Much Merriment

Gnome Sleeping Bag and my original creation- a bed side spool table

A pair of Wee Folk Art inspired gnomes and another original creation- a padded mushroom spool table

Ready to see Santa

Momma's cookie helper and taster

Momma's cookie theft (look how guilt yet innocent he looks!) 

Opening their annual tree ornament

The tree is done, phew! 

Crafting a snowflake garland

Gingerbread house with Daddy

Greenery from our yard for pillar hangings- we made 6... we have lots of pillars. 

and they were free, all materials from our yard. Beat that Traders Joe's for $7 a pop! 

I am going to take a break until after Christmas. I would encourage you all - and at times even myself-to enjoy this time with your children. Include them in everything. It doesn't have to look perfect or pretty. The memories and experiences are far more valuable than a nice photo. I also am pretty sure that no children were included in what Martha Stewart makes either! What fun is that? Children learn through being included in all aspects of our lives. Let them enrich yours as well. They will remember it always. 

I might pop in to post a few photos of any last minute elfing, but until then- Merry Christmas!  

Here is a poem I read the kids today. They loved it! 

'Christmas Bells' poem by Henry Wadsworth

I heard the bells on Christmas Day

Their old, familiar carols play,

And wild and sweet

The words repeat

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And thought how, as the day had come,

The belfries of all Christendom

Had rolled along

The unbroken song

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Till, ringing, singing on its way

The world revolved from night to day,

A voice, a chime,

A chant sublime

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Then from each black, accursed mouth

The cannon thundered in the South,

And with the sound

The Carols drowned

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And in despair I bowed my head;

‘There is no peace on earth,’ I said;

‘For hate is strong,

And mocks the song

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!’

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:

‘God is not dead; nor doth he sleep!

The Wrong shall fail,

The Right prevail,

With peace on earth, good-will to men!’

Weekending

In seed time learn, in harvest teach, in winter enjoy.  

~William Blake

Two winter gnomes, the red has mistletoe on his back and the blue has the nativity star.  Inspired by Wee Folk Art!

A new creation. A stuffed felt mushroom wood table for the gnomes. 

Drooly from teething! 

Fresh cranberry and dried orange garland. 

We are certainly busy over here. Quite a few last minute gifts that need to be completed for the kids. My Christmas cards are finally all addressed and stamped. They'll go out on Monday. 

However amid this self imposed hustle, I found time with Jonas today to string some garland. He sure loved helping and he is quite precise for an almost 2 year old. Poor fellow though, he is getting his 2 year molars in right now. No fun for Christmas. 

We also gave Deirdre an early present today, a new pet Dutch rabbit. She named him 'Hoppy'. He is only six weeks old and adorable. He is inside with us in a cage for a few weeks until he is older. He was just weaned. Hopefully he will fill the hole in her little heart that Snow White- the hen which a predator got- left. 

My broody mother hen, Precious, still seems to be a good mother hen and is setting on the nest. Please pray that this lasts. I would really hate to see the entire clutch go bad. 

Tomorrow is Deirdre's official birthday, even though we celebrate it earlier in the month. She is spending the day with her Omi and Grandfather. They are going to a special kids concert. I should have some time then to finish up her  and Jonas' quilt (plus some other goodies). Then on Monday I am taking her ice skating. Really it is Craig who will be skating with her.  I think this pregnant lady needs to stay away from the ice. 

I hope you all are having a relaxed and productive weekend too! Feel free to share the gifts you're working on! 

Predators, broody mamas, and duck eggs... Oh My!

Petunia my lone Embden goose

My chickens (from L to R) Faline Dominique, Simba Brahma Roo, Nala Dominique, and Precious Americauna.

Well I usually do not post more than once a day, but after all the excitement with my animals this week, I needed to write a quick update!


This year Craig and I took another stab at raising pet chickens. We got 4 day-old chicks in the mail this past April. One chick died, and the others thrived. Then steadily over the next two months we expanded to include 5 chickens (one Brahma rooster, two Dominiques, a leghorn, and an Americauna),  a pair of Muscovy ducks, a pair of Embden geese, and three rabbits. 


We lost one goose and most recently my leghorn to predators- despite our best attempts to protect them. We replaced our goose Henry with a Chinese goose. However, Henry II since then has been respectfully culled, as we intended from the get go. (I will write another post on that later but basically we as a family would like to be closer to the process of how we obtain meat in order to be more conscious consumers).


But with planned and unplanned loss, unexpected life springs! Just this past week both my Muscovy duck hen and Americauna hen have gone broody!! While my duck, Strawberry, did not set sadly- my Americauna hen, Precious, has and seems to be a great Momma. 

