Ancient Hearth

Ancient Hearth Etsy Shop is Reopening!!!

2012-01-26T09:50:00.001-08:00

Bonnie, my friend, you guessed it! After a l-o-n-g hiatus, I decided that I missed my little shop so I'm busy at work, like an elf, creating some special little people to bring warmth and spirit to some wonderful homes in 2012!

And, of course, we have to celebrate by having our first giveaway of 2012. That giveaway is on the horizon, so be sure to check back next week!!!!

I've also just created a facebook page for Ancient Hearth. So feel free to join us there, too!

Can you Guess?

2012-01-22T09:17:00.000-08:00

Gossip among the gnomes indicates that along with the spring, something else is returning to the Hearth...

Trees are bare, but not for long...

Former slumber is almost gone...

Can you guess what's on the horizon?

OMG! The Phoenix Rises from the Fiery Flame!

2011-12-27T19:01:00.000-08:00

OK I'm not exactly a phoenix, but I feel like one after not being able to post for 6 months! I can't believe it...I'm finally able to post again! For some reason, my blogging status froze and I was unable to post anything new! I tried in vain to figure it out and then gave up all together, checking every so often and now...6 months later, I'm able to post again - woo hoo! My July post just went through - yeah!

So now I have to start taking photos again so I can return to blogging about our homeschooling journey. For those friends who have been waiting, thank you for your patience. I was *this* close to switching to WordPress - lol! I hope to resume posting about our waldorf inspired activities :)

And Jenn (from Our Little Nature Nest), if you read this, can you shoot me an email via comments so I can contact you? Thanks lady!

Sorry this is so jumbled - I just wasn't expecting to be able to post anymore on this blog and was trying to decide if I should walk away from it all together or start something new elsewhere...so I'm giddy with joy! Hugs and misses to you all! I'm leaving you with a photo of my big girls, who are still 8, and skated to Swan Lake (one white and one black swan) at our rink's holiday show last week. I'll have to post some favorite action shots in a subsequent post :) I'm so happy to return to the blogging world!

Mending My Wings...

2011-07-13T11:19:00.001-07:00

A butterfly will flutter by
It's lovely colors catch your eye
Let it go, let it go

A heart may sigh as it goes by
and you may catch it if you try
Let it go, let it go

It has but a few days to see the world
It is so short a time since it's wings unfurled
Give it a chance to flutter and dance
A few happy hours to sip at the flowers.
A butterfly will flutter by
It's lovely colors catch your eye
Let it go, let it go

Anonymous

I can't believe it's been since April since I last blogged, but then again, I can't seem to remember what I did even yesterday, so the passage of time shouldn't surprise. It happened to me, though...yes, it did. The dreaded "B" word in the world of homeschooling..."burnout". I was burning out between having one too many hands in one too many jars. So, I stopped blogging, I stopped needlefelting, I stopped going online and reading all those hundreds of group messages in the quest to be the best "me" I could be for my beloved girls. I even took a break from homeschooling - ack! Yup, indeed...

There are so many supermoms in this community; just amazing moms who inspire others and unite us all in the common goal of raising our children as best we can. But sometimes, we moms need to make sure we are caring for ourselves, as well, along the way. We have to forgive ourselves our mistakes and accept the things that come our way that we can not control and strive to continue to be true to ourselves.

I wanted to thank those inspirational mommies out there who emailed me or tried to contact me to make sure we were doing OK. You know who you are ;) and your caring words brought tears to my eyes. You knew I needed a 'pick me up' and you brought it. Thank you.

Right now, I'm mending my broken wings and feeling them strengthen and that desire returning to share our educational lives on this blog. Maybe I'll even get around to posting all the other fun educational elements we wove into our 2nd grade year that I never got around to sharing, but if I don't, know that I just don't have the time right now. I am excited about Grade 3 and know that my workload will be significantly easier thanks to Jenn at Our Little Nature Nest, who continues to blow me away with her creative energies and natural gift for organic teaching with her beautiful daughter.

Until then, I will enjoy the fruits of mine as this much needed lazy summer unfolds like the wings of a newly hatched butterfly...

The King of Ireland's Son

2011-04-11T09:20:00.001-07:00

The King of Ireland's Son by

Padraic Colum

What a fun month March was for us - Springtime and Irish legends, along with some Language Arts tied into the block. We had such fun!

We're have been preparing a nature project and found some old stumps from a Christmas tree farm that we collected. You can contact one by you and ask them if you can pick up a bunch and they usually will welcome the clean-up and you get some free nature supplies for various craft and school projects! We clean ours off and then bake at a low setting to be sure we're not bringing termites and things into the house.

I apologize that this post will be somewhat short, but we are restructuring things in our home and I have been so busy that I haven't taken the time to document as much or share, but I'm goint to start back as soon as I can and until then, wanted to share this for the month of March and Grade 2!

Our monthly book was "The King of Ireland's Son" and we wove it into our homeschooling, as well. Here are a few pictures of some drawings and MLB's that we did that were tied into the story. Following Eric Fairman's suggestion of color coding grammar, we put our nouns in one color and our verbs in another and formed short sentences. Here are a couple more pictures that we tied into the story. I also wanted to share one of my favorite resources for Irish Legends and it is this book by Yvonne Carroll. Irish Legends for Children contains several wonderful stories to tie into this March Irish block! We also enjoyed stories of St. Patrick and some great legends using some of our favorite Tomie dePaola books! I have been working on various Saint stories that I was hoping to put in one big post and will do so eventually, even if it ends up being summer - lol! Great time to get caught up, right?

Also, I'm really excited because we have decided to move our school back into the old school room upstairs, which had been used recently as a play room. So we emptied it out and prepped it and I just primed it yesterday. I have big plans for this room that I will be sharing as soon as it is finished! Can't wait!

Hope you are all having a wonderful spring and enjoying your little elves and pixies grow!

The Wonder of Childhood Online Magazine

2011-03-28T10:39:00.000-07:00

Oh I am so excited about this online magazine created by Lisa Boisvert Mackenzie who blogs here. Lisa is well known for her beautiful outreach to the community, sharing her own wonderful stories and understanding of waldorf education and holistic living. She is putting the finishing touches on what promises to be an amazing resource for families everywhere with an emphasis on waldorf homes, life and education. The magazine is called, "The Wonder of Childhood".

I was honored when Lisa contacted me to write a monthly column for her new online magazine, representing the waldorf inspired homeschoolers out there. My first article can be seen here. I am so excited to be in the company of so many amazing contributors whom I so admire and who I have turned to time and time again for inspiration and education.

Lisa is one of the most beautiful souls that I've met. She willingly gives and shares with others, always striving to do more and to learn more. I am thrilled at this undertaking to put together an all encompassing free magazine for the benefit of families everywhere. Thank you, Lisa! And hope everyone gets a chance to check it out and take it all in. It is absolutely fabulous and has contributions by so many amazing experts out there, including Eugene Schwartz, Marsha Johnson, Christine Natale, Suzanne Down, and so many others that you will most likely recognize if you scroll through it.

Very exciting! Be sure to have a peek at The Wonder of Childhood...

Sorry to be MIA...Bdays and Family Time

2011-03-11T11:52:00.000-08:00

Life has been keeping us so busy lately that I've taken a break from blogging. I'm almost caught up and eager to share what we've been up to, but not today. I want to mention that I have several comments that I haven't published yet with wonderful awards that I'm so flattered to receive. I will blog about them as soon as I can and thank every one who sent some love my way :)

In the meantime, my baby girls turned 8 in Feb! My mom flew out from Chicago and spent about 3 weeks in California to attend a lavish wedding of my cousin who got married at St. Patrick's Cathedral in San Francisco, followed by a reception at The Palace Hotel where many VIP's have stayed at this historical hotel. Will blog some pictures about that later. It was gorgeous there!

In the meantime, we had two different bouts of the tummy flu blow through our home (coupled with a broken washing machine with parts on back order - ugh) and ended up having a very mellow b-day for the twins. They haven't finished opening their gifts yet because we kept getting hit with illnesses and family obligations. But here is a glimpse at our store bought cake (I know...I know...) and a couple of special gifts they received this year.

Charley held up the "banana cake" for Elena to blow out the candles on since she was under the weather :) Yes, it is literally an opened banana with candles - lol!

A few special goodies...

They were thrilled to get a few Ostheimer horses to add to their collection and some used Ostheimers we found from a special mama who was ready to pass them along.

And I will be returning to the blogging world soon to share some lesson plans. Am excited to announce that my friend, Lisa, has something very special planned for everyone that I'm playing a tiny part in...and I will be bringing back my shop soon! I've missed working on projects, but had to take a much needed break.

Hugs to all my friends out there and hope to catch up with everyone soon! Happy weekend!

Chinese New Year: the Year of the Rabbit - 新年快乐

2011-02-03T08:34:00.001-08:00

Kung-Hsi Fa-Ts’Ai!

"The Year of the Rabbit"

2/3/11 - 1/22/12

Happy Chinese New Year to all my friends! This is the first year we have partaken in a celebration of this festive holiday and boy have we been missing out...Some of the fun activities we did in preparation of today have been to read the colorful fairytale by author Grace Lin entitled, "Where the Mountain Meets the Moon".

This book was suggested to me by my friend Carrie of The Parenting Passageway when I was planning our Grade 2 year. She sang its praises and tossed the idea around of doing a whole block on it. One of the elements of our school is to read a special novel each month, carefully chosen to reflect the season, holiday or celebration. I decided to place this book in our January block so we would have a whole month to savor it before celebrating our first Chinese New Year. Well, lo and behold, the book was so fabulous and such a quick read that we ended up devouring it instead and changed gears and ended up doing a whole block on it as a vehicle, instead of more fables! Carrie has more wonderful book suggestions on her blog. For Grade 2, a link to some gems she recommends can be found here.

In continuation of our Chinese appreciation studies, since we flew through Grace Lin's wonderful book, we followed up with a familiar tale that now ties into our math block in February. It's by Helena Clare Pittman and is entitled, "A Grain of Rice". It explores the power of multiplication and is a wonderful read aloud for living math studies.

As an aside, if you are focusing on India, the talented author Demi has also penned a similar story set in India that we have also read called, "One Grain of Rice: A Mathematical Folktale". The illustrations in this book (as in all of Demi's books) are simply to die for!

