2009

Some yarn for the Mama...

Remember that dyeing kick the Goosey Boy and I were on a while ago? Well, this is *my* Christmas gift from Galen.


All his idea, I swear! Though, I will confess to only setting out dyes in the colors I had in mind for a particular project...pink, yellow and peach. It puts me in mind of a sunrise or the colors of a Waldorf kindergarten. I'm thinking about this yarn, my Wee Girl, and springtime, all mixed up together.

It occurred to me this morning that I need to track down this yarn (and these too), because Christmas morning is just around the corner. Last time I saw this yarn, it was in a heap like this, on the floor, a few quick pictures later and it was unceremoniously tossed into a box, a box which ended up?!? I'd imagine it made it to the house, so that at least narrows it down a bit...


We've got another little dyeing project in the works for tonight after the very little people are in bed (hmm...still have to track down the supplies for the one too!). This time it's *for* my little Galey-Boy and from his adoring brothers.

And now if you'll excuse me, I apparently have some box sorting to do!

Letting Go

As you might imagine, we are doing a lot of letting go these days. Letting go of certain hopes and dreams, letting go of ideas about how our life would be, letting go of projects, once started, never to be finished.

But there is also a lot of every day letting go (clearly illustrated by my serving lunch an hour later then usual today, lunch being....popcorn) and letting go on a more seasonal scale.

This letting go thing is not something that I am skilled at! In fact, at this moment, I am still in denial. Just last night, I was at the fabric store, buying the last bit of fabric I need to make robes for the kids (knock, knock, knock), to go over Christmas pajamas that I still haven't started yet (knock), all while Steve stands idly by, shaking his head (uh, Crazy Mommy? Is that you????). He knows better, but he also knows better then to try to convince me to give it up before I'm good and ready. The best he can do is wait for the train wreck and help to pick up the pieces when it comes. Poor fella.

I have made some concessions though. And I've required some of others. Last week the scene was in the yarn store. I needed one little thing and both Iain and Elijah declared that while we were there, they absolutely *must* get supplies for Christmas gifts.

Picture if you will, me running back and forth between two different aisles, trying to counsel two different boys, on the two different scarves, that they've separately and secretly, decided to make for each other. All while trying to keep Galen from emptying out all the buttons on the button display (Steve was sitting this one out in the car with a sleeping babe).

Time for a reality check. Ok, gentlemen, everyone come here to me! (by the button display so that Galen can amuse himself with supervision) Here's the deal. Christmas is in *counts off the days*, in that time we are moving and trying to *rattles off the list of things aiming to be accomplished*, there is no possible way for you to make everything you wish to make, entirely in secret. So, how's about, just for this one year you guys just tell each other what you are making for one another and that way you can help each other pick out the yarn and work on them together.

Quite thankfully, they agreed.

This is the scene that I came down to, a mere two days later...


These two are funny with their hand crafts. They might not show a lot of interest for a while, and then they'll go through a phase where it's all knitting (or sewing, or crochet...) all the time.

Elijah finished up his garter stitch "Gryffindor" scarf for Iain in 3 days. Now I just need to find the time to sit down and show him how to work in the ends.

And Iain is still chugging along with his "scarf to match Elijah's new coat". He's working it in seed stitch and it's a lot wider then the scarf Elijah made, so it's taking a little longer.

He came to me the day after we bought the yarn and said, "My yarn looks so pretty, all laid out at the foot of my bed, I could just take a picture!" So of course I handed him the camera! I guess for all of his being like he's father, in some ways he's an awful lot like me as well!

I might just have to show him how to adjust the white balance.

It seems Elijah got in on the action too...


And on the subject of letting go, obviously, regular posting here has slipped by the wayside. We move on Thursday, so I'd imagine that these last few days here and a handful of days or so on the other side are going to be hit or miss, but I'm sure I'll be stopping in from time to time.

Saint Martin

"Golden light is turning gray,
Mist begins to rule the day,
Bare the trees their branches lift,
Clouds of dead leaves earthward drift.
Deep below, deep below
New life will spring."

~Elijah's illustration for the story of Saint Martin~


"Through the fields the beggar goes,
Weary feet and tattered clothes,
Trust that God will keep him warm,
Shelter him from cold and harm.
Deep below, deep below,
New life will spring."

