Taking the Time

Again I find the day to day struggles of having too much in the "to do list" Between 2 jobs, homeschooling, soccer, sewing finishing a re-model, building the shed,,,,the list is endless. And so our Co-op Enki "forest school" Wednesdays always seem to ground my entire family. Cedar has time to dig, sing, eat, run, with others. I have time to watch my little people enjoy there mountain backyard with conversation of other mothers. And then I usually jump right back into the "lets go" mode. But today we paused. We pulled over in the canyon to gather Duchess Autumn. The yellows, golds, green, red were so bright. It was too much to pass up. The kiddos were delighted to pull over an gather a piece of fall. And so we will press, and paste in the coming weeks!!

To be complete

To know with out thinking. To know with the feelings that are felt from a deep space. That is today. We are complete. We are so lucky to have this family of 5. from laughter, to tears this too is right. Healthy, loving, bright, babies. Babies growing ever changing. The kind of changes that still blows me away. The moments I see Cedar laughing, hear is chuckle and feel the true moment of bliss. The smiles of Orien, the tickle laughter, the whines of a 3 yr old. The deep voice of my blond little girl as she say "here. "uh oh" etc. It is clear through the the mud we are complete. So let the tears, laughter, joy sadness, reality ring true on this eve of eves!!!

Nature Table times....

Saying goodbye to our sunflowers, glad the goats loved them

our Gnome preparing his fire for warmth

Our fall nature table from overlooking!

Finding the places that feel right

Duchess Autumn

We have spent our week celebrating Autumn and the goodbye to King Summer. The leaves are falling; yellow, green, brown, ...the wind a whirling. The snow is falling. The rain is falling. The garden is dying. Maybe that explains my Grrrrr's at times and laughter at others. I too am affected by the disappearing of King and the welcoming of Duchess. And so we decided to begin our fall adventures into the woods to collect signs of fall and offer them to our nature table. The gnomes are gathering berries, acorns, pine, rocks, sticks. We have been painting with water colors yellow and red. We have been reading Duchess Autumn, cleaning the yard, harvesting the last veggies, watching the eggs diminish and the chickens cuddle up for longer nights. And that ends our first week of autumn.

the final moments of summer whisked away by Fall (winter)???

The last day of summer??!!

Wandering through the woods..just some good old boys!

Fall seems to be in a hurry...

Autumn....

Possibly our last harvest of the season

when it all comes together

I love the moments, glimpses, when all is together. All is well. All are feed. All are smiling. It sometimes feels like this will never come. The satisfied moments when the heart is open, full, loved, tender, calm,together. And at this moment the leaves are changing. We are changing. I am changing. my family is changing. The light is less. The cool is more. The kids are bigger. The time is less, but full. In this autumn all is full, falling, changing, but noy dying. not yet. maybe not ever in a heart like today.

An enki week

A busy week of Enki K has come and gone

It is mid-September so we have begun our new "adventure circle"

We have stuck with a story of magical fairies who can have tasks and helpful moments along there daily journey! Always starting with "Ting a ling a ting" to gather our family..followed by fairies waking and dancing around the forest to "Sally goes round the sun"

as the fairies dance away the morning they notice signs of fall and realize it is time to prepare for the coming cold weather..gathering apples from the "apple orchard." With handfuls of apples the fairies hop in there boats to head to town..along the way they meet "mother swan" who seems tired and has forgotten how to waddle and swim! The fairies magically turn into swans, waddling, swimming, and resting while there swan friend follows them! When they realize all is well with the swan they continue on there adventure down the river..hearing the loud voices of "woodcutters" working to gather, cut, haul wood for shelters and warmth! The fairies join there gnome cutter friends and again wander back down stream with plenty of wood for there house and heat. They hear the wind hustling and bustling, climb high up trees, shaking the Bright leaves..riding down trees and land in "autumn leaves" spiraling all around. When they calm from the winds they notice a squirrel. Stuck in a tree..needing help to jump from tree to tree..magically they turn into "squirrels" jumping from tree to tree, shaking there bushy tails..and ending tired and hungry! They gather berries, apples eat and rest..awaking to become "star fairies" and ending in our group holding hands singing ending in namaste.

The rest of our week along with morning adventures has consisted of baking gluten free zucchini bread. Learning how to tie knots with the Knot jingles sticks. A co-op day in the woods acting like beavers in a stream, and flying kites! We attempt to always have baking on Mondays, craft on Tuesdays, enki co-op forest day on Wednesday, water color painting on Fridays. And add some park and rec soccer when they days feel right!

Festivities, Family, Community..It is one in the same

Our Family. Our community. Gatherings. It is one in the same. We have spent the last weekend celebrating the fall, Estes park style! And as I stood on the curb, wandered at the Scottish/Irish Fest...it hit me once again..This is my community and my family. My kiddos love time with mommy and daddy as well as there extended families.....you can see the glow in there eyes when they share these experiences with others! As they gather candy, cheer at bands, watch intensely as dogs show off tricks and Knights fight in there light armour ...they laugh, wrestle, get carried on papas shoulders, tickled mama..and celebrate!! I am so thankful for my family.

enki Craft

I am trying to find rhythm. Rhythm in our days. From sun up to sundown there are a million transitions and moments that I, my family, fill. We have officially started our Kindergarten year of homeschooling using the Enki Curriculum. To learn more about this go to Enki . So we are no finding rhythm in our days filling them with adventure circles, creative play, Folk and Fairy stories from around the world, gardening, chores, outdoor play, baking, crafts, errands, and activities..as well as our co-op weekly!! To say the least we are busy and within all if this need Rhythm! I have learned that chaos does not feed Cedar, but calm transitions do! I have learned that activities after 6pm do not feed Cedar, but running in the woods with friends in the morning does! I have learned that Cedar can work with beeswax, play dough, painting for hours, but jumping after dinner does not fair well!!!! And there is so much more! We have accomplished our first craft/science project. It took a bit of time between gathering wild flowers from our land, pressing them to dry, water color paints on card stock, cutting cards, and finally gluing the flowers!

Friends

This one is for you Truthy! It has been a while since i have blogged about my kiddos! And well honestly I cant believe I have a blond haired blue eyed little girl...who is so clever and smart!! Yes she is! And to top that persistent, funny, loving, pushy, tantrum, sweet little thing! I laughed this past weekend watching her and her little friend Sally, who is also the same age, play with a sort of I am the boss attitude. I was shocked to already see her using her hands to Say " my toy!" in charge, girl attitude!!! She talks plenty, understand everything we say or ask of her! Loves to say yes, and yeah, Papa, Mama and funny enough Mooooom, Gil for milkies, Cedar, goat, dog, etc..and she still screams in amazement every time she enters the chicken coop! She is Energy!! She will not be told what to do by her brothers either..already telling them to stay away! I cant wait to see where she is in the months to come!!

The moments i wish i could rewind

Yesterday. I had one of those flash, bam, reality moments where all seemed to fall to pieces. It did fall. He fell. I was filled. and not with anything that fills a person but just assists in reactions. And I wish I could have a rewind option. Just for a minute. It was scary, almost movie like. And then over. left filled with emotions, emptiness, everything. But thankfully all was fine in the end. and what i have taken from this..boy will be boys IMPULSIVE. BUT I,I,I will be that constant reminder of what can be.