mamaroots

nose down

So sorry for the delay in passing of days with out posting . . . I have been nose to the grind working on the second book to try and get it ready in December and in the midst I discovered this really charming little book from the early 1900's that begged to be re-printed- I will share more details definitely as they come-that one at least is in the proof stage!  I am remembering now the program the I used to make Naming Renick bogs my fossil computer down- but by the power of black tea and patience I will make it!

I wanted to first give out a fun shout to MamaRuck who shared a fabulously funny blog post about receiving Wike from last month's monster contest- it was too cute and brought a tickle to this funny bone!  I love the many pictures and stories of love that the monsters brought to everyone- it makes Jasper's day!

The weather has definitely given us a cold rainy snap so I thought I would share what I did at Root Children last Friday in case you are looking for some inside story/hand crafts to do today.  I really thought I could hold out on sharing this book till the spring but it begged to be done this month!  It is called "Bog Baby" and hold a special spot in my heart because it reminds me of going to our pond on the back field with my sis when I was little.  We were trying to catch tadpoles, but I know we would have loved catching a "Bog Baby"!  

 

If you want a simple craft idea, we made simple wood bog babies from small wood eggs you can get at most Hobby Lobby/Michaels stores, added designs with marker, cut out some wool felt wings and add to a small little paper cup or bag with wool for the habitat.  Easy Sneezie you have a little bog baby and habitat to make after reading the book together.  A tip for any of you that may do larger groups of kiddos story and craft sessions like I do, I discovered glue dots!  Like a miracle they take away the danger of the hot glue gun in combination of not having to wait for the Elmers to dry.  Look at all these cute Bog Babies the Root Children made!

Stay warm- and also be sure to stop on over at Kristine's blog Herbal Roots Zine and get a chance at winning a mamaroots critter- armadillo- BTW if you have not yet read Three Armadillos Tuff- you should it is a funny version of 3 Billy Goats Gruff!

fire spirit

I am an Aries sun and Aries moon gal so most things with fire strike a cord with me.  Our first year doing a lantern walk had its appeal indeed!  Friends came over today and Brother Sun cooperated as well by providing us with a warm autumn day! 

I loved The Lantern story that I found on-line and shared with our friends who did not seem to mind that I didn't get the cider really hot at all, more like luke warm!  Blasted non-understanding of the world of crock pots!

We did have one broken glass jar at the beginning, I heard that most lantern walks have at least one, but we took a walk around the block and then wound our way up the Friend's Path that happened to have a basket of fire spirits waiting for our friends- thank you mini battery powered candles- this one would have been harder to hide with a real candle!  The boys were excited to know the secret and led friends to the hiding spot- a little too excited at times running ahead of the young ones!

I hope you had a wonderful last hurrah to autumn today and that Brother Sun left you a ray of fire to keep near during the upcoming long dark months.  Yes Missouri does have all of its seasons for sure!

I wanted to share a couple books, last night as I was finishing the wee little fire spirits hubby and I watched a PBS special about evolution and I was reminded of the theory of the integral part fire played in our evolution from the stand point of the fire became a gathering spot- a social community builder, and also that we began to cook by the fire- I thought it was fitting to be watching as I made the fire spirits sitting next to my hubby the chef- and love the aspect of the social element fire has brought in our lives as humans! 

The one book was called Catching the Fire, and then I did some investigating with other fire elements today and found a book for the young reader called Fire- Elemental Spirit Stories- sounds right up our alley for some winter reading, especially the fire salamanders!

Speaking of fire and sparks and salamanders, I have such fun stuff to share with you in the next few days, but I will give you a hint . . .my illustrations for Elias and the Tree Stairs arrived this week, I got them scanned and the final steps for my second childrens book is happening- did I mention there is some fire in this one?  Ah for the love of stories!!!

Here are a few more pictures from our first lantern walk- keep that spark burning!

soup and bikes

Many thanks on all your well wishes, something about soup and a sunny weekend kicks a cold's booty!  I used the recipe from this blog and it was so yummy!  This coming from the non-cook of the household!  I really recommend it!

We also were able to get some fun fall pictures taken by my talented friend Amy and then also got to go check out the Bike Polo tourney in town- I had never heard of such a thing, but my hubby who is an avid biker wanted to check it out!  

There are some pictures here and we were also fortunate to find the biggest Burr Oak acorns I have ever seen in my life!  We gathered a few- don't know what we will do with them, but my goodness they are huge!  Here are a couple of our fall pictures that Amy took, it was a great day and a great way to say goodbye to Autumn.  We are getting ready for our Lantern Walk at our house with friends.  The boys and I will be making their lanterns tonight and then I am finishing some wee fire spirits to share with our friends so they may keep the spark of Brother Sun's fire with them throughout the winter.

