full circle...

i love life...

i love how things are constantly changing.  i love how there is always so much more to learn/do/create/explore.  i love how things can come to us unexpectedly.  and i *love* how it feel when we are on the right track.

the wave of peace & warmth that washes over us when we are on a road that is true to both us & those we love...

right now i am referring to homeschooling.

i have a friend who is pregnant with her 3rd child & due to start homeschooling her eldest this fall  ask me, a "veteran homeschooler" with *7* years under my belt for advice.  she is where i was when we began our journey...;)

in writing her back about various methods that we used/explored so long ago in our early years, i rediscovered 2 lovely approaches that we used with our eldest.

this was key, because when she asked me for advice, i was contemplating our own upcoming year.

our history??  we began with"school @ home", like so many other moms who want to homeschool, but weren't homeschooled themselves & have no idea where to begin.

i quickly learned that this would not work!

so, then we began exploring...my neighbor turned me onto Charlotte Mason, which felt good for us & then told me about five in a row, which was perfect for us.

later on, i fell in love with waldorf.  the waldorf approach felt so very right for me.  as the mother of a newborn, with 2 young children, i was looking to honor this new life, while enjoying freedom to be & do with our other 2 children.

and then, just a year & a half into this new life, i was pregnant with our fourth child...a sweet girl.

waldorf guided us through these early years, but later on when homeschooling the two eldest with the two littles in tow, it became too much.

this gentle approach no longer felt right for us...it was way too stressful & i was spent.  the boys, then 11 & 8 were tired of waiting for their "turn" with mama & just wanted to be done!

i, too, felt that our day was a struggle.  lessons dragged on because our two youngers were still very much in the thick of needing mama.

after the great coup of 2010, our same amazingly wise neighbor told me about what her daughter had been doing.  superb child-led book via christian light education.  affordable, thorough & just what the boys were looking for...

and we remained with this approach last year as well.

it really is a great curriculum, and our now 13 year old wants to continue with it this fall.  *but* things have changed so that i have both more time & energy.  our littles are now 4 & 6 & this is huge!

and so, we begin anew this fall, with things having come full circle...

our 6 year old will use five in a row & our 4 year old (who very much wants to be in on the lessons) will sit in when she wants to & play on her own when she feels so moved.

five in a row has enough structure for me to feel that we are forming a good foundation, but it is in no way intense.  we read *one* book every day for a week.  then your lessons, math, literature, art, science come form the books.

for example, the first book is the story of ping, a duck.  each morning we will read the book & then:

Monday: (social studies, geography) we'll find china on a map & read a second book about china.

Tuesday: (math) we'll use manipulatives (buttons, clothespins, or perhaps even pictures of ducks) to count out ping's family.  we'll do some basic addition & subtracting as well.

Wednesday (this is when our homeschool co-op meets)

Thursday (science, animal kingdom) we'll learn about ducks.  we'll read a couple of books about ducks & observe them @ our neighbor's pond.  perhaps we'll even bring our notebooks & sketch them.

Friday: (art, drawing water)  we'll look back through the book, noting the different ways that water is drawn...puddles, ripples for motion, etc.  and then we'll try our hand @ drawing water in our lesson books.

as our week's are only 4 days, because of co-op & because some books are more inspiring that others, we will cut some down to 4 lessons & extend some to included 8 lessons.

@ any rate, i have been having so much fun planning out our year!

i bought a super simple, but *perfect* planner for $10 @ target.  it is awesome & has *everything* i need & none of the extra stuff i never use.  basic outlines will go in here.

i also have a spiral notebook where i keep more detailed notes about each lesson, including addition thoughts, ideas & resources.

i have missed all of this!! i have missed planning & being more involved in our children's lessons.  i have missed picking out experiments & projects that i know they'll love...

this is where i'll leave you...next time, charlotte mason & our 10 year old. :)

~love & peace to each of you on your journey~

snowflakes, stockings, a chicken & gingerbread...

honestly, paper snowflakes are addictive, agreed??

we began by making some to hang on our windows, but have now moved on to using them on our holiday cards & even our cookie canisters...

