Bliss Beyond Naptime

SS Wednesday: Backwoods to School

Since we last left off, Edie has started to attend this Waldorf homeschool enrichment program on Mondays and Tuesdays. It's going along really sweet though the drive is pretty epic (thank goodness for podcasts!) and Kale sure misses his 'Didi Bird' on those days (they sure make up for it with the deep imaginative play when she is at home - usually involving Kale going to school and Edie being the teacher. Love it all until it comes to the recorder lessons part.)

The decision for us to homeschool, as is the case for a lot of families, is a multi-layered one. Many factors come in to play in ours; the temperment of our eldest, my leanings toward Steiner philosophy that make it hard for me to expose Edie, who's still such a dreamy child, quite yet to the somewhat more head-centred cirriculum at the public school, and loving the simplicity of the flow of our days.

But there is the other side of the coin as you can probably imagine.

Edie's now at an age where she is curious to be around kids her age more and is hungry to learn in a really structured setting. For now, this arrangement is fitting our needs and I have to say that this teacher is probably the best first grade teacher on the planet so, really, it was almost an impossible opportunity to pass up.

And let's be honost; there are two other, perhaps more Kwow-centred reasons I'm all over this new arrangement. First of all, I have such stellar plans for Bliss Beyond Naptime that involve me diving deeper and dirtier into its tagline: dreaming up soulful strategies for creative families.  With me having all of Monday (well, from 8:30 to 2:30 while she's at school anyway)  to myself, you can find me in the library in town working on this mission. Can you say bliss?

 

And second of all, I get to sew up some 'first day of school' type of dresses. I had her pick out a couple of patterns from my favourite Japanese pattern books. She chose two dresses from Carefree Clothes for Girls so far (the pink one's the Cinderella Dress and the blue one the Lace Doily one). She also picked out a skirt from Girly Style Wardrobe  that I haven't started yet due to another, more subtle leftover bug that renedered me energy depeleted this weekend.

Yes! To tired to even sew! Scary, no? I'm much better now, though, thanks.

 

I love these books. The attention to detail is so inspiring. For instance in the Lace Doily dress they suggest to sew the collar with gold thread afterwards for embelishment and so I did because i wanted to be just as cute as the picture. But then that detail was so subtle that even when I was pointing it out to Edie, two inches from her nose, she was like, "where?"

 

And then the patchworkings on the pink dress? Edie was a little opposed to the idea. I did it anyway and told her I could rip it out if she still 'doesn't care for it' (the h-word has cropped up here lately and that's our newest distaste filler). Turns out I don't think she minds them so much. But of course she doesn't ~ they're cute!

So, I can cross off another of fantasy of mine materialized. Primarly the one of my daugther going to school and having her teacher say "isn't your mother clever." Oi! I just realized, after the realization my ego was talking there quite loudly for a second, that Edie's first grade teacher has an English accent just like mine did (we don't live in the UK to first time readers by the way)! Ah, the sewing circle of life.

Gentle Discipline and Cowgirling

Edited to add: I forgot to mention I have a guest post over at Homespun Waldorf today! I'm participating in the Winter Carnival this month. There will be much seasonal radiance going over there as many Waldorf-inspired mamas share their winter celebrations and insights over the month of February.

Also, I'm going to announce the winner of the ebook copy tomorrow morning instead of today. I just want to make sure my newsletter subscribers are in on the contest entering fun :)

You might notice a split second at the end of the video where you can faintly hear the little wheels in my head turning. I remember now the second my mama anetdote I wanted to share:

The first time my mom met Edie was when she was a month old - right at the prime of her nighttime fusiness. Craig and I were like: "so.... what are you suppose to do when this happens?"

My mom grabbed Edie and started walking around with her and lo and behold, Edie settled impressively quick. "Kahhhh-tee (imagine me doing my mom impression), babies are like horses. They can smell your fear".

So that kind of nicely ties up the whole cow/puppy/kid/gentle disciplining/fear smelling flavour of the vlog entry for this week. Enjoy!

 

This Moment ~ Chicken Lickin'

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. 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. ~Amanda Soule

 

Two today because I had to get the chicken and licken' :)

Handsome Man and Handsome Plans

Still not believing I'm the world's slowest knitter? I'm scared to look but if you're brave enough to check out my ravelry page to see when exactly I started this toddler sized sweater - go for it. The pattern's called Handsome Man and, as you can plainly see, the name's fitting.

He loves his new sweater. If I'm on the phone with somebody, anybody, he does this little whisper - he usually never interrupts me when I'm the phone, just as a side: "mama, tell them I'm wearing my new sweater". So sweet.

