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Takk til Tonje for dennne lille utfordringen.

Det ser ut som om jeg må fortelle noen små sannheter om meg selv:

Hmmmm...

1. Jeg er i gang med en sakte kostholds omlegging i familien, men klarer neppe å si fra meg en hjemmelaget Cortado om dagen. Eller to...

2. Vi har ikke TV, men må si at vi ser det siste av det siste av Desperate Housewives, og Lost sesong 6 har nettop begynnt....Ulovlig nedlasting biter ikke så hardt...

3. Jeg er hektet på å lese internasjonale nyheter, blogger og ymse fra Midt-Østen daglig. En god motpol til livet hjemme med de små.

4. Jeg er i gang med 4 bøker samtidig på nattbordet.

5. Selv om jeg får lov å sove ut på en morgen, våkner jeg uforskammelig tidlig.

6. Har aldri tid til den der fantastiske yoga'en. Heldigvis starter Pilates i bygda på mandag!

7. Skulle ønske det fantes slike ull-nattdrakter fra Nøstebarn, MED fot, til voksne.

Kjenner ikke så mange andre bloggere, får se hvem jeg utfordrer videre.

Package from Beneath the Rowan Tree

It took me a while to reorder the playsilks after the fire. I did not want to go for these Sarah Silks which I didn't really like, so I found a wonderful woman on Etsy.com, Beneath the Rowan Tree, who hand-dyed them and sent them to me in Norway. Absolutely wonderful quality and colors! I am so happy, and so are all the kids, they have been in use ALL the time. Really the best toy ever.

My unwrapped magic.

Basket of silks

In addition I ordered 7 little dwarves, one for each day of the week. Have to switch them out every evening, but Jasmin is already finding a little joy in finding them in the mornings, aknowledging their color, the color of the candle and todays dinner on the menu planner.

Thursday hiding in the trees

A beautiful little gnome for today

Chores in The Waldorf Spirit

Helping and encouraging the children to help out is not just simply to make our lives and days a little easier. It is also for their own good. To bring rhythm, the single most important aspect of home life, is exactly what cleaning up and chores are, the utter consequence of things.

But it is not always easy, and it takes a lot of work, or stamina to see it through. Even when one would simply like to sit and enjoy that one cup of tea after dinner, trying to talk to each other, you know that being able to hold the space, and see it through the evening ritual is absolutely necessary.

A couple of weeks ago I had left the blocks out on the floor in the evening. We usually clean pretty well before we go to bed, but we have been working on the insurence papers practically every evening, and opted to get some sleep over picture perfect. The first thing Jasmin says as we stumble down the stairs at 6am, to make tea and make a fire, is : Oj, what a mess! I was heartbroken and so proud at the same time. Well, at least she has expectations, and has learnt how nice it is to be met by a clean inviting space t the beginning of a day.

Helping in the kitchen is our forte. We are incorperating the "island" in the kitchen in the new house, simply because we love having the kids help. And they are quite capable if you just let them ahave go at it. ( With a healthy dose of fear for the big knife...) They can see forst hand what goes into the compost, the necessary ingredients for baking, the process of whipping cream and making my coffee. They roll and cut and stir and especially love watching the popcorn pot, waiting for the first corns to pop. (A great opportunity to do tongue twisters by the way. Pop, pot, stop, a lot...)

A quick look in our "helping out" rhythm for a four year old on a regular day:

Putting away nighties in the morning.

Clearing breakfast dishes.

Sweeping.

Wiping table.

Washing pots in the sink. Water play in reality.

Putting wool clothes back in shelves when we come in. Hang up suits.

Put away playthings.

Set table.

Sort silverware from the dishwasher.

Light candle for King Winter on the Nature Table.

The list could go on...

This was an uplifting exercise, seeing how much she actually tries to do.

Happy days with the children to you.

One small change February Challenge

We have shifted to Optima Products in the house cleaning no problem. Along with the EcoVer dish soap and Sonett wool wash around the house, we are in good shape.

The one small change for this month must be food planning and grocery shopping cut down to a bare minimum. This will indeed benefit the environment, our economy and the time and resources we spend on shopping. Planning ahead is a lot less time consuming than anticipated, I cannot see WHY we have been so slow on getting started. Have written for the coming two weeks, and bought in more or less all components. Have to do vegetables and salads a little as we go, since they do not last very long.

The Star Money.

I have been telling the story of The Star Money quite often these past weeks. I like the idea of repeating the same story, using original language, singing songs, enacting, and talking about the same story everyday. And I have firm belief that such stories will speak to the small child for every repetition. I am not a musical person, nor am I fluent on any sort of instrument, but I did try to go through this wonderful Star Money Circle found in the Live-Educations Kindergarten curriculum, consisting of 4 different verses, and speech.

by ruth elsaessar

Candlemas and snow, snow, snow

For all you in Norway, I looked up Candlemas to be "Kyndelsmesse", originally the same festival of shining lights, when Marie brought Jesus to be purified to the temple 40 days after his birth. Now, at least in the Waldorf tradition, it is a day of cleansing, spring cleaning, rolling/ dipping /lighting many candles, making apple pancakes for breakfast, (the circle a symbol of the sun.)

And most important for Jasmin today:

If Candlemas Day be clear and bright,

Winter will take another flight.

If Candlemas Day be cloud and rain,

Winter is gone and will not come again.

Blue sky and crispy. Perfect.

The sun arose over the mountin at 9.30 in all its splendour and continued to shine and melt the day until the very end. Winter is here to stay. We have dug our paths and hills and caves in the yard, we are out several times a day for hours, in to to eat and rest and out again before nightfall.

Preparing the apples for pancakes.

Watercolor painting after lunch.

Snack at 2pm was "Apemad"- a Danish Monkey Dish with cut fruit,

whipped raw cream and vanilla and shredded cocoanut. Beautiful.