Friday Foto

October is;

Fall seems to activate my memory.  I can suddenly remember things from my childhood, and memories of high school and college come flooding in.  Sometimes, I can't escape the memories I would rather forget, or the past mistakes I would like to let go of, and forgive myself for.  Fall Is a time of change.  Maybe the memories come back as a reminder that I can still, and am still, changing.  Fall is a change in the outside environment, and also on the inside.  Spring does this to me too.  But in summer and winter,  I hunker down and am more in the present, more concerned with what is happening at the moment.  Fall, is wide open.  Trust and let go, like the leaf, and drop into the loving arms of mother earth. 

It is a time to meditate, do yoga, and fill my time with favorite activities;

baking shortbread and jam leaf cookies

these dont last long. a favorite of my kids

made the largest ever focaccia sourdough bread (rosemary and black olive)

lighting candles

knitting-black

slowly, slowly, change is coming

Sewing with the boy

We have been playing a lot of bean bag games to learn numbers, and with the older kids to learn multiplication tables.  We needed more, so Atticus and I decided to make some.  He loves helping with the sewing machine, he presses the pedal while I guide the fabric through.  We filled the bags with lavender and rice.  

cute little foot

lavender 

filling the bag

my helper, proud of his work

three down

Atticus loves to play with these more than I ever imagined he would.  We toss them all the time.  Sometimes, we say the alphabet while we toss, sometimes numbers, sometimes we just giggle and toss.  With Elias and Dash, we stand in a circle and throw to each other, and with each throw, we say a multiplication problem and answer.  This movement with memorization can really help the kinetic learners, or just provide a different way to learn math than worksheets.  For me, movement helps my brain work, and for my boys, movement helps make it fun.