Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Swapping St. Martin

I signed up to do a nature table item swap with another Waldorf mama.  I still need to figure out the cape, but here's my needle felted St. Martin.

This was my first needle felted person. I really like him and I think I'm going to make another for our table now.

I'd better jump on that....

Monday, September 26, 2011

Week 4 - Grade 1 Homeschool

This week will be a continuation of what we have already been working on.  Arbuckle is loving his flute time so much that we are keeping this on the schedule for another week.

This week we are going to try again with knitting.  He hasn't seemed to show my passion for knitting, but tonight he asked if he could do a stitch of a project I'm working on.  So I know he wants to do it.

I'm really going to take this very gently and slowly.  I have some new verses that I believe will breathe new life into the task.

In our curriculum story, the Prince gets a golden star for each of the vowel sounds (will link to a Steiner lecture for more in depth description of these 'angel sounds').

I made a set of stars from copper and stamped the vowels onto the stars. Each time the Prince gets a star- Arbuckle gets a star, too!

I made him a little leather pouch to place his stars.

This has been very magical for him.  He loves holding the star and remembering the sounds that these letters represent.

Friday, September 23, 2011

Handmade Friday - Pixie Hats!

The pattern for this isn't widely available yet, but if you'd like to check out the mama who came up with the pattern, check out her Etsy shop  HERE.

Mama Jude also has a gift for dyeing yarn and putting colors together.  Just being around her is like finding a treasure.

Here are the hats I made for my boys.  The cutie gnome button was made by TessaAnn, and the fabulous wooden button was made by a knitting friend who doesn't sell anywhere yet.

And now....

Ready for some craptastic Blackberry pix?

Here goes!







Monday, September 19, 2011

Homeschool Week 3

 Here's a glimpse of what we're doing today:


Fall/2011
Day Plan
Week 2
Mama time:
Verse
            I place myself steadfastly into existence
            With certainty I tread the path of life
            Love I nurse in the core of my being
            Hope I lay into all my doing
            Confidence I impress into my thinking ~Steiner
Wash face, get dressed, put on Apron

Boys wake up verse
            The light opens up
            And I walk in
            The day invites me to begin.
            I ask the day “How shall I start?”
            It says, “With a wish upon your heart.”

MAKE A WISH TOGETHER

Breakfast (options: oatmeal, fruit, eggs, toast, biscuits)
Clean Up Verse:
            I meet my work with strong limbs
            Open hands and warm heart

NATURE WALK Verse:
            From my little home I go
            To share love with all I know
Visit front trees, notice shapes, visit garden, weed, harvest as necessary, check hillside vines. Work on fairy house. Engage the senses.

Autumn Song:
            Oats Peas Beans and Barley Grow x2
            Do you or I or anyone know how
            Oats Peas Beans and Barley Grow

Autumn Song:
            Blow wind blow,
            And go mill go
            That the miller may grind his corn,
            Then the baker will take it 
            And into bread bake it
            And bring us a loaf in the morn.


Squirrel Poem (do movements):
            Whisky, frisky hoppity hop,
            Up he goes to the tree top!
            Whirly, twirly round and round,
            Down he scampers to the ground.
            Furly curly what a tail!
            Tall as a feather, broad as a sail!
            Where is his supper? In the shell.
            Snappity crackity, out it fell!
           
           
Prepare to go in verse:
            Birds in the air
            Stones on the land.
            Fishes in the water
            I’m in Earth’s hand.

Heading back inside verse:
            To my house, I find my way
            And with my blessed Angel stay.

Begin morning verse:
            Good morning dear Earth,
            Good morning dear Sun,
            Good morning dear trees,
            And flowers everyone.
            Good morning dear Beasts,
            And the birds in the Trees,
            Good morning to You.
            And good morning to Me.

Mulberry bush Circle song:

Clapping song:
            Clap your hands so quickly
As quickly as can be,
            Clap your hands so quickly
            And clap your hands like me

            Wave your hands so slowly
            As slowly as can be
            Wave your hands so slowly
            And wave your hands like me

            Snap your fingers quickly
            Quickly as can be
            Snap your fingers quickly
            And snap them just like me

            Roll your hands so slowly
            As slowly as can be
            Roll your hands so slowly
            And fold your arms like me.
  
Bean Bag game (give everyone a bean bag)
            Rainbow verse (tossing back and forth in rainbow arch, CURVE line form)):
            Red and orange and yellow and green
            The rainbow’s 7 colors have a bright shining sheen
            Light blue, indigo, violet all told
            At the end of rainbow is a pot of gold.

