Beach School

Though in most places school is out for the summer, we will continue on through most of the summer with lessons four days per week, interspersed with trips to the beach, hiking in the canyon, and discovering new parks. I am beginning night shifts this week, so our new challenge will be finding shady places for Curtis and the kids to conduct their lessons outdoors so that I can sleep in the morning...and probably in the afternoon as well. We will be embracing the idea of afternoon siestas for everyone as the days get hotter!

Noah has just finished a four week math block that included an introduction to Roman numerals and number qualities, a review of addition and subtraction and introduction to multiplication and division. Though many Waldorf curriculums use math gnomes for early math, we decided on the characters and stories suggested in the Live Education curriculum, as that is what we are using next year. Curtis did an amazing job crafting stories and making these characters and their interactions come alive for Noah (and Isaac, as he is always close by, participating in lessons as well). Small stones are used as manipulatives for solving problems involving multiplying and then dividing bread loaves between families, sorting sheep, and the many other problems encountered by Mul de Plier, Prince Divide, Addy the Baker, and Minus Miner.

The final week of the math block lead up to the Summer Solstice. This is the first time our family has observed the solstice. Throughout the week, we talked about the sun and the longest day. We read The Return of the Sun King and modeled suns from beeswax. The boys were up early on the Solstice making a special Father's Day card. We feasted on pancakes and spent the day relaxing together, also harvesting rosemary and lavender from the garden to dry for a later project. In the evening, the boys prepared a feast of honey, raisins, millet, and almond for our garden fairy and served it all on seashell dishes and a table cloth knit by Noah. She ate everything, of course!

As we move on to our next blocks, we will continue to incorporate math into all lesson days though circle time games, jump rope counting, and the secret message math problems Grandpa sends Noah. This past week, we started a ocean and tide pool block to learn more about our new environment. The Native American stories Salmon Boy and Octopus and Raven from Keepers of the Animals were an excellent introduction to the ocean and tides. In the evening we visited the magical and whimsical Victoria Beach, talked about all the gifts we get from the sea, and then sat quietly to think about our favorite gift from the ocean.

This nature sit was supposed to be just five minutes. Noah became restless and declared himself done after just two minutes, while Isaac surprisingly continued to sit quietly for the full time. After their sit, they used oil pastels to draw their favorite gift on a rock as a thank you to the ocean; a fish from Isaac, a starfish from Noah, a purple squiggle from Arwen.

The next day, we took school to the beach at Little Corona Del Mar. As the backbone of our tide pool unit, we are reading Pagoo by Holling C. Holling, a detailed story of life in a tide pool told through the eyes of a newborn hermit crab. I have also started choosing stories for Isaac to get him (and us) used to incorporating his lessons into our daily rhythm, as he will officially begin Kindergarten in the Fall. Isaac's stories for our ocean block are A Beach Tale and See the Ocean. Our beachside classroom...

Recently, thousands of tuna crabs washed ashore and died on our local beaches. Their remains offered an intimate look at the crustacean exoskeleton described in our story. 

After reading about little Pagoo's struggle to molt, we went on an exploration of the tide pools in search of live hermit crabs and found hundreds, as well as snails, crabs, little fish, and urchins. 

Arwen's favorite discovery was that the water in the tide pools is much warmer than the big ocean waves. This natural sandy bottomed pool kept her busy for an hour jumping and splashing while the boys built a sandcastle with Dad. She is ever so slowly becoming friends with the ocean and loves to walk barefoot along the beach holding tightly to my finger, staying just far enough up the shore that the waves only occasionally reach her feet.

We are looking forward to a summer filled with more lessons in nature, sandy feet, afternoon siestas, and lazy backyard dinners of fresh local veggies and fruits.

Welcoming Spring

As we continue to settle into our new home, our school days are beginning to fall into a simple rhythm. After breakfast, the boys and I take a little walk or go to a nearby park for a short time before coming home to do circle time as a family. Sometimes Arwen is still asleep and sometimes she joins us. After circle time, our main lesson starts with a little recorder practice. Our lessons this week were about Spring! On Sunday, we made a trip to a garden store and came home with some little helpers for our yard. We also planted some basil, lemon balm, mint, and a couple tomato plants.

On our morning walks, Noah and Isaac became fascinated with the ropy-polies (pill bugs) wandering around on the sidewalks. We checked out a book from the library and learned that they are not really insects at all, but tiny crustaceans, related to crabs and lobsters. We see them on our morning walks because though they are nocturnal, they seek out the moisture from lawn sprinklers in the mornings. Noah read how to make a home for them in a jar, and now we have some pets. They seem to find the nasturtiums that are growing in our backyard quite tasty (as does our little forager, Isaac).

