Our Michaelmas Celebration

 After 10 years of homeschooling, we have recently found a group of families that homeschool and parent in the same kind of ideas that we are trying to bring to our own family. We have been so very blessed to be able to come together with this group weekly for a circle time with the younger ones. The children are able to play in nature and listen to beautiful  stories and create and sing and just. be. children.
 This past weekend our little group got together and held our Michaelmas celebration. At our previous circle time we prepared by having each child decorate a paper bag however they wished.

Then, on the day of the celebration, the mama who was hosting the gathering put the bags together to form our dragon. After some free playing time, the children gathered to hear a story about dragons. Then they listen to the story of Michael and how he slayed the dragon with his fiery sword.

The kids all went off to find something that they could magically transform into a sword. For they had a task that lay ahead of them!

With sticks in hand, they repeated the magic words that turned them into swords. Just in time too, because around the corner a dragon emerged! Our brave guardians fearlessly fought the dragon.

Our victors emerge with their trophy!

And then sent him to the fiery pit forever! (Or at least until next Michaelmas... )

 

 

Beautiful Waldorf

    Waldorf. When I think of this educational philosophy, I can't help but think of beautiful childhood. Simple. We have been on our homeschooling journey for 10 years now. The last 6 have been inspired by the Waldorf method. I am no expert on it. I have not even come close to being as much of a purist that I would like to be. I have not yet been able to completely get rid of the tv, or those wonderful gifts of plastic toys that so many well meaning people have gifted my children. Yet, what we have been able to incorporate into our lives, have simply made it beautiful. Especially how our children learn. Today I had to reflect on this as my 6th grade son was working on his geometry lesson. The other children were so drawn to what he was doing, that they all did one of their own. I know that my little princess, who is 7, is not in the same place in her life that this is for her, nor is my little man who is only 5. This is where I say we use Waldorf as an inspiration. Homeschooling 4 children, the younger ones are bound to want to have a taste of what the older ones are doing, I mean, seriously, when you see something so beautiful, you would be intrigued as well wouldn't you? And I let them work on it. And we also do the stories that speak to each of them. And when they grow older, they will redo these lessons they are sharing with their older brother, because at that point, it will speak to them in a whole other way. And in my opinion, that is perfect for us. Today, as with many other days,  I realized that we have been so very fortunate to have been lead to this way of teaching our children. My 6th grader would not be so into his math lesson had the results not been so captivating. I doubt he would be coming to the table with so much anticipation if I were just handing him worksheets. Funny how the things we are looking for tend to find us and just seem to work....beautifully!

This Moment

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

New Birth on Our Little Homestead

How exciting it was to take our morning trip out to the barn to find new life! Our little Sara goat gave birth to a sweet little billy. Truth be told, we were not even sure she was pregnant so we didnt know if or when to expect a delivery. She is quite the good little mama. I am very eager to be getting fresh goat milk again and get to making more soap! Miss Rachel, Sara's mama, is getting quite large, and she is showing signs of labor so hopefully, soon we will have babies from her as well!This comes at such a good time since my Jersey cow is drying up and now we shall have milk from the goats untill she freshens again. Starting out fresh on our little homestead has been one learning experience after another. Will we ever have it all figured out? Most likely not. But be certainly enjoy the learning process that goes into it. I apreciate all that God has given to us and pray we can be good stewards of it.

Little lady holding the new baby

My Little guy holding the new baby. Excuse the no shirt, he had a "new" shirt we got
from the thrift store Sat on and he didn't want to get it dirty.

The Apron

Oh a little girl and her apron. There is just something so sweet about the two. "Mama, I want to wear and apron just like you." Words to soften a mama's heart.Her apron was a half apron... and mine is a full apron...so her half apron just isn't cutting it for her anymore. Not to mention it is old of course. I made this for her about 3 years ago.
                                                                 My little lady in her "old" apron
So she would love a new apron. But not any new apron. This one must be made by her. She has decided that I make mine, she shall make hers. So we set off to the sewing room for my little lady to make her own. And then... she finished and now must put on her new creation. I think the apron transformed her, because as soon as she put it on, downstairs she went to fix her brothers a snack. Oh the things an apron can do... I am truely blessed to be able to share these moments with her and to teach her these skills that she can use for life.

Five

Well... my littlest one has turned 5. Oh what a milestone five feels like to such a little guy. He feels so big now, he even told me he is pretty sure he felt himself grow a little over night.

I have been wanting a make a birthday ring for my children for some time now. As I ventured into my project, it got the interest of my husband. As we looked for birthday rings to make we came across this post that features a star birthday ring made by Grimm.He found that one to be very interesting and so we set off to make a similar one. Ours only has 6 points. I think it turned out quite nice for our first try. Oh, and Nature Daddy also had an idea of something he wanted to add to it. The kids love this hanging candel holder I got for Christmas, so he made a base for our birthday ring and a hanger for the candle holder. I thought it was very nice addition to our centerpeice.

The cake I was making for him was supposed to be a mushroom gnome house. Unfortunatly I didn't wait long enough before putting the icing on. I knew better, really I did. I was just in a hurry and, well, I am sure you've been there before. You realize after the fact, "If I only waited!" The mushroom was made with a recipe I found for black bean cake. It turned out really Yummmy! I decided to make the frosting with coconut oil. (That is why I REALLY should have let the cake completely cool before icing. Cocnut oil melts at something like 76 degrees. Should have should have! Oh well) The frosting tasted amazing! I will post my recipe at the end of this post for you to try. Oh, but I forgot to tell you. Mama got frustated with the cake and walked away. Big 14 yr old brother stepped in and finished it up for me. I was so proud of him! I didn't get a good picture of the cake but you can see it behind the birthday ring. I just may have to turn more of the birthday cakes over to him!

And here is the present I made for him. I made him a gnome's mushroom house playmat. I also cut him a gnome with my scroll saw, somehow he didn't end up in the picture though. I am sure plenty more gnomes will be added before long though. Oh, as promised, here is the recipe for the coconut oil frosting. Coconutty Frosting 1/2 c virgin coconut oil 1 1/2 lb-2lb powder sugar 1 can coconut milk 1t vanilla pinch of salt Make sure the coconut oil is soft. cream it in the mixer. Then add about a pound of the powder sugar. mix it well and add the creamier portion of the can of coconut milk. I never added the watery part. Add vanilla and salt and blend well for a few minutes. If it isn't thick enough add more powder sugar. I also added, only because I had it on hand, a little bit of coconut palm sugar. It gave it just a little more cocnutty flavor. Now, MAKE SURE, your cake is COOLED before using this icing! Enjoy!