Friday, October 9, 2009

Madeline the Scary Fairy











We decided to try our hand at building our own scarecrow this year. Boo Boo's very first fairy outfit from two years ago is getting a bit small (although we wear it daily at least once ;-)) and the wings are a bit tattered. So, she agreed that it might make the perfect outfit for our new fairy ... as long as mommy will make Boo Boo a new one to replace it ;-) Here are some fun pics of the process.

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Wet on Wet Watercolor Painting




Yellow and Red danced and played together this week

Jackie-O-Lantern


Our first Jack-O-Lantern of the season. After making some yummy pumpkin muffins this week, we carved this guy. Boo Boo calls him "Jackie-O-Lantern".

Additions to the Naturescape






Today, Boo Boo helped me create a scarecrow for our little gnome friend's garden. As you can see, the gnome has been busy, busy making his home in the cave and has a nice fire going outside. Hmmm ... I wonder if he'll be roasting marshmallows when we check on him in the morning ;-)

Pumpkin home for the Hedgehog family
















This month our story is about a sweet little hedgehog family finding their new pumpkin home after the harvest. I love this story and just about anything Suzanne Down creates. Here are some photos of the process in creating the pumpkin and some shots of the little family that now calls it home.

Monday, October 5, 2009

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Needle Felted Naturescape

Last month I learned how to needle felt a seasonal tree that can change as the seasons do. We started out with our beautiful green tree that then grew little "apples". So, now it is harvest time. Our little gnome friend came along to help us pick the apples before autumn set in. Here you can see pictures of the process in creating the naturescape that goes along with our tree and in creating our little gnome.

Creating a Gnome
















Thursday, October 1, 2009

We will miss you Ms. Jen, Sophie, Oliver and Mr. Ted


Our dear friends are moving back to Michigan this weekend and we are very sad! We will miss you so much and eagerly await visits! Love and hugs and lots of warm Florida sun coming your way.

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Dragon Bread







Today is Michaelmas and Lexi's friend, Sophie, came over to join us in our circle time and baking dragon bread. Hmmm ... looks like the making of two pastry chefs ... especially the little touch of flour on Sophie's nose ;-) Baking is so much more fun with our friends over!

Monday, September 28, 2009

Thanks Aunt Susan











Aunt Susan made Boo Boo a beautiful sweater for an early birthday present. Boo Boo LOVES it and has worn it about four days in a row now ;-)

Sunday, September 27, 2009

Friday, September 25, 2009

Michaelmas Festival at Sea Star




We celebrated Michaelmas with all our friends at Sea Star. Boo Boo loves the wooden see-saw. Also, here she is with Ms. Beth shooting the bow and arrow. What a wonderful day!

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Marigold Capes for Michaelmas











What a fun time of year! We picked marigolds from our garden, removed the petals and soaked them overnight. The next day, we boiled the petals for a while and then strained them out. This left a beautiful, golden liquid to which we added salt. We stirred well and then add a new white silk scarf and allowed it to soak all day and all night ... stirring frequently. The next morning ... a beautiful yellow scarf that we turned into a cape of courage. Boo Boo was so excited about the whole process and loved dancing and parading around in her glorious cape!

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Making Dragon Cookies for Michaelmas


Boo Boo and her friend Sophie making dragon cookies. Yummy! Well ... at least they looked good. This was not a "keeper" as Boo Boo puts it. Oh well, some vegan cookie recipes just don't quite taste that good ;-)

Friday, September 18, 2009

Week One of Kindergarten

Well, the first week of Kindergarten is behind us and we had a wonderful time! We opened the week with a new tradition of measuring Boo Boo's height and then enjoyed a wonderful breakfast together. After our breakfast cleanup and morning chores, we headed off on our nature walk throughout the neighborhood, our backyard and the park. When we returned, we had a nice snack before starting our circle time. This theme for the week is APPLES. We had a few long time favorites for songs and some new ones. One of Boo Boo's favorites is "The Apple Man". But, nothing will top our newest addition to circle time: our clapping song and rhythm game (Boo Boo calls it the "pennywhistle game". For our clapping song, we sing "Peas, Porridge, Hot" and clap our hands together twice and with each other twice throughout the song. It's not as easy as it sounds but Boo Boo picked it up quickly and loved it. We had a couple trials with "Abigail" and "Teddy" before Boo Boo was comfortable with it ;-) Then, with mommy playing the pennywhistle, we played a game of dancing around the table and freezing when the music stops. When we recap our day (during our bedtime routine), Boo Boo says this is her absolute favorite part of the day. She is so cute when she "freezes" ;-) Mommy's pennywhistle skills are improving, so that is always a help (thanks Jodie for your wonderful curriculum!!!). Next, we had our story, "The Apple Star". In this story a little boy goes on a journey to find a little red house, with no doors, no windows, and a star inside. You can imagine his wonder filled eyes when he realizes the big red apple he hands to his mommy is just that. As his mommy cuts open the apple to reveal the star, his eyes light up! So, did Boo Boo's!!! That apple tasted even yummier after the story. Then we headed to the kitchen (Tuesday is Baking Day). We made homemade pie crust and cut lots of apples to reveal their stars. The result ... yummy homemade apple pie! Wednesday is Painting Day, so after our circle time and story, we headed to the kitchen again to soak our painting paper for wet-on-wet watercolor painting. This time, the yellow fairy played all over our papers and filled them with beautiful, playing, sunny yellow! Thursday is Handiwork and Seasonal Arts and Crafts Day. During our nature walk, we found hundreds of immature acorns all around our yard ... not a common sight here. The only reason for these acorns laying around our yarn, was that the tree trimmers had just visited and quite agressively thinned up our oak trees in the front yard. "Squire" and "Bo-Bo" (are two squirrels that live in these trees) were not pleased and barked quite a bit about it. However, we thought of a few things to do with the little acorns ... acorn babies, felt acorns ... fun stuff!!! We hope you enjoy the photos of our first week of Kindergarten as much as we enjoyed the fun of creating it all!

Baking Pie







BooBoo really put a lot of effort into rolling her dough!

A little dishwashing afterwards