From the children’s room:
And you have valentines!
A surprising number of which feature pirate ships. Because obviously, nothing says “I love you” quite like pirates (?!?)…
~Dress appropriately;
apparently this year that meant that everyone needed to wear red.
(messy floors optional)
~Glitter is very important
~Prepare refreshments
cut into hearts,
I have to say, I love having a house full of children and I think that for the most part I thrive in the sometimes hectic pace of it all. When we do our school time, I’m nearly constantly in motion, moving from one child to the next, helping here, correcting there, trying to anticipate the next need. It’s good and it’s fulfilling, but there is something ever-so-sweet about getting quiet one on one time with just one child. It’s very rare for us, and precious. It’s part of what made the bookbinding class that Iain and I took so special. It was just the two of us, for two full hours every week.
I wish I had photos of the little packages all wrapped up in pictures he had drawn and held tight with way too much tape. A very simple craft, but very well received and all but the wee-one’s are at this very moment snugly tucked inside a favorite book.
This little accordion style book, made by Iain, was secretly smuggled home, with the intention of it becoming a Christmas present for the Papa.
Inspired by the papoose pom-pom, I decided to teach the kids how to make little pom-pom ornaments for the tree (which is now thawed and inside).
Galen’s got a little out of hand.
Steve took the kids out for the afternoon, so we could have time to ourselves. It was the first time that the three of us had been alone together in about 8 years! My mother and a couple of friends sent blessings that they read to me. They henna’d my belly. I had a nice herbal foot bath and a foot massage. And we sat around and snacked and talked and had a very pleasant time.
Everyone helped finish off the rest of the snacks and cuddled and chatted some more. We used some of the leftover henna to add trees and hearts and trains (!) to the kids hands.
In recent years I had started a tradition of buying a Waldorf-y advent calendar. You know the kind I mean…beautiful watercolor illustrations, gnomes peaking out from behind trees, windows that glow most wonderfully when placed in an actual window….magical and lovely, and oh, so expensive! Money being what it is these days, I couldn’t even begin to justify the expense on something that would last us but a month. I looked a bit at some of the less expensive options, but all I could find was a hideous collection of tacky junk, most of which was full of chocolate…not what I had in mind.
Time passed…
::some of the most festive exposed studs around!::
Some ideas that I’ve used so far, or plan to use in the future include:
*Reading Christmas stories- I suspect this one will appear a lot! Laying and cuddling and reading, I can do!
*cut paper snowflakes
*bake cookies
*make spiced cider
*go caroling
*make paper chains
*get a tree
*decorate the tree
*make decorations and decorate the small living tree in the boys’ room
*hang special ornaments (each child has their own “Baby’s First Christmas” ornament that gets hung on the wall, instead of the tree, for safety’s sake.)
*visit a light display
*bake shortbread
*Watch ‘A Charlie Brown Christmas’ (for the older boys only)
*Watching the sunrise on the Solstice
*Decorating a tree outside with edible ornaments for the animals
*making white hot-chocolate
Very, very simple and easy things that I would plan on doing anyway, all inexpensive or free. I’m actually finding that there are a lot of benefits to *me*, doing it this way! One small thing a day, instead of a whole over-whelming holiday to-do list and every day our house is just a bit more festive, at a very pleasant and easy to handle pace. Most lovely indeed.
::All primed and ready to go, with a couple of sample splotches painted!::
I was trying for a lazure effect similar to what is found in a Waldorf school. I applied the pigment with a sea sponge in large circles and then rubbed and smeared and blended it with a rag.
::The second layer of earth pigments::
The first picture here is the most accurate for color. The second two are lit with artificial light and not accurate representations of the final color. But they do give you a better idea of the painting technique.