(photos of those to come later ;)

the boys pointed out that evyn didn't have a stocking of her own.  she has, until now, shared with mama & papa.  as she is 2 this year, we decided that she has graduated to having her own...

this was super easy/quick & turned out beautifully, if i do say so myself...

she chose the base fabric (a felted sweater from my stash) & then i used one of our other stocking for a template.  even with the stripes. it seemed a bit plain.  i was wanting something just a wee bit more,   so i added a few concentric circles, sewn on with buttons...perfect! 

& the verdict??...she loves it!

an early christmas present from aydin...

a lego chicken...i LOVE it!

is there anything this boy can't build?? he constantly amazes me!!

our  friends came over the tuesday before christmas & we made gingerbread houses from scratch!!  these were our first ever, aside from a few that we have made in the past from kits.

 they were amazingly east to make, & muy delicioso to boot... :)

even with all the candy 'glued on', they seemed a bit plain.  so...we cut out cardboard 'selves' & placed them around the house.  perfect!!  above, you can see a wee little ehren on the toboggan that orin & aydin crafted, & a plump santa on the left...

 here is aydin, making snow angels on the gingerbread roof...

 a close up of ehren on the toboggan...

 mama & papa (in teddy bear pajamas, aydin's idea) on the rooftop...

 orin, in his ninja gear...

& a wee little evelet on the peeping around the corner...

happy holidays to each & everyone one of you!!  xo

saint francis & a new look @ my own spirituality...

we began the new year with a look into the life of saint francis of assisi.

(patron saint of nature, ecology, all god's creatures great & small...)

i began researching saint stories for grade 2 this past summer, delving into "stories of the saints" by siegwart knijpenga, a recommended waldorf grade 2 resource. the stories are absolutely beautiful & a much more approachable introduction to spirituality & christianity than the bible or other religious doctrines that i have sought out.

they read like fairy tales...and i suppose they are, as saints are the epitome of perfection & purity, devotion & loyalty...each one with his or her own journey into holiness & yet no where have i seen anything other that love for EVERYone else.

this has long been one of my turnoffs from mainstream religion...the underlying attitude that our religion is the one & only, the "right way". accept our savior/god or thou shalt burn in hell...why?? why would that appeal to anyone?? i have never wanted to be a part of anything, religion or otherwise, that would ever be so cruel.

my own spiritual path has been quite a jumble. i attended church with one of my best friends when i was younger, but think it was more of a social outing than an actual finding of my inner spirituality. that being said, i did take various "world religion" classes in college to "find my religion". some religions really did spark an interest in me, but there was always some part of the dogma that didn't quite sit right with me.

there have been times in my life, as i am sure in most every one's, where we hit rock bottom & would really love to put our trust in a greater power, in the universe...desperately wanting to believe that there is someone looking out for me. someone loving each of us from afar & though perhaps remaining in the shadows, always making sure that we don't fall (too far) into the abyss.

though i do not go to church, i do practice a sort of spirituality in the day to day, though there is not a name or label that i can place on it. just living according to my own moral compass, treating others the way i would like to be treated, caring for mother earth & all of her creations. living a life where i acknowledge & truly try to appreciate the everyday blessings that surround our family, giving freely to other in need...in whatever capacity that may be.

in reading of saint francis, in reciting & copying his prayer into our lesson books, i found that this was something approachable, in a way that a lot of religion has not been to me in the past. this was a prayer that i could see myself repeating each night.

when we were introduced to the waldorf approach to homeschooling, which i have always considered to be more of a lifestyle than a learning style, we began doing blessings at meals. this was a first for me...i had never been one for prayer or meditation, though i had ofter wanted to be. i do, however, value gratitude...

from there we began introducing ourselves to the many waldorf festivals, though we have only really "gotten into" a few. i really love this aspect of waldorf, the festivals rooted in tradition rather that commercialism (which is where i lose faith in so many of america's holidays :(

learning of saint francis & the way that he so unorthodox-edly surrendered himself wholly unto his love for god again ignited that flame of religious curiosity...

after reading our lesson stories of saint francis, i wanted more... so, i ordered "the life lessons of saint francis: how to bring simplicity & spirituality into your daily life" from paperback swap. i read the first pages when it arrived & was immediately drawn in...he is amazing! everything he teaches/practices really resonates with me. i am only on the second chapter, but from what i have read so far, this is the path i was already, albeit unknowingly, on.

i am reading with an open mind, and am excited to see where this journey takes me...

