Water+Boat+Tube=Texas Summer Survival

Our Captain.

Kissy loves to splash in the water.

She also LOVES to ride the tube with her brother.

You can't see it, but Ronan is grinning like a fool.

Kinda like this.

Waldorf Handwork Planning

The contents of Auri's Handwork Bag

I've been working on my planning for next year. I'm determined to have an easy year. One without me having to scramble for what we're supposed to be doing. I've actually followed Melisa Neilson's (A Little Garden Flower curriculum) advice and am laying every bit of it out. 

It only took me 8 years to apply practical advice. 

I think it may be a record for me!

(I plan to address the Will and how to work on it in another post this year. In case you can't tell, I need a lot of work developing my Will.)

Last year handwork was the first part of our homeschool day to get tossed out. 

And it shouldn't have been. 

I consider handwork a vital part of my children's education.

So this year I'm working on a definitive curriculum for it. I asked Auri to select some yarn and needles from the shelf and she chose these. If you knit at all then you can see that we are going to have some problems. The needles are far too big for the yarn. 

It illustrated to me just how much work I have to do in this arena.

And it pointed out a recurring problem I have. 

I give my children too much choice. 

I should have never sent Auri to choose her own yarn and needles. I should have thoughtfully packed her handwork bag with the appropriate yarn and needles for our first knitting project.

I am working my way through Steiner's Handwork book and I'm finding it fascinating. It's also empowering and exciting. But I've allowed my excitement and passion to translate into errors. I didn't apply enough thought or preparation before I acted.

It's a lesson I'm carrying into the rest of my work with my children. :o)

Now, on to my tentative handwork plans for the year.

Auriana is in 4th grade this year. She knows how to knit, but she's shaky in casting on and casting off. We are going to strengthen those skills before we move on to purling. She is going to make a pair of wool slippers for herself. I found a pattern that is just a rectangle and then sewn together and felted. I think she will have a great time with it. 

Our next project will involve cross stitch and the lovely wool felt I just ordered. I can't wait until it arrives. I intend to use it to prepare our nature table for Autumn too. Delightful harvest colors just waiting for my crafting table.

Ronan will begin finger knitting this year. I also have some wet felting plans for him. 

Does anyone else have their handwork planned for the year? I'm still looking for ideas for 4th grade and kindergarten! Send them my way and when I get finished with my planning I'll post the schedule here.:o)

Sewing Camp 2011

Auriana's First Creation

I was thrilled when my friend Julie (the cat herder.......I mean owner/manager of the Alley Cat Collective) told me about the sewing camp that a fellow crafter would be teaching. 

Auriana loves to create and I feel like I never have time to teach her everything she would like to learn. Sewing also happens to be one of those things that I'm not fantastic at. It requires so much attention to detail and in the past I've gotten bored with the project before I could complete it. Auriana is the complete opposite of me in this respect. She has such patience and she's very particular. 

This makes Auriana and sewing a GREAT fit!

I'm enchanted by the pocket detail.

I saw an example of the project they were doing and jumped at it. What could be cuter than an owl backpack/hobo bag?

An owl bag made with vintage fabric by my daughter of course! ;o)

What a sweet handle!

I am in awe of my daughter's mad skills. I can't believe that she made this bag. It is so perfectly done. So professional. That class was SO worth the $50 tuition. And Auri picked up skills that she's already put to use here at home. She is completely comfortable with my sewing machine. She is making her own patterns and appliqueing without assistance. She is prepared to conquer the world of sewing, and I have no doubt that she will. 

She's already talked one of the ladies at church into giving her some patterns.

I enjoy my daughter for so many reasons.

She's a wonderful friend. 

She's helpful and kind.

She's thoughtful and considerate.

She's goofy and funny.

She's creative and always willing to learn something new.

This bag is more to me than the product of a fun week of sewing.

It is a beginning.

And if this is the beginning, I can't wait to see the end.

Ready to tag along on Adventures.

The Pirate Ship

Real Life Pretend Play

I walked by the children's room on the way to my office the other day and this caught my eye. I grabbed my camera to capture it and when they saw me take a picture Auri explained, "We're dangerous Pirates sailing to the Island where we've hidden our gold!" 