Demi also has a book on celebrating Chinese New Year called, "Happy, Happy Chinese New Year!"

In preparation for today, the girls and I found some crafts that we altered a bit to fit our needs. We had a lot of fun creating Chinese firecracker decorations out of construction paper, glue, glitter, and yarn.

1. First fold red construction paper into fourths and cut.

This print out came with the craft so we used these letters to model our letters.

2. With glue, draw your letter(s) or design.

3. Take gold glitter and sprinkle it on the glue, lifting and sifting the paper to ensure the glue is entirely covered with glitter.

4. After it dries, you can wrap one end to the other so it forms a tube and glue it together. Let dry.

5. Cut strips of gold yarn and tape or glue to the inside of the firecracker and hang around the house!

Another fun craft is making lanterns. The tutorial, along with other fun tutorials (including felt fortune cookies, dragons, felt dumplings, etc) can be found for these here.

We bought some fun chopsticks and made a steamed rice meal.

The girls woke to find these little rice candies on their plates to enjoy this afternoon. And we will be attempting to make our own fortune cookies using the recipe found here.

We are also members of the Gene Autry Museum in Griffith Park and they have a permanent exhibit on the Chinese immigrants who came to build the railroads out west. The exhibit includes an interactive kitchen, a Chinese restaurant, and other hands on exploration for children. Traditional Chinese clothing can be put on the children as they play and learn about this beautiful culture.

The Year of the Rabbit is one to focus mainly on the home, on family, and on the relationships with women and our children. I like that focus and it will serve as wonderful reminder of what is really important in our lives - our children and being good to each other. The rabbit is a lucky sign and a symbol of the moon. As we embark on this new year, let us be grateful for all of our blessings. I know I am so grateful for all of my online friends. I have been so inspired by so many great blogs and teachers out there and extend a big giant cyber hug to you all!

新年快乐

Happy St. Brigid's and Happy Candlemas!

2011-02-02T13:49:00.000-08:00

St. Brigid and the King's Wolf...

There are some wonderful legends of St. Brigid and some amazing traditions tied into this Patron Saint of Ireland, including St. Brigid's cross.

If you look online, you will see a wealth of interesting sites and links to this beloved Patron Saint of Ireland. I found this one quite extensive.

I also loved this post which ties St. Brigid into the hearth and Candlemas. The prayer for the hearth is very moving.

We have been telling two different stories of St. Brigid this past week. One of them is the same story told slightly differently in two different books. It is found in "Stories of the Saints" and a more beautifully written version is found in this gem of a book, recommended to me by Jenn over at Our Little Nature Nest. It is called "The Key of the Kingdom" and it is full of lovely stories and poems specifically to speak in rhyme and rhythm to children in the early grades.

The second story, which the girls much preferred is the story of St. Brigid saving the life of a careless man with the help of a wild white wolf. It can be found free online through The Baldwin Project and can be seen here. We used this story to tell the tale with some wooden figures standing in for the characters in the story.

The careless man who shot the King's pet wolf in prison.

St. Brigid bringing the wild white wolf to the King in exchange for the careless man's life...

St. Brigid and the prisoner riding off to safety...

If you are in the mood to make some lovely St. Brigid's Day breads or soups, you can check out this post at Catholic Cuisine here. Or Shower of Roses found here.

My last year's Candlemas post can be found here.

And a tutorial on making beeswax candles from my blog can be found here.

Hope you enjoy this lovely season and preparations for The Year of the Rabbit! There is so much that goes on these three days that I wanted to make sure to get this out before too much time elapsed. I will be back soon with our post on our first Chinese New Year celebration!

Family Nature Hikes

2011-01-31T14:31:00.000-08:00

Morning Verse

Oh what a joy is the morning sun

Shining with love now the night is gone --

See how it gleams, feel the earth grow warm,

Flowers are springing to greet the morn.

Birds are singing in feathered flight,

Beasts they are moving with all their might,

And in my heart do I truly know

Nature and I by sun's grace must grow.

~ Anon.

One of the biggest influences in waldorf education is nature. It surrounds and engulfs us in its beauty, in its rhythms. When a baby is cranky, a wise grandmother will tell her daughter to take the baby out for a walk. There is something healing...something freeing when out in nature's glory.

As waldorf inspired homeschoolers, we have the freedoms to school anywhere we are able. For us, in the temperate climate of southern California, this means we are often found outside. My husband comes from a very active family and he recently has been taking the girls on weekly hikes through the canyons by our home while I get some alone time. He kept encouraging me to go, too, but I was feeling overwhelmed with all the housekeeping duties that have gone neglected in the name of education! This weekend, I went. And once again, I realized WHY it is so important for all of us, even those in colder climates, to get outside and breathe in that glorious beauty.

We found a spot off a canyon road and headed into the Angeles National Forest to hike to a small waterfall that trickles into our canyon.

Ever notice how children come alive when they are allowed to explore out in nature? It's like an instinct that is fulfilled when they are allowed to just *be*...

Here are some shots of our time spent in nature this weekend...

We reached the waterfall and took in the beauty...

Daddy wanted to continue up, but it wrapped around a narrow rocky pathway, falling off to the boulders below. I figured it was too steep for our youngins, especially without climbing helmets and proper shoes...

My honey...

The canyon walls rise from the earth's bed many feet above. It is difficult to truly capture it on film with the lens I had on my camera...

Gettin' dirty :)

Gorgeous tree roots gnarl around boulders as the trees grow sideways from the canyon walls. This one is so smooth and a perfect railing to grab onto while scaling the wet rocks in the stream. Nature provides.

More exposed roots - like majestic Grandfather Oak here...

I never had the girls 2nd grade photos taken this year, so I took these to be the ones to remember Grade 2...

Something in this meadow was so spiritual. You could just feel it was sacred ground. Certainly the natives occupied this land and it left me wondering what happened here all those years ago...

Ah...this one my daughter spotted, telling me, "Look at that dragon there, Mommy!" We finished reading "Where the Mountain Meets the Moon" and one of their very favorite books is "The Dragon Boy" so dragons are certainly on their mind as we approach the Chinese New Year!

Then, imagine my surprise when we stumbled upon this old ancient hearth sitting in what is now a camping area of the National Forest! You can see the foundation of this small building, but the ageless acid washed stone still stands the test of time...

Here Charley is, pretending to be a lion guarding the hearth!

Emergency vehicles rode in, responding to reports of an injury near the waterfall. Mom feeling solid about not scaling that wall with the girls, after all...

Heading back to the car...I can't wait to find out where we're going next weekend! Happy exploring to you all!

First Reconciliation

2011-01-30T08:16:00.001-08:00

My two very excited little girls...

Yesterday, after months (or really years) of preparation the girls were thrilled to make their First Reconciliation, their second of the seven Sacraments of the Holy Roman Catholic Church...

As homeschoolers, we were welcomed with open arms at St. Mel Parish, where both the girls and I were baptized years ago, though the church looked different when I was baptized there. It was extensively remodeled after an earthquake in the 90's. My favorite part of the remodel is the two pastel angels you can see along the walls if you look hard enough...can you spot them?

Our program with one of my favorite gospel stories, showcasing unconditional love...

Just before entering the confessional...a bit nervous!

Elena goes first!

Look at that smile!

Charley told me that she felt so HAPPY when the priest blessed her!

Her expression speaks volumes here...

After the service, we lit candles and prayed at the feet of St. Joseph and Mother Mary

Grandfather came to share in the joy!

The children's name tags were pinned on the banner.

So excited...

We did it!

Dancing for joy!

Unconditionally loved...

Brand New Resource: The Waldorf Book of Poetry by David Kennedy

2011-01-25T19:35:00.000-08:00

The wonderful Jocelyn of the Second Grade Waldorf Yahoo Group just put the word out that this amazing new resource is being made available at a discounted price to a limited amount of buyers. It's a collection of poetry, both familiar and not, to enhance the homeschool and classroom lessons of waldorf inspired families for grades 1 - 8.

You can read more about it and access it through the link here. To those who order it early, the limited copies will be ready in March/April. Otherwise, the official release date is January 2012. Shipping is included in the discounted price :)

Can't wait to get a jump start on it for our homeschool! Sure to be a well loved volume!

LA Block: Where the Mountain Meets the Moon

2011-01-19T14:29:00.001-08:00

"Where the Mountain Meets the Moon"

by Grace Lin

Carrie from The Parenting Passageway tipped me off to this great book this summer. As usual, she was right. It's a wonderful mix of fairy tales wrapped into a lovely cultural story about a young poor girl in China who wants to change her family's fortune. After hearing inspiring stories told by her Ba (father), she follows her heart on a magical journey complete with talking goldfish and a lovable dragon on her way to find The Old Man of the Moon who will hopefully tell her how to help save her family from their difficult reality.

The chapters are short, but don't kid yourself, your children will not want you to put this book down - lol! We are more than half way through it and I ended up changing gears and have been planning our whole Jan block around this book.

I am drawing a picture from the book twice a week that the girls will then copy into their MLB's. They have been helping me write sentences/summaries that they are placing in their book, on the page next to their drawing. Above the drawing, is also a very short sentence in which the nouns are identified in blue (and the verbs will be identified in red starting this week as we are covering a part of speech each week). Here is an example:

We are writing down words to keep on a large piece of paper that pertain to the book that they are learning. These words are helping them to form sentences of their summaries and are helping reading, writing, and spelling. They are also learning the beginnings of punctuation.

Along with beeswax modeling, a traditional Chinese meal, and a little lesson on the Chinese New Year (Feb 3rd this year), we are enjoying painting.

Elena is the type of child who is more comfortable following a model. When she feels satisfied, she then takes little steps to branch out to make something her own.

Charley, on the other hand, has always marched to the beat of her own drum. Even though we've discussed why we lay down the background first and then remove paint to add an element, she was very insistent on trying it this way - putting the dragon down and then painting around it. It was a good way for her to see that it does not layer the picture well, though I admit, it does have a pretty neat effect. It is also more challenging if the paint runs a bit, as wet on wet tends to do. Her picture took a lot longer than the others.

Elena's is listed below...

Setting them out to dry...