Circle Stomp:
            Brave and True will I be
            Each good deed sets me free
            Each kind word makes me strong
            I will fight for right, I will conquer wrong.

Standing Still verse:
            Golden in the garden
            Golden in the glen
            Golden, golden, golden,
            September’s here again.

Autumn Song:
            Yellow the bracken, Golden the leaves             
            Rosy the apples, Crimson the sheaves
            Mist on the hillside, clouds gray and white
            Autumn Good Morning, Summer Good Night. (lean over touch toes)

(While still bent over)
            I wake from my sleep
            I stretch to the sky (reach up)
            Jump out to the world (jump out with arms and legs)
            I'm ready to greet the day (Jump with arms and legs back together)

Apple Tree verse:
             Up in a green orchard there is a green tree 
             (Standing up, open hands from navel to sky.)

             The finest of apples you ever did see.
             (Open arms to horizontal and open palms, facing downward.)

             The apples are ripe and ready to fall,
             (Ball up fists and hang "heavy.")

              And here is a basket to gather them all.
             (Open fingers as you drop arms to interlace hands into a basket, plop onto the floor)

Closing Verse:
            May I enter this day with clear thoughts
            Kind words,
            Open heart,
            And gentle hands.

Welcome the children each by name with a handshake and hug.

MAIN LESSON Day 1:
Tell the story of the Prince’s adventure from Christopherus grade 1 curriculum.

Invite Button to make snack from what has been prepared for him while #1 & I introduce the pictures to #1

SNACK TIME: (Button rings bell) cheese, crackers, fruit, apple cider,

CLEAN UP:
            There was an old lady tossed up in a blanket seventeen times,
            As high as the moon,
            And where she was going no mortal could tell
            But under her arm she carried a broom
            “Old lady, old lady, old lady,” says I
“Wither, ah wither, ah wither so high?”
            “To sweep the cobwebs from the moon,
            But I’ll be with you by and by”

FREE PLAY TIME

Lesson A: Flute (feather, lit candle, wrapped flute)

Sing Thumbkin:Where is Thumbkin? Pointer?Long Man?Ringman?Baby?

Recall story of Quon.

Take flutes out

Warm with breath blow open end, finger holes.

Tweedle Dee Tweedle Dum Is What We Play With Just Our Thumb                 

When our pointer comes to play, thumb and she sing Hip Hooray

Straight and Proud the Old Chief Stands, Placing the feather in Quon’s hand

Clean flutes with a drop of oil in the mouth piece

Cleaning Rod in, spin, and out.

Reverently put flutes away.

NOON- LUNCH & REST

Clean up

Lesson B: Story time with Handwork Lesson: Autumn’s Warm Blanket
Cut some more squares to prepare a blanket for stitching
             Old mother Twitchet had one eye
             and a long tail that she let fly.
             And every time she went through a gap,
             She left some tail in the trap.

Put away sewing supplies

Gather children in a circle, holding hands.

Closing verse:
            Warm our hearts, Oh Sun, and give
            Light that we may daily live.
            Growing as we ought to be
            True and good and strong and free.
END OF SCHOOL DAY

CHALKBOARD DRAWING FOR THE WEEK


Friday, September 16, 2011

Willie, Jesus, & Me



Willie & Me

I finally got to see Willie for the first time last June.  Lovely Husband bought tickets for me, watched the boys for 13 hours AND gave me spending money!

I wrote the following post a year or two ago and until this moment it has only been shared with my Facebook friends.

This is probably the sole reason that I have tried to be a good the best mother possible to my boys and any future little souls who come my way.

I try to live my life so that my little peeps never have to live with the same fears and horrors that I did.  In fact, I will shield them from such ugliness as long as I can. 



Why I feel this way about Willie
or
Willie, Jesus, and Me

Willie Nelson and I go way back. He must've been 60 and I was 3. Just a couple of babes.

I remember Willie's voice lulling to sleep in the back of my mom's jeep. I can still smell the pot mixed in with the Georgia honeysuckle. His voice would carry me off to a place where Angels Fly Too Close to the Ground & we live in The Promisedland.


It's almost amazing that I have these fond memories evoked by Willie's music.

I'm on the left, my sister on the right

There are some songs that carry me back to being 4 yrs old & huddling up in a stranger's bathtub holding on tightly to my sister. My mom was just 2 rooms away shooting up with people who did not love me.

But none of those songs are Willie's.

