monster mouth

After that third one lost its place she woke up, looked in the mirror and came running gleefully into the bathroom where I was slowly coming to life as I splashed water on my face.
"I look like a MONSTER!!" she joyfully exclaimed.
She couldn't be happier.

The one remaining front tooth seems to have crept over to the middle (perhaps searching out its recently departed twin).  Today it's just hanging by a thread.  Not for long methinks...

Not for long.

number three

Ever seen a kid look so crazy happy with a bloody mouth?  This shot was taken about a minute after that tooth was yanked free with the help of a little corn on the cob last night.  She couldn't wait for school today to tell her classmates and teacher.  It's like there's some kind of competition going on in her kindergarten class.  I have more than once walked in and seen them with their fingers in a friends mouth trying to help them along.  One child tells me, "ALL my teeth are wiggly!"  (In reality I think none of them are and he can't bear the thought of that.)  This one of Naiya's has been loose since the beginning of the school year.  It only took 9 months to finally find its way to freedom.  Oh, the ecstasy!

in the garden

In the Spring and Summer we spend a lot of time with Naiya in the back yard.  A lot of our afternoons are spent playing with the fairies, in the sandbox, barbecuing, enjoying meals or gardening as a family.  Naiya has her own little corners of the yard though that she has planted and maintains all by herself.

This area around her play house is filled with flowers and veggies she chose on her own.  It's a mish mash display and with all the eating of the fennel leaves and picking of the most beautiful blossoms, I'm not sure how this area will fare through the season.  (Which is, of course, totally alright, since her pleasure was its purpose from the outset.)

A pot on our table that Naiya calls her "special garden" has been dormant for months.  She told me she had planted seeds there and when they started to poke out of the soil I wasn't sure that weeds hadn't simply found a foothold in her little patch of wonder.  When they grew taller, they looked a little less weedy (but were still mysterious) and just this morning these poppies opened up.

Sometimes daddy brings plants home from work for her, because they're a little weird or especially fancy.

Inside the house we often find flies in the windowsills.  Other crawly critters meet their demise out of doors for any number of reasons and our daughter often discovers these bodies in both locales. We have tried to instill a reverence for all life (even the most pesky) in Naiya so when she asked what to do with these bodies I told her returning them to the earth might be nice.  She's had this area for years but only recently asked me to write out some markers for the tiny beings resting there.

may faire

I've written a few times (here, here and here) about the May Faire at Naiya's Waldorf school.  It's my favorite of the seasonal celebrations held there and was a special treat this time around because of the amazingly warm weather that seemed to bring record numbers of community members out to join in the festivities.

The Queen and her court shared Spring's bounty of flowers with the children before their procession to the May Pole.

As always, the day was filled with music, dance, delicious food and wholesome activities for the whole family.

I didn't photograph most of them but this year the classes hosted a number of fun booths including paper boat making and races down the creek, the fashioning of fairie rings, garland braiding, a paper butterfly craft, a cake walk, a "Better Gnomes and Gardens" ring toss, fishing for stones with feet in the wading pool, bean bag tossing and pole fishing for all manner of undersea prizes. 

By day's end we were worn out and, with what seems a precursor to some illness, Naiya's voice was nowhere to be found.  She was tuckered and fell asleep early and easily. 

Yet another Spring welcomed in good company on a glorious day.

may day hair garland

Each year for May Day and for the May Faire at Naiya's school we have been putting together hair garlands to lend a bit of natural decor to our festival garb and liven up our merry making.  I've even posted a garland tutorial.  (Click here if you're interested in checking it out.)

Often, however, these coronets stay in place for a picture or two and then end up on our gathering blanket to wilt in the afternoon sun.  They're lovely and Naiya and I both enjoy putting them together but, she complains, they can be a bit cumbersome and, especially for active children, not really that practical.

That's why this year we decided to try something new.  What you see in the photo above looks like a  garland but is, in fact, just a series of hair clips holding little bunches of flowers onto her hair in a circle round her head!

To make it, I pulled a little hair back from the front of Naiya's head, made a braid on each side and bound the the two plaits in the back.  I then gathered very small flowers into two-ended bunches and clipped them onto the braid in the middle.  She has five clusters round her crown with the largest in the back covering the band where the braids meet.

She loved her "garland" this time around and it stayed in place until her night-time bath.  No wires.  No floral tape.  No complaining.  And put together in about 4 minutes.  I don't know that we'll ever make a proper garland again!

screen-free week: gardening

Planting a garden is yet another wonderful way to encourage children and families to unplug during screen-free week.  Working out doors with living things in an herb or veggie garden allows children to see how some of their food grows and feel a connection between the earth and themselves.  (It can also cut down on grocery bills!)  A flower garden or butterfly garden likewise create connections between our families and the earth as we experience budding, growth, blossoming and decay through the seasons.

In my garden there is a seed,

I am the one who put it there.

Who will help it now to grow?

Earth and sun and rain and air.

In my garden there is a flower,

From a seed it came to birth.

Who then helped it to grow so tall?

Air and rain and sun and earth.

screen-free week: play dough

Painting, drawing, sculpting and crafts of all kinds are great ways to give children

a creative but focused outlet for their imaginations.  

Many parents find that meal preparation times are an especially difficult hour to keep kids occupied and free of screens. When having children help with cooking is not an option, dough modeling can be a fun way to engage a child’s hands, heart and mind while parents are busy.

Every child loves to shape malleable materials and children can parallel adult kitchen activities by pretending to bake and cook or they can use whatever inspires them to sculpt shapes, figures and even tell stories through the medium of dough.

 I can make it 

You will see 

I roll and squeeze 

Then one, two, three 

From my hands 

Something will grow 

What it will be 

I don’t yet know...
a castle... 

an elephant...
a spider... 

a vase... 

a flower...
a snake... 

a cave... 

a tree...
what will it be? 

what will it be?

 “Children love to practice rolling out with a rolling pin and cutting shapes with cookie cutters. I have a collection of small animal- shaped cookie cutters, and after they have rolled and cut a few, I then encourage the children to play with them at the table. They can roll a little more play dough to make fences, or a barn, or nests. This encourages them to use their hand- dexterity in service of their imaginative skills. Great training for life!”
                                                        - from Heaven on Earth by Sharifa Oppenheimer

To make your own play dough, try this easy recipe:

 Play Dough

1 cup flour
1 cup water
1/3 cup salt
2 Tblsp. cream of tartar
1 Tblsp. vegetable oil
food coloring

In a medium sized pot mix flour, salt and cream of tartar.  Add water and oil. Stir over medium heat for 3 to 5 minutes.

Once the dough forms a ball, remove from heat and allow it to cool. Once cool, knead the dough on a floured surface. 
That's it!  You've got play dough!  If you'd like to add some color...

 

Separate into various balls (depending on how much of each color you would like).  Indent each ball and drop food coloring into indentation.  (For the colors seen here I used 10 drops.)

Knead until the color is distributed evenly throughout the dough.  Once the coloring is mixed into the dough it will, oddly, not stain hands or surfaces.  (During the initial kneading, however, watch those clothes, countertops and hands!)

Store in an airtight container or sealed plastic bag.

“Artistic expression is an essential element of a balanced “diet” of experience for our young children. In artistic work, we accomplish two essential tasks of childhood: the training of the hand and the training of the heart. Together these lay a firm foundation for the training of the mind.”
                                       - from Heaven on Earth by Sharifa Oppenheimer