~ the opening song to "Saint Martin's Play"
Adapted from the legend of St. Martin by William Ward

This past Sunday, the children were in their first play; one angel, one soldier and one St. Martin himself.

I honestly felt that it was really spectacularly beautiful (even if the Littlest Angel, ahem Galen, did get bored halfway through, take off his sash and pretend to go fishing with it down from heaven).

We got the script for this particular version from a teacher at a local Waldorf school and I'm so glad we did. It was really just lovely, full of poetry and music.

We have two 2nd grade boys in our little group, so they played the role of Martin concurrently. We have two fourth graders at the moment as well and my hope is that our next performance will be related to the subjects they are studying. There has already been mention of a play geared toward our third grader this spring. I've been thinking about how great it would be if we as the parents could come together to put on a small fairytale (perhaps with puppets or marionettes?) for our kindergarten and preschool set.

Can you tell that I've been missing the theater days of my youth?

We were blessed with warm weather, which allowed us to stage the performance outside. I don't think that this stone circle could have been more perfect for the show. And the fact that we were nearing dusk just made it all the more enchanting.

The performance was well received by our little audience of family and friends. And after we enjoyed a potluck dinner while waiting for the darkness to arrive in earnest.

Then we went out for our lantern walk, followed by spiced cider.

It certainly could have been worse, but during the walk, we didn't exactly manage to foster the reverent atmosphere that we were hoping for. We had some set backs in the beginning with lanterns falling apart (not the ones that we just made). And I think that a big part of the issue was that we never really talked about it in advance and didn't actually have someone set up to lead the walk.


live and learn.

We still got out there and we took our walk and sang our songs.

The three of us founding mothers all agreed, managing to pull off the play in such a short period of time was a mightily impressive task, there was no shame in not having the perfect walk too and there's always next year.

Sunday

Iain and Elijah had their first public choral performance this weekend at a beautiful old church. I've always been drawn to the architecture of churches; the variations over the course of history and differences from denomination to denomination. The boys had to be there early to rehearse, so I got to spend some time poking around; checking out the artwork and noticing all the details that one might not otherwise see.

It turned out to be a stunning autumn day, far beyond expectations. Once we were certain that the big boys were settled, I suggested taking the little ones to the toy store up the road and buying a ball to toss around. So we got to take a nice walk to the store and back to the park.


Galen picked out a ball with a solar system theme. I thought it was a good choice considering his brothers' planet obsession. Plus, he's been asking me to make him a sun for his birthday and I've never been quite sure what that means. But he seemed to feel that this met that need, so shweew, I'm off the hook!

He also spotted a pin wheel, that somehow got added on to our purchase and pleased him to no end. It may very well have been the best $1.95 I've ever spent.

Little Rosebud was ever so delighted with the new toys as well. She was hilarious with the ball; rolling it around and chasing it where ever it went. Poor girl, she would no sooner come within five feet of the person in possession when it would be tossed again and she'd have to crawl off in the other direction!

After a while, Galen wasn't so keen on sitting and rolling it with her and developed a tendency towards walking away with it once she rolled it. Wee though she is, a certain Little Miss has indeed noticed this te

Leaf Mobile

Monday morning Galen woke up with a burning desire to make a mobile. I have absolutely no idea what inspired this, but it was all he could talk about all morning. Really, his resolve suited me just fine as I've always loved mobiles of all sorts. The only thing was to decide on what kind to make. Simplicity was of the utmost importance to me. And a bit mother nature's bounty was the answer.


We gathered our leaves that day, though most of the ones around our home are decidedly past their prime. The blackberry bushes still yielded some interesting splashes of color. And the little bit of red oak available to us was still at it's stunning best. We managed a bit of yellow from the birches. And really nothing says "autumn" like the big brown oak leaves anyway. And they are so sturdy that they we often find the wind skidding them around on top of a crusty snow; with no sign of a blemish or a crease.


We dipped our leaves in beeswax that evening before dinner.


Then our project sat until Wednesday. We had plans for a full family field trip on this day, but the rotation of this illness made it so that we had to divide up. Steve, out and about with the older boys, and me at home, tending under the weather littles.


