Flood

Sometimes when it rains it really does pour.  Believe me, I am certainly not complaining about the rain one bit because I realize how desperately our state always needs rain in the summer time.  It does seem as though we're getting a bit more than we bargained for at one time however.  At least more than our poor yard can handle.  These pictures are from earlier this summer but we've seen the very same sight several times again since then including this past week.  Thankfully the kids can always help find the good in a situation, even a little flood.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Weaving

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kinsley has pulled out her weaving loom and hours have been spent working away on some sweet little potholders. Like everything else she tackles she has put her full concentration into this project. Taking the time to pick out just the right color patterns and planning just who she will give it to. They are Christmas gifts she tells me. I smile because I remember doing the very same thing when I was about her age. I made more potholders than I could count and everyone got them for Christmas. In fact, I think my grandmother still has one that I made for her all those years ago.  I hope I'm on her gift giving list, though that information is hush hush so far. 

Do you believe in Fairies?

I fully believe that it is my job as a mother to foster in my children a belief in all things magical and wonderful; to keep that innocence of childhood lingering just as long as possible. That belief is what first drew me to Waldorf principles and a desire to keep our home as simple and natural as possible. I wanted them to have a deep connection to nature and the world around them. I wanted them to be able to sit near a running stream or in the middle of a growing forest and be in awe of what they were experiencing and what might be lying just beneath the surface-and to thoroughly enjoy every single moment of it. It is a great accomplishment to never outgrow the ability to see the magic in every day that happens all around you. If I can accomplish just a bit of this I will consider it a great success.

 

 

 

 

 

 

So for now we will spend ages lying in the grass hoping to catch a glimpse of a fairy flitting through the mushrooms…believing...

 

 

Dresses for Patti

These long hot summer afternoons are making it easy to spend some time in front of my sewing machine.  That and two somewhat demanding children that seem to have a neverending list of things mama just has to make for them.  This request was for Kinsley who insisted that Patti had to have a new dress for summer because none of her dresses were long enough.  Well of course we had to remedy that right away. 

I used this pattern from A Bee in My Bonnet that I have had pinned for ages.  To make Patti's dress I simply added a little length to the end of the pattern. 

 

 

 

 

I used a these precious flower buttons I had in my stash and they're just perfect for this sweet little doll dress. This pattern worked up so quickly and easily that I just had to make a few more including this one for a sweet friend's little girl. I'll definitely keep this pattern handy for quick gifts.  This time I used snaps for the actual closure and just added the buttons for looks. I think the snaps are definitely the way to go for the easiest use for the kids. Velcro just doesn't work well for these waldorf dolls since it has the tendency to get caught up in all that lovely yarn hair.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I adore this mustache fabric and was so happy to finally have a reason to cut into it. Now I really want to make a little girl dress out of it next. For Kaitlyn maybe?

Oklahoma

I’ve heard many people ask why anyone could ever stand to live in Oklahoma. Looking at the history of this great state of ours it isn’t hard to see why they could wonder. And sometimes when you’ve been face to face with some of the dangers that this state has presented its residents you begin to question it yourself. The road to where we are now hasn’t been an easy one, far from it. Looking back over the years of hardships that founded this state is humbling to say the very least.

How could anyone that faced the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl ever manage to stay and feel optimistic is almost beyond comprehension, but they did. There was just something in them that kept them going and kept them looking forward. And more recently with the devastating tornadoes that have ripped through our state you hear the wondering again…why stay? Yet stay they will. Already families are picking up the pieces and rebuilding, looking forward. Great fools someone called them. Perhaps. 

Perhaps we are all great fools for staying and believing in a state that could at any moment turn the tide back towards those harder times or be leveled again by fierce winds. But perhaps there is more to it than that. When you take that moment to stop and really look around you…that is when you no longer wonder. That moment is when it is easy to see why we stay, and why this state of ours has taken such a strong hold on our hearts. We are Okies, it is in our blood and we are proud.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lego Love

We finally introduced Legos into our home a few weeks ago and the girls have been in love ever since. As I'm typing this the girls are sitting here building and creating. I remember spending ages playing with them as a child and am thrilled that my girls seems to enjoy them just as much.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the things I'm enjoying most about the girls playing Legos is watching them approach them so differently.  With Kinsley's very first set I wasn't surprised to see the picture above where she had sorted her pieces by color before she began her work.  She will sit for ages in complete concentration creating just the perfect piece.  Kaitlyn, however, is more than happy to pour all of her pieces straight into her bucket and creates with abandon.  She often changes her design several times before reaching then end and is just as happy to knock it all down and start again.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Since the beginning each girl has added several new sets to their collection and both are already dreaming of their next set.  I love that such a classic open-ended toy is still loved by so many generations and can fit the personalities of my two very different children so perfectly. 

July 4th

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hope you have a fun and safe holiday!

Bits of yellow

 

 

 

 

 

So far that is really all I'm seeing in the garden, bits of yellow mixed within the forest of green.  For me this is the hardest part of gardening, the waiting.  Waiting for what seems like ages for things to finally start happening.  Though I am well aware that once it starts it will be overrun with produce and hustling to stay on top of our canning and preserving.  Not a bad problem to have though. 

DIY Dinosaur Crayons

I wanted to share a bit about the dinosaur crayons we made for Kait's birthday party.  We've had this project on our to-do list for ages and we finally found the perfect opportunity to give it a try.  With only two supplies needed it was a great quick afternoon project that everyone could take part in.

All you need are some crayons you don't mind repurposing and a mold.  I chose a silicone mold to make things easier and hopefully to keep us from burning ourselves on hot wax.  If you wanted to use a candy mold you would simply melt the wax in another container and pour into the candy mold.  Knowing how messy we can get with projects that sounded like a sure disaster for us.  I purchased this dinosaur shaped mold off of Amazon to go with our birthday theme. 


First step is probably the most fun for the kids, getting to peel the paper off of all the crayons.  It did take quite a while to peel them all but they certainly didn't complain.

 

 

 

 

After we had enough peeled and sorted by color (per Kinsley's request) it was time to break them up and decide what colors we wanted our dinosaurs to be.  We decided to do a mix of solid colors and multi-colored dinos.  I did use scissors to cut some of the smaller pieces just to make it a bit easier on my hands.  Plus the smaller pieces help it to melt faster.  Make sure you get your mold as full as you can.

 

 

 

 

 

We preheated our oven to 300* to make our crayons.  Then we placed our mold into a cake pan that we lined with parchment paper to try and contain any messes or spills we might make.  Within 5 minutes the crayons were completely melted at this temperature so keep an eye on them.  We did find that the lighter colors melted more quickly than the darker colors so that is something to keep in mind if you are doing more than one color in each mold.

 

 

 

 

Tada!  We popped the mold into the freezer for a few minutes to allow the wax to harden completely.  They will do fine simply sitting on the counter but we wanted to speed up the process so we could get several sets made. 

 

 



 

 

Once they came out of the freezer they popped right out of the mold with no problems at all.  Then it was simply a matter of choosing our favorite dinosaur.  The ones with two colors seemed to be definite favorites. 

 



 

I've been browsing through some of the other silicone molds just to see what other crayons we might want to make in the future.  These would make terrific gifts for littles as well.