Duck eggs

Our duck eggs, all 5, are in an incubator and we will candle them in another four days to see if they are developing. As for the 15 eggs Precious laid, she is happily taking care of them on her own. I hope she keeps it up too because we only have on incubator and the duck eggs have to be at a higher temperature. 




Needless to say it has been an exciting and exhausting week. I find it so so funny that Precious went broody first. Not only is she my youngest and smallest hen, but until now she had never laid an egg. Since it got cold, all my hens stopped laying so I just assumed she'd start in the spring- since she is much younger then my Dominiques. Well, I guess she was saving up. 


Now that I think back on her behavior this week and today it does make sense that she was broody. Not only did she have an egg waiting for me in her cage, but once I let her out she immediately went to the brush pile she loves and skipped her food! 


Imagine my surprise when I go out to get her tonight and find this there (when it was empty this morning)!! So here is hoping we get some chick and duckling in the next 20-35 days or so. I am excited and learning so much by all of this. Raising poultry sure is fun. 

Precious' eggs

{this moment}

{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.
. . . . . . . .

Elfing Crayons

Tonight will be a quick blog. Craig and I are giving each other an early Christmas gift tonight. We are going out to dinner, kid free, in Colonial Williamsburg. We both prefer the gift of time together, with good food, so this is perfect. 


Today however I did a bit of elfing (aka making our own handmade gifts) for the kids. I re-batched some broken crayons for Jonas, into circle crayons. At his age, he still needs large bulky crayons- so these are perfect! I also cringe when any of our beeswax crayons bite the dust, since the cost so much more. This is a nice way to re-use the broken pieces you have lying around (plus they still are just as vibrant re-batched). 

It is a very simple process too. 


-Just take your broken crayon bits and sort them into color groups (greens and yellows, red and oranges, & blues and purples). 

-Then put then in a oven safe silicone muffin pan. I bake mine at 350 for 7 minutes. 
-Once they come out I mix the melted wax together and let then set for 20 minutes outside. 
-Then pop them out and enjoy. If you use a silicone mold, and I highly suggest you do, then they will come out no problem!

Enjoy and have a great night! We will! 

St. Lucia Week at Co-op

Daily Verse or Quote: 

Lucy Light,

The Shortest day &

The Longest Night

I am so excited to blog tonight. Today at co-op began our St. Lucia, aka Lucy, week. St. Lucia is another Waldorf saint day holiday that they celebrate in their schools. It is a first celebration for me and my family as well as my partner. 


St. Lucia Day is a popular Scandinavian holiday. Neither I or my husband however have any Scandinavian background (that we know of). Craig is pretty German on both sides- thus the lovely Kleemann last name. I however am primarily Irish, with a dash of German and Native American. Go figure on the Native American part of me. If you know me, then you can plainly see that I am as white and fair as Casper! I digress however. (I happen to be a bit bitter about being very very fair) 


In order to celebrate St. Lucia I have had to do a bit of research. Obviously I like to make holidays our own and adapt them to fit into our rhythm. But I also don't want to lose the integrity of the holiday's original traditions either. I also want to make sure that any holiday which we bring into our home has a good message. We happen to be non-denominational Protestants, so in our church we do not have or celebrate any saints (so I am basically clueless when it comes to saints)!


For my family however this doesn't mean that we can not teach the children about the saints. When teaching the children I just make sure to highlight the underlying values that holds true for all Christians, regardless of our denominations. Craig and I really don't see any conflicts there, especially since all the saint's stories lead back to Christ (the most important element). Truly we all have more in common than I believe we all think we do. 


So today we decided to bake St. Lucia buns or Lussekatt. It was a fun experience. My partner and I had to improvise with the dough a bit because despite following the recipe we had to the T, our dough did not rise much. But in the end they were very tasty and cute. Which is most important, right? We also were a bit barbaric and used chocolate instead of raisins. I mean I come about it honestly, I am pregnant- the baby needed the chocolate!


In our circle time today, I read to the children about winter and how it is a dark, restful, and sleepy time for most animals as well as people (to tie into how St. Lucia brings light in the winter). Then we spoke about how St. Lucia showed Christ's love and kindness to people (by bringing them food in the catacombs as her legend goes). I also asked the children ways in which they could show people Christ's love and kindness specifically, as St. Lucia and St. Nicholas did. Their answers were very sweet and heartfelt. I believe they are beginning to realize the heart behind the holiday. Which is refreshing for me since I get so jaded with familial stress right at times. 


