School

I've been getting ready for school all summer.  Finding uniforms and the long list of very specific supplies Jonah needs, sewing away at lunch accessories and an art smock, and talking about school now and then with my anxious Mr. 7.  Preparing myself and him for the day school would begin.

And now it has come.  So far, it has been smoother than I expected, but it is hard for Jonah to be away so long.  We miss him and he misses us.  But, we love his teacher and are confident he will be receiving a wonderful education in a loving community.  It is a really good thing in our lives right now.

I'm enjoying more intentional time with the younger two and Rowan is determined to learn his letters so he can go to school too (I didn't encourage this, but am enjoying long workbook sessions totally led by the little man).  I'm also hoping that these fall days will provide the space to get ourselves organized into the church year and the daily liturgies that have faded somewhat in the past year.  I have such dreams and ideas...

Hopefully those will be filling posts soon, but for now I thought I'd share a glimpse of our getting ready for school.
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:: I'm determined to keep Jonah's lunches trash free.  So making a snack bag and cloth napkins was one important task on my get-ready-for-school list.  This was followed by freezing muffins, homemade toaster pastries, and protein packed cookies for lunches.  I loved the ideas on this blog and an adapted version of these protein balls have been a big hit around here.

:: And then there was the art smock... the list said to send an old shirt in, but when you've moved through three countries and two states in the past year, anything you didn't need was given away quite promptly.  So, I went back to the pattern for an art smock in Little Things to Sew (minus french seams and pockets) which I used a couple years ago.  I made a large this time (my how he has grown in the past year!) out of some old sheets that came out of storage.  I thought the plain color was nice and not so "my mom made my art smock" since the other kids will have old shirts.  But upon seeing it Jonah was really sad it didn't have dinos like the last one.  So daddy was asked to draw a dinosaur found in the The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs to size on freezer paper.  Mom did the rest and Jonah is quite happy with his dino art smock.

:: And then a glimpse of the day we had all been waiting for, the first day of school.  Convocation was beautiful.  The seniors placing laurel leaves on the heads of the kindergartners, all those young voices singing Psalm 115:1 in latin (their school song), and Jonah's smile as he walked past after convocation (he was a bit too nervous for smiles before school) are all moments I'm holding close right now.

Yumminess!

I love yummy food.  I really love yummy fresh whole foods.  And yummy fresh local food makes me feel in right relationship with this wonderful world we've been given and it does seem to taste that much better too.  Apricots are in season here and there have been fresh apricots, refrigerator jam, and this yummy apricot tart in my kitchen.  Delicious!

Our Favorite Creation Books

This is my favorite creation book.  When I first read it to our little class at church they all oohed and awed as I turned the vibrant pages; the illustrations are amazing (and great templates for doing art work with kids).  But, I think my favorite part of this book is that the text is a poem.  The original text of Genesis one is a poem and this book does a beautiful job of putting words together playfully.


This is the Beautiful World that God made.  
This is the light, brilliant and bright,
        that formed the first day from a dark, endless night
        and started the beautiful world that God made.
This is the heaven, so skillfully framed, 
        a glorious firmament God breathed and named, 
        that glowed in the light, brilliant and bright.  
This is the land and God-gathered seas, 
       the grass, ferns and flowers, the fruit-bearing trees,
       that sat beneath heaven, so skillfully framed...


It continues in this manner through the seventh day of rest and then turns and comes back again ending with ... and started the beautiful world that God made.

The boys love Wonderful Earth by Nick Butterworth and Mick Inkpen.  It has lift the flaps, half pages to turn and make silly creatures, pop-ups and the text is really fun.  The first part of the book delights in the amazing things that God has made and the book ends with a heavy environmental message.  I typically don't like books that are too finger-pointing/moralistic in their message for young children, but this one is such fun at the beginning and I care so deeply about the message they are trying to promote that it remains one of our favorite creations books.

I love this book.  The illustrations are simple and lovely.  The book is aimed more at an older child and requires a comfortability with metaphor.  God is seen as a young artist in the book creating the world.  The end of his work (and the book) is creating human kind.  (And I've been known to tear up at the end.)

...he worked all night long.  And by morning he had made a new artist in his own image.  Shyly pleased with himself, he made another one.  He loved the company.  He made one more.

The world began filling up with artists.  These made new ones and the new ones made even newer ones and, of course, they all loved to daydream.  Living among blue water and green grass, they have daydreamed the most beautiful things in the world.

The first young artist, still a dreamer, has always called them his children.

And they in turn, have always called him God.

Adam and Eve and the Garden of Eden moves into Genesis two and three, but it also does a good job (through illustrations) of delighting in creation.  I always love Jane Ray's illustrations and the only thing I'm not crazy about in this book is the giant eyes that represent God's presence with them in the garden. I'm not sure how I would do it differently, but something about the eyes staring down seems impersonal to me and lacks the image of God walking with them in the garden. 

Do you have a favorite book about creation?  Do share in the comments - we always love new books to look for!

The Buggy Makeover

When Jonah was born Jim and I were determined to buy one buggy that would last through all our kids. And I don't know if our buggy will accomplish this feat, but I do believe we are well on our way.  We are on our third set of tires (we've worn them all bald) and I'm pretty sure we have been through several sets of tire tubes too, but for a buggy that is five years old, has hiked through much of western Europe with us, and been our main mode of transport for three years that isn't too bad.  But then, over the past year we've noticed a couple other problems: the seat had a couple little holes, the hood had mold stains (I had killed the mold, but the black dots were there for good) and the basket underneath was literally in tatters (I knew it was bad when a full sized milk jug fell through a hole).  

So we ordered a new seat from the stroller company (it just snaps on) and I took a little trip to IKEA to buy some inexpensive home deco fabric.  I tore apart the hood and the basket and used those bits for patterns and here it is...   the new and improved Mountain Buggy.  I think I'll miss the bright red eventually, but I was ready for something different and we'll never have a stroller mix-up - ours is now one-of-a-kind :o)

There is a dream (and enough fabric) to make a seat liner and matching diaper bag with stroller straps, but that might be a while... so much to sew and so little time.

The Handmade Birthday

As this month's One Small Change we finally made it to a paperless birthday! This month's project was making fabric wrapping bags to be reused at birthdays to come. I also made two of the stuffed Elephants from the book Softies. They were easy to make, but they are pretty silly. I was thinking that I was making one for Rowan and one to give away (I couldn't decide which body fabric I liked better - so decided to try both.) But, they seem like a set and I think they are just our 'birthday elephants' which we will add to our reusable birthday decor.

And for the rest of the homemade:

From the sunporch Rowan received a new bib (see post below), his birthday shirt, a stuffed snake (because he loves to hiss when he sees a snake or we ask him what a snake says), and I was hoping to have his new outfit finished that I started during the Kids Clothing Week Challenge finished, but I think it will be a few more days till I can finish it up (I'm so close!).

And from the Waldorf tradition, we began writing the boys birthday verses this year. Jim wrote Jonah a wonderful three-stanza verse about a robin discovering the world. I wrote Rowan's and it is simple, but easy to say each night before one of us tucks him in.

Child of God - Full of Light

With Jolly Laughs and Smiles so Bright

Know you are Loved as you grow Little Tree

First by God and then by me.