moments from our summer solstice

:: magical floating flowers from all year round and a silk streamer i made for my little one. i also made up a little sun decoration the same way i did for rhythm of the home. our paper flowers flattened as soon as we placed them into the water, as i ventured off the directions. (i thought the beeswax would allow them to keep their cupped shape, but they did not) they were lovely for breakfast.

:: a fairy basket filled with treasures i found around the house.

:: the little guy discovering some rainbows from our sun catcher just before he went down for his nap. my daughter was so happy celebrating and asked about a treasure hunt. how could i say no. so, i quickly came up with a handful of clues, which took her on an adventure about the house and the yard. during the treasure hunt we enjoyed some orange tea, searched our gardens for newly blooming flowers and read a seasonal book out on our swing. the last clue brought her to a basket of golden hued roving for a wet felting project ~ a sun doily.

:: we started by laying out short pieces of wool roving to create a circular shape on bubble wrap. the pieces were fluffed apart and put down in thin layers, alternating the direction of the wool. to create depth used a bunch of different colors in the same colorway. we used yellow, golden yellow, pale yellow, tangerine, and pumpkin. we then we added some fairy sprinkles of soapy, warm water before we tightly rolled up the wrap.

 ::it was gently rolled on the ground then unrolled to add more fairy sprinkles. then we wrapped up the bubble wrap in the opposite direction and repeated the process a bunch of times. i completed the last few rolls with piping hot, soapy water which really felted up the edge.

 :: zesting and juicing some oranges for our tea and muffins

my little one also loved this verse from a little verse from a child's seasonal treasury.

sunshine fairies by betty jones

we are the sunshine fairies

and with our sparks of light

we shimmer and glimmer in the air

hugging flower with colors bright

hope you having a beautiful solstice. we have a few more pictures of our sun doilie that i'll show you later. please stop by wonderment (my new community space) to share stories and pictures about your summer solstice celebration.

a very fairy birthday

:: to my sweet little baby girl, who is not so little anymore. the time has gone by so fast and now you are 6 years old. words can not explain how your love and beautiful soul has brought boundless joy into my life. you teach me more everyday about life. i love you so.

:: birthday preparations coming together. some projects i was able to finish and others i did not. i mistakenly did not have a single piece of wool felt long enough to back the crown, so that will sadly be a belated birthday present. i am bummed about her crown but i did made a new decoration for our birthday ring. i have a special song that i sing to my little butterfly, which is why i made her a little butterfly. we also made some delicious wands from chocolate covered pretzels and skewers of fruit. 

 :: my little one has really enjoyed our valentine's day scavenger hunts for the past few years, so i made up a little scavenger hunt for her birthday party. this time, with a fairy theme. i had collected pine cones, acorn caps, dried echinacea from the garden and i added some geode slices, treasure eggs, little star sequins, little brooms and miniature wooden rolling pins & clothespins. we also had some fairy toad stools and i made up some tiny seeds packets out of waxed paper, in which i enclosed sunflower, snap pea and pumpkin seeds. 

the children ran around with their fairy ribbon wands looking for the fairy treasures. they were pointing out all sorts of things around our yard that the fairies could use and it was great seeing them take a closure look into nature. they all had fun breaking open their treasure eggs, drawing and running around the yard barefoot. 

i overhead my friends saying amongst themselves that our party was refreshing and that parties for children are so big nowadays... and i feel some sort of acceptance from our friends to some extent. a lot of times i really do shy away from any discussions as to why i do what i do with my little ones because it is just beyond their reality. but that's a whole other blog entry.

:: my daughter loved the echinacea wands so much. (the carved stick was a gift from one of my daughter's friends. the friend's grandfather did a little carving on the stick and he decided to give it to my daughter for her birthday. so sweet) 

:: and i think these feet speak for themselves. 

birthday song   anonymous
found in a child's seasonal treasury

In heaven shines a golden star
an angel led me from a far.
From heaven high unto the earth 
and brought me to my house of birth.

Oh welcome welcome lovely day
With sunshine bright and flowers gay.
With painted birds that sing their song 
and make me kind and good and strong.

songs for march

the first two pictures are from a child's seasonal treasury. the later two are from a book i came across at the goodwill, it was a treasure waiting to be discovered. i hope the images are large enough to read the words.

here are some more spring songs, verses and fingerplays



my lady wind by k.guilmartin, based on a traditional poem
(this one is great to sing around the house with a playsilk or scarf)
my lady wind, my lady wind
'round and 'round the house she blows,
trying to get in
whoo, whoo, ooo, whoo

through the key hole in the door
through the crack in the bedroom floor
in and out she blows about and 'round the house once more
whoo, whoo, ooo, whoo




we have snow in the forecast for later in the week, so we'll still be singing this one....
snowflakes by l.levinowitz
(you can be creative with your movements and hand gestures with this one. we usually bring each hand down alternating and on the last line, we put our hands side by side, palms down and then move hands together left and right as if we are wiping the counters)

snowflakes, soft snowflakes gently are falling.
magically making everything white

candlemas blessing day 1 & day 2

we had a two day candlemas celebration. we started the first day making some pancakes and singing a candlemas verse. we also made this song into a little fingerplay, which are always enjoyed with much excitment.

The Groundhog by C.Aldinger from Sing a Song of Seasons
Ground-hog in your hole so deep
Raise your head and take a peep
If your shadow makes you leap!
Curl back up and go to sleep

we read a story called, the sun is my favorite star by frank asch. but the mothering board had these suggestions:
the snowdrop adapted from hans christan andersen
the coming of spring
the candles by hans christan andersen

i really liked this family's day of celebrating, shadow tag and this little verse.

Little Candle
Little candle burning bright
You are such a pretty sight
Show us all you shining light
Little candle burning bright

:: with winter keeping us tucked inside, we cut paper snowflakes. we used nail scissors, which made it so much easier for my little one to cut with

:: using our new modeling beeswax to make a little snowman for our nature table.