Sounds like fun.:o)

I went through the few photos I'd taken and I was disappointed at the everyday disarray. Their beds rarely stay made.  Not if they spend any time at all in their room playing. They use the bed for a thousand things. 

Pirate ships, for instance. 

Caves....Mountains.....Tents.....Castles......Apartments...

The list is limited only by their imagination.

We don't have lovely wooden beds and shelves. (Not yet.) Our beds aren't covered in handmade goodness. (I'm working on it! I promise!)

Part of me doesn't want to post this picture because it's so very ordinary....not to mention that the lighting isn't great.

But it was such a perfect moment. A moment of extreme ingenuity on their part. I LOVE the sail. I have no idea how they thought of that, but I love it. 

I am so pleased that they PLAY. 

Constantly, and with complete abandon.

It's a good reminder that the trappings of Waldorf that I love so much are only trappings. That handmade is best, in my opinion, but not vital.

If you set children free to use their imaginations then it doesn't matter if they have a complete set of Ostheimer or a small box of legos.....or a large playsilk, a fan, and a clipboard for the wheel.....they will create worlds that are so rich that we cannot understand how they do it.

Children are amazing creatures.

And I am delighted that I have the opportunity to learn from them.

A morning of gardening.

Planting Sunflowers is HARD WORK!

I gave up my dream of keeping everything on the farm native to Texas. I just can't wrap my mind around how to landscape with them. If I ever actually learn enough to do it then I'm writing a book about. One is ABSOLUTELY NEEDED! (Now that I've said that I'm sure that folks will point me in the right direction. You know, since I've already planted a slew of non native sunflowers, and such.)

It's not like this year was going to be a perfectly landscaped year anyways. I think it may take about 3 years or so before I'm happy with the way things look. Or 10 years. Or 20 years. 

Kiska shares her step with her Bubba.

I knew that if I didn't go throw some things in the ground that we would have NOTHING. I get caught up in that perfectionist thing that wants everything to look just right. (You would think that by now I'd know myself well enough to know that I don't do things that way.) I just hope that all the seeds that the littles planted make it up. Some of them looked a little deep to me.

Ronan assured me that they would be just fine.

Comforting.

 

Conner and Auriana preparing their Mammoth Sunflower beds.

Is it best to garden with a plan? 

Yep.

But if the plan gets in the way of actually

GROWING something....

all by YOURSELF....

Then forget the plan.  

Grab a shovel and some seeds and get to work.

(I PLAN on saving the seeds so that I control what goes where. HA! We'll see how that goes....see above mentioned inability to stick to a plan.)

I can't help it though. I think that even if the place were taken over by morning glories and sunflowers it would still be better than the rotten stickers we have around the house. 

Tyler is trying to thin out the stickers.

(disclaimer.....I know that it seems like I'm belittling native plantings...I'm not. But I finally decided that if I could plant non native tomatoes, herbs, potatoes, and pumpkins in my garden then why not sunflowers too?)

 

Dirt Bikes

Ronan is getting some last minute advice.

His Pit Crew had to make some minor adjustments.

Auriana was happy to be back on her dirtbike.

Tyler was happy she shared with him.

Ronan thinks he's ready for the Big Time.

With tricks like these, maybe he is.:o)

Artistic Endeavours

Auriana's Studio

Auri decided that she wanted a more official set up today. This is what she came up with. 

It has everything the budding artist needs.

A backdrop.

Crayons, stamps, pencils, and paper.

A place to sit.

She also set up various scenes and tried her hand at still life.

An example of the morning's work.

She used our wooden trees, lake, and gnomes to set this scene. She used a tish of artistic license of course. But over all it's spot on. :o)

Ronan becomes her Subject

Auriana roped her brother into her project. She quickly learned that it is more difficult to draw a moving subject.

Ronan's Portrait

She found that it was a lot harder to draw on a vertical surface than she thought.

But she had fun, and she tried something new.

I like it when the kids decide to shake things up.:o)

I think we may spend the next few days in our crayon boxes, and see where it takes us.

 

Chores and Storytelling

The Cave Explorers

Ever tried to force a 3 year old to pick up her room? Not much fun, and it usually results in a power struggle that no one is going to win.

