Capturing the Light

Now that the days of light are shorter, it is time to take hold of the sun's rays and enjoy them! Here are the beautiful window stars that the girls and I made together.

~Mia's star~~Vivienne's Rainbow~

Some of our other highlights for the weekend:

The kids and I had a ball at the family contra dance sponsored by a local charter school. Mia would have loved to sashay the night away! It really was a delight, with the live Irish-Appalachian music and incredibly talented caller, Beth Molaro. If you are wondering what Contra dance is, don't worry I hadn't heard of it until recently. Here is a wonderful example of a dance and music here -Belfast Contra Dance .

(please pardon the blur...we had low light)

Vivienne put on a puppet theater for us. It was a tale of an old woman and a gnome.

~granny in her car, riding over the bridge, looking for the gnome~

~ there he is!~

Dress-up time! Vivienne helped Jasper create his pirate look.

Making star baby ornaments with felt. I found a simple way to let Vivienne experience needle felting with less risk of getting fingers jabbed. I used a star cookie cutter and stuff the wool inside. The form keeps the needle at a safe distance from fingers. I still supervise, and don't necessarily recommend that five-year-olds needle felt!

More paper crafting - We all worked on our Michaelmas lanterns, some yet to be completed! Vivienne made lovely snowflakes and ornaments cut from cardboard.

For snowflake inspiration, check out this book, Zoo Flakes ABC - it has amazing animal snowflakes from A to Z, and shows how to design your own.

Vivienne's lantern~ Mia's drawing~

A dramatic shift has occurred in the last couple of days. The leaves have dropped from the trees, forming a blanket of oranges and browns below. And the weather has turned cool and wet, the mountain peaks even have a dusting of snow now. It is time for hot baths and family evenings by the fireside. I love this soup-eating, tea-sipping, knit-by-firelight season! As the days draw shorter, I feel the internal shift too. The peaceful solitude draws me inward, my mind quiets and my dreams deepen. I count my blessings...

Velour bunny basking in the fire warmth (doesn't he look real?)

We send our warmest birthday wishes to our beloved Grammy and Granddaddy in Virginia! XOXO