I have knitting queue this long but I have to say half the things on my list lately come from this really super sweet Etsy shop. I basically want to make everything she offers but in particular the mama bear in me really really wants to make this bear sweater. Can you imagine how long it would take for me to make that happen? Would it be weird to be a grandma and sport that with a tutu?

 

And Edie really wants me to whip these bunny slippers up for her before I do anything else;

And I couldn't resist. I love this hat. So age innaprropriate but the paparazzi don't make there way out here too much and I'll be sure to wear a bright orange vest when frolicking in the woods with it on;

But, I had to make a deal with myself. My own etsy shop cupboards are bare so my usual knitting time, the evenings, will have to shift to some serious spinning time. I'm not usually a number person but I had to make some sort of deal with myself. I'm not going to start a new knitting project until I have me ten new yarns to release out to the world again. Not that I don't love spinning but it's easier to knit on the couch than spin on the couch and the couch is usually where I end up landing my tush after I turn out the kids' lights. But once I start spinning I get into it and it's actually kind of hard to stop (and I can still watch a movie while I do so so that's cool).

For an extra bit of motivation and accountability I decided on another tactic. A while back I put a call out for yarn names. Let's do that again! If you haven't done so, leave a comment below of what your blog name would be (or your favourite nickname) if it were an artyarn. I plan on using all the name contributions and will be announcing their birth stories as they unfold in my newsletter (so please subscribe if you'd like to be in the loop for that).

And, exciting news, my ebook will be made available shortly here and I'll take a draw from the entries below on Monday morning for a winner of a copy of my ebook; The Bliss Filled Mama: Self-Care for Soulful Mothering. And if you're not a mama I can forward your copy to a favourite mama of your choosing. And if you're interested in getting a deal on the book make sure you're also subscribed to the newsletter because that's what my peeps are going to get on those first few days it's up for sale. Can't wait to read about your inner yarn! Let it rip!

We have a winner - number 42! Kathyrn said:

Darn tootin' handsome boy you have there! how about kalemail like a play on chainmail? Is that even how you spell it? idk. Purrtle(a purring turtle), love riot!, pajarita....i call myself stick kitty, mamakat, and catbird. I have an Salvadorean friend who calls me Catocha. I remember your post on your Spanish nick name and Im hoping Catocha is something joyful! Love your blog especially the videos. My little loves call you "the silly lady". XOXO Thank you!

Funny! Catocha will be the first yarn spun and I will be emailing you, Catocha, a copy of my ebook and its accompanying audio :)

Soul Fever

My baby's got the fever! My favourite chapter from Simplicty Parenting has to be this one. Keeping the little ones held close and quiet when the fever erupts seems to help sooth this particular growing pain (adults get these too by the way). Like a physical fever, when it passes, if you look close enough you can see traces of growth spurt spurted.

 

There is a parralel between tranistions and more bouts of soul fever. I can see that at work here.

This Moment - Lots of Tea Time

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. 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. ~Amanda Soule

Puzzle-ing Times

For the first time all four of us have simultaneously been sick with a nasty cold. The timing could be worse, I suppose, with this being the first bitingly cold snap of the year. But pretty much since Sunday the kids have been in their pajamas (I plan to turn them inside out tomorrow), indulging heavily on video watching (snotty times call for drastic measures) and I've been hiding out upstairs in my lofty nest, with a roll of toilet paper constantly attached to my face, working feverishly on a project that I hope to unveil to you soon. 

I'm putting the finishing touches to the ebook I've been working on. This book will offer my favourite tips to making the most bliss happen no matter where your live or how crazy hectic your life may seem. The call is to take good care of Mama first and the bliss will follow. And brace yourself: I'm planning on recording myself reading it to you all bedtime story style. It would be nice to get that bit under way soon because I'm kind of digging the huskiness oozing in my voice these days. I listened to a test recording this morning and was all "Dang! I don't sound like an eight year old. Nice!"

While this mama's been busy cranking out that first draft I'm realizing, after being stuck inside for over a week now (for Kale got sick first almost two weeks ago with a nasty cough), what importance being outside plays in terms of filling up the day. Inside, it's like - now what? I'm trying to keep the videos limited to the afternoon while in the mornings muster up any leftover oxygen in my brain to remember about any secret stashes of back up toys. This week so far I high fived myself twice as I fished out a set of princess themed stamps and ink pad I won at a silent auction this summer and dug out a couple of blank jigsaw puzzles I picked up at a stationary store.

The drawing surface of the puzzle pieces works beautifully with their beeswax crayons much to my surprise. And now Edie wants to make a set for all her little friends. She even replicates the image on the envelope cover to use as a reference.  Kale's puzzle's a little more challenging due to there being just a few squiggles here and there.

Lesson learned; keep more of these rainy/snowy/sneezy day type activities on hand. Once my thinking cap can squeeze over my stuffed up head I'll brainstorm on that unless you want to share any ideas in the comments.