 

If you are interested in learning more about Lantern Walks and doing one, these are some resources I found on-line:

http://theparentingpassageway.com/2009/10/29/martinmas-in-the-waldorf-home/

http://naturenest.wordpress.com/2009/11/04/martinmas-links-info-lanterns-poems-songs-stories/

http://ourhomeschooljourney.co.za/wordpress/142/how-to-make-a-lantern-for-waldorf-festivals-or-waldorf-inspired-gifts/

And I bought this PDF last year and it is full of great info:

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=30929318

Have fun!

Three Sisters

It has been slowly going through the family, but the blasted nasty head cold finally caught up with me- ughhh- something about being sick makes me just want soup and tea.  It was already on our learning list for the week to learn more about the Three Sisters for Harvest.  The Three Sisters is what some native cultures refer to as squash, beans, and corn.  We are having fun reading about these three crops this harvest season and I was working on the Three Sisters set since October.  I think they also appeal to me since I came from a family of girls- me and my two sisters I love so much make the 3 sisters!  I can't quite figure out which one of us is the different crop- ha maybe my mama knows!

So I am looking for my extra hankies and a recipe for Three Sisters Soup, we have one pie pumpkin that did not get carved that I am going to hopefully bake in the morning for the soup!  Off for some more Elderberry concentrate in my tea!

witches on the bench

The boys had a fun full week of learning at home along with our normal school routine.  Jasper read to us about "Stingy Jack" for pumpkin carving, Silas worked on letters P and F to correspond with our Fire and Pumpkin learning, and we read stories and talked about perceptions of witches.  As we enter the second day of Day of the Dead celebrations, I continually like to explore my maternal heritage of wise women that I feel are witchy in their own ways of healing, herbal work, and food growing magic!  When I asked Jasper if he would draw a couple pictures of Witches this past week, this is what he drew.  I like exploring both sides of the spectrum with our perceptions.

I treated us this harvest season with getting the Ostheimer witch and black cat for our story table.  I really like the old version of this set, but alas the new set was what was available.  We liked bringing  her into our home this harvest along with the black cat and talking more about perceptions. 

Here are a few books that are fun to explore if you are interested in exploring some witchy heritage through story:

Grandmother Bryant's Pocket

Mrs Biddlebox

Merlina and the Magic Spell

Strega Nona

So speaking of herbs . . .the winner via that wonderful Random number generator is #9- George, I will send you an e-mail with Herbal Roots Zine for November today- many kind thanks to Kristine from Herbal Roots for sharing a copy for us to share with you each month!  Enjoy!!!

crunchy dias

Crunchy gravel under bike wheels to crunchy leaves under our feet, yesterday was a crunchy day.  The weather finally cooperated with us and gave us a lovely Halloween Day!  I was still reluctant to put my booty on the bike for the day but once we were out on the trail and I had my thermos of hot tea near by I was quite content to be riding.  The fuzzy tan and black pillars were all over so we had to work hard not to squash them- what is that farmers almanac saying about them??

Something about seeing people in Halloween costumes on bikes is just so much more funny than just in costumes!  We were able to have a nice ride for about 15 miles and then get back home in time to turn the front garden bed into the graveyard, blow the leaves from the drive way and quickly put paint on the boys faces before trick or treat time!  It really was just one of those fun days even if I did not make a Halloween dinner Martha Stewart style!  

By the end of the night my skeleton and dragon were worn out- mental note to do a bike ride before trick or treating again next year!  Hubby and I ended the night with pumpkin beer, newt sludge dip (black beans, salsa, and sour cream pureed- mmmm) and the movie Coraline!

Hope your Halloween was frightfully fun!  Today we enter our Day of the Dead celebrations with family stories after dinner and a chiminea fire tonight!  Here are more pictures from our Hallow's Day!

I did a random number generator for Little Red monster and . . .

#6- Shanda is the winning of Little Red- if you could send me your snail mail addy and Little Red will make his journey to you!  Thanks Shanda, I love red tomatoes from the garden also- okay but truthfully I adore all things red!  It is my favorite color!

Don't forget to sign up for the Nov Herbal Roots Zine!  I will draw the winner tomorrow!

Samhain

the light time is ending and the dark months are beginning- I hope everything you are harvesting in your life was bountiful!  Hubby carved this lovely Jack O'Lantern!  Our planned bonfire last night was not to be- the winds of change must have decided otherwise!  So we lit a fire in the fireplace and shared the Tailypo story with cousins who were gifted their own little wooden tailypo!

It was one of the windiest days all week so we moved inside for birthday celebrations, I roasted the chestnuts in the oven- I think I still need practice!  Thanks for the pointers- I am determined to roast some yet over that open fire and to watch out for Mr. Frost!  We are secretly trying to catch a glimpse of this frosty little elf!

We are headed out for a Halloween bike ride this morning with a host of friends to a sweet little river town, I am convincing myself that it is not too cold to do that!  I am such a whimp with chilly weather!  I better go find my wool strippy socks!

