Happy Halloween

Today is Mr. 6's favorite holiday. A day for celebrating glowing pumpkins, pumpkin muffins, and pumpkin soup. For finding the most beautiful fall leaf and crunching others beneath your feet. The knowledge that the holiday season is now upon us, and finding peace amidst the chaos. For dressing up in magical costumes that take you to another world. For remembering that the smallest gifts, like a childs smile, mean so much.

What we learned:

How to carve pumpkins that we grew ourselves in our garden!

How to find the perfect leaf

How to bake pumpkin muffins and soup.

How to battle in neverland like peter pan and captain hook!

One of the many stories we read this year was  The Little Hobgoblin: A Halloween story. 

It's a cute story that inspires the children to carve pumpkins... And imagine more!

This is one of our favorite songs to sing, especially when carving pumpkins!

Jack-O'-lantern

Happy Halloween from our family to yours.

May your days be filled with magic and Autumn splendor.

~ The Little Bruns

Get a grip

In our homeschool Mr.6 has been working on learning the letters of the alphabet. We are doing it in a way that is a bit different than mainstream. Mr. 6 is just starting to go through the 7 year change. I will leave the alphabet curriculum for another day because it is an entire post by itself if not more... but it brings me to the subject of handwriting. I believe that handwriting is becoming a bit of a lost art. Gone are the days when we commonly write out notes to each other over being able to text one another so easily. Many schools now are giving children in kindergarten and first grade laptops and other electronic devices to use, and I fear that before long there will be some children that do not know how to write all on their own, let alone know how to use cursive letters. Don't get me wrong, I think technology is amazing and wonderful, but at the right age, and when the basic fundamentals of writing have been taught and are understood completely.

All this aside, there is an art to handwriting. There is something personal with writing by hand that says; "I took the time to write this and create this from within me. This message took more than just a tap of a button, it took muscles in my body that I have perfected to be able to create this shape. Its personal. Its my writing alone and no one else's." 

One of the ways we have been working on handwriting is getting a good grip. There are reasons that if researched thoroughly, (there are MANY but two examples are here and here), point out that a good hold on the writing apparatus being used, can lead to ease of physical writing for the student in the long run, as well as ease in legibility of handwriting (or in momma terms the beauty of it!) That is not to say that if the proper grip is not obtained then it is not achievable, it just might be harder.

There are many sites that have suggested that using the gross motor skills actually helps develop the proper muscles for small motor skills. Hanging, climbing, carrying buckets filled with weight in it like dirt or water, etc... these are a few of the ideas given for helping strengthen the tendons and muscles needed for proper coordination of writing.

So what does all this mean? If your child is struggling with holding the pencil he or she is trying to write with, its possible that the correct muscles needed are not fully developed yet. There are many other factors in play of course, but an easy and fun answer is... go play!! Which is what we have been doing. Going to the parks, playgrounds, and hanging and working around the house. Trying to daily use Large Motor skills as well as small. Not because Mr. 6 can't write, but because I want it to feel easy, natural, and be beautiful for him. So what better excuse to get outside than it being amazingly educational and beneficial for those perfect bitty fingers to write with!

Sometimes the best way to get a grip is to let go and play!

May you enjoy a moment today educating your body, as well as your mind.

~The Little Bruns

Angels and Dragons: Food for the Soul





What food have you fed your soul lately? For my little ones and family our soul food recently was that we celebrated Michaelmas together. And during this time, I told MY version (an example of it is at the end of the blog) of the Michaelmas story to the children;  Soul food from a story. There are many many variations of the story,  In some stories like the book St. George and the Dragon, the Dragon is killed. In others, like at the whole school play we attended, at the Waldorf School of Mendocino County, the Dragon is tamed. The version we tell in our home is something that grows and changes every year just as the the children grow.



Watching the sky

Trails in the heavens

For some temperaments there is a bit of fascination with darkness and evil. I have found that with Mr. 6 the more I shy away from all evil and darkness (I must admit I'm a sucker for happily ever after stories and I tend to shelter him from the darker side in the stories), the more he is drawn to it. So I recently changed tactics a bit and have made sure to include "the dark side" in our stories for him. Although sometimes they ARE intense, the intensity is a journey for him. I can see his body and soul soaking in the morals and meaning and using them in his play and self expression later on in the day. If the story is going to be too strong of a tale I will soften some aspects of it, and this is why every year our stories change, getting more and more detailed and finely tuned.

Some of the points I love from this story include, 

-Good vs. evil.

-Asking for help when overcome with darkness.

 -Defeating but not necessarily killing the darkness for light to shine from within.

-Bravery and honor.

-Magic and folklore.

And the list goes on...

I was both surprised and humbled to learn that many of our friends have never heard of Michaelmas before. It is definitely something that is worth researching if you haven't.

 "The Archangel Michael is the greatest of all the Archangels

and is honored for defeating Satan in the war in heaven.

He is one of the principal angelic warriors, seen as a protector

 against the dark of night, and the administrator of cosmic intelligence."

