There have been so many playful days lately. i love seeing the imagination and games unfold. So often the little one comes to me saying “i don’t know what to do” and if i just give him time to be in those moments of unknowing or boredom he ends up coming up with these brilliantly creative ideas and he’s off playing for hours. i love it. it makes me feel even more sure about our lifestyle and decisions to limit or eliminate television from our days ( i admit that during my 3 o’clock crash time i have given into the tv about once a week).  i’m inspired by Kim John Payne. i was lucky to attend his lecture a couple weeks ago on Simplicity Parenting. i thought the lecture would save me having to read his book but now i want to devour it more than ever.

At the beach and in proper attire (especially those mitts!) he could play for hours. Grandma P collected stones (even found a crystal) and i knit (i’m so addicted);

The teepee is getting some great use these past weeks.  i hear him chatting away in there with his stuffed friends and there’s almost always some mess to tidy away at the end of the day.

The request for play dates is near daily and you have no idea how this thrills me. Seriously, i waited years for this time to come. He does well one on one or in small groups. We had such a fantastic afternoon with these guys the other day. i couldn’t help giggling along. i was so curious to watch them play together;

School can be challenging. There are rhythms that flow and then there are not. Little A told me, ” School could be really good if there were only 5 kids”. i get it. 14 kids during some of the transitions can be loud, overwhelming and sometimes disturbing. Outside is quite a different experience. There is a new water pump at the Waldorf school this year which gets used by most of the kids every single day.  Between that and the “cupcake shop” (sand box) it’s becoming increasingly difficult to end the day with his school buds.

We’re establishing a fine balance of active outdoor element play with the more quiet and thoughtful indoor play. While Willie was meant to be a special puppet brought to life by me only, the little one is smitten and so very curious to have a turn and so i let him sometimes. Grandma P is an attentive audience;

i’m trying to love this little guy up in our last few months before newbie arrives. i’m also happy to see him grow a little more independent leaving me with my own time and space. Things are pretty great right now.

this little guys looks like nothing at all of what i imagined. in fact he’s so different that i feel like i’m staring at him in a similar way to when i first was meeting Little A out of the womb - i stared and searched for hours wondering, “what do you look like and who are you?” i realize the puppet reveals himself in the making. i’m not sure this is my medium but i have a deeper respect for some very special doll and puppet makers out there along with the great story tellers. i learned many wonderful things in this workshop re; language and speech with children, the dreaminess of vowel sounds as opposed to the awakening sound of the consonants, that a person’s larynx mimics a speakers vocal and energetic vibration (not the case in listening to a recording or tv). a reminder brought forth this weekend in regards to reading and telling stories to children is to’ give life and not emotion to the story’ - it’s a real art to capture a child’s wonder with a simple story and i think that in a person’s unknowing or discomfort that one might be more inclined to project themselves and their emotions into the story, becoming much more of an entertainer. there is absolutely no need for animation. a child’s wonder is pure.

there is so much to do with a puppet and this verse;

wee willie winky runs through the town

upstairs and downstairs in his nightgown

peeking in the windows, calling through the locks

‘are all the children in their beds?

for now it’s 8 o’clock’

Suzanne Down is a lovely woman and the director of Juniper Tree School of Puppetry Arts in Colorado.

i’m feeling a little more in tune with our intentions for Advent this year. We began last Sunday at the Waldorf Advent Garden. it was such a simple and special celebration. For those unfamiliar with this spiral garden; a candle is lit in the center of a spiral which is laid out on the floor of pine trimmings. Each child in turn walks the spiral inward to the center candle to light their own apple candle which is then placed upon a golden star along the spiral path out again. Like the turning point of Solstice, the dimly lit room brightens as more candles are lit. it was quiet,  magical and sweetly scented of beeswax and pine.

“The first light of Advent is the light of stone-

Stones that live in crystals, seashells and bone.” – attributed to Steiner

Quite simply we have brought out an advent ring, crystals and shells to our meal table, we have been spending sunny days at the beach and the elves have gifted us some wee treasures including a geode to crack open and a wooden whale who has seen real treasures under the sea.

Last year i said to myself that i would be on the ball for this particular celebration next year, but as last year, i forgot, only to be reminded by a number of flickr friend’s photos and posts…so a day late and rather impromptu, as i have yet to wrap my head around these new to me festivals, here’s our simple celebration of warmth, giving, receiving and light.

