A creative success!

 

Here's a peak of my table at the craft show last weekend! It was cold and blustery outside but that didn't seem to slow the shoppers down!  It was warm and cozy inside and definately full of Christmas cheer! I kept pretty busy throughout the two days, so much so that I forgot to take more pictures!! The lodge we were set up in was just beautiful!! I so wish I would have captured it! I guess I'll just have to do it again next year! :)

By the end of the two days, my stock was pretty well picked over but I was excited at how my toys were received!  I came home with a lot less toys than I went with and a few orders for more that I need to make before Christmas! :) 

I sold a bunch of my peg dolls too!! I only came home with a hand full of them but am happy to take orders for more! :) I've actually been working on orders today! :)

The highlight of my day was when one of the other vendor's little boys  came over to show me his sketch pad!! He had been drawing my monster puppets!!!

The search for the great pumpkin...

Fall is definitely here in the Pacific NW. It feels like we've been inching towards it in baby steps, being spoiled with a nice day here or there but now, it is here with a vengeance! The rain is starting to set in and I'm afraid my days of berry picking in the sunshine and wearing flip flops is over.... I could be sad about it but really I am looking forward to all the fall activities and tho we missed some this last weekend, we got the month off to a great start yesterday at the first of many planned trips to a local farm!

The kids enjoyed going thru the hay maze in the barn, which was a great idea considering how much it rains here! lol I just couldn't get over how pretty it looked with the lights cascading from the ceiling like a spider web! I love how this picture turned out but it still didn't capture it completely!

And of course, no trip to a farm is complete without animals to pet!!

And you know these little guys were a favorite :O) Say an extra prayer that we get a call in a month or so when they are in need of a new home! :") I left my name and number! lol

I think he was wanting to pet them but I so afraid that he was getting the wrong end of the deal! lol

Who doesn't love a good hay ride!? Again, this farm was really thinking things out by having them covered! We were lucky and it was dry while we were there but you know there are many wet days to come!

This particular farm also raised trees for Christmas time. We got to see all the trees in various sizes on our tractor ride!

When it was all said and done, the girls had each found their perfect pumpkin and we'd acquired two more for baking and 6 miniature ones to add to our fall decorating! It was a wonderful day out with friends (I feel so blessed to have other homeschooling moms to make this journey with) and a day full of new memories with my girls!!  Now on to the next farm in a few weeks for apple picking!!! :) Isn't fall grand?

Bring on the light!

Happy Solstice!

... I know... a day late... but since when can I get anything posted on time these days!?

This was taken during the eclipse... right before the clouds took over!

And this is one of the lanterns we made for our lantern walk on Solstice. We've never really "celebrated" the winter solstice before, I always read these amazing blogs about how others do it and I just always tend to run out of time for any preparations and end up just not doing anything because it won't be perfect.... So this year, I said to heck with it! We are going to do a lantern walk and if it's a flop we'll make it better next year!

We made these pretty little lanterns by covering a balloon with tissue paper and then popping the balloons. The four of us got bundled up and headed out for a walk in the woods... only having to light the candles half a dozen times or so before we made it to the woods! The wind was not cooperating! lol As we got closer to the woods, we saw a little light down by our little duck pond/large puddle.... We called out thinking someone was camping in our yard but no one answered.... and as we got closer we found it was a gnome couple fishing by candle light!!!

The girls were just giddy and even DH admitted later that it was SUCH a cool experience...

So... into the woods caroling we went!



This is the first Solstice that I was eager to welcome... bring on the light!!

The Demise of a pumpkin

Today we decided it was time to cut into the pumpkins....we've been reading all these great books and couldn't resist!


Out of all the books we read, I think this one left the most lasting impression...it's about a class who wants to know how many seeds are in their pumpkin with an underlying story that bigger isn't always better....gotta love a good wholesome story!




Before starting the demise...we all took a guess at just how many seeds we would find...

Small Pumpkin guesses...

J- 60
R-29
DH-342 (we thought he was crazy!)
Me- 99

Larger Pumpkin guesses...

J-176
R-80
DH-190
Me-300





and the results?


Drum roll please...

Small pumpkin seeds totaled....

321!

So I guess DH wasn't so crazy afterall! lol



And the big pumpkin?




Are you beating on the nearest surface?


.......I can't hear you....


drum roll please.....


506!!! How cool is that?







We got to make lots of comparisons about the differences we found...like the color of the meat inside...




and the size of the seeds too!






After soaking them in salt water over night these are going to make a great snack!

And the small pumpkin was quickly turned into these...



Chocolate chip pumpkin cookies!

(Recipe thanks to my dear friend Aimee!)

Enjoy!



