Homeschool Blog

Having tried unsucessfully to get Blogger.com to work for me, I suddenly realized that I can easily create journalling pages linked to my site without extra help. This is a very informal page with my personal notes as to how homeschooling is going for my family. Please feel free to email me with comments. Learn more about my preschool curriculum by visiting the links on my homepage.

Other Waldorf-inspired homeschool blogs you may want to check out include:

• Wonder Ranch Homeschool Diary - Lucie
• Tornadowood-Weaving Rainbow Homeschool - Jessica
• What Did You Do in School Today? - Rebecca
• Therapeutic Homeschooling - Karen
• Our Waldorf Homeschool Adventures - Ellen

February 2006

• Natalie is 3 years, 11 months
• Leah is 2 years, 3 months
• Rebecca is 1 year, 1 month

February 28 - you may see from the list below that I have 20 handwork projects planned for February (now almost over) and March. but, believe it or not, I have another one to add to the list. my mother-in-law's birthday is April 4th. I would like -- if it's possible -- to make her the zoo toy bag from Nursery Knits. She is moving into a condo and was telling me that she wants each child to visit her each weekend in rotation (when we'd see each other all as a family, I have no idea, but it's a nice thought) and this cute and roomy bag is perfect for a weekend at Grandma's! Then there would be a special bag for the kids to pack their stuff in and it would be even more of a treat. it's also striped so I can use up bits of other colors. I got grey and dark grey yesterday, having finally gone to Michael's and found that they also have a burgeoning collection of natural fiber yarns. In fact, they have a whole end-of-the-aisle display with 100% wool yarn for felting. knitting and then felting is all the rage now, so I guess the stores have clued in and now offer wool yarn. it has to be wool or you can't felt it. they're not exotic luxury yarns like A.C. Moore, just your basic wool yarn in a range of colors. cheaper though. I love that they have huge skeins of black and cream (which I'll need for the penguin -- it's supposed to use up my black yarn from Aunty but I'll need a yarn to match what I have if I run out -- I'll use the expensive stuff for the orange though so the feet and bill will be silky, some texture variety is nice). they also have teeny-tiny 100% cotton yarn, really shiny and pretty. would be good for doll clothes. I think the wool yarn would be good for stuffed animals; I don't want to use the expensive silk/wool/cashmere or hand-dyed alpaca yarns for a project which will require that much yarn and pretty much lives to get beat up. I'd like to make the donkey from Toymaking with Children (the grey and dark grey will be perfect for this). In fact, I was thinking in the Europe unit to make all the animals from "The Musicians of Bremen" so we can act it out. I was really eyeing all the yarns yesterday with stuffed animals in mind. the pink egyptian cotton from A.C. Moore would make cute little pigs! By the way, Day One of my new flylady endeavor yesterday was a flub so I'm trying it again today. I went out shopping and completely forgot about my kitchen sink. that's okay. today is another day, right Scarlett?

February 27 - ta da! here's the inspirational part of this blog you've been waiting for. I have decided to join flylady. I am SO excited about moving to this new house and SO committed to making it work. you would never believe the way I live. every house I've ever moved into has shortly become a disaster zone. I always imagine this tidy calm cozy place -- I always wanted a tiny house that was spotlessly clean. that was my romantic vision. but I never had chores growing up, never learned to clean a thing, never learned how to keep a houseplant alive, never learned to cook or to do laundry, any kind of common sense or follow through... I lived strictly in the academic realm. I really never learned any of the things that would -- in fact -- be necessary in the real world. one of the reasons I am so supportive of Waldorf! anyway, I move into a new house, think "this time I will be organized and keep it clean, it's not that hard, everything just needs to have a home." everything in its place. so for years I thought my messy house was just a storage-
space issue. then, with the fourth move last year, it occurred to me that maybe the problem was that I didn't know how to clean a house. voila! problem identified but still not solved.
I am moving to the new house April 1st. that gives me 33 days. the flylady's system is 31 days long. so here I am, on Day One. the whole thing is about getting your house organized so that it runs properly and you just follow the system. you get daily reminder emails to help you with maintenance cleaning (this is my problem -- I never can eat without washing the dish for my meal first and then I'm so disgusted that the dishes are only clean for about 30 seconds that I get frustrated, I don't want to wash it again... I JUST washed it, for Pete's sake)! I was reading in Creativity in Education: The Waldorf Approach by Rene M. Querido that in a kindergarten classroom everything is perfectly tidy and clean. there is not one speck of paper lying around. and I thought, oh, I am so far away from that!!! my kids aren't learning from me what I want them to learn, they'll be lazy procrastinating slobs like me... that's the danger of the imitative stage. there are so many ways you can mess it up! one of the other moms in Natalie's dance class was telling me how much flylady helped her -- and she wasn't in that oh-my-god-disaster-zone place, just felt she needed a little help, but it's designed to help people who are in way over their heads with a house which is a complete wreck. and I thought, I should do that. and I should do it before we move. that way I can understand how to unpack and set up the house so that it works. you can buy books and products and so on but the whole thing is online for free. that's her whole thing. she never intended to have a store and sell products -- I read her business development article on PayPal -- and when they suggested a store at first she couldn't think of anything to put in it. now there are lots of products. and people swear by her! you can even get weekly planner pages which are flylady-compatible from thehomeschoolmom.com. we all know about day one, clean your sink. I think I can do that. it's day two (and all the ones that come after it) that I'm worried about. I'll keep you posted!

February 26 - bought three new books last night. we've had problems with Natalie being whiny and bossy and kind-of a tattletale so I got her three new "philosophy" books that I hope will gently help her. The first is You and Me by Martine Kindermans; the second is Pezzettino by Leo Lionni (I absolutely love Leo Lionni and would buy any of his books without hesitation -- this one recently came back into print and is hailed as one of his lost treasures) and the third is Zen Shorts by Jon J. Muth. I love all his books and I had bought Zen Shorts as a gift for one of my nephews. I think it's high time we had a copy here too! The story about, "I put the woman down long ago, why are you still carrying her?" has really stayed with me and I think about it everytime I'm trying to get over something and let go. hopefully these books will really strike a chord with Natalie. I feel like she's being this way because she's insecure and unhappy so I look forward to getting her (and me) into a new space and starting some new patterns.

