A Happy Thought

A Happy Thought

The world is so full

of a number of things, 

I'm sure we should all

be happy as kings.

-Robert Louis Stevenson from "A Child's Garden of Verses"

I have taken a bit of a respite from this place. Honestly, not for any reason in particular! I have just been so busy and alternatively our lives have been changing so much. We have been trying to figure out a new family rhythm. 

With Deirdre now in school, our days look different. Now with my return to work soon, as well as having a temporary job on the weekends, it has been a bit up and down. However, we still have been making the most of it and figuring out all of these changes together. Us four, we're a little team to be sure. It has amazed me how well they all have been doing through this. It is a blessing for sure. All of them are growing in news ways. And it has reminded me of what an honor and privilege it is to be their mother. 

Mostly, I find myself filled with divine gratitude. Gratitude for having my children in my life. Gratitude for my family, who has loved us so well through this. Gratitude for my friends, whom are also my family and who I get to raise my children alongside with. Gratitude for my education, which at times I have taken for granted. And gratitude for Waldorf, because that lynchpin in our lives has helped keep me steady- and my mothering steady- which in turn has helped me love my children well. It almost seems like a buffer of sorts, a sense of stability in my home. I can't quite name it. But it is there. 

I also continue to be in awe of the beauty that surrounds us. Maybe I appreciate it more now or maybe I see it more clearly, but I feel like someone has turned up the saturation in my eyes. Life is just brighter. 

My children have not been the only ones who have been growing. I have too. For once, in a long time, I have had time for myself. I have been doing things for just me. Beautiful yet simple things. And that feels good. My soul feels refreshed and I have a renewed sense of purpose, that I thought I died to a long time ago. It feels good to be alive again in that way. Which all brings me back to gratitude for the people the universe has conspired to put in my life and help me rekindle that. 

So I will leave you all now with a bit of 'catch up' for what we've been up to. We've celebrated 2 birthdays, MANY festivals, taken trips, and had lots of beach and crafting fun. Enjoy my sweet friends. And I will be back soon. 

Brynna is getting so so big! She loves to play at the Yorktown battlefields. 

Secret Places

Jonas turned 4! 

Brynna turned 2! 

Worm trap made by Jonas. 

Yorktown Pirate Day

Easter Eggs :) 

The start of  our garden! 

Yorktown Beach! 

Our trip to Richmond to visit Link and her family as well as the VMFA

Shrove Tuesday

Imbolc pots! 

Green for Spring! 

Day trip to Surry to their Farm Museum. 

One of our last days homeschooling. 

PS: Linking up for the lovely Nicole at Frontier Dreams for KCCO! 

Love and Light,

{this moment}

Jonas loving on his 3rd birthday present- his Waldorf balance board

{this moment} - A Friday ritual birthed by SouleMama. A *few* photos - a *few* words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

. . . . . . . . . .

PS: If you want your own balance board- I highly recommend them- you can get one here from the lovely Sarah Baldwin at Bella Luna Toys. Also to boot the crafters of the board sent me a hand written thank you note for supporting them. Wow. You definitely don't get that care these days. It warms my heart knowing that we're supporting family business and people who put love into their work. 

Real Snow and a little Valentines

A view of our school room, Seasonal tree, and the gifts the kid's received today.  

Finally it seems winter is here... or was at least! We had a lovely little dusting this past Saturday (the same day as my son's 2nd birthday party).  Altogether that makes for a great day. Especially since, two years ago, it snowed on the day he was born too. What sweet memories that snow brought back to me. Plus we got to play in the snow before it melted away on Sunday. It was bliss for my kids! 

I will post later on more about Jonas' actual party and why we choose to do parties. When each birthday and holiday pops up I find myself reflecting of our Waldorf journey a bit more than usual, mainly due to the gifts and materialism issue. This time around all of that went well and I'd eventually like to share about that. Thank you for your wishes also. Jonas felt quite loved in blogland! 

Today was also Valentines day here for us. I find it very funny that my daughter and my son (and this baby) are all/will be born quite close to big holiday (Christmas, Valentines, and possibly Easter respectively).- but I digress. Our little family tradition is giving some small presents right when the kids wake up. They always have been a book and little toy. This year both kids got a book and a silk toy. Then we go somewhere fun together and make a special dinner. Crafts are usually involved, but today we did not craft any since we will be having a nice big co-op Valentine's day party later this week. I also made gnomes for all the kids, so I held off on giving my kids their gnomes until then. I also plan of wet felting hearts with the kids that day- oh I am just so excited! I also am excited about exploring with them who Saint Valentine really was as well as a better idea of what this extremely commercial holiday is truly about. 

