sistermama gets real

Homespun Waldorf Winter Carnival

I've been a little quiet around here lately because I've been busy working on the Winter Carnival at Homespun Waldorf.   We've got 4 weeks of winter inspiration and fun planned and for once I'm looking forward to February.  The carnival starts today with a great post by Kathy from "Bliss Beyond Naptime".  Please do check it out and consider adding your own post.  We would love to have you!

Story, Draw, Write

Oh how easy it is for me to fall in the three day school trap of only getting to: Day 1 - tell the story, Day 2 - draw the story, Day 3- summarize the story all in a main lesson book.  I read a wonderful post by Carrie at "The Parenting Passageway" before Christmas and was very inspired by the blogging conversation that continued between herself and Lisa at "Celebrate the Rhythm of Life".  Carrie's first post, "The Three Artistic Pillars of Waldorf Education" says, "Yet I so often hear that “all we can get through is the Main Lesson” and that doesn’t seem to include  drawing, painting, or modeling, unless the child is drawing and summarizing on the second or third day  of a two or three day rhythm."  Ummm, yes, she basically hit the nail on the head for an average day in our schooling.  

I like to take stock of our school year so far in that natural break of time that happens over Christmas.  This year I was pretty pleased with how things were going, but also definitely saw a need to enliven our learning, and break out of the rut we fell into most days.  

Lisa replies to Carrie's post in on entitled "Expanding the Pillars and the Conversation"   where she adds 5 more pillars.  So, the pillars together are: drawing; painting; modeling; speech; music; movement; drama and handwork.  Carrie follow up to her post here.

I was so inspired by this series of conversations to really think about where I place importance and how I prioritize our school day.   Its not that I don't plan to get to those pillars, but I tend to schedule them in the afternoon and honestly, we don't often get to my afternoon plans.  One of my main reasons for homeschooling is so we have time to be and do, and doing school work for 6 hours doesn't really fit in with that.  So, the bulk of our schooling time is spent creating Main Lesson Books.  I had an a-ha moment where I realized that the main lesson book is not the vehicle for learning!  Yes it can be a great way to record and document the learning, but learning can't start and stop with it.  How much topic related learning is happening before we get out that blank book in the form of modeling, movement or speech?  How much learning is happening after the few sentences are written?  In our case, not much.  

So, I have begun the second half of our school year with a new emphasis on the pillars of Waldorf education as the main focus during our morning school time.  I'm still working my way into what this looks like and will share when I sort it out a bit more.  I'm also thinking a lot about the main lesson book's role in the homeschool.

The Wednesday Hike

One of my main kid/school goals for this winter is to be outside together (no matter the weather!) at least an hour a day and to take a family hike on Wednesday afternoons.  I made an exception the day it was 3 out and windy, because I'm just not that hardcore.  We did have to do some work for the chickens that day though, so that kind of counts.  When we worked in Orlando we had much more of a car trek before we could start our actually trek, now we feel lucky to have several great hiking spots very close to us.  

 Lucy pretty much hates hiking.  She cries and whines before we leave, when we first get out of the car, and when we are on our way back in the second half of the hike.  Its a fine line to walk between pushing her a little further and also knowing that we may have to drag her back the rest of the way.  She does like about half of the hike though, especially if water and sticks are involved.  



This spot is a popular place to hike and the paths quickly get tramped down and icy.  We've got lots of Yak Trax to go around, and Lucy's boots are finally big enough to hold on a pair.  

In a first for Lu, she made it back with much fussing.  She started whining and teased her about setting a new record and making it back to the car before she started crying.  She actually laughed, stopped and DID make it back to the car, where she promptly fell asleep.

Winter Book Basket, First Installment

This summer I came up with a pretty good system for storing our seasonal books.  It has been very easy for me to grab a bag and restock our book basket.  I've also whittled our books down to my (and the kids) very favorites, so with a few exceptions the books that are in the basket are what we have out at a given time.  Jack has several novels out at a time and Lucy also has an early reader basket that changes every few weeks.  I love marking the change in seasons by pulling out loved and timely books. I especially love putting away the Christmas books (about 28 of them by Epiphany!) and enjoying the pared down simplicity of a few books in a basket.  