Even though our vitality is turned down a notch as we trudge through this kinda gross cleanse together, an aspect of this seems to be bringing us closer in subtle ways. As we budget our life forces for healing ourselves our interactions with each other are quieter, gentler and more compassionate. For instance, there's this dance happening. Everytime Edie's sneezes, blows her nose and says 'ow' I can hear an echo: Kale gently asking "does your nose still hurt?" She says yes. He says oh. I say let them eat soup, lots of it. So I'm off to make yet another batch of homemade chicken noodle soup to sip together while we make watery, googly eyes at each other and find comfort in knowing at least we're suffering through this messy time together.

It's Just Not in My Nature. Table.

Is it obvious by the stretchy attempt at a punny post title I'm suffering from a head cold? The whole family's afflicted but if you had to have a cold this is the one to get. Feels like a cleanse in a way and even though we're sick enough to stay inside, and not be too industrious lest we over exert ourselves, the energy levels are just right for lots of what we like to call cuddle puddles on the couch and quiet activities that have that apres ski like vibe I love like board games, knitting and lazy day crafts;

Like setting up the nature table!

Typically we take down the advent garden and Nativity scene on January 6, day of Epiphany, which we did and then I would set up the winter nature table for the kids to wake up to. This year, Edie was really excited about participating and trying her hand at needle felting. So, even though I'm uptight about her playing with pokey, tetanus-laden objects, I obliged and, miraculously, she didn't hurt herself and the whole experience was a magical, collaborative affair. Together we basked in the periodic sun bursts that have been far and few in between these days, laughed at our duck/snowman hybrids and drank loads of licorice tea to keep our sore throats at bay.

I would love to see your nature table by the way. Or let me know what's lurking on yours for we need some inspiration to add some more oomph to it over the next couple of months. Leave a link to any pictures you may have floating in the blogospheres in the comments below if you feel so compelled and enjoy the video tour while I cleanse out my nose for the 100th time this morning!

 

 

This Moment ~ We Got Mail. In the House.

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. 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. ~Amanda Soule

Change is Good

Ah, the six and half year change. It was apparent that something was up  with my little girl a few months ago; complaints of boredom, lots of scowling, crying herself to sleep most nights. I'm not sure how to pinpoint what made the turn around happen but a few factors seemed to have come into play at the same time; teeth lost, flu like illnesses came and went, a lot of wheat was eliminated from her diet and she made her first special little friend. Oh yeah, and if she ever said she was bored I would make her sort out the change jar.

After the Christmas holidays I saw emerge a happier, though slightly 'edgier', eloquent little girl that's really into exploring her creative side. She's always been kind of crafty but now it's different. Every second sentence began with; "I have this great idea for a project" and then she would disappear with scissors and glue in hand and would crank out something ingenious.

But then after that she'll say she's bored. I couldn't believe it but the change sorting lost its novelty.

My usual come back to "I'm bored" has always been "only boring people are bored" but I think the intention behind these words usually flies over their shortly stacked little heads. These days the utterance had a different flavouring to it so I felt it time to explore some way out there options. This was when the thought of passing over some aspects of her education over to someone else first popped into my head. And I have to admit I got pretty excited with the prospect of freeing up some time to tackle some of the projects I have tucked up my poofy pirate shirt sleeves.

 I asked the Universe for a compromise between homeschooling and putting her into a full time situation. Universe delivered in the form of rave-heavy, amazing Waldorf-inspired early childhood educator that is offering for the first time, a grade one class that we'd be able to attend just twice a week. Though it's a long drive for us, and me being the mother of all homebodies and Edie having never been up before nine in the morning (though at Christmas this year Kale did yank her out of bed at the God forsaken hour of 8:30) we'd thought we'd try it out to see and... it was so worth it!

I arranged loving childcare for Kale so that I can stay in town the whole time on Mondays allowing me the opportunity to put my nose on the grind stone on my projects which was pure bliss. And when it was time for me to scoop her up on that first day she immediately asked me "I get to come back tomorrow, right?" . I said absolutely. And at the end of the second day the teacher reported that she's fitting in like she's been part of the class for years.

The current status is I'm feeling content that both our needs are seeming to be met in a new, surprising way. I was thinking crazy thoughts there for a while like moving into town so we can have her in the Waldorf school but that didn't feel right after a few realtor tours. And even right after I confirmed our spot in the twice a week class I got a bit of a panic attack about turning a page in our heavily home centred lifestyle. But so far so good and we'll take it week by week for now.

 A great indicator that we're on the right track for now is I've been listening to her humming twinkle twinkle little star all morning long while she's working on a "Happy Neighbours Pot Luck" sign for our dinner guests tonight. That's a good sign me thinks!