At least for me.:o)

Ronan and Kiska love to help.......when they WANT to help....the rest of the time is a screaming, stomping, fit throwing with lots of "It's not fair!" and "I HATE this ROOM!"

So sometimes I have to be sneaky.

Instead of saying "Ronan, I need you to go to your room and push your mattress under the bed so we can get Auri's bed made." 

(Something that is likely to result in the turkey throwing a fit.) 

I'll say, "Ronan, I need your help pushing the mattress under the bed. I just don't think I can get it by myself. Do you want to play with your marbles later? Or are we just going to draw today."

It's pretty close to the first statement. But this one has us working together which fosters more of the "we're all in this together" mentality that we're striving for. I've made him important to the task. And, perhaps most importantly, I've moved the topic onto something he likes to think about as I walk to the room with him. Moving on doesn't give him a chance to think about how frustrated that he is that he has to get to work. He's thinking about marbles and drawing.

The tight spots.

When we began pushing the mattress in it became apparent that it wasn't going to go in all the way. Something was BACK THERE. 

(Surely not! Toys, clothes, and books shoved under the bed! That NEVER happens!)

At this point I could complain and become irritated by the fact that the hooligans didn't puth their things away properly. I could start griping and handing out punishments or threats of punishment if they didn't keep their things put away.

If I do that then I invite the children into the blame game. I invite them to transfer blame. I invite them to argue with me. I invite them to cry and pout. I invite them to witness the "unfairness" of the world if they have to pick up something that they didn't put there.

Or I can invite them into a caving expedition to extract unknown artifacts for research and classification.:o)

After a quick lesson on caving safety..... ( Okay, it's dark in there. And we've never mapped this cave so we don't know where it goes or what's in there. Keep close, climb careful, and if you get into trouble then hollar and we'll find a way to get you out....I haven't lost a man yet.) 

And a nod to what we were looking for......(I want you to bring back ANYTHING you find. It could all be important. The smallest item can tell us something.)

In the explorers went.....

First, the Grand Adventurer Ronan found a flashlight that he declared would come in handy in the dark. 

Then the Grand Adventurer Kiska found a penny that she declared was treasure.

When Ronan found a stinky sock, Auriana declared that there must be Trolls down there! So be EXTRA CAREFUL!!

They cleared everything out from under the bed. And with each item I came up with something to say about it. 

The trash indicated that it MUST be Trolls because they're the only creatures rotten enough to throw trash on the ground.

We found an unknown species of cave dwelling sheep.

More treasure, perhaps Pirates had been here before.

Books! Trolls and Pirates don't read books! They must have stolen them for toilet paper.

The yellow playsilk was Sunshine, Ronan had found a shaft that reached the surface!

The sword must be magic! 

The artifacts.

I think it took us close to 10 minutes to get the bed cleaned out. That might seem like a long time to some. But I had fun, the children had fun, they did all the work, and I managed to sow the seeds for their creative play and storytelling for the rest of the day.

It was MUCH easier than spending 10 or more minutes arguing with a 5 year old over cleaning. It also made the next thing I needed him to do easier to accomplish. If you fight over one thing, then the next thing you ask is also going to be a fight.

I prefer for the momentum of our days to be based on cooperation and imagination.

Bed put away? Check.

 Adding storytelling to your day is easier than you might think, and children thrive on it. 

Have you done this? What do you use as your inspiration?

 

Creative Friday, Auri's Vest Finished!

It's Done!!

I had Auri's Sweater almost finished last Saturday and I had expected for knit up the last two inches at the Alley Cat. But I wound up getting to talk to so many wonderful folks and such that I never actually managed to knit. Then I left my basket there, expecting to pick it up the next day.....which became a week.:o)

Last night I pulled it out and finished it up. She hasn't seen it yet, I can't wait until she does! 

I think she's going to love it.

Woolie Love to you All!!

(Even though it was 85 degrees today)

W.I.P. Wednesday

Auri's Sweater

It's coming along nicely. I love this pattern so much! Georgie Hallam is such a great designer. Her patterns make me feel like I know what I'm doing.:o)

Auri can't wait until it's finished. Kissy thinks that it's hers, and no amount of explaining is helping her understand. Maybe once it's finished she'll be happy that Auri has one "just like hers". Hopefully.