I don't go back to the day my mom told me she'd waited too long to abort me so here I was.

I don't go back to the day my Pop told us mama wouldn't be home for Thanksgiving because she tried to kill herself.

I don't go back to the day that she told me I was fat.

She spent a lot of my life in a haze. Whether induced by illegal or legal drugs. She talks in sentences no one understands. She thinks the voices are real and that she's the only one who hears them.

I always knew she was going crazy again when she'd pull out her albums. David Allen Coe, Waylon Jennings, Merle Haggard, Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson, and even my Beloved Willie. It was like watching someone wind a clock. She would put on a record and silently slip into crazy. Letting go. Giving in. Then she would trash the place. I hid under a blanket once while she put a guitar through the stereo.

No, instead of the bad times- when I hear Willie's voice, I am embraced again by the breezy nights in Lawrenceville with the cool smell of jasmine growing wild. I'd listen to The Highway Man and ride the music all the way up to Heaven where the lord Himself would be waiting for me. We'd sit barefoot on the top step in front of the Pearly Gates and share the earbuds of my walkman. Jesus and I would sing Seven Spanish Angels and you wouldn't believe how much Jesus sounds like Ray Charles when he really gets into it.

After that, Jesus let's me lean on him as Blue Eyes Cryin' In the Rain washes away the sins of my mother. I forgive her for not being able to love me the way that Willie and Jesus do.

Some people think I'm nuts for being this way about Willie, but he's as much a part of me as the memories in my head and the guts in my belly.

His music soothes both.

Craptastic phone pix, but there he is!

Thursday, September 15, 2011

The Scalene Brothers


This may help give you some inspiration in your Form Drawing block working with all those straight lines!


Feel free to adapt the story so that it is relevant to your family. 


I made up a story about the Scalene Brothers: a big, middle, and little brother who had a magnificent garden. 
(I drew each brother as a different size straight line on the chalkboard and a round garden with straight rows)


They also had magnificent intruders to the garden who would snatch their cabbages and tomatoes. 


Each brother had a different idea of how he could fend off the invaders. The Middle brother thought he could fight the critters but there were too many (and the bunnies were awfully cute). 


The baby brother (who didn't always think things through) wanted to destroy the garden so that there would be no need for intruders...


But, the wise big brother decided that in order to stop the intruders they must do it together. 


So, the rested well during the day and when nightfall came...


The brothers held hands around the garden. 




I drew a short line from top to bottom on the left side of the garden and a reasonably length line across the bottom and a very long line across the other side to form a Scalene Triangle! Of course, I didn't point this fact out to the boys that it was a triangle of uneven sides and blah blah blah.. But, who knows- when it's time for real geometry, they will already know these brothers!


Now. Do you want to know what those same brothers did when they wanted some juicy apples and needed to climb the tree?




The two bigger brothers leaned against the tree and the baby brother scooted up between them to the top and together they made A LADDER!




I hope my craptastic chalkboard drawings will inspire you that it doesn't have to be perfect to speak to your child. This was a fun lesson and my Arbuckle received it with open arms and love!



Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Gift for a friend

We all have a cause.

Everyone has something that we need to share with the rest of the world in order to make it a better place.

One of the people I love most in the world moved away last year.

I admire so much about her.  Above all else, she is a caring mother to her babies.

The other thing, is that she has A LOT of causes.

And I love her for every one of them.

She just had a baby a few days ago and I wish with my whole heart that I could have been there for her.  I would've done laundry, cooked her and her family a meal, read her babies a bedtime story, and scrubbed the toilets- All so she could focus on bringing her sweet baby Earthside.

But, she's nearly a thousand miles away and Carl isn't ready for me to be away from him.  Actually none of the boys would be ready to be without me.  And I don't know that I could be without them.

So, I did what I could for my pal.

I knitted.

I used this pattern as my guide but I didn't want to do all those stripes and take away from the fabulous buttons I wanted to use.
Can you figure out all the causes?

Here's what the finished sweater looks like.


(Home Birthing, Co-Sleeping, Babywearing, Cloth Diapering, Breastfeeding)

At the time I made this, she didn't know if she was having a boy or girl (but I knew it was a boy). I would've added an INTACTIVISM button to it if I'd known for certain...