Galen and I took this opportunity to string up our leaves and hang them in the playroom. It was hard to limit the kids when they were so enjoying dipping the leaves. Which meant that we ended up with a lot of leaves. And of course Galen insisted that we simply must use them all, making the resulting mobile quite large. It's hung close to the ceiling and he can still reach it while standing on the ground.

It's a bit lop-sided at the moment. One very large and heavy leaf fell off the end, setting it off balance. I kind of like it. We're going to say it has artistic flair. A decision that probably had a lot to do with the fact that I have absolutely no desire to climb on a ladder to fix it!

Today's thoughts on homeschooling

I've had the pleasure of recently becoming friends with a women who is new to my area and new to homeschooling. Last year she brought her 4 children home to school for the first time, and while I think she is doing a bang up job, she still has her doubts. Yesterday she confided in me that she feels like she's freaking out on a weekly basis, thinking about all the things that they "need" to experience and learn and how she can possibly meet those needs. She asked if I ever felt that way when we first started out.

Honestly, I had to laugh!

I still feel this way on a semi-regular basis, and my children have been home with me since birth! Really that's something that I think we all go through at one point or another. It's so easy to get bogged down with the wealth of information that's available to us these days. But at the end of every year, when I’m sitting down and sorting through the year’s work to send to the school district, I can see how much progress they’ve made and I feel better about things. And since I’ve now had this experience several times, I’m able to remind myself of that when those feelings come up.

I've also come to believe that it's not so much about accumulating as much knowledge as possible, but the process of learning that matters. Sarah spoke a bit about this concept last week and I think she's dead on. I wholeheartedly agree that the goal of education shouldn’t be to teach children everything in the world there is to learn, but to teach them *how* to learn so that they can learn anything in the world that they need. From there the possibilities are endless.

I think we all tend to worry about all of the “things” we want them to learn, but it’s really the skills and the affect that the process of learning has on the child that is important. For that reason, I think it would behoove us as parents and educators to really live into our lessons. To take our time with them and really experience them for what they are, rather then just rushing from one thing to the next and worrying about "fitting it all in". That's where the work happens on the child. And what a wonderful lesson to learn, this slowing down for what is important!

And I don't mean this all from an entirely practical and logical sense. I believe that there are some very real changes that happen in a child's heart and soul as they come to know about the world and how things work, while learning about themselves through that experience. One of the things that I really like about Waldorf education is the effort that is made to match subject matter with the developmental phase that the child is in. It's not just a straightforward they can do A, B and C and therefore are ready for D, but an outlook that encompasses soul development as well. It asks what their hearts are ready for and feeds both mind and heart at the same time, slowly growing the strength of self-awareness and self-discipline.

And that's all from me for now....

Autumn in the Playroom

These are some snapshots from our play area. It's not really a room unto itself, but something of a room-sized alcove off of our main living area. It's completely open to the rest of the main floor, but it also has it's own defined space and it's own feel. With all of my blunders in designing this house (and there were many), this room I did right. It works exactly as I envisioned.

It's a space to be apart, but still near by. It can all spill out into the living area, but at the end of the day there is a specific place to tuck up all the toys, giving the grown-ups room to roam.

I was inspired to bring a bit of fall to the room this week. It was starting to take on a neglected air. I finally reinstated a nature table, albeit a very low key one. What few autumn books I could find are set out in a crate for easy access. I'm considering doing some selective unpacking to reclaim the rest. With pressed leaves in the windows and a row of pumpkins atop the kitchen set, it's feeling considerably more festive.

Crafting with Little Ones

I think a lot of people are intimidated by the idea of crafting with young children. This is a simple, open-ended project that anyone with basic hand-sewing skills can share with a child. All it takes is some time and patients. You can decide how much or how little you would like your child to be involved. In our house this was a full hands on project for 3 year old Galen.

~Front view of the "Angel Baby" Galen created as a first birthday gift for his sister~

Step 1: Decide (and if necessary figure out!) what your child would like to make. We narrowed down Galen's list of things to these three: a rainbow dog with a jingling bell in it's tummy, a rainbow bird with a jingling bell in it's tummy and a rainbow angel with a jingling bell in it's tummy.

Before we could start I needed to get a better idea of what he had in mind so that I could do my best to stay true to his vision. Talking helps to figure out where to start, but to get a really clear idea, you have to move beyond that, which brings us to step two.

