that they didn't have to load the dishwasher after.

Even though our celebration of Solstice at home was subdued, I *did* get to experience some magic when I celebrated the rebirth of the sun with my moon circle friends. This group is my heart, I tell you.

We set up a large spiral made with evergreen boughs and candlelit mason jars around our usual bonfire. One of my friends brought holly berries to grace the fire ring, and we celebrated another friend's birthday also that evening. My journey with these special friends began last year at our Solstice celebration, so it was wonderful to look back mentally over the past year and think of how much I've grown. It has been a year full of learning and self-discovery, a year of wonder.

Each of us walked the spiral alone, leaving behind what we needed to as we drew closer to the fire in the center. Once at the center we lit our candle from the fire and planted our seeds of intention for the coming year. As we walked back we concentrated on those intentions or gave thanks for the blessings in our lives.

I think walking that spiral this year (and last year) have truly been among the most beautiful moments I've lived. Everyone should have that experience of letting go of the things we no longer need and realizing that we can, indeed, start fresh. Of realizing that although we walk our own spiral journey in this life that we are still connected to others - each walking their own.

Before we left that evening we collected the evergreens and threw them on the fire - a burning of 2011. The gentle flames of our fire became a roaring, crackling blaze, sending the past into the universe while allowing us to keep what we would of it in our hearts:

Happy Solstice.

A Montessori Break

2011-12-26T11:54:00.000-05:00

As you know from my post a few weeks ago, I've been been fretting over whether to continue using Montessori as part of our homeschooling. I received so many helpful, thoughtful replies and I truly thank you for that.

After a lot more thought it's become clear to me that Montessori is simply "not us" anymore. That fact has been difficult to realize and even accept as we have used Montessori methods for so long - 3.5 years! But we have to keep growing and moving on by using the homeschool methods that fit our family best right now. I've decided to follow some wonderful advice I received after my previous post and try out a rather long Montessori break, perhaps 1-2 months. During that time we will continue to use our Waldorf curriculum as well as Outdoor Hour Challenges.

Obviously if we aren't using Montessori then I don't feel right about hosting a weekly link up focusing on Montessori homeschooling. My co-host Deb over at Living Montessori Now has graciously agreed to continue hosting Montessori Monday each week. If after our break we decide to return to Montessori methods then I will begin co-hosting once more. I want to thank all of you who have linked up. You have all been such a valuable source of inspiration!

I will be announcing a very exciting project that all of you are encouraged to take part in beginning January 1. I don't want to give too much away just yet, but it will focus on the act of giving and teaching our children compassion. I do hope each of you will become a part of it. Thank you!

Montessori Monday

2011-12-26T06:00:00.002-05:00

Huh? It's Monday already! We enjoyed some school-free time last week but if you have some Montessori lessons or ideas to share please link up below. Please also make sure to use the Montessori Monday button from the sidebar or place a link back to this blog in your post. Oh, and don't forget to hop over and visit my co-host Deb at Living Montessori Now. Thanks for reading and participating!

Outdoor Hour Challenge - Alligators

2011-12-23T06:00:00.002-05:00

I asked Daniel to take the lead on this challenge for two reasons - 1) I want him to become more involved with teaching the boys 2) I am completely freaked out by alligators and didn't want that to rub off on Peter and Sam

Daniel and the boys were all very hopeful that while we were in Florida we'd see an alligator. The ranger at the park told us that most of the alligators in that part of the state are in a sort of hibernation state right now due to the colder weather, but that there was a lake in the park where we might be able to spy one. He said that a large female lives there and told us where she normally likes to sun herself.

When we first got to the lake Daniel explained to the boys that even though we might not see an alligator that day that we could still learn about them by studying the environment they liked to live in:

Peter was very impressed by the alligator sign:

The ranger had said that the alligator liked to lay up in the mud to the left in the photo above, so we headed (carefully) over that way. I walked behind because I was That. Freaked. Out. I have to be honest and tell you that while we were walking two people rode up on the path on bicycles and I jumped about a foot. I was totally convinced that the alligator was somewhere behind us and was coming up to eat us. Daniel told me later that I hid my ~~complete cowardice~~ discomfort very well and that neither he nor the boys had noticed that I was certain our challenge would end with us all becoming alligator meat. I don't even like to *look* at pictures of alligators they scare me so much! Something about the fact that they are so large and fast. Oh, and the teeth might have something to do with it too.

The boys all looked for an alligator print in the mud, but no luck:

We didn't end up spying the alligator, but Daniel and the boys talked at length about how it could be in the tall grasses or under the water and we'd never know. *shiver*

After exploring a bit more, the boys and I sat down to draw in our nature journals:

We'd learned before our challenge while reading in the Handbook of Nature Study that alligators are the only reptile capable of producing a loud bellowing noise. Once we got home we looked up a clip on YouTube so we could hear it. We were very surprised to see that they bellow with their mouths closed! We also read the book Alligator at Saw Grass Road and learned that alligators hiss too, so we watched some clips of them hissing as well. If you haven't read any of the Smithsonian Backyard Books with your kiddos then give them a try; the stories are wonderfully informative and interesting at the same time.

To learn more about outdoor hour challenges, check out the Handbook of Nature Study blog!

Outdoor Hour Challenge - Palm Trees

2011-12-22T06:00:00.002-05:00

Sammy commented on our drive down to Florida that he wanted to see a palm tree. Now, I'm sure if you live in the south that palm trees are no big deal - but we think they are pretty cool!

Unfortunately our Handbook of Nature Study book (Yes, I brought it along!!) didn't have any information on palm trees, but we still enjoyed observing and sketching them.

One thing we'd noticed before our study was that the taller palms only had pieces of bark sticking out at the top, while the shorter ones had them all the way up. A park ranger told us that the bark breaks off as the trees grow:

We were very surprised to see berries growing in the taller palms. Peter asked the ranger who'd stopped if they were safe to eat and he said definately not! We were able to examine some of the berries on the ground also:

It has been fun to see how much our journaling has improved since we began these challenges. Peter of course just likes to make a few bright colors in his journal and then amuses himself exploring:

Sammy spent ages on his journal - he really wanted to capture the texture of the palm tree bark and how it changed. He also make several comments about the fronds and how they curved. I really love how these challenges are turning the boys into such close observers of nature:

To find our more about outdoor hour challenges, check out the Handbook of Nature Study blog!

Waldorf Wednesday

2011-12-21T06:00:00.002-05:00

Though our schooling was cut short last week by our trip to Florida, I wanted to share what we did with you. Like many Waldorf-inspired families, we celebrated Santa Lucia day last week:

We used this simple story from Celebrate the Rythm of Life and also read the book Lucia and the Light. I think that Lucia and the Light is more of a Solstice story rather than a St. Lucia story, but we greatly enjoyed it nonetheless.

Peter and Sammy enjoyed playing with these Lucia and star boys figures that I made last year:

For our handwork day they created star boy wands by painting a star and small dowel with sparkly paint (I later glued them together to form the wands):

Though our school week was cut short here in Indiana, we were able to continue it in Florida - ahhh the benefits of homeschooling! While there we completed 3 outdoor hour challenges that I'll be sharing this week. I'm going to schedule them to post and take a bit of a blog break till after Christmas. Nick and Ellie are coming tonight to spend some time with us and I want to have more time to spend as a family. See you on the flip side! :)

Chasing The Sun

2011-12-20T06:00:00.003-05:00

My husband Daniel had wrist surgery earlier this month. His surgeon informed him that it was a rather complicated surgery and that he'd had special instruments made just for it. Yikes! A bone graft, a few pins, and a metal plate later Daniel has been hit with a double whammy. Not only has he been in pain as he recovers, but we've started what we call "the gray season" here in southern Indiana.

