~reassuring myself~

During my blogging hiatus,
we've taken a dip in the waters of Second Grade.
I worry a lot, *a lot* about our decisions to use the Waldorf approach,
especially since I consider myself somewhat of an academic.
But to be fair, I'd worry about anything.

In comparison to her schooled peers, my second grader is not spouting off times tables or reading Harry Potter.
But, as my friend put it, she knows the song of the nuthatch.
Still, I fret and peruse the websites for different workbook-type curricula for language and grammar, especially after my husband expressed his concerns that she might not be learning all she should.

But her end-of-year testing showed her to be right where she should be.
Upon reviewing her test, before sending it off for official grading,
my husband was dumbfounded.
"Did she really do this by herself?" he asked incredulously.
He stared at the little booklet, flipping between the sections and pointing.
"With no help from you?"
And then -
"Really? No help at all?"

"Well," he said after a long pause, "I have to say that I had no idea that she was capable of this. Obviously, what you've been doing is working."

If he's convinced, I guess I should give myself a little breathing room before I break out the flash cards and perhaps a little credit as well.

(Trying this blogging thing from my phone! I just found the idea of [putting pictures on my camera, choosing and lite-editing if necessary, then waiting for them to upload and then crafting text] to be daunting from a time perspective and consequently was not doing it. Perhaps this will be a solution?)

~ outside ~

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Our family life has been so busy recently! 

Lots of travelling, lots of fun, lots of late nights for Daddy at the office.

I swear that I plan to play catch-up here, 

because I have some super-cute pictures of the girls hunting eggs,

and playing in the creek,

and...

and...

and....

But for the meantime, I'll share a couple pictures from today.

We're deep into our Four Math Processes block,

and I am feeling quite good about it. 

We've named our homeschool (a requirement here in NC) the R. Thorpe Jones Outdoor School. 

After my paternal grandfather. 

I know he would be proud of the girls.

And the 'outdoor' part reflects how essential I feel being outside is to education.

Today was the first day in 3 weeks that we've had our lesson inside - it was chilly this morning!

All the challenges we had in the first few months melt away when we're outside.

I'm planning to share details from our math block,

including pictures of our gnomes and the verses and story I wrote.

Someday.....when we manage to get inside.

~carrie~

~ first tooth ~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yesterday, August 19th, Lela lost her first tooth!  

She was exactly 1 week shy of her 6 1/2 birthday.

Here she is at 7 months old, 

the moment when I first saw her tooth was poking through her gum.

I remember that sweet little tooth peaking out at me,

snapping this picture,

and am experiencing a little heartache knowing she has outgrown it.

~ first tooth! excuse daddy's leg and foot! ~

She first noticed her tooth was wiggly on June 2nd, 

her Aunt Rebecca's birthday.

(Lela's middle name is Rebecca.)

~ june 2nd - tooth begins to wiggle ~

 ~ june 2nd ~

 ~ smiling self portraits ~  

 ~ thought this was a really funny one ~

A week ago, with her tooth getting quite wiggly,

and Lela getting more brave about moving it around,

we decided to take a few more pictures.

Over the preceding few days, her tooth became quite limber in her mouth.

It would flop about of its own accord,

and she was both taking care to chew around it,

and experimenting on biting into harder items with it.

I really have bittersweet feelings over this,

more so than any other experience of motherhood so far.

First haircut.

Walking independently.

Tying her own shoes.

Weaning.

 ~ is it really gone? ~

I was completely shocked when yesterday, 

jumping between the beds,

she landed on her belly with enough force to propel her tooth out of her month,

and it landed squarely in her hand!  

She leaped up from the bed, 

in surprise, shock and excitement saying,

"My tooth came out!"

And sure enough, there it was,

tiny, white and perfect,

in her small palm

as her lips and tongue worked over her teeth and newly exposed socket. 

She ran to the bathroom to look, giddy,

poking her tongue through the hole, 

tasting the little bit of blood in her mouth,

now and then looking up at us in wonderment and delight.

And pride.

 ~ rite of passage ~

When she started to get nervous a few weeks ago,

I told her about how much fun it would be to suck on a straw through the gap.

So after her initial investigation, 

she rushed downstairs, climbed on the counter and dug through the cabinets for a straw.

I was waiting for her with a little cup of water,

and we went outside 

(for better light for pictures, and because the weather was nice).

Somewhat ironically,

we decided to go out for ice cream after supper,

to celebrate the milestone of losing the first tooth.

That night, she snuggled up in her own bed, 

tired and only a little excited for a visit from the tooth faery.

