Beautiful Blogger Award

Thanks so much to the lovely Momma Nocton4 at http://abigsmile4.blogspot.com/ for passing this special award to me! I love the name of it. Every momma should be made to feel beautiful inside and out and this award gave me the warm fuzzies I needed when my baby was so ill last week. Thanks Nocton4!!!! (((HUGS)))

The award should be passed on to up to 15 newly discovered bloggers you find inspiring and you have to list seven things about yourself.

So I would love to pass this award on to (in no particular order) -

~ The lovely Meredith at http://www.waldorfreviews.com/ who, as a Waldorf teacher tapping into the Waldorf homeschooling community, has embraced both to build an invaluable blog where resources can be shared to the benefit of all our beautiful little *students*, no matter where they receive their education! Her open arms have been so appreciated by those of us who are homeschooling without a credentialed waldorf background as there is much mystery that seems to surround it and not all are willing to share. She truly encompasses the heart of Waldorf!

~ The poetic and amazingly artistic Marie at
http://softearthart.blogspot.com/ who creates the most beautiful wool tapestries and needle felted characters which are infused with her spirit and love. She completely blows me away and I always leave her site feeling inspired ~ as if I have just filled my imagination after visiting her magical world, and can face whatever is in store. :D

~ The earthy natural momma, Melissa, over at her blog
http://notesonanaria.blogspot.com/ who is in the beginning stages of her journey with her beautiful baby girl as they explore life and love together. She is already doing amazing things with her baby girl in a natural, holistic way!

~ The experienced momma, Cypress, over at http://bobbinsandbrambles.blogspot.com/. This momma has four children spread out in age who juggles it all amazingly well. She posts wonderful book reviews and I love to see the shots of her parent's farm with all those adorable spring babies...

~ The wonderful reminders of Raelee over at her blog http://www.noblemother.com/page/1/ are so needed in this hectic world. Raelee has a wonderful series about calming our lives down. She has an amazing bio and is a wonderful writer with a lot to share. I am so happy I recently found her blog!

~ The gorgeous, smart, and creative Dr. Aurore at http://beyondnaturalcureshomeschool.blogspot.com/ gives an amazingly holistic and fresh look into her loving home. She has three beautiful children, is an established author, naturopath, and has written a chapter found in Melisa Nielsen's A Little Garden Flower Curriculum (Grade 2) - her children and crafts are also pictured in the Grade 1 book. She also penned the music program (AMHC) that we use in our house that I blogged about here. She is a beautiful painter and artist and I have so enjoyed glimpsing her blog (which I heard of thanks to Jenn at Our Little Nature Nest - another favorite listed below)...

And I have five more I'd like to mention - though I have to say that in all honestly, I have been following them for a while now - certainly not "newly discovered" to me, but they are five of my very favorites blogs from wonderful homeschooling moms that have enhanced my homeschool in one way or another! Most of you will probably already be familiar with them, but if not, they are not to be missed!

~ My dear friend, Donna Ashton, over at School for All Seasons homeschools her beautiful 7 yr old twin daughters in waldorf inspired education. She and I met through the Earthschooling group and bonded over the fact that we both have twin girls the same age. We started discussing our lesson plans and the rest is history. Donna also runs both The Waldorf Connection and now the brand new The Mindful Connection which offers FREE lectures/workshops brought to your computer or phone. All of Donna's efforts to bring knowledge to those of us who live remotely or can not afford the high price of conferences and seminars can not be underestimated. She is a lovely, genuine person and I'm so happy to be able to call her a friend.

~ The amazingly gifted Tan family at Syrendell has to be noted, as well. Jennifer has become another dear friend to me and has one of the kindest hearts I've ever known. The whole family is amazingly talented which makes them absolutely fascinating. Rick, her husband, is a waldorf teacher and artist and his awesome blog is called The Waldorf Way. They offer glimpses into their family life and share amazing resources, tutorials and make beautiful things for their etsy shop, Syrendell. Most of our silks have been hand-dyed by the Tan family.

~ The knitting queen, Linda, over at Natural Suburbia who makes the most wonderful knitted animals ever. Her blog is full of beauty, with tutorials galore, animals and nature through and through, and her homeschooling is absolutely amazing. I've been blown away by several of her projects on Roman history, among others. She makes me excited to get to the later grades!

~ The nature loving Lynn over at her blog, Raising Little Shoots, who does a wonderful job sharing her circle time almost every month (hint...hint...Lynn) :D Lynn just opened her new etsy shop called, The Princess Rooms, so she has been busy with her creations. I love the simplicity and calm that Lynn brings to homeschooling her two lovely daughters.

~ And last, but absolutely not least, is my very favorite blog of all, from Jenn over at Our Little Nature Nest. Jenn's blog will completely blow you away. She takes such time and attention with homeschooling her beautiful daughter and then takes more time to share such amazing details with her readers. She is an amazing artist, as well, and grasps the heart of Waldorf to the nth degree. I can't imagine even the most well trained/certified waldorf teacher could bring more to her daughter than Jenn does. Having her lead and resources will make our future journey so much easier and I so appreciate the inspiration and time she takes to keep up with her blog. She does just about everything from scratch - no doll kits for this momma! She jumps right in and inspires like no other!

Yeegads this is long...SORRY!

Now I'm supposed to list 7 things about me...

1) My sister introduced me to Waldorf and I had some big time chuckles about it when I first read about what goes on in a typical day at a Waldorf school - now I'm hooked :D
2) Music is what brought my soulmate and me together in college.
3) I didn't plan on homeschooling my girls - it just kind of happened as a result of our Attachment Parenting bond.
4) I am an animal lover who has allergies to many animals which prevents me from having the household of my dreams (I'd take in any stray and be overrun with beautiful, needy animals otherwise)...as it is, we just have one dog and four pet ratties...
5) I give myself weekly allergy injections and will do so for many more years due to allergies that affect my ears...
6) I majored in applied theatre in college (directing, playwriting, dramaturgy)
7) I am a huge fan of Mark Twain and am in love with the words of Shelley and Byron, with the heart of George Sand and what she did for women, and (sigh) Morrissey, who just deserves his own category...

If you made it to the end of this post, I commend and thank you :D