Jack's school main lesson block for January regards measuring time with calendars and clocks, so I've included a few books tied to that theme, as well as our first batch of wintery books.

Winter Days in the Big Woods   is part of the series of picture books created from the full length Little House books.  I think they are by far the best "derivative" books I've come across.  They somehow manage to retain all the magic off the original books.  Probably because they don't try to retell an entire novel in one little picture book, but instead tell a much smaller story found in the larger story.  We love all of them, and own most of them.  


Dance at Grandpa's   - Another reason they are so lovely is because the publisher secured permission from the estate of the original illustrator (Garth Williams) to use his style and images for these newer books.  


Around the Year  Lovely poems and illustrations from Elsa Beskow that follow the months of the year, a well as the hours of the day and days of the week.  I had forgotten that it also had the days of the week, I'll use this tomorrow with Lucy as she and I have been making a perpetual calendar together.  

The Tale of Urso Brunov : Little Father of All Bears by Brian Jacques.  We love this story from the Redwall author.  Urso Brunov is only the size of a thumb, but very fierce and brave - a perfect story for Lucy!  Jack hasn't read any of the Redwall books yet, but I've got them on his long list.  


January Rides the Wind: A Book of Months by Charlotte Otten is one of those books that is out of print but shouldn't be.  It has gorgeous illustrations as well as a great, short poem that really personifies each month, at least in our climate!  Jack is using these poems for the calendar he is creating.  


Jack and I love  The Tomten by Astrid Lindgren, Lucy less so.  Oh well, I'll keep reading it.  The meter of the story language is so soothing and quiet.  Perfect for a bedtime story.  

So there you have it, the contents of our first winter story basket.  If it ever snows again (we have a little bit on the ground) I'll bring out the more snow based winter books.  I probably have enough winter books to do three baskets spread across the season.  What are your favorite winter books?  Please do share in the comments below.

Year in Review - 2011

I am having a tough time getting back in the blogging routine!  Actually, I'm having a bit of a tough time getting back into several of my before Christmas break routines.  My early mornings have been nonexistent - back on track with that tomorrow morning!  My school preplanning is quite a bit lacking - I'll be scrambling tomorrow morning.  But we are all definitely feeling that "it's freezing cold outside, let's nest", so I think we will find our way through.  

We had a pretty good 2011 compared with lots of other people.  The best part for me was quitting my job in June.  Scary, but definitely improved our home life.  

January brought us John's birthday with the requisite best ever carrot cake.  Look at poor Lucy, she must have been sick.  

Plus lots of snow and the best icicle season we've had yet.


February saw good friends move back to town

And lots of snowshoeing


In March Jack fell out of bed and broke his collar bone, but he got to ride in a wheelchair and could still build a consolation Lego set.

Jumpin Jack's opened, and we were there on the first day for our first cones of the season.


April brought mud season


time for great grandma and baby love


and a brand new bike rider.


May brought my birthday


and lots of Annie nanny time.


With June came a wonderful return to the creek (thank you random family who rebuilds the water chute every year)


and good times with good friends at Old Songs.  Check out Lucy on the washtub bass.


In July, John, Jack and Lucy had a wonderful visit with Granny Great in Maine.


And Jack turned nine.


August was a wonderful haze of lazy lake days


and our fun annual church camping trip.


Lucy turned seven in September


and finally reached the approved age for ear piercing.


We had a great first day of school at Old Sturbridge Village.

October brought together a wonderful group of crazy cousins for a really super wedding

and saw a snake charmer and wizard go door to door.


In November we drove to NC and back into fall for a certain one year old's birthday party.


Jack was very proud to give his gift.


Nana surprised Jack and Lucy for a pre Christmas visit


And helped hunt for the perfect tree.


Hmmm, just realized Lucy must have taken that picture.  Not bad, Lu!  And that's the end of the line.  My 2011 pictures officially end on 12/22 when the rest of my December became about my gall bladder.  Luckily lots of family was here, I need to get those picture holes filled in!  

Happy New Year sweet readers!  I hope that 2012 brings you many blessings!