February 24 - I was able to order Good Night, Fairies today. my Amazon refund came through. so I'll definitely have that one in hand for moving day. we go to settlement on the old house Monday! I guess I've been sick or something all week, we haven't done any school at all. I had the wordless picture books out which went along with the topic but we didn't do any of the activities. I have lesson plans for March 1st, though, so I'll probably just wait until then to start school again instead of driving myself crazy trying to play catch-up. we might do the story hat. I really liked that idea. I have to finish Rebecca's sweater so I can start knitting the cat toys for Jay's birthday. that sweater is really easy to make, I guess it's so easy it's boring because I don't pick it up that often. of all the things I've knitted, I think the knit cat was the most fun. today we are taking the library books back and doing tea party. maybe the story hat. that's it. I wish this blog were more inspirational, like today I saved the world :-) but I guess everybody gets sick so what can you do. since Natalie is getting Good Night, Fairies as her Happy New House present, now I have to find gifts for the other two. Leah, definitely, is getting her own sewing block. they fight over the one constantly. I'll get her the cheese and mouse one from HearthSong so now they'll each have one. and then they can fight over who gets to play with the new one! aargh. they love to string their Ryan's Room beads on their sewing block strings instead of the strings that are included with the bead set. go figure. I don't know about Rebecca. she's 13 months. what toy brings joy to the heart of a 13 month old child? actually, I've always wanted to make a cuddle doll, the kind that looks like a starfish. The Gnome Craft Book has a really cute pattern -- the only reason why I kept the book, in fact -- I wasn't really thrilled with it when I ordered it -- for a baby gnome on page 45. It's important for me to know what books and craft supplies shouldn't get packed right away. that's why I've been working so hard on my lesson plans for March. as soon as I have my small do-not-pack pile I can get the rest of it in boxes. It's SOOOOOO hard for me to pack away my books, I keep coming up with excuses. I might need that! for something... what if someone asks a question... or I put it in a newsletter topic... or I want to do a project... I cannot wait to move and then be done with all this packing and moving! this last year has been tough. I just want a home!!! so, here's the short list of what I'm keeping out:

• The Nature Corner
• The Gnome Craft Book
• The Waldorf Kindergarten Snack Book
• Snow Drop and Ulba Bulba
• books for "Sing with Me" and "Cook with Me"
• A Child's Seasonal Treasury
• Hanky-Panky
• Treasury of Children's Poetry ed. by Alison Sage
• Martha Stewart Living magazine, February 2005
• Everyday Food magazine, March 2006
• Taste of Home Annual Recipes 2006 (Sand Dollar Cookies for N party)
• Nursery Knits
• New Knits on the Block
• Baby Knits for Beginners
• craft supplies for ONLY the following:
  • cross-stitched bedtime verse
  • hooded bath towels
  • boatneck sweater for Rebecca
  • The Spring Fairy
  • snowdrop flower child
  • planting millet seeds in new garden
  • marbelized pencil set
  • knitted cat toys
  • felted mouse
  • baby gnome
  • crocheted doll pillow
  • wrapping paper, watercolor paints
  • stationery for gift tags & thank you notes
  • birthday candle making supplies
  • mermaid costume
  • ribbon-embroidered coat hangers for Jenn
  • felt rug for playroom
  • country market felted bag
  • rolled beeswax candle kit (thank you gift for dance teacher)
  • playful penguin

everything else can go in a box!! I guess there's no "only" about that list, actually, it's kind of a lot. but, still, a short list nonetheless. I'm almost done writing "Cook with Me", I have to get three of the books out from the library and add their recipe ingredients to the materials lists. then all my writing will be done! I sound happy now but, trust me, I'll be having withdrawal way before my return at Easter. I have no doubt that the first thing I will do after I unpack is write the Texture unit. I can't help it, I'm completely addicted to lesson planning. I can walk away from the piles of dirty dishes in my kitchen, sit down at my computer, and I'm whisked away to an ideal world where you have time, money, order and routine, and children who never get sick. :-) Hearthsong sent me a coupon for an order over some amount, I forget, and I threw it away. but I guess if I'm buying the sewing block I should also get the Tea Party Set since now we'll have both a back yard and a front porch. and a deck. and hopefully there will be many tea parties on the lawn under the huge oak tree. it's a service for four so that's perfect: Natalie, Leah, Rebecca and Mama!

February 23 - still not feeling good, bleagh.

February 22 - well, yesterday I finally completed our little root-child! I'll have a picture up soon on my learning to crochet page. today is storytime; the topic is Pets. I wish they would read some good books for once... but I know that's too much to expect. I can't wait to move and gracefully withdraw my child from the program. Circle Dogs by Kevin Henkes would be perfect for that age group (and it's one of our favorite books about dachshunds). but I bet they've never heard of it. you should have seen their booklist for the Farms topic. aargh. the library didn't have some of the wordless picture books I wanted for this week's topic, Read with Me, but we did find some of the Carl series by Alexandra Day. I think Natalie will really enjoy those. also, today I am giving her the new accessories for her flower fairies, the mushroom table and stool set. hopefully that will inspire some wonderful new imaginative play. I can't wait for her birthday, to give her the play silks and the doll. Steve and I had a huge fight last night over the play silks. he said he was willing to pay for her birthday presents and how much would they cost. so I showed him the two things I had picked out and he says, what's so special about silk. are you just being a snob or does it have to be silk and, if so, why. it was just terrible. I'm trying to tell him that little children need beauty in their lives and he's telling me that having expensive things will make her look down on other people because their toys aren't good enough. finally I explained to him that there is a different quality to her play when she's using silk instead of the cotton and he said, oh, why didn't you just say so. makes me want to pull my hair out. but that's a break on the homeschool budget, usually I absorb the costs of everything. and she'll be so excited! I picked the 11 inch square set from Fairy Cove instead of the 36 inch square silks you usually find because Natalie really loves to unfold and lay out her cloths and then fold them back up and put them in her basket. the 3 foot silks she can't fold by herself so she doesn't enjoy them as much. these will be perfect! and they come in their own gold velvet storage pouch which I know she will love. I can't remember what we're supposed to cook today, I'll have to go look. anyway, I need to go walk the dog and get this day on.