When he looked at me last Wednesday afternoon and said, "I'm tired of gray. Do you want to go to Florida?" I thought maybe it was his painkillers kicking in. But nope, he was serious. A few hours later our bags were packed and we were on the road.

Seeing my little boys greet the ocean for the first time was absolutely magical. If we would have had to turn around and drive right back to Indiana that night I still would have counted it worth it just for that moment:

We rented a cabin at Topsail Hill Preserve State Park in the northwest part of the state. Our little sunny getaway was just the pick-me-up we all needed as we prepare to welcome the rebirth of the sun on Solstice. The bright blue skies, the gorgeous green water, the white beach - it truly was balm for the soul.

There was shell collecting, wading in the chilly water, sandcastle building, jellyfish spotting:

In what was a moment I'll remember forever, there was even a bit of dolphin watching. We were able to admire 3 dolphins swimming just a bit out from the coast. There just happened to be a boat out in the water also when I snapped this photo:

We played on a sandbar:

And enjoyed the beauty of the dunes:

What was really nice is that we were practically the only people there! There was only 1 other cabin rented at the park; every time we went to the beach there it was completely empty. We also ended up driving to another beach and there were only a few families there. The chance to enjoy the beauty around us without feeling crowded was fabulous. The weather was wonderful too; warm enough for shorts one day and t-shirts and jeans the others.

There are so many more photos I'd like to share, but I think I'll end with the ones of a beautiful sunset that we sat on the beach and watched one evening. What could be more fitting for a trip spent chasing the sun?

Montessori Monday

2011-12-19T22:06:00.000-05:00

As we just arrived back home tonight from our trip I'll make this short and sweet. Thanks for linking up!

Montessori Monday Kinda Sorta

2011-12-19T01:04:00.000-05:00

Hi all! We've been traveling and I don't have time currently to get a post up. Please head on over to see my co-host Deb at Living Montessori Now and link up there. When I get home I'll copy everyone's links over here as well. Thanks! :)

Waldorf Wednesday

2011-12-14T06:00:00.002-05:00

Last week was all about St. Nicholas. Our story was A St. Nicholas Story: The Fiercest Little Animal in the Forest, which I highly recommend if you have littles at home. My boys loved the little pine marten. There are a few typos/grammatical errors in it but it really is a lovely story. For our chalkboard I just copied the front cover:

For our baking day we made St. Nicholas purse cookies. The boys really enjoyed mixing up the dough and then hiding the chocolate kiss inside:

We talked a lot about how St. Nicholas gave secretly and that we don't always need a "thank you" for doing something kind. With that in mind, we packaged up some extra cookies to leave in secret on a neighbor's doorstep:

Peter and Sammy were SO excited about leaving the cookies. We wrote a note and taped it to the tin explaining that it was a gift from St. Nicholas, then hurried out to the van so we could deliver them before our neighbors got home.

And here's where it gets...earthy -

We pull up in their driveway, all ready to leave the cookies on their porch. We're about to get out of the van when I realize there is a deer CARCASS stretched across their drive. And not just any carcass mind you, but a carcass that had been butchered. Obviously our neighbor, an avid hunter, had filled his freezer with venison. I'm not a hunting fan, but I always think if you're going to kill it you should eat it, so score one for the neighbors I guess.

Now *inside* I was screaming, but on the outside I had to appear all calm and practical. I said something to the effect of, "Oh, looks like Mr. X shot a deer and will eat it. Why don't you two stay in the van while I put the cookies on the porch?" I don't think the boys could see all that much from their seats in the van, but I had to walk right by it! I wonder if St. Nicholas ever had to deal with *that* while he was throwing his bags of gold through windows. ;)

Continuing the giving and animal theme (ahem) we did some more giving the next day. If you've never heard of Heifer International then please check it out. It is an organization that provides poor families with animals and training to care for them. Daniel and I donated some money, and then both boys added $5 each from their piggy banks. They were at first reluctant but then decided to donate once we counted out $5 and they saw they would still have money left! With our combined amounts we bought shares in a water buffalo and a goat. The boys had a lot of fun looking through the catalog and deciding what to put our money towards. I really like how the information in the catalog was presented - lots of concrete ways that the animals would help a family that the boys were able to understand.

For our painting day we experimented with using two colors of blue together - our normal ultramarine blue and our new prussian blue. The two of them were very pretty together:

On our handwork day I introduced finger knitting using a wonderful little story called Wandering Henry. Sammy was so excited to learn; we had been talking about finger knitting for a few weeks. We decided that the first finger knitting project would be a tree garland that we both worked on. After picking out some holiday-colored yarn, Sammy was off!

Peter happily entertained himself by cutting yarn while Sammy and I worked:

After awhile Sammy decided to change our tree garland project into a "Christmas whip." What is it with my boys and whipping lately?!

Instead of modeling with beeswax last week we used playdough we made together on the stove. The boys enjoyed helping to add the ingredients and then using food coloring to get just the right shade of green:

Then they used tree-shaped cookie cutters and metallic pony beads to do some decorating:

Dead deer aside, it was a pretty great week. ;)

Outdoor Hour Challenge - Osage Oranges

2011-12-13T06:00:00.003-05:00

We collected some Osage oranges a few weeks ago while we picking Nick and Ellie up from their dad's house. I've never seen any Osage orange trees around here, so initially the little boys and I were just happy to have something unique to display on our nature table. After admiring them for a bit, we decided to cut them open and see just what was inside.

I couldn't find any information in my Handbook of Nature Study book, so I looked at a few sites on the net. I read (and related to the boys) that while Osage oranges are green when found in our area of the country; the trees that grow in the southwest actually produce orange fruit, hence the name. We also learned that the trees are named for the Osage tribe who lived near the trees' homerange, and that the tribe used the wood for bows and war hammers due to its strength and flexibility. The boys were very interested to hear that squirrels in particular enjoy the fruit's seeds.

First we smelled our fruit to see if it had a citrus scent - I'd read on another site that it did when ripe. They smelled a bit like oranges once we'd opened them, but not very much:

I used a large knife to cut the fruit in half for the boys. As you can see, it was full of not only seeds but also milky white sap:

Peter and Sammy decided that butter knives and spoons would be the best way to dig some of the seeds out. We were all suprised at how difficult it was - those squirrels must have a lot of patience! The Osage oranges were very tough and fibrous inside:

Once we'd managed to remove a few of the seeds it was time to draw in our nature journals. I had read that the seeds were edible once the husks were removed, but I decided that we'd skip trying them out. ;)

Samuel asked to tape a few of the seeds in his journal. He was very proud of himself for drawing arrows so that I could label his drawings. Many times he chooses to only have the date on his journal page:

If you'd like to learn more about Outdoor Hour Challenges, hop on over to Handbook of Nature Study!

Montessori Monday

2011-12-12T06:00:00.001-05:00

So this will be my long, angsty post about where we're going with Montessori. I'm hoping that by posting my dilemma I will get some ideas and insights from some of you!

Let me start off by saying that I love Montessori. It has served us well for 3 years and both of the boys have learned incredible things. But I just feel like it's not working for us anymore. Sammy no longer chooses works from the language or math categories (and hasn't for months), and to be honest I have an issue with several of the lessons in the science/culture category that are in my set of albums. I keep finding myself asking, "Is this valuable right now?" Many of the science concepts in my albums just seem so far over a six-year-old's head. I have no doubt that Sammy is intelligent enough to understand the concept of planetary orbital paths...but at this point does he need to do so? Isn't it a better use of our time to spend time outside IN nature learning about the hands-on things in our own woods? I find myself agreeing with more of the Waldorf method of teaching science - that at this age it should be all about wonder and awe, not breaking down things into parts and labeling them.

