A Little Celebrating

We have a tradition in our family of celebrating Midsummer Night. Tradition holds that if you prepare a party for the fairies on this night, they will leave a small gift in return. (I've written about this one other time.)

Elisabeth and James happily prepared a tea party, complete with tiny pieces of cake (left over from Father's Day the day before) and fruit.

They awoke early the next morning to find the tea party devoured, a ring of rose petals in its place, and some small gifts, all covered with a smattering of fairy dust (superfine glitter is great for this!)

What fun it is to see their excitement as we celebrate these treasured traditions. And what a nice respite these things are in the chaos of our current situation! (Less than two weeks to go....)

PS: The book is Mudpies and Other Recipes by Marjorie Winslow, and I've had it set aside for almost 8 years, waiting for a time when Elisabeth would be a fluent reader and be able to use the book on her own. I never felt like my reading it with her was quite right.

Thoughts on a Wednesday

Unrelated to this post: Peach blossoms with snow on them, from about 10 days ago. Where I live, "spring" is more like "extended winter".

Big girl and little. Fiona isn't walking yet, but she likes to do "walkies" with her big sister.

Today I'm thinking about my big girl again. Lots has been going on around here for her lately. Big transitions and rites of passage. Last month, she had her birthday and first holy communion, and this month -- it seems that I'm sending off checks right and left. I sort of feel a little complainy about how much it all costs, but I'm also just noticing what big things are going on:

~We mailed off the registration for competitive swim team this summer. At eight, she won't be the youngest child on her team by any means, but we didn't want to start a sport before now. In fact, I really felt that nine would be better (I've had this thought corroborated by so many of the parents of my cello students over the years, too). So this is our family's first foray into the world of competitive anything. We're nervous, but ever so excited about the meets!

~Elisabeth has her own cello now. It is the outgrown cello of one of my students. Elisabeth has been talking about playing cello since the day of her second birthday, and we even very briefly rented her a tiny little cello when she was three. But we realized that playing an instrument at that tender age was really not the right path for our family and the way we do things. So we waited. I thought we'd begin to look for an instrument when she was about 8 or 9, and lo and behold, one of my students sized up into a full-size right before Elisabeth turned 8. So, we now have her old 3/4 cello, and Elisabeth is practicing every day, without being asked (so far!).

~We also signed up for a homeschool enrichment program for next fall. They offer things like art, music, drama, games/PE -- things that can be sometimes harder to coordinate and fit in at home, or without a group of children. We spent some time today choosing which classes to enroll in. It's exciting, and a little scary. Elisabeth will be at her class for a full day once a week in the fall!

~In five weeks, we begin the odyssey of orthodontia. This is the "big" thing that makes me the saddest. Elisabeth has had an underbite all her life, and it hasn't self-corrected as her permanent teeth have come in. We've known for a long time that braces were going to be part of our future with her. But, it's sad to think of my little eight-year-old with a face full of braces. In the long run, it's for the best. But it's reminding me again of how bittersweet this whole growing up thing is.

February 2

Today was the festival of Candlemas. Because we were out of town all of last week, preparing for it pretty much slipped my mind, so we just had a candlelit dinner and bedtime. Sometime later in the week, we'll make candles, too. Candlemas has never become a huge celebration in our family, but I really like the suggestions for its celebration in Mrs. Sharp's Traditions, I love to listen to this every Candlemas (it was written to be played at Candlemas). There are always small ways to mark the passing seasons, even when they are not big, fancy celebrations.

Really, I spent most of today in a quivery, trembling state, anticipating the first episode of the final season of Lost tonight. I was not disappointed -- I'm a real Lostie. It's the only television program I watch, actually. Usually our television only comes on once a week (for Lost); we've actually discussed finally removing the television from our home once the show ends. So, now you know a little detail about me that you might not have before!

February 1

Hi there. Did you think I disappeared? I wouldn't be surprised if you did. I only posted a couple of times in January. There are three real reasons for this: enjoying some quiet home time, feeling a bit of blog burnout, and having severe, and I do mean severe, computer problems. We bought our computer brand-new not 18 months ago, and already by this past summer, we were experiencing lots of problems. Currently it doesn't even turn on. It makes me tremble just to think about it, so I won't say any more here. But I did finally locate my installation disk for the camera software and can now upload photos here on the laptop (which I don't love to do because the screen is small and makes everything look alternately too dark or too washed out, but oh, well). Suffice it to say that the "what I made in 2009" post (including Christmas gifts -- two of which I'd love to eventually share here) will have to wait until I can finally access those photos again. I have been assured by my husband that they will be retrievable. Let's just pray, shall we?

