easiest " i want one" request ever....

liv was fast asleep and we were looking for something quite to do.... we were looking through mothering magazine and Ira pointed at some felt crowns and said, " i need one of those!"

we grabbed some scrap felt and yarn and made one up in the span of liv's nap...


I was pretty proud of what we did with scraps and one hour... even though MY fingers were numb from handsewing that fast....

I put it on ira and she said, "I love it, but its not for ME"

oh, I thought.... who Is it for then?

Her bear, of course!!!!! so she made up a second one for the other bear....

ira inventions

Ira letting the air intake of the a/c do the hard work..... who needs wind?
Homemade mouse trap.....

wildlife museum

the view from the parking lot....


ira prepared for an adventure... we go to this place so often- but it never gets old for her...


snacks and puzzles.


sabertooth marsupial skull....


sabertooth tiger....



learning the difference between spots on jaguars, cheetahs, and leopards...


tarantula.....

amazement

I tend to say, "thats amazing!" quite often.... but I really mean it. I really really really mean it.

When I said it last night- I meant it A LOT.

We were talking about apples... and I said we need more because we only have enough for her and olive to have one apple for a snack.

Then she says, "oh, and if you want one we need 3 and if daddy wants one we need four. And if we all want more than one we need MANY!"

:)

Just like that. She adds.

No drilling her, no coaxing her to do worksheets, nothing.

She just did it, because it was the topic of conversation and she was interested and capable.

Might seem weird for me to get this excited over addition, but two years ago I really and truly believed that she wouldnt learn anything unless I was very vigilant in teaching it to her. For me to watch it unfold... years before I would have thought to start "teaching her math"... well it is inspiring to ME.

AND, olive said YUMMY and AGUA for the first time last night.

love these kids. love. these. kids.

science center fun

Growth :)

we go to the zoo very often...the membership is cheap.... there is a splash pad to keep cool in our dry hot summers and its a small, relaxed zoo that one could just meander through in a about an hour or two....plus, every day at 10, you can feed the beautiful giraffes. 

we havent fed the giraffes yet this year because last year, ira was too scared, she would only want to watch, or she would want to feed them, and then throw the food at them and run away.

not today.... today, she grabbed the biscuit and walked right up to the gentle humongous animal and held up the food. Then turned and handed me her second biscuit...

"MAMA, you have GOT to try it, it tickles...."

ira is an artiste

and you cannot stop art..... 

even when it is on my cloth napkins.....
 or a storage bin....she hangs her own grocery lists on the message board....

she creates gorgeous centerpieces from found things ;)

and draws portraits of her favourite, long distance family members....

she did all of this while i cleaned and made us fresh juice from these fine lookin' fruits & veggies....

the rhythm is gonna get you

I hope this song gets stuck in your head for days...... because try as i might- i cannot get it out of mine.

But, to be serious for a moment... bringing rhythm into our daily living has done more for the quality of our lives than any other single thing we have implemented.

In the past year we have-

• gotten rid of all plastic toys (except playmobile.... i cannot imagine my life ...erm..... ira's life without playmobile). It has all but squashed the "disposable toy syndrome".

• cut back on how much & what quality of media ira is exposed to. Im not a huge fan of absolutes... i dont like to deal in extremes..... so tv, tv stays, and a healthy relationship is being established. Id rather not have my child turn into a tv addict in her teens/twenties when she discovers HGTV.... oh.... wait... im talking about me again.

• daily arts & crafts.
  

• RHYTHM. this has changed sooooooo much. it feeds our need for consistency, alternating quiet & active times, outdoor play, etc. We are not strict about specific times, but sticking to a general playbook just WORKS for us.

In case anyone is interested, ours goes something like this.

• Wake, brush teeth, start laundry. Pick up kitchen, listen to music, cook breakfast, free play.

• After about 2 hours, liv goes down for a nap. we have quiet time, books, quiet play, etc.

• Two hours later- we are up and i make lunch while ira & liv are playing. This is when we run errands, i clean, we go outside, etc. If we do not go to any activities, we do a craft of some sort. Sometimes we do a long hour of library books/circle time. Puppet shows. Bake.
  

• Nurse liv to sleep, quiet play/rest time. Usually lasts an hour.

• Nature walk, park, etc. Lasts anywhere from an hour to three depending on when we head out..
  

• Come home by 5, Dinner prep, dinner.

• Bath, story time, bed by 9 ish.

I started for ira- to give her a solid routine she could rely on. turns out- i needed it too.

It works for us....

unicorns

we are reading, crafting, playing UNICORNS.... a loooot lately.

unicorn puppets, unicorn playmobile, unicorn puzzles, etc.

So the other night at the bookstore she found this book on the bargains rack:



we used colored pencils to stencil the shapes....



painted & glued the pictures:



and the beautiful results!

in the neighbourhood

we went on an adventure today.... just out & about in our area, but it sure was full. full of laughter, great questions, keen observations & lots of unprovoked hand holding & I LOVE YOUS.

we did some cloud gazing.





snacked on some apples


played in some leaves



daydreamed under the palm trees


came home to o ur saguaro


and took note of our spectacular front door view

saint nicholas day!!!!

we woke up shouting!

its here.

Ira opened the last & final box of her playmobile advent- revealing santa claus.... such a lovely oppurtunity to learn about saint nicholas and his beautiful generosity.

We discussed how saint nicholas would walk through the town, and that children would leave their boots outside with some hay for his horse.... in hopes of him leaving a coin, or golden walnut, or chocolate or some other bit behind.

We also talked about how the current practice of pretending santa is real came about from this saint... and that the real reason for honoring saint nicholas (or santa) should be about his unselfish love & spirit of giving & taking care of those that needed when in the position to do so.... and so very much NOT about prettending that their is a happy jolly man leaving loads of plastic melamine laden piles of presents in their living room because they were "good".

great lesson for children & adults alike, no doubt.

given the recent atrocities of this past black friday.... our convictions in this home to stay very far from anything christmas/consumer are stronger than ever.

on a very special saint nicholas day, i hope these words find everyone, safe, warm & full of love!

Pagan Preschool

*click here*

Pagan Preschool

Im writing my own curriculum, its gonna be great.


I spent hours and hours last night going through all of my books and searching all of my links.

One month at a time, on month at a time.

I will be starting october 1? lol

it just does NOT feel like time for any kind of structure here in AZ! It is still very much our summer season.... which means all play allll day ;)

Look for it in october ish here......