The girls are happily preparing to make their First Reconciliation at the end of this month, so we've been heavy into religious education, which fits beautifully in with the studies of the Saints this year. Here Charley is with our long term foster pup, Stanley (10 years old). He's helping her prepare :) Stanley had a dental whereby he lost most of his teeth, so his little tongue hangs out to the side permanently. Once in a while he pulls it all the way in his mouth, but we think it just adds to his charm! He doesn't see well, but he is a total sweetheart. I have fallen really hard for this little senior. We've had him a month now, but he's been in the rescue since August and no interest in him yet (good for me, right?!?! :D)

Another part of the 2nd grade curriculum is learning the basic parts of speech. We have started learning about nouns and verbs. The first week, we tackled nouns. I found some fun books to enhance our understanding. Brian P. Cleary has written some simple books which rhyme and add to the fun. The other selection of books are more advanced, so I cover the first few pages, but then when it goes off on specifics that we are not yet ready for (branching off into more detail than we are ready for at this moment "Imperative", "tenses", "helping verbs") then I am just stopping there. These books (by Ruth Heller) will be great as we progress, but I am finding the Cleary books to be more on our current level.

We always allow lots of time for freeplay and the Ostheimers are still favorites!

This week's saint was St. Antony of Egypt. His feast day was on January 17th, the day after the girls daddy (who is also an Anthony) had a very special b-day!

For this St. Antony, I gleaned inspiration from "Stories of the Saints", as well as the Catholic teachings found online. EWTN has more extensive explanations, like St. Antony of Egypt's found here. Not sure how much I like this book yet, but we'll see over time. We are doing St. Agnes tomorrow for her feast day and a lot of liberties have been taken in the "Stories of the Saints" book. My question is - how true do we need to make them to be historically accurate, especially as a Roman Catholic who wants to respect that history of the church - versus making the story speak to the child with fantastical liberties, ya know? I am trying my very best to do both so I'm finding that pulling some elements from the prewritten stories, coupled with the accounts from the church is probably the best way to tailor it to our little ones.

It was Daddy's birthday on Sunday...

Charley is holding little Ralph - our one week foster

as we help out the head of our rescue.

And finally - some delicious homemade granola!

Charley loves her granola so I decided it's about time I make my own organic granola. I asked the awesome mamas at the Green Tara Mama Yahoo Group and got several great recipes to try. This one came in first and so we gave it a whirl - very good (and easy)!

This recipe came from Leslie K. from the Green Tara Mama Yahoo Group:

Slow Cooker granola (A friend sent this recipe to me, she said it came from "Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker" by Robin Robertson).

5 cups oats
1 cup sliced almonds
3/4 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup sesame seeds
2/3 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup canola
1/4 tsp cinnamon

Mix all of the ingredients in a crockpot. Do NOT cover with the lid. Cook for 1.5 hours on high, then turn to low and cook for 2 more hours. Stir occasionally. Spread on cookie sheets to cool and dry until crispy. Yields about 8 cups.

January Seasonal Table

2011-01-18T09:19:00.000-08:00

January

January
Now is here --
A fine new start
For a whole new year.

The snow comes down
In the dark of night.
When we awake
The world is white.

In January
When there's snow,
We get our sleds
And away we go.

~ anon.

Stay warm!

Catching Up...Math Block - Math Factor Tree

2011-01-12T19:25:00.000-08:00

Math Block: Math Factor Tree by Marsha Johnson

of the Waldorf Home Educators Yahoo Group

Math was so bland when I learned it in a traditional school, so I'm thrilled that waldorf focuses on not only multi-sensory learning, but also a true deep understanding of the concepts of math. One of the best recommendations I have for all you waldorf inspired homeschooling mamas out there is to join Marsha Johnson's waldorf group. Even if you never read an email posted to the group, you can access her free files, which are wonderful! She is so generous to share them with us for no charge. I found the pdf file for the Math Factor Tree by going into:

- Files
- Age Specific Curriculum
- Grade 2
- factortrees.pdf

Since I worked mainly with gnomes last year with the 4 processes, yet it was fall and we had plenty of acorns and nuts to count, I decided to combine the two to add to Marsha's skeleton. We were also reading the story of King Arthur, so I made up a story of Merlin (and baby Arthur) who traveled through the forest one day and came upon two little squirrels who had no home to call their own. They were also very hungry as all the acorns had disappeared from the forest. Merlin conjured up a magic acorn and placed it in the soil. The acorn grew right before their very eyes into a Magic Math Factor Tree...

The one trunk of the tree became a One Tree...

The girls copied it into their MLB's.

We have been practicing form drawing and have been using the forms to decorate the edges of their MLB's. This form was very hard, but they both wanted to attempt it, so they did!

As our week continued, we embellished the story and the girls retold and added to it. Soon, the deer and wolves came into the forest to share in the bounty.

The girls took this picture of their crayons after school - creativity abounds!

We also added a lot of baking to this block. This is our homemade zucchini bread using a gigantic organic zucchini from my sister's prolific garden in Colorado! Mmmmmm....

Soon the Magic Math Factor Tree split into two and became a Two Tree...

Then a Three Tree... (this tree is drawn in several ways - 3= 1+1+1 and 3=2+1...)

More baking...we actually baked 10-12 different types of holiday cookies for a dog rescue fundraiser. We doubled the recipe and then cut it in half so they could each measure out the same amount - lol!

Meanwhile...the Magic Math Factor Tree split into Four... (4=1+1+1+1, 4=2+2, 4=3+1 or 1+3, etc)

And five...

And six...all the way up to twelve!

We stopped there - lol! This particular block in our math block took about a week and we had a lot of fun with it.

We started to read the King Arthur book by Roger Lancelyn Green, but it just didn't work for us at this age. It is a version we will return to when the girls are a bit older. However, I returned to a wonderful version of the story which was a great buy by my mother-in-law and is hard to find (it is printed in England for our friends across the sea and seems to be more available there).

If you can find it, it's called, "Knights of the Grail" by Linda Proud. It's published by St. James Publishing. I first read it to the girls when they were 5 years old and they enjoyed it immensely. Their daddy had been telling them stories of King Arthur and Sir Gawain and Sir Lancelot since they were very small. It is broken up into very short chapters, so makes a good night time read aloud.

Catching Up...Fables - "The Dog and His Reflection"

2011-01-10T15:59:00.000-08:00

Another fable we did in October as part of our Language Arts block using Aesop's Fables was "The Dog and His Reflection". I embellished the story a bit and brought in the character of a boy who was kind to a feral dog who lived in the woods near a lake. The boy brings the dog a bone (the acorn) and the dog happily takes the bone and heads through the forest to his den. On the way, he must pass by the lake and as he's crossing, he spots his reflection. He believes it to be another dog staring back at him with an even larger bone. In an envious rage, he drops his bone and jumps in after the dog, only to realize that it was just his own reflection. Not only is he soaking wet, but he has lost his precious bone in the water and now must go without.

The girls were sad for the dog (I hadn't anticipated that), but I think they *got* the moral of the story as a result of feeling sorry for him. In the 3 day rhythm, they retold the story using the props set up at the table. Charley changed the dog a bit. I am pleasantly surprised to see how much more willing they are to retell stories in this 2nd year. I am sure part of it is maturity and increased confidence as they get more and more used to story recall. But also, the fables are so much more forgiving than the fairytales, which almost always have longer, extensive plots with a lot more characters, twists and turns.

This year, I have enjoyed having the girls really help me form summaries of the stories to copy into their MLB's. Sometimes they are longer and in this case, I allowed the girls to shape most of the summary.

They also love to copy the blackboard drawings into their MLB's.

I will have to go back and photograph the remaining fables from this block. Next, we moved onto math for the month of Nov, so I will post the photos I took from that block. We have started school again and I am documenting and will have nicer summaries to share starting next week!

Stay warm!

And the Winner Is...

2011-01-07T09:24:00.000-08:00

Daisy of TwoLittleSeeds who said...

"Thanks for the chance, we would love to win a King Winter! My son would love his beard I know. I think he is beautiful and would be treasured on our Nature table!
Happy New Year. Daisy xxx"

Congratulations Daisy! Your King Winter will be shipped to you in Wales.

Thank you to everyone else who entered the giveaway! May you have a healthy and blessed 2011!!!!

Hugs, Jen

Happy Epiphany!

2011-01-06T13:19:00.000-08:00

Catching Up...Fables - "The Ant and the Grasshopper"

2011-01-04T14:00:00.001-08:00

"The Ant and the Grasshopper"

In an attempt to catch up a bit, I am going to be posting some highlights of some of our work in the fall that I neglected to post. I didn't take pictures of everything as time was short, but I am going to make an effort to do better in this new year! So without further ado, here is some of our continuation of a Language Arts Block with fables...

Told the story of the Ant and the Grasshopper (Aesop) using props we had on hand (the moral should not be told - it is left for the child to come to). A tuft of green wool was the grasshopper and a tuft of black was the ant. The random wool was the food being gathered.

We had fun over three days covering the story, drawing it, painting it, and writing about it, learning words and beginning basic parts of speech.

A flower Elena painted...

And my fox & the grapes painting...

A pumpkin scene Charley painted (this was in Oct that we did this block)...

To Be Continued...

Angel Kisses from Heaven

2011-01-02T16:43:00.001-08:00

Today, we received a special gift - Angel Kisses from Heaven in the form of : S-N-O-W!!!!!

Little light snowflakes

Whirl around.

Little light snowflakes

Fall to the ground.

Fall on the tree

And fall on me;

Make the earth white,

Make the earth bright.

~ I. Tupaj

It started out as rain that seemed awfully thick and then I realized it was actually snowing! This is incredibly rare as I don't think it has snowed in this area for over 20 years. Didn't think it was going to stick, but it is and we're having a blast! It's amazing how much this seems like a miracle to me. Reminds me of that old Christmas classic "The Year without a Santa Claus" where it snows in Southtown, thanks to the Snow Miser (and Heat Miser) - anyone remember that one?

I can't wait to see it all tomorrow morning and hopefully do our first official snow hike in the canyons!

Found this q/a on the internet asking why it doesn't snow in Los Angeles and this was the answer:

"The moderating ocean affect from the Pacific Ocean keeps Los Angeles very mild during winter, making it rare for snow. Los Angeles has a few cold snaps in winter, and has flurries of snow every 20-30 years and usually melts by noon. The last snowfall was 0.02 inches in 1962. "

I think King Winter is excited to find his new home on Friday!