For our family it is symbolic of the changing of the season, (it also falls on the autumnal equinox), and looking within yourself. When the darkness of the season falls deeper towards winter, we think about where we will find our light and strength.

The beautiful (girl!) Dragon this year at the WSMC.

As mentioned earlier, we attended a whole school play at WSMC. It has become a bit of a tradition and the children look forward to seeing what the dragon will look like, and listening to the songs we like to sing. When we go and see the play live, after making Dragon bread, making shooting stars (to be continued in another post) and hearing the story in many shapes and forms, the REAL story played out is AMAZING and intense to them. 



(The children watching the play in their heroic yellow silk capes. Mr 4 wanted to be held in my arms for the whole play while Mr. 6 stood hypnotized. )



The gnomes look on while the nobles react

We found out how the dragons

smoke worked after the play

My question in the last week and month has been this; what truly is food for our soul? Is it the stuff around us or the new places we visit and discover? Is it cleaning and working and chores or the special moments we share with friends and family? All things have a purpose in our lives, but living our life with purpose is something that is pertinent to everyone. Whether we are taming dragons or loving the special moments we share with each other, its important to seek sustenance for your soul and keep the inner light alive!!

 

May your dragons of darkness be tamed and may you find nourishing food for your soul!

~ The Little Bruns


Here is a little sample of the story that I tell our children:

Once there was a valley filled with happy hardworking villagers. There were farmers, nobles, gnomes, traders and a king and queen. It was a beautiful valley, lush and green and in the fall when the leaves started to change it was so vibrant in color of reds and oranges and yellows that it almost looked like the valley was on fire. 

Maybe this is what attracted the Dragon to this particular valley. For when he came he destroyed so much of the land that it seemed as if he felt like the colors were competing for his beauty. The dragon scared all the villagers away to other lands. Darkness dwelled there for a long, long time. The king and queen despaired and did not know what to do.

Finally they sent a brave soldier to find out what they could do to please the dragon in hopes that it would return to the land which whence forth it had come.  When the soldier returned, he told them that the dragon requested the most beautiful lady of the land to come with him and then he would disperse. So lots were drawn of all the ladies that were left. To the king and queens horror the princess drew the shortest straw.

The princess was a beautiful maiden, but she was also witty and brave. She was not afraid of her fate for she knew she had friends who would help her in her time of need. The princess first called to the fairy queen to find her a true warrior who was pure of heart. The fairy queen looked far and wide and finally found a noble and kind knight named George. When the princess saw him she knew at once he was the one who would save the kingdom from the darkness.

Next, the princess called to the heavens to the angel Michael. She asked him to send his strength and glory. Michael heard her call and answered her by sending shooting stars from the heavens above. The gnomes of the land gathered those stars and with them they forged a magnificent sword and shield to protect George from the mighty dragon.

Finally the brave knight George went to face the magnificently fierce dragon. When the dragon saw that the Villagers planned to fight rather that give him what he wanted, he was furious and fought a mighty battle so fierce that it lasted 3 days and 3 nights. At last, on sundown of the last day the dragon was exhausted and when George the mighty hero laid his magic sword upon the dragons crown, he was tamed. No longer could his fiery breath be used for evil. No longer could the dragon cause woe or misfortune upon the lands. Yet, with this evil taken away from him, the dragon felt lighter... and free.

The King and Queen and the people had been watching and when they saw that the mighty dragon had been overcome, they rejoiced! A great festival was celebrated and all the villagers and farmers returned to the lands. The people were happy, the king and queen were happy, the princess and George were happy, but none were as happy as the dragon. He had finally discovered that true beauty was found with the light within. As he smiled the archangel Michael smiled down from the heavens with him, and the angel knew that peace would be with the people of these lands for a long long time.

Dragon bread

Today we baked bread. But this was not our regular bread of the week, it was Dragon bread! It was SO fun, the children thoroughly enjoyed themselves. We started with mama prepping all the ingredients so we could do a story WHILE we were making the bread.

 It went like this; 

First we made a valley in the flour where the townspeople lived. Then the Dragon came, (we poured the frothy foaming milk over the land). The land grew colder with snow, (salt), and darker with soot (cinnamon). Then the townspeople called to Michael to help them, and he threw down shooting stars (sugar and chopped dried mango). And then the land began to heal and grow again, and with the sun's warmth, (egg yolk), the land was ready for the farmers to return. 

When the farmers returned they had to work the land 

(kneading the dough) 

Finally it was ready for planting, 

(kneading sunflower seeds into the dough). 

Then they left the seeds to rest and grow, (let dough rest for 1 hour).

Finally they could harvest their grains and make their bread. 

(They shaped their bread into the dragons to bake)

They were very proud to share their dragons with daddy at dinner time. We also added a verse to our normal verse at dinner which we had been practicing together;

Brave and true,

Will I be.

Each good deed,

Sets me free.

Each kind word,

Makes me strong.

I will fight,

for the right.

