{this moment}

A Friday ritual birthed by Soulemama. 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.

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

Some of our day... (and a yarn along)

The lavender sachet and valentine gnome sleeping bag for Natural Suburbia's swap. I'm not done yet but these are a start! I got the idea of the sachet from my friend Stephanie from church. Thank you! 

A doll cardigan for Valentine's day that I am beginning today. I hope my pattern turns out well! For my next yarn along I plan of actually reading something else besides my own pattern as well ;) 

Deirdre's, my 4 year old, sky scarf. She is getting so good. I am proud at her effort.

Deirdre and I are joining in with Ginny again today for a Yarn Along over at her blog, Small Things. You should join in too! She is reading one of my favorite books, Organized Simplicity. You should check it out. It was a game changer for me. 

Well it has been a few days, hasn't it? Thankfully both my children have kicked their colds.  I love it when they have their first uphill day. I miss their laughs and happy spirits when they're sick. I think they miss them too! 

This week we also began our new Winter circulum. My co-op partner and I spent the month to December creating our own curriculum to follow Advent, St. Nicholas, St. Lucia, Christmas, and Epiphany. It also allowed us to take a break without feeling guilty because we paid for 4 weeks of material and used maybe 2. This past Autumn we used Little Acorn for all three months and I liked it a lot. There was a lot of material in their package, so much so that I can use it next year and cover stories and crafts we just never got to- and trust me we did a lot! 

So for Winter and Spring we are trying a new circulum out from Wee Folk Art. Best of all it is free and a perfect mix of Waldorf for us. I plan on adding to it as I see fit for my kids and where they are at. I have lots of extra Waldorf resources and enrichment guides that I have gotten through Earthschooling and Little Acorn. That is the beauty of homeschooling for me. Through my education I have been given the tools to effectively teach my children and understand on a deep level where they are at developmentally. That peace gives me more freedom to add and subtract where I see fit, without second guessing myself. I feel immensely blessed to be able to teach them and to have found Waldorf education. If I had not, I think I would feel very lost or torn when it came to their schooling (which really at this point, since it is the preschool years, is not serious at all- as it should be). 

I really feel like a giddy child myself too when it comes to new material. I get really excited about the lessons plans and the upcoming days we will have with each other. I guess that is how it should be? 

At any rate, we are chugging right along. The new ciricuum went off well this week so far and the kids are having fun. I am enjoying watching Deirdre learn to knit and Jonas how to draw and paint. His forms are so cute and purposeful. 

In Nicole news, I submitted my article proposal for the Spring edition of Rhythm of the Home magazine. They accepted it, so now the writing and creating begins. If all goes well this will be my 3rd article with them. I feel so humbled and excited to share a bit of our world with others. I will be cmbing crafting, reading, and teaching in this article. My three great loves, not to mention the book I will be discussing is The Story of the Root Children! I love connecting with new and different people. I also am almost done with my craft swap for Valentines day. Deirdre and I even wet felted some heart ornaments today!  I can't wait to share all that we made. I hope my partner enjoys it! 

Until then!


Daily Quote or Verse:

Your statutes are my heritage forever; they are the joy of my heart.
-Psalm 119:111

The Snow Child and Poppy (plus a tutorial!)

Both my little ones have been sick with a nasty bout of the common cold. Jonas was the first to get it, in conjunction with getting his two year molars, then Deirdre. Together they make one pathetic pair between their banshee like coughs and runny noses. However both seem to be in fine spirits, just very tired- as they should be! 

Needless to say it could be worse. I hate seeing them sick but at least they are allowing me to comfort them. Thus enters the little above Snow Child and Poppy. 

Every once in awhile I order something and stow it away, for a rainy day or a special event, to give to the kids later. I bought this book about a month ago and wanted to save it for after Christmas.

So during the kids' extra long nap, I sat down and whipped up a peg Snow Child and Poppy to go with the book. I knew the kids would appreciate it and since they felt so awful, I hoped it would cheer them up. Well, it worked! 

Right now Deirdre is sleeping with Poppy and Jonas with the Snow Child. Reading the book while holding their new friends warmed my heart. If you don't already have a copy of the the Snow Children, then I would encourage you to get one. Right now they are only $12.21 from Amazon (which is pretty good since the large hardback version is usually $20). 

Making the peg dolls were pretty simple. I use large peg dolls from Michael's and they seem to work best for little ones. However my directions are general enough that you should be able to use any size peg person to make these. You just need to use you peg person to measure the felt pieces that you're going to cut out. 

To make The Snow Child and Poppy peg person:

1. Cut one small white Snow Child and one small red Poppy felt rectangle (large enough to wrap around the body of your peg people).

2. Hot glue both the body wrappings in place to their respective peg person. 

3. Cut another rectangle in both Snow Child white and Poppy red, three times as large as the previous piece. 

(To check that you sized it right- try wrapping the piece around the peg head. If the piece totally covers the head and hangs mid way down the peg body- then you got the size right.)

4. Thread some light blue embroidery floss for the Snow Child and blanket stitch all the way around the large white felt rectangle. 

5.Repeat the same with the large red Poppy felt piece, but use white floss. 

5. Apply hot glue to the entire head of each peg person, except for the face.

6. Press the middle of the stitched felt piece to the head of the peg person, cinching it in the middle. 

7. Stitch the neck closed with the left over embroidery floss. 

8. Hot glue the back and the front of the Snow Child's coat to the peg body. Then shape the sides of the cloak to resemble wings. Glue the insides of cloak together if necessary. 

9. You do not need to glue the cloak to Poppy's body.

To make Poppy's white hand muff: 

1.Fold a small piece of white felt over three times to form a thick tiny rectangle. 

2.Glue the layers together.

3. Braid three strands of white embroidery floss together. 

4. Tie the ends together to form a necklace (the necklace should fall to the middle of Poppy's body)

5. Glue the tiny white rectangle to the middle of the necklace and viola! 

And you should be done! Enjoy you little people! 

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual birthed by SouleMama. A single photo - 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.

. . . . . . . .

Her first row of knitting on her sky scarf!