So if we're not focusing on language, math, or science/culture during our Montessori time, we're left with practical life and sensorial. Hmm. The issue here would be that in the normal Montessori sequence as the child gets older and focuses more on language, math, and science/culture that practical life and sensorial lessons become fewer. As my husband asked, "How many times does he need to tweeze something?" ;) Sammy definately still enjoys practical life and sensorial lessons, but planning and setting out enough each week for him is a lot of work for me. When you add in the fact that I have another child to plan lessons for as well, then it truly is A LOT of work.

I didn't mind the work so much when I saw huge benefits from it, but I have to be honest and say that I'm no longer seeing those benefits. I've been mulling this over for several months, feeling confused and guilty. Daniel asked me the other day, "What is Sammy gaining from Montessori right now?"

I have to say I don't know. Practical life works are replicated in our everyday life, so it's not that he's learning much there. Many of the ideas I've seen for advanced practical life work such as weaving, etc. can be covered during our weekly handwork lesson. He's completed most of the sensorial sequence in the Gettman book. To be fair, the Gettman book is for Sammy's age and younger, so I'm not looking at the sequence for ages 6-9. But...I'm also not thrilled with paying hundreds of dollars for new albums when we're not even working in half the categories they cover.

Peter is still obviously working through the Montessori sequence for ages 3-6 and enjoying it. Daniel has suggested just doing Montessori with Peter and giving Sammy something else to do during that time. However, he had no clue as to what I might give Sammy to do...haha. And honestly the more we use Waldorf homeschooling methods the more I feel that we will not be introducing letters and numbers to Peter anytime soon. (Yes, I totally used to think delayed academics was a CRAZY idea - go figure) Practical life is done every day in our home, so its importance is lessened as well. I just don't think that a kid who serves himself his own dinner from serving bowls each night and pours his own drinks all day long necessarily needs more practice tonging, spooning, and pouring. That is a simple example but you know what I'm saying. Sensorial is not as easily covered and still hugely important for a child Peter's age, but I do think we can work in more natural sensorial experiences in our daily life.

So...I just don't know. I hate the thought of giving up Montessori altogether, but I also *dread* setting up lessons each week because it has become so difficult and time-consuming. Again, I wouldn't mind so much if we were still seeing huge benefits from using the Montessori method, but we're not. Instead of using all the time planning/setting up lessons with limited benefits, it just seems more practical to use that time instead to focus on other things like nature walks, art, etc. I definately see using Montessori materials again next year in conjunction with our Waldorf homeschooling for Sammy's first grade reading and math, so I suppose it doesn't need to be a "forever" type of thing. Any thoughts on this whole big angsty mess?

If you have some Montessori ideas or lessons to share, please link up below. Please also place the Montessori Monday button from the sidebar or a link back to this blog in your post. And make sure to visit my co-host Deb over at Living Montessori Now. Thanks for reading and participating!

Sunny Winter Solstice Ornaments

2011-12-08T06:00:00.007-05:00

I'd been wanting to make some Winter Solstice-type ornaments for our tree this year with the boys, so when I saw this post over at Play at Home Mom I figured out that with a little tweaking snowflakes could become beautiful suns.

For this simple project you just need some sparkly golden pipecleaners and orange and yellow translucent pony beads:

Cut two pipecleaners into fourths so that you end up with 8 small pieces. Twist your pieces together into a sun shape:

Then let the beading begin! (yes, Peter had been using the face crayons earlier that day!)

As suggested over at Play at Home Mom, you can use wire cutters to turn the ends of the pipecleaners down once they've been beaded. These would look pretty on the tree or even in a sunny window hung up with a suction cup and fishing line:

We will be gathering with a few friends to celebrate the Solstice, and the boys and I decided that these will be lovely gifts for each family to take home afterwards.

If you have any ideas for Winter Solstice ornaments I'd love to see them! We are putting up the tree this Saturday and I'd like to add a few more things. :)

Linking this up to Jingle All The Way over at Edible Entertainment:

And Crafty Moms Share:

Dr. Sears Doesn't Cover What To Do If Your Kid Beats The Shit Out Of An Elf

2011-12-06T06:00:00.020-05:00

Unless you've been hiding under a rock, you know that The Elf on the Shelf has been all the holiday rage for the last few years. I thought it looked interesting last year, so I took a peeksy at the book. I know that a lot of people think it's adorable, but something about telling my small children that an elf is waiting to report on them to Santa just struck me as creepy. The boys know that Santa isn't real (yes, we are dream crushers) and that he's simply a fun myth. And even if they thought Santa was real, I'd still have an issue with the whole "be good for presents" concept that Elf on the Shelf promotes. Just as big of an issue was the price tag...sheesh!

Even though I didn't like the particular Elf on the Shelf selling in stores, I still liked the concept of the hide-and-seeking each morning. So this year I kept an eye out at the craft store till an elf doll popped up for cheap. He actually came with a tag describing how he was keeping watch on kids for Santa, but I threw that away. Instead I wrote up a little note and planted it and the elf in the boys' room:

The boys were very excited by the note and discovered Elbert hiding on their toy shelf just a few minutes later. Isn't he sweet?

Poor, poor Elbert. For reasons I still am not sure of, Peter plucked him off the shelf and asked Sammy what to do with him. And Sammy replied....

wait for it....

"Whip him."

????!!!!!?????!!!!!!

Elbert was escorted to the living room, where he was whipped with a piece of rope Peter has taken to carrying around:

I should add that Peter normally uses this rope as reins when he drives his pretend stage coach. I promise we don't whip our children with ropes! (we don't whip elves either...at least SOME of us don't)

Elbert also suffered a bit of non-verbal intimidation, as well as the loss of one pom-pom off his wee elf shoe:

But that wasn't the worst of it.

Oh the shame:

Yes, I'd forgotten one important concept from the original Elf on the Shelf book - the elf's magic wears off if he is TOUCHED.

*sigh*

Obviously our attachment parenting/gentle discipline/Waldorf-inspired beliefs haven't so much turned our boys into sweet docile creatures and somewhere right now fairies are dying and crystal rainbows are shattering in grief.

Montessori Monday

2011-12-05T06:00:00.002-05:00

Nothing to share this week, as Sam was struck by the Great Plague of 2011. It took TEN DAYS for him to feel well enough to get out of bed/off the couch - isn't that crazy?! I'm so glad he's feeling better; we were really worried about the little guy. Peter asked to do Montessori, but with Sammy so sick it just didn't happen. I'm looking forward to getting back to it this week - reading through all your links was fun with so many wonderful holiday works that I'll have to use!

If you have some lessons or ideas to share, please link up below. Please make sure to either place the Montessori Monday button from the sidebar in your post or put a link back to this blog in your post. And check out my co-host Deb over at Living Montessori Now while you're at it. Thanks for reading and participating!

Counting down to Yule

2011-12-02T06:00:00.002-05:00

Our family celebrates Advent as the period leading up toYule, or Winter Solstice. Accordingly, we lit our first Advent candle this week. Normally we would have lit it on Sunday, but as Sammy was ill we were hoping to wait till he felt better to light it. Unfortunately he is *still* sick, so we went ahead and had a very low-key candle lighting during dinner on Tuesday. Like so many Waldorf or Waldorf-inspired families, we use this poem - which I've tweaked slightly to fit our family better:

The first light of Advent is the light of stones,

Stones found in crystals, and seashells, and bones.

The second light of Advent is the light of plants,

Plants that reach up to the sky and in the breezes dance.

The third light of Advent is the light of beasts,

Animals of farm, field, forest and sea,

All await the Sun from the greatest to the least.

The fourth light of Advent is the light of man,

The light of love, the light of thought to give and understand.

