michaelmas

yesterday we celebrated michaelmas! as a budding waldorf community, this special day marked a significant point in our growth. this was our third michaelmas together! we started holding community wide festivals with michaelmas as our first and so with this season we begin a new year of celebrations together!

the children weaved fairy looms and wet felted comet balls.

there was a lovely waldorf style puppet show with marionette puppets! i was so impressed with what these beautiful friends were able to pull off in such a short preparation time. now that we have such a professional puppet crew, i look forward to more shows in the future. ;)the skies opened up and a great thunderstorm rumbled overhead as we were gathered under this shelter for the show. this dragon was made for the first michaelmas. there was some controversy over whether or not the dragon should be present again as he is quite large and most of our children are quite young. when the vote was made to have him make an appearance we had no idea we would end up huddled in a rather small space with sheets of rain falling around us and thunder cracking overhead! it certainly added to the intensity for some of the wee littles which is unfortunate. i enjoyed his show though, especially knowing that matt was under there (as he was for the first michaelmas, too)!as has happened with several of our festivals now, the rains parted and the children proceeded in merriment splashing and running through puddles. it brings back so many memories for me as i loved to lay in mud puddles and roll around when i was young. it was always by myself though and i feel blessed that my children have a whole tribe to have these adventures with.mother earth snuggled sienna warmly.

the cider press is a staple of michaelmas for us and mr crowe is the cider master. such a fascinating bit of machinery and such a rewarding process for the children. not to mention the delicious cider to drink!

my sad little camera never captures the day as i wish it to....some day i will have the camera i long for. until then, i send you to my dear friends' blogs to see a much lovelier representation of the days festivities. both moment to moment and golden sun family have posts up from yesterdays celebration. if you consider that matt is inside the dragon (sounds grim, eh?), you can spot my whole family in their photos.

i can say that autumn is officially here. just two days ago it was in the 90s and the trademark colors of fall were missing from the branches around us. with that downpour that started at michaelmas, the rain has continued off and on and the temperatures have cooled down considerably. our yard is now speckled with the dappled yellow leaves of the great maple tree just outside our door.

welcome autumn! we are so glad to see you!

autumn tidings

yellow the bracken, golden the sheaves.
rosy the apples, crimson the leaves.
mist on the hillsides, clouds grey and white.
autumn good morning, summer good night.

words by florence hoatson

a crystal for a tooth

number three has come out!! when she leaves her tooth under her pillow, her tooth fairy comes and takes it back to the gnomes. they love childrens' teeth as they help the crystals grow bigger and brighter. in exchange for her tooth, the fairy brings a crystal back from the gnomes' cave and tucks it into her tooth pillow.

she says that each child has their own tooth fairy. your tooth fairy is always with you until you are all grown up and you have stopped losing your teeth. then your fairy finds a new little child to look after but is always nearby if you need them. so sweet!

staying put

for those of you who may be wondering, we have decided to keep sienna in first grade. honestly, for a while there it seemed as though this was one of those parenting decisions that has no clear answer. we have to make a difficult choice based on intuition and hope for the best.

then one of my colleagues asked me which class seemed like her karmic group of peers. good question! i had not thought of it this way before.
i have to say how incredibly blessed i feel to be able to sit down with a teacher and talk about my child's karmic group of peers! that would not happen in many schools. both the kindergarten and the first grade teachers were open to my coming to get a feel for each group.
though the kindergarten was a lovely bunch and i truly enjoyed being part of circle time with ms joy again (an added bonus!), when i joined the first grade class i knew right away that she is already where she belongs.

each class votes on a name for themselves and her class chose the wolves this year. this little wolf pack just fits together so nicely and sienna seems to be comfortable amongst her peers.

interestingly enough, when it came time for them to sit down with their writing journals i suddenly felt very anxious. i thought to myself *this is what she can't do!*. i wasn't sure if i should tell her the letters to spell the word she wanted to write or correct her as she sounded it out or just let her figure it out. as i relaxed and observed the other children around me, i was so relieved at what i saw.

