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Walking in the sunshine, daydreaming about summer days and adventures. K would like to go camping for four days in the summer. She was very specific about the length of time. I can't wait to see the children even closer to nature for a few days and really connecting to the earth, playing with what's around them and simply soaking up as much beauty as possible.
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(tea party, balloons, cake, presents... we love you K and hope you've had a wonderful day! )
Here's the poem I wanted to share with you, which is perfect for the night before a birthday, found in The Winding Road, compiled by Matthew Barton.
A goodnight kiss for the four year old,
To send her to sleep and to dreaming.
And blessings on the five year old
Who'll climb out of bed in the morning.
Anon.
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I can't believe my little girl K is going to be 5 tomorrow! We've been very busy around here preparing for her Birthday, there has been lots of present wrapping, baking and getting her special Birthday poems ready to be read by candlelight tonight before she falls asleep.
Her relatives have been very generous in asking us what she would like for her birthday and we decided to have a bit of a theme this year and set her up a family games cupboard of Co-operative games. My twin sister mentioned to me last year that I should get her some games and then I forgot about it...then I visited Miri from Here We Are Together and she said how much Emi loved to play board games so I decided it would be perfect for her Five Birthday (as K calls it) We have chosen The Orchard, Animal Upon Animal, Lucky Sock Dip which are all by Haba. We also chose Princess and Max, again I think made in Germany which I know she is going to love. Co-operative games are great for getting children to work together and to listen to one another and are good for teaching decision making, logic and creative thinking.
Her Aunty and Uncle from Austrailia have given her this which will be very cute for zooming her doll house dollies around in. One of my sisters has also got her some wooden beads to make her own necklaces from which will be a lovely craft actvity for her to do. Thank you everyone for her lovely gifts! I can't wait to see her face when she opens her presents.
My husband and I decided to give her some art materials because she loves drawing so much, so we got her this, this and this, all from Myraid.
I hope to get a moment to get back to you tomorrow with the poems we will be reading to her tonight, which are especially for the evening before a Birthday.
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We went butterfly spotting at the weekend with L and K and Baby Lyla and saw what we think was a Female Adonis Blue. Or it could possibily be a Female Chalkhill Blue. They're very tricky to tell apart. We're going to set up a butterfly checklist and see what we can spot throughout the year. There are certain weeks which are peak flying times for particular species of butterfly so it's quite fun to see what butteflies might be flying before we go out and see if we can find them.
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(can you see the frog in the third photo down?)
The girls found a frog in the greenhouse a few evenings ago. K named it Julie. We think it is the same frog which made it's home next to the tomatoes last year.
Can you see our lettuce growing? I think we need to plant some more lettuce seed every few weeks so we have a steady supply over the summer months.
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We watched Anything For Her recently. It was a true thriller and had my husband and I gripping the edge of the sofa we were so anxious to find out how it ended. I really recommend it (but not if you're after a relaxing film...!)
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(K with her cousin Lyla after school)
This was a card K bought home from school:
To mumy hancyoo for tacin me to the feree woosts.
Translation: To Mummy thank you for taking me to the fairy woods.
I love hand written notes, they are so precious.
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We decided to get out on Saturday for a picnic and ended up spending five hours at beautiful gardens taking in all the sunshine, stunning colours and fragrances. The children chased along little grassy paths and stone walkways, enjoying the freedom to run where they pleased. An American lady told me how beautiful it was to see my children enjoying simple pleasures, enjoying running and giggling and hiding, just enjoying being outside.
We had a simple picnic of sandwiches made from homemade bread (one reason why I love my breadmaker) with a grated cheese and marmite filling (K's favourite) oranges and raisins finished off with a true British classic childrens biscuit Jammie Dodgers. We hardly have any processed food in the house so these were a bit of a treat as I didn't want to be baking biscuits at 7 am on a Saturday morning. Saturday is my day where I have an extra hour in bed while my lovely husband gives the children their breakfast so it's definitely not time to be baking.
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Our Giant Sunflowers are shooting up. I really need to get them moved from the propagator which is sitting on our garden room floor into flower pots and then shift the pots into the greenhouse... just until they get a bit bigger and stronger. I don't think they are quite ready for the outside world just yet. Fifteen have grown which is so much better then our three last year. I love sunflowers so much, this is a beautiful memory from last year.
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This is our favourite time of year to go walking in the woods, when all the bluebells are out.
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Visiting a Waldorf Kindergarten classroom can give so much inspiration for creating a wonderful indoor play space at home. The classroom is a rich and warming sensory environment created through choice of colour, toys and textiles. The toys are chosen for tactile richness and tend to be made either from wood or naural fibre. Simple wicker baskets are used to hold natural toys arranged on low shelving. Every toy (or un-toy) has a home which makes tidying away very easy. I think less is always more when it comes to an indoor playspace so children don't become so overwhelmed with the quantity of toys they are unable to play.
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