February 21 - almost the end of school for this month. I've had some budget problems lately and have decided to basically take March off from school because we will be packing -- can't really do any handwork projects when all our supplies are packed away -- I'll concentrate that month on parent education. so, that's my Waldorf in the Home workshops, the class for Natalie and Betty, Natalie's birthday presents (which Steve will help pay part of but I still am the one who has to remember to place the order), and my looong Waldorf book wishlist. then in April, when we're in the new house, I'll concentrate the money on setting up the school room and the outside play area for the girls. Usually I'm never sure what balance to do with my homeschool money, how much of it should be for me and how much of it should be for them. I need Waldorf resources and training; they need music, activities, play things and craft supplies. so we'll try this alternating month approach. maybe it will really work out and we'll continue it! it's better for me to say, ok, March is about me, and then I don't feel guilty placing large book orders. and I would love to take a month and just shop for them. especially April, cause it's Easter. I've always put together these huge orders at Magic Cabin, Bella Luna, Nova Natural and thought, I can just buy this on Friday when I get my homeschool money -- and then it's already spent. usually because I got more Waldorf books off the waldorfcurriculum-supplies list. I will now know that either I can or CANNOT buy more books in any given month. Structure really works for me!!! Hypothetically, as a long term plan that would be:

January - for parent
February - for child
March - for parent
April - for child
May - for parent
June - for child
July - for parent
August - for child
September - for parent - this works, beginning of the new school year
October - for child
November - for parent
December - for child - this works too, Christmas!

that actually looks like a pretty good plan. at $60 per week, that's basically $1,500 per year for parent training, workshops & books, $1,500 per year for kids, setting up the play space inside and outside with great toys, school activities and other fun stuff. Steve also took a big load off my mind when he said that he would pay for the food co-op at Clagett Farm and just deduct from my grocery money each week as a payment plan. I feel a lot better now. I just had too many expenses for March!

• Waldorf books from Fiona
• sign Natalie up for pottery class with Betty ($85.00)

March 3rd:

• parenting workshops on DVD and CD from Waldorf in the Home
• set of mini silks from Fairy Cove for N Birthday -- S
• Nautilus Puzzle and Sweet Cherry Lyre from A Toy Garden for N birthday

March 10th:

• Amazon order:
  Sing Through the Day book & CD
  The Paper Princess
  The Sanctuary Garden
  Fairy Houses

March 17th:

• wool sweaters (from the thrift store) for felting
• crochet bag pattern from Marlo Cairns

March 24th:

• Bob & Nancy's order
  The Wise Enchanter
  Come Unto These Yellow Sands
  Giving Love, Bringing Joy book & CD set
  Wynstones Kindergarten series -
  Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter, Gateways

March 31st:

• fabric for eurythmy tunics
• eurythmy shoes

Now, of course, I'll be listing all the things I'd love to buy for my kids if I had an entire month's of homeschool money just for toys and fun stuff. so many lists... I'd like to do a page on the new website about the Nature table, include some of the pictures from A Child's Dream Come True, also the adorable mushroom doll set from KinderDolls. I might be gettting one of those sets myself :-) Christina sent me a lovely nature table card with strawberry little people on it, looks like an Elsa Beskow picture but I'm not sure. Nature tables are the best! I love ours. so does Natalie. and it's something you can do with the youngest child and continue up until they are teenagers. I read somewhere this woman finally thought her daughter was too old for it and stopped doing it and her daughter, who was like 16, complained that she missed it. it's just warming to feel a connection with the natural rhythms of the earth, I think. I can't wait to join our food co-op. we can get fresh seasonal produce. and Natalie can actually see where it comes from, watch it grow, and help harvest. all without me having to actually have a vegetable garden. I can't think of anything better! (you may not know this but I am completely incapable of keeping any kind of plant alive). I'm hoping to change my relationship with the earth this summer with our new sanctuary garden, to become more nurturing.

February 20 - okay, guys. don't get all excited or anything but I think I might be pregnant. I have been thinking I was late, but I wasn't sure, and I just sat down and looked through my January blog to see if anything came to mind and I'm pretty sure that I know the last time I had my period. and it was January 14th. so that makes me late. I don't have any one here with me right now, I'm all by myself. Steve took the kids out for the day (he got the day off for President's Day) and so I could spend some time working on my last unit for Robin, and I have no car keys and no access to a car anyway. I don't know what to do. If I am, should we not buy this house? it's really not that big, only two bedrooms for the kids to share. we did say we would have room to put an addition on in the future but would we be able to afford it right now? can we still get out of the house? the basement has high levels of radon, I don't know if that means anything. I am completely flipping out. and I'll feel so stupid if I'm not and I went and posted it here but oh, well. It's a journal, right? I have been really really tired lately, asking to go to bed at 8 pm when usually I'm up until midnight. I've been hungry and thirsty, much more than usual. and, not to mention, really really happy and calm. this is lunacy. I shouldn't even be speculating without a pregnancy test. I guess I'll be going out to the grocery store tonight! my husband doesn't read this blog so I'm ok there. but I would have to seriously cut back on my work. I have a tendency to miscarry so I would need to take some time off and just relax. (oh and move, not that relaxing... but what can you do?) ok. ok. ok. I'm going to go make dinner. there's nothing I can do right now, sitting here at the computer, but get myself all worked up some more. I first thought this might be happening a few days ago when I had a dream that I became this incredible jewelry designer (I HATE jewelry). and I woke up and told my husband and I said, "Sometimes dreams about new beginnings are your body's way of telling you something." I haven't been that in tune with my dreams before but a lot of things are changing with me since I started Waldorf. and ever since that dream, I've been wondering... who knows? maybe I'll come back in a few hours and write "false alarm".

February 19 - guess what came in the mail yesterday? well, a lot of things came in the mail and I bet you won't be able to guess any of them. first, the new Taste of Home Cookbook came and -- believe it or not -- has a recipe for Sand Dollar Cookies, just the thing I was looking for for Natalie's birthday party, right there staring up at me from page 193! I was so happy and surprised. how lucky is that? second, I got a HUGE box of donated books from one of the members of my Group including some I wanted and some I didn't know I wanted until I saw them and now am so excited and happy to have. I can't wait to get started writing curriculum! third, I got something for Natalie, the little mushroom table and stools set, perfect for our flower fairies, arrived from Tonya. they even have sparkly fairy dust on them, they are so cute!! AND the homeschool money was enough to pay to sign me up for the workshop with Suzanne Down, mail the boxes, pay my library fine, and buy some Waldorf books from a posting on the waldorfcurriculum-supplies list. AND I forgot to say that the doll for Natalie's birthday arrived from Christine. AND there were some more books that I wanted off the waldorfcurriculum-supplies list but I didn't have the money to send her right away and she said she would go ahead and mail them to me and I could pay her when I can. isn't the world a wonderful place!!!!

February 17 - Spring is here! the snowdrops are up. no other bulbs here yet but my mom said she saw a patch of crocus. Natalie was so excited when we found the snowdrops, she couldn't wait to get back in the house and take King Winter off the Nature table and she packed him away gently saying, bye bye King Winter, it's Spring time now. and we got our daffodil fairy back out because that's the only spring thing we have. I never tried Nature table dolls before, we always just had silks with postcards or prints and items we found outside. the dolls definitely take it to a new level but boy do they take a lot of time to make! today is Handwork day and we are making the root children so that will be fun. N really loves her Nature table, she is constantly finding things she wants to put on it when we are outside. I think it really speaks to children.