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So what has been going on?

A little of this, a little of that.

It snowed.

We went out of town.

We saw this guy.

We had room service in our hotel room.

I knitted.

My baby turned 11 months, grew her first two teeth, and started crawling (I'm thankful that she's taking her time on these milestones -- with my third baby, I'm in no rush, and I'm glad she isn't, either!).

And now that we're into February, we're coming into birthday season -- beginning with mine on the 25th, four of our family's five birthdays will fall within six weeks of one another.

Much good, and a handful of challenges. Would we have it any other way?

love,

Grace

2009, a retrospective {part 1}

I hope you all are not tired of 2009 wrap-ups. I know I'm a bit late, but bear with me -- I've been so very sick for so long, it's making me feel really behind. Anyway, I have had a 2009 retrospective on the creating end of things in mind for a while now, but I still want to photograph a last couple of things, so I thought I would start with the life part. And of course there's some overlap.

January

Quiet days at home. Knitting the bunting. Visits with friends. Cooking, freezing, nesting. Sewing. Contractions. Waiting.

February

More contractions. More waiting. More knitting. Elisabeth's first sleepover (away). My blessingway. My birthday. Fiona Catherine. Bliss.

March

Holed up, insulated, babymooning. James turns three. Huge snowstorm. Snuggling on the couch with the baby and lots of wool while the others are out in it. Seedlings.

April

Stepping, ever so tentatively, out of the fog. Elisabeth turns seven. Seedlings (still). Fiona's baptism. My husband decides to finish his doctorate afterall. Dozens of tulips!

May

Going a-Maying. Enjoying our yard and gardens. Struggling to find a rhythm. Re-reading some of my favorite books. Elisabeth learns to ride a two-wheeler.

June

Peonies! Swimming lessons every morning. Fiona rolls over. Remembering to slow down. Roses.

July

Still at the pool every morning, knitting in tow. A rainy 4th of July. Camping. Sewing. Second grade workshop. Catharsis.

August

10 years! Fiona sits up. Stress. Exhaustion. Computer break (oh-so-good!). My sister's baby shower. Sewing.

September

Holding on to the last bits of summer. habit. Return to homeschooling. Apple orchard (twice), and apple pies. Classes for both children. My new niece.

October

Our belated Michaelmas celebration. Eurythmy. Knitting. Lots of snow. Hot cocoa many days. New high chair cushions, and Fiona's first solid foods. Marathon costume sewing. Jack-o-lanterns. Halloween. My favorite month.

November

NaBloPoMo. Church linens. Elisabeth's first sleepover (at home). Simplicity Parenting. Martinmas. Sweaters. Book reviews. Thinking ahead to advent and Christmas. Giving thanks. Making dolls.

December

My shop. habit (december). King Winter. Helen's baptism. Fun with family. My husband's graduation. Sickness (lots and lots of sickness). Small miracles. Late Christmas cards. Last-minute gift making. Stillness; peace; silence. The richness of tradition. Joy. 

Right now

Awed by the connections we all have: the way my life looks very much like yours, and yours like mine -- we're all in this thing, aren't we?

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Happy new year, friends. May 2010 (which I refuse to pronounce "twenty-ten", by the way) be your best yet.

My next post will be the creating retrospective. And I'd still like to share a few things that we did in December, in between all the sickness. And then it will be new material for the new year, I promise.

xo

Friday reads: Mrs. Sharp

I bet you thought I wouldn't get a post up today! Well, it's still Friday, and here I am -- just squaking it in. Today was very dark -- I kept waiting for even a patch of sunshine to take some photos -- and by 3:00, when it looked like the sun had gone down and it started to pour freezing rain/hail/slush, I knew it was a lost cause. I had planned a review of a book with illustrations that warranted sharing, so instead I've had to come up with an alternate plan.