So on Friday this is how we will be topping off our celebration! 
-We are making, in order to show Christ's kindness and love to all of God's creation, winter bird/chicken feeders (for my farm animals) and dog biscuits for our co-op mascot Penny. 
-We also are going to color pictures for send to the Elderly through a non-profit called  Color a Smile. 
-The girls will dress in white- I have red ribbons for them and a candled wreath crown to share. 
-The boys will also be included and dressed in green as tomtnissar! 
-Not to mention I also have some fun stories and St. Lucia songs to sing with them. 


Needless to say it will be a busy but fun day! Phew. But in the end it it worth it. Deirdre has not stopped talked about St. Lucia today. It is the first female saint we have covered and she is a fan. I think it gives her a tangible and relatable figure to emulate.  

Some nice Waldorf sources I used for stories, recipes, and themes on St. Lucia:

-http://theparentingpassageway.com/2009/12/07/santa-lucia-day-in-the-waldorf-home/

-http://www.mamalisa.com/blog/santa-lucia-day-song-and-saying-why-its-a-festival-of-light/

-http://storybookwoods.typepad.com/storybook_woods/2008/12/saint-lucia-unit.html

-

A Little Bit of Advent and Crafty Advice

Daily Verse or Quote: 

“The soul should always stand ajar. Ready to welcome the ecstatic experience.” 

- Emily Dickinson

Our Winter Nature Table 

My Glass Nativity

Things are really beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here! We've had most of our decorations up since the day after Thanksgiving but much fine tuning has been going on this week. 

We do have a nice advent tradition- going on three years strong! I have a small pocket calendar for each day of this month that I fill with candy and a slip of paper for either a present, craft, or trip each day. We also read a different story each day as well. I do not use the same crafts each year but the trips have been staying the same. I have a good mix in there. 

Today we made clay ornaments. You can find the directions on how to make them here. I love that you can pick your own shapes and paint them as well. My kids loved this craft. We used acrylic paint and a mod podge shimmer  seal to make sure that they last. I also suggest using lots of corn starch to roll them on. Another bonus is that these are totally non toxic. Jonas ate a bunch and well the corn starch and baking soda won't hurt him in the least. 

Someone asked me about this recently. In order to get extra crafts done during the holidays, or really any day with young kids, I have a few suggestions-

1. Plan ahead. Pre assemble during nap time all the needed supplies, pre-measured if necessary. I store my supplies in a plastic tub so that once we are done it all goes in the tub and away. This prevents them from getting into it and I then don't stress over not having a clear table. If you need to re-organize your supplies, wait until later. It will wait for you safely in the tub until then. 

2. Make clean up easy. Use a drop cloth and then just bundle up the mess for clean up after dinner. I use an old plastic table cloth for this. Keep baby wipes handy for cleaning up quick messes. Oh and just strip your kids down or use and old t-shirt. We have designated paint shirts here. 

3. Make a crock pot dinner. I tend to craft after naptime with my kids on non co-op days. My husband works nights, so it is just me and them. In order to have time to eat I make an easy crock pot meal that night. I put it in in the morning or during nap so that it will be ready about the time we finish crafting. This book is awesome for dinner ideas: Fix it and Forget it

4. Make the craft with them. I always enjoy myself more and engage better if I paint along with them. I have no big expectation for what I do but it keeps me from being tempted to do something else instead of spending time with them and their craft. 

5. Let go. Since we crafted tonight, I have yet to do my dishes and fold my laundry. Oh well. It can wait. We had a great time. We made memories, and tomorrow when we won't be crafting so I can catch up. 

If being creative with your kids is a priority, and I believe it should be in what ever form you choose, then you need to put it first and make time for it. If you don't then it probably won't happen.

6. Forgive yourself.  Please remember, it is also fine if something unexpected comes up and you need to postpone the project. Life happens too. Mother guilt is evil and totally self inflicted. Rise above it. You will get around to doing something fun once life calms down. Your kids will be fine in the meantime.  Just remember this extra preparation that you need to do when they're little, will end. Once they're older- they can and will want to do this on their own. Embrace and enjoy the craziness! 

So there you have it! Enjoy and I hope you get some crafting done. Pleas feel free to comment and share a link to some of your crafts you all have been doing. I love to see them and get new ideas!!! 

Advent Calendar 

My Noels! 

More table 

Ostheimer 

Co-op Christmas tree, soon to be decorated!  

Winter seasonal ring 

My hearth 

More Noels 

Crafting!!! 

Mid-sentence talking about her green ornament. 

Jonas is intense about painting. I love it! 

Ta-da!