February 16 - what a terrific breakfast! we made Banana-Pineapple Smoothies and had flax seed waffles with fig jam. the snow is almost melted, there are just a few patches, so I'm going to take N for a nature walk this afternoon and show her the melting snow and there's a patch of bulbs coming up at the neighbor's house which I think are daffodils. one will be ready to pop out soon, maybe tomorrow morning. so tomorrow when she gets up I will have taken King Winter down, put our Daffodil Fairy up and put some white wool around, as snow, and I can crochet some little root children to set under the snow and be bulbs. it's actually perfect timing because that was the planned activity for tomorrow anyway with "The Daffodil" from Let's Dance and Sing. I love perfect timing! makes my little curriculum-writing heart go pitter-pat. making the smoothies and our nature walk will be the only thing we do for school today, though, because my mom is coming to babysit and I'm taking Rebecca to the doctor. tomorrow I get my homeschool money, I can pay for Natalie and Betty's art class, send a money order to Donna for some books I just bought through the waldorfcurriculum-supplies list, mail packages to Tonya, Emily, and Alicia, and pay my library fine (they say we lost the tape from the Zin! Zin! Zin! A Violin kit so now we have to pay for it but, as a bonus, we get the remaining materials from the kit which means we get a copy of the book. so that's ok with me.) tonight's another meeting of Jack Petrash's class so I'll try to make it. I'm going to call the Washington Waldorf School today and get some new directions. MapQuest and I didn't see eye to eye on this subject the last time.

February 15 - the pinata was a HUGE hit (no pun intended). I think all the kids, even the ones who were shy at first, took a turn hitting it and it lasted until the end when one of the librarians took her turn and then it broke. it was funny, though, one of the moms took her kid and backed her up against a wall saying "that's a sharp stick, we don't touch sharp sticks." I guess it takes all sorts; I do believe everyone had a turn by the end but it makes me a little bit upset that there was at least one person who didn't think it was appropriate. personally, I don't think it's appropriate to stuff a bunch of little kids full of sugar... oh well. I would rather have brought that than candy. anyway, the librarians and a lot of the parents thanked me over and over for making it. I had a mom come up to me afterward and say, are you a teacher? and I'm like, oh does it show? she talked to me for a while about homeschooling her first grader and how tough it is. that's such a hard year and it's amazing how many people choose to start their homeschooling experience with that grade. what a challenge! anyway, the next big thing in my life is Natalie's 4th birthday party. I'm pretty set on party favors but I want one activity or game and, of course, a special dessert. Natalie already has requested a carrot cake for her birthday dinner but I want something to go with the theme for her party day, the 12th. Child magazine publishes a birthday party theme each month; August 2003 was a Sand Castle Party which I think I will take some ideas from. Family Fun, another excellent source for party ideas, also has a Ice Cream Castle Cake which looks awesome. and any recipe I can make in advance works for me. I always love non-traditional birthday desserts. Becca's was a platter of mini cream puffs with one candle in the center cream puff. Steve had a beach party for his 30th birthday and I took a plate of 30 marshmallows down to the bonfire with candles in them. I wasn't able to light them all before they began to fall over and singe one another but it was a great presentation nonetheless. and then everyone had marshmallows ready for roasting (and s'mores stuff too).

• Working With the Temperaments - $12.50
• Helping Our Children Get Into Their Bodies - $12.50
• Watercolor Painting - $27.00
• Loving Authority: Building Up, Not Tearing Down - $16.50
• How to Get Your Child to Do What You Want Without Talking Yourself to Death
  $12.50 (but if it works, priceless!)
• The Art of Therapeutic Storytelling - $12.50
• The Artistry of Discipline - $12.50
• Parenting and Teaching From the Heart - $16.50
• Times of Genius: Raising Children Who Remember Spirit - $12.50

Total: $135.00

So this is my stay-at-home version of the Waldorf in the Home conference in Sacramento which I'll be missing. I'm very inspired to spend this time working on my parenting skills and I think this is good timing for it; if we decide to start some new habits and routines, moving into a new house will be the perfect opportunity. And it's Spring! Really a time of positive change and new beginnings.

February 14 - Happy Valentine's Day! our Valentine's Day fairy arrived last night, just in time. she's lovely. the perfect centerpiece for our table. and when I was reading Natalie her nap story I made an amazing discovery. The book, The Boy Who Could Make Things, is actually a Valentine's Day story! I thought it was a craft book. but it's this amazing story, certain to be out of print now, about a boy who makes a paper doll family and a dollhouse for them and the dolls come alive and no matter what he does, he can't make them behave. they don't follow the rules, they are always destroying things around the house and he is spanking them and spanking them and finally he gets so tired of punishing them and he just sits and tells them how much he loves them and he draws red hearts on all of them. and then he goes to bed, sad, but he wakes up in the middle of the night wondering about them and he goes to check on them and... well, you'll have to read the book to find out what happens next! it was simply perfect for nap today and I am thinking this one is a MUST BUY because I have a feeling Natalie will want to hear it over and over. it's very reassuring to hear that even though the dolls got in trouble all the time, they were still loved. it really is a sweet book. but, as I say, because of the spanking, I'm sure it's out of print. we are making presents for everyone in our class today and filling the pinata. the painted tissue paper didn't really work out so we ended up with some red and purple, both used as packing material in boxes that were sent to us, so they were free, for the final layer. we also have to make our special Valentine's Day dessert for our party tonight. Steve is bringing flowers. I can't wait. Natalie was so excited this morning, she busted out of her room shouting Happy Valentine's Day, Mommy! this really is a holiday for children. all they want in the world is to know that they are loved and to share love. what child doesn't enjoy making & giving presents to people? it really is a wonderful holiday. we delivered the valentines we made this morning to the two grandmas, so I hope they enjoy them. I also included the knit heart sachet I made for Betty (my mother in law). I'm off now to stuff 40 small felt hearts with wool and blanket-stitch them shut with contrasting embroidery floss. yikes. I may be in over my head here (again? what a surprise). even if I do one every 12 minutes, we are looking at 8 hours of work. when I cut them out last night I almost thought I should just keep them single cut outs, it would still be a shower of color and the children will still like them... I may yet do that. especially because I saw how much Natalie loved them yesterday and was sorting them into piles by color (a little tricky since some of the blues are nearly the same -- so it's educational too, perish the thought). and she nearly started crying this morning when she asked about them and I told her we weren't keeping them, we were going to give them away. perhaps I'll put 40 in the pinata and give her the other 40 in a basket tonight at the party as a present. oh, Mom is such a pushover... I always thought I'd be more stern. but, you know, when you see something that touches a chord in your child, you realize that they really love something, you want to give it to them even if you don't understand it. I guess that's the meaning of love.