some were taking their time sounding out each letter, some just started writing using their *inventive spelling* (which looked foreign to me!), and some didn't even know what they wanted to write. this is first grade!! they may be *reading* but they are all still figuring out this whole language arts thing. i believe sienna fits right in with where these children are and will do just fine.

i'm not worried about the reading either. it will come in time. i am of the opinion that writing before reading is the most beneficial anyways, though there are many different methods out there. i am bringing her the alphabet the beautiful waldorf way on my own at home. i am telling her a story of the letters. we introduce a new one and then *sleep on it*. the next day we draw, paint, color and write the letter as well as recite alliteration poems. she is loving doing this work with me.
today she wanted to show her little brother her classroom. of all the beautiful things to see, she took him right to her notebooks to show him the math, writing, and drawing work she has done. she is so proud!!
though her classroom is small, ms rachel has done a lovely job creating a warm and inviting space. there are silks and beautiful wooden figures that sienna is used to being surrounded by and they have opportunities to use these props and others to tell stories to each other. an area she excels in!

it feels wonderful to have settled back in to first grade. we both love ms rachel and we are all glad that she is still part of the wolf pack! she has so much to offer the group and it will be wonderful to see how they learn to work together. as a small class, they won't have a choice in the matter!completely unrelated, but i had to share. this is her latest creation. i love her!! she has been making little dolls like this for some time. i am loving how they have evolved. she creates them pretty much independently now and always has a clear vision of how she wants to go about it.

here's to settling in,
rae

LAAFFing it off

this past weekend we attend a local festival, LAAFF, held downtown on lexington ave. this is one of the many free festivals we have here in our town. this one is a fave of the locals as it brings all the colorful characters of our community to the street. in the nineties, rolling stone magazine dubbed asheville as america's new freak capital. LAAFF gives everyone an excuse to get their freak on and, as you might imagine, makes for some incredible people watching.

all geared up and ready to go!
**stroller pictured is a joovy caboose. there is a jump seat and a standing platform in the back allowing options for the older child. we LOVE it!!**

throughout the festival, there are musicians and artists of all sorts. i believe taking children to see live music is an incredible opportunity that all children should be given, if possible. this was an interesting four piece that sienna planted herself right in front of. she loves to experience all kinds of music.
what's a festival without face painting? just isn't one at all if you ask these two.we even had a special frozen treat! it was such a hot day on the city streets.
usually daddy breaks out some fun duds from his immense wardrobe collection, but he played it pretty tame this year. could be because he came straight from soccer (four games that weekend!), so i'll cut him some slack. ;)this silver gal stands frozen as a statue until a dollar is dropped into her bucket. then she comes to life and rattles of a little number on her drum, bowing to the donor before becoming motionless once again. my kids could watch her for an hour.
there were several artistic opportunities for the wee ones, but the art car was the highlight for these two.
such a nifty piece of collaborative art!this festival is significant for us as it marks four years we have been in asheville. four years ago we moved here the week before LAAFF. having gone to middle and high school here and those having been some rebellious and formative years for me, i was pretty darn resistant to moving back here. it seemed like the universe just pulled us here anyways though.

when we first arrived, my dear friend renee and her family were living here. we were pretty miserable the first few months and wanted to bail. when renee and jason decided to head back to colorado (where we originally all knew each other from), they so sweetly and generously offered to pack us up and take us with them. it was very tempting!!

though i wasn't sold on being here, i knew we must be here for a reason and knew whatever that reason was that we had probably not realized it yet. we asked for a sign. please be careful if you ask for signs!! you never know how you may get them.

we knew we needed money in order to move. we put matt's car in the newspaper to sell and decided to let that be our gauge. if the car sold, we could move. if not, we stayed. the day the ad went in the paper, matt and sienna were in an accident in matt's car. they were fine but the side of his car was smashed. we canceled the ad and settled in to being here.....for now.

and here we are four years later. i know why i had to come here now. not only for the work i have been called to do with early childhood, but also to bring the many facets of myself and my past together. i have had many separate lives and distinct phases of my life, some of which i previously chose to shut away and hide from. living here has forced me to look at my past and my mistakes and come to terms with all that has brought me to where i am today. this is a whole other blog post though!!