 

 

Stocking Stuffer Swap Recap

I wanted to have this posted much before now, but better now than never!  This is the first swap I've hosted and it was so fun to open all the packages.  The sorting was a bit crazy though, lots of last minute adjustments to make sure everyone got the right stuff. 


I think I got picures of everything except for little felt gnomes I made.  Not sure how I missed those.

Now for the loveliness:

Felted gnomes from lovely handwork queen Lisa


Santa ornaments from Raquel at Sweet Peas Nursery


Rainbow people from Heather at peacework designs


Knitted trees from Freyja


 Felt bags from Susan 


Knitted cats from Tracy


Calendula salve from Sarah (and the sweet peas!)


Wallets from Cypress


Felt butterfly pins and felt mouse kits from Sonia at Mud Between Our Toes


Stuffed owls from Kerri


Knitting needles from me


Rainbow wands from Christi


Big and little owls from Cynthia (I can't wait to make mine into a mobile)


Wooden gnomes from Natasha at Twinkles and Twigs

What wonderful things!  Did I miss you somehow?  I checked my list twice but please contact me if I did.  Did I miss linking to your blog?  Please let me know.  Next up is a kid to kid swap, I'll let you know when it is ready. 

 

Glad to be on the other side

Well, the end of 2011 sure chewed me up and spit me out.  I somehow managed to really overcommit myself in December even though I was SURE I hadn't.  I felt frantic and really overwhelmed by all the things I "had" to do.  Then it turns out it wasn't normal indigestion problems I'd been having over the past year, but actually gallbladder attacks.  I found this out in the emergency room the day before Christmas Eve - after a morning of excrutiating pain.  The doctor told me I could have the surgery right then or schedule it sometime in the next two weeks.  I was feeling a little better and I really wanted to make it through Christmas day for Jack and Lu, so I went home on meds.  

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day are a blur of drugs and pain.  I went back to the emergency room Monday morning and had my gallbladder taken out.  I had pain from the surgery, but it was such a relief to at least have pain in a different location.  I came home Tuesday and then promptly screamed at my sister for cleaning my nasty basement.  Something along the lines of "I feel so judged!"  Ummmm.... did I mention drugs and pain???  My sister was here for all of last week and it was such a blessing.  Someone to corral the kids and also make sure my house didn't look like something had exploded in it.  Plus my sister and I laugh like morons when were together.  Except laughing really hurt, so I had to try not to and instead would say, "laughing.....laughing....".  

Basically I didn't get off the couch until Saturday.  And, felt mentally better than I have in a long time.  Jack and Lucy had almost a solid week at home, without me running around shouting orders like a lunatic.  And they seem in a much better place, too.  So, big lesson in this for me:  choose to slow down on purpose rather than waiting for your body to need part of it removed.  We'll see how long I can hold onto that for.  

Now, for the public service announcement.  Gallbladder surgery is one of the most common surgeries in the US.  But, I had no idea what gallbladder attack symptoms were and either has anyone else I've come across in the past week. I think if I had known I was having gallbladder attacks sooner I may have been able to save my gallbladder.  By the time mine was removed it was infected and had spots of gangrene (yuck!!!!).  Here's a link with symptoms.  My attacks felt like bad heartburn, except that instead of being by my heart the pain was in the center and just under my ribs.  I also had gas and lots of bloating in my upper abdomen.  

We aren't starting school until next week (nothing planned for it yet!!!) and this week is stretching about before me like a lovely in between time.  Not much planned, not much expected.  Just some time to be.

TGIW

Yep, that's right, Wednesday.  Wednesday is can usually be counted on the be one of the best days of my week.  Jack and his good friend have a day long class near the house of his friend's mother, who luckily is my good friend, and her daughter is Lucy's good friend.  Yay for when the magic of family friend syncronicity falls into place.  At first it can be a little awkward to have your nonschooling weekday fall in the middle of the week, but oh, how I look forward to that break!  If Monday and Tuesday are crappy I can tell myself, "It's almost Wednesday, it's almost Wednesday!"  

