A walking we will go

What a lovely day for an autumn walk...

Waldorf Holiday Fair

Our school's holiday fair was this past weekend, and it was so enjoyable. This year I was The Pocket Lady, and I had such a wonderful time with it. It was a very special treat for me to watch the young ones' eyes light up when I opened my cape. For one ticket, the child got to choose a silk pocket from which to pull a gift. Little things like worry dolls, polished stones, sea shells, woven bracelets and such. It's really amazing to watch the children play with these tiny treasures, and to see what they imagine them to be in their play.

The Enchantment Shop, which is what the parents of my daughter's class worked on, was filled with beautiful handmade gifts for the children to pick out. The children, a few at a time, walked into a softly lit, magical room, without their parents to influence their choices, and picked out 3 handmade items. Everything from magic wands, to beads and bracelets, knights and queens to walnut babies, and prickly hedgehogs to cashmere bunnies, to name but a few. Such a lovely experience.

The kindergarten teachers performed a puppet show of "Journey Cake, Ho", which was fantastic. One of the kindergartens hosted a Fish Pond, where the children could pull up their prizes with a fishing hook (plastic covered, of course.) And we had the Crystal Cave where the children could go in, again by themselves, a few at a time, and pick out a crystal. Jump rope making, and candle dipping were a few other fun things to do at the fair.

When we got home, my children immediately pulled all of their treasures out and started to create their own show. Even the cotton balls, that cocooned tiny star fish, became rocks or mountains. Quite a day!

Pumpkin Patch

We had a lovely time visiting a pumpkin patch this year. My mother and I took the children to a farm about 45 minutes south of the city. They had such a good time playing in the fun house, experiencing their first hay ride through the farm, watching the animals, examining the growing Christmas trees for the next holiday coming up, and of course, picking out their own pumpkins.

Happy Halloween

One of my favorite things when I was growing up, was Halloween night. I loved the excitement in the air, I loved the mystery, and I LOVED to dress up in costume. I know get to see my own children experiencing the same, and it is wonderful. Normally I make costumes, but this year, I found an adorable witch - good witch as Ella would have it - costume at TJ Maxx and a race car driver suit as well for Noah. This worked out perfectly, as I really didn't have time to make anything with all of the other gifts I've been working on. We decided to go over to a friend's house this year and it turned out to be a blast. They live in a very old neighborhood in Atlanta, filled with beautiful Victorians - perfect for a haunted Halloween house.

Hope yours was perfect too!

I have been busy as a bee sewing goodies for Christmas - MANY pouches, an apron, an art tote, an owl and a doll. And I've been having such fun making our Waldorf Enchantment Shop gifts for the Holiday Fair this year, which is open to the community. Each year the kindergarten class parents make thousands of handmade gifts for the little ones to pick out in their Enchantment Shop expedition. The little ones' parents can purchase 3 tickets for a dollar each and wait in line to experience this fabulous wonderland. It's so magical to watch their little faces as they come through and pick out their treasures. Only a handful of children are let in at at time, and no parents allowed. The children are guided by a couple of kindergarten parent volunteers. Anyway, it's been great fun to make the gifts and participate as one of the guides for the children on the day of the fair.

My own little one is doing some magic of her own here. As I was working, I looked up and saw her watching the birds outside. So dreammyyy....

Rain

It has been raining here for days upon days now, and not just little showers - big rain storms. The yard is a mud puddle at this point. The thunder storms last night were so loud our little house was trembling. We still manage to get out for our daily wanderings though. My little puddle ducks love to splash about.

Wood

Photo by Colleen Duffley

Isn't this a dreamy room? I love the rocks in the fireplace and the rustic wooden mirror and the table, well it is just fabulous. I want to curl up on that daybed and read a book.