Creating Traditions

DS is now a year old and our little family is working very hard at starting some traditions of our very own and finding some rhythm in what can be a crazy season.

DS's birthday falls towards the end of November near Thanksgiving. This year I made him a birthday crown which he wore on the day of his party and on his actual birthday. It turned out really nice and has an accorn, a maple leaf and a pilgram on it. I followed the wonderful tutorial from Nicole at Frontier Dreams. I was also impressed and greatful that family and friends respected our no plastic toys rule. DS was blessed to recieve some beautiful wooden toys as well as gift cards which were used for some bigger ticket items we needed/wanted (like a much needed gate for the bottom of the stairs and a wooden riding toy).

On Thanksgiving morning I shared one of my favorite traditions with DS, getting up early and taking him for a walk, enjoying the time outside and everything that we have to be grateful for. I find it also helps center me for all of the family craziness that ensues later in the day.

It seems that we were then immediately in the Christmas season. We have several new traditions this year.

With DS being just a year old it seemed that my collection of beautiful handblown glass Christmas tree ornaments was not going to be practical and I was at a bit of a loss on decorating our Christmas tree. I decided that we would aim for a mostly non-breakable, homespun tree this year that incorporated more natural materials. The result has been lovely. I crochet chained about 15 yards of garland for the tree out of red wool and needle fleted an angel for the top of the tree.

For ornaments I tied pinecones on the tree with red yarn. I also hung up lots of bells, some Swedish straw ornaments, some non-edible cut out gingerbread ornaments made from apple pulp, spices and glue (it smells incredible) and some beautiful wood ornaments I bought at the Richmond Waldorf School's Holiday Bazaar.

I did also hang a couple of glass ornaments including some toadstools, a pilgram and a gnome that I just could not resist.

Also, I put this one little plastic elf on the tree. He is very special to me as he was always on the tree at my grandparents house as a kid.

I also started using our wooden advent calendar with doors on it to hold an ornament for each day which we hang up as a family. I am still needle felting these ornaments. So far they have include a holy leaf, toadstools, a pickle (like the German glass pickles) and figures from the nativity.

(more on our traditions and celebrations to come later)

Happy October! Pumpkin Granola Bars

Happy October! I just love this time of year with the cool mornings and beautiful afternoons! In honor of the month, I made some pumpkin granola bars this afternoon. Here's the recipe as closely as I can figure out to what I did. I have a bad habit of just throwing in a handful of this or that when I cook. I'll test this exactly next time and then make any necessary edits.

This is my own recipe loosely based on a couple of other granola bar recipes I found. Hope you enjoy them!

Pumpkin Granola Bars
2 cups rolled oats
1 cup flour
1/2 cup oat bran
3/4 cup sesame seeds
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup sugar
1 t salt
2 t cinnamon
1/2 t nutmeg
1 cup raisins
1 egg
1/3 cup canned pumpkin
1/4 cup coconut oil
1/3 cup maple syrup
2 T molasses
2t vanilla extract

Mix first 9 ingredients in a large bowl and make a well in the center. mix wet ingredients together and then add to the dry ingredients. Mix well. Pat into a greased 9x13 baking pan. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Cool for 8 minutes and then cut into bars.

Happy Michaelmas!

We are celebrating Michaelmas for the first time this year. Today I made dragon bread which smells so good! Can't wait till dinner tomorrow to have some. Traditionally, Elizabeth I of England decreed that Goose with Onion stuffing should be served on Michaelmas. We will be having game hens instead because a) I couldn't find a goose and b) there was a great sale on game hens and c) they still feel special. I will make the onion stuffing to go with them. We will also have carrots and blackberry pie which are also part of the old English Michaelmas celebration. I am still working on finding the right verses/story to read at dinner tomorrow but hope to make this a new, meaningful and enjoyable celebration/tradition for our family. This is a great article on Michaelmas traditions http://www.medadvocates.org/celebration/september/sep_29.htm

I am also using this time to work on some personal growth and self improvement. The concept of will is an improtant one associated with St. Michael. To that end I have been working through the enneagram with my women's group at church and have started the exercises from A Journey Through Waldorf Homeschooling.

It's been a while...

It's been a While but my Adventures of a Stay at Home Mommy blog is back up and I am eady to get back to blogging. I've missed it. Right now a lot of my time and energy is going to my knitting felting venture Under The Old Oak Tree.

DS is now 10 months old. It seems hard to believe. He has three teeth as of today and is very close to walking. I am also busy preparing for his upcoming birthday. My goal is to give him some really lovely homemade gifts including cars such as the ones I have on Under The Old Oak Tree.

There are a few things I would like to talk about in the coming weeks including the reasons we make choices to limit ds to natural toys and some of our recent kitchen adventures (such as sourdough bread).

This is all I have time for today, but I wanted to at least get back in the habit of writing a bit here!