On The Last Day of September

On my walk this evening I decided that since it was the last day of September today that I should share all the pictures and things from this month that I didn't share before October began tomorrow. It's been a busy month, adjusting to all the changes and finding our new/autumn rhythm. I think we have done really well (even if I am not keen on the amount of sitting and screen time that I am experiencing each day). 

This picture of my dad arrived via email from my 100 year old grandfather. Be it mail or email he always sends us the best things! This one arrived two days after my dad's birthday. 

The girls and I went to Friends Day at Old Sturbridge Village. The weather was glorious and the Village looked beautiful! 

This silly hen (that we named Edna) was in the hay loft in the barn at the Freeman Farm. She made it quite  known that she was not happy we were in her barn! 

In the words of Emma: "Our hens have gotten so big so fast." 

The hazy sun. This is the day that the smoke from the wild fires out west arrived here in New England. 

Grace tries out her new calligraphy pen. 

The latest letter from my grandfather. I realized I hadn't shared it when it arrived in August so I posted it on Facebook the other day since we know how much everyone enjoys reading his letters. 

The girls lead the youth group of the church I work at in a tie dying event. They did such a great job!
It's great to still see the youth of FCC even if we can't be together right now! 

Happy First Day of Nature School! 

Clearly, it was a yellow and blue themed day for our girls! 

Emma with one of her creations from Sunday. 

Life with a cat is never dull. 

Grace's Tudor family tree. 

Emma's Lime Cycle main lesson book page. 

Grace's class made kites on Michaelmas Day!

Emma's Michaelmas dragon painting. 

Since our church has decided to continue to only gather virtually the Children's Ministry Team has created Faith Discovery bags. Each month a new fruit of the spirit will be focused on and each month each family is given a new bag with activities and crafts and songs centering around that month's fruit. September was love and so we added a sweet heart to the paper and placed it on our kitchen table as a reminder to us about what love is. 

I know my blogging has been very sparse, and it is my hope that it won't always be this way, but for now I hope to at least get a few posts up each month with an end of the month wrap up like this one. I know that there are people that enjoy keeping up with what we are up to in this space of ours, and I like having a record of our days too. After all, there's a decade's worth her and a lifetime still to go! xo

On The First Day Of Autumn

The girls and the hens are super excited for the first day of autumn! xo

As Summer Ends

The last bouquet of summer! We are so excited for autumn to arrive tomorrow! xo

Some Thoughts

The girls and I are starting to find our new rhythm. Much of what we have done all these years is staying the same, the only difference being that I now have work to do while they do their lessons. I realized a few things this evening as I was making dinner: 

1). The strong foundation we spent all those years laying has brought us to this moment.
2). They were more than ready for this. 
3). That I am so completely grateful they have grown up as Waldorf children. 
4). That even if I had not returned to work chances are really good that I would be pretty bored right now since they don't need me to guide them through their days like I did when they were younger. 
5). That I am so very grateful I still get to be home and witness to all the amazing things this year is holding for them. 

Being a mama is my absolute joy in life and my true calling. It is the greatest job I have ever had. It is what I know without a doubt that I am best at. It's not to say that I haven't made mistakes or had doubts, goodness knows I have, but it's the one thing in my soul that I know I was meant to do. I definitely had some weepy days leading up to returning to paid work (and as recent as this past Monday as a matter of fact) but something Monday night (and Tuesday morning) clicked. I think it's that we found our rhythm and that it was familiar and what we all were looking for and needing. And as soon as that happened I started to realize that for as much as things may have changed, in the end, they really have stayed the same. xo 

Lesson Kitty

In which Gretchen keeps a close watch on Grace during lessons. xo

Catching Up

Hello! Gracious, this me back at full time paid work thing is sure putting a cramp in my blogging! Not that I had been as consistent these last few years as I had in the years prior but it's definitely been at an all time low since I went back on August 12th. Honestly, I am having trouble wrapping my brain around the fact that it's already September (and Labor Day weekend at that)! Before any more time gets by me I wanted to share some pictures from our week last week.

Last week was my first week working from home and I loved it! I am so glad that I get to be home with my sweet girls while getting paid to do a job that I am really enjoying. The girls seemed more settled in to lessons last week, and it was fun to see them gather with their class, as well as to see all the wonderful things they were working on. We are so proud of them and are so grateful to be able to add two more extraordinary teachers to our village and to their days. Seasons of Seven is truly a huge blessing. 

 One of Emma's main lesson assignments was to draw the map of Italy by hand. She was super nervous thinking she wouldn't be able to pull this off. I think it's safe to say she did an absolutely gorgeous job! 

 The artistic abilities that our girls have never ceases to amaze me. Grace did a wonderful job on her atmospheric layers. My favorite part is the balloonist she included. 

Each member of Grace's class was asked to draw a self-portrait to share during their Zoom meeting on Thursday. 

 Grace's barometer project for her meteorology block. They will be taking data using this for ten days. 

Emma wrote a newspaper article reporting on the Medici murder that took place in 1478. 

 Weekly flower picking at Ferjuian's. 

 Gretchen is a big fan of her new catnip toy!

Caroline came to visit us this long holiday weekend!  

Not the best picture but we'll go with it. Ever since I was a kid Labor Day weekend has always meant the Greek festival (the one at St. Barbara's in Orange CT when I was growing up followed by the one at Sts. Anargyroi here in Marlborough. Sadly, the pandemic means that the Greek festival wasn't able to take place this year so we had to figure out another way to score some Greek food. We were feeling on the lazy side so didn't want to attempt to make it (plus, we doubt it would have come out nearly as good) so instead ordered from Hillside Grill in Northborough. We had heard many good things about this restaurant and are happy to report they are all indeed true!This definitely filled the void left by the Greek festival and we will absolutely be ordering there many more times. 

 We started Saturday off with a trip to Boston so that Dr. David could get his Covid test so he'd be cleared to begin his twelfth year of teaching. 

Emma feeds the chickens some treats this morning.