And if you didn't see the giveaway for the beautiful Snow White and 7 Dwarves made by Silvia at Eco de casa, head on over and enter to win!

Ancient Hearth GIVEAWAY to Bring in the New Year: King Winter!

2011-01-01T13:18:00.000-08:00

King Winter now is in the land,

He reigns with cold and freezing hand.

He makes Jack Frost touch nose and toe,

And brings us white and shining snow.

~ from Wynstone Press' "Winter" book

In celebration of the new year, I wanted to offer a giveaway of the new King Winter that will be in my etsy shop later this month. My shop is still on vacation mode so we can enjoy the rest of the holidays, but I'm excited about making some new creations this year!

To enter the giveaway, just leave me a comment that you'd like to be entered to win this King Winter doll :)

The lucky winner will be announced this Friday, January 7!

May you all be blessed with a wonderful 2011 full of health, peace, and lots of love!

Happy 2011!!!!

Christmas Memories ~ A Glimpse...

2010-12-28T10:15:00.000-08:00

The Arrival

The Advent Calendar

The Advent Wreath

Father Christmas

Marta and the Polish Star

The family heirloom

The Silver Tree

The Carollers

The Angel Star Ladder

Daddy's special gift

The bird whistles

Mommy's special gift

The awesome waldorf stocking stuffer exchange

The special pink beeswax crayons in pink

The Ostheimer loot

The favorite new toy: Cheery Felted Wool Chipmunks and their Hollow Log Home from Eve's Little Earthlings

Magic Cabin Pocket Fairies and Starshine Fairies

Stonehenge replica for my history major hubby!

Wishing You All Peace, Blessings & Love...

2010-12-24T14:42:00.001-08:00

Rembrandt - 1646

Die Anbetung der Hirten

The Adoration of the Shepherds

And the Winners Are...

2010-12-24T09:23:00.000-08:00

First of all - a big thank you to everyone who entered this awesome giveaway!

Second of all - an even bigger thank you to Rick and Jennifer Tan of Syrendell for offering these gorgeous postcards to two lucky winners!

Without further ado...

The winner of the Fairytale postcard is, Sarah in the Woods, who said:

"Beautiful! Thanks for the link to the tutorial."

The winner of the Creation Postcard is Domestic Diva, who said,

"Lovely! Thanks for the chance."

Congrats to the lucky winners!

Please send me your address and Syrendell will send you your treasure! Hope everyone has a wonderful and safe holiday season and thank you for stopping by!

Christmas Heritage Traditions

2010-12-20T13:36:00.001-08:00

Polish for "Merry Christmas"

This is a beautiful Polish doll brought back to me from Poland by my beloved grandparents, now both deceased. This doll, whom I named Karisha (Karen) is ever more precious to me now.

I am very fortunate to have been part of a family who is very grounded in tradition - the Polish side from me and now the Italian side from my husband. There are many aspects to how my Polish family celebrates the holidays and I'd like to share a little bit of how we celebrate ours across the miles...

There is a lovely children's book about how the Polish people celebrate Christmas called, "Marta and the Manger Straw".

It centers around the Polish tradition of taking a piece of straw from the church manger to keep with you which will bring *riches* throughout the new year. The riches are more than monetary, however. This story is about little Marta, who is very poor. She is given a piece of the manger straw and ends up giving pieces of it away to others who are more needy than she, until she has nothing left. Marta learns how the power of love and altruism comes back tenfold. It's a lovely lesson in giving.

Another custom is to place straw underneath the table cloth, symbolizing the humble beginnings of the Christ child. Straw is extremely symbolic to this culture and we decided to start a tradition of making our own straw star ornaments this year in honor of our Polish heritage.

Paper, Scissors, Stone sells Swedish straw which I had purchased earlier this year. The girls are, like most Americans, a mix of many cultures, including some Swedish, so it's all good :)

I remembered reading a nice tutorial on Syrendell last year about how they made straw garland. It can be found here.

So while the dogs were sleeping, the straw was soaking...

Farley (age 12.75)

Stanely (our current foster - age 10)

And the furbabies - Koda (9 months) & Jack (4.5 or so?)

This is a wonderful book, though I have since seen their crafts in other Christmas crafting books, including "Christmas in the Family". Both are wonderful, though the latter has more than just crafts.

Filling Babci's old pot that I brought back...

The girls put the pieces of straw in to soak...

Then, we cut them in half at an angle so that they would be pointed.

I had also attempted to iron them, but they would not flatten properly (might be the type of straw they are) so we decided to enjoy them as is.

We cut a piece of thread and placed it horizontally on the table.
We then placed the pieces of straw in the desired design.

After trial and error, I found it easiest with the children for me to hold the design with my finger and allow them to weave the thread up and over one, down and under the next, up and over, down and under, etc. Every once in a while, we'd knot it off and then alternate which pieces were up and over & which ones were down and under so that they were all secured.

And voila! Elena finished her 6 pointed star!

Karisha holds one of my stars!

Charley's turn...

Taaaa daaaaahhh!

They somehow make our tree complete!

Marta and the Manger Straw has a free unit study that can go along with the book, though I honestly wasn't too impressed, but I'm sure it can be embellished by all you wonderful homeschool mama's out there!

Homeschool Share's free unit study on this book can be found here.

Some other Polish traditions - this year we bought a Charlie Brown type silver tree. Every year for the past 60-70 years, Granny's (Babci's) silver tree was put up. See below for a picture of the real silver tree the last year it was put up when Babci was still alive. It is still being put up, but I wanted to have my own little one to remind me of my dear Granny Goose!

My silver tree...

Babci's silver tree (not finished decorating it)

More traditions...sauerkraut soup and sauerkraut pierogies

We are very fortunate to have my great grandmother's pierogie recipes, along with my great aunt dolly's and some yummy variants from Glos Polek - the Polish Women's Alliance out of Chicago, Illinois.

The girls & I make pierogies every year. This year, we made cheese & potato, froze them, and my aunt is flying them into Chicago this holiday for our extended family to enjoy!

We make them the way that great grandma made them...

After preparing the dough, roll out with a rolling pin until they are nice and thin.

Using a glass, you cut out the circular shapes (use a large rim).

Place the stuffing in - the trick is to have a lot of stuffing in a very thin shell. It is actually pretty challenging if you do it like the pros. That was my big criticism of my first batches - too much dough!

Stretch the dough over the filling.

Use the edge of a fork to close the edges. Make sure they are closed tightly or they will open when boiled and all the stuffing comes out (happened to me waaaaayy too many times!)

Finished, it should look like this...

Then place on wax paper and brush melted butter over them so that when you freeze them, they will not stick together. If you are eating immediately, you boil them until they rise to the top and then fry them in a frying pan with butter and enjoy!

This batch is headed to Chicago, along with a bunch of xmas cookies...Mmmmmm...

Lots of great links out there to Polish celebrations, which can turn into a wonderful cultural study for all you homeschoolers out there!

What are your Christmas Heritage Traditions?

The Gift of Light

2010-12-20T08:02:00.000-08:00

The gift of light I thankfully hold

And pass to my neighbor its shining gold

That everyone may feel its glow,

Receiving and giving may love and grow.

I received this gift of light from Lisa at Celebrating the Rhythm of Life with Children. What a beautiful idea and way to nurture our own spirits this busy holiday season! Thank you so much, Lisa - I was greatly touched...

I pass this gift of light to you Dear Lynn at Raising Little Shoots. Thank you for the light and warmth you bring to the world. I am grateful for your presence in my life.

Pass the gift of light to a cyber neighbor who lights your world until the world is aglow with a circle of light.

This verse can be used with children passing the light around a circle.

Pass the light on and let's see how broad a circle it can make.

GIVEAWAY: Gorgeous Syrendell Postcards!

2010-12-17T07:36:00.000-08:00

Fairytale Scene

Well today is a very exciting day! One of my very favorite artisans is offering a gorgeous giveaway of two of Rick Tan's original wet on wet watercolor postcards - perfect for display on your nature or seasonal table! There will be two winners - one for the Fairytale Scene postcard shown above, and the other will win the Creation Scene postcard shown below! What a great way to kick off the weekend!

I was fortunate enough to attend two of Syrendell Academy's amazing classes this past spring and got to watch Rick paint a gorgeous scene right before my very eyes. It was as if the normally difficult to control watercolor paints just followed him blindly, emerging into a stunning piece of artwork! I was absolutlely amazed how easy he manipulated the colors and *tamed the beast*, so to speak! Rick has a mini tutorial on how to paint using wet on wet watercoloring that can be found through his inspirational blog here.

This gorgeous creation scene in large format will be the second print given away to a second lucky winner! Speaking of creation, I thought it would be fun to learn how Syrendell got started!

Creation Scene

How did Syrendell get started?

Syrendell started when we created our own homeschooling environment. We decided to call our homeschool space Syrendell, and also our business. We started an Etsy shop and a blog that featured handwork supplies and items that we used for Waldorf-inspired homeschooling. Workshops and consulting were added based on requests.

Where did you and Rick come up with the name? We love it!

As a family, we made a list of words that we love, like "symphony", "dell", "synchronicity", and many more. We played around with letters and sounds until it sounded just right! We always felt like our home and homeschooling spaces were truly a "dell".

What is the inspiration for these gorgeous prints?

The original wet-on-wet watercolors were made by Rick to show a fairy tale scene, and a creation scene. Both pieces of artwork relate to Waldorf curriculum, as well as the wet-on-wet technique. We love featuring postcards on nature tables and homeschooling nooks or themed areas of the house. Twelve of Rick's paintings are also featured in a calendar. More prints coming!

What is Rick's background in art and waldorf?

Rick has been an artist all of his life. He has sold his artwork, done graphic design and custom artwork for businesses and families, and was an artist in residence for a school years ago. Rick is a trained Waldorf teacher and currently teaches Grade 6 at Davis Waldorf School in Davis, California. He enjoys sharing his artwork with the children in his class, as well as our own children at home. His DVD and downloadable video on how to do the wet-on-wet watercoloring technique is available through the Bearth Institute. www.bearthinstitute.com.

