children in the woods

They were having so much fun I couldn't bring myself to make them come back inside. And somehow it seemed silly to insist they stop their play in nature to go inside to do a nature craft. Maybe this week we'll do the craft outside.

pirate talk

Now if this isn't the cutest (I mean fiercest,) puddle jumping pirate you ever did see? My mom brought the coat back from a recent trip and it is greatly loved.

I know I've not been visiting here very consistently. I'll blame it on our spotty internet connection and being extra busy, but really I'm not feeling like I have much to say. I am taking pictures but finding little inspiration for putting words to them. So I might just post photos for a bit till I find some words.

I have ever so many ideas of what I might write about- lists of books to review, parenting ideas to discuss, things we've got going on that I'd like to record here. But somehow, at the end of the day when my tired self faces the blank blogger screen and the ever so slow, things-may-or-may-not-load connection, well, I just feel like packing up and going to bed. Which is exactly what I am going to do right now. I'll be back with some pictures if I am able.

apples and pumpkins

Yesterday I baked apple pie and roasted pumpkin for soup to share with friends. The house smelled ever so fall-ish. Apples from my mom's tree and pumpkins from the farmers market and a stack of autumn library books from interlibrary loan. Apple pie and a good book, what could be cozier?

And the pumpkin soup was a hit with the kids- Dorian ate his weight in soup both last night and today. The recipe is this: roast pumpkin. fry onions. mix together and add soup stock. blend and serve to small children.

school days

So the first day of Enki-inspired preschool has come and gone, and it went really well. Such cuteness from these little ones! There is some tweaking to be done, with the circle especially, and with the schedule, but I think they did really well, especially considering it was the first time being part of a more formal class for most of them. There is certainly some boy energy to contend with, but this is an ever-present issue in my life as a mama to boys, I know I can work with it!

I'm too tired to go into many details now, but I would love to do a little show-and-tell of what I made for the preschool and then, of course, recording how things are going would be fun and helpful for me to look back on, but we'll see. For now, there is a glimpse of a few things: paint smocks I sewed from thrifted fabric, a red-headed preschool dolly (who didn't even get touched! They played mostly with the empty baskets I set out on the shelves at the last minute,) and some tree blocks. We had a lot of fun, and a nice soup lunch with the mamas (and my mama who is taking care of the baby while I tend the preschoolers,) and I am feeling that right-down-to-my-bones sort of tired after all that busy fun. Off to bed I go, with the circle songs playing over in my head.

hello autumn

Hello Autumn. You always take me by surprise. Summer slips by a green raucous blur, and then suddenly there is that smell in the air, the bright yellow flags of a few leaves turning, the sound of birds leaving for warmer places, and I feel both pleased and nostalgic. Can you be here already? I'm never quite ready for your arrival, yet your visit never seems long enough. We pull out the sweaters and woolly hats, gather those first leaves like treasures. Though you always seem to show up unannounced we embrace you quickly, happily, pleased that you've come. Welcome Autumn, make yourself at home. Stay as long as you are able.

clickity-clack

It's been rainy here, and this new-to-us typewriter that Perry and Ari scored on a recent thrift store adventure got hauled to explore. Something about chubby little hands and a vintage keyboard is so very sweet, I couldn't stop snapping pictures.

I don't know if you can see it, but I noticed when I was saving this last photo that the word "joy" is tucked away in all the random letters. I smiled when I saw it- it feels so much like my life right now- amidst the all the noise and the chaos, right where the words run together and the ink begins to blur, there is this beauty. This ever-present joy.

lovin'

Some things I am loving right now:


Visiting the lake those last few precious times of the season,
Apples that are growing on our little tree this year,

This wonderful article "Parenting: A Radical Political Act" by Tabitha Tucker via Annie's blog,

The amazing patterns at hedgehog lane. These are the stacking blocks waiting to be felted- a gift for Dorian's upcoming first birthday (gasp!) Check out the nesting dolls she is working on- I think this might be one of the coolest toy patterns I've seen.


Lots and lots of sandbox play,
A new dress up corner,

And the costume fun it has inspired (yes, I know. a disposable. Just for nights, okay?)


The amazing cookies I just made that take about 2.5 minutes to whip up, use just one bowl, are amazingly healthy, and are loved by all members of the family.

Flax Maple Cookies from "Get it Ripe" (I took it out of the library and it is great)



2 cups flour ( I used fresh ground whole wheat from our new grinder, but the recipe calls for spelt
1/3 cup flax seeds
1 - 1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup oil



Combine flour, flax seeds, cinnamon and salt in a bigish bowl. Pour in syrup and oil and mix. Form into balls and then press with two fingers laid flat to make a sort of rippled shape. Bake at 350 for 12 minutes. That's it. Yum. Okay, the first bite says "health-nut-vegan-crunchy-granola." But after that first bite it is just plain deliciousness.


And this is me, trying to focus on the positive as I face the start of the school year and being home on my own again. Positive. Think positive.

fun at the fair

We were not planning on attending the fall fair, but somehow we ended up there, and we decided early in the day to embrace it in all its dusty, noisy, greasy glory. Ari was thrilled by it all, the "tractor parade" of antique machines, the music and animals and, of course, the rides. He's still talking about the train and helicopters. Good fun.

And we entered a draw and won. Won four (feathery) prizes. But that is another post. One entitled "Pigeon fanciers" perhaps? or "Where will we put all these birds?" or "Read the fine print first, Ma," Oh. I'm giving it all away. Let's just say there are some construction projects and new pet adventures underway over here.