February 13 - dance class this morning was cancelled because the instructor was sick. so we went to the library and returned our books and checked out new ones

• Punctuation Takes a Vacation by Robin Pulver
• Amanda & April by Bonnie Pryor
• Apple Cider Making Days by Ann Purmell
• Bearskin by Howard Pyle
• Runaway Mittens by Jean Rogers
• The Lonely Scarecrow by Tim Preston
• The Boy Who Could Make Things by Edna Mitchell Preston
• Bashi, Elephant Baby by Theresa Radcliffe
• Mrs. Potter's Pig by Phyllis Root
• The Perfect Pinata by Kelli Kyle Dominguez

Can you tell what section of the library I was standing in when I chose these? Hooray, a Pinata! by Elisa Kleven was checked out so we went with The Perfect Pinata instead, same story line. a girl has a pinata which is so beautiful she doesn't want it to be broken. I'm afraid this may happen tomorrow with Natalie at the Valentine's Day party. of course, I prefer Elisa Kleven's illustrations. I may have to start buying some of her books, especially The Paper Princess. I was also looking for Stranger in the Woods but they didn't have it. when we were driving the woods were so snowy and mysterious, so beautiful. I immediately thought of that book and its wonderful pictures. another one for the wish list!
yesterday for school Natalie and I put King Winter back on the Nature table and we added some small birds made of beeswax and set out millet for them to eat. We walked outside and fed millet to the real birds (and they got to play in the snow with their Papa). We also put the layer of plain paper on the pinata; today we'll be painting tissue paper red as the final finishing touch. Natalie also made her valentines for family and friends today; I just put N down for her nap so now I'll get Leah up so she can have a turn making valentines. I think it's better to stagger them this way. easier for me and then they are not fighting over supplies. tomorrow at dinner we'll have a little party and exchange them -- Steve is bringing home flowers and the kids and I are making a special dessert. also for tomorrow we have to make valentines for everyone in storytime. I have a head count of 40 (the librarian said to make at least 35 so I think 40 is a good number). I got 5 pieces of cardstock so I'll divide each into 8 pieces and we have stickers and glitter and so on from our kit. also, I am going to make 40 small felt hearts stuffed with wool, in all different colors -- I think I'll have to start on those this evening. we can't afford candy and I don't really like the idea of taking candy to something like that anyway. I'm sure there will be more than enough candy and cupcakes and so on there. the nice thing about felt hearts is that they are appropriate for all ages, safe even for the babies to chew on, since it's a mixed-age Family Storytime. I had to cut out doing the knitted heart and the hooded bath towel projects. I'm out of time! that's ok, the simpler the better for things like this. I can always make the hooded towels at another time and just keep them plain white. they'll probably wash better that way anyway. so tonight, instead of rushing around trying to do a hundred things, I'll just work on felt hearts. because we are making valentines for everyone we don't have enough cardstock to also do the Valentine decorations from All Year Round which is OK since we will have our Valentine Fairy from Robin. I always always plan too much, have to drop nearly all the projects at the last minute, settle on doing just one or two things, and then think to myself, "This is better anyway." I do it every time!!! Simplest is best.

I have so many to-do lists and I keep losing them, so I'll just put the plan here:
Today

• L make valentines
• paint tissue paper red, add to pinata
• RNM begin felt hearts, make special Valentine's Day necklaces for N/L
• at bedtime, RNM set out necklaces, Valentine's Day cookies and fairy on breakfast table

• deliver valentines to Grandma and Gram
• make valentines for classmates (40), finish felt hearts, stuff pinata
• make Valentine Wigglers for dessert
• party in the evening, exchange valentines, have special dessert, Steve is bringing flowers

• storytime at library 10 AM, take pinata

Steve just told me that we go to settlement on the old house February 27th. I owned that house, so I have to go. Steve is buying the new house so I can skip the one March 1st.
I can't believe it's really happening!!!!!

February 12 - Happy Snow Day! the snow finally came... it just rained and rained all day yesterday and last night (washed away all the salt they had put down as a preliminary precaution, I'm sure) so I'm thinking, yeah right. they often call for snow here and it doesn't come. in fact Natalie got up three times during the night and came to tell me that it wasn't snowing yet. when she finally went to sleep and stopped getting up it snowed, so she thinks it happened just for her as a reward for being good :-) this saves me too from a Nature table predicament. I had my daffodil fairy out and our pot of daffodils which then died shortly thereafter. and I'm thinking, now what do I do? but now I can put King Winter out again (they always go back and forth in the early Spring) and then later this week when I make our root-children I can place them under the white silk, peeping out. they are there under the snow resting waiting for their time. so actually it fits perfectly with what we're doing in school next week which is bulbs and it's a great segue. hooray! I think I'll also make a small bird or two out of modelling beeswax and put some millet in front of them, we're going to put some out today for the birds too. I wish I knew how to get the pictures off my camera and into my computer; I can post pictures to the website as soon as I figure that out. I really love doing a Nature table and I think it would be nice to have several pages on the site with pictures of different seasons, open it up to the Group too so everyone can share. then someone who is new to Waldorf has some photos to go by. it can be so hard when you're starting out and you are reading all these things but you don't have any examples in front of you to see how it's put into practice. when we have our new schoolroom painted and set up I'd love to post pictures of that, too.

February 11 - they're calling for some snow today, 6 to 8 inches. which is too bad because the vinca had just started to bloom. now it will be covered up with snow. we dashed to the craft store this morning to make sure we had plenty of supplies to wait out the storm. I decided not to do the baskets on the door, since the fairies Alicia made are really just for N, Leah is too little, they would have a hard time when they found out they couldn't share them. Leah would be so disappointed. so instead I will give the fairies to Natalie on Wednesday and show her how to play with them gently. Safeway had some heart-shaped cookies that were really pretty so I got one for each girl. I can wrap their new bath towels in tissue paper and set them at their places on the table with a cookie on top. that would be really nice to wake up to :-) and less work for me. not doing the lollipops is a real time saver too. I'm not sure about the knit heart, I got the yarn for it and it's a cute little design. maybe I will still make it anyway. we went to A.C. Moore and got yarn for the root children (color 300 -- for the crochet pattern from The Nature Corner), the heart sachet (color 501), and the mermaid costume (color 502). also red cardstock for the valentine decorations. because we may lose power I had to get mostly all convenience food at the store, so that throws off our list of things we were going to cook this week. but I still have ingredients for enough from-scratch things that we can do something every day. when the children wake up from their naps, we will do the rest of the valentines for family members and begin our pinata. Grammy gave me a large bag of newspaper yesterday so we are all prepared in case the paper I had planned doesn't work out.

