Block Party

This evening our neighborhood had a block party and a wonderful time was had by all, especially the boys who got to hang out in (and then get a ride in) a neighbor's Model T Ford. Very very cool. And Z made a new friend...

A Little Drop Spindle

Look what Z has learned to do! Pretty cool if you ask me.

Afternoon hike

Gopher snake

Storytelling

Mom I want to tell you a story...

First I need to lay down. Take a picture of me laying down...

Ok, Once upon a time there was an old man...

Goody O'Grumpity

The book Goody O'Grumpity was a side lesson this week and we read it, Z recited the poem from it aloud, and then we all worked together to make the spice cake from the back page. Z even got some fraction work in because, instead of the several spices it called for, we only had pumpkin pie spice, so we had to add all the component spices together. A nice side lesson. And apparently Z already has a handle on fraction basics.

The cake though? It did not turn out well. And frankly, calling it cake isn't completely accurate. It is more like a sweet, heavy bread. Maybe it was our yeast, maybe not, but it came out heavy and dry and didn't rise much at all. Really unsuccessful. It did smell fantastic while it was baking though. But, not to be deterred, and refusing to waste, today we had Chocolate Bread Pudding for breakfast, made from the leftover failed bread. (oops. Cake.) This was infinitely more successful.

So a little of Goody O'Grumpity and a little of Joseph Had a Little Overcoat (Joseph had a little overly heavy Spice cake?) all in one week.

Corner View: The Great Outdoors

This is a local Seal Rookery here in coastal Southern California where the harbor seals return every year to have their babies. We never miss it. This year while we were out there we spotted, in addition to the seals, pelicans, sanderlings and a pod of dolphins in the water.




On a different day, we headed inland just a touch to play in the creek in a local National Forest. The kids built dams, attempted to climb the cliff faces, dismantled dams, discovered they could use rocks to write on other rocks and had a wonderful picnic lunch - all with friends.


This is a post as part of the Corner View project begun by Jane at Spain Daily. Dro by and follow the links to some other wonderful treats from around the world.

Joseph Had a Little Overcoat

We are huge fans of this book around here (and the others illustrated and written by Simms Taback) and as luck would have it, he lives in the same town as we do! The local Museum has a children's book exhibit that we saw yesterday that is simply magical. I didn't get many good pictures out of it thanks to my lack of flash, but one of the docents at the museum made clothing pieces from the book that kids can try on and follow through the story. Totally cool, although I think I was more impressed then my kids were. We even got to see the Caldecott Medal he won and the program from the ceremony. Oh and the Happy Meal box he designed. And we found a book by him that we have added to the must buy list (Kibitzers anf Fools: Tales my Zayda Told Me)

There was also a reading corner where the same docent had made costumes to match several other of the books. King Arthur from Excaliber, Robin Hood, Loud Emily, the Rebozo from Nana's Big Surprise (which was gorgeous!).

Corner View: Shopping

We regularly visit the Farmer's Markets around here. It is my single most favorite thing about living in California. The beautiful fruits and vegetables all year round are a wonder. Today we went to a new-to-us market because I was unable to get to my regular one due to a plumber appointment at the last minute. (Aren't they always at the last minute?)

Anyway, the foods were amazing and, as usual, I spent too much. But how can it be helped when there are tables that look like this:

Note the hand sanitizer in the middle. Hello flu fears!

Meant to add: I posted this although I am not an official participant in the Corner View thing started by Jane in Spain, but it is interesting to follow. 

Corners of my kitchen - Passover edition

A few snapshots from the kitchen here on the 2nd day of Passover:

From Handwork

What we found this morning taped to all the jam I made for Passover. MBPJ = Mom's Best Passover Jam. It is awfully nice to be appreciated. :)

From Handwork

This is an actual unstaged shot from my kitchen right now. I had half bananas left over from lunch, so I decided to make banana farfel muffins, so I moved the matza out of the way, opened my binder, moved over the photocopy of DH's mom's Passover notebook and got the recipe out. And I realized that this is a picture that could be taken most every single day during Passover. Handwritten recipes and lists throughout the generations. Makes me smile.

And I am enjoying the smell of Banana Farfel Muffins baking as I type this. They will be complained about because the apple ones are so much more popular. The recipe for these is also my MIL's (OBM) and it wouldn't be Passover without them. My 4yo probably would starve without them! 

From Handwork

And of course the ever-present matza crumbs mingled with jam smears. These are everywhere, they are just easier to photograph on a plate!

Splashing in the creek

From Homeschooling

The other day we headed off with some friends to play in the creek about 30-40 minutes away from us where there is a national forest.  It really was a wonderful day. We splashed (even me. by accident. Twice.) and we had a picnic lunch with friends. I think the "with friends" part is the key element to the whole thing. Everything is more fun when you aren't doing it alone, huh?

And yet doing things with other people is really hard for me. I love it, but it really is hard to ask without seeming like you are bothering them or that they don't like you enough to go and do stuff with you. Those lessons of early schooling get in there deeply, don't they? The unofficial ones I mean.

I heard a podcast of a story from NPR today about a movement titled "Wanna Start a Commune?"  or alternatively titled Cul-de-sac Communes, which I like better, and I smiled to myself. This is cohousing of the retrofit variety, a passion of mine for years. We tried a forming cohousing group on when we moved to this new area of California but the whole thing was too mired in meetings and consensus and ended up slowly dying away after a group camping trip when we realized that it really was never going to happen. And honestly, the whole concept of building a neighborhood seemed opposed to what we really wanted out of a home and neighborhood. Condos are for short term living. Not to mention the unnecessary waste of building yet another development. 