Do you have any suggestions on how to encourage artistic expression in our children?

Be an excellent role model! If we say, "I can't paint well", then our children pick up on this. Paint, draw, sculpt, carve wood, sew, knit...the more you do around your children, the more they will be inspired and will want to do it along with you! Art should be a part of our everyday lives and not just something "extra". Take children to art exhibits. When they are old enough, support with ceramics, knitting lessons and workshops. Learn along with them! As they get older, discuss how music, art, architecture, math and science interrelate. Find beauty and artistry in everything around you.

I know several families (including mine) that would love the opportunity to enhance our home and nature tables with seasonal postcards from Rick. Any plans for those in the future?

Yes! The Four Seasons are coming out in 2011. Requests for other postcard themes are welcome!

Please see these additional links to the Syrendell endeavors:

www.syrendellacademy.com Workshops & Consulting
www.syrendell.etsy.com Postcards, Calendars, Yarns, and more!
www.syrendell.blogspot.com www.thewaldorfway.blogspot.com Our blogs
www.facebook.com/syrendell "Like" our Facebook page to see upcoming events, products and sales

For those who have been with my blog for a while now, you will already know how much I adore this creative family. They have beautiful hearts and spirits - always kind and trying to help others. I have come to both of them on several occassions and have received wonderful advice. Both have been featured in The Waldorf Connection, as well as Kristie Burns' BEarth Institute site. My home is filled with syrendell treasures - from their gorgeous hand dyed silks to their beautiful wooden creations. And I am now so excited to include Rick's stunning artwork in my home, gracing my nature table! I am thrilled that two lucky winners will have an opportunity to enhance their homes with one of Rick's stunning prints! They are also available through their Syrendell Etsy site, along with a lovely calendar for 2011 which comes in both desk size or full size!

To enter this giveaway, please leave a comment below. To be entered a second time, please join their blogs (if you are already a member, let me know, and I will enter you a second time), and if you'd like to be entered a third time, join them on facebook by liking their site! The links can be found above. The winners will be announced in one week - on Friday, December 24th - just in time for Christmas! One winner will win the Fairy Tale postcard and the other winner will win the Creation postcard.

Best of luck and THANK YOU, Syrendell!

Santa Barbara Mission Field Trip

2010-12-16T11:32:00.000-08:00

As a tie into both our Chumash studies, as well as the studies of the saints, we went on a field trip to the Santa Barbara Mission when Gramy was in town. This gorgeous mission was the 10th of 21 missions founded along the coastline of California, extending as far down as San Diego and as far north as San Francisco. Five of these 21 missions were established by the Franciscans among the Chumash peoples, including Santa Barbara.

Santa Barbara Mission was established on the Feast of St. Barbara on December 4th, 1786 so we learned about St. Barbara (another post on that).

You can read details about the founding of the mission here. It is incredibly gorgeous and hence I am just going to comment very little and allow the photographs to inspire :)

Here we are with Gramy (in black), who met her very best friend of 60 years at the mission for a reunion! We brought our lunch and enjoyed the singing of the birds and ringing of mission bells.

This is a wash basin that the Chumash used to scrub linens. The ocean is straight ahead.

The girls posing in front of Father Junipero Serra's statue. He is the founder of the first 9 missions and passed away two years before Santa Barbara Mission was completed.

Upon entering the museum, you are greeted with vigil candles. We lit two in honor of our recently deceased loved ones.

Waiting for Gramy and MaryAnn, we had fun taking pictures in the cut-outs ;)

We paid our nominal fee and headed into the mission for the self guided tour.

The girls recognized a familiar face! Babci bought them the Little Saint Francis books and puzzles years ago. They were tickled to see his image with the bee on the mission grounds!

The Santa Barbara Mission holds a very special place in my heart. Years ago, before the girls were born, my mom's friend (MaryAnn) helped organize several spiritual retreats for women here. I attended two of them and was blown away by the love, the prayer, and the bonding support of the women. The second year I attended, I was pregnant with the twins and after the opening saging ceremony, the women laid hands on my round belly, and blessed my babies. We read the amazing book "The Red Tent" by Anita Diamant and it remains one of my favorite books ever.

Returning to these gardens, where we women stayed (in the attached dormitory), among the friars and spirit, just filled me with such light and love.

This beautiful old tree sits in the center of the large cemetery grounds. Hundreds are buried here, though there only a select number of grave markers and crypts.

St. Francis is seen everywhere...

I love this picture of Elena admiring the crucifixion...

Inside the beautiful church...

You can see the ocean from the open doors at the entrance to the church, though the picture whited it out. It's incredibly serene and breathtaking...

To the left (below) is Mary Magdalen weeping outside of the tomb of Christ as he appears to her with wounded hands and feet. To the right (below) is St. Francis and St. Clare of Assisi.

Some building materials used in the mission construction.

Day of the Dead...

Recreation of the mission kitchen from the 1700's...

Chumash basketry and tools...

Original sculptures (read below)

Relief rubbings...

Signs of Chumash everywhere...

The Chumash name comes from one of their master traits - that of making shell money, seen here. It was then strung on a necklace and used to purchase necessities. Right behind the Santa Barbara Mission is the Natural History Museum, which houses more Chumash treasures and history. Highly recommended for those studying these beautiful peoples.

In California history for Grade 4, the children learn about the missions. I am hoping to visit all 21 with the girls during our homeschooling and would love to build a model of a mission, as well. Lots of fun to look forward to!

Speaking of looking forward - tomorrow, I will be hosting a wonderful giveaway, so be sure to check in! Can't wait!

Honoring St. Lucia...

2010-12-13T20:26:00.000-08:00

2nd Grade has been extra fun because we are also studying the Saints. Today, we celebrate St. Lucia's special day. My nice camera has been lost and only resurfaced this afternoon, so I don't have any pictures to share of our celebration this morning. But I have two posts to share from last year.

First, our preparations for making a basic needle felted St. Lucia crown. That can be found here.

And then our celebration is found here.

Some basic information on St. Lucia from my etsy shop listing:

The legend of Santa Lucia is that of a beautiful young woman who was brutally tortured and put to death defending her faith. Abandoning her wealth and promise of a husband, she dedicated her life to serving the poor and feeding the hungry. Later, the stories surfaced of various miracles tied to this Italian maiden, including a legend in the middle ages when a large boat, empty of passengers, arrived in Sweden full of food and drink for the starving people of the town. Some swore they had seen St. Lucia with a light surrounding her head on the bow of the ship just before it landed. Some time later, she was adopted as a very important saint by Sweden and now a lovely holiday tradition takes place yearly in her honor on December 13th.

It was said that she brought bread to the poor Christians hiding out in caves and the wilderness. She strapped torches onto her head to free up her hands to carry and distribute the bounty. Hence, the tradition of the Light Wreath came to pass.

This is an "Old World" St. Lucia - the Italian maiden that probably more closely resembles the real St. Lucia (versus the lovely Swedish version that we've all come to recognize in the waldorf circles)...

No matter what color her hair and skin are, or what kind of clothing she wears, the gifts of St. Lucy, her love for the poor and the magnitude of her faith make her shine like a beacon of light in the night!

Hope you had a fun St. Lucia day!

Advent Spirals

2010-12-09T09:10:00.000-08:00

Joseph was my very first needle felting attempt of a person. His hands are thick and chunky, but I love the simplicity about this pair. On our Advent table, we have Mary on her donkey, being led by Joseph as they make their way around the Advent spiral...and when they land on the final star, they will be placed in the stable where the manger awaits the babe...

This is our scene and I have a cotton cloth underneath my silk. The stars are cut from wool felt and branches from our trees form the spiral. However...we've already had one bump from one of the girls chasing a dog around the house that resulted in the silk sliding and the stars falling all over the place. It was a mess...

So next year, I am going to try this WONDERFUL tutorial from a blog I really enjoy called, "In These Hills". Please check out this Vermont mama's Advent Spiral tutorial found here.

No more stars flying all over the place - they will stay put and look lovely, to boot! :D

Happy St. Nick's Day!

2010-12-06T15:05:00.000-08:00

Some treasures from St. Nick!

2nd Week of Advent

2010-12-05T13:59:00.001-08:00

This 2nd week of Advent, we add from the plant kingdom. I wanted to share a picture of one of our Advent spirals that we are doing this year. I removed Mary so it could be seen fully. We have our creche (eco twig house) which was hand made by the artists of Syrendell. They also hand dyed the beautiful blue silk.

Week 1 is the minerals so we placed special gems in our special seasonal table spots. Now we added moss, pine cones, and sprigs from one of our trees. I had cut out 24 small stars to light Mary's way along the path and the eve of the 24th, she will be placed on the large star in the creche to await the birth of the Christ child.

Tucked in another nook of our house, we are doing the angel from last year that descends the heavenly stars each day and on the final day, the star candle will be lit in honor of the birth. That post (with much better pictures as my nice camera went missing on me) can be found here, along with a brief tutorial of how we constructed our star ladder and the tissue paper angel.

The girls and I also have our traditional Advent wreath that we made and we light the candles each night. I will post a quick tutorial on that Mon or Tues.

Again, I apologize that I am so late in sharing things. We have had so much going on this year that it is difficult to keep up with the blogging.

Happy 2nd week of Advent to all!

Don't Forget to Leave Your Shoes Out for St. Nick!

2010-12-05T07:43:00.001-08:00

Tonight is a special night for the families who follow this European tradition of leaving their shoes out on the night before December 6th to celebrate the feast of St. Nicholas.

We celebrated this tradition as a child and I have so many fond memories of this special day leading up to Christmas. It was always a favorite with lots of anticipation and glee and I am so happy to share it now with my children. One of my mom's favorite Saint's Days - to this day, she still reminds me to leave my shoes outside my bedroom door on the eve of December 5th!

Now in my own tradition, in the days leading up to this event, starting on December 1st, we read a story a day written by the talented author and Waldorf teacher, Christine Natale. Her Bishop Nicholas stories are found free here. They are short, so you could even start them today and space them out to read them all before the big day tomorrow :)

We are also enjoying this out of print book by Jakob Streit called, Saint Nicholas. With the help of Cindy from Whole Spirit Press, we were able to track down a few remaining copies, the link of which has been listed on my blog. I'm not sure if they have all sold out, but you may contact them as listed. See the post here.