Step 2: Get out a large sheet of paper and start drawing. If the child you are working with is very small, then sketch what you think they might be talking about. Let them tell you all the things that are wrong with your drawing! It's ok. This is their project, you're just the facilitator here. Keep going. Make the head bigger where they say, add a tail, or bat ears, etc, until they are happy with the shape. Beware of the child that likes to make mommy do tricks! At some point you might have to say, "You know what, I'll draw over 10 sheets of paper taped together for you some other time. I think we should keep this project about this big." And then show them just what would work best.

An older child may very well be able to draw just what they are looking for, right off the bat. We've made a lot of these little stuffed toys over the years, and each is as unique as the child who designed it.

Step 3: Now that you have your basic, and hopefully fairly simple, design, it's time to trace it. You can use regular tracing paper, Swedish tracing paper, tissue paper, a scrap of interfacing; whatever you have around. Just clearly trace the pattern.

Step 4: Pin it to previously selected fabric and cut. If you are planning on Kool-Aid dying the fabric (as we did with this particular one) then it would be best if the fabric is wool. Wool felt would be ideal since there won't be any fraying on loose edges. Our Angel Baby was made from a lightly felted wool jersey.

Step 5 (optional): Painting the fabric. I offered one color at a time of a strong mix of Kool-Aid for him to paint directly on to the fabric with a paint brush. Once the painting is done, the fabric needs to be steamed for approximately 40 minutes and then rinsed well.

**At this point it's probably time to put this project away for another day. Don't be afraid to start an on-going project with a young child. So long as you are clear up front about the time line, they will be fine with it, and excited about the next time a crafting day comes around.**


Step 6: Sewing. I find that embroidery floss and a large doll makers needle are best suited to this type of sewing. For most stuffed animals you will just be sewing a front to a back and then maybe adding on some ears or something afterward. For this project I had the idea of cutting out a circle and layering a piece of skin tone cotton underneath. Be careful with your cutting though! I thought this was a sweet idea that would get him closer to what he was looking for, when in fact, it made him cry! There is a certain line that needs to be walked between anticipating and guessing at what their real goal is and letting the project really be the way they see it. You can't always be sure which one you are doing! I've had it go both ways. One of the first things Elijah ever made was a doll with green skin, red eyes, a gold mouth and a purple hat. I made some suggestions of "normal" eye colors, but he wasn't interested and he walked away very please with his work. Other times I've had a child bemoan the fact that something that they were making didn't look like a "real, for real..."(moose in the case that I'm thinking of) because I held my tongue and didn't make suggestions to improve it. I say this not to turn you off the idea of sewing with a little one, but to give you an idea of how to make a positive experience.

I told Galen that if he didn't like how this one turned out, we would make another one, exactly the way he wanted it. Thankfully, he ended up loving this one and no more tears were shed.

Back to the project: We did some very simple embroidery for the face, then I pinned it to the underside of the front piece and stitched around the opening. Next we pinned front to back (wrong sides together) and stitched most of the way around, leaving an opening for stuffing. As you may or may not be able to see, Galen requested may colors of embroidery floss in keeping with the rainbow theme!

We used a basic whip stitch here.

I would like to offer a few tips and ideas for sewing with preschoolers:

• sit them on your lap so that you can guide their work
• keep the thread or floss relatively short so that it's less likely to get tangled
• take turns between you doing the sewing and placing the needle for them to pull through
• sing songs while you sew
• don't sit or try to attempt this for very long stretches
• when the child is not actively sewing, let them pull out pins and return them to the pin cushion
• take advantage of the times when their attention is on another part of the project to make some headway yourself. With this project, I did a lot of sewing while he was picking out a bell for the tummy and carding some wool.
• It's best to do the tricky parts yourself and save the long, straight stretches for the little guy.

Step 7 (also optional) : Carding the wool for stuffing. You can use any kind of stuffing for a project like this, but I'm partial to wool. All the better if the kiddo gets to card the wool himself. Some day I'll have a set of nice carders, but for now we just use two dog brushes. They are inexpensive, easy to obtain, and have the added advantage of being an excellent size for small hands.