Now here in our neighborhood we have, not a commune or even cohousing, but neighbors. Friends with whom we go trick-or-treating, share a much too large batch of cookies, send kids back and forth for playing, gather for impromptu bicycle riding a few times a week, etc. It would be wonderful to add a layer of commune on top of that, kind of like those pages in the encyclopedia which had the human body with clear plastic pages with bones and muscle group overlays. Just a light blanket of togetherness and community, without all that love-in, bath-free, hatin' on the man stuff.

One of my blog friends (used to be in-person till that move) has a neighborhood that I picture as perfect for this (Sheree, I'm looking at you! I would put a direct link to some of your neighborhood stuff, but I can't seem to find anything right now. Of course.) Suffice it to say, neighborhood movie nights, block parties, potlucks and progressive dinners sound pretty great. And now my cookie bars are done and we are, believe it or not, off to a neighborhood bike ride.

A little more Springtime

Today we set off to see the baby seals at the Carpinteria Bluffs. We also saw Dolphins, Brown Pelicans, Snowy Plovers, many lizards and, of course, seagulls. We also saw the springtime displays of wildflowers spread across the bluffs in amongst the sage. Lots of Golden California Poppies and mustard and a few others we didn't recognize, including this lovely one being visited by a bee. (It looks like a pale morning glory to me. Pretty sure it isn't though)

We even did a little geocaching today, but nothing serious.

Happy Anniversary!

Yesterday was DH and my 11th anniversary. 11 years. And each year at this time something seems to happen to keep us from celebrating for one reason or another. This year it is the economy and its stranglehold on DH's company. But they did spend the last week in San Francisco for the annual Game Developers Conference (GDC) and DH participated in - and won 2nd place in - the annual charity poker tournament they hold. His prize was what he brought home for our anniversary present:

From Woolfairy

He has mentioned before how he would like to buy one of these for me, but we (especially me) could never see the sense in spending so much money for this. Oh how we were wrong. It has been a member of our family for a day now and it is a true pleasure to have around. 

From Woolfairy

I am not generally an early adopter, but this guy is already amazing. We've loaded it with a bunch of public domain items already - many of which I was already using from online sources for homeschooling.  This just makes it infinately easier.

Wrapping up the Spring Nature Block

From Homeschooling

Funny thing about the Nature Blocks in this curriculum. I really don't like them. I feel challenged by them in a way that makes me uncomfortable. I feel unfocused, unsure and at loose ends. Usually they only last a week, but this one was a scheduled 3 weeks! 3 FULL weeks. I tried at first to get out in nature as much as possible and that was my plan, sticking in math games and reading, crafts and piano and recorder as well.  But the nature around here stymies me. There is always too little (like my concrete back yard) or too much (like the massive desert-y mountain hikes around here that overwhelm my kids.) I try my darndest to embrace the place I am living and find the season here. I mean, after all, we live in "Endless Summer" don't we? I hate driving many miles to get to real nature. And I feel ridiculous when I dream about getting away when so many people come here to go on vacation and I think about how I would never come here on vacation. Never. What am I to learn from this place? And these Nature Blocks that bug me so?

From Homeschooling

Honestly, I just don't know. I recognize that my dislike of them is because of this, but I can't break through the surface long enough to understand what I should come away with.

I even went so far as to get this book Seasonal Guide to the Natural Year - Southern California, Baja to help me know the seasons here and it really is great. I've recommended it all over the place. But still. So much driving.

Funny thing? I'm extending this into next week a touch because last year's Spring Nature Block included a trip into our friendly nearby megalopolis to do Passover shopping and to also enjoy a wonderful nature reserve right in the middle of the city. With red-winged blackbirds. And Snowy Egrets. And fish flopping out of the lake. 

Spring is coming...

A little taste of the first day of Spring here at Casa de Woolfairy

From Homeschooling

The last of the reddest and juiciest strawberries ever plus a bunch of Mommy's favorite flower - ranunculas!

From Homeschooling

Tomato seeds sprouting a few weeks after we planted them.

From Homeschooling

B's buzzing around the roses

Happy Spring!

Exploring the Creek

Can you tell we are in the throes of our Early Spring Nature Block? Today we went exploring a creek looking for tadpoles and whatever else we might find. 

From Homeschooling

No tadpoles. 

From Homeschooling

A huge cool mushroom 

From Homeschooling

and plenty of cold water.

Stones on the beach

From Homeschooling

We went to the beach today and spent hours enjoying digging in the sand and wading (and some splashing) in the surf. Digging holes. Filling in holes. Collecting ocean water to create a little pool. Finding stones to throw into the waves. Running into friends. And stacking stones.

The Old Man and the Bear

From Homeschooling

Our last activity rounding out the Animal Legends Block.

Happy 4th Birthday B!

From Woolfairy

Rabbit's Money Crop

From Homeschooling

From Homeschooling

We worked on this project together today and revisited the story as we worked. I was in charge of the trees and some of the auxiliary animals, Z did the main characters and rabbits hut. Schooling has been challenging the last few months and I realize that I am a bit burnt out. I spoke to my Waldorf mentor and she said I should back off of the writing a bit and only do a small amount every week and step up some of the other things, which is what we have been doing. I don't sweat school. Z practices music daily, we do mental math, number journeys and the occasional worksheet, try to get outside regularly and have been working through the Animal Legends Main Lesson Block. It has been much less "schoolish" around here and the butting heads problem has diminished. Hopefully I'll be back to my old self as well.