I hope all of your Halloween celebrations are mysterious and fun, I wanted to post this last night for you but it was one of those nights when sleep snuck in!  Here are some of our favorite Halloween reads!  Check your library or of course your local independent bookstore!

Download Hallows reads

Give-aways!  Today is the last day to enter for our monster Little Red and also leave a comment here and get entered for a chance to win a free copy of the November issue of Herbal Roots Zine- mmmmm rosemary!  I can't wait to start it myself!  I will draw a winner Monday morning and send a copy!  Be sure to leave me a way to get a hold of you if you are my winner! 

conk

So I have been saving a bag on chestnuts in the fridge since we went to the Chestnut Festival a week or so ago and realized I forgot to share some pictures from our trip.  Now let me tell you I have had chestnuts in stuffing before but mmmmm those fresh roasted puppies were so good!

Both of the boys thought otherwise so mama got to finish their chestnuts also!   We learned that Chestnuts are different from Horse Chestnuts (conkers) and different from buckeyes- still a little fuzzy on if the trees are related but in these here parts the Chestnut trees are said to be plentiful to the area according to one of the farmers I talked to.

I have been saving back this bag to roast on an actual open fire tomorrow night as my family christens my folks new fire pit they built this fall in honor of my brother in laws b-day.  We will see how well I do roasting them on the fire!  My cooking skills are few and far from good but I do love novel ideas of cooking!

I found some instructions here, but any other pointers would be great! 

I also had to share just a complete lovely wooden piece that I fell in love with from another wood worker on Etsy- Rjabinnik it was so fitting I had to get him, oh and a little mushroom gnome also!  The chestnut and mushroom gnomies are coming all the way from the Czech Republic- I am sure they will have some fun stories to tell of their adventures and travels!  Just the sweetest shop and kind person to chat with- be sure to check them out!

Many thanks to sweet mama rae for sharing with me some of her own lovely conkers this fall and also this spot on Crafty Crow talking about crafting with acorns and conkers-

Hope you have a wonderful Thursday!  Be sure to check back tonight and I will be posting the next chance to win a free copy of Herbal Roots for November!

Monster Monday-a little red

We are down to our last Monster Monday!  Wow- that means that November is just around the corner!  Thanks so much in sharing our monster love this month and all the kinds words about Jasper's Monster art!

I was torn on what last monster to do, he had made a fun Day of the Dead fella but in the end I came back to one of the first little monster guys he made when he was about 4.  Who knew it would be just the beginning with our love affair with monsters! 

This guys is Little Red Monster, or Little Red for short!  Jasper did this fella with watercolor pencils and water.  He went on that year to also create a little zine for Little Red Monster that is still a crack up!  I thought it would be fun to come full circle with the monsters!

We finally were able to get Little Red to come out of playing in the leaf pile this afternoon to take a picture!  He said he would love to be adopted as long as you have plenty of tangerines to eat and a love of walks around a pond!  Just leave a comment between now and midnight on Halloween and we will draw a winner on Sunday- Day of the Dead for Little Red- tell us your favorite thing in red!

Silas was happy to help with drawing the name for Elder!  The winner is Hallie!  Hallie if you could send me your snail mail addy we will send Elder to you!  Also Mama Ruck if you are out there I still need your addy  to mail your monster to also- Congrats mamas and again thanks so much in sharing our monster sized love this October!

October weekends

I hope everyone had a wonderful October weekend!  Mine started off with the chill in the air, some crafty mama time with friends,  a smidge of homecoming time, and a Sunday of herbal work, going to the fleas, and some late afternoon tea party time!

The turnips were surprisingly easy to carve on Friday night, I think because mine was soft a little to start off.  It was a glorious smell of pumpkins, turnips, and squash being carved amongst the laughter, mead and lovely release ceremony at the end of the evening.  Our bonfire was a small candle but it was great to be in the company of such wonderful women as we prepare to move into the dark months of the year!

The boys and I decided also now that the days are getting shorter we wanted to do more late afternoon teas to plan out our learning time at home!  We got down our mismatched China, made a pot of tea and sipped and enjoyed a fresh batch of lemon balm sugar leaves and apples.  We flavored our tea with the lemon balm sugar- oh my so good- big thanks to Kristine for such a wonderful zine each month that we get to explore!

We have our week planned out and look forward to sharing our last Monster Monday with you this afternoon.  We are putting the finishing touches on the monster after school and will be posting our last fella and the winner for Elder! 

I am just starting to explore this lovely cookbook called Long Nights and Log Fires Warming Comfort Food for Family and Friends, that truly gets my taste buds and cuddle side all content- I am bookmarking my favorites to show hubby to make for us this fall/winter! 

Here are a few pictures from the weekend- seriously there is nothing cuter than a clip on tie for tea!  Be sure to check back after 5 for our last Monster Monday!