I am in love with the way the colors look together, and I think it's going to turn out perfect.

Yay! Something went right.:o)

Happy knitting!

Wishing you Warmth on this snowy day.

Snow Days

 Kissy just before she fell through the 3 ft drift.

We don't get much snow here in North Texas. This means that we usually try to have as much fun as possible with the little bit we get. 

This snowstorm was different. 

It was so COLD that we couldn't get out into it for more than about 5 or 10 minutes.

We were just so woefully unprepared for 10 degrees and 50 mile an hour winds. And that weather lasted almost all week.

This brought us lots of "Stuck Indoors" days.

Kissy's Airplane

We spent a lot of time flying airplanes. It may not seem like a traditional way to keep children occupied, but Tyler is a Paper Airplane AR-TEEST (artist in case you can't hear my inflection) and they have a great time building and flying them.

I lost count of how many airplanes they made.

I lost count of how many games they made up to play with the airplanes they made.

I even lost count of the hours they flew them somewhere after 13.......

I lost count of the number of  smiles.

I lost count of the number of giggles.

I lost count of the crashes.

Lost count of the rescue missions we had to perform to retrieve planes that had wandered their way into the bermuda triangle and gotten spit out on top of the fan or the bookshelf.

I'm happy to report that, although I had a hard time keeping track of the good things, keeping track of the rough spots was easy because there were so few of them.

This is the face she made when we had to do anything other than fly airplanes.

 

 Poor baby! 

Her rough spots don't usually last too long though, so at least there is that. 

 These boys spent some of their time listening to music.

 The girls spent some of their time loving the babies.:o)

 Auri's snowman.

Today was our first day over 30. The sun was shining and it didn't take long for the hooligans head out and start having a blast. Auriana built this snowman for the littles.  He is sporting handmade mittens that Auri made from a felted wool sweater.

She also took the pictures. :o) 

 I think she did an AWESOME job!!!

Auri's Sweater Vest

Auri's Sweater. 

You know, the sweater that I was supposed to make for her for Christmas? 

Yep. Just now getting started.

This is more purple in real life.

I fell into a knitting and dyeing lull after Kissy's sweater. I think I caught more of the Christmas crazy than I wanted to. It was still more peaceful than previous years so we're continuing to make progress.

It's all about the striving.

 

This is not quite so neon blue.:o)

I skeined and dyed up a big batch of wool and had it waiting on the washer to take pictures of before I took it to town to the store....then the kids saw it.

The hooligans fell on it instantly ooohhhing and aahhhing. Then debating which ones they wanted and what they were going to make out of it.

I tried to put a stop to it with a firm, "This is going to the store, guys. It's for sale, not for fun."

To which they replied, " We have money!! How much?!"

What could I do? 

So after charging them all the market would bear. 

I mean, charging them a reasonable fee. ;o) 

Auri asked me if I would take some of her yarn and make her a sweater like Kiska's out of it.

This is now my current project. And I know she will love it. I'm just hoping that it turns out as lovely as it can.

I love the contrast, I just wish I felt more confident about how to stripe it.:s

January School Days

Very Proud of Our Flowers!

We had so much fun with the paperwhite project. It was exciting to watch the pods swell  and then burst forth with flowers. All of the children decided that growing flowers inside is something that we need to do a lot more of. It really does give you a wonderful opportunity to witness the hourly changes. 

At one point they were measuring how quickly one pot was growing vs. the other and tried to figure out why. 

Their findings were inconclusive. :o) 

I enjoyed the discussion and found their deductive reasoning skills to have grown since the last time I saw them in action.

I love the small hints of progress.

Auri's Classroom

Auriana often holds school sessions in her room for the babies. I find this to be a lovely way to "assess" what she's learned. 

Much more informative than any test I could give her.:o)

(I also have to add that I find it nothing short of AMAZING that she can keep the hooligans attention for the amount of time it takes her to tell a story. The littles love their special time with Auri.)

Acting out the Story that Auri told

Then she always invites them closer to become a part of the retelling. When I watch Auri interacting with her little brother and sister I can see what a great mom she's going to be.  I am so happy that all this hands on experience will be something she can rely on as she builds her own family.