Step 8: Stuff your project. You can use a chopstick or the eraser end of a pencil to make sure that the stuffing gets into all the little nooks and crannies. Little people love helping with this part. When your project is about half-way stuffed you can add in a bell or a rattle, if so desired.

~Back view~

Step 9: Sew up your opening and go play! Enjoy your truly one of a kind creation and the joy on your child's face as they run up to everyone they know shouting, "Look what I made!".

Finding Our Rhythm

~I think Elijah is going for some sort of finger knitting world record!~

I'm full of typos today, so be forewarned...the reading may be rough.

We've had some difficulty with easing back into our academic year. We were supposed to be moving right around the time we usually get back to things. I thought it best to wait until we had settled and concentrate my efforts on packing. Then that house fell through and there was the panicked and frantic searching for a another one.

We did a combination of some mini lessons during that time, but still weren't really back to our usual full days.

Then came the second house and I shifted back into packing and prep. And well when that house fell through (there really is no accounting for the daughters of landlords who get kicked out of their houses, right before you are supposed to move in...who do you think too precedence??), there was the even more panicked and frantic search, which as of yet has yielded nothing.


Meanwhile, half of my books were packed with the first attempted move and another quarter with the second. Lots of my supplies and stuff too. So now every time I go to draw up a lesson plan, I'm inevitably missing something I need.

And I've been putting off buying school supplies all the while, not wanting to move them as well as not wanting to put out the money when we might need to put down first, last, and security deposit any moment now, with all the other moving costs thrown in on top.

But it's October now, with nothing promising on the horizon, and it's time to get a move on.


The math review and intro to some new concepts that I had planned for our first two weeks has stretched to a month (punctuated with frequent car trips to what more often then not turns out to be over-priced, dilapidated, holes). It's time to move on to our long language arts blocks. I'm really, really looking forward to these this year! It's going to be tricky and it's going to be hard, but it's going to be rewarding too. Time to get on with the life we are living now. I can't keep waiting for the life that we might be living some day. Hopefully it will come, but in the meantime, there's work to be done.

A Rainbow of Colors

I'm not the only on getting ready for the winter holidays. Galen, whether from hearing me talk about it, or some other influence, has been eager to get his gift making underway.

The children's choir rehearsals season has started, which means that the little, little ones and I have one night a week, where it's just us. Some times we go with them and walk around town. Occasionally I need to attend a parents meeting, where Steve and I take turns entertaining the Littles. And some weeks, like last week, we stay home to just spend some time being together.

Galen has been going through a trying phase. It's trying for both of us. He's frustrated a lot and acting out. It's partly developmental, part situational, and part of it is just the bumpiness of growing as a family. Whatever the reason, I know that this time together where it's (mostly) just us, is so, so important to him right now. With that in mind, I'm trying to make the most of it. In following his lead, I decided to ask him for the details on the gifts he wants to make. Oh my, but there were a lot of details! I finally talked him down to his top 3 gifts for Màiri; two for Christmas and one for her birthday which falls shortly after. I didn't have anything to fit his vision (this boy is all about rainbows right now and I had none on hand), and I came up with the idea of setting him up to dye the fabric himself.

These little bits below were made by using a paint brush to paint the Kool-Aid onto the wool...And they are the first part of this grand scheme.

His plans for his brothers were less well defined. I suggested that since we were to have the dye set up anyway that perhaps we could dye them some yarn.

He liked that idea and he *loved* wielding that baster! Honestly we both had a lot of fun.

I think the boys will appreciate their gift. They are both rapidly gaining skills in various yarn crafts and it will be a treat for them to have their own specially hand-dyed wool instead of scavenging through the little bits and pieces leftover in my yarn basket.


We used the remainder the Eco-Wool from Màiri's vest. The one in blues and greens if for Iain and the shades of orange for Elijah.


Being just a bit too little, in a family that is full of people who are constantly making practical, useful things, whether it be furniture, food or clothes, is such a frustration for my poor little Goosey Boy. It's such a joy for him to have something to be proud of. To be able to make and give something that will be appreciated and useful, rather then the usual sort of preschooler gifts. The kind that are sweet and cherished by motherly hearts, but destined for no more then a spot in a box somewhere, serving as a childhood relic.


I'm so glad to be able to give him that.