Half Magic

Birthday Party- commercial free is hard work!

I admit I was a bit ambitious in creating this party for Piper.
1. It was during the week so I was on my own in terms of David helping out
2. I was determined to not be commercial
Realizing I wouldn't be able to safely look after that many kids I had to cancel half of them- due to a thunderstorm primarily.

So the idea was to create a nature diary and provide tools to collect/draw/observe nature. From my Nature Book I have on my book list- I decided we would make worm farms- so the girls collected 35 worms from my neighbours compost. I bought mason jars and I already had new soil, mulch and sand. That would be an activity plus a loot bag item. Then I bought eco journals from Staples, pencils, mini containers, envelopes,post its, string etc. and photocopied a class photo and cut out each child's face to glue on to cover of book. I also printed out pages from a great website in the UK called Nature Detectives and glued a nature activity in each book that we would do on our Ravine walk. Then I planned  for them to roll out their own pizza dough and add toppings and end with swimming.

Result: Well, that is why there are only photos of the night before and a photo of when they were leaving- CRAZY!!!!!! Nature crafts went well except for three of them tearing around the house including my own daughter. One mom offered to stay for ravine walk - probably terrified for safety of her child. Her older son also stayed who was a great help- that had been planned.

Worm farm was interesting because the only two kids that would touch the worms were my daughter and the only other girl at the party. The ravine was fantastic with the nature activities such as follow a mini-beast trail, blindfolded in nature, collecting leaves for a sundial etc. Making their own pizzas- not a chance- I sent them to the basement for safety reason so they wouldn't jump in pool and I could make lunch. By this time a gr.6 student arrived to help lifeguard swim session.
So pizza in oven, kids were able to go swimming but many did not know how to swim- no problem- three lifeguards and one small freezing pool. However, my eye was on one boy who seemed to not understand where the deep end was- I was on high alert watching him, saw him veer to the deep end, told him to get closer to the ladder- too late, he slipped, I went in- clothes and all. He didn't get a chance to swallow a drop of water. Okay so moving on, pizza time- I didn't make enough- next cake- next presents, next ... finally they settled and there was a wonderful calmness and great play. Half of them played basketball in driveway with the gr.6 girl, the other half played with knights in the living room. I sighed... this was nice- calm, happy children, I could have had another hour - oh well, parents came- thank you- goodbye- I lasted 4 hours with no casualties but for the next 2 hours I lay on the couch while a sympathetic friend/mom tidied up my kitchen and Theo  cleaned the basement. I survived, it was good, honest!

Spring's First Lemonade Stand

I love our block.The kids really play freely and all the adults are within earshot but no one is hovering, at least not overtly. I hear everything going on and peek out every few minutes but mostly because I love seeing what they are up to like the lemonade stand. They just decided they would have a lemonade stand and raise money for Sick Kids. So a pitcher of lemonade was brought out, my kids took a table out, and a pillow case for a table cloth, bowls for money. They made a sign and the only thing they needed help with were the glasses. In these days of toxic plastic it turned out both homes had thrown out all the plastic Ikea cups. Solution- the wine glasses in the cellar from a Christmas party. Add a little Violin music to entice customers and voila they were open for business! And not one broken glass!

Having fun felting a Robin's nest

Aha! The quickest way to hang eggs- a bamboo skewer - poke the end through a piece of ribbon and into the egg and out it comes with the ribbon - in a mere second-

Valentines at the Honeymoon Capitol with kids

 

A last minute decision - we booked a hotel in Niagara Falls. We surprised the kids when we picked them up from school and started heading  out of the city. The traffic was terrible. When we arrived at our hotel the valet asked how the trip was? David lightly jested that people who live in Hamilton should work in Hamilton. To this the valet let David know that around here people  wish they could put a big fence around Toronto and keep them in! Oops! We stayed in our room that night, watched a movie and got up early for sunrise and a swim. From the falls we went to the Butterfly museum and ate bugs... seriously. We ate crickets, caterpillars and red ant- excellent sources of protein and iron. The crickets were ground into chapatis and served with a root stew, the caterpillars were crushed into powder and put in another stew and the red ants were crushed into a peanut cookie. It was excellent, the kids were skeptical but tried everything. I often think of Bush food as something like chocolate covered crickets but of course- you grind them into powders!

 A butterfly finally landed!                                           Patiently waiting...