Can you imagine how wonderful it would be to have children and just KNOW what to do with them without having to read a zillion books on the subject? 

KNOW how to homeschool without having to constantly research and research your techniques as you struggle to bring a living education to your child?

KNOW how to knit without having to find the videos on YouTube?

KNOW how to draw without having to reference a book? 

KNOW how important warmth is?

KNOW that less can be so much more?

These are the important lessons. The history may one day be forgotten. Much of the math may never be used. Sentences can be built without knowing the differences between noun and verb. 

But the meals that they will cook each day, the children they nurture, the LIFE they will build....These are the skills that are so important that they CAN NOT be placed to the side.

They must be the CORE subjects. 

If culture is to grow then LIFE must cease being an extra curricular. 

LOVE must be so important that nothing else is allowed to take its place.

CURIOSITY must be nurtured.

DILIGENCE must be addressed.

CREATIVITY must be focused on. 

I'm glad that we have the freedom to keep these front and center.

 

Sometimes our Classes look like this...

Sometimes like this....

Kissy loves music any way she can get it.:o)

Festival of Lessons and Carols

Auriana in her choir robe

This evening Tyler and Auriana performed at our church's Festival of Lessons and Carols. It was a lovely evening, and they both did beautifully. I was especially proud of how they managed to stay still and be interested in all the music. 

Before the service I took all the children outside to get their picture on the front steps. 

(I won't be showing any of the other children because I didn't ask their parents permission.:o) 

Trust me though, they were an angelic group.  

All of them. 

Except maybe one. 

I love Calvin and Hobbes cartoons. I grew up cracking up over the trouble that boy could get into, and his take on it all was Perfect! 

My favorite Calvin and Hobbs strips are the ones where his mother is desperately trying to get Calvin to make at least ONE decent face for their family picture or his school pictures.

 I wonder why?

Love, Laughter, and Little Boy Hijinks,

Wendi

Autumn Crafting

Our First Corn Dolly

I've had these sweet little things in my head for a couple of weeks. A friend of mine made one about 10 years ago that we all thought was amazing but I never gave it a try. Last year Rae from Morning Sun Rae showcased lots of different lovelies. I never found the time last year to try them out but I put it in my schedule for this year. I'm glad I did!

 

 Dyed Husks

I soaked some of the husks in plain warm water. The pink husks I placed in about 2 quarts of water in the sink with a bottle of red food coloring squirted into it. I let them sit for about thirty minutes. For the green I used about half a bottle of green food coloring and just filled the jar with warm water. they also sat for around thirty minutes.

Pink Husks in the Sink

 

Tying off the Head

 

To make the head I took a small ball of wool and placed it in the middle of a natural colored corn husk. Then Auri helped out by holding the wobbly thing still while I tied it off.

 

Waiting for the next step

Tying off the hands

The hands were trickier than I expected. I took a small husk and trimmed the ends down a bit. Then I folded them in and tied them off. I think there may be a better way to do this, but I wasn't able to find it.

Initial Dress layering

 I laid the head down and placed the arms in between the husks under my "neck tie" and made sure the arms were even. 

But they wound up uneven anyways. Go figure. It was easy to fix. I just slid them a bit before they were secure.

Now comes the part I don't have a picture for. My hands were busy and the kids ran off to play with the goat.:o)

I placed a husk front and back and then took an extra long string for my next step. I laid the dolly on top of the string. Then I wrapped it around the waist a few times. Next I crossed the strings in front and took them over the shoulders to the back. Here I crossed them again and took them back to the front. 

I know it's confusing. I'm sorry I didn't get pictures. 

Next I took several of the husks and layered them in this order......

One on the front, one on the left side, one on the back, one on the right side.  (not that it was scientific or anything...lol. I kinda just stuck them where they seemed even.)

I saved the four best looking ones for the outside skirt. 

An inside view of the layers

You can tell from this view that there wasn't a whole lot of rhyme or reason to the layering....lol.

With the top trimmed up a bit.

 Then I "dressed" her, trimmed her skirt,

 And ran off to blog instead of pack up for the camping trip.:o)

The Best Helper.

Autumn Blessings!!