March 3rd:

• puppetry workshop at Washington Waldorf School ($50)
• nautilus puzzle for N birthday

setting up the outdoor play space at the new house, paint for the new house

signing up for the CSA at Clagett Farm

signing up for the summer program at Acorn Hill?

materials for the Texture unit

next 2 book in the Tiptoes Lightly series: The Festival of Stones and Big-Stamp Two-Toes the Barefoot Giant, Tiptoes Lightly fairy & Pine Cone and Pepper Pot gnomes (make or buy from A Toy Garden), make a Jeremy Mouse (pattern in Feltcraft)

other books on my wishlist: The Wise Enchanter ($14.00)

February 10 - last night was my first meeting (the 3rd meeting of the group overall) of the Prince George's County Waldorf Study Group. it was interesting, the first time I've actually met any Waldorf mamas! there was a huge variety in the group, from people just starting out, learning about the philosophy, to people who've been involved with Waldorf for years, and homeschoolers. it was great. I was looking at New Knits on the Block to see what other projects were in there that I might want to make (the unicorn dress-up is a favorite!) and I saw that the very first one is a firefighter's hat... perfect for my two little nephews for Christmas... so I guess it's time to start the Christmas brainstorming! and it's not even March yet! :-) I have to remember to get a money order for $28.00 for some Waldorf books I'm buying... also this week I have to get our supplies for Valentine's Day projects... and the yarn for the mermaid costume. I think I'll also spring for a set of mini play silks for Natalie's birthday. I can't really buy them later in the month, especially if I place a large order for Waldorf workshops on CD and DVD from Waldorf in the Home, so I may as well order them now. Fairy Cove has a delightful set of a dozen mini play silks (11 inches square) for a good price. I think Natalie will want to use them for blankies for her dolls, and placemats for her tea parties, and so on. who knows what she will come up with. Mimi from my group last night said that she wrapped all the children's Christmas presents in silks and it was just lovely. I think that's a wonderful idea. I also need to buy supplies to crochet a few root children for our Nature table; they sell root children doll kits but why bother, when you can get the directions and patterns from The Nature Corner?

• 1 - Grammy - from N
• 2 - Papa - from L
• 3 - my mom - from N
• 4 - my mom - from L
• 5 - Steve's mom - from N
• 6 - Steve's mom - from L
• 7 - Steve - from N
• 8 - Steve - from L
• 9 - Rebecca - from N
• 10 - Rebecca - from L
• 11 - Leah - from N
• 12 - Natalie - from L
• 13 - Joe - from N
• 14 - Tommy - from N
• 15 - mama - from N
• 16 - mama - from L

February 9 - I didn't like Quilts from The Quiltmaker's Gift ($17.79)so I sent it back to Amazon today; I can use the credit to purchase Good Night, Fairies ($11.53). there will be enough left even after they subtract the cost of the shipping (they pay for your return label, but deduct the shipping costs from your merchandise credit). the picture of the little child's bedroom is simply inspirational, and I'm going to use it as my guide to decorating the children's bedroom at the new house. actually, I was showing the picture to Steve when I had a great idea -- one of the wonderful things in the room is that the ceiling is dark blue with stars painted on it. I would love for our kids to have a skylight in their room... and there are two skylights in the master bedroom in the new house, none in the two child-sized bedrooms. of the two child-sized bedrooms one is larger and one is smaller. the smaller is set up as a craft room and when we went to the house, Steve said to me that he wished we could keep it as a craft room so I could have one -- trying to run this business off of a table in the laundry room doesn't give me anywhere near enough space... so, anyway, I suggested to him that we take the master bedroom first, fix it up the way we want it to be, and then move all 3 kids into there. we could then have a two room adult suite, a bedroom and a craft room. I don't know if he'll go for it. I always move furniture and people around in our houses, we try every possible combination. I get bored easily. anyway, the painting of this bedroom in the Good Night, Fairies book is straight out of Waldorf. the walls are a beautiful peachy-pink lazure effect, there is a large mural of fairies at play completely covering one wall, and mermaids painted on the doors of the wardrobe. there is a fairy painted on the bedstead, and a nook high up in the wall with an angel statue in it. the border around the top of the room is the silouette of fairies playing under the flowers. the light fixture is a beautiful star, like this. the whole effect is just lovely. I will use it as my "inspiration room", like that television show. I forget what it's called. we'll see if I can recreate it on a small budget :-) having a concrete picture helps a lot.

February 8 - finished my daffodil flower fairy! See my knitting page for a picture.

February 7 - today we'll be making a quick bread, Mini Cherry-Pecan Streusel Loaves, watercolor painting (this always seems to get dropped the morning of dance classs), and visiting the farmer's market to watch the lady spinning outside the yarn store. I want to complete the flower fairy today, if I can. I also need to make a list of the people we will be making valentines for and make sure I have enough card stock and other supplies. also, I think we have to begin our pinata in advance of next week in order to give it enough time to dry. I need to look this up. I have a set of the small doorknob baskets that Hearthsong sells and I was thinking of making Valentine's Day baskets for the kids to find in the morning; I am thinking maybe heart-shaped lollipops and some little toy. then they can find their new bath towels set out at their places at breakfast. Marthat Stewart has a recipe for Valentine Heart Pops; there are lots of suggestions in each February issue of MS Living and I have a lot of them: 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006. of course, I don't want to make myself crazy; for example, All Year Round has directions for making masses of small cookies and hanging them from a large branch with little ribbons, making a Valentine's Day tree. that one is a little over my head. but I do want it to be special... ah, the struggle of finding a balance between making the holidays special and keeping yourself sane. gotta love it! the naptime story for today is Going for a Walk by Beatrice Schenk de Regniers. she's one of those authors whose books I am happy to buy sight unseen, as everything she does is excellent. I saw this one at the book sale and grabbed it. unfortunately, a lot of her stuff is out of print. the collection of children's poetry she edited, Sing a Song of Popcorn, is simply stupendous. I don't think that will ever go out of print. I am thinking of making it a book for the Texture unit, since each category is illustrated by a different (all Caldecott medal winning) illustrator, in vastly different styles. The whole thing comes together beautifully, though, and the selection of poetry is top-notch. it's in the library but I think I'll put it in my wishlist as well.

