{This Moment} We've Been Flocked!

{This Moment} A Friday ritual. A single photo -no words- capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you are inspired to do the same leave a link to your moment in the comments section below. Wishing you all a lovely first weekend in June! xo 

Last Day Of Co-Op

Today was the last day of co-op! We all gathered together for games, tie dying, a potluck and just general fun! It was the perfect way to end the year!

The girls and I are so grateful to have been invited to be part of this very special group. Each of the mamas and daughters who are a part of it are also Waldorf homeschool families and everyone gets along so well that you would think this group has grown up together. Co-op is everything that I would want a school experience to be for our girls. They do lessons, have plenty of time to play outside, work on handwork and play old school games (among other wonderful "Waldorfy" things). It really is what school should be for all children! It is my hope that this co-op will continue for many more years to come! xo 

In Remembrance

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow,
Between the crosses, row on row, 

That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly,
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead. Short days ago 

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders Fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders Fields.

-John McCrae

{This Moment} Last Day Of Nature School

{This Moment} A weekend ritual. A single photo -no words- capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you are inspired to do the same, leave a link to your moment in the comments section below. Wishing you all a reflective and meaningful Memorial Day weekend. xo 

And That's A Wrap!

Celebrating the last day of morning lessons with waffle cones! A perfect ending to another amazing year! xo

Sunday Night At The Gala

These two have danced together since they were in kindergarten! I love their friendship and I love that they were on the same team this year! Here's to many more years of dance and friendship! 

Such a sweet trio. 

Emma and Sydney. And yes, Emma is wearing my shoes! 

 Grace was giving the "love of dance" award. 

Emma was given the "most flexible" award. 

My plate of yummy dessert! 

Junior team picture. 

Grace is wearing her half-soles that were still in my bag from their performance at church that morning.

Another wonderful dance team gala and another perfect ending to a fun filled year of competitive dance! Love our dance family! xo

On Youth Sunday

To say that David and  I are in awe of these two would be an understatement. Yesterday during morning worship the girls performed the dance they choreographed and they did so brilliantly and beautifully! When the idea of them performing a dance during Youth Sunday was first brought up two weeks ago I absolutely had my reservations. Never before had they choreographed anything, much less something that they would  be performing in front of a large audience. But they felt up to the task so we made sure to make room in our days for them to work on it. Each day before morning lessons, we'd head over to the church so that they could spend time practicing since our sweet, old farmhouse just does not have a large, furniture free, space. Watching them work together to create this piece was truly such a gift!

And so, yesterday morning, we arrived at church early for one final run through. It was then that I recorded their dance one final time (and took these grainy pictures during it) so that I could be completely present during the actual debut of their piece. Even though I had seen this dance hundreds of times in the twelve days they worked on it, something about seeing it yesterday had me rather teary. Everything came together so perfectly -the song, the costumes, their choreo-  that watching my babies perform their first ever duo brought tears to my eyes.

Many thanks to Cindy, Lauri, Michael, Christina, Nicole, Lisa, and Katie for making our girls the beautiful dancers they are today, and for giving them the skills and knowledge that allowed them to choreograph such a beautiful piece at their young ages. And thanks to Sydney for being their 'older sister", their biggest cheerleader and a total inspiration to them! We are forever grateful for all that each of you has done for them and we are so blessed to be part of the Center Stage dance family.

And finally, thank you to the amazing faith community that is Plymouth Church. Thank you for loving our girls so fiercely and so completely and for giving them (and all the children and youth of Plymouth Church) the opportunity to do something like this during worship. Thank you to Rev Will Tanner for suggesting they do something like this during Youth Sunday. And thank you to you and Rev Greg Morisse for giving us the space during the week to practice. Plymouth Church is indeed a very special place and we are all the better for getting to be part of it! xo 

Preparing For Youth Sunday

This is how our day has begun each day this week. Why are they stretching on the chancel at church each morning you may be wondering?! Well, this coming Sunday is Youth Sunday. For those who don't know, Youth Sunday is when the youth group plans and runs the entire worship service (similar to Children's Sunday when the Faith Workshop Children plan and run the entire service). Grace and Emma have been hard at work choreographing a dance that they will perform during the service. I cannot tell you how blown away we are by what they have come up with in such a short period of time (the idea that they perform during the service was only suggested to them ten days ago)! This is the first time they are choreographing and they have done such a stellar job working together to create such a beautiful piece! I am sure there with be (at least) a few teary eyes in the congregation this coming Sunday. I love that our girls are growing up in a denomination like the UCC and a church like Plymouth. To grow up in a place that is so welcoming and supportive is such a gift! The way that our faith community values and encourages children/youth/families is second to none! xo

Dancers Who Knit.....

 knitters who dance. xo

{This Moment} Among The Tulips

{This Moment} A weekend ritual. A single photo -no words- capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. Wishing you the loveliest of weekends. xo 

Wednesday At The Tulip Farm

On Wednesday, we went back to Wicked Tulips, except this time we had my mom and my sister with us! It was another absolutely glorious day made even more fabulous by having all five of us together! It was truly the perfect early Mother's Day gift to my mom and myself. Emma has already decreed that this is now a tradition and none of us disagreed! Next year though, we must plan an even longer visit to the farm as our time together wasn't nearly long enough! xo

Created By Emma

I love when I stumble upon random projects like this. 

It's always neat to see what they've spent time creating! xo

{Wordless Wednesday} A Page From Grace's Main Lesson Book

Our First Visit To Wicked Tulips

Today's adventure took us to Wicked Tulips! It was the first time we have been there and as luck would have it, it won't be our last! I had mistakenly bought tickets for Tuesday instead of Wednesday for my mom, my sister, the girls and I. When I realized my mistake, I  quickly checked the website and was so very grateful that tickets were still available for Wednesday. I wasted no time putting five Wednesday tickets in my cart. I was hoping to sell the Tuesday tickets but no one came forward to buy them. When I woke up this morning and saw that it was an absolutely gorgeous day I knew that it was a sign that we were actually meant to go today and tomorrow! And what a wonderful blessing that turned out to be! It gave us a chance to do a dry run and to report back to my mom and sister all that we learned in preparation for our visit there tomorrow. We cannot wait to go back and share this very special place with two of our favorite people! xo