@ any rate, i apologize for that tangent, but this is all very new & exciting to me!

as for what we did lesson wise...

these are the books that i chose as resources for our lessons, although there are MANY more...

*saint francis of assisi: a life of joy, robery f. kennedy

(this was our formal introduction to saint francis, truly a beautiful story)

*saint francis sings to brother sun: a celebration of his kinship with nature, karen pandell

(we read a page from this book each night before our bedtime story)

i have several other books on our paperback swap wish list:

*brother sun, sister moon: the life & stories of saint francis, margaret mayo

*francis: the poor man of assisi, tomie de paola

*saint francis & the wolf, richard egielski

if you have read any of the above, please let me know how your & your family liked them.

for our main lesson work...

for our copy work, we worked our way through "the prayer of saint francis", a verse a day...

day #2, we drew our portrait...

on day #3, we recalled what we had learned of saint francis & wrote our summary...

may your own journey be blessed as well...

handmade lovelies...

aydin made this super cool wizard hat to go with his halloween costume!


he drew the template himself, needle felted on the moon & star & then sewed it all up. very impressive...no??

much ado about mittens... this has been a hard one...these two are my second & third attempt at "the perfect toddler mitten". this pattern, had two sizing options...one for wider mittens (top left) & one for a slimmer fitting mitten (top right). however, neither seemed to fit evyn "right".

after knitting the first one, i decided that 1) the cuff was much too short to even stay on a toddler, but even after elongated the cuff, the second mitten just didn't fit right either. there is room to grow, which i like, but the cuff sits on here hand, vs resting below her wrist.

so...back to the drawing board. this go round, i am trying the "toddler mittens on a string" pattern. these are sized for a 12month old, so i am modifying this pattern from the get go...using #6 dpns & aran weight yarn vs #5 needles & dk weight. i am also knitting a 3" cuff right off the bat.

hopefully this will conclude my search, as the weather is getting a bit chilly here & evyn really is needing some mittens to keep her little niblet fingers warm.

i heard that we might even have snow in our weekend forecast!?! :)

rainbow legwarmers for ev... & my *free* pattern (listed on ravelry.com)

these we super fun to make & easy, to boot!

sammi & i took evyn out into the yard & did a great photo shoot with her...it was really quite fun! here are some of our favorites...

she's already good @ posing! (hoping this is a good thing...;)

i LOVE this one!

also very cute...

i finally got around to knitting myself a little something...

a lovely felicity, handspun cotton...gorgeous variegation! it will do nicely to hide my fro' (as i am once AGAIN growing my hair out!)

i do wish it was just a wee bit more slouchy...but other than that, i LOVE it!

and finally...

another lovely upcycled wool garland...this one in rainbow! i want to make a super long one of these for our christmas tree. though we'll need to stock up on sweaters first...:)

until next week...xoxo.

lake louise...

to close out our week-long celebration of both michaelmas & autumn itself, we like to head spend time with mother nature.

in the past we have gone to the arboretum, hiking on the blue ridge parkway, & to our local bird sanctuary...this go round, the boys chose to go to the park...lake louise to be specific.


this park has a lovely pond where we can watch the ducks & sometimes the geese, there are some really amazing weeping willow trees, a great play area, & a 'primitive' exercise corner that the boys LOVE! (it has loads of bars & beams, as well as gymnastic rings...need i say more?? ;)









now for a trek around the pond...


the boys LOVE playing on these rings!

as we were leaving, we caught site of this trio of ducks leaving as well. they were walking up the hill to the front door of this house, as if were there home...and perhaps it is. :)


we took a different route out of the park, on a whim...and discovered a whole area that we have never been to before, despite having frequented this park for YEARS!

it had this really old waterwheel, waterfalls, an entire rock face that just called to the boys 'climb me!'






absolutely gorgeous!


poor ev...she stayed by my side, on the outskirts, as she was a bit too young to go on this exploration...

but in the end we found a little hill for her to climb on as well...;)

perhaps you, too, have a secret cove waiting to be explored...??