We will continue to light one candle each Sunday till we light the very last one on Yule itself. Usually when we light the last candle we simply say that it is lit in celebration of the season and being togeher as a family:

Last year Daniel made us a beautiful advent spiral that we used to count down the days till Christmas. This year we decided that since Christmas is for our family more of a cultural holiday, we really did not wish to place more emphasis on the day that we open up gifts! So, we are now using our spiral to count down the days till Yule instead. We've talked about actually opening gifts on Yule, but we aren't always assured of having Nick and Ellie with us that day and Daniel doesn't get that day off work.

Every year I feel weird about our nature table come early December. Technically it's still fall and will be for a few more weeks, but everyone is in the holiday mood and feeling a bit winterish. But...we're not quite ready for snowmen and the like as it still looks very much like fall outside! This year I decided that December would just be the month during which the nature table becomes the advent table - we needed a better place than the dining room table to put the spiral anyway. ;) I dressed the table in colors of the sun we are so looking forward to welcoming soon - orange and yellow playsilks. I also included our root children lantern and a "protecting the seeds" postcard featuring gnomes (Thanks Fiona!) since they fit so well with our current circle time. Sorry for the bad lighting - I had to take these at night:

In the center of the spiral sits a wooden bowl that Peter put some of his favorite crystals and a shell in:

I've added a list of our holiday books to the sidebar; what are some of your favorites? This is such a fun season, whether one is celebrating the birth of the Sun or the Son!

Waldorf Wednesday

2011-11-30T06:00:00.002-05:00

Our Waldorf homeschooling week ended up being cut short by illness, but I wanted to share what we did with you before the plague struck. ;)

Our story last week was a sweet one I found online called The Animals' Thanksgiving. Both of the boys really liked the idea of the animals coming together for a feast in Bear's cave:

We started a new circle time last week that I cobbled together from a few different sources. The focus of it is a storyline about how Jack Frost is coming so gnomes need to collect all the seeds and store them safely underground. We've never done a circle time with a story involved, so it was a nice change. The boys loved pretending to be gnomes and learning songs about Jack Frost. First we visited our gnome king deep beneath the earth:

Then we went back above ground and gathered "seeds" I'd spread out on a playsilk into little wooden bowls:

After tucking the seeds safely in for their long winter's nap we set to work polishing our crystals:

We will probably continue to use this circle through December and just gradually work in some traditional holiday songs as well. Seems a shame to only do it for two weeks! Normally we start new circles at the month's beginning but time just got away from me.

For our painting day we finally painted with vermillion and orange together as Sammy had been wanting to. The vermillion still looked really orange to us even against a regular orange, but we were able to see the red tones in it by comparing it that way. We also collected a couple of orange items from the kitchen so we could see different shades of that color as well:

Baking day this week was helping Daddy bake some apple pies from scratch. We (and our pies) had planned to go to a friend's house on Thanksgiving but Peter was sick so we ended up having a very quiet day at home with homemade chicken noodle soup for dinner!

Our normal handwork and beeswax modeling days occur near the end of the week, so we didn't get to those as by that time Sam was down sick as well as Peter. Here's hoping the nasty virus they've had doesn't visit your house too!

Crappy Craft Photos

2011-11-29T06:00:00.002-05:00

I meant the photos are crappy - not the crafts - by the way.

Ahem.

You will be happy to know that I've finally made good on my annual declaration that I will learn to knit. I've learned to knit! Ok, well I haven't gotten to anything more than the knit stitch and have not a clue about casting off yet, but gosh darnit I've got an actual square:

I'm making the little chick from the Newbie Knitting series over at Wee Folk Art. For the last 3 years now I've started to learn and then stopped, but the pressure is on since I'm planning to teach Sammy how next year as part of his Waldorf first grade homeschool. Yup, I've been motivated by fear. How could he be the only Waldorf first grader that doesn't knit? Oh the shame! (I typed that in a dramatic voice, in case you can't tell)

Speaking of Sammy, please send some good vibes his way. I actually started knitting this little chick while we sat in the ER the other night as a wee giftie for him to get excited about. He's been down since Thursday morning with a super nasty stomach virus and the dr's office had us take him since he'd been so sick. They gave him some IV fluids, which perked him up a bit, but he's still feeling horrid. I'm glad they didn't have to admit him as he hated being there.

I've also been working on my swap item for the winter Waldorf swap I'm running. I'm almost done hand sewing these sweet little gingerbread men:

I'm not really doing any holiday crafting this year. Daniel is having surgery on his arm early next month, which means his hand and arm will be completely unusable for 10 weeks (eeeek!!!) so I didn't want to put anything more on my plate. I'll be helping the kids with their gifts for each other and Daniel, which will be more than enough to do. I can't post all of the gifts planned since the big kids can read this blog (those two can ferret out a surprise 100 miles away) but I will share with you the Ellie is planning to sew Robin Hood hats like these for the little boys. Nick will be painting wooden bowling sets similar to these little cuties. I *think* Sammy has decided to make some candy cane playdough for Peter, and Peter doesn't seem to know what he's making for anyone yet! ;)

What kind of crafts, holiday or non, are you working on?

Montessori Monday

2011-11-28T06:00:00.002-05:00

We had a busy day down in our studio last week. Both boys have really been focusing on practical life and sensorial lessons.

Sam has been going through a stage in his play during which he wants to build enormous playscapes using every block and every animal and every gnome, etc. I could definately see this carrying over to his Montessori work last week! First he started out by examining and identifying places on our continent and regular globes...

...which led to getting out a few of the maps and working with them...

...which led to becoming a "scientist" and using the metal insets:

...which continued into pulling out several of the trays from our geometric cabinet and using them in the manner of metal insets, all the while claiming it was incredibly important to keep everything out. Umm, yeah:

Sammy also enjoyed using the geo board to create a "colorful snowflake"

We also worked together on a scent matching lesson that a kind friend let us borrow - it was a lot fun!

Sam said he was making "mouse stew" when he worked on this lesson - using tweezers to transfer tiny mice from one wee pot to another:

Peter kept himself busy for a loooooong time working on this cutting/one-to-one correspondance lesson I set out for him:

He had to peel a sticker from the sheet, place it in a rectangle, cut on the black lines, and then place his scraps in the bowl. He enjoyed using multiple stickers and snipping at his rectangles till they were tiny bits:

He also built the pink tower horizontally and vertically:

This was a lesson during which he had to match the soft elastic band with the color on the end of a dowel rod then place the bands on the dowels. Peter has such nimble little fingers, much moreso than Sam at this age. Daniel says it's from all that time spent building with Legoes!

He also used tongs to place marbles onto a frog-shaped bathtub mat:

Both boys worked together on our land forms. This is by far one of their favorite activities. They love to fill them with water and then place our little vehicles and animals in them:

If you have some Montessori lessons or ideas to share, please link up below. Please also make sure to either grab the Montessori Monday button from the sidebar or place a link back to this blog in your post. Oh, and make sure to go visit my co-host Deb over at Living Montessori Now too! Thanks for reading and participating!

Waldorf Wednesday

2011-11-23T06:00:00.002-05:00

Well, if you read Monday's post then you know that we had a non-schooling week last week. However, I wanted to go ahead and share an activity that the boys enjoyed yesterday since it is Thanksgiving themed. We did this during our Montessori time, but I could have easily offered it on our Waldorf modeling day as well.

This would be a fun something to set out if you'll be busy in the kitchen on Thursday - we called it "turkey play dough." We used our favorite homemade playdough recipe with some pumpkin pie spices:

1 cup flour

1/2 cup salt

2 T vegetable oil

2 T cream of tartar

1 cup water

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon cloves

*Mix dry ingredients in sauce pan. Add liquid ingredients and cook over medium heat till mixture pulls from sides of pan. Knead red and yellow food coloring into dough.