The Menu: Mopani stew, Futari with Cricket Chapati                  The gardens outside the Butterfly Con.
Mtedza Puffs with Ants

You've Got Mail

 

Theo made us all mailboxes                                    Piper gets a yoga lesson at school

Theo and I went to a Square dance this friday- they are such a perfect family venue. As Theo said she danced with her friend, then Austin, then a pretty girl, then an old man, then her music teacher. I had just as much fun learning to shuck the oyster! Most of Piper's class is ill- she is just holding on with a burst of energy then lying down complaining her neck hurts then playing the drums on our pots giving us all a migraine.
On another note I recently felt compelled to join the family and pick a soccer team- Sheffield Wednesday it is - why? I love the name- sounds like a good book or band and they were formed in 1867 and Sheffield is in Yorkshire.

Theo:Girls to the rescue            Narnia                                            Horse Fever
                                

Piper's House                                    Three Amigos
                    
 

The Beaches

            Cutting Edge technology                                  my favourite children's bookstore,Ella-Minnow
                                                                                            Dufflets for a latte.

The GOOf- $2 grilled cheese                                    French bubble gum fresh from Paris

Signs of spring- succulents are the thing!                  Water Goddesses

Board Games and Dolls

Welcome 2009!

We had a great holiday filled with Christmas parties, our first Hanuka party and an introduction to the board game Settlers of Catan(loved it)!
We did a great job this year with the kid's gifts- although always an overkill for Piper as her birthday is xmas day. We were struggling with Theo who is in her ninth year, determined not to buy any electronic gadget. I mean if we buy her an iPod at 8 yrs what do we buy her at 10, 12, 14?... it gets ridiculous. Yet every 5 year old girl I met told me they were asking Santa for a DS( Piper asked for sport wrist bands). Not to mention the amount of coltan mining being done in the Congo to meet our electronic demands. However, on a playdate she was shown an American Girl catalog and although she had seen them before she was suddenly possessed by a burning desire, praying to Santa for one, with one eye looking at me. Although I was fully aware of the American Girl Inc. machine I had vowed to never let one enter my house lest there be further request for matching outfits and other product nightmares. But in truth I was really happy about it because now our problem was solved plus it was like the American Girl re-invented the doll but for older girls still allowing them to be...well. little girls instead of mini-teens. Part of me felt sad that she had moved away from her soft  Waldorf dolls but in fact they are still part of the tea party. Even Piper has returned to playing with the boy doll I made her two years ago having some quiet tete a tete with another blond doll- Theo has painted a portrait of her doll, made her a menu, a bath towel, and wallet. It's great!

The doll I made.                                                              A Christmas Carol Play-                                                                                        Scrooge and Tiny Tim take a bow.

Candle dipping, Felted Acorns and Advent

One of three candle dipping stations                       Treasures made and purchased at the fair

 Candle dipping has always been a feature at most Waldorf school fairs but never at ours so I decided to remedy that a year ago. I have no idea what possessed me as I didn't have a clue but I am proud to say that next year will be even better I as I think I have learned a thing or two about the art of candle dipping, people management, chaos theory, electrical outlets, and the dominion of toddlers over their parents.
Of course we use only beeswax, and not necessarily clarified either- much more character.
Never put a student volunteer at one station longer than one hour due to complete boredom.
Never melt beeswax directly on the stove-quite flammable.
Do not melt the beeswax on a stove in the designated Quiet Room for nursing mothers. They get alarmed when piece of wax drips on the burner and smoke fills the room.
Always, always have two adults in the room plus at least two students manning the stations. Any less and chaos will most definitely reign supreme.
Always monitor the temperature- too hot and the wax will perpetually melt, too cold and well, it is lumpy and prone to breaking. Always keep some extra wax melting to top off each station, and when all else fails simply shut the door until you regain control.
Having said that we made $400,00, the room smelled lovely, and the actual process of candle dipping is very meditative even for the 4 year old.
No one got around to the marzipan acorns but someone did felt acorns that proved irresistible to adults and children.

Our Advent Calendar this year                                 The Gnome Village I won in the raffle at the fair

Advent was not a tradition that either my husband or I grew up with but it is one we have passed on to our children. We have had many variations from a nature table, to a Nutcracker advent story, to a tree box filled with chocolates and charms to create a bracelet- compliments of their generous Aunt Linden. But this year the tradition will really be simple. I was tempted to run out and buy at least chocolates but it feels like the Halloween bags were just emptied and I really wanted to honour a tradition that didn't involve giving 'things'. So this is our calendar that I bought from our school store. There will be no treats or gifts , just a beautiful picture at the end and we will read a chapter every night from the book, Mary's Little Donkey and the Flight to Egypt .