Bless this candle
Bless this candle in my hand
Bless the flame as here I stand
Bless the faces round this light
Bless all people on this night!


Honey Bee
Honey bee, honey bee
You make honey oh so sweet
Fragrant beeswax in my hand,
Full of goodness from the land.


Wish for the fields
Night is dark, and cold and long
Winter's hold is still so strong,
But beneath the earthen crust
Underneath the frozen dust
Life is growing, moving, thriving
Roots are drinking, resting, striving,
Buds are swelling on the trees
In the hives, still sleep the bees
But moving humming strumming sing
Soon we will welcome spring!

The Little Brown Bulb
A little brown bulb
lay asleep in the ground,
In his little brown nightie
he made not a sound.

King Winter he roared
and he raged overhead,
But the little brown bulb
never stirred in his bed.

But when spring came
tip-toeing over the leigh, (or sea)
With fingers to lips
as soft as can be,

The little brown bulb
just lifted his head,
Slipped off his nightie
and jumped out of bed.

Click to join waldorfcurriculum

1- finish flower fairy
2 - boatneck sweater for Becca
3 - heart sachet for Becca (deadline: February 14)
4 - mermaid costume for Natalie (deadline: March 20)
5 - knit penguin (a good way to use the black yarn I got from Aunty, it's 100% wool so I don't want to just throw it out but I had a hard time thinking what I could do with black yarn...)
6 - something for me?

February 6 - dance class today. we're also baking another bread recipe, still testing to find the best one. today I have to write the next newsletter topic, this first week of school passed so quickly! time to start thinking Valentine's Day (hooded bath towels, valentines for family & friends, and our Valentine's Day party pinata). the flower fairy I'm knitting is working up very quickly, then I'll do Rebecca's sweater and, by that time, my new knitting book will have arrived and it will be time to start on the mermaid costume.

February 5 - I had been looking for candle verses or stories to read when we lit our Candlemas candles for the first time -- N was so proud of them, it seemed like maybe we could do a little ceremony -- but the time has passed. I did, however, find a wonderful poem in A Journey Through Time in Verse and Rhyme. It is called The Four Elements and each stanza deals with one. The final is Fire and I think it's just lovely:

We, the bright red fiery flames
Crackle and roar, that nothing tames.
Sparks like shooting stars they fly
Helpers we are of sun on high.
With golden sword the cold we slay
And bring you warmth to cheer your stay.
We, the bright red fiery flames
Crackle and roar, that nothing tames.

I was reading it over again, trying to decide if I should share it with the Group next Candlemas when I realized that it's really a much better fit for lighting a fire in a fireplace. We will have a fireplace in the schoolroom in our new house and Natalie had asked me if we could light a fire and roast marshmallows on our first night there. Which I think is an excellent suggestion! Part of our Happy New House celebration. So I think this verse will be a perfect fit for that occasion.

February 4 - the guilty pleasure of knitting. oh, yes, learning to knit is a homeschool expense... of course, I didn't need two new knitting books right away nor did I need to buy yarn... but there you have it. I did. I fell in love with Baby Knits for Beginners by Debbie Bliss and Nursery Knits by Zoe Mellor. I plan to make my first sweater, the boat-neck sweater from Baby Knits for Beginners for Rebecca who refuses to gain weight and is still wearing 6-12 month clothes (she actually lost over a pound from her last bout of sickness too). not only does it mean her hand-me-downs are ragged and torn, but she is certain to have an amazing growth spurt if I spend hours laboring over the perfect sweater to fit her tiny frame :-) Seriously, though, Debbie Bliss walks you through everything and puts the projects in order of difficulty, designing each one to focus on the specific new skill which is being learned but not to look like a boring beginning knitter's project. the sweaters are adorable! I went to A.C. Moore which, surprisingly, has a small but nice natural fibers selection in their yarn area and chose a beautiful chunky luxury yarn from Peru (70% merino wool, 20% alpaca, 10% silk). They also had drop-dead gorgeous shimmery Egyption cotton (King Tut) and hand dyed pure wool yarn (Maganelles). anyway, I got a beautiful blue color for Becca's sweater. for school today I made the Chocolate Chip Banana Bread, a nice quick bread, with Leah. it was fun cooking with her one-on-one, usually upstaged by her older sister. then Natalie and I bummed around the bookstore and yarn stores enjoying ourselves. tomorrow we will make 90 Minute Bread, a recipe I am testing before I recommend it to my sister in law, who requested a kid friendly made-from-scratch bread recipe with a quick rise time, and I will start on our Flower Fairy for the Nature table, having had a very successful and enjoyable knitting lesson. all in all, a very good day. I do see, however, in putting a link to Nursery Knits here that it got a very bad review from someone who says the directions are way off, so I will have to be careful. many of the patterns are absolutely adorable, however, including a playful penguin, party flags, an angel dress, and kitten and puppy sweaters which are just precious. my next acquisition will be Alterknits by Leigh Radford which includes VERY unusual projects and exercises for encouraging imagination, confidence, and creativity in knitting. I don't just want to be a knitter, I want to be a great knitter!

February 3 - tonight I'm going out grocery shopping, so I need to make sure I set aside enough money for the craft supplies I'll have to buy between now and next Friday; that is, new towels (not technically a craft supply but the old ones will be) and a heart shaped balloon to build our pinata around. that's not too bad. all the rest of the pinata materials I have on hand. I have actually been saving all that butcher paper that comes in my packages as packing material for a big project like this. we'll see if you can substitute that for the newspaper. does it have to be newspaper? we don't get one. or do they just say that because it takes a lot and newspaper is cheap. we'll find out! :-) today was a good mix of playtime and school activities -- we actually went outside to play, all three of us, which is rare because Rebecca doesn't usually enjoy being outside. now that she can stand, she likes it better. and we made our candles for Candlemas. and (to my surprise) it was a lot of fun! I got the "els" part of angels done in my cross-stitch, those were the letters at the center of the design, so I've made progress there, too. I have to say, things are looking up. tomorrow morning is my knitting lesson. I'm looking forward to that. the only downer today was that Grammy called to cancel our weekly tea party. she said she was having trouble walking. so I'm worried about her. I hope we get to visit next week. today, if the kids don't sleep to late for their afternoon naps, we'll make Chocolate Chip Banana Bread (actually, peanut butter chip since that's what I have on hand); otherwise, we'll make it tomorrow. it's fine, actually better, if the bananas are a little overripe. tomorrow afternoon is our field trip. that'll be fun. and Steve is going to see the new house; it's getting inspected tomorrow. so all in all, a big day!