She didn't really know what it entailed,

but was still floating in the clouds with the excitement of that new gap in her mouth.

I made her a tiny pillow stuffed with wool and lavender,

using linen remnants from Spring Equinox baskets,

embroidered with her name in blue, one of her favorite colors,

with crystals and purple bursts representing her color from babyhood.

On the reverse was a small wool pocket,

made of the same felt as the first birthday crown she had,

and embellished with a tiny pearlized bead for her first tooth.

She tucked her tiny little tooth into the pocket and fastened the button.

Then she nestled it under her pillow,

and was soon fast asleep

(possibly from the soporific ice cream treat).

The next morning, she awoke slowly, 

and she snuggled me in her bed gently and affectionately,

really enjoying the connection.

It was quite a while before she remembered

"The Tooth Faery!" 

and burrowed her hand under the pillow to pull out her little pocket.

Secured under the flap was a necklace, and inside the tiny pocket was a beautiful rose quartz crystal.

She didn't say much, just scrambled to put on the necklace, and admire it in the mirror.

Delicate purple faceted crystals are surrounded by tiny glass and sterling beads,

with a sterling butterfly pendant.

As I mentioned before, purple was the color we chose for her as a baby,

and the butterfly is her symbol.  

The Tooth Faery was very generous and clearly knew much about my little girl!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I have had a difficult time understanding the connection that Waldorf philosophy places

between loss of primary teeth and readiness for academic learning in first grade.

I just didn't grasp that a purely physiological event (tooth loss) 

could have any relationship to the emotional and mental place

a child must be before she or he can move into the 'academic' world.

(Please see this lovely post on the Magic Onions about this very topic!  

But the more I read and learn about yoga,

the more I understand that the body, the mind, the heart and the spirit 

are connected.....and strive to be connected.

Over the past couple weeks, 

I've watched Lela soften, relax into the world a little,

and connect more to me than she has in the last couple years.

I have been worrying about her a lot, as I have discussed with friends at length,

and afraid that I had somehow 'ruined' her by giving her 2 siblings at the same time, 

when she was just a baby herself.

That in my difficult few years with depression, anxiety and panic attacks,

that I didn't make the connection and bond with her that I should have.

In my mind, guilt is the worst emotion we can experience.

If you let it, it can have the power to undermine the very situation you are worried over.

As I let go of that guilt, 

sometimes it goes easily, 

sometimes it goes kicking and screaming,

I'm watching her blossom in subtle ways,

watching her become an active participant in our family,

and not just a bystander joining in.

Perhaps, after all, the tooth is an outward sign of an inward process.  

I'm blessed and grateful to be guardian of this fine person,

and witness her move into the world and find her own way.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thanks for taking the time to read this!

If anyone has any words of wisdom to share on tooth loss,

the 7-year change, growing as a mother, 

or anything else to share, 

please know that I welcome it.

~carrie~

~ handmade playstands ~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Playstands create a simple, open-ended space

for children to play at just about anything.

They can be a restaurant, a cave, beds for dollies, puppet theater, 

anything the child can dream.

They are frequently seen in Waldorf homes and kindergarten.

Because they are beautiful and encourage imaginative play,

we have been wanting some for our home for a while.

In the end, we decided to build them ourselves.

So this weekend, my lovely and ever-so-talented sweetie

built the girls a set of gorgeous playstands.

It was a family affair for sure.

The girls had a great time on a big project with Daddy.

Although the pictures only really show him working, 

there were plenty of opportunities for the girls to help.

I put the camera down to facilitate sanding, gluing and everything in between.

I couldn't be more pleased with how these turned out!

I'm excited about all the adventures and imaginative play

that will transpire in this sweet little space.

I'm always so grateful for not only a handy husband,

but a willing partner.

What do you think?

~carrie~

dollmaking workshop

(This post contains pictures of Waldorf doll in various states of construction.)

Saturday, I had the amazing opportunity to participate in a friend's dollmaking workshop with other members of our co-op!

~ receiving instrution on forming the head ~

~ needle felting the head ~

~ having fun ~

~ making a head cover ~

~ head with stockinette ~




~ my doll ~

As I anticipated, getting the eyes, those soul-windows, just right was the hardest part! I was pleased overall with everything, but I believe I prefer more rounded eyes and a bit closer together, like the one below.

~ Tanya's doll in progress ~

~ women enjoying each other's company ~

I will be finishing up my doll in a couple weeks! What a beautiful day, in a beautiful home, with other beautiful women of all ages.

Peace,

Carrie