Silent Auction

    Seeds collected from my garden, family and friends for the gr.3 Silent Auction Gift Basket

The Winter Fair is this Saturday at the children's school and  creative hands are in overdrive sewing little gnomes for the children's store and baking pies. This will be my second year of running candle dipping so I am pretty confident about that but I also took on the gr.3 gift basket for the silent auction. In keeping with the farming and gardening part of their curriculum I thought it would be fun to make the theme , A 4x4 Garden. Lee Valley has been slightly instrumental in making this basket presentation so beautiful. The glass containers, the wooden plant markers, the seed starters, the books, the shovel and children's tools all came from Lee Valley.
Since September I have been collecting seeds from my home but mostly it came from my Mother's garden and her collection of envelopes filled with seeds from friends. But the biggest prize didn't cost a cent and that is the garden journal I had the children create. Each child was given the task of drawing some element of the garden and had to include a recipe, or a story,or remedy or an activity or planting instructions. I don't know if I can part with it. One child gave instructions on a sundial, another provided recipes from Israel, while another provided the actual 4x4 garden plan. It really is a treasure for whoever wins the bid!

Drawings from the garden journal. The book and paper are made from recycled material.
Below is a photo of marzipan acorns that someone suggested I make for the fair. I would so love to buy these acorns that I actually asked for the recipe- was I dreaming?!

Handmade

A basket of puppies came to visit our neighbours ...but they still want a cat!

Every November I tell myself I will slow down and enjoy the process of creating Christmas gifts with my children and every November I promise to make hundreds of gnomes for the school winter fair and ...
okay, I am not panicking but where did November go???
I finally took the kids to a knitting cafe, The Purple Purl on a play-date and it was so cute to see them sitting in the chairs knitting away. That is, after I purchased them a drink, a snack and a ball of yarn. I must remind my self next time to set firm boundaries before we enter the cafe- like - no I will not buy you more wool at $12 a ball!
After that it was off to the OK Diner where we sat at the counter and they ordered ceasar salads and I ordered a burger- the complete opposite if what usually happens but I couldn't resist- I was in a diner!
Our next stop was across town to my most favourite place in the world though I have yet to sign up for a workshop- hence the name of the store is The Workroom. It is a sew and craft store where you can use the sewing machines by the hour. The space is so funky and the  fabric and patterns are similar to, if not, Amy Butler designs.I boldly bought a pattern of a funky tunic to motivate myself to learn to sew. I am trying to coax the owner into a sewing workshop for moms and daughters. Every town and city should have knitting cafe and a sewing workshop like these two places!

That is a Vietnamese Pot-Bellied Pig which we will not be considering- perhaps a cat...

Gulu Walk

The Gulu Champions! Won't Linden make a                     11km! I loved this family and their dog!
great Sarah Palin for Halloween! Becka is a              Theo and Linden did hop on the subway for 2 stops
friend of Ashley's that works for War Child .               but next year Theo says she will be able to do it!
I met her when I was 9 months pregnant with            Hopefully, there will be no need!
Piper to hear Noam Chomsky speak at McMaster University.

 Theo's Auntie invited her to the Gulu Walk this Saturday and to my surprise Theo was really eager to participate. The story behind the Gulu walk was actually quite meaningful for her because of the book, Ryan and Jimmy  And the Well in Africa That Brought Them Together. Coincidentally friends of ours produced and filmed the documentary that followed Ryan's journey to the village in Uganda and the subsequent friendship with his pen pal, Jimmy. Which of course led to a series of events that found Jimmy himself kidnapped. He escaped and ended up being adopted by Ryan's family here in Canada. So the Gulu walk was important to her on that level and that's all she needed to know at her age. Please check out the website Ryan's Well Foundation.
I am so lucky to come from such a big extended family, I get to connect on a regular basis with people from every decade and so do my kids. This time it is the twenty something generation and despite the bad press of this cabbage patch generation that is criticized for their sense of entitlement and lack of creativity, I can't help but notice that it is this generation that is choosing to work for NGO's over 6 figure jobs.