Last year, I did a post documenting our celebration which can be found here. We'll see what Old St. Nick decides to leave the girls tonight :) And I hope to share shots of our Advent celebrations and winter preparations over the next several days.

Also, get ready for a special giveaway that I will be hosting, so stay tuned! Lots of fun and festivity coming down the pipeline!

Rhythm of the Home Winter Edition 2010

2010-12-01T10:24:00.001-08:00

Well, I apologize that my blog has been neglected this fall. I have so much to share, but not enough time to do so. I am wrapping up some holiday orders - busy as a little elf in Santa's workshop.

But I did want to mention that I have two tutorials featured in Rhythm of the Home Winter Edition 2010. There are some really fantastic ones in there so please check out the online magazine here: Rhythm of the Home

And my tutorials can be found here:

Festive Candles

and

Needle Felted Holiday Angel

Enjoy and if you happen to try out either tutorial, I would LOVE to hear about it and see pictures. Needle felting is actually very easy once you get the hang of it and I know there are so many creative mamas out there who can create magic with wool! Feel free to leave me a comment with a link to your blog and photos of these tutorials and I will do a separate post to showcase them in a couple of weeks!

Thank you to the ROTH founders, editors, contributors, and readers for making this such a wonderful source of inspiration and creativity for our families!

Babci's Aprons & Snickerdoodles

2010-11-18T18:49:00.000-08:00

The girls wearing two of Babci's aprons my momma sent to me.

It is almost the one year anniversary since my Granny passed away just about a month short of her 92nd birthday. Because my mom is called Gramy by her grandchildren, my twins would call their great Granny "Babci" which is Polish for "Grandmother". With a little adjustment to the necks, the girls chose a beloved apron that still smells like Babci's house to wear as we begin to make our dozen batches of Christmas cookies for a dog rescue fundraiser in December. The first batch are Snickerdoodles...

We are in the middle of our 2nd math block and have been practicing our four processes when baking by doubling the recipe and then halving so they each can do equal amounts...

After the dough chilled, the girls rolled and dipped the cookies into the sugar mixture to bake.

And a tidbit: my blog was named after this hearth that is still under construction in our kitchen (DH is putting the stones on it)...our kitchen has been under construction for over 2 years now...will have to do a before and after shot when it's finally done!

I'm not quite sure if my mom really knows how very special the aprons she gave me from Granny are. She gave us aprons and handkerchiefs that my great grandmother crocheted the edges on. I will post pictures soon.

Grandma's Apron
~ by C J Heck

Gramma's gone, but not forgotten,
that's her apron hanging there.
It still hangs in Grampa's kitchen.
Sometimes he looks at it and stares.
When Gramma wore her apron
it was magical to see.
The pockets held such treasures
for the grandkids just like me.
Saw it shine up Grampa's fender once
just as pretty as you please,
and it wiped my brother's cheek off
one time when he sneezed.
It took cookies from the oven,
it rushed to wipe a tear,
got a grain of sand out of your eye,
made a lap for the stories we'd hear.
It wiped spills up from the counter top
when she was baking pies,
a symbol of her love and care
and it showed, too, in her eyes.
Sometimes I'm sad to look at it
when I see my Grampa stare.
Gramma's gone, but not forgotten.
That's her apron hanging there.

And now her aprons hang upon the necks of her great grandtwins :)

Chumash Field Trip

2010-11-17T16:48:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm hoping to come out of a long blogging hiatus to get caught up on our schooling adventures. This post is mainly pictures and happened in Sept to tie in our review of form drawing and math using Chumash stories as the vehicle.

I organized a field trip for our local homeschooling group and we went to an amazing museum in Thousand Oaks called the Chumash Indian Museum.

Nestled among the mountain ranges on the largest oak grove park (432 acres) in the area, we were lucky enough to have a special tour arranged where we would hike through the groves to view a 10,000 year old birthing cave to see the remaining pictographs! It was awesome!

We were met by our guide, Graywolf, and the tour began.

We got to view recreations of Aps (Chumash housing).

We got to hear Chumash legends and lore. We walked among the towering oaks and saw an incredible beehive in this giant oak.

We learned about vegetation and what the plants were used for, like "coyboy cologne" which is a sage that we rubbed on our faces and necks to keep the biting flies away! And here, Graywolf showed us where the women would come to grind acorns, the staple of the Chumash diet.

Then we continued on our 1.5 mile hike to the birthing cave.

Graywolf pointed out an outcropping with a pictograph. Can you spot it in the picture below, just above & to the left of his head (our left, his right)?

The birthing cave is closed to the general public because they don't want any damage to it, but we were very fortunate to have the opportunity to visit this cave that has been used for birthing for 10,000 years!

While a wooden stair case has been built, can you imagine hiking 1.5 miles while in labor and then ascending this climb without the stair case to reach the cave? These women were absolutely amazing!

Inside the cave, we got to see the remaining pictographs. Not many left, but they are ancient. It was worth every step to get here!

And a shot of Charley just before we left the cave. We lingered so I could get a good shot. The cave was open on three sides and surrounded by lush trees and the sounds of wildlife. It was so very serene and powerful. We were told they laid out skins and furs for comfort.

On our way back to the museum grounds, I had to take this shot where the trees join to make an arch.

At the museum, Graywolf gave us a lovely presentation of tools and uses of herbs and weapons. This is a model of a chumah woman. They wore very little clothing due to the temperate weather on the coast.

Graywolf has worked on and been in several movies and tv productions. One of the films he worked on (costume dept) was "Pirates of the Caribbean" with Johnny Depp. In his hands, he is holding the hair piece that he made for Captain Jack Sparrow to wear. It is actually a Chumash hair pin and you are supposed to wear two of them criss crossed at the top of the head. Johnny Depp didn't know what to do with it, so he put it on the side of his head! Graywolf loved it and that became a trademark of Captain Jack!

He took time to pose with the twins.

And here you can see how the hair pins are actually supposed to be used!

The Chumash people were very different from the other Native American tribes - in how they looked, dressed, and developed. Life on the coast was easy. They found everything they needed from nature and did not have to migrate to find food sources. They were incredibly peaceful - in fact there is no word in their language for "war". They loved to play games and had time to develop many ingenius tools and activities. They were the first tribe to develop interchangeable arrows, so they could use the same shaft, but different points when hunting - a large arrow for a large deer or a tiny arrow to hunt a bird or rabbit. They used whale bones as the doorway arches for their homes and even invented the sweathouse (steam room) with a large fire and smoke and then would rush out and cool off in the ocean. Their beds were built off the floor and they were master weavers. The word Chumash means shell money, for they specialized in making shell money and beautiful soap stone pots. They built the first tomol (canoe) so that they could sail from the mainland to the Channel Islands.

Here are some pictures of the exhibits in this small, but high quality museum.

Real Walnut Shell Dice (like what we made, but beautiful with the abalone shells as decorations).

We spent a whole day on this field trip and filled up with admiration and love for this amazing tribe of Native American Indians. The girls were thrilled when they spotted this design, which is one they painted on their fake canvas' earlier in the month!

The people who run the museum (Alfred, esp) are wonderful and I would highly recommend a trip to visit, if you are local. There is a nature hike on the weekends. Call for details, which can be found here. And there is a wonderful book put out by the Santa Barbara Natural History Museum called, The Chumash People. It is a great hands on resource for unit study.

"Fairy Tales" by Christine Natale is Available at Lulu for 25% off!

2010-11-11T14:25:00.000-08:00

Just heard from Christine that her childrens book entitled"Fairy Tales" is currently on sale for 25% off the cover price at Lulu.com. There are many wonderful stories tied into the four seasons, to be enjoyed by families for years to come. The summary reads:

"A collection of 15 seasonal fairy tales created for Christine Natale's Waldorf Kindergartens through the years."

The link to the book can be found here and you can take a peek at the chapters. I'm getting out my copy of it after this post :D

Need Your Help! Vote for "The Star Flower" story written by Waldorf educator, Christine Natale!

2010-11-09T17:19:00.000-08:00

Well, this is the longest hiatus I've had since I began my blog in 2009. My mama is in town and it's been a year since we had seen each other last, along with the almost one year anniversary of my little Granny's passing :( so I've been taking much needed time for family.

However, I wanted to share something near and dear to my heart - and that is the writing of an amazing author and waldorf educator, Christine Natale. Many of you might be familiar with some of her work or heard her name through The Waldorf Connection.

Christine has entered a writing competition and submitted her lovely bed time story entitled "The Star Flower". You may vote once a day and voting ends November 22nd. There is monetary cash prize that would really help Christine continue to write and publish her amazing stories. Can you please help her win first prize by voting every day for her story?

The link can be found here: Star Flower Story

For those not familiar with Christine, she is the author of several wonderful children's stories and we are anticipating the publication of her book very soon (TBA).

If you'd like to check out some of her work, she is the author of the fabulous St. Nicholas stories which can be found here.

She also allowed me to reprint her St. Patty's Day story called, "The Little Dancer", along with a beautiful story called, "The Return of the Sun King".

She was so kind to share many of her stories for free so I'd love to see her get the thanks and support she so deserves by us rallying behind her...So please head over to vote for her Star Flower Story and support an amazing artist, wonderful person, and waldorf educator!

And I will be back soon with a lot of catch up posts...we've been busy, busy bees...

Mama West Wind Wooden Peg Gnomes

2010-10-20T12:16:00.000-07:00

Meet Nicolae, Adela, and Vlad - the Waldorf Forrest Gnomes!

I was lucky enough to win one to celebrate the opening of Mama West Wind's etsy shop in May, which can be found here. We were so excited that we ran online to purchase two more. My girls and I think they are just darling. They are made with upcycled felted wool and wood pegs. You can see some of the other darling ones that Becca sold here. They are very child friendly, adorable, and I love that Mama West Wind is reusing wool :)

I wanted to wait to blog about them until the weather turned slightly cooler and now the gnomes have come out from underground to gather the seeds that they will nurture during winter!

Becca has a lovely blog that can be seen here. She is a very creative momma of two of the cutest little guys around and has been featured on The Crafty Crow here!

