Snow Magic

 

Look into the garden

Where the grass was green,

Covered by the snowflakes,

Not a blade is seen.

Look outside the window,

All looks still and white;

Under snowy blankets,

What a pretty sight!

~ J.D. Macey

We're buzzing with excitement in our little hobbit home today! According to our local weather reports we're to expect quite a bit of snow throughout the day and overnight into tomorrow. We haven't had a good bit of snow in quite some time. The last real snow  we can remember (the kind of snow that slows and bring everyday life to a halt, the kind of snow that brings a rumble or two of thunder, the kind of snow that requires constant shoveling to keep walkways clear) was back in 2007. We had back to back snow storms, one of Valentine's Day and one of St. Patrick's Day. We've had a few good storms here since, but truly, nothing like those. We're anticipating good sledding, lots of baking so the oven can help keep our home extra warm, snuggling in to a movie or two, working on some Valentine treats, and really, just hunkering down and being together.

 

 

The littles woke up with so much energy (maybe they're feeling the energy from these two storm that have converged around us). They could barely contain their joy and excitement. After a little stroll around Pinterest I found this really fun idea for homemade snow at The Imagination Tree.

 

Using ingredients that I had on hand, cornstarch and vegetable oil (and glitter), I brought out a plastic storage tub, had Charlotte and Kiki pour the cornstarch into the bin, I poured the oil over the top of the cornstarch, and as they littles mixed and sifted the cornstarch I sprinkled glitter all over their little hands.

This simple sensory activity provided lots of fun (and mess, so be prepared!!) According to the post at The Imagination Tree children exploring with this sensory activity are learning::

Sensory: exploring through sensory investigation, learning new descriptive language
Literacy: story telling, vocabulary development
Science/ Knowledge & Understanding of the World:

combining materials, recipes, geography and habitats
Creativity: imaginative play, forming sculptures
Maths: counting out measurements

They made snowmen, piles of snow, sprinkled snow all over each other and all around them :) We didn't have any moulds of any kind, that might have made the play a bit more exciting but it was still magical and they thought it was a ton of fun to have some snow in the house.

 

Snowflakes falling soft and light,

Snowflakes falling in the night,

Soft and light, pure and white.

When the sun shines out so bright

All the earth is dressed in white.

Celebrate Today

 

This day is very meaningful to my family. Each year we try to be of service somehow,to our community either by reaching out or by simply being present. This year we did both! We spent the morning preparing an alter asking passersby to look within themselves and commit to acting out a random kindness to a stranger or loved one. Then, we spent the afternoon bearing cards and laughter to our neighbors and friends at Camphill Ghent.

 

 

 

 

This is what our letter said::

In honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. and his life’s work AND in

memory of all the lives lost if only to remind us that…

 “If we have no peace it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other”

spend today, January 21, 2013,

Committing Random Acts of Kindness.

~ Choose a slip of paper from the bowl and if possible, commit that act of love today! Consider for a moment, that if the paper you choose seems odd or uncomfortable to you, might you go ahead and explore this act of kindness that is out of your comfort zone anyway? It might just be the push you need to commit to being a constant presence of peace within your family and community! I challenge you tomove beyond the worry of “what people might think” and fully understand that…

 “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”

~ Make sure to leave a little note for the receiver of your Act of Kindness (if it is an anonymous act) encouraging them to begin their own journey of spreading peace and kindness in their own lives by Committing Random Acts of Kindness.



 

 Our finished poster.

 

The other part of our day consisted of spending some time over at Camphill Ghent. We just love spending time there with the many wonderful souls who grace the buildings there. It is so peaceful, calming, joyful, relaxing......it's such an honor to be there. The littles (and Bella) made some cards to sneak into the personal mailboxes of some of the residents there saying things like "You are amazing." "I am really glad to know you." "You are beautiful."

 

 

 

Life is so full of busyness. It feels so amazing to be together as a family honoring the lives of others. We had many smiles, hugs, and joy. What better way to spend an afternoon?!

 

I hope you, dear friends, found and/or felt the spirit of love that was intended for this day. xo

Snow Fairies

The snow fell softly in the night,

All the world was glistening white.

The angels from the stars looked down

On Mother Earth's new shining gown.

The moonbeams danced down silently,

And kissed each sparkling branch and tree.

 

 

It's the January thaw here. All the glorious white and puffy snow we had over the holidays has begun to melt off. It's warm! It's funny how after a spell of 20*F and below 35* and higher feels like a heat wave! The down coat my husband gave me for Christmas hangs from it's hook in our entry way and hasn't moved in more than a week! The littles are amazed that they can go outside with a wool sweater and cap and feel warm!!! "It's winter, right?!" they say! What amazes me is how different winters are from when I was a child. It was cold, that I remember. And there was snow, and lots of it! My Dad has an old 1930's John Deere tractor that he would attach a plow to to move all the snow around.  One of my favorite memories, and the first inkling I knew we had a good snow over night, was being woken to the sound of the tractor in the wee pre-dawn hours as my Dad plowed us out! *sigh* Snow has become more of a novelty and less of a nuisance, I think. We've gotten so little over the past few years that when it finally comes, it's worthy of celebration. It feels like somehow things are as they should be, ya know?

