Play group and Co-op

I am playing catch up with my blog posts - that seems to happening a lot lately.

Well we have had our 2 playgroups this month. The one at the beginning of the month was our last official meeting. From here till the baby is born it will be low key and more of a get together. I really do enjoy the playgroups. It is the only time I can get Ryan to focus on handwork. He never really wants to do it with me when it is just us.

For our first Feb playgroup we made beanbags from felt. I had the kids needle felt a design on the front and they sewed them up. I had made little bag sacks to hold the beans as inserts inside the felted squares. It was a project we did in segments and the kids seemed to really enjoy it. And only one finger poke in the group - not too bad! No broken needles either- that is a record I think.


Ryan is concentrating hard on his.
Ryan's finished bean bag. I was amazed to see what a great job he did on his. He has come a long way on his handwork! It is beautiful and is now resting on the nature table. The kids then had a wonderful time tossing the bags around.
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Playgroup last week was low key. I had not been feeling up to too much now that I have 4 weeks left till the baby is due. There were 2 families here and instead of our usual rhythm, I waited till the end of the playgroup to have a story, sing a song and model with beeswax.

Enjoying lunch together.


The was very simple and based from the following song which I sang periodically throughout the story :

Fly little bird across the mountains, fly out over the sea.
Come home little birdie you must be tired, I have food for thee.


The simple puppet show. While I told the story, I had the kids hold onto a ball of beeswax and when the story was done we modeled a little bird. It was simple yet so inspiring for the kids. They all did wonderfully on their birds .
The finished birds

Ryan was so inspired by the modeling and the song that after everyone left he wanted to keep modeling. So we spent another half an hour working with beeswax. He made 2 things for his brother's birthday, which I forgot to take a picture of before he wrapped it up - he was so excited about it. I made my first person with wax - it was not easy either.

The next morning Ryan was still inspired by our playgroup session that he got his bird out (which he had slept with) and made a bird house for him.

My beeswax person - sorry the pic is a little fuzzy.
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Our first grade Waldorf Co-op started a few weeks ago and has been going well. Our day is different than our past co-ops

we play for a bit
a yoga circle this block ( I think next block is recorder? I can't remember)
Handcraft workshop - I have been leading the kids in making their own table puppets. (next block in watercolor painting and modeling)
Snack then more play and we head home.

It has been pretty low key so far, which is nice. Ryan has been doing the yoga circle without me being in the circle which is nice. Usually he wants me right next to him, but he is starting to come out of his little shell when in a group .

Here the kids are being crabs
Finishing up the puppets

Ryan's finished puppet! He did most of it himself with just a little help from various grownups - including his dad who took him to co - op last week.

I made a wizard and today Ryan had fun playing with these guys and creating a story with them.

Ryan's first drop off class

Well today was a big day here. Ryan had his very first drop off class that lasted from 9 - 2 and he had to bring in his own lunch to eat!!! My baby is growing up. When I first asked him if he would like to take a class at The Common Ground Farm/High school , I told him it would be drop off , that mommy could not be there but his friend Marlin is signed up he said "Well, I am 6 now, so it is ok"!!

This morning went well only a brief water in the eyes on our way there when he asked if I was staying. I told him he could call me at anytime if he needed to and wrote down me phone number. I stayed with him during the drop off time from 8:45 - 9:15. There were games set up and we played. Once his friend arrived he seemed completely fine and ok with everything. When it was time for me to leave he gave me hugs and kisses and was off. Then I had a quite morning at home, did some yoga , worked on some new pants for baby Adeline. I could tell though that Heidi missed Ryan's crazy tactics, she kept following the rest of us around waiting for something.

When I picked him up he told me how much fun they had on the farm, checking out the sheep and goats, learnign about maple sugaring, trying soup that the big kids had made , going for a short hike and making this really cute pinecone sheep.


After class, we headed out to play with our friends for awhile:



Chased some chickens :

And fed the turkeys.

Sixth folder , Sixth picture

Kim at Frog Creek tagged me in a wee game. The rules are this: You take your sixth folder of pictures and you choose the sixth photo in there. Post it and write something.


So - apparently this is my picture in the sixth folder, the sixth picture. - cloth toilet paper that I made last June 6th. I am a little embarrassed to post these here since I had decided not to last year after I made them, but I don't want to cheat and post a different picture.
They are for me to use for non-messy needs and then they go right into a pail filled with enviro friendly bleach until laundry time. I have to say that I still use them and it working out just fine - they are just as white and crisp as the day I made them ! : )
Plus it had been good practice for when I start using cloth diapers on the baby.



So now I am supposed to tag 6 people - except that I do not know 6 people who blog.
So I tag

Pam
Lisa
Eileen
( i do not know how to post links yet - I've tried but still have not figured it out.

The End of our Alphabet Journey

This past week we finished up our alphabet journey. It was such a wonderful journey and once it was over Ryan asked to start all over again. I am so glad he enjoys his lessons! even if there are days when I have a hard time getting him to focus, I know he is absorbing it all in.