Grade 2: LA Block with Fables - The Fox & the Grapes

2010-10-16T20:18:00.000-07:00

October brings us a slight chill and a bit of rain (how welcomed!) and it also brings us back to Language Arts lessons. This month, our vehicle is Aesop's fables and here are some pictures to share...

First of all, I decided to start off with one of my favorites as a child, "The Fox & the Grapes". Attitude is everything in life and learning to be gracious, honest and humble just can't be underestimated, especially in today's world.

I started a new tradition this year (and will photograph it next week) - but I have decided to add the magic of a *storyteller's chair*, along with a *storyteller's shawl*. When the girls see me putting it on, they know a tale is about to begin :)

I hid my chalkboard drawing under a silk, and we followed the three day rhythm. I introduced the story on the first day, we retold it together the second day, and the third day, the girls each got to retell it. I pulled out my trusty playscape and a needle felted fox. We pretended the tree was really a vine and I quickly stuck a blob of purple on there to represent our grapes...

When it was the girls turn to retell the story, they took turns, and put on the storyteller's cape. They also wanted to wear a storyteller's babushka (we are part Polish, after all :)! The girls had so much fun - boy did that fox go flying all over the place trying to get those juicy grapes!

After the story was told, on Day 2, I revealed the chalkboard drawing and we began to copy it into our MLB's. This year, I find that they have more control and more patience over their fingers and drawing, so while last year, I allowed them to use various colors for their drawings, this year, we are focusing on using just the three primary colors and blending. While it may be ideal to start with just the primary's in Grade 1, as homeschoolers, I found I had to do more coaxing than I would have if the girls were under a teacher they didn't really know. They are ready for this challenge and I was very pleased with how their drawings turned out.

We also wrote a summary together to copy down onto another blank page in our MLB's.

Both of the girls need work trying to stay in a line and sometimes the letters still get away from us. Using the stick crayons to write words is harder than using a pencil, so I am taking that into account, as well. And perfectionism isn't pushed - just doing the very best you can do at this moment is what I usually stress. And I often point out errors I make (my fox's head is too small - oh look, I will try to make it a little bigger)!

And, of course, in the style of Earthschooling, who could forget to bring the grapes - for multisensory fun! They look a little mealy here, but they tasted good - lol! I stood on a chair and held the sprig up high while the girls jumped for them like the fox and giggled all the while!

We took the time to think of words that rhyme with *fox* and they saw how "ox" and "ocks" makes the same sound!

And another fun way to encourage writing, spelling, and reading, is to have the kids create their own mail boxes out of old cereal boxes or shoe boxes. They cut up paper bags and we taped them on and then they painted designs, and we even made little flags for them, so they know when they have mail!

My hubby works late, so this has been a fun way for them to connect with him during the day. They receive and leave messages for him and get all excited to see when the flag is raised!

We actually did this exercise when they were very little and they would draw things for him, but now it's so fun that they can write little notes. I even got a few lovely ones, myself - and some fun Michaelmas and Halloween drawings!

We went on a bunch of field trips over the last two weeks, so I'll share a few shots from them in my next post - some really fun local places to see!

Needle Felted Ghost Tutorial - Finally!

2010-10-15T13:14:00.000-07:00

'Tis the night when up in the sky

You might see a ghost come gliding by,

Fear not, he is friendly you see

For once he was human, like you and like me!

So finally - here is a very easy tutorial on making some cute Halloween ghosts to hang in your home - or outside on a special Halloween tree! You will only need a few supplies:

~ white wool batting or wool roving
~ a tiny bit of black wool roving
~ a needle felting foam pad (or a thick sponge works, too!)
~ a needle felting needle

I wanted to show the difference between different batches of wool batting. This is from a newer batch and it is great for stuffing dolls. It is very thick and has tiny balls of wool in it...

Whereas this batch below is more like roving, but I also bought it as wool batting. Batting is cheaper than roving, so it's great to use it when you can. If it is too chunky, you can always try to felt it a bit and then pull it apart and I will have more of a long-like sheet which works well for these ghosts.

Step 1: Make a ball.

Place a section of the wool on your mat and start to roll it up, rolling the sides into the center of the ball and then needle felt into place.

Hint: if you'd like to involve your children, this would be a great part for them to do, but instead of needle felting this ball, you would have them wet felt it. There are many tutorials available online that can show you how! This one is quick and to the point and explains how to do it around an existing ball or with just wool (what I recommend for waldorf).

Step 2: Cover the ball with a tuft of wool.

Place it inside of the tuft of wool and hold your fingers around it and give it a few good pokes with the needle so that the outside layer felts to the ball inside. You don't have to overdo it - this ghost looks best airy so less is better - plus the eyes will keep it in place : )

Don't be afraid to really play with the wool and arrange it so that it looks right. Needlefelting and wool is very forgiving so if you make a mistake, you can usually fix it without having to start over!

Once I have the basic shape, I like to give a few punches with my clover needle - you can just use a single needle - this one is just faster as there are five needles in the punch.

Step 3: Put on the eyes (optional).

Waldorf is known for its simplicity, so by all means - if you don't want any facial features on your ghost, skip this part. Just make sure that the ball is securetly needle felted inside the outer layer. If you end up attaching string (covered below) that will hold your ghost together, too!

You only need a tiny bit of black wool. Separate two equal parts and simply roll the wool in your fingers to form a tiny ball.

Then place the ball in the position you'd like the first eye to be.

And needle felt it into place. Be sure you don't push the needle down too hard or it will go through the ghost and you might pull some of the black to the other side so it actually shows on the back of the ghost. The barbs are at the top of the needle, so you never have to go all the way down for it to grab the fibers and felt.

And voila! You're done! Wasn't that easy!

Now, if you'd like to hang them, it's pretty self explanatory, but just in case, here's what I do. Mine will go outside on a tree, so I've decided to use black thread which will be hidden when it's dark outside, giving the ghosts a floaty feel. Double thread it.

Go in from the inside/bottom of the ghost (where you made your initial ball).

Come up through the top and go back down again.

When you come out the bottom, thread the needle through the initial stitch, so that it's actually knotted onto your original stitch. This will help it from sliding off if it gets pulled in the wind or if a child grabs at it.

Then head back up through the bottom to the top once more.

It should look like this.

And then cut the loop and knot it at the appropriate height, cutting off the excess thread.

Now he's ready to fly!

There's no limit to where you can hang them! Whether it's somewhere inside the house, on a tree, or even (one of my fav's) wind it/tie it onto a long stick that your child treasures and they can fly their own ghostie around!

They will twist and turn and spin at even the slightest change of air pressure!

These would make great party favors for anyone having a Halloween birthday party or a class party!

Can't wait to see them when it gets dark out! Until then - happy early Halloween!

Hope you enjoyed!

Rescue Memories...

2010-10-14T13:53:00.000-07:00

Charley & Elena with Bitsy & Itsy a couple of weeks ago

Well, I wanted to thank everyone who has followed this blog or wanted to look to it for inspiration for Grade 2, as well as those who I am making custom orders for, which have been a bit delayed compared to my usual speed :) Life took us in a whole new direction this summer and while we've LOVED just about every minute of it, rescue is very time consuming and I just haven't had the time to keep up with all of my additional responsibilities.

I am hoping to get the ghost tutorial online very soon and will eventually resume Fri's book reviews, but for now, I want to share the precious reasons why we've been kept busy...

Starting with our Jack...

Jack was rescued from Pasadena in May after being attacked by another dog or juvenile coyote. His right eye had to be removed at the shelter. He also had been kept in a collar that was too small for him as it embedded into his neck, leaving him with very little fur in that area - most likely he was chained up outside most of the day and had been abused by a man with black shoes. He was also a cryptorchid and had to be cut in two places during his neuter. He was grumpy and was in the shelter for 6 long weeks before we came to bring him home with us. He had no adoption interest during his time there :( It took him almost 4 months to stop growling and barking at my husband whenever he came home wearing black, clunky shoes. But he was always a total love to my girls and has the happiest, most adorable demeanor!

When we were looking at Jack, this little girl on the left (Cookie) also caught our eye. She was a large chihuahua who had been adopted by someone and then returned a month later. She ended up in rescue. We decided to pull Jack because he was missing an eye and was not considered a very adoptable dog. When we picked him up, we noticed the little dog on the right, who also had only one eye...

A wonderful rescue came for him and named him Popeye. Because I had been watching Popeye, when I saw he was gone, I called the shelter to find out what happened to him. They put me in touch with the rescue that pulled him...that was the beginning of a wonderful life change for us...

We started to converse with the rescue owner, enjoying her wisdom and appreciating her unconditional love for these puppers. Meanwhile, Jacky relaxed and flourished in his new furever home.

Then, we added Koda to our family after being told that no one wanted him, even the pet shops turned him and his remaining brothers down. Didn't want to see him end up in a shelter, so we took him in...You can see his story and more of our rescue adventures here.

That led to our very first pulls, transports & fosters...

Itsy and Bitsy

Details of that adventure can be found here. But they were two chihuahua's who had seen abuse, as well. They couldn't be any sweeter. Bitsy, the brown female had her eyes punctured by something and was extremely underweight. She is still undergoing treatment to try to save the bad eye from having to be removed. Itsy, the tricolored male chi had severe flea infestation that left his butt area bare, as well as a bruised lumbar spine most likely a result from either being thrown from a car, or hit by one. He also is permanently missing a patch of fur on his side from an old wound. These two are very, very special to the girls and to the head of the rescue as she has decided to keep both of them. Itsy will be a therapy dog and Bitsy is just Bitsy...

Farley

Well, old Farley is our 12 y/o corgi mix who has been such a trooper through all of these changes in his seniorhood. He had a blood brother who passed away at age 7 from lymphoma and had been the only pup for 5 lonely years. Adopting Jacky showed us what spunk Farley still had left in him and has helped his arthritis by keeping him moving.

Onward...we continue with just a foster - no part in his rescue, but what a love he was...

RichieRich

This wee one had been badly traumatized emotionally so that he was very timid and shy. It took him a few days to feel comfy around us and then he blossomed into a most hilarious pup! He was incredibly playful, around age 2, and equally a stinker. I caught him in my baskets of wool, unraveling and making quite the mess! Hard to get mad at that face, though - lol! More pictures of him coming below...