2 1/2 C flour
1 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1 1/2 t pumpkin pie spice
1 c butter
1 c sugar
2 eggs
1 16 oz. can 100% pure pumpkin
1 t vanilla
1 c chopped walnuts (I left these out-not much of a nut in cookies fan)
1 12 oz. bag semisweet chocolate chips


Directions:1. Preheat oven to 375.


Grease 2 cookie sheets.


Mix flour, powder, soda, and pumpkin pie spice in a bowl


Beat butter and sugar together in another bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time until smooth and well blended. Mix in the pumpkin and vanilla until smooth. Gradually add the flour mixture, stirring to make a smooth batter. Stir in nuts (if desired) and chocolate chips.


Drop by T sized spoonfulls onto prepared sheets.


Bake in preheated oven until edges are golden, 18-20 minutes. Cool briefly on sheets and then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

Don't you just LOVE fall? My house is smelling so yummy these days!

Fall into Reading!

This time of year is such a wonderful time. I know each season has it's "perks" but the fall for some reason seems to have more...I don't know if it's just because there are so many celebrations all in a row or if it's simply because, thanks to Mother Nature, we have to slow down a bit? What ever the cause, we are SO enjoying a true fall...it's been many years since I've gotten to enjoy such a fall, a real fall...In Alaska we just kinda skipped over fall for winter and in Texas we had summer that lasted thru two seasons and jumped into winter eventually so this transition of the seasons has been a wonderful time for us all! Apple picking, pumpkin painting and fall related reading galore!! These are just a few of what we've been reading!





The pictures in this book are enchanting...this one is going on our list to purchase for sure. It takes you thru the months of the year and shares the sweetest celebrations and other goings on...the girls really enjoyed this one!


Another must have book goes onto our list! This book of a wife doing all this crazy stuff getting ready for winter while the husband sits in his chair exhausted had the girls giggling throughout the story! I am a sucker for detailed pictures and this one was a great crowd pleaser!

As with most of these books, we got this one at the library...J is so sad to see it go back that I think I am going to have to order it ASAP! We so enjoyed the story of how September introduced Christopher to all the "characters" of fall and the feeling of mischief we felt as his new friends sent him on a wild goose chase for his beloved ball. Again, it's all about the artwork for me and these old fashioned drawings just sucked me in...I can't wait to add this one to our collection!





This book was a fun one to read...with a teacher who liked to rhyme and say the wrong words to keep the children guessing! The girls got a kick out of it and we really enjoyed reading it!

I have been enjoying the posts of Learning with Mouse for some time now but hadn't taken the leap to post what we've been reading yet...well, our list of great books keeps growing and it seems so wrong not to share it with everyone! Some of these we have discovered from other bloggers and some we've found just by spending time at the library or our local thrift stores! So for this week I am sharing these fall/harvest/apple/pumpkin related books we've been finding and the crafts and activities we did to go along with it! Be sure to go to her site and check out what they've been reading too!

The great fall crafts seem to be never ending!!! We are so enjoying the crafts but I can't take credit for thinking them up! Check out the sites I've been following an be sure to let them know I sent you! :)

I'm running out of time for all these great crafts but wanted to share them incase you find the time! :)

Our Homeschool Fun- Milk jug jack-o-lanterns

Making memories with your Kids Milk Jug Ghosts

Almost Unschoolers Crazy about Candy Corn!

Wordless Wednesday

A day of dragons

While exploring the Waldorf approach to schooling, we've happened on to a few celebrations that we otherwise wouldn't have known about. Some of these festivities are small and others are much more exciting and detailed...whatever the case my be, they are all simple and beautiful and I wish we were close enough to a Waldorf school to experience them fully. Until that day (hopefully someday) we just have to learn the best we can from what others share with us and make each festivity our own...




With that said, I introduce to you our day of dragons in the spirit of Michaelmas...a fall celebration of courage and determination. This is one of those celebrations that I knew/know little about, however we have always loved dragons so we thought we could give it a try! As I unpacked our book collection, I held out all the books we have about dragons. Surprisingly we had quite a few and the girls were anxious to read them all...all in one sitting if I'd let them...but then we wouldn't have had time to make this...











The girls loved decorating him with almond teeth, walnut spikes and cranberry eyes!







He looked a little rough after being baked...but boy was he yummy! lol This dragon bread was a nice addition to our chicken noodle soup for dinner and yummy spice cake for dessert! I had lots of other ideas for how the day would go but for a first time go around I thought it was pretty good. The girls played outside on the "new" swingset while I read this story of St George and how he slayed the dragon...by the end of it, the girls were sitting silently watching me read and so intend on listening that I could help but smile...I love homeschooling!






If you'd like to know more about this celebration, please check out these great blogs...they are great and such an inspiration to me. The education I have gotten from my fellow bloggers and homeschoolers is better than anything I learned in college! :)




Watkinseveryflavorbean


Crookedmoonmama




Frontier Dreams



Ancient Hearth



Twig and Toadstool


Our Little Nature Nest


The Lothians




I hope this season of change is a good one for you...and that you have the courage to slay the dragons in your life!