Today was overall a pretty good day. My son was pretty fussy, much more than usual, so just my daughter and I went out at lunch time to a frozen yogurt place. While Jonas and Daddy played outside and hunted for worms to put in our compost. 

DD and I had a sweet Mommy-Daughter time together. She, in her 4 year old wisdom, opened up to me about how her friend just got her ears pierced and she liked it. I was really happy with how the conversation went, I asked lots of questions and listened a lot. Then, by herself, Deirdre concluded that she doesn't need her ears pierced yet and that she wants to talk about it again when she is 10. I thought that was a great idea. 

So I hope you all had a sweet and relaxing Valentine's day with your little sweeties! I can't wait to see all the fun crafting we all will be up to this week! 

Always, Nicole 

Weekending

Is it already Sunday? Please pinch me then because it feels like Friday!


This weekend we celebrated our firstborn's, Deirdre Cosette, fourth birthday. Her actual birthday is December 18th, one week exactly from Christmas day. So for the past 3 years now we've celebrated it at the beginning of the month to not crowd Christmas- and the other way around. 


Her party this year was a gnome party. It is what she wanted and I was happy to oblige! I think gnome are precious and I tend to shy away from marketed characters. It was a fun day, followed also today by her good friend's birthday party too! In our group of friends we all seem to have winter babies, so it can get crowded! We're happy to share though. 


I will blog more on Monday about the party specifics, how we did it, and why we celebrate birthdays the way we do. I did not have to take pictures at the party either, thanks to my Mother in law. So once I get those photos I will pass them along.


In the meantime I will leave you with a special photo of Deirdre and I on our first day home from the hospital back in 2007 when I was 21 and a newlywed. It is a special photo to me because after I had Deirdre I was in terrible pain for 6 weeks and could not walk. I was eventually diagnosed with pubic symphysis diastasis and the pain did go away, but it still to this day haunts me. 


However despite the pain, I was blessedly totally smitten and in love with my baby. I still wish I could have enjoyed her newborn moments more and been pain free, but this is what I have and they're still precious memories to me. 


So hug your little ones extra close tonight for me. They sure do grow quickly. 

Daily verse or quote: 

A son is a son till he takes him a wife, a daughter is a daughter all of her life.  

~An Irish Proverb

::right now::

Lovely and happy co-play- it warms my soul. 

Co-op Martinmas- minus Jonas who was running around like a crazy man! 

Fake snow courtesy of the Yankee Candle store! 

::right now:: a tradition birthed by Soulemama 

Right now, I am...

:: surrounded by signs of the holidays in my home, city, and daily rhythm. And I love it!

:: sewing up a store. I have two Christmas quilts to finish (see below photos), and a birthday gnome quilt to bind by Saturday! 

:: thinking up last minute ways to decorate for Deirdre's 4th birthday party this Saturday. She is having a gnome party and well if you hadn't noticed stores don't carry gnome party supplies. While this usually is not a problem for me, being sick and pregnant for the greater part of the past three months has taken a HUGE toll on my productivity! 

:: wondering if it will snow on this Saturday like it did last year on Deirdre's birthday. I sure hope so! 

:: letting go of my grand plan of hand making all my Christmas gifts. I had to outsource some of my gift-making to other sweet Etsy mothers. But, as I wanted, all my children's gifts and most of my immediate family gifts were handmade- and fair trade. A few were also made by yours truly! (By the way check out three places I bought from on Etsy: Natural Earth Farm and Fiber Studio , Christina Guenther Artisan Jewelry, Wyoming Rose!)

:: praying my family and I remain cold free this winter. When I am pregnant my colds linger much longer than I prefer. 

:: planning the rest of my co-op curriculum this month. My partner and I decided to not buy one this month and make our own since we don't really need extra help coming up with stories and crafts. Here's hoping the kids love it! 

:: dreaming about my new baby as my body continues to gently remind that indeed there is a baby coming this Spring. 

:: reading the winter edition of Rhythm of the Home magazine. My new article on handmade holiday soaps is posted in it as well in their 'Warmth' section, so check it out!  

:: listening to Paradise by Coldplay and letting it take me to a nice melancholy place that I sometimes like to visit. 

:: treasuring the fourth year of marriage Craig and I will celebrate tomorrow. My degree, research, awards, scholarships, publications-basically any achievement I have- pales in comparison to the amount of work a happy and healthy marriage takes. And I am proud to say I consider our marriage my (and our) greatest achievement. Even more so than the effort we put into parenting. I just love Craig so! 

:: backtracking a lot past co-op adventures that in my hyperemesis haze forgot to tell you all about- see our Martinmas photo above! But rest assured I will get there. We are still loving every moment of co-op! 

:: and finally wishing you and yours a blessed week!