I set out some colored feathers from the craft store and some green pasta from our dyed stash:

They used the green pasta for stems (an idea I saw somewhere ages ago!) and created a little pumpkin patch:

They both had fun making pumpkins, but the big hit was the turkey making:

Sam put a "beak" on this turkey:

Hope you have a happy Thanksgiving!

*Linking up to Homeschool Creations

Montessori Monday

2011-11-21T06:00:00.003-05:00

Total fail! I like to be honest here, so I will tell you that school was a bust last week. Here's how it went:

Saturday: Thinking "Hmm, I should really get some lessons set out for next week." Doing: Cleaning our house in preparation for the lantern walk/bonfire in hopes of convincing friends we don't live like pigs

Sunday: Thinking "Hmm, I should really get some lessons set out for next week." Doing: I don't even remember what

Monday: Thinking "Hmm, I should really get some lessons set out." Doing: Long, long appointment w/ a rheumatologist and some much-needed grocery shopping

Tuesday: Thinking "Huh. I don't feel so great. Wonder if it's my new medication?" Doing: Long nap during the boys' quiet time and lots of laying on the couch

Wednesday: Thinking "I know! If I pretend like I feel fine, then I *will* be fine!" Doing: Homeschool group and piano lessons

Thursday: Thinking "Hmm, I really should get some...I AM THE SICKEST PERSON IN THE WORLD." Doing: Turning on "Strawberry Shortcake" through Netflix for the boys while thinking that just a few moments without horrid nausea and dizziness would be awesome, lots and lots of laying on couch. Called Daniel and begged him to come home early.

Friday: Thinking "I am so, so glad that Daniel is working from home today. I hate all medicine *and* my rheumatologist too." Doing: More laying on couch and in bed.

So there ya have it. And in case you're wondering, I'm not taking that medication anymore! Actually, I was supposed to switch Friday evening to a much lower does in hopes of doing away with the side effects, but I haven't been able to bring myself to take anymore of it at all. Today is Sunday and I'm *still* messed up from it...yuck.

If you had a non-fail Montessori homeschool week (or even if you did, 'cause it happens to all of us!) please link up below. We should be back on track this coming week, so I'll have some things to share next Monday again. As always, please place the Montessori Monday button from the sidebar in your post or put a link back to this blog. And make sure to visit my co-host Deb over at Living Montessori Now. Thanks for reading and participating!

Glimmer, Lantern, Glimmer

2011-11-17T12:36:00.000-05:00

This was our second year celebrating Martinmas, and what fun it was. 3 other families came over to celebrate with us; everything is always more fun with friends! Before the sun set we enjoyed a potluck dinner outside around the fire:

Once it was dark we trooped inside for a special puppet show. Ellie was such a big help to me - going inside beforehand to light all the lanterns and then helping during the puppet show itself.

This is not a very good picture due to the dim lighting, but I love the image of all of the children gathered around watching and listening so intently:

We used a story from our Tiptoes Lightly book (the same one I'd been telling the boys all week), which I read while Ellie worked with the props.

Afterward Ellie and I sang the Glimmer, Lantern, Glimmer song while the children enjoyed scooping up the paper "sleet" we had used during the show:

Then, of course, it was time for our lantern walk! Daniel, the little boys, and Nick had gone out earlier and placed glow bracelets on the tree branches to guide our path through the woods.

The lanterns bobbing through the darkness was such a beautiful sight.

This is definately a tradition we will be continuing every year!

Waldorf Wednesday

2011-11-16T06:00:00.003-05:00

We had a fun week focusing on Martinmas:

Our story for the week was a slightly modified version of "Saint Martin's Lantern" from our Tiptoes Lightly book. The boys greatly enjoyed the story, and we spent some time each day talking about how each of us could let our own inner light of goodness shine by being kind to others.

For our painting day we painted our inner lights - being very, very careful to get the red as close to the yellow "light" as possible without letting them touch and mix. Sam really liked the challenge of this:

Peter, who gets his *own* jars of paints each session, had no interest in painting a light - he made orange instead:

We made our lanterns for our lantern walk on Handwork Day. Making balloon lanterns was very messy but a lot of fun, and they came out beautifully. First the boys helped tear the tissue paper:

Then we used watery-glue to apply the pieces to our balloons, which were popped once the tissue paper dried:

You'll see the finished products tomorrow in a special Martinmas post!

On our modeling day I read the boys a tale from our Enki nature stories about a goose family flying south for the coming winter. We have taken our beeswax modeling very, very slowly as I didn't want Sam to get frustrated, so I wasn't sure if my plan for that day would be successful or not. The story often mentioned the geese's "long black necks and brown backs" and their "wide black feet" so I thought we would try making our own geese.

Success! Samuel made a goose quite easily and was so excited that he made two more:

Peter enjoyed playing with the beeswax but asked me to make his goose for him; he added feet he had made. Soon we had a big goose family resting in the sun:

We added them to our nature table later:

Waldorf kindy has been so much fun with Sam that I'm already looking forward to doing it again with Peter in a few more years!

Linking up to: Weird, Unsocialized Homeschooler's Weekly Wrap-Up and Homeschool Creations

Breaking Steel

2011-11-15T06:00:00.002-05:00

The other month while at a park Sammy found some abandoned bricks, which he begged me to bring home. Being the ~~crazy~~ fun mama I am, I obliged. We loaded them into the van, then Sam used his wheelbarrow once we got home to unload them. At first they were placed in the sandbox to become castle walls, but then the boys invented a new game - "breaking steel."

Armed with hammers and safety glasses, they happily spend great chunks of time pounding the bricks into tiny pieces:

From what I've been told, they fancy themselves some kind of miners while playing this game. They sometimes wear their bicycle helmets (mining helmets) while doing this, which I assure you is cuter than cute.

I love how they've invented a game that not only uses their imaginations, but also their great need to do heavy work - lifting, pounding, etc.

The imaginations of children are wondrous things, aren't they?

Montessori Monday

2011-11-14T06:00:00.001-05:00

A big "thank you" to everyone who linked up last week. I love seeing all of your ideas! Please remember, as I've said before, that I'm still reading even though I don't comment. Deb - bless her heart - does the commenting and saves me a lot of typing!

Last week I set out a lot of practical life and sensorial lessons, as I always do when we haven't been in our studio for a bit. Peter unfortunately didn't work for long, as he was disruptive and had to be sent upstairs (luckily Daniel was working from home that day). But during his short work time he enjoyed the caribiners:

tonging acorns/practicing one-to-one correspondance:

and err...duplos. We normally don't have these in the studio; I was doing some cleaning on the other side of the basement and he came over and nabbed them:

Sammy enjoyed our new sensory bin full of puzzle pieces:

He also explored the balance with plastic bears:

worked with his pattern blocks:

and played this game with me FIVE times:

Seeing him excited about this game got *me* all excited, and I honestly had to restrain myself from getting on Amazon and ordering every reading board game out there because "OMG HE LIKES GAMES THEY WILL MAKE HIM READ!"

It can be so easy to get caught up in pushing for measurable results. I have to sometimes remind myself that it doesn't matter - he will read in his own time. We will continue to set out language lessons that he can explore when he chooses to do so. Daniel and I talked about this recently, agreeing that we would continue following the Waldorf method (while making the Montessori language activities available), which means that we don't really expect Sam to start reading until maybe the middle/end of the next school year when he's 7.

If you have some Montessori ideas/lessons/pearls of wisdom to share, please link up below. Please also make sure to place the Montessori Monday button from the sidebar or a link back to this blog in your post. And don't forget to visit my co-host Deb over at Living Montessori Now. Thanks for reading and participating!