The buttons were custom made by Tessa Ann.  She is the best button maker on the planet.  She uses a special glaze that allows her buttons to be machine washable.  She is very fast with her communication.  Her buttons are amazingly cute and I can see how many people try to copy her.  But, in my experience- THERE IS NO SUBSTITUTE FOR REAL TESSA ANN BUTTONS!!  Her prices are more than fair. Check her out here or here

Monday, September 5, 2011

Our plan for Day 1 of Grade 1 (and kindy for Button)

No horrid Blackberry photos today.  Just text.  And lots of it!


Fall/2011
Day Plan
Week 1
Mama time:
Verse
            I place myself steadfastly into existence
            With certainty I tread the path of life
            Love I nurse in the core of my being
            Hope I lay into all my doing
            Confidence I impress into my thinking ~Steiner
Wash face, get dressed, put on Apron

Boys wake up verse
            The light opens up
            And I walk in
            The day invites me to begin.
            I ask the day “How shall I start?”
            It says, “With a wish upon your heart.”

MAKE A WISH TOGETHER

Breakfast: (ideas: eggs, cheese, fruit, yogurt, granola)
Clean Up Verse:
            I meet my work with strong limbs
            Open hands and warm heart

NATURE WALK Verse:
            From my little home I go
            To share love with all I know
Visit front trees, notice shapes, visit garden, weed, harvest as necessary, check hillside vines. Gather stones for Spiral Garden. Bring a stump for center. Engage the senses.

Autumn Song:
            Oats Peas Beans and Barley Grow x2
            Do you or I or anyone know how
            Oats Peas Beans and Barley Grow

Autumn Song:
            Blow wind blow,
            And go mill go
            That the miller may grind his corn,
            Then the baker will take it 
            And into bread bake it
            And bring us a loaf in the morn.


Squirrel Poem (do movements):
            Whisky, frisky hoppity hop,
            Up he goes to the tree top!
            Whirly, twirly round and round,
            Down he scampers to the ground.
            Furly curly what a tail!
            Tall as a feather, broad as a sail!
            Where is his supper? In the shell.
            Snappity crackity, out it fell!
                      
Prepare to go in verse:
            Birds in the air
            Stones on the land.
            Fishes in the water
            I’m in Earth’s hand.

Heading back inside verse:
            To my house, I find my way
            And with my blessed Angel stay.

Begin morning verse:
            Good morning dear Earth,
            Good morning dear Sun,
            Good morning dear trees,
            And flowers everyone.
            Good morning dear Beasts,
            And the birds in the Trees,
            Good morning to You.
            And good morning to Me.

Mulberry bush Circle song:

Clapping song:
            Clap your hands so quickly
As quickly as can be,
            Clap your hands so quickly
            And clap your hands like me

            Wave your hands so slowly
            As slowly as can be
            Wave your hands so slowly
            And wave your hands like me

            Snap your fingers quickly
            Quickly as can be
            Snap your fingers quickly
            And snap them just like me

            Roll your hands so slowly
            As slowly as can be
            Roll your hands so slowly
            And fold your arms like me.


Bean Bag game (give everyone a bean bag)
            Rainbow verse (tossing back and forth in rainbow arch, CURVE line form)):
            Red and orange and yellow and green
            The rainbow’s 7 colors have a bright shining sheen
            Light blue, indigo, violet all told
            At the end of rainbow is a pot of gold.

Circle Stomp:
            Brave and True will I be
            Each good deed sets me free
            Each kind word makes me strong
            I will fight for right, I will conquer wrong.

Standing Still verse:
            Golden in the garden
            Golden in the glen
            Golden, golden, golden,
            September’s here again.

Autumn Song:
            Yellow the bracken, Golden the leaves             
            Rosy the apples, Crimson the sheaves
            Mist on the hillside, clouds gray and white
            Autumn Good Morning, Summer Good Night.
Closing Verse:
            May I enter this day with clear thoughts
            Kind words,
            Open heart,
            And gentle hands.

Welcome the children each by name with a handshake and hug.

MAIN LESSON Day 1:
Discuss forms we saw outside, draw straight & curvy lines in the air, on eachother. Hop in a straight line, walk a curved line, tell a story of the 3 Scalene Brothers who guarded their garden against a predator. Make all lines different sizes form a triangle when the brothers all join hands around the garden and stand strong.

