{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.

Right now, I am:

:: Excited to go the the Vermont Cheese makers Festival

:: Grateful to live by the lake and have cool water for respite from the sweltering heat

:: Savoring summer reads with my feet in the lake

:: Contemplating fresh green peas, fresh ricotta and pasta
:: Noticing the shift from humid hot to brisk cool air that takes place each morning
:: Listening to Ella
:: Writing a piece on a topic that is dear to my heart
:: Grateful for boys, mud fights and lakes to have them in
:: Struggling to find the words to express my understanding for the above mentioned piece
:: Wanting to make ice cream everyday, maybe this one today!
:: Striving to spend more time here

What's happening with you?

(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.

Inspired by SouleMama

Summer Dreaming

The days of summer are upon us, long, warm and sticky. The school children are out and the neighborhood is alive with children's voices during the week. The hose comes out and drenches everyone and it's all okay because it's summer. The evenings are so long and pleasant that we often find ourselves astonished by how late it is yet how high the sun is.

The strawberries are here, sweet and ripe for eating, the raspberries are coming. Blueberries are not too far off. The Farmer's Market is gorgeous with greens, lettuce, spinach, kale, spring onions with red bulbs. The garden is finally dry and beckoning, "plant me now before it's too late!"

Musing now, over the days and weeks  to come, full of summer's warmth, light and goodness, on what I want to accomplish, notice, savor, support, nourish, release. Right now I am:

::  wanting to return to blogging here yet finding my energy directed here
::  savoring the flavor, texture and relationship with the ingredients of homemade ice cream
;;  amused by the simple happiness our chicks seem to have in pecking and scratching and eating slugs
::  working hard to get the July Issue of the The Wonder of Childhood Magazine up 
::  grateful to have a new fully functioning computer to work on!
::  waiting for blueberries to ripen so I can bake this
::  bemused by little boys' fascination with fireworks and smoke bombs
::  wondering what it must be like to be a large wooly dog in this heat
::  enjoying meals outdoors as often as possible
::  discovering the yumminess and simplicity of cedar plank grilling
::  loving summer walks on a nearby farm
::  remembering how pleasant it is to stretch out and have a restful read in the heat of the afternoon 
::  looking forward to some lazy days of catching up with old friends
::  exploring plans to build a movable chicken run this summer
::  baking strawberry muffins today
::  heading out to the garden before the rain to plant some potatoes
::  considering a commitment to blogging here daily, to get into the swing of it
::  hoping you'll have patience and bear with me on that
:: thankful for the inspiration!
:: grateful for this most amazing online community!
:: giving up the search for my camera to add photos to this post!


Happy Summer!

{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, inspired by Amanda Soule

 

 

Finally ~ Knitting project and Article Complete

Joining in with Ginny's Yarn Along over at Small Things.

It's done, finally, with a great big ta da! The four part series on Knitting and the First Grader for the Magazine begins here, if you are interested. It includes a piece on Introducing Children to Knitting with a Visit to the Farm, Make Your Own Knitting Needles, an article by Angela Mobley on How to Teach Children Knitting, handwork verses and instructions for how to make the simple spring chick, above.

The book on my night stand remains Anita Shreve's, The Last Time They Met. I am still greatly enjoying it and slowly plodding through it.

Spring cheer to all! and Autumn cheer to you down under!

{this moment}

{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.

Inspired by Soule Mama

Earth Day and Easter

I have been so busy with The Wonder of Childhood, trying to get the Easter articles up and on the site as well as post all of The First Grader articles there that I have spent little time here.

My article Every Day is Earth Day is up on the magazine.

Today my parents are celebrating their sixty first wedding anniversary! Sixty one years of getting used to each other. I just have to share that. Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!

Before we get to May and look at May Day, I am going to share with you links to some of my favorite places for Celebrating the Rhythm of Life this week:

• To explore the inner year with Lynn Jericho with Inner Easter from the festival celebration of esoteric Christianity, click here: Inner Easter This is a free series of writings and audio talks on Inner Easter.
• For beautiful, natural eggs with leaf impressions: Click here, Ithaca Handwork
• For beautiful eggs from beets, onion skins and blueberries: Click here,  Mother Earth News
• Very simple and direct instructions for marblized eggs: Click here, DLTK Growing Together
• For speckled eggs: Click here, Southern Living
• Lovely results with stickers and dye bath eggs: Click here, Better Homes and Garden
• For gorgeous eggs with magical patterns though not edible: Click here, Most Beautiful Eggs!

{this moment}

{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.

inspired by SouleMama

Yarn Along with the Brown Silk Moth

Joining in with Ginny's Yarn Along over at Small Things.