Our little Bits of Goodness

The last week has just flown by and I still have so much I wanted to share with all of you!

We are finally starting to get back in a schedule of sorts, and I am finally starting for feel more like being myself and less like being a zombee just going thru the motions of unpacking and sorting. We are getting to relax a bit more, explore and enjoy the natural progression of the summer turning to fall. I love this time of year...it just feels like mother nature is telling us to slow down and the rainy weather and cooler temps are just what we need to take a moment and enjoy the simple things...like apple sauce simmering on the stove and hot cider to sip while we read a good book!

Another excitement around our house is the unpacking of our comfort items...like the girls' play kitchen, my sewing desk and the nature table! While we haven't found all our nature table goodness, we have gotten back into swaps with Bits of Goodness and look what we found in the mail!



These lovelies are from the Tree swap that I recently took part in! Aren't they just beautiful!? The girls each got a tree, and the acorns/pouch but I claimed the necklace and the pouch for myself since the girls would only fight over them! lol It's nice to get something for myself once in awhile too and the girls didn't seem to mind... Ü





These are the little squids that I made for the Water swap! I can't wait to see what goodies we'll get in return! I just love the way these little guys turned out and of course I had to make a few more for the girls too! You can find the pattern here.

These swaps have been such a blessing to our family...the items we get and the quality of the craftmanship just amaze me! I am currently working on items for the fall nature table swap and the Christmas stocking/advent swap...more pictures to come!

A Free harvest

I almost feel guilty for the good fortune that seems to be blessing us lately....after the stress of a very drawn out move it all just seems too good to be true! Finding the house that we live in just happened on a fluke, and actually it happened when I thought I was ready to just give up trying. We had searched for months hoping to find a house to rent so we could have it all lined up and ready when we got here. We even had friends of ours go look at a number of them and they all turned out to be duds (which is putting it nicely!). When we thought we had a house all lined up we were overjoyed at the thought of just being settled. Now that house was far from perfect but it did have the largest backyard we had found as of yet and it did offer the square footage we were hoping for, along with a TINY kitchen and a yard that also needed an overhaul...but it was the best option we had found thus far and was the biggest bang for our buck....bang was right! We were knocked for a loop when I called to confirm the day we would be arriving only to find out that the house had been rented out from under us!!! This all transpired somewhere between South Dakota and Montana...in route to Washington!!! I was crushed and I'll admit there were a few tears...we were just so tired of being displaced and were so anxious to get settled and the thought of having to start our search all over was very daunting....





That's when our friend sent me a link to a house that she thought might work. It too was not perfect but it offered the basics of what we needed and to be honest I just didn't care. I just wanted to have a house waiting for us. I had given up on finding the house of our dreams and figured we'd just have to settle for a cramped little house where we couldn't sneeze without our neighbors hearing it. That house didn't work out after all but it did get us connected with the nicest realtor! She suggested that we try looking for a house out of the city in a more rural area. We had originally wanted to be in the country but after talking to a number of people, we were convinced that the commute to work would be terrible and not worth it. The realtor sent me a list of houses to check out and at least consider and the first one (that we happen to now be living in) really spoke to me!!! We decided that the commute was well worth what we would be getting in return.... 4 bedrooms, (we SO needed a schoolroom) and room to breath...5 acres to be exact! lol



Looking back, I can only imagine how funny God thought we were...all that worry and He knew exactly what he was doing! Why is it that we can see things so clearly looking backwards? Even at the time I knew that it would all work out, but I was just too tired to think clearly and needed to feel safe and comfortable again.


As it turns out, God really did a number on things for us...not only did we get our basic needs but He seemed to think of every detail along the way...



right down to the chickens that came with the house,



the huge garden area that we'll have next spring,





the very nice tiller we got on close out





....and the plethora of blackberry heaven we just discovered yesterday....








We make the best choices we can for our lives and the lives of our children and have to just know that we are doing the best we can and that God has a plan for us, even if it's not on the road before us but rather on a dirt road off to the side... I am speechless for words almost on a daily basis and wish I could thank Him more graciously for the free harvest He has set before us....but the words escape me so I'll just make the most of this free harvest and do my best to appreciate this life to it's fullest....

Snowy day

It is on days like this that I love taking joy n the simple things...cozy stor time with my girls, warm cloths and childrens' chatter on a snow walk and hot chocolate to warm up to upon oour return...

Some of our best conversations happen when I least expect it... while walking J asked me why God decided to make it snow so much today...I told her I wasn't sure but that I'd like to think it was his way of telling us to slow down and not do so much. She tilted her head and replied "Ya, we just needed snow day". Oh how I love that girl!! We had a such a great walk, if only the snow could stay and help us slow down just one more day! lol