At the preschool snack table yesterday the little ones called out about tv, what they like, how much they watch. i was surprised but not really. This week in particular has felt a little wild in the classroom as though many of the kids stayed in from the rain. i admit that we too have turned the movie on some - Mary Poppins is totally magical. i’m loving it - but - outside is better. While the day was gorgeous, sunny, brisk and beckoning i hope that i can keep up the oomph to explore outdoors even on the inevitable soggy West Coast in Autumn/Winter days.

i got to meet the lovely Fabiola and her beautiful family at the beach yesterday. short and sweet. i sort of wish i could have joined a caravan with them on their tour to the island. (i can’t seem to click and drag larger images from my flickr just now?)

Kyrie from Are So Happy has so cleverly organized a Seasons Round Exchange to inspire more magic in all of our nature table projects that we share with our children. This Autumn Harvest i was coupled with the lovely Emma whose words and photos i have long admired and followed. On this appropriate Fall afternoon our package arrived! yay. i’m so happy to have my hands on these beautiful autumn picnic adventure prints and i’m determined now to find myself a thermos flask to hold  the hot cocoa on our own such adventures.  So far the bar smells dark and delicious and i know it’s going to go well melted in our raw milk.

Little A wants to build this needle felted bear a den to hibernate in but i think first he has some Autumn harvesting and picnicking to do.

Thank you Emma for your gifts, thoughtful words, seed gathering games and the feather which was promptly stuck into the little one’s chapeau. xo.

In exchange, little A and i sent off to England a play silk which we dyed in onion skins along with some of our other favorite Autumn nature table crafts. For Emma’s family. (Her own photo collage is so beautiful);

Our own nature table space holds some things similar along with some seasonal books.

there are many uses for a play silk;

…were full as they often are. Perhaps it was the fall of the acorns that set me in a bit of a panic, grasping for more sunshine, more fruits, more spontaneity…

A peek at the forecast reveals that sunny Sundays might be over (at least for this week) and i reminisce. There certainly hasn’t been enough of baseball or bike rides.

I hope to share a bit of a birth and a wedding in the next little while after i edit some hundreds of photos. i think these last jobs took the clickety click out of me as the Okanagan photos are sparse. Trust me though, the time was well spent in the orchards, at the beach, visiting friends and family (and cats).

and now this not so little one prepares for the gradual entry back to school. He’s not at all excited. In fact, he’s breaking my heart with his anxiety about it saying the only thing he likes about school is baking bread and that we can do at home.  i’m trying to be confident for him, knowing there is so much more that he enjoys that he’s forgetting or not thinking about. Fortunately his teachers are awesome and supportive of all sorts of quirks and situations. Still i can’t help crossing my fingers.

it is such a fascinating time of discovering, this pre 5 age, being hungry for life and learning with so many questions and wonder. i can’t say that i’m terribly thrilled to play ALL of his games but in nature is where we most easily connect and are most deeply satisfied. he still won’t touch pages of books with spiders or crabs or other creepy crawlies but his curiousity is aroused by the ever so curious snail.

and worms, well, they’re like treasures and there are plenty to find. at preschool one child asks, “can that worm be my worm?” another child replies, “the worms belong to all of us.” they are utterly enthralled.

We all went on  safari;

and came home tuckered out;

but not really;

Enjoy your weekend!

(one day i’ll change the Easter banner but first i have to figure out how).

Twice a week we drive through Stanley park to and from preschool.  it’s the part of the commute that makes it all worthwhile. Of course the Waldorf school is worth it but i’ve never commuted so far for a job even. The first day to school i drove the typical route bumper to bumper from one bridge through downtown to another bridge. Little A asked if there was a festival that there were so many people awake in the morning? There damn well should have been. Traffic and commuting is soooo not my world and i was quite ready to let Waldorf go and commit entirely to homeschooling but then i discovered the park route. i think it must be longer in distance but it knocked 20mins off our time to miss all the traffic and lights. Now it is a beautiful and relaxing morning drive. Anyhoot, it was gorgeus out yesterday; blue skies and the forest steamy with sunshine drying dew. We made a stop at the beach and lost track of time. it was the day’s highlight writing letters and playing games in the sand.

Happy is for Birthday Grandma D (she’s a beach gal herself).