Dolls!

For Christmas my dear colleague, Cathryn, made a beautiful doll for Nuriel. Nuriel fell in love the moment she saw the doll. Cathryn has been making dolls for many years. She teaches doll-making workshops and she's currently making dolls with the 7th graders at school. {I can't wait to see Nathan's creation!} Isn't the doll sweet? You can like Cathryn's Creations on Facebook and see her current offerings in her Etsy shop. 

Summer Tripping

Nuriel and I took a trip to Indianapolis to visit my wonderful friend Mindi. I also taught a Waldorf summer camp there. Nuriel and I had a great time!

 A cookie at the farmer's market.

 An amazing "monster"party...
 

 ... with her hair sister (the birthday child) and...

 ... a monster cake...

 ... and monster muffins.

 Looking just like Brent, only his belly was slightly bigger than that & he had a hairy chest. ;-) The swimtrunks are my statement against sexy swimwear for toddlers. (She does not need a thong!)

 Waldorf camp beauty and...

 ... felting soaps. 

Then another birthday party! This one had a "The Keeping Quilt" theme. The guests were asked to bring a scrap of quilting fabric instead of a gift. I'm considering doing something similar for Nuriel's 2nd birthday. We'll see.

 Nuriel is wearing a skirt I made! My friend Mindi, who has sewn many fabulous things for Nunu, showed me how to sew a skirt. I named it Kibiflopple skirt because I used four different fabrics: Kiwifruit - Birds - Flowers - Apples. I'm very proud of it. It was cut out & sewn after some major wine consumption!

 A yummy peach fresh off the tree.

Semi-naked chef!
 ~
Nuriel does not like air travel! Also, something happened on the way home... During our visit Nuriel's heard her friend call her Dad "Daddy." On our flight this afternoon, Nuriel decided that the tall, muscular African-American man with the long braids in the seat next to us was her Daddy. She said, "Hi Daddy!" over and over again. I apologized, but it's hard to get a 22-months old child to stop talking! When the guy fell asleep (or pretended to do so... Ha!), Nuriel said to all the surrounding passengers: "Shhh. Daddy is sleeping." I was so embarrassed, especially since the guy didn't seem to have a sense of humor about it and the more I tried to divert her attention , the more persistent she became...
~
That's all. It was a really nice trip.

What Chickens Need

 38 C outside. Braving the afternoon heat.

 Humans need water when it's hot.

 Lots of water...

 Chickens need flowers and wooden acorns.

Oh... And tea! (Apparently.)

Hot. Hot.

Playkitchen Oven Mitt

 

Nuriel loves her play kitchen. And she loves our way-too-big-for-her oven mitt. So, I decided to make her one. Nuriel-sized. I used Malabrigo leftovers and size 8 needles. 'Cause that's what I had. Made a nice big mitten. Dropped it in the wash to felt. Voila. It's funny how she puts it on, goes to her little kitchen and says, "Uhhh... Hot."

'Twas 4th Grade

4th Grade Waldorf work. Time flies. I can't believe I will be taking my class to 5th grade this autumn! 

Local History/Geography

Flounder (from "The Human Being & the Animal Kingdom")

Sometimes all it takes to express the essence of an animal is a poem. 

Watercolor Painting

I love seals. I loved reading more about them in Penguins, Seals Dolphins Salmon and Eels by Karl Koenig. I do believe that the best lessons are based on things that live deeply within us as teachers.

Father's Day

Happy Father's Day! Too bad she can't give you a hug. She brings so much laughter to my life. Thank you. I think we did a good job. :-) She loves to play with these blocks that were made from "our" 2009 Christmas tree.

By Nathan

Here are some pages from Nathan's "Middle School I" morning lesson book.

Copyright by Nathan Thomas for all images. Thank you.

The Days In Pictures

A drawing by the artistically-challenged Waldorf teacher - Take one.

And two. (Not sure why this is so blurry.)

 Gifts for the Gods by 4th graders.

Iduna by a 4th grader.

Skadi by a 4th grader.

Making Mead with my students using kefir grains.

Nathan made yummy apple-pie. Nuriel is ready to eat. 

(She has her very own blog now. Since I mostly blog about Nuriel anyhow - Noah & Nathan don't like me blogging about them - I might shut this blog down and just try to keep hers up as a "baby book" kinda thing. We'll see.)

Another one from the State Fair. Crawl-away baby. She had so much fun. There was no way I could have kept her strapped into the stroller.

Lovin' to play with leaves & dirt & such.

Meet Potato Sack

You know, on Ravelry everything must have a name. I had originally named it "Phunky Monkey" because of the very colorful yarn. I've renamed it "Potato Sack." I stayed up into the wee hours of the morning (okay, 12:05 a.m.) to block this & the soaking made it huge. The yarn stretched out way too much. There's no way it will fit her anytime soon. Ughh. Arghhh. Well, I suppose it's a pretty potato sack.

I'm starting to think "birthdays." Nathan & Nuriel both have a birthday coming up in September. I'm knitting a hat for Nathan. He actually asked me to do so. I had a look on Etsy for inspiration for Nuriel. I found a perfect lil' doll with a knitted body for her. Price tag: $185. Now, I do want to say that I'm glad to see a doll priced at $185. If you've ever made a doll, you know that it's *a lot* of work. And I do believe we live in a society where handmade is undervalued. However, it is not what I can pay & it's so nice to make a doll for your child, so I'm making my own. I had some suitable yarn in my stash. I have some leftover doll-making supplies from a workshop I did last year. I'm making my girl a doll. Price tag: $0 - sort of. Here's that work in progress...

I'm going to crochet a cap for hair, using an auburn mohair yarn. - That's if my yarn snobby self can get over the 5% nylon content. (Help me, Mindi!) If not, the doll may just need to have a permanent hat. I'm undecided about what color to use for embroidering the eyes. I've also started using some purple lace yarn to make a mini shawl. It'll be a 12" doll, which is a good size for a small child.

Beeswax Crayon Birds