Waldorf Craft Fair

 A few days ago I got an email with a reminder about the Waldorf craft fair that was happening today and a little teaser that there would be activities and singing for the children while we were there :)

 When we arrived we found that they had all of the classrooms set up as different little stations. There was one room full of all the wonderful bits and bobs to buy with playsilks, crowns, wands, felt playmats, candles, wooden toys and so much more. Then there was the craft room where the children took turns at the tables sanding and polishing wooden tree rounds for candle stick holders and then rolling sheets of beeswax to make candles for their holders. In other rooms there was singing, puppet shows, snacks and an enchanted cookie house where we went into a dimly lit space with twinkle lights while we were sprinkled with faerie dust and sang to while we picked out our favorite gingerbread cookie to eat :) So much fun!!

 There just happened to be oodles of activities going on in the city today while we were there so we had a chance to go to the farmer's market, another craft fair where I got a funky burl candle holder and if we had stayed long enough we would have even been able to see a parade but I wanted to get home before it got to late and even so I ended up driving in the dark *grin*.

So after a late dinner and quick moment to put my feet up I realized that we had to get our advent countdown calendar out. I had nearly forgot that today was the 1st!

 

Luckily I had saved the maple branch that we had cut and used last year so I retrieved it from its hiding place in the laundry room and brought out some ribbon to tie it up so it is now dangling beneath the mantle. Each day one of the children will be able to find a little felt ornament with the day's number needle felted onto it to be hung up on the branch as we count down the days until the 24th :)

Thank goodness no one seemed to mind that Mama was a little behind on the decorations this year *grin*. 

Hugs,

Rosina

First Week of Advent

 We light one candle shining bright
Upon this Holy Advent night
Fill our hearts with loving might
Lead us to Christmas Day's brilliant light!

 - M. T. Schunemann

I love this time of year as our excitement for the Christmas season grows with each candle that we light :) 

This morning the children and I pulled out the box deep in the back of my closet with our advent candle holder and beeswax candles and brought it to the coffee table. We cleared off the miscellaneous school books that were scattered all over it so that we would have lots of space to set it up in its special spot for the holiday season where it will be joined in the coming weeks by our nativity scene and St. Nicholas.

 Rudolph Steiner incorporates the four kingdoms into the four weeks of advent as well and for the first week he shares:

 The first light of Advent is the light of stones,
Light that lives in seashells, in crystals and in bones.

So the kids picked through their stash of favorite stones and shells and I brought out the special hour glass crystals that were gifted to us from a fellow waldorf family earlier this spring and for the bones we thought maybe our dried starfish might qualify since it's just the skeleton of it left *grin*.

Our tradition is that the youngest child gets to light the first candle and then the middle and so on so little M had the honor of holding the match all on his own to light his candle tonight and then we turned out all of the lights and sat under the glow of our star lanterns from Martinmas and watched the light of the candle grow as the wick burned down and the flame grew larger. This went on for a little while until Hubby and I were the last ones left enjoying one anothers quiet company :)

 Over the next couple of days we'll start to pull out all of our favorite Christmas books including  Celebrate with Joy by Sondra Burnett  which is full of inspiration on scriptures to read, craft ideas and ways to make Christmas even more special and our library wish list is overflowing with seasonal favorites. Each trip into town finds us with a few more that are waiting for us to be picked up and brought home. I think I might even grab a few paper whites to plant for next week's light of plants. I can't wait :)

What are your plans for advent and the coming weeks?

Hugs,

Rosina

Unplugged Family Fun

{Our snow queen safely tucked beneath her umbrella}

Old man winter has been creating havoc around us this week and on Sunday afternoon he hit us with one heck of a windy snowball toppling trees up and down the island, knocking out our power for 23 hours and leaving us with no telephone service or internet for even longer.

But that didn't stop us from having fun *grin*.

Our evening was lit by oil lamp and scented with delicious smells of beeswax candles while our ears were filled with stories, board games, and silly chatter late into the night....

and plenty of outdoor play during the day. Thank goodness for wood heat and hot soup to thaw out our bodies after being frozen in the blustery cold and I'm sure that eating loads of icicles does nothing to keep children warm except it does bring giant smiles to their faces *grin*.

The 'girls' don't seem to be fond of the snow though and for the first couple of days they actually refused to leave the warm straw covered floor of their house :) My oldest ended up stomping down a nice path and area for them to come out to eat fresh scraps and in the end I think that it was stepping in the deep snow that they didn't like because they didn't mind staying on the hard packed snow. As you can see in the photo above though the lure of food would pull them into deeper areas if they thought it was worthwhile enough *grin*.

The falling snow has turned more to rain these last few days though and it is starting to melt our snow reserve but hopefully it won't all go away taking it's bright white beauty with it!

Hugs,
Rosina

Advent and a Birthday

It's been a busy couple of days :)
We had family visiting from out of town, a special outing to listen to the Christmas choir singing at one of the churches in the city which was such a treat, catching a few last minute craft fairs and a few trips transporting Hubby to and from his tug boat for work.

It's okay though because today was my birthday and I got to sleep in and catch up on some rest and relaxation *grin*. The children made me the cutest little handmade birthday cards and my mom had all of us for cake. A delicious hazelnut torte filled with apricot jam and brushed with Austrian rum... so yummy! So good in fact that it disappeared much to quickly as we sipped our coffee that we had to splurge and have a second slice :)

The days leading up to Christmas eve seem to be zipping by really quickly and I've been working on making a list of all the things that still need to be done. I've been spending an hour each evening working on a few fabric Finnish stars that I want to give to my mom and my mother in-law and the children requested felt dragons earlier in the year after seeing the one I had made for Michaelmas so they have been cut out and are waiting to be sewn...

but when we lit our three candles last night for advent it reminded me of the peace and joy of the season that we are embracing and that I need to focus less again on the hustle and bustle of 'getting it all done' and more on family and togetherness. I found that in the past I get very caught up in doing and this year is all about the enjoying *grin*.

So far I think I'm doing a pretty good job at it and the sparkle in the children's eyes has never been so bright :)

Hugs,
Rosina