I will conquer the wrong.

Some other doings today by Mr 6.. 

Dragon and peg doll play, painting and handwork sewing.

Story today which was very edited by mama, but Mr 6 still LOVED it was St. George and the Dragon by Margaret Hodges. 

We also learned the song Michaelmas which you can hear here.  This song was new this year to all of us and was fun to learn.

May you always have nourishing food for your body and enlightening stories for your soul.

~ The Little Bruns

Sleeping dragon...

Wanna-be Pilot

So most people might ask themselves, what can this image possibly be???

Well, while my wife who's "in charge" of this blog (among many other things) comes from a background of Waldorf schooling. I on the other hand, come from public school. A relative difference... "consumerism". Yep that's me- I gotta have the latest and greatest technology and toys. So what do I do for fun? Paint peg dolls? No!! Flying Radio Control airplanes? OK, now you're more along my lines. So above pictured is the sole remnants of my amazing park flyer, water plane, Icon A5.

To the right is a picture of it in its former and intact glory, smoothly landing on the water as if I knew what I was doing.

This plane must have been designed for the shoreline of Lake Almanor. One of the coolest things about it is it can take off and land in water, or you can install the supplied landing gear for land operations. I had successfully flown this plane over Lake Almanor many times. However this time things didn't go as planned. In a classic case of pilot error, I got disorientated when the plane was far in the distance and nose dived straight into the lake! While you might think that it just went into water and damage should be minimal, much to my dismay the entire front end was liberated from the plane. To all the camping childrens joy, the pilot pictured above survived the aviation disaster relatively unscathed. I borrowed a nearby campers kayak and retrieved what was left; surely not enough for flight as we know it. My kids were very upset and concerned that I get the plane back. But I saw this as an important lesson opportunity- you have to be willing to attempt risk to reap the rewards. Did I have a decent crowd watching me fail? Oh yes. Was I embarrassed? Yea! Am I now a better pilot? You bet! Would I ever get to my level (OK so its nothing to brag about) without a few sacrifices? No. End consequence- a little self esteem, and priceless lessons learned.

Grounds crew preparing the runway for flight operations:

Referenced kayaking "walk (or paddle) of shame":

We like to camp at the North shore campground. If you have a water plane like this, you can take of from your camps picnic table while smoking your favorite tri-tip (we will save this for a future blog).

OK so for the kids local history lesson - does anyone know where Lake Almanor got its name from? Well, completed in 1914, Guy C. Earl who was the VP of Great Western Power named it after his daughters Alice, Martha, and Eleanor - wouldn't that be so cool to be able to name something as monumental after your children?

My grounds crew securing the runway for a rain delay:

Special moments in busy days

It's been a busy busy day today. But I still wanted to post some moments that were meaningful...

Grateful for beautiful eggs...

Dress up at 7 a.m. (our boys LOVE to dress up...) 

The children kept seeing things in the leaves while they were swinging...

"A smiling fish.." - Mr 4

"A leaf that has a baby leaf in it that's not ready to change." - Mr 6

Little Mr 4 listening to his favorite book peter and the wolf...

Little Mr 6 so incredibly happy to be playing soccer he was literally cheering WHILE he was playing. (He's the one with his hands in the air)

Some of the things learned today;
- imagination and play with dress up
- practicing pumping on the swing
- finding faces in nature
- Autumn songs
- how to find good apples and produce at the grocery store
- what yellow and red make with wet on wet painting
- being fully engaged in team play and listening to instruction
- climbing, running, etc and using lots of large motor skills to help with the small motor skills like writing!!
- interaction and socialization with peers and friends.

May your busy days be filled with  joy and special moments.

~ The Little Bruns

Kites rise highest

One of my favorite sayings is;

"kites rise highest against the wind, not with it." There are many others similar to this one, but for some reason this quote always sticks with me. I feel that it applies to so many aspects of life, and that when we are faced with challenges or obstacles and we overcome them we are stronger and wiser because of it. It could also be viewed as finding your own path and not settling for anything but what you know is the path you need to be on, no matter what others try to persuade you...
Today we embraced our high wind day and went and tried out our kite for the season... It was fun. (Although with such enthusiastic helpers wanting to fly, daddy about burned his fingers pulling the raw string on the kite!! We need to get a second handle for the "helpers"! Haha!)
Little Mr. 4 explained to me later at dinner time EXACTLY just how a kite works, and how the wind makes it fly....
I also told them the fable story about The north wind and the sun. Which is one of my all time favorites because of the moral of the story about the superiority of persuasion rather than force.

What we are learned today:

-What the wind can do to leaves and kites and candles at dinnertime...

- stories and songs about wind.

One of the boys favorites right now by George Cooper is:

“Come, little leaves,”

Said the wind one day,

Come over the meadows

With me, and play;

Put on your dresses

Of red and gold;

Summer is gone,

And the days grow cold.”

Watching the wind in the trees

May the wind blow away your worries and troubles, but never your dreams and ambitions.


~ The Little Bruns