Tiffany

While we were fostering RichieRich, we found a gorgeous, sweet female long haired chihuahua about to be put to sleep. She was only about 5 lbs, and we were thrilled when the rescue told us they could take her! We drove up to get her and fostered her for a week, enjoying every second with this princess!

Needless to say, she adopted out within a week of getting into rescue. She was a total love and so gorgeous. She's now in a wonderful home and we got to see her a short time ago and she just loves her new family!

Such happiness in our home this summer!

We also have 4 little ratties (Chaulky, Luke, Ben, and Rudy)

Who's Peeking out There?

We used this diaper box from my sil during her recent visit - perfect for transporting them up and down the stairs safely...

Well, Koda and RichieRich just fell in love - it was beyond precious. They'd play fight constantly, battling loudly and then kissing each other, snuggling, totally BFF's...here's a slew of shots to enjoy...

BUSTED!

It was just a lovefest this summer...

This is one of my favorite pictures - Charley coming down the stairs in the morning and 5 pups excitedly coming to give her some love!

RichieRich enjoying a treat...

RichieRich ended up on a transport up north where he is looking to find his forever home. Since we have so many chihuahua's in Southern Cal, many rescues will transport them to other reputable rescues on the east coast and in the northwest, where there is a shortage of this breed and people almost line up for them. I would have loved to have kept RichieRich, even just for Koda, since they were so close, but he was growling at my husband and while I think over time it would have subsided, my hubby didn't want to go through that again, like he did with Jack...but a few more cute shots of how they'd play. Even though RichieRich was a peanut, Koda would always be gentle with him and even let him *win*...

We'll miss you RichieRich!

Meet Candy...

Little Candy came from a shelter in San Berdu and they keep their dogs for the required 5 day hold for owner claim, and then believe it or not - they will start to put them to sleep on the day they become available for adoption to the general public. Honestly. This shelter is horrid about that and I have heard horror stories of them putting puppies down on the day of availability, even though puppies are the first to be adopted out in most cases. I've heard of rescues coming for a mom with pups and arriving to find that only mom is left - the pups were put down for absolutely no reason at all. Sickening, huh?!?

Anyway, little Candy was about 4 lbs or so and another long haired chihuahua. She was so loving, but came to us a bit sick. They think she either had kennel cough or a canine flu. Shortly before we took her to rescue, she was up all night coughing and would regurgitate this foamy clear stuff. Another sweetheart, though, just grateful to be in a loving home!

Sweet Candy was just adopted last Saturday - yeah!

My little Candy Cane!

It's so hard to let each one go...

Well - the day we were to take Candy to rescue, after fostering her for a week, we headed back to Pasadena to pick up little Maddy...

Maddy is about 5 months old here and suffers from demodex mange, a non-contagious skin condition caused by a mite which can eventually be deadly. The mite causes the pup to lose their fur and get scabs which can become infected. Maddy's case wasn't too bad, but she's lucky in that she went right to rescue and the owner is fantastic with this condition which usually strikes puppies and is common among the chihuahua breed.

Yawning in happiness to be out of the shelter!

Could anyone resist this face?!?

Maddy is not available yet for adoption as her mange clears up. I have no doubt she'll find a home quickly once she's ready to be placed!

Then there was Petunia and her 4 puppies!

This loving momma and her 3 week old puppies couldn't have been more sweet!

We stopped at home during the transport to empty out and eat lunch.

I also wanted to give this momma some food, water and a potty break!

She was so, so loving!

The girls were on Cloud 9 with the pups!

And then came Prudence & Penelope.

Back to Pasadena for these 3 month old chihuahua girls. There were actually three female pups from this litter that we were transporting to our rescue, but one of them got adopted just before we showed up, so we took the remaining two. This is Penelope, the smaller of the two...and below is Prudence - both super sweet girls!

We took them to our rescue and dropped them with their new foster mommy!

They are both available for adoption in the Southern California region!

And finally, last weekend brought us three transports, with one going into our rescue...three seniors...

Jackie O. (about 9 y/0)

a sweet 10-12 yr old male Pommie with alopecia...

and Peanut - the hugest pug I've ever seen.

The poor guy is much older than the shelter thought (more like 13-15) and isn't doing well - his rescue took him to the vet and discovered he has a huge tumor and congestive heart failure...waiting to hear his fate, but he was supposed to be put to sleep on Sat at 4pm. We got him out of there at 11am that morning...it's always close calls in rescue & lots of scrambling...

We got Jackie O. to rescue at the adoptions event where they actually had a wedding for two rescue chi's who were adopted by one of the foster families. The two love each other so much - it was darling...here you can see Jackie O. getting acquainted with the rescue and with two of the other special rescues (DixieDoodle who was used as a beebee gun target and they'll found at least 4 of them embedded under her skin...and Snickers - who they believe was maced by someone and has a film over his eyes that looks like glaucoma... - how people could do things like that will always be a mystery to me.)

Finally, I will leave you with a shot of another dog we had nothing to do with rescuing, but that the girls have fallen in love with. Old Stanley who had to have so many teeth removed that his tongue hangs out to the right of his mouth. He really couldn't be sweeter and the girls are hoping that their daddy might let them foster Stanley for a while...

So these are the dogs we have been involved with this past summer until now. There are also a bunch that I am not listing that we helped save just by looking online and networking them to reputable rescues. It's a lot of hours and can be very demanding so I am trying to find a balance so that I can continue with the girls in our rescue endeavors and keep up with homeschooling, the shop, the blog, and life in general!

Hope you enjoyed this smidgen. Somehow the blog wouldn't be complete to me without mentioning these very special furbabies that have made a huge impact on our lives.

The head of the rescue listed a page on her site recently with pictures of the dogs that each of us have saved through transport or fostering, networking, etc. And she put Popeye in mine. We didn't have anything to do with saving Popeye, but he brought me to Linda, the head of the rescue we volunteer for. And when I was showing the page to the girls, Charley astutely looked up at me and said,

"Mommy, why is Popeye on your list? You didn't save Popeye...Popeye saved YOU!"

Indeed he did, my dear...indeed he did...

All Hallow's Eve Draws Near!

2010-10-06T20:07:00.000-07:00

I just shipped this order out to a customer and had to share this picture! I love to add little gifts to my orders and added Gus the Ghost! He was so easy to make that I'm hoping to whip out a quick tutorial so many little Gus the Ghosts can be made in many houses this Halloween! How fun it would be to make several, thread with string and hang from a Halloween tree inside or outside your house!

October Seasonal Table

2010-10-04T11:19:00.000-07:00

Wind in wood, blow, blow

all the leaves are rustling.

Sing a song of autumn leaves

as the trees bend high and low.

Wind in wood, blow, blow

all the leaves are rustling.

Michael, angel bright,

Flaming sword is guiding,

Sing a song of twinkling stars

As they sparkle in the night.

Michael, angel bright

Flaming sword is guiding.

~Wynston's Autumn

Ostheimers at 20% off through the GreenTaraMama YahooGroup!

2010-10-03T08:01:00.000-07:00

Just an fyi for those who aren't members of the GreenTaraMama Yahoo Group, Michelle is running a sale for 20% off Ostheimer figures from Germany. The Snow White pictured above is one of our Ostheimers (the deer is hand carved by Anne Moze). We have used a lot of our Ostheimers in free play and in school. They are great for creating scenes to enhance the various stories, especially in the younger years and I try to keep up an Ostheimer seasonal table. I enjoy it as much as (maybe even more than) the girls do.

Anyway, if you're interested, you can join the GreenTaraMama Yahoo Group here - membership is free and she runs a lot of wonderful sales tied into holistic living! I'm stocking up on our stash of tooth fairy surprises...it's been a great way to add to our collection slowly! If you join, you can access the database on the group's main site to place an order! Enjoy!

Database is open until Friday, October 8, 2010!

Happy Michaelmas!

2010-09-29T13:32:00.000-07:00

St. Michael and All Angels
“Ye that excel in strength”

Service and strength, God’s Angels and Archangels;
His Seraphs fires, and lamps his Cherubim:
Glory to God from highest and from lowest,
Glory to God in everlasting hymn
From all his creatures.

Princes that serve, and Powers that work his pleasure,
Heights that soar toward him, Depths that sink toward him;
Flames fire out-flaming, chill beside his Essence;
Insight all-probing, save where scant and dim
Toward its Creator.

Sacred and free exultant in God’s pleasure,
His will their solace, thus they wait on him;
And shout their shout of ecstasy eternal,
And trim their splendours that they burn not dim
Toward their Creator.

Wherefore with Angels, wherefore with Archangels,
With lofty Cherubs, loftier Seraphim,
We laud and magnify our God Almighty,
And veil our faces rendering love to him
With all his creatures.

~ Christina Rossetti

Today, we celebrate Michaelmas - the slaying of the dragon, representative of the dark and the letting in of the Light of God. The fall brings a wonderful slow-down as we begin to prepare for the birth of Christ in a few short months.

I love my copy of "All Year Round". It keeps me prepared for the festivals and I turned to it again today.

We purchased some decorating beeswax this year.

The colors were so vibrant on each thin sheet.

The girls constructed our own dragon to celebrate the Feast of Saint Michael.

I helped a little bit...

Meanwhile, while they were creating, I was preparing dough for our dragon bread...

While it rose, the girls finished the dragon candle. We smoothed the edges and tried it out. Charley decided to add the moon, some stars and a fairy flying around the dragon's fire. We will burn it every night at dinner until the dragon has been destroyed, symbolically.

The girls shaped their dragon bread (we ended up with one bird, one dragon and a bunch of hearts)...

And I told them the story of "The Kite" from Wynstone Press' Autumn book.

And we'll be reading John Henry the rest of the day...

For a wonderful Michaelmas story, check out one of my very favorite blogs (OK my favorite one...I admit it...) Our Little Nature Nest here. And also, her activities for Michaelmas from last year here.

And finally, from another one of my favorite blogs, Parenting Passageway, check out Carrie's post last year in preparation of Michaelmas here.

We're continuing the amazing story of "The Dragon Boy", which I hope to review on Friday! The girls can't get enough of it! It has been a perfect read aloud for the beginning of autumn as we happened to read the two chapters about the autumn solstice on the actual autumn solstice! I love it when things fall into place like that!

Hope you are having a fun, festive day!