Felt and knitting

Over the past few weeks we have been very hands on and craft!  I am slowly working on Christmas gifts behind the scenes.  I can't wait to show you, but will have to wait so I don't give away any surprises.  As the seasons are changing we have been working on some more practical items too.

TJ is learning to finger knit!

All the children's toys needed a new scarf for the fall so I spent a day knitting up a few.

I know our floors can get chilly so I made up some slippers for the daycare children using this pattern.  I didn't want them to start fighting over the other sets of slippers the boys have out grown.  I prefer these simple ones better.  TJ loved them too and I made him a pair of slippers using very very fuzzy soft wool he picked out.

There is another pair of green ones, somewhere in the house!

I originally made these slippers for MJ for St. Nicholas Day, but since everyone else is getting slippers for the fall I couldn't leave out my little guy.

slippers made from felted sweater.

Michaelmas is approaching and we needed a dragon for our stories.  He is currently awaiting wing re-attachment surgery as MJ discovered we need to be gentle with our dragon.

I saw an idea on Pintrest and tried it for ourselves.  We made felted soap using this tutorial.  Our first attempt didn't work, but using the stockings worked great.  The boys felted while playing in the bath and love their new soaps.

Our Week - 2&3

Week 2 

This week we talked a lot about leaves.  We went on some nature walks to collect leaves. Then after reading the book Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert, we made our own leaf creatures.

This week was also speckled with doctor's visits, baking and canning.  We made lots of apple sauce and catsupish (sort of runny catsup).

In Super Sam's world we made kites and there were more mysterious fires in the forrest.  Kits were a lot of fun for everyone including the daycare kids.

Baking day

Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert

A page from Leaf Man

Leaf man made with my and a daycare child

Mommy's leaf horse

My neice's leaf fairy

TJ's leaf man

The highlight of the weekend was that TJ learned to ride a 2 wheel bike bike with NO training wheels!!  It only took daddy 10min of running beside him until we let TJ loose up and down the cottage road.  He is so proud and happy to be riding around!

TJ riding all by himself!!

Week 3

This week we focused on apples.  We read a story I found about the start hidden inside each apple.  We read the story, cut open apples, made apple prints, and apple sauce.  Oh the boys also made more concoctions.  They spent an entire afternoon using up kitchen pantry.

We also went to more appointments, a walks, playground, garden centre and farms, along with a homeschool picnic!

In Super Sam's world we learned about a dragon in the forrest.  We have also been very crafty!!

Our Week -1

This has been an amazing first week of September. I very much loved our daycare group from the summer.  This week I have noticed how calm everyone is with less children.  I am able to focus a little more on my boys and say yes more often to their wildly creative ideas.

Here are some highlights of our week:

Monday: MJ was really sick with strep throat, Timmy and Daddy fixed a car, mommy got to do lots of fall cleaning.

Tuesday: We went for a walk in the forest to collect nature items.  Then returned to create nature mobiles.  In the afternoon almost everyone slept (including my non-nappers) which was a nice surprise!   TJ and I had a chance to make some cool tin can phones that works well.

Wednesday: We went to an awesome picnic meeting our new co-op friends.  The children played for well over an hour climbing a tree, then moved on the the playground and splash park.

Thursday: MJ is almost back to his old self though still a little more crabby than usual.  We went for another forest walk. During our walk TJ wanted to bring along the recorder.  He played growing music and sang songs to all the trees.  The boys all played together in the sand box.  Tj and another daycare boy had some afternoon painting along with making some con husk dolls.  Later in the day while I was making dinner the boys wanted to copy and cook some berries they collected in the forest.  They each made some "garden soup" to feed with their toys.  After dinner we went to see Disneys Planes in 3D.  It was MJ's first movie.  They loved the movie and had fun.  Made a huge mess of the theatre with food too.

Friday: Today we waited patiently in a clinic for TJ's blood work only to find that we couldn't get those particular test done there.  So we moved on to Frootogo for some farm fun!  The boys loved playing there and picking apples.  This week TJ has also been writing lots of lists on the large chalk board (it's his now).  He sounds out words and makes lots of To Do lists for himself.  Later in the evening the church up the street had it's fall fair.  The boys had a great time playing games and each had a pony ride!

Weekend: On the weekend the boys went to Nanny and Grampy's house to go to my dad's company picnic.  My mom's good luck rubbed off as the boys each won a prize.  Mommy was able make and can over a dozen jars of apple sauce and get some office work done!  The boys also carved into pie pumpkins daddy bought.  Next they took a hammer and nail to create cool designs and their initials in the jack-o-lanterns.

On to a new week of adventures!!!

First Day of School

Wow I can't believe a whole year has gone by so quickly already!  I remember back to last year when we first started our journey.  We are excited for another exciting year together.



TJ First day of school

 This year TJ is 5 he will be doing Waldorf Essentials Kindergarten again this year.  We'll add some new crafts, more french, and start the penny whistle, after I've practiced some more
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Matthew first day of school

 MJ is now 3!  He and our daycare friends are using Seasons of Joy along with some library books that go with our themes.  We will all be doing our daily activities together with TJ.

We are also are so excited to be part of a Waldorf inspired homeschool co-op this year.  So stay tuned for an amazing year.

Today we went for a walk in the forest to collect nature items.  Circle time was fun using our play silks.  We then made nature mobiles and payed a lot outside.  After lunch we had story time then quiet time.  I was pleasantly surprised that all the daycare children and MJ napped today.  It was a surprise because they are all non-nappers, but their colds must have encouraged the rest.  TJ had some computer time, then he and I made the tin can phones he was asking for the other day.  We had an awesome time and a very relaxing day.

Here is hoping little MJ's strep throat gets better soon.