The final letters in our journey:


Q - after the prince ate popcorn with the purple prince, he went out for a walk and discovered the Queen and her quail out in the garden. Of course the Queen always carried her umbrella with her wherever she goes.




R - the Queen told the Prince the story of Rapunzel.





S,T ,U - THe Prince knew it was time to the the castle of his new friends and continue on his journey. He thanked them for giving him the symbols he needed for his quest. After traveling quite a distance he sat down under a tree near a stream and took a bite from his magic apple.
Just then he saw a mother swan and her baby swimming in the pond connected to the stream. The baby he noticed was having trouble swimming and went down under the water for a long time, the Prince was worried and let out an "uhhh". The swan reappeared and the Prince was relieved. Just then a golden star fell from the sky with the symbol U on it. The prince took it and kept it close to his heart.





V,W - Once the prince was well rested he continued his journey. Soon he found himself at the top of a very steep valley. He climbed down, but was not sure how he was going to get back up when the side of the valley opened up and a wizard appeared. He introduced himself as the "Wave Wizard" and he had heard of the Prince's journey and came to help. He gave the prince a ride on the wave to the other side of the valley.




X,Y - Once on the other side , the Prince had to find a way to the top since he was still inside the valley with the Wave Wizard. The Wizard pulled something out of his pocket and placed it in front of the prince. A xylophone and the prince noticed the mallets were in the shape of a X. He played the xylophone and suddenly the water rose to the top. There waiting for him was a Yak.


The Yak led him to the Zig Zag path that would end his journey. As the prince walked he saw a castle in the distance, as he got closer he realized it was his own castle - he had made it home and saved the kingdom. The dragon was gone and everybody was safe.



The End : )

Ryan had the idea to have everyone "take a bow" so we drew them all one one page.


Learning our letters in this magical, creative way will be something that will always stay with Ryan. It just opens up our heart , hands and head the way it was intended to.

Our heart - we follow the Prince's journey and hope he succeeds

Our hands - with block crayon drawing we are becoming more creative each time we draw. I have noticed now that in Ryan's drawings outside of lessons, he is using some of the techniques I use that he did not have the confidence to do himself during the lessons.

Our heads - Ryan has known his letters for sometime now, but we added the element of writing the words on his paper and sounding out these letters as we go. He is now starting to pick out words in books as we read them.

Happy Valentines Day

Yesterday we had watercolor painting lessons and Daddy joined in. The story I told is as follows:

One day the sun was shinning so brightly in the sky. (start with painting a yellow circle in the middle of the paper.) It warmed the Earth and a few of the Fairies woke up also knowing that a special day was coming up. One little fairy wearing her finest red dress emerged in the sunlight and started dancing in the warmth of the sun ( paint red all around the yellow). Soon she twirled and danced and gave the sun a big hug ( take the red and slowly circle around in the yellow) The fairy soon saw something magical was happening. A heart appeared around her and the sun and a new friend had joined them wearing an orange dress. ( we dried off our brushes and drew a heart around the sun - lifting off the color).



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Ryan and I also spent sometime last night drawing valentines for everyone. We woke this morning to find treats that daddy had left out for us. I received some beautiful red Gerber Daisies and some chocolate. He also made some of his delicious cinnamon rolls. Yumm.


For the kids he drew these great cards:
for Ryan,For Sage,
We headed out to Sage's bball game where he had an awesome game. We tried to head down to New Haven to see some ice sculptures, but there was nothing there - bummer. So instead we stopped by the Sleeping Giant and did some light hiking . It felt so good to be out and hiking!!! Most of the snow is gone here so I do not have to risk falling in the ice of snow. Although Sage did slip and fall in the mud - and Tony kept reminding me that could of been me - he was not to thrilled with my wanting to hike - but I know I wont fall - I am still sturdy on my feet for being 8 1/2 months preggo!

A Beautiful Painting, Eggs and Ice Cream

This beautiful painting came in the other day of us walking in the Tennessee Smokey Mountains. My mother made it for us as a Christmas present and recently had it framed and sent it to us. We all absolutely love it. Thanks Mom!















Yesterday our good friend Kim watched Ryan for us while my husband and I went to a homebirth meeting. She then invited us over for make your own pizza along with another family.

What a surprise when she gave us 3 doz eggs from her chickens! We are so grateful and I had a yummy egg this morning for breakfast.






Her husband had picked up some ice cream for dessert and bought a special carton for me - the pregnant lady! We could not stay for dessert as it was getting late and he insisted we take it home with us. Don't need to twist my arm to take home some chocolate ice cream! Thanks guys - you are awesome.

I had a big bowl tonight while taking a hot bath - that way I would not get cold after eating it - clever huh : 0

One more Valentine Fairy left

I have one more Valentine Fairy left in my Etsy shop - free shipping.
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5114179

Yes, I am using my blog to advertise - : )