early darkness.

Ahhh. We finally had a week of cooler sunny days and mild evenings with that lovely earlier darkness. While on the one hand early darkness means getting tired earlier in the evening, it also means we get to spend more time out in the dark.

My guys have always been early to bed early to rise. Even when we used to try to get them to stay up a little later when they were younger (delusional, I know) - thinking they might finally "sleep in" in the mornings - the more we realized they are just early risers (as they get older they manage to stay up a little later, but are still early birds!). That means that in the summer when it got dark later, they were often inside and sleepy before the darkest night. So early dark has meant they have been able to be outside with their friends/neighbors playing in the darkness. And playing outside in the dark means they have been finding things that glow and light up!



There have been glowing bikes and helmets and skateboards, hide and seek using light up sabers, flashlights and headlamps, and walks at night with many kids and parents to see all of the 'spooky' decorations around the block.


There has even been a glowing bath, and attempts at glowing hula hoops!


I have always liked the dark - cozying up earlier, feeling the pull of home, slowing down, the cycles of the seasons. But we are not quite ready to slow down - right now the dark is to explore, enjoying being out in the evenings before it gets so cold, being with friends, having fun!

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candle decorating.

One of the crafts the boys enjoy repeating is decorating our pillar candles for each season. It is simple, but the decorated candles look nice and add to our nature or dinner table!


We have a few sets of the small cookie cutters which we use for wax and clay. We use them a LOT. For our fall candles, the boys picked nice fall colors and cut shapes out of embellishing beeswax - they picked leaves and acorns.


We then simply press the beeswax shapes onto the candles - warm the shapes up a tad bit between your hands before pressing the pieces on and it will stick. You only need a light bond. If your hands don't do the trick, I hold a match to the back of a piece to warm it a little (*quickly* - don't melt it!) before my son presses it on. When the holiday or season has passed, if your candle remains, you can simply remove the wax pieces and decorate for the next season! Decorating plain pillars also makes a nice gift.

May Faire.

Today we visited the May Faire at a local (ish) Waldorf school. We like to attend many public events at this school - they are well run, it is a beautiful place, and everyone is super friendly. Today was a great day to be outside - nice and cool. The boys played and wandered and explored for hours. There were animals to visit(goats, lamb, rabbits, guinea pig), a fairy glen, musicians, games, crafts, food, and big open spaces to run and play in. And, of course, the May Pole with a May Queen, dancers, and an orchestra of students.


For G, the big hit was the cookie table (!), a wooden "pirate tower", sandbox, and play area.


For A, he loved the animals, the May Queen (!), and one special ride. The Flying Fox. We didn't know at first if he would do it.

Well, he did. Fearlessly.


Several times. Look at that smile. It was high and fast - he LOVED it and didn't want to leave!


We hadn't realized that A was watching the May Queen - but when he bolted into the cake walk to talk to her, we realized he wanted to be introduced. She was a sweet girl (one of the students), and spoke with him a few minutes. He was so happy - he asked about her dress, her crown of flowers, and said "I've never met a real May Queen before!" She curtsied and said "Well, nice to meet you", and my sweet, sweet, 5 year old did the deepest bow he could, and replied "Pleased to meet you too." (heart wrench!!!)

Before leaving we visited a few vendors who were also moms from the school. One had hand made soap from her goats milk - the boys LOVE good soap, so we selected several. The other mom had beeswax and honey from her farm, and of course we couldn't pass that up. We now have several pounds of beeswax. Ah, it smells SO good. I can just put a big block under my pillow, right?


What a fun day!