Lots of people email me to ask for advice and suggestions for beginning a seasonal observance of festivals and celebrations in their homes, so I thought I would share with you my very, very favorite resource today.

Mrs. Sharp's Traditions was the first non-pregnancy/birth/breastfeeding mama book I ever read --while I was pregnant with Elisabeth. The style is humorous and may be off-putting to some (it's written a tone mimicking a Victorian ladies' advice book or magazine), but that is really so perfect for me. The amazing, wise thing about this book is that it draws parallels from another time with our own time. It really is all about how to reclaim family life -- I think so many of us feel powerless and end up throwing our hands up in defeat. Mrs. Sharp is here to show you simple ways to make home a warm respite from the impersonal, face-paced world outside. The first part of the book is about daily rituals that help to bring harmony, balance, and predictability to family life. The rest of the book (the majority) follows the year month by month, discussing different festivals and seasonal customs and pastimes. Part historical, part practical, part humorous, but always full of grace and charm. In my early days of parenting, Mrs. Sharp was like a trusted friend, always giving me a bit of steadying wisdom as I navigated my new role as a full-time, at-home mama and keeper of the home.

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Some of you had asked for some more details about our family's celebration of Martinmas. I didn't elaborate on those answers for a couple of reasons -- one was that there wasn't too much I didn't share in my previous Martinmas posts, and the other was that most of them came from this book. So, hopefully this will be helpful to those of you who are looking for additional information.

Have a great weekend, everyone -- I'll be here with some weekend posts at some point on Saturday and Sunday. See you then!

Over the last week

Today I have some photos from the last week to share. We have a new (used) monitor which will work until we can get something a little better. Phew!

So here is a bit of how we spent the last week:

{I know, another photo-heavy post from me -- but those really are my favorite kind!}

::stopping to admire some autumn grasses

::a lot of progress made on a certain sweater

::a favorite midmorning snack (we like this recipe)

::celebrating our first snow -- and some very chilly days!

::and oh, those toes.

Hoping your weekend is magical in every way!

Seen

Some things that have been seen around here lately:

Costuming in the works!

Some cute baby-ness, just because.

The shadow of a star.

The turning of some leaves.

Knitting. Of course!

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Some thoughts:

~I forgot to mention on Wednesday that this is out now. I'm super excited about it, although my pre-order hasn't arrived yet. I should learn my lesson and never pre-order, because I always receive my pre-orders days and days after the release day. I must live too far from any distribution sites.

~TypePad must have received a number of complaints similar to mine, because they have sort of compromised and made replying directly to comments a bit easier again. Not quite as nice as before, but at least it's something.

~And speaking of comments, I can see on my stats that lots and lots of you are still visiting, but feeling a little bit shy about commenting. Don't be! I love to hear from you. It really makes my day -- hearing your feedback, and this little conversation of ours. And I truly appreciate those of you who do take a little time out of your own day to say hi to me. Truly, truly.

Edited to add: The hat was made by Shelley! We have been lucky enough to have two of her hats and they are our very favorite.

Seasons Round exchange - Autumn

I'm finally getting around to sharing what I sent out to my partner in the Seasons Round exchange.

I sent four things: a golden hand-dyed silk (I'm obsessed now), a seasonal postcard, a dragon candle that my husband made, and a standing nature table doll.

The doll is about 4.5 inches high and is knit using Cascade 220. (Details on my Ravelry page, and more pictures over on flickr.)

You can see what my partner sent here. Very cute! One of the things I'm loving is that it gets new seasonal table items into our home without my children seeing them first. I usually change out the items on the table while they're sleeping, so this helps with the magic.

I was super happy with this exchange, and I'm glad that I get to be one of the participants for the winter exchange -- it filled up in less than a day! The next sign-ups are on January 1, 2010 -- I would recommend getting in if you can!

Celebrating Michaelmas

We enjoyed a lovely celebration of Michaelmas this weekend.

The children awoke to the annual surprise of our new Michaelmas candle. We burn the candle at dinner every night until it burns out (if well-timed, this is usually around the beginning of advent). My husband sculpts the dragons every year. He's gotten quite good! (He uses beeswax candles and this.)

We spent the afternoon cooking -- my husband and the children made our dragon bread (using a regular white bread dough), while I made our dinner and dessert.