 

That aside, the littles and I were wondering how we might invite some more snow to visit us. I told them a story of how when folks wish for rain they do a special rain dance. They looked at me with bright eyes and wondered if maybe doing a snow dance would work.

 

As they were dancing on the sofa :) I got out the usual suspects and fashioned together a quick Snow Fairy. Using just a wooden bead, half of a pipe cleaner, and a scrap of wool felt this is what I came up with. 

 

 

 

I added some wool roving between the folds of her dress and gave her some long white, braided hair. In her hands, I stitched a long piece of thread and attached little puffs of white wool to create the illusion that she was sprinkling snow. I attached her to the grapevine wreath that hangs above our nature table. I wish I could get better pictures of her dancing above it all, but.....I just couldn't seem to find the right angle. You can see in the first picture that I also added some wool felt stars. I wanted it to feel as though she were flying through the night sky dusting everything below in puffs of glistening, white snow. The girls came out and were super surprised to see this new addition to our little table. They were singing and dancing and making little Seraphina giggle (which was why I was afforded this extra bit of time! Her laughter makes the littles so happy that they will do anything to keep her laughing and smiley!!)

 

 

So, I guess we'll see if our efforts worked. A snow dance invitation and our little snow fairy......fingers crossed :)

March Madness

You may be wondering about the title, but.......within this post lies pictures of our experience in baking madness! Thursday was our baking day and March 1st. It was also our first snow day from school (for the whole year!!!!) AND we had more than a dusting of snow on the ground! It was pure madness! Kids coming and going tracking wet, dripping snow all over, dogs running about also coming and going with their wet, drippy snow, warm fires, sledding, shoveling, attempting snowmen, all the glories of having an actual snow day! For me, it was wonderful watching everyone smiling and pitching in to shovel each others driveways and playing outside. We live in an intentional Quaker community and all the kids had a snow day from school (we have 11 kids on the land and each are schooled differently) so they were all home, shovels in hand, decked out to be in the snow........ahhhh. Life is good!
To celebrate all the good things about yesterday I tried my hand at homemade doughnuts! They aren't the most nutritious baked treat, in fact, there might not be anything good about them except of course how they taste and feel and smell and......well, you get the idea! The recipe I followed I probably won't follow again. While it produced a really tasty doughnut (as long as it was eaten almost immediately after being cooked) the taste and warmth slipped away as they cooled and they became a little lackluster. I'll have to work on the recipe before I'm comfortable giving it out but I will share a few pictures of our journey in the madness! Ironically enough, I don't have any photos of the children enjoying them as they came and went just as fast as the doughnuts came out of the dutch oven! At the very least, I look forward to making them again.......there really is nothing like homemade!

Our cut out doughnuts rising. I didn't have an actual doughnut cutter so I used a glass and a
small heart shaped cookie cutter for the center!

Our heart centers resting and rising.

Frying up our doughnuts!

Our finished doughnuts, rolled in cinnamon sugar! YUM

Here are our heart shaped centers just hanging out in a plate of cinnamon sugar!
This is definitely a once in a great while treat!

Snow Fun

This picture is from our winter fun play from last year. We've just received a bit of snow in the last few days but the temperature is pretty close to 0° so we're hesitant to go outside for more than a few moments at a time. So, to remember how much fun the snow can be and how even the littlest ones can enjoy it (assuming their bundled up very, very well!!!!), here is our youngest, KiKi, crawling around and discovering the cold, wet, edible, white, snowy goodness! How do you and your family experience snow fun?

New Post on TASTE

So, here they are. The recipes du jour! It's always so nice to provide a sweet and satisfying treat for my family, especially on these now cold and wet winter days! Included in this new post is also a little dabbling of what inspires me to provide for my family the way that I do. I am extremely inspired by Rudolf Steiner and the Waldorf tradition and rhythms. I'm not an expert, I am always learning and seeking new ways to enrich our home life. At the very least, I can learn along with some of you who may also be called to delve deeper into this type of life path, and for those of you who aren't called, great! We'll still have so much to chat about! I hope you enjoy today's post. Please feel free to share this with others who might also enjoy what we have going on at It's a Simple Life.

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Burrrr!

Well, we asked for winter weather and boy we sure got it! However, it's not quite the weather I think most of us were dreaming of (i.e. actual snow!!!!) but, it adds that certain element that had been missing. Nonetheless, this cold and wet day is the perfect day to stay cozied up inside and bake, bake, bake!

After years of fiddling with our oatmeal cookie recipe, I think I've managed to come up with something that is crunchy on the outside, gooey on the inside, and chock full of spices that will warm up even this cold, wintry day! Also....... on days like today we tend to always make hot chocolate, which, in my opinion, isn't all that bad, but.......we're out of regular milk sOoOoOoOo we'll make homemade chai tea instead! It's sweet, warm, spicy and really good for you, plus, it tastes better when you use an alternative milk like soy or almond, which I happen to have on hand. Gotta keep it simple!

Thank you for spending your moments reading what's happening over here on It's a Simple Life. We enjoy your comments and feedback so keep it coming! Stay tuned for tomorrow's post which will have both recipes from today's baking frenzy!