Felting! Feeling!

It seems almost everything we do around here lately becomes a potential Visual Presentation for 4-H. They have to be done by February, and I think my Ella-girl may have finally decided on a topic: wool. The Wild World of Wool, actually.

But, yes, you may remember I thought it was going to be soap......

Anyway.....

Ella made this felted piece the other day. She is planning to turn it into a purse. My camera didn't quite capture the smaller sparkly threads that are running through it.
We are going to be trying out different ways to do this over the next few weeks because it was so freakin' fun! Ella got a little tired of rolling the big felt back and forth, but she really went to town on little beads and made a baby for her gnome from Edelweiss. I can't, unfortunately, link you directly to the store.

The store is owned by some Waldorf former homeschoolers. They don't own a computer, or a tv. Each year, they buy a live Christmas tree and put real candles on it. It all sounds sort of idyllic and cozy sometimes to me when the giggles of SpongeBob are getting to me.

However, the children, once they got a bit older, decided to attend Sturgis Charter School, and the mom has told me that she'll forever wonder why they decided to do that. She is sad that as they get bogged down in homework and everything else and she sees less and less of them, both in the physical sense and in the sense of seeing the real kid behind all the pressure and scheduling.

It is sad to me to think that the struggle for some *ideal way of being* led the family to leave home schooling. I hope that on our homeschooling/unschooling journey, I can stay mindful of what my children need and not get too focused on a methodology.

Ella got this set of test tubes for Christmas. Each test tube had a mini-experiment in them, with almost everything you need for the project.

They are actually baby liter bottles, and they are heated and expand into big bottles, which makes them cool to begin with.

She started messing around with them, and discovered that most of the experiments revolved around the polymer sodium polyacrylate. It is the stuff in disposable diapers!! She has made crystals (they feel rubbery), and instant snow. There is all kinds of stuff about this on the internet (of course!). You can see an video of how to make instant snow here.
These are the "crystals". They are not really crystals at all, but this freaky material mixed with colored water and absorbing it so that each little piece gets puffed up. Okay, that is my explanation, but I also had to ask Ella what this stuff was called ~ again! ~ while I was posting this. My Aunt Carol said she got the present from Young Explorers. Pretty cool. She always give us fun stuff, including one year she found something with Declan's name on it! Very unusual ~ at least here in America.
This is Ella's instant snow. It does not need to stay cold, but it is better preserved in the fridge. So there it is the refrigerator.

We'll see how long I can stand it. Although the sodium polyacrylate has the word sodium in it (salt right?), sprinkling it with salt defeats whatever chemical reaction has occurred. It is all pretty darn cool.

Christmas Sweaters

Lately, Ella has taken to carrying a purse everywhere. It is great for me, because I hate carrying a purse and she is more than willing to have my camera in there or a chap stick.

It is funny what becomes the best gift of Christmas. We decided this year to only give fun stuff. Last year, we wrapped a bunch of stuff that the kids needed, like tooth brushes and boots, and let's face it ~ that is just not that fun.

So this year, we decided not to get any clothes. What was one of Ella's favorite gifts? A sweater from Tom and Jenny. *g*

It does look nice on her, tho, huh?

Declan loves his Piccachu, even tho Santa did not have time this year to build it in his workshop with actual lightning bolts coming out. We read a great Christmas book this year about lists to Santa and the kinds of gifts we *want* vs the kinds of gifts we will really *enjoy* called My Penguin Osbert. It is pretty cute. Declan was delighted with everything he got.

We had a really cool moment when Ella gave away some of her soap, and Declan went on and on about how good she was at making soap, and how it was glycerin and so you needed to keep it out of the way of running water, and how Ella was able to add all kinds of "flavors" to the soap.

Sweet. He sure does love his Big Sis.

Rudolf's Gift to Declan

Declan was so happy to have a blinking nose. Like his grandfather, he loves a good joke accessory.

100 Posts

Wow! I looked at the "dashboard" of this blog and saw that I have posted here 100 times. That is a lot of joyful learning.

It is funny, because as I have discovered the blogosphere, some of my favorite people have decided to stop blogging. This has given me some food for thought, about why I love this blog, why I do it, what is important to me, etc.

When I started, I thought it would be so fun to have a record of what we do in our lives. Well, of course, as it turns out our life is too full for this to be a true running record of our lives. It is a snapshot, and a very tightly focused one at that. But it has been so fun to do this writing and recording, explore other blogs and the community of bloggers.

But, what is the focus here? Why do these things become what I blog about? Who is this blog for? Is it worth the energy? Is it keeping the focus in the center of my life as an active mama and authentic person and where I want to be?

I think it is.

I think that this blog reflects very well a special piece of who we are, who we love and what we enjoy.

My children both love to read it. They have asked me to blog about certain things we all do. At the same time, they are clear about what to share. We took a walk and found something special. I said, "Next time I should bring my camera!" The children said, "Yes! But don't put *this* on your blog, it is too private." And, I am keeping the pictures of Christmas morning to myself :)

In those and other ways, I feel that this place reflects all that we want to share, and none of what is too precious, internal or sacred to share with the world.

This blog is for our family. It is to reflect, to record and to create an energy that celebrates the every day epiphanies and delights.

So, although it is selfish (grin), I also hope that this gives our friends and family who wonder, "What do we *do* all day together? How can we not drive each other crazy?" a glimpse into how our every day life functions. I hope that others who wonder about home and unschooling can find some ideas here. I hope we can share some of what we love about where and how we live.

It is nice to have people visit, and visit myself in a way I could never get organized enough to do with scrapbooks or other logs.

I think I'll keep blogging for now. It is just too fun to stop.

Spectacle of Lights

Last night we went with Meg and her young friends, Paul and Doug, to go to the Spectacle of Lights. Declan had a blast riding the carousel. Once you are up there spinning around it is pretty fast and high, but he hung in there.


We went through the whole display of lights, which was extraordinary! We saw some friends there, which is always nice. I am still adjusting to the small town nature of Cape Cod (in the winter especially). We saw three families there that we knew! People always wonder if home schooled children are going to be well-socialized. It was nice to see that last night my children made friends easily with the two boys they'd never met, and then saw plenty of people that they knew from their wide world experience.

Ella and Boston went with Nana to the Nutcracker Ballet. It was a magical night by all accounts. They were beautiful, and B. was so excited to have Ella all to herself. She kept hugging and kissing Ella. They got all dolled up (I did their nails), and then they snuggled on the couch and read the Nutcracker book together.

Meanwhile, the boys and I had a great time, plus I got some one on one time with the fabulous Shyah while the boys wrestled and ignored me. She is a beautiful, smart, fun baby. I am so glad that she came along!