Waldorf Wednesday

2011-11-09T06:00:00.005-05:00

We had a very informal homeschooling week. I started the week off sick with a cold, and it always seems like if we don't get off to a good start on Mondays then the rest of the week is a bit difficult. Our story was one from Let Us From A Ring about a naughty hobgoblin. Naturally this greatly appealed to my boys!

We made some "hobgoblin" (lime) knox blox on our baking day:

Seems like every time lately we're in the kitchen a boy pops up asking to help. "Baking Day" is starting to be every day of the week! Peter also helped Daniel bake some sugar cookies:

Sammy helped me prepare soup one night by washing and cutting veggies:

Instead of our planned vermillion/orange paintings last week Peter did some free painting while Sammy worked on birthday "thank you" postcards. Whenever there is access to black paint you can be sure they will use a lot of it. His first card was a very pretty mix of purple and black that he told me was "twilight." The others were all just BLACK. I told my husband that it looked like we were sending out goth thank you cards. ;)

We also attended our small homeschool group at a friend's house, where the boys got to do some fun science experiments and enjoy playtime. I guess in the end we didn't have too bad of a week after all!

Meet Mr. Coco

2011-11-08T06:00:00.002-05:00

We are a family fond of naming inanimate objects. I'm sure we've confused more than a few people who thought we were referring to our good friend Viktor when we were actually discussing our mini van.

And so, when one very lucky mama receives a piano as a birthday/early Christmas gift, what is there to do but name it?

Peter suggested Coco but I was concerned that was too informal, so we decided to go with Mr. Coco. I know - we are slightly crazy. But I bet no one else you've ever met has a piano named Mr. Coco. (you have to admit, it is kind of a cool name)

I have wanted a piano for many years, so I'm beyond thrilled with Mr. Coco. We were able to find him used at a local piano dealer who included delivery and a 1-year warranty in the deal. I wasn't going to consider a spinet piano at first since I read that the sound quality is not as good as a regular upright, but my piano-playing friend encouraged me to take a look/listen. I'm glad she did, as Mr. Coco looked and sounded great to me. The "affordable" used uprights we kept finding on Craigslist were not affordable once you figured in the cost of moving them and tuning/fixing them because they'd been stored in someone's basement for nigh on ten years. The dealer said we might want to upgrade to an upright eventually, but we should be happy with Mr. Coco for several years.

I had my first lesson last week. Oh yeah - did I mention that NONE of us know how to play Mr. Coco? Unless you count this as playing:

It's noisy but *very* cute:

It's a bit intimidating to start learning this as an adult, but my teacher assures me she works with adults all the time. Soon we'll all be gathered round Mr. Coco singing carols and drinking cider. Well, as soon as I can play more than this:

Even though I can't play more than a c scale at this point, it's still nice to have the house filled with music. Rock on, Mr. Coco:

Vote For Pedro

2011-11-07T11:18:00.000-05:00

Check it out! I didn't realize I was nominated for the Homeschool Blog Awards till I saw a comment from new reader Beth. How exciting! I'm nominated in 4 categories:

Favorite Homeschooling Mom

Best Homeschooling Methods

Best SUPER Homeschooler

Best Crafts, Plans, & Projects

So if you like reading my blog, a vote would be appreciated. You can vote for me in all 4 categories. Thanks! :)

Montessori Monday

2011-11-07T06:00:00.001-05:00

Around our house my husband and I are constantly thinking of ways we can help Sammy and Peter become more independent. They get in a lot of out-of-the-classroom practical life experience through their regular chores. Both boys actually help out quite a bit around the house, doing everything from taking care of the animals to folding laundry. It occured to me last week that we could help them become more independent about their chores. Normally we ask/remind them when chores need to be done, so a chore chart seemed to be a great step towards helping them take charge of their responsibilities.

I decided to create rather than buy one, and after looking around for inspiration I found this super-cute example on another blog. So I sat down with a sharpie and colored pencils to create tags for the chores Sam and Peter do on a regular basis:

A few of the chores they normally do aren't on there, such as putting away their clean clothes, but for the most part everything is covered. I wasn't sure whether to put brushing teeth and dressing down as "chores" but decided in the end that anything that encourages Peter to actually dress and clean his teeth is a good idea! ;) There are two "water plants" tags because they each are responsible for watering different plants in the house.

After I laminated the tags and cut them apart I used a large sheet of paper and crayons to make their charts:

Since the sheets were too big to fit through my laminator I covered them with contact paper. All the tags and the chart got velcro dots applied. I hung the charts in our hallways with sticky tac, but that doesn't seem to be quite strong enough. If the boys aren't very careful when pulling their tags then the whole chart comes down! I think I will re-mount the charts onto either very thin pieces of plywood or pieces of foam board to give them more strength and stability.

So far the boys really like them, and Sammy in particular takes pride in "reading" his chart by himself and moving his tags once he completes a chore:

In case you are wondering, the boys do receive a very small allowance each week (50 cents); however, it is not tied to doing chores. They receive allowance whether they do chores or not, but I honestly don't think they've ever *not* done chores! It has just always been part of their routine. Also, in order to receive allowance they have to remember to ask for it on Fridays. That was my husband Daniel's idea - if they truly want money for their piggy banks then they have to be responsible enough to ask for it. Most weeks they remember and when they don't it's not a big deal.

If you have some Montessori lessons or ideas, please link up below. Please also remember to put the Montessori Monday button or a link back to this blog in your post. Thanks for reading and participating!

Winter Waldorf Swap - Now Full

2011-11-05T14:09:00.002-04:00

The swap has filled, so I will go ahead and end sign-ups a bit early. Thank you!

Have You Signed Up?

2011-11-04T16:17:00.002-04:00

There are still spots open!

Winter Waldorf Swap

Samhain

2011-11-04T06:00:00.005-04:00

This was our first year observing Samhain, a Pagan sabbat that focuses on remembering loved ones who have died. Peter and Sammy have both really struggled with the issue of death this year. I have always told them that people return to Mother Earth when they die, but Samhain gave us an opportunity to talk more about the concept of death and why people we have loved are never truly "gone."

We set up a special table beforehand honoring those who have passed on. We remembered those we don't have a photo of with a special name card or fall gourd:

Great grandparents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, a friend who died far too young...all of these special people who made a mark on us, who loved and were loved in return. I talked to the boys about how no one really knows what happens after death - that some believe our spirits are born again in a new body, some believe that our spirits go to Avalon, some believe spirits go to Heaven, and some believe that the spirit as well as the body returns to Mother Earth. I told them that I didn't know for sure what happened, but the one thing I did know was that those spirits live on in our hearts, in our memories, in the stories that we tell. Bodies die; love does not.

On the night of our celebration we turned out the lights and lit the candle on our table. We spoke of each loved one to our sons - my husband's memories of gathering eggs with his grandfather, the lovely crafts created by my great-grandmother...so many moments, so many stories, so much love - still alive.

To our loved ones who have returned to the great mother - wherever you are now - we love and honor you:

Waldorf Wednesday On A Thursday

2011-11-03T06:00:00.000-04:00

We had another fun week learning the Waldorf way. Our story was another from Suzanne Downs called "How Witchamaroo Became The Pocket Witch" - both Peter and Sammy seem to just adore all of her stories.