On Monday, we read Spring Prayer by Ralph Waldo Emerson, talked about spring, and did some wet on wet watercolor painting. Isaac has not officially started school yet, but he wants to do everything big brother is doing. Isaac's 'school' books for the week were Mud by Mary Lyn Ray and The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss. Painting is one of his favorite activities.

Spring Prayer

For flowers that bloom about our feet; 

For tender grass, so fresh, so sweet; 

For song of bird, and hum of bee; 

For all things fair we hear or see, 

Father in heaven, we thank Thee! 

For blue of stream and blue of sky; 
For pleasant shade of branches high; 

For fragrant air and cooling breeze; 

For beauty of the blooming trees, 

Father in heaven, we thank Thee! 

                   

Because Noah has had two years of Spanish Immersion school, we are continuing to incorporate Spanish into our daily lessons. His writing work for the week was a Spanish translation of Spring Prayer. He also had his first block crayon drawing lesson from Dad.

On Wednesday, Nature Kindergarten met at Little Corona Del Mar in Newport Beach. Curtis and I visited this beach when we checked out the area and it is still a favorite. It is an excellent place for walking the shore and peaking in all the tide pools for sea urchins, hermit crabs, sea snails, fish and brittle stars.

Arwen got over her grand dislike of sand, sitting for hours endlessly scooping and dumping sand. She even helped the boys dig their big hole.

Later in the week, we read The Rainbow Tulip by Pat Mora, a lovely introduction to May Faire that also happens to contain some Spanish. The boys made May baskets and delivered them to our new neighbors on May Day. To wrap up our week and celebrate Arwen's very special golden birthday, we attended a May Faire celebration at a local Waldorf school. Arwen loved the flowers, music, and the delicious food!

 Just as we are getting our school rhythm settled, things are going to be shaken up again as I start work this week. I am thankful that it will only be orientation for a couple weeks before I start with my night shifts. That is when things will get very interesting indeed.

Something New Today

Oh, these Photo-A-Day projects! They seem like such a great idea, and really they are. In the past, committing to taking a photo a day has forced me to look for subjects I would not otherwise photograph. I love that. But the fact is that, like many new resolutions, I don't stick with it. Life gets busy and I forget. But what is more important than capturing those day to day moments in the life a child with a photograph? So here we are again at the beginning of the year, and I am going to try this again. I do better with some kind of prompt for inspiration, so I will try (really hard!) to follow the prompts of Fat Mum Slim, unless I am really not feeling it and then I will make up my own :) I am already a day behind, of course, so a few pictures cover both Day 1 and Day 2.

Today, the boys, wearing their new capes and crowns (and elephant pajamas), are knights fighting dragons with wooden spoons and pot lids, having a secret rendezvous in their castle with their doggies.

Finding Our Rhythm

Here I am again after a yet another blogging hiatus. This fall brought with it some highs (Noah started school and we will be welcoming another baby in May!), lows (losing my wonderfully inspiring and brave Dad to cancer), and some new challenges (starting a photography business). Somewhere in the midst of all that, I feel like we lost our daily and weekly rhythm.  But something about moving into the second trimester of pregnancy (no more all-day sickness!), this time of year, and new beginnings has me inspired to renew our routines and establish a new rhythm.

The biggest challenge to our daily rhythm has come about due to Noah attending school in the afternoon, necessitating an early lunchtime for him before school, a second lunchtime for Isaac and me, and snack time and a much needed late-afternoon nap for both kids (and occasionally, me). We have slowly adjusted to this new rhythm and it is finally starting to feel comfortable.

Noah's afternoon school has given Isaac and me some time just to ourselves. Today we went for what I hope will become a weekly nature walk, exploring a nearby trail on an unusually warm (52 degrees in WI!) day.

This December, the creek is still green and flowing, the leaves are still crunching underfoot, and sticks are still magical to a two year old boy.

Magical Moments

Lately, it feels as if I spend my entire day mediating the relationship between the boys. Every other sentence out of my mouth is something along the lines of, "We don't push," or "We don't take things each other," or simply, "Share, please!" The boys are in general very loving and sweet towards each other. They just both abide by the Toddler's Rules of Possession:
1. If I like it, it's mine.
2. If it's in my hand, it's mine.
3. If I can take it from you, it's mine.
4. If I had it a little while ago, it's mine.
5. If it's mine, it must never appear to be yours in any way.
6. If I am doing or building something, all the pieces are mine.
7. If it looks just like mine, it's mine.
8. If I saw it first, it's mine.
9. If you are playing with something and you put it down, it automatically becomes mine.
10. If it's broken, it's yours.