we are still here. it is a wonderful place to be a young family. there are so many opportunities for our children and ourselves. the landscape is gorgeous and there is much to explore. there are also many challenges. we miss the west (and renee and fam!!) so very much. i am so far from my dear friend candice (at least her and renee are near each other again). the humidity and moisture are difficult for me to handle. my allergies are drastically more intense here. i know that matt still struggles with being here. he has yet to find his niche in this town. i am still hopeful for him! i am also still hopeful that someday we complete our work here and find our way back to the west.

scenes from LAAFF 2006.

dandy back to school

we returned to school this past week. what a week it was! we have a vibrant and energetic group this year!

there has been a bit of shifting in the program. one more area of my life where i am learning to *let go*. when joy and i co-founded dandelion hill last year, we shared responsibilities 50/50. we had a partnership in the business and we were co-teachers in the classroom.

when she decided to leave dandy, i was not up for finding another person to fill that same role. i opted to take on the role of director, handling all of the administrative tasks and to hire a lead teacher. having young children of my own, i have energy for only so much else and i did not feel that i could take on both at this time. rather than hire an assistant as i had once planned, i decided to remain in the classroom as the assistant myself.
enter ms jessica. she is a delightful young lady and i am thrilled to have her leading the classroom! she has such enthusiasm and passion and has brought with her an inspiring energy that we needed. she does not have children of her own (yet) and i find that to be a bonus honestly. it can be exhausting to work with children this age when you are with this age group 24 hours a day (ask me how i know).

part of our original mission for dandy was to have a place for teachers to grow. providing continuing education funds is a priority for us as well as giving teachers (like ourselves), working toward their waldorf certification, an environment to continue their work in. i am excited for jessica as this is an excellent opportunity for her growth as a teacher.

it has been interesting to step back from classroom management and let her take the reigns. especially considering that this program is one of my babies. i am able to do this because i feel completely confident in her abilities. we are adjusting. learning our new roles (she was previously an assistant herself). it is an interesting relationship in that i am both director and classroom assistant and we are but a two woman operation.
this sandbox was a new addition to our classroom this year. jessica acquired the stumps for us and split them. matt and another dandy dad dug them in and unloaded a truckload of sand (thanks matt and doug!!). it has been a tremendous hit!! all summer i have been collecting *toys* for the sandbox from various yard sales and thrift stores. they are all metal and consist of enamel cups, vintage funnels, mesh strainers, slotted spoons, various buckets and containers, and shovels.
i love to see them engaged in play here. this is but the first step in bringing some more natural elements to our outdoor space. much more to come!
jessica has such a sweet and tender way with the children. we are all blessed to have her and i am so excited about the upcoming year!i was actually there, too, making silly faces apparently! ;)

joy and i see each other regularly as she is now teaching at sienna's new school and our daughter's are in the same class. interestingly enough, she became an assistant this year, too.

speaking of sienna's school, in case you are wondering, we have not made any firm decision yet. i am leaning toward keeping her in first though still not feeling 100%. this is one of those parenting decisions that feels like you can never be sure of the answer. you just have to make a leap with what you think will be the best for your child and hope it works out favorably. i'm pretty sure those kind of tough decisions we parents continue to face aren't ever going to stop, are they? ;)

here's to new beginnings, embracing change, and learning to let go!

handmade gifts

it warms my heart that when birthday parties for friends come around, sienna now thinks about what she can make them rather than what she would like to buy them.
she made this prince and princess for maia. she did almost all of this herself. she just asked me to cut out the crowns for her. she used bits from my felt scrap basket. she used the hot glue gun for most things and stitched their royal robes on.
she wanted them to have a playmat too and decided to gift the first one she ever wet felted (she has quite a few now!).
this princess' pink cashmere robe is my favorite. she is so glamorous!

i wish i had taken pictures of the card as it was hilarious! she is drawing many pictures a day again and her pictures are so interesting and detailed these days. i have loved watching my avid artist's drawings progress over the years.