Invite Button to make snack from what has been prepared for him while #1 & I continue to work with straight and curved lines

SNACK TIME: (Button rings bell) cheese, crackers, fruit, juicy tea,

CLEAN UP:
            There was an old lady tossed up in a blanket seventeen times,
            As high as the moon,
            And where she was going no mortal could tell
            But under her arm she carried a broom
            “Old lady, old lady, old lady,” says I
“Wither, ah wither, ah wither so high?”
            “To sweep the cobwebs from the moon,
            But I’ll be with you by and by”

FREE PLAY TIME

Lesson A: Flute (feather, lit candle, wrapped flute)

Tell Pear tree story (by Marsha Johnson found in her e-book, buy it HERE)

Imagine gentleness,  light winds, breezes on Carl’s head, a baby lamb laying in the grass. Practice a tiny wind blow with mouth.

One at a time call each child up to blow at the candle to merely make it dance. Give a feather to take back to his seat.

Sing Thumbkin:
            Where is Thumbkin?
            Pointer?
            Long Man?
            Ringman?
            Baby?

GIVE FLUTE GIFT

Warm with breath blow open end, finger holes.

Tweedle Dee Tweedle Dum Is What We Play With Just Our Thumb (from David Darcy's book buy it HERE)                 

(D note is with thumb hole covered)

Clean flutes with a drop of oil in the mouth piece
Cleaning Rod in, spin, and out.
Reverently put flutes away.

NOON- LUNCH & REST

Clean up

Story time with Handwork Lesson: Wandering Henry

Closing verse:
            Warm our hearts, Oh Sun, and give
            Light that we may daily live.
            Growing as we ought to be
            True and good and strong and free.

END OF SCHOOL DAY




           





Friday, September 2, 2011

Fast post about Poppie

Poppie is a stick puppet that I made to teach German in Grade 1 this year.  The instructions were very roughly posted HERE.

Any time I have tried to speak German to the boys, they cover their ears in disgust. They say, "Mama.  We don't understand you.  Stop it. That's not how we talk!"

But Poppie.  Oh how they LOVE Poppie!! She speaks only German and gets very shy when she doesn't understand what you're saying.


So they boys have been excited to learn German so they can talk to her.  When they sing her Welcome Song, (to the tune of Frère Jacques):
Wo ist Poppie
Wo ist Poppie
Ich bin hier
Ich bin hier
Und wie geht es Ihnen
Ich bin schones danke
Gehen weg
Gehen weg


She pops out of hiding and is ready to tell a story, or sing more songs.

I am not at all fluent in German.  Thankfully, I have had many many patient German friends and teachers in my life who have helped me with my wretched grammar.  But, I love learning German. I love German people and I love speaking German.

I hope that my love and respect for all things German will carry me through any mistakes that I'm bound to teach the children.


I seem to hibernate in the Summer...

It's been a lovely boring Spring and Summer. Now I am gearing up for a wonderful Fall! I have never really been a hot weather person. Even when I was a young girl and could wear a bathing suit without any reservations- I still preferred Autumn and Winter.

For me, Autumn means a fresh start.
A new beginning.
An emerging from the Fire.
All cleansed and purged.
Ready for the crispness of a new pair of shoes, a starchy pair of jeans, a SWEATER with cozy sleeves!

As a homeschooling mama, this time is even more concentrated on the "resolutions" of a New Year. Less television, more vegetables, more rhythm.

My precious Fatty Arbuckle turned 7 on Tuesday the 30th, and I have been in a deep sentimental state for the last week. I look at his precious face and remember the first time I saw him. I can still see my baby when I look at him.

And a few words about him... I had no idea what that baby was going to do for me. I was a drinker. I liked to have outdoor bonfire parties and get a little stoned with my pals. I used words that would make hookers cringe in disgust. I had a wretched diet. And I didn't really like most children.

But- When I held his little 7 pound 14 ounce body up to my nose and inhaled the scent of New Life; I was cleansed. I was changed. I myself was reborn. Anyone who knew me on August 29th, 2004 did not know me 24 hours later.

I wanted to give my boy better than I ever had. I wanted him to know and feel my love for him. I wanted him to feel safe and have no thoughts of fear or uncertainty. I wanted him to always know that if he reached out his pudgy little hand, he would touch me.

My Precious Fatty Arbuckle. A clean innocent life. And he chose me as his Mama. I vowed in my soul that I would not let him down. I would sacrifice anything for him. I made bargains with God to keep him safe and healthy. I realized that I had never been afraid before in my life before him. And now I feared that at any time The Universe would realize that a mistake was made and take him from me because I was completely undeserving of such a perfect baby.

So here I am from where I was. I stumble sometimes. I have regrets sometimes in the decisions I've made for my Firstborn. But, I have remained true in doing everything out of Love.

I intended this post to be about our plans for our year of Grade 1 in homeschool.  But, that will wait. Soon. I swear.