Peter actually cried (mostly fake - ha!) last weekend because we weren't doing school. He told me his favorite part is hearing the story. :)

For our painting day we explored two shades of red - our normal crimson plus vermillion. Sammy commented that the vermillion looked orange to him, so we decided that for our next painting day we will paint with both orange and vermillion in order to compare. We have been working slowly but surely at becoming more peaceful and quiet as we paint:

It was our turn to host our small homeschool group last week, which is always a lot of fun. I told the children a nature story then we went on a collecting walk through our woods. Afterwards we made fall window collages on contact paper. Sammy's collage ended up with a bit of moisture as it had rained recently, but I love how he thought to use moss in it:

Peter's is just as lovely with the sun streaming through:

On our handwork day we made some fun Halloween napkins. I found this great idea for no-sew napkins over at cypress space. And just to prove that I'm totally *not* on top of things I will be honest and admit that we bought this material way back at the beginning of September and only now got around to this! Sammy really enjoyed tearing the fabric - look at his using those muscles:

He also helped pick the threads one by one so that the napkins would fringe up:

I will be honest again though and admit he spent A LOT of time doing this while *I* picked threads:

Silly boys. And yes, that is a home improvement project you see in the background. I'll be posting before/afters soon!

I totally forgot to take photos of our baking day last week. We celebrated my husband Daniel's birthday, so the boys and I baked him one of his favorite desserts, cherry crisp. The boys drew him a special birthday chalkboard and you can see Sammy's chalky cherry crisp in the background!

Winter Waldorf Swap - Now Open

2011-11-02T06:00:00.008-04:00

Let's get a jump on this before we all get too busy with the upcoming winter holidays! Please read the following details carefully.

1. You will be making 15 of the same Waldorf-type craft item/nature table item to swap. This means you will receive 15 items in return...yay! Your items should be $5 in value each and in the Waldorf style. They should be winter-themed and secular in nature, please.

2. Sign ups will close on Monday, Nov. 7th. (unless the swap fills before then)

3. Your items must be mailed by Wednesday, Nov. 30. PLEASE DO NOT SIGN UP UNLESS YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY SURE YOU CAN MEET THIS DEADLINE. It is disappointing and unfair to the other swappers to back out at the last minute. We all know that life happens, but please plan ahead and begin crafting early. If I do not receive your items by Dec. 8th you will not be able to be included in the swap. My goal is to get your swap goodies back out to you as quickly as possible in case anyone would like to use them as gifts. *International participants, please plan on mailing earlier than Nov. 30*

4. To sign up, simple leave a comment with your email. I will send you an email within 48 hrs. letting you know you have a place in the swap and giving you further details. It is your job to respond to my email ASAP so that I know you are indeed planning to participate.

5. I will stay in contact through email, so please plan on checking it frequently. Shipping fees will be handled via paypal.

Thanks everyone - looking forward to another fantastic swap. :)

**Waldorf Wednesday will be up tomorrow**

SWAP IS NOW FULL

Our Fall Nature Table And The Waldorf Swap

2011-11-01T06:00:00.004-04:00

First up, our fall nature table:

So much lovely fall goodness! We have everything from acorns and walnuts to a shedded snake skin that Peter found. If you look closely, you can also see that we have some beautiful handmade items:

Most of those items came from the fall waldorf swap that I recently hosted. I thought nothing could top the summer swap, but obviously I was wrong!

I had to snap these photos fast because Sammy and Peter nabbed many of the swap items as playthings. What you don't see on our nature table is being thoroughly enjoyed in their room or slept with each night. ;)

Jackie made the lovely wooden boat and wool flower

Katie made the cutest knitted hedgehogs EVER

Panaena created those adorable apple and pumpkin gnomes you see

Anastasia made the leaf fairies for hanging on the far right

Amy crafted the sweet leaf fairies in the middle

Rejoyce sewed the friendly leaf sprite on the far left

Julie made wee pumpkin-belly gnomes

Christy sewed oh-sew-sweet owls

Kat needlefelted beautiful pumpkins like the one on the boat

Kelley dyed gorgeous playsilks in fall colors

Ashley painted fun wooden globes

Fiona needlefelted fabulous pumpkins like those behind the mushrooms

I painted mushroom "families" in seasonal colors

Thank you so much to all of the swap participants. This was such a fun swap to run - opening up all the packages was perhaps even better than Christmas!

Speaking of upcoming winter holidays...I suppose it's time to look ahead to the Winter Waldorf Swap! Make sure to check back tomorrow and nab your spot for that one. ;)

Montessori Monday

2011-10-31T06:00:00.001-04:00

So glad to be back here on a Monday! Today I wanted to share a leaf matching lesson that I created for the boys. First I collected green leaves and pressed them in the late summer. Then once the leaves began to turn this fall I collected the *same* type of leaves and pressed them. After that it was just a matter of placing them on paper and laminating them! The green leaves are all on green paper, while the "changed" leaves are all mounted on orange paper. They are all labeled too so that Sammy can work on matching the words as well as the leaf shapes:

Most of the leaves faded quite a bit, but I'm still happy with them - I think the boys are still able to observe how the leaves are different in the fall:

Hopefully this is not only a fun matching game for the boys but will also enable them to begin to identify the trees in our yard!

Six!

2011-10-28T06:00:00.001-04:00

Our beautiful blonde boy turned 6 last week. It's still hard for me to believe that he's grown so fast! I thought I would share some photos from his special day and a little bit about our birthday traditions.

A special birthday chalkboard drawn by big brother Nick:

Following tradition, a special birthday table was set up for him holding a baby picture, gifts, his birthday crown, and special birthday ring:

So that the boys have something to open the morning of their birthdays we usually set out something sent by a family member and save our family gift till that night. Sammy was very excited to open up a Lego RV sent by my older sister!

We try to tell each child's birth story on their birthday as well. Though Nick sometimes rolls his eyes at his, I think all of them like hearing about how they were born! The birthday child always gets to choose a special dinner too. We also always hang up our birthday banner in the living room:

Ellie helped me make Sammy's cake - he had requested a *very* specific one this year! We used to order cakes and have big parties, but for the past few years we've simplified quite a bit. Now we always bake the birthday dessert ourselves, and we no longer worry about big parties with friends and family. All of our family is at least two hours away, and though we have plenty of friends who would gladly celebrate with us it feels really nice to not stress about planning a big party. None of the kids have minded, and I love how intimate and simple birthdays have become for us.

(and yes, that is a walrus and polar bear on top of his cake, as requested!)

Before cutting the cake it was time to light up the birthday ring:

After cake it was time to give Sammy our family gift - a Lego castle. As you can tell by the picture, he was very excited and suprised:

What little things do you do to make birthdays special in your home?

Waldorf Wednesday

2011-10-26T19:30:00.000-04:00

Hello again! Thanks for your patience during my blog break. I'm feeling loads better now and it's simply fabulous to feel like I have my normal life back!

These are some photos from the other week. We used a wonderful little story that came in a newsletter from Suzanne Downs. It's called "Peter's Pumpkin House."

We *were* going to bake pumpkin muffins to go along with our story, but Sammy (no more aliases!) asked to make one of his favorites, apple crisp, instead. Both boys enjoyed twirling the apple peeler and slicing the apples:

For our wet-on-wet painting day we blended red and yellow in order to paint orange pumpkins, which we later cut out and turned into jack-o-lanterns with the help of markers:

Peter asked to hang his up by his bed:

While we were on a pumpkin theme we also made tiny pumpkins on our beeswax modeling day:

The boys also rolled some new candles for our table. We always light candles at dinner during the darker months - it makes everything seem so cozy:

We have been doing a very fun circle time all this month full of spooky songs and fingerplays. The boys have also been working with another poem which is posted by their calendar and daily rhythm chart:

If you use Waldorf methods in your homeschooling please make sure to leave a link to your blog in the comments - I'm always looking for new ideas and to learn from others. :)

The F Word 4 Months Later

2011-10-08T10:25:00.000-04:00

I figured I would give a bit of an update since I've had so many people asking me questions since I shared my fibromyalgia diagnosis. First of all, thanks so much for your support and kind comments. Many of you have shared that you have fibro as well. For those of you struggling right now I'm thinking of you!

