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Waldorf- Celebrating Summer Solstice

Summer Sunset- from Circle Round

Summer sun, summer sun we watch as you set
Sending your long arms of light from the west
Summer sun, summer sun you shine so bright
As you begin your return to the night

Celebrating the Summer Solstice is always bittersweet for me. I know the summer has just begun, yet I know it is the beginning of the end. It helps us remember not to get so attached to the way things are, as everything changes.
We always save the top of our Christmas tree to burn in our Summer Solstice bonfire. We planted sunflowers, and did our circle dance around the fire (well, close to the fire anyway- it was about 90 degrees outside)
Then, we offered our gifts to the fairies, who always leave little trinkets..

We came back in and had a yummy summer treat- ice cream followed by a story, To Be Like the Sun about sunflowers.

Garden Bounty

Our organic garden is really producing after 2 weeks of hot, steamy weather. We have collected a handful of pickling cucumbers (which we will be making into pickles & relish) and few red tomatoes, a few cucumbers and a pepper. And there is a lot more on the way.
Our poor zucchini has been infested with zucchini borers (big white worms with black heads that eat the fruit from the inside) so, we may not be able to save them... I guess that is how it goes when you don;t spray.

We also have these tomato bugs (?) that we are handpicking to stay ahead of them this year. The girls actually love to go out and find bugs on the leaves and knock them off (or worse, put them in hot soapy water!) So I leave that job to them!
I have 1 more round of lavender blooming and I will cut it tomorrow before it gets too hot.(Did I mention it was 83 degrees when we got up this morning?)

Fields of Lavender

A favorite springtime joy in my garden is when the lavender blooms. As a Master Gardner, I enjoy many flowers and have quite a variety around my home. Still, none compare to my love for lavender. Though they are not showy, spectacular blooms, their delicate fragrance and sweet purple buds promote mindfulness. You must bend down and brush them to release the aroma. The call me over for a smile quite often.

I have included a tutorial on Lavender Wands. I made 2 of these for my girls when they were babies and tucked them away in their baby boxes. I found them last year, still in tact and fragrant.
Click here for instructions.

Waldorf Education- 1st grade completed

We are officially finished with our school year, though I have plans to do a few lessons and reviews during the heat of summer. It gets really steamy here July & August, so it will be refreshing to stay in the cool indoors and read.

It has been a magical year! My girls have been going through their main lesson books and reading what they wrote way back in the fall, when it was all foreign to them!  So much development has happened and teeth have been lost. I thoroughly enjoyed the fairy tales and stories with colorful pictures and the way we felt into the letters.  The Math Gnomes are so playful and they help my girls so much remember what is what (they especially like minus and his ragged, holey clothes!)

What a journey this has been so far and I feel it is just the first few steps along a path to unfolding. Thank you for all that are following along with our homeschooling days.

Catching Back up

It has been a whirlwind around here with the Waldorf Expo and family coming in for the Memorial Weekend. But, I actually took a few days "off". At least, partly. If is hard with so much going on and so many people emailing and purchasing to step away from my computer.
Here are some photo's I took. Though I just realized we spent 2 days at the beach and not a picture was taken!  Oh well.. the memories are there.  :)

Kids picking the snow peas from our garden

We made homemade chocolate chip ice cream- yummy treat!

Everyone enjoyed a game of disc golf (in our backyard)

Did I mention the Banana Splits?!