mamaUK

Getting ready for the 1st December

 

Snow is falling outside right now, it looks so pretty! Last night we carried in our Christmas tree from outdoors ready to decorate tonight when the children are asleep. We love for them to open their eyes on the 1st of December and sleepily go downstairs, clutching their Advent Calenders and be surprised by the soft, shining lights on the tree and the Nativity  all set out. The candle holder on the table also changes at this time of year to tiny silver angels that spin around that seems to enchant K and L. Even though we have candle light at every meal, the little angels add that little bit of wonder that comes with this time of year.

Christmas book basket

 

(K swaddling 'baby Jesus' up)

There's a lot of talk about baby Jesus at the moment as K is playing a shepherd in the school nativity this year. We have just filled the book basket with: 

•  'The Story of Baby Jesus'
•  'Christmas Baking for Children'
•  'Christmas Stories'
•  'The Bloomsbury Christmas Treasury' 
•  'Lion Christmas Favourites for the very young' 
•  'Dear Santa'

These all came from our library, they had a lot of brand new Christmas books in half way through November so I was able to pick a few out for the children. If you're looking for a more Waldorf inspired seasonal book list, perfect for during Advent, then look here. 

For us, festive storytelling during Advent is a simple way to bring excitement and build anticipation during December for Christmas. When it gets dark in the late afternoon, it is the perfect time to light some candles and read some seasonal stories together.

The warmth of home

 
(Our garden sparkling with frost)

We are currently experiencing a bit of a cold snap in the UK at the moment with snow in many places, but it hasn't fallen where we live yet. We'll have to see what the weekend brings. We have been wrapping up warmly for the school walk in the morning, while everything has been decorated with frost. I have been putting two blankets on top of Little L in her pushchair and K has been wearing two pairs of gloves so he little fingers don't sting in the cold. L and I haven't been venturing out very far, other then taking and collecting K from her school. It's lovely to return to the warmth of home, where we practically fling ourselves through the front door to escape the chill, casting off hats and coats in a heap and  settling into our quiet morning routine of reading stories and preparing the dinner for later in the day.

My reading list

 
(Unrelated picture: A peach/pink cotton bag I picked up for Little L at the Lantern Cafe on Saturday)

Right now I am reading:

Simplicity Parenting

Unconditional Parenting

Coming in the post:

Mitten Strings for God

Raising Our Children, Raising Ourselves

A book I would love to read, but haven't bought:

Hold on to Your Kids: Why Parents Need to Matter More Than Peers

Chocolate angels

 

We visited The Lantern Community shop today which neighbours our local Waldorf school. There were so many pretty christmas decorations for the children to look at. Little L kept saying 'Christmas tree, christmas tree'! Upstairs there were lots of  books on display ready for Winter. I bought this  for when the season changes.

 I also found these sweet little angel chocolates for 'Father Christmas' to put in the girls stockings. I've hidden them in the bag with their other presents.

Making birthday flower pots

 
(Little L holding some snowdrop bulbs we are planting this week)

 It can be difficult for young children to grasp the concept of the passage of time. Parents sometimes measure it in a "number of sleeps" until the arrival of a special occasion. Growing birthday flower pots with your child can be natures way to visually show that his or her special day is getting closer and closer. When your child spies the first shoots coming through they can be assured that it won't be long until their special day is here! Be sure to place your pots somewhere you pass daily to make sure they can keep a check on their plants progress, we find the front doorstep is a good spot!

Here are some ideas of easy flowers for children to plant to get you started:

• January- Crocuses usually flower in January, they signify the end of winter and celebrate the approach of spring. The bulbs need to be planted in the Autumn in full sun to partial shade.
• February- Snowdrops are the classic flower of this month. There are over 500 varieties, so choose carefully, to ensure they flower in the first year of planting. They prefer the shade.
• April- Daffodils are the classic spring time flower and are very easy to grow. They need to be planted in the Autumn, like full sun to partial shade and should  be placed in well drained pots, otherwise the bulbs will rot.
• May- Tulips are very easy bulbs to grow. They need to be planted in the Autumn. They grow best in full sun but we have a lot under our apple tree at the end of our garden and they do well despite being in full shade!
• August- Sunflower are such lovely, cheerful plants to grow with children! They can be planted in Spring and started on a sunny windowsill in your home before being taken outside and left in a sunny position.

Planting spring bulbs

 
 
 
 
 
We took a trip to our local garden centre to choose some last-minute spring bulbs. We were too late for the cute little Tete-a-Tete Narcissi as they had all sold. There were lots of different varieties of the larger daffodils to choose from though. K planted them out in large terracotta pots. It was raining outside so we ended up planting them in our little garden room before carrying the pots outdoors.  I made sure to choose bulbs that flower in both March and May so the girls each have a pot with flowers blossoming in their birthday months. When they see the shoots getting bigger and bigger and eventually flowering it will be natures way of showing it is almost their birthday!

Window stars

 

 
We're experiencing some really wet and windy weather this week in the UK! Even though window stars are usually made/used in the winter in the Waldorf tradition, I thought I would make some to cheer up our indoors and bring back some warmth using colour. This is the first time I have made them and the kite paper was very relaxing to fold. I made some rainbow stars as I thought they would match the rainbow colour theme we have in the play area. I think I might make some more in whites and blues and also a two tone yellow one ready to go behind our Ostheimer nativity at Christmas. You can buy the kite paper from here. I used this tutorial here.

Golden days

 
 
 
 

We reached our favourite woodland place. The children played in the rays of the setting sun. It looked so different from the lush, emerald green of the summertime woods.

Autumn wandering

 
 

A thick carpet of leaves to tramp through.

We were wandering towards our favourite woodland place to see how it has changed from summer into Autumn. We were greeted with a rich array of  autumnal colours, the leaves glowing translucent russet reds,golds and yellows in the setting sun.