I've had a difficult time with the tone of this post. I don't want to sound whiny or self-pitying. Fibro is not the worst diagnosis one can have by far, thank goodness. But here's the truth:

Things are sucking quite a bit 'round these parts, my friends.

I'll just get all of the whining out in one paragraph, ok? Right now I'm on day 5 of The Flare From Hell - thankfully spiraling out of it now - but a few days ago I think I might have sold my soul for the ability to turn my head to the left and a few minutes of NO PAIN. This has been the kind of pain where I can take a narcotic and a muscle relaxer at the same time and the only effect I get is to fall asleep...and then wake back up an hour later....in pain. Over the last four months I have been prescribed *seven* different medications (not to take at the same time!) each with their own weird and uncomfortable side effects. This one makes you gain weight, this one makes you lose your appetite, this one makes you feel crazy...you get the picture. I've gone from Savella to Elavil to Lyrica and back to Savella again. Savella was really good for my pain, but it gave me horrid insomnia. However, since it seems to be the most helpful by far I've gone back to it with a side of Ambien...yuck.

In a way this has almost been worse than before I knew I had fibro. Before I just dealt with the pain and expected no better. Now that I know things can be better (damn that 2 weeks on Savella before insomnia hit) it feels like living pain-free is just tauntingly out of my grasp. I have had my worst flare-ups by far over the past few months, and I'm sure some of that is due to stress, lack of sleep due to meds, and just a jacked-up system that's been flooded with too many different medications over too short a period of time. I can now understand why my doctor told me that depression is common in fibro patients. I don't feel depressed yet but I can definately see it lurking just over the horizon.

I hate living like this. I feel like each and every day is a crapshoot and that fibro affects every single area of my life, from my ability to mother to my ability just to do small things around the house. I've been feeling quite the burden, watching my husband have to pick up my slack week after week. I feel like my boys get the short end of the stick because what we do revolves around how well I'm feeling that day. And geez, living with pain every day kind of sucks too!

One part of me is aghast that I'm actually typing this out for the world to see. But another remembers how so many of you have commented that you can't even find a decent doctor to treat your fibromyalgia. There are actually doctors who still claim it doesn't exist. That simply blows my mind. And I know that some of you have commented as well that you have fibro but choose not to treat with meds. I think that is a fabulous choice when practical. But for me it's simply not practical. I have developed a pretty awesome pain threshold over the years, but the pain is to the point where I cannot function. My husband commented the other day that it's gotten to the point where it's actually debilitating. My family deserves more than this; *I* deserve more than this. I will take a whole bottle-full of meds every day if that is what allows me to lead a normal life. But I still feel like holding up a huge sign that says, "I'm not a wimp and I'm not crazy!!!!"

I'm going to take a bit of a break from this space - most likely a week or so. By then the Savella that I've switched back to will have kicked in and hopefully I'll feel much better. The point of this post - which hopefully you aleady know - was not to make anyone feel sorry for me. I did feel obligated to share an update with all of you. But most of all, I think, this post is for that person reading who went to the doctor and heard, "It's all in your head." Even if your doctor doesn't believe you, I do.

Waldorf Wednesday

2011-10-05T06:00:00.002-04:00

Our story for last week was St George and the Dragon as it was time to celebrate Michaelmas, or "Dragonmas" as my boys decided to start calling it ala Mama Roots. This works very well for us since we don't celebrate the festival in a religious way but rather as just a reminder to have courage in facing both the darker months ahead and in facing our inner dragons. I had two special helpers for our new chalkboard:

Our handwork day last week was very special as we dyed golden "capes of courage" using goldenrod from our yard. First the boys helped me harvest some:

Short Pants very cleverly used two sticks to become the Red Cross Knight:

The boys helped soak our silks in alum water:

Then added our goldenrod to another pot:

Once we'd heated the goldenrod and strained the flower out the silks simmered:

Until they were ready to be rinsed:

We had a special little ceremony that night during which the boys were presented with their beautiful golden capes. They were so excited!

On our painting day last week Short Pants asked to do something other than wet-on-wet watercoloring, so we decided to make apple print placemats instead:

Short Pants became frustrated with the printing process so he chose to just paint apples on his paper:

Pita Pocket loved painted the apples themselves!

For our baking day we baked (of course!) Dragon Bread, which was served at a Dragonmas bonfire we hosted. A few friends came over to enjoy the evening with us:

Imagine my surprise the next day when I opened these photos only to discover that a dragon had visited us during the celebration. Can you see him in the flames?

The View From A Canoe

2011-10-04T10:36:00.000-04:00

Montessori Monday

2011-10-03T06:00:00.002-04:00

Wow - you guys seriously rock! How wonderful that we had 41 link ups to Montessori Monday last week! I love how the link ups enable so many people to exchange ideas and information.

After saying that, I will sheepishly admit that once again I have no lessons of my own to share this week. Things have been in a bit of an uproar lately - I'm still adjusting to a new medication, we are in the middle of a major home improvement project, and due to some huge traffic snafus involving a bridge closure The Mister is now working from home a few days per week. All of this has completely thrown off our rhythm. I'm finding it much easier to continue with our Waldorf schooling simply because it requires so much less planning and work than our Montessori lessons. Hopefully we'll be able to get back to normal this week as I know the boys miss their beloved lessons!

If you have some Montessori lessons or ideas to share, please link up below. Please also make sure to either place the Montessori Monday button from the sidebar in your post or put a link back to this blog in your post. And while you're at it, make sure to visit my co-host Deb over at Living Montessori Now! Thanks for reading and participating. :)

Simple Pleasures - Rainbows

2011-09-30T10:08:00.000-04:00

Sometimes I feel sorry for my husband. When I showed him the prisms I'd bought he said, "Cool. Where are you going to hang them?"

You have to give the guy credit. He really is fabulous. Trust him to figure out a way to hang my prisms from our skylights. But I suppose we need to give Short Pants some credit too!

They both agreed it was worth it, though. We now have a gorgeous rainbow-filled bedroom (err..ignore the lack of trim!):

The next skylight, being above our stairs, was a bit trickier to figure out. But with the brains of my husband, the pole he uses to change the lightbulbs in our living room (remember, we live in an a-frame!), and a bit of plastic from the recycling bin it all worked out:

And again - totally worth it:

What simple pleasures have you been enjoying lately?

A Mabon With Friends

2011-09-29T06:00:00.003-04:00

We were invited to a autumn equinox gathering last week, and oh how wonderful it was! I can't tell you how priceless it is to feel as though we're forming a little spiritual community. I get together at the full moon every month with these lovely friends, and it was so nice to have a chance to bring our children together in celebration as well.

The children set up this beautiful altar in the woods, completely by their own initiative. We mamas were quite awed when we were called over to see it!

The littles had such a good time running and hiding in the woods. It felt like a magical evening in just the right place.

following photos taken by a talented friend:

We read the story of Demeter and Persephone out in a lovely spot in the woods:

same friend!

One mama arranged a nature scavenger hunt. The kids had a blast running around collecting items such as pinecones, leaves, rocks, and milkweed pods:

Another mama, my above-mentioned friend, brought a set of special cards so that the children could each discover their animal spirit guide:

And of course, we had loads of yummy food. Smores were a big hit!

Some of us liked our marshmallows a bit more ~~burnt~~ cooked than others:

Fall has always been hard for me. Despite its beauty it has always made me sad. I love warm weather and sunshine, and always dread the dark, dreary days ahead. I read something recently that helped me turn my thinking around. The book said that instead of focusing on the things that are falling away - leaves, sunshine, flowers - autumn is a time to shift focus and celebrate the wonderful things that endure and remain - home, family, the inner spirit, and friends.

When I look at it this way, this season doesn't seem too sad after all. Bring it on, fall!