At suppertime, I told a version of the tale of St. Michael and the Dragon.

For dinner, there was the dragon bread, and dragon soup (recipe below).

And for dessert, we had a delicious Michaelmas pie. This was the first year we'd made it (I found the recipe here -- scroll down). It was really good! The flavor was so surprising -- spicy with all the cloves and nutmeg -- and so yummy. The only thing I did differently was that I just used my usual pie crust recipe (from my grandmother), but added the 1/2 tsp. cinnamon to it. We will definitely make this again next year.

After dinner, there was just enough time for some dragon and knight dress up and play before our little heroes slipped into bed to dream about Michaelmas until next year.

Michaelmas has been one of the harder festivals for me to "grasp" -- at least the "meaning" behind it. But every year, we follow our traditions, and it works its way into our hearts. I am beginning to see how fortifying it is, this first festival of the autumn and winter, and the way that it celebrates the excitement at new beginnings that we naturally feel at this time of year. How grateful I am for the forms that our family has put into place. These forms offer predictability and strength to us, even during times that are busy and hard. And how amazed I am, as each holiday or celebration greets us, that our traditions carry us. They are so familiar and so much easier now, requiring a little less fumbling and work each year. What a gift we are giving to one another -- our children, their father, and I.

If there is one thing that I would like to share with any young family just finding its way, it's this: seek celebration, and embrace it. You will be blessed many times over.

Dragon Soup

(this recipe is adapted from one I saw on a homeschooling Yahoo group a few years ago)

Finely chop one onion and two cloves of garlic. In a stockpot, melt 4 Tbsp. butter. Saute the onions and garlic until soft.

Add:

1 qt. vegetable or chicken stock (we used about 6 cups)
1 large sweet potato, peeled and diced
1 large beet, scrubbed and diced (we used two smaller beets, from our garden, and we peeled them first)
1 small jar roasted red peppers, chopped well and added with the juices from the jar
3 Tbsp. orzo pasta or other small pasta (we used much more -- about 1/3 cup)
Salt and pepper to taste

Simmer until vegetables are tender.

Add 1/2 cup frozen green peas and serve at once. (We added more like a cup of peas.)

Optional garnishes: sour cream and sweet chili sauce or salsa. Enjoy with your dragon bread!

For October

Oh, October, how happy I am to see you, my favorite month of the year.

I love your crisp mornings and chilly evenings, your autumn harvest, your colors, the richness of your days; your pumpkin patches, your costume-creating, your baking and hot drinks. I love that you are a perfect balance of the wonder and beauty of now, and the anticipation of things to come.

What good things you have in store for us.

More colors of autumn

I'm really loving Autumn Colour Week. Aren't you? It's a great reminder to me to be sure to get a few colorful photos in every day. ;)

Green

Another one for green. We were at the orchard about a week ago (more on that soon), and then again today. It's amazing to see how much things have changed in that short time. The apples are about gone, the leaves are starting to dry out. What a transformation!

Orange. I am so, so proud of these pumpkins of ours.

And some other colors for autumn. Every year, I gift my children with a new handknit for Martinmas (November 11). This is the yarn for this year's set. I was concerned that the three colors wouldn't go well together, but they look beautiful, I think! I have Elisabeth's and James's almost completed but I still need to cast Fiona's on. Hopefully this week...

PS: You can find out more about the yarns and which yarn is for which child on the flickr page.

The colors of autumn

In celebration of my favorite time of year, I've joined Autumn Colour Week (I'm a day late, so I will have to catch up on the first two days today). I hope you'll join us, too!

Today is Michaelmas, an old and traditional festival that I've written about before.  There is much to celebrate -- and anticipate -- at this time of year. I've been loving seeing peeks of Emily's family's Rosh Hashanah celebrations. I think we could all use a little bit of that spirit of a new beginning here in autumn in our lives, no matter what our faith tradition. For me, not being Jewish, Michaelmas fits this bill. We are actually going to celebrate on Thursday because my husband is the dragon bread maker in our house, and we won't see him before then. (I know, such a long time. Sigh.)

Finally, we have been having some computer weirdness around these parts. It may just take my technical support team husband just taking the time to do some disk cleanup and so on when he's here, but I have been having a bit of trouble with my photos lately. So, hopefully it won't interfere too much with my presence here.

