A forest party for my little deer... and her brother too.

Last weekend we had a little party in the forest for Isabel and Kieran. Isabel is in love with deer and wanted a deer party, a new "mommy deer" for her birthday, and is going to be a deer for Halloween too.  We had a perfect, perfect party in the woods, on a most beautiful fall day.  My good friend Tara came up for the party, and I made a huge pot of Chili.  Sadly, my camera battery died before the party even began but I got a few pictures of a few of the decorations. :)

 

 And a blurry picture of my cute little bear... who is definitely a grizzly type bear looking for trouble.  I have a wonderful woodland Pinterest board full of ideas I never used. I did use these free printables with adorable animal ears. Seriously, printing them out on a rainy day will change your household into a happy woodland. In fact, I think the bear ears will be my halloween costume.  Also, this party kit on Etsy was very sweet.  So I just print and cut... the forest provided the rest of the party.

 My mom of course outdid herself with perfect cupcakes and an adoable fox cake!  Isabel has been obsessed with that cupcake stand my mom found on clearance at Michaels.  She has been talking about it for the past month and I think it was all she could have hoped for. I made a scavenger hunt and Anastasia drew clues on paper for a little treasure hunt.

 So we had a perfect day. 

 And now we are awaiting a historic storm. Most likely we will only get rain and wind, but it looks like so many people will be getting snow, and massive winds, rain and waves. I had to get face paint at Wal-Mart today and the water aisle was wiped completely clean. Its funny how people completely panic and buy out water, milk, and bread.  As if nothing else really matters as long as you have those things... so you can hydrate and have bread pudding? Anyway, we need milk and who knows if we will be able to get any in the next few days.  I can't help but wonder what tomorrow will bring, and I am praying for the safety of those closer to the storm's merciless path.

My girls are getting so big..... and it is getting so late. I need to get to bed. Until next time, be safe, evacuate if they tell you to and God bless.

My Isabel is 4!

 Isabel turned four on Wednesday! FOUR! My goodness is she a wonderful 4-year old! Her birthdays are my favorite because she is so silly, clever, beautiful, enthusiastic and a little crazy.  And she loves birthdays. She has been obsessing over her birthday all summer long. Pretty much all year long, ever since her last birthday.  So the very day was the best day ever for her. At least since she turned three anyway.

 She was very fortunate that I was teaching my sewing class in the evening, so we let her open gifts first thing... while birthday cinnamon rolls were baking!  I had been up the night before sewing her a new dress, which was a very loved gift.

 This is one of the first times I have ever sewn Isabel a dress for herself, without making a matching one for Anastasia. At least the first time in a very long time.  So I think it was special. It was also special because there are deer on the bodice which is currently her favorite animal, along with kitties.  I used Simplicity 1793 and a little bit of Storyboek fabric I was able to find a 1/2 yard of off of Etsy. I am sort of in love with it, and used a little deer square on a little wool bag:

 I am sooo happy with this bag, and Isabel put all her birthday treasures in it. I found the wool at the flea market this summer. I bought a giant box of wool pieces... several yards worth for $5!!  And so now I will be making many more lovely, wool messenger bags. I really made the bag for this:

 Isabel received a camera for her birthday! This was something she has been asking for for a while. Almost as long as she has been asking about her birthday... so kind of a big deal!  She has been taking pictures of everything, and as it has been dropped several times I am soooo glad we opted for a kids camera instead of a cheap adult camera. Isabel spent her whole birthday taking pictures of everything.  We had her favorite dinner: Spaghetti and meatballs!  For dessert I made her cupcakes and planned to ice them after my sewing class.  While I was away, Kieran fed Leia (our dog) all 12 cupcakes!!! So I ended up at the grocery store buying cupcakes (and beer) at 9pm for our little celebration. 

Isabel loves her Little-Tiny-Baby-Kitty seen in this picture, which Anastasia picked out as an early birthday gift.  I helped Anastasia come up with a gift she could make Isabel this year.  We are just learning to sew and she opted to make a sleeping bag for Little Tiny Baby Kitty.  She picked the fabric for the pillow that I quickly sewed up, as we were running low on time.  I am really proud of her efforts, and the sweet gift she was able to give her sister... made with love. 

Its hard to imagine 4 years ago I was holding my little, bald, sweet Isabel for the first time ever. I had no idea the joy and laughter she would bring to this world. Nor the mop of red hair that would become of that peach fuzz. I could never have guessed how many band-aids one child could go through or how many snuggles a little girl could possibly need.  We have had our moments, good and bad, but Isabel is my mama's girl.  My needy, middle child who I have come to need too. :) Happy Birthday Isabel!

Michaelmas Week

Brave and bold I will be, golden light shines bright in me.

 

This past Saturday was the feast day of St. Michael the arch angel, also known as Michaelmas.  This is a big holiday in the Church, and also in Waldorf schools.  For Christians it is a time to reflect on how God and His chosen ones fight the evil one, and the evil on earth.  Waldorf education focuses on being courageous and brave, tackling dragons in our own life, as the seasons shift into Autumn.  We celebrate all aspects of this spiritual day. 

 

Actually, truth  be told, this is the first year I have really worked hard to celebrate Michaelmas with my family.  Usually I don't think about it, and then I am sad that I forgot.  This year friends of ours were married on St. Michael's feast day, depending on the power of St. Michael and the angels to strengthen and deepen their love.  It was a beautiful way to celebrate with a high mass and a lovely reception, on a cool autumn night beneath the stars.  Because I was sick-ish last week and lost my voice for half of the week, I have declared this week as "Michaelmastide" and we have been slaying dragons and beseeching the power of the angels to protect us from the wicked dragon.

 We decorated with dragons and knights.  We have told many stories about St. Michael and St. George, including the story of St. Michael and the star children. (which is our favorite!).  I am hoping to do a few more things before our week comes to an end, but we will see. Today is Isabel's birthday and I decided to skip doing school today due to the other festivities at hand.

 We also made dragon bread, for the first time ever! Not too bad for a first go!

 I made this wonderful dragon from the pattern at Rhythm of the Home.  He was quite easy and turned out very sweet... and of course fierce and frightening!  ;)  I also pinned a bunch of other Michaelmas ideas on my Autumn Pinterest  board.  Do any of you celebrate Michaelmas also? 

"Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle.
Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil.
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray;
and do Thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host -
by the Divine Power of God -
cast into hell, satan and all the evil spirits,
who roam throughout the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen" 

 

May God clothe you with courage and light to defeat all the dragons in your life.