“It was this day, 3 years ago, that the Heavenly Child was born to those people whom she recognized – her parents. They named her Sophie, & that is why we celebrate today, Sophie’s birthday.”
- Me, telling my rendition of the Beyond the Rainbow Bridge Birthday Story



We have been honouring Sophie’s 3rd birthday all week.

On the actual day, we spent a lovely quiet day home as a family. This was after careful contemplation, considering what we wanted for Sophie to get out of her special day, what she likes to do and her temperament. Last year we had a huge party with friends & family in Nova Scotia…but that was more for us – the grown ups – than for her. Now that she has a greater awareness of what a birthday is, we chose not to have a party or to travel. Originally we were going to go to a Fiber Festival in New York; instead we opted to do one later in the season in Vermont. That way we could stay home & let her soak in her day.



Party girls. :) Sophie was very proud & took in the day almost stoically. She really reminded me of her grandmother (my late mother) – very pleased with the preparations but very matter-of-fact about the whole thing. Just soaked it all up with a quiet fortitude.



The birthday ring was waiting for her at the breakfast table.



Lighting the 3 candles, and blowing them out. :)







Gluten free pancakes with fresh blueberries for breakfast – a favourite by both the girls. What are they like? Taste pretty much like the traditional ones. :)



Cake makers. My two lovely assistants. :)





Sharing a “meal” while the cake bakes.



Time to decorate!



To decorate the cake, we used blueberries & chocolate chips. I started by placing them round the top & bottom to give her an example to follow. Sophie then took over.



Hmmmm….careful, detailed & deliberate. That is Sophie! :)





Posing with her masterpiece. :)

Sophie asked that we put candles in her cake as well…so candle blow out, part two… :)







Pass the cake!

The most memorable moment for me was bedtime. You see I was trying to find just the right time during the day to tell the Beyond the Rainbow Bridge birthday story. To paraphrase, it is the story about how one day a heavenly child notices earth & wants to live there, and so chooses her future parents. Then one day when they are ready, the heavenly child & her angel travel across the rainbow bridge, down the spiral staircase & through the gates to be born to those familiar people & that is why the day is celebrated in her honor. You can see different versions of this story in Barbara Patterson’s Beyond the Rainbow Bridge. It is not a story meant to be read to your child but to be adapted & told in your own words…

So, at bed time, we sang our usual “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star”. Ava went to sleep almost immediately. I had told Sophie earlier that we would be telling a special story, but she did not seem to be interested – in fact she downright rejected the idea once I put her in bed. So as I kissed her goodnight & got up to leave, I heard her little voice whisper to me, “I want to hear story”. So I crawled into bed with her, & told her…

Her reaction, was not what I expected, at all. I thought she would enjoy the story, but – she hung onto my every word. At the end, she wiped tears from her eyes & flung her arms around me in a big hug. We held each other for sometime crying sentimental tears together. It is