The Nest!

It really is Spring! I am beyond thrilled about the sweet little nest two birdies decided to build in Isla's bike helmet.



We always hang the girls' helmets up right outside our front door, and a few weeks ago we noticed a couple of birds flying back and forth, carrying grass and twigs. We have been lucky to watch them build their nest bit by bit and now... Look - eggs!



They are so darling, they almost look fake. It will be so amazing if they hatch and we get to see teeny, tiny baby birds in there...

A Caterpillar's Journey Through Life, and Our Backyard

At school, little I is learning about caterpillars and their amazing transformation. Today she came home and started playing in our backyard. After a few minutes, she came rushing over to me.

"Mom! Mommy! Looooooook!!!" She held this box out for me to see:



"Baby caterpillars! And I made them a nice, cozy place to live while they get ready to turn into butterflies!" Those Giant Impatiens plants are amazing for their popping seed pods. Not too much later I was shown the chrysalis, courtesy of the Trumpet Flower Tree:



Before we knew it, a beautiful butterfly had emerged:



It landed right on her hand, before flying off for a drink from our Pride of Madeira plant:



So incredible to see how what she is learning in school truly lives in her is such a creative, wonder-filled way!

Outdoor Music Station

Inspired by other photos on Pinterest, we finally talked Daddy into making one for the backyard:

Fairy Sunday in Spring

Spring has definitely arrived at our home! Two sweet little birds are even building their nest in one of the bike helmets we have hanging right outside our front door. This morning we had such a sweet circle, and Lyr was pretending it was her birthday. (We were at a friend's birthday party yesterday). She realllllly wanted cupcakes for her "birthday" so we decided to make a whole day of it, and had a fairy party. We sang fairy songs like "Fairy Ring" by Maria Sangoilo and made gluten free fairy cakes:



*To make the cakes:
1 cup all-purpose gluten-free flour (we like Bob's Red Mill)

2 eggs
sprinkle of salt
1/2 T baking powder
1/2 stick softened butter
1/2 c sugar
1/3 c milk or 1/2 1/2
4 oz. greek yoghurt

Mix together all ingredients and pour into silicone muffin cups. Bake at 350. When cool, frost with sunflower seed butter or cream cheese. Top with fresh, edible flowers and/or edible gluten free butterflies (find them on etsy).

They were a success!



Serve them with tea!

After the tea party, we told this fairy story while I wrapped a twig loom with yarn. Then the girls searched for flowers to make a fairy loom of their own. They found a special spot in our garden to set it up.



I'm planning on reading "Good Night, Fairies" by Kathleen and Michael Hague at bedtime. Such a sweet day!

March 10

So far today we had circle time inside, a nature walk on the bluffs, play time on the beach, a picnic in the teepee, garden harvesting, and painting. I painted with the girls and finally got some daily/weekly/yearly rhythms up on the fridge, above their art table. I'm feeling happy and inspired and grateful today, and now I'm off to study group :)

Home, Sweet Home

Yesterday was absolutely unreal! There was snow up in the mountains of SB and we took the girls up there for some sledding and snowman-making. Amazing, this place where we live.



Today was another magical one. Ry had the morning off and spent it in the garden with the girls. Then he made the bamboo frame for our giant backyard teepee! The girls played with their neighbor friend and then we had a tea party//picnic/circle time under the geodesic dome. I played the flute for them, and we sang Spring songs. It was windy so we read a couple of chapters of "Mother West Wind." For art, we painted and made play-doh cupcakes (Isla's idea! - we used real cupcake papers and our homemade play-doh). For cooking, we made chia-seed pudding. Then we harvested greens and veggies from the garden. The curly kale, lettuce, broccoli and cauliflower became the better part of our dinner and the swiss chard, dandelion greens, and flat kale we steamed and blended, and poured into ice-cube trays to freeze for later use in smoothies, soups, and rice dishes. Tonight's bedtime snack was fresh strawberries Ry came home with after work, story was "Nobody Rides the Unicorn," and song was "Rest Your Heads, Little Sleepy Heads." Before dinner the girls put on a special puppet show for me, using their wooden rocker as a puppet theater. (That thing is probably our #1 toy - so many uses! We purchased ours from www.bellalunatoys.com)



Tomorrow I hope to start making some alphabet cards for Isla to play with (in a couple of years...) and maybe get another lecture done for homework. Then in the afternoon I get to go to a study group on "The Kingdom of Childhood." Our homework from the last group was to do a form drawing while we tell a story. I better practice that one on the girls! Today I kept flashing on how like a homeschool our average day is over here. I just purchased Melisa's curriculum for early childhood and kindergarten (www.waldorfessentials.com) which has been so affirming. (I highly recommend it, by the way...) When I don't have to get too much work done during the day we have the most incredible time! I'm trying to figure out how to have just one job (ideally the jewelry business) and get 99% of it done when the kids are asleep. Wish me luck!

Autumn Princess

Becca from Cedar Ring Circle gave us the idea to fingerknit a crown and weave fall leaves through it. This was much easier than the sewn fall leaf crown we attempted last year. (We used a knitting tower for the crown.)