Because really, Wednesday is wonderful.  My friend and I share the lunch making responsibilities, we often make an extra dinner in the days before and swap dinners with each other as well.  Lucy has her friend, the kind of friend who she is matched with in almost every way.  I feel the same about my mama friend as well.  Also in residence are a 2 year old and 4 year old, lovely for my little sibling craving children.  Lucy and her friend spend the day doing their favorite things, I usually spend the day knitting or crafting.  Best of all, we LAUGH (a lot).


 We are such a weird family in so many ways.  I feel so blessed to have this family that we are so similar to, from the way we homeschool (waldorfy) to the way we eat (weirdly eclectic).  I certainly love and appreciate people who are different from us, but it is so relaxing to spend time around people who feel so comfortable.  

Happy Wednesday to you, I know mine will be super.  Also if you want to laugh harder than you maybe have in a while, you must go and read this post at One Hook Wonder.  I read it to John in the kitchen yesterday morning and was laughing so hard I had tears running down my face and could barely get the words out.  

A little bit of Mary to mix in with our Martha

I don't know about you, but all of a sudden I'm go, go, go in holiday mode.  The weekends are booked, the days are full.  Family is coming (yay!!!) the house is pretty dirty (boo!!!).  I haven't said no as well as I should have, and at the same time haven't said yes to the things I should have.  I grapple mightily with the delusion that if I just work REALLY hard and fast I'll catch everything up and then be able to relax and enjoy.  

Many years ago I read a sermon about Luke 10:38-42 that really struck home with me.  Any clue whether I tend towards Mary or Martha?? Ha!  It was a sermon preached at the beginning of December, and its intention was to encourage people to be more like Mary than Martha, especially during the holidays.  I wish I could find the link, I'd love to read it again.  

³⁸ As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. ³⁹ She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. ⁴⁰ But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”

   ⁴¹ “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, ⁴²but few things are needed—or indeed only one.^[a] Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

I shared the message of the sermon with a friend and, kindred soul that she is, she immediately wondered how anything would get done if we were all like Mary. 

Two years ago I found this sermon by the Rev. Khleber Van Zandt at the First Unitarian Church at Alton.  I love how he grapples with Mary and Martha-ness.  I'm not going to denigrate that part of me that can hustle, and coordinate and get things done.  But I am going to try to add a healthy dose of priority setting AND making sure that those priorities actually mesh with the things I care the most about.  (Ummm... family, friends, not clean floors).  But don't clean floors tell people how much I care about them?  Ugh!!!

I wish the same things for you in December as Rev. Van Zandt wishes in the end of his sermon:

I hope you get to notice the way you can see your breath on a December day and how it drifts away in the cold air, and I hope you get to experience the warmth of a home where your breath mixes unseen with the breath of others.

I hope you get to savor the aromas of a kitchen where someone has been baking holiday treats.

I hope you get to catch the sparkle of light in a child’s eyes.

I hope you get to share a conversation with someone you love, not just the surface-oriented banter and repartee of Facebook, but the ebb and flow of the deeper currents running within your true self.

I hope you get to help a neighbor or friend who needs a hand up.

I hope you get to learn to accept the gifts that come your way, and to recognize them and remember them and hold them in your heart as an affirmation that you are worthy, that you are somebody, that you are loved.

So may it be.

 

 

What's Lucy Wearing?

As a new chore for this school year, Jack and Lu both have to do their own laundry from start to finish. They both already knew how to do most of the process, the only new part to learn was how to set the washer and dryer.  About a year ago I majorly downsized the amount of clothes each kid has and have been very careful about adding new items to the mix.  Each kid has about 6 daily outfits and 2 nicer outfits.  All of Jack's shirts basically match all of his pants, but for Lucy I've found it's easier if her clothes are put away as outfits.   I have in their closet on of those hanging sweater organizers, and she uses each compartment for an outfit.

She was having a bit of a hard time remembering what went with what, so I decided to take pictures of each outfit and put them on the inside of her closet door.  My plan was to lay out each outfit on the ground, but Lucy thought it would be really funny if she laid on the floor and then I laid the outfits on her.  So here you have it, a few of Lucy's winter looks!