This is the most amazing creature, a brown silk moth that emerged after spending a winter in its cocoon in our playroom. We had no idea. But this is another story, another post to write.

The books are Thai cookbooks. I discovered that fish sauce, lime juice, chicken broth and a smidge of sugar make a delicious stir fry sauce!

On the needles and soon to come off is the remains of the project for The Wonder of Childhood article on The First Grader ~ Knitting.

The books on my reading stack are growing. I am beginning to organize next year's homeschooling, preparing for a study group on The Foundations of Human Experience, reading The King of Ireland's Son with my son as part of the second grade curriculum and slowly, poking around in Rudolf Steiner's Soul Economy which is delightful. I wish he wrote a book on Home Economy! I am most pleasantly working my way through the same Anite Shreve book which I am savoring.

Blessings all around!

Lisa

Homeschooling celebration!

Homeschooling can be a bit like Christmas with packages arriving in the mail.

Treasures to behold inside.

The excitement of taking on something new and fascinating....

What are in your homeschool plans?

Do you homeschool?

Are you planning for next year?

Good Monday morning to you dear readers, or whatever time of day it is where you are!

Since you are asking for more on rhythm and on responding to children's conflicts, I'll make that my starting point this week.

~ this morning's sunrise ~

:::::::::::

My Daily Rhythm

This morning I:

:: awoke at 5:30

:: enjoyed one hour of quiet/meditative time/watched the sunrise outdoors with the dog

:: started a load of laundry

:: fed the animals

:: packed up twenty samosas for my teen to take to school

:: watered the plants

:; woke up my teen, sent him off to school

:: prepared for homeschooling

:: organized dinner

:: Now: I am writing

:: Next: We will do "school" 9:30 ~ 12:30  (this includes an outside obstacle course and garden time)

:: Mid-day: We'll have lunch and set up the soup stock

:: After lunch: Quiet rest time, knitting

:: Mid afternoon: Outside play, prepare dinner

:: Dinner: walk after dinner

:: Bath

:: Bed

:::::::::::

My Weekly Rhythm

We are homeschooling second grade with the Waldorf curriculum and I am on sabbatical from the Morning Garden. The rhythms I established in having a home based program for the past seven years and working in the Waldorf kindy before that, are still in place and work well with the Waldorf grade school curriculum, for the most part.

I do find it more of a challenge to keep our rhythm flowing when I am not working! Does that make sense? With work, there is no choice, no maybe, I have to prepare and be ready and the boundaries of our days are very clear. Without that, everything is possible and it is up to me to hold the reins tight and secure places in our days and continue to mark the transitions for just the two of us (and the dog and the cats) during the day. It's really hard!

On the other hand, we can snuggle in bed with a book if we want to, or go off and visit the newborn sheep and calves down the road, or check the maple sap buckets or bake cookies, whenever we want to! So very sweet with a child at home! Ahhhhh...but the rhythm.....

So dear Mamas, I have so much compassion for you who are coming to this or struggling with this, it is hard! We must to be organized and give it our all and be so very kind and compassionate to ourselves at the same time. Mothering is hard work. Homemaking is hard work. It is ceaseless, often unrecognized and we don't even get bathroom breaks! Yet we are growing human beings. What a task is that!

With the daily rhythm, my personal focus for the next twenty one days will be on "punctuating" the daily activites with song and ritual, since I forget to sing when I am not working. "Punctuate" is a term my friend Denice uses to mark what comes between activities. I like it. I am discovering that to carry this rhythm with "punctuation" is so much easier to do in groups, and especially in a school, where so many are carrying the rhythm, compared to life at home, which requires being "on" and remembering, until it becomes a habit, which is said to take twenty one days. Rudold Steiner had some interesting words on breaking and making habits. It asks us to dig deep within, stand tall, stay on task and discipline ourselves. What an example we can be to our children! (phew!) What will forces!

This is my early childhood rhythm for the week which has become central to our homeschooling and homemaking rhythm.

Monday: Soup stock making, turn soil over in the garden, wash bed linens

Tuesday: Soup making, iron place mats and napkins

Wednesday: Coloring with beeswax crayons,  hem new pants

Thursday: Baking

Friday: Painting with wet-on-wet watercolor. dust and polish furniture

As for toddler conflict, I'll come back to that later and let the focus for today be self discipline which is the heart of any "discipline" we bring to children and the very root of rhythm.

Is there a habit you'd like to establish in the next twenty one days?

If you are interested in a discussion group, I moderate one here on Waldorf early chilhood, it is open to all questions of daily life with young children:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/waldorfearlychildhoodbringingithome/?yguid=76104283

Warmly,

Lisa