February 2 - last night going thrifting for wool sweaters got bumped for financial reasons so I chose to buy a basket for the play silks (I don't want them to catch on any rough edges on the basket so I got one that was lined with cotton), molds for our floating candles from All Year Round -- I was looking for small cookie cutters but actually ended up with fondant cut outs in a range of beautiful little flower shapes (in the cake decorating section at Walmart -- cheap, too, it was like $1.96 for a set of three, and they will be so sweet floating on the Nature table for Spring) and cross-stitch supplies for our bedtime verse. I got a 20 x 24 inch piece of 14 count antique white Aida (I calculated the width of the longest line of the verse and it will be about 18 inches wide so this is a pretty big project) and chose my color palette:

• 451 - DK Shell Gray
• 452 - MD Shell Gray
• 814 - DK Garnet
• 815 - MD Garnet
• 924 - V DK Gray Green
• 926 - MD Gray Green
• 927 - LT Gray Green
• 928 - V LT Gray Green
• 930 - DK Antique Blue
• 3726 - DK Antique Mauve
• 3727 - LT Antique Mauve
• 3731 - V DK Dusty Rose
• 3733 - Dusty Rose
• 3740 - DK Antique Violet
• 3743 - V LT Antique Violet
• 3768 - DK Gray Green
• 3770 - V LT Tawny
• 3772 - V DK Desert Sand
• 3773 - MD Desert Sand
• 3774 - V LT Desert Sand

I only got one skein of each color floss, since I was just choosing the palette, but I'm sure that I will need more of each color considering the size of the project. but floss is very inexpensive -- cross-stitch is about the cheapest craft you can do. it's all in the time. knitting costs a lot more, if you go with the highest quality hand-dyed yarn and so on. knitting books cost more too. cross-stitch is usually done as handwork in 4th grade -- just get a subscription to a cross-stich magazine (I like Just CrossStitch the best; Better Homes & Gardens publishes good patterns too, in their Christmas Cross-Stitch magazines). it's wonderful for a child to see a whole built up of little tiny parts. each X gets you somewhere. it all counts. by the way, if you're doing a cross-stich project, please be aware the color names vary. DMC has the following small print at the bottom of their color charts:

* Please note that DMC refers to its colors by number only. Any color names given to our colors are done so by the individual designer of a publication or chart. The color names on this list have been assigned to DMC's Six Strand Embroidery Floss and Pearl Cotton colors by consensus. This list may aid you in choosing the correct DMC colors. However, the names assigned to these colors on your chart may differ from this listing so it would be best for you to make the final decision.

I may be in way over my head, here, since I've never actually designed a cross-stitch project from scratch. but we'll see how it goes! :-)

February 1 - today was storytime, theme was "Colors". we took in one of Natalie's watercolor paintings to show. it was somewhat self-serving, I wanted to see if any of the other moms came up to me and said, oh are you doing Waldorf? no one did. but I did find someone one time who recognized what I was doing when I told her that we baked bread from scratch once a week for school and she said, "Waldorf?" so sometimes you find people. It's hard, though, since you can't really wear a sign on your head that says, "if you're into having your children play with natural toys, learning handwork, and you have a good source for wool, let's talk!". it would be funny if you could :-) who know what you would discover. today we're coloring with beeswax crayons. tonight I am going to go to the thrift store and see what I can find for pure wool textiles -- the flower fairy kit I got from Weir dolls has wool blend felt and I don't want to be obnoxious or anything but I'd rather it was pure wool. so maybe we'll make some felt tomorrow! I also need a basket for storing our new play silks. I got N a new book from the library today which I read to her at naptime and she LOVED it. I'm wondering if it should be a Valentine's Day gift... or maybe moving into the new house. it would be fun if Steve and I went over in advance and set up their bedrooms, just not the rest of the house, and put gifts for each of them on their beds. is "Happy New House" a holiday? the book is Good Night, Fairies. I had seen it on Amazon but wasn't sure about it, some of the reviews were kindof vague. but I love it, especially because it introduces so many other fantasy creatures. there are beautiful mermaids, and a stunning unicorn (an animal which is new to her). when we started with Waldorf, I was so excited to share the entire world of fantasy lore with Natalie but you can't do it all at once! you have to slowly bring up one thing at a time, gnomes, dwarves, elves, fairies, mermaids, dragons, griffins, and so on... there are a lot once you really start to think about it. so this book is just wonderful, the illustrations are superb. the only quarrel some people might have with it is that it credits the fairies with everything including painting the insects (which the Root Children also do) and putting out the stars at night and so on. but overall I think it's delightful and Natalie was so entranced she didn't even look up when I left the room to say good-bye, she was absorbed completely in the illustrations.

January 31 - it's actually still January but I'm making notes for homeschool for the month of February. I have four Fridays in this month (the day when I get my homeschool money) and my plan is this (as always, writing it down so I don't forget. first I made stickies on the kitchen calendar but I'm afraid they will fall off, so here goes)

February 3rd: DONE

• Amazon order
  Quilts from The Quiltmaker's Gift
  New Knits on the Block
  Apple Cake
  The Story of Money
• Bob & Nancy's order - from their Early Childhood section
  Let's Dance and Sing ($11.00)
  Hanky-Panky ($5.50)
  Plays for Puppets and Marionettes ($9.95)
  The Waldorf Kindergarten Snack Book ($12.95)
• cross-stich supplies for bedtime verse

February 10th: DONE

• yarn for mermaid costume; yarn for knitted heart sachet; yarn for crochet root-children from The Nature Corner
• Waldorf books from Vanessa ($28.00)
• craft supplies for Valentine's Day:
  hooded bath towels for 3 girls
  Valentine decorations from All Year Round
  felt hearts from All Year Round
  special Valentine's Day recipe -- Valentine Wigglers from Cooking Art

This doesn't include the money I need to spend on activities for the week's lessons, like buying paraffin or something. which reminds me, since I'm getting organized, I'll put down some ideas for Natalie's birthday party. the party favors can be tin pails (white ones, inexpensive from Ikea), with a box of beeswax crayons (8 block) and some beautiful seashells including a shell candle (easy for us to make). we can do crayon rubbings of cool things we find on the beach, sprinkle some sand on the invitations, maybe do a cake shaped like a sand dollar? N can wear her mermaid costume. Fun!

birthday presents for N - for March 10th (birthday):
Waldorf doll - donated by Christina
crocheted doll hammock - donated by Sharon
set of play silks - need to purchase
surprise gift - flying bean bag with streamer - donated by Harmony
surprise gift - donated by Kelly

birthday presents for N - for March 12th (birthday party):
Nautilus puzzle - need to purchase