Autumn: at last!

Welcome, autumn! Words cannot express how much I love you.

This week it's cold, rainy (I've even seen a few snowflakes today -- but not enough to accumulate), and there is that crispness in the air. I'm so very happy to be coming into my favorite time of year.

More photos of the sundresses (oh, yes, there is more than one!) are on hold until a sunnier day!

But for now, I'm back to my tea, my comfort foods in the oven, and revelling in autumn.

Happy autumn to you all!

Seasons Round

Our family has had a nature table (or "seasonal table", as we call it) in our home -- in some form or other -- since Elisabeth was a baby. Although I've never quite accomplished the seasonal tableaux that some more ambitious people have, its presence, however great or small, has been so important to us. I like to inspire a feeling of reverence in our home, and to keep a physical reminder of the rhythm of the year: the seasons, the festivals we celebrate.

However, these days, I'd have to say that its presence has begun to inspire more of a feeling of "ugh" and less of a feeling of "ahh". It's dusty. I haven't been changing it out with much frequency. I'm bored with the same few objects in rotation all the time.

So, when Kyrie announced this week that she would be organizing a nature table exchange (the Seasons Round Exchange), I knew that the remedy for our sad little seasonal table was in sight! I am so excited to participate in the swap (sign-ups begin July 1 -- all the details here), and I hope that many of you will join in, as well!

You needn't already have a nature table in your home to participate -- this could be the beginning of a new tradition in your family! And you needn't have children in your home to join, either. Who couldn't use a little bit more inspiration, reverence, and reminders of the beauty of the natural world in their life? Edited to add: You don't even need your own blog to participate! Just an email address. The Seasons Round blog has a lot of wonderful links in its sidebar -- so much inspiration and information on nature tables. I think it's going to be my go-to resource for ideas.

I'm really excited about the new inspiration that participating in the exchange will no doubt bring to all the participants. I already have some ideas swirling in my head. I'm even feeling inspired to do a bit more for our seasonal table in the meantime. I hope you'll join me!

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PS: I think I have officially become the worst blogger in the neighborhood. I don't know why I feel compelled to even draw attention to that fact, or to apologize for it, but I guess it's just because I feel a little embarrassed about it. I literally have SEVEN posts begun, and saved as drafts, and I just haven't gotten them published. Anyway, thank you for continuing to visit and leave comments here. Also, I'm still at near:far every Tuesday and Friday, so you can check in there if you're missing me in this space!

Awakening to Spring

Here's a branch of snowy May, a branch the fairies gave me.

-English May song

Right now, I'm loving the opportunity to experience this springtime as though it were my first. Living in our house, with its yard and gardens, has opened my senses to spring in so many new ways.

So many things to be thankful for this lovely May:

::Gifts of posies from my children almost every day

::The slow warmth of the spring sun on my back and face

::Fragrant wafts from our neighbor's spicy-sweet linden tree

::The pleasure of having spent a morning working in the yard

What about you? What are you enjoying and feeling thankful for this mid-May?

As spring arrives...

...I'm loving:

Little signs of spring in our lawn.

Mama-made woolies on the babe. (Proper photoshoot still needed....)

Seedlings in our kitchen window.

Tulips. So close.

Snow-melt. Aaah.

Surprise gifts. Always.

A bit of springtime sewing.

Our little Cupcake.

Hoping that your springtime is promising as much beauty and joy as mine is!

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My firstborn has a big (seven-year-old) birthday tomorrow, and I've never missed a birthday post yet, so I hope to pop in later tomorrow. Two posts in two days?! Crazy, I know. ;)

Onesie printed by Emily.

Solstice

Winter

Blow, North Wind, blow,
All the leaves are falling;
Cold, frost and snow
Winter comes a-calling.

Mother Nature sleeps now,
All the earth is bare;
Deep in the ground
She guards her treasures rare.

~Margaret Morgan

We are Christian and we will celebrate Christmas in the traditional way next week, but I also like to mark, in just a small way, this shortest day and the time for quiet and reflection that this time of year so naturally brings.

May this day be one of peace for all of you; a time of quiet in the midst of the hustle and bustle of Christmas preparation.

Blessings, Grace