As most parents of young children know, the constant bickering (and my subsequent intervening) can get exhausting! Then, just when I am thinking I need to give myself a timeout, there will be one of those moments. One of the boys will do something silly and the other will erupt into a fit of giggles. Or Isaac will become overcome with the need to smother Noah with wet, slobbery kisses, causing Noah to roll around on the floor in a fit of laughter. One of those moments when I am reminded how special their relationship is and how lucky they are to have each other. It is in those moments that I love to just sit back and watch them interact with each other, thinking that this, right now, is what it is all about. It makes the constant breaking up of little squabbles all worth it.And sometimes, on a really good day, that magical moment will extend for several minutes, or even hours as the boys settle into play together. Yesterday was just such a day, and it was brought on by something as simple as an impromptu blanket fort. The giggles and squeals of delight that began as they crawled in and around the blanket suspended between two stools continued throughout the morning. Noah pushed Isaac back and forth in the cart. They jumped together into a pile of pillows and blankets. They played music together. Noah fixed Isaac 'lunch' in his kitchen and then 'fed' it to him at their table. It was wonderful and magical to see.
So, while I wished these moments happened much more often, I will take them when I can get them, because they are what sustain me through all those other not-so-good times. That, and lots and lots of chocolate.

Making Music Together

Even before we were expecting our first baby, Curtis and I decided that we wanted music to be an integral part of our children's lives, as it has been in ours. So, while most families center their living rooms around a television or entertainment center, we decided to make a piano the center of ours. As it turns out, it is not just the center, but most of the living room because though it is a baby grand and small when compared to other grands, our living room is also relatively small, leaving little room for anything else. Despite its size, we love our 1929 Knabe piano (even though the first piano tuner we had come over wondered if it was made in Mexico and passed off as a refurbished Knabe and said it was so bad that he wouldn't even tune it before we had some extensive work done on it. We got someone else, and never called him again!).

Most nights after dinner has been cleaned up, when other families may sit down in front of the television, our family heads to the living room for some music making. Either Curtis or I play the piano and the boys play along on a rhythm instrument. Isaac bounces up and down on his knees and is quite the little maraca and jingle bell player. Recently, Noah's instrument of choice is the 'ma-ca-ca' (harmonica), when he isn't just running in circles, that is. Often, when I am playing the piano, I will glance over my shoulder to find Curtis, the percussionist, dexterously playing three or four rhythm instruments at once and keeping us all on beat. Our repertoire ranges from children's folk tunes to the Beatles to Jason Mraz to Johnny Cash. And I can belt out a dreadful version of Unchained Melody that makes Noah laugh and Curtis cringe (lovingly, of course).
A few weeks ago, all this boisterous music-making led to me wanting to learn to play the guitar. I already have about a million other balls in the air. Why not add one more? So now, armed with my Dad's guitar (which I still hold rather awkwardly), I practice my chords for a few minutes each night as well. Literally, just a few minutes. Because my goodness it really hurts my fingers to hold down those strings! Apparently it takes some time to toughen them up. We shall see...

Until then, I will play the piano or just sing along as we live out those dreams we had years ago of making our family a musical one.

Winter Book Basket

As I sit here on this first day of December, the first snow of the season is falling gently outside. Though we are all snuggly warm in our woolens, it is cold outside. We have begun decorating our house for the holidays, and have exchanged the autumn books in our book basket for winter ones. Over the next month we will be reading the Nativity Story and about all things snow and winter.
In our winter book basket:
Room for a Little One: A Christmas Tale by Martin Waddell
The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
The Tomten by Astrid Lindgren
Winter by Gerda Muller
The Mitten adapted by Jan Brett
First Snow in the Woods, Stranger in the Woods, and Winter Friends by Carl R. Sams II and Jean Stoick
Snow by Cynthia Rylant
The Story of the Snow Children by Sibylle von Olfers
The Magical Snowman by Catherine Walters

We have also been reading a few special books for Noah's upcoming birthday:
On the Night You Were Born by Nancy Tillman
The Twelve Gifts of Birth by Charlene Costanzo
Angel in the Waters by Regina DomanHappy winter reading!

WIP Wednesday

This is my first work in progress post in a long time. Part the reason is that my Tea Leaves cardigan is still in progress, and really, who wants to see the same project over and over again? The main reason though is that I had not been spending much time knitting as of late. There seems to be three categories to which my time is allotted: "The Things I Need To Do", "The Things I Should Do", and "The Things I Want To Do." Obviously, taking care of the boys and the basic tasks required to keep our house livable fit into the first category. Many things that fall off the bottom of that list land on the "Should Do" list; things like bathing (I know, this should be a need, but most days it is not) and yard work. That leaves knitting and sewing way down on the "Want To Do" list. I have found though, that by leaving the things I want to do for last, they never, ever get done. And at the end of the day, I feel a whole lot better about myself and my day if I am able to do just an hour of those things that I was considering optional. So I found myself thinking that I should re-prioritize and really try to spend just a little part of each day working on something from the "Want To Do" list. Who cares if I don't bathe anyway? Isaac and Noah don't seem to mind. A happy Mama is much more important than a Mama that smells good, right?

However, I had grown a bit bored with the Tea Leaves cardigan and was in need of a project to get me motivated to knit again. A package came from my sister at just the right time to help pull me out of my knitting funk. A fellow knitter, she sent me two skeins of super soft Malabrigo yarn, possibly in response to an email I sent her with this attached (only fellow knitters and Twilight readers will really get a kick out of it). Also in the package was a mostly completed light-weight jacket for Isaac. Ironically, the pattern, called Duck Soup, has been on my own knitting "To Do" list for quite a while. All I had to do was seam up the hood, block it, and add a toggle closure. Ta da! Nearly instant knitting satisfaction!
Chunky Isaac really fills it out, but will hopefully get a little wear out of it in the coming months. Since I finished up the jacket, I have been making an effort over the last week or so to fit knitting back into my daily rhythm. I sneak it in during those precious minutes when both the boys are napping, or after they go to bed at night. After much searching for the perfect pattern to use for a winter jacket for Isaac, I decided to use the Duck Soup pattern with a few modifications. The first time I saw this pattern, my intention was to use it to knit an oversize jacket and then felt it. Instead, I am going to make it to size and then line it with fabric. That is the plan anyway. I have never done a combination knitting and sewing project before and I really hope it turns out.The jacket is knit seamlessly (except for the top of the hood) from the top down with raglan sleeves. I should have done a provisional cast-on so that I could have seamlessly sewn up the top of the hood when it is finished, but the yarn wasn't cooperating. It is Brown Sheep's Lanaloft, a single ply, 100 % wool yarn in a color called Roasted Pepper. Overall, it is working pretty well, but it is loosely spun in parts and a bit splitty. There is also a lot of plant debris in it. The sheep must have had a good roll in the grass and weeds before it was shorn.

I don't have a lot of experience in knitting garments, and it makes me nervous when I need to make changes to a pattern. Choosing a size is complicated by the fact that Isaac is not even 6 months old and already wearing 12 month clothing. I am using the 4/5 yr pattern to accommodate my smaller gauge and hoping that it comes out to be about 18 month size. Instead of a garter stitch border, I am doing seed stitch. I am also going to use buttons instead of toggles. A good couple of hours were wasted just trying to figure out my buttonhole placement and technique. I added a few stitches to the front panels to create an over-lapping button band. I am still searching for the perfect fabric to line it with.

To top it all off, I am going to make him a new hat with this beautiful yarn from Crystal Palace called Mochi Plus.Here's hoping my new rhythm sticks and I make some good progress on this in the coming week.

~Jen

In the Garden

We follow a simple rhythm throughout our days and weeks. Recently, our rhythm has had to have a bit of extra flexibility due to having to incorporate Isaac's sometimes unpredictable baby needs. One thing that remains a cornerstone of our daily rhythm is getting outside everyday. Every morning, while Isaac takes his nap, Noah and I head outside, baby monitor in hand. Our first stop is the garden, where I check on all the seedlings and pull weeds while Noah rakes, mows, and drives his little car through the cilantro. Though it is still early in the season, there is a lot of life to explore and enjoy.

Herbs

Chives

Onions
Greek Oregano

If all the weeds are pulled (we spend so much time outside that I actually run out of weeds to pull!), seeds are planted, and everything is watered, I sit under the pergola or on the porch and do a little knitting while Noah plays. Occasionally, he will come sit by me for a few seconds before he is off again.

Hopefully, Isaac will soon get over his aversion to the stroller and/or baby carriers and we will all be able to take walks together in the morning. Until then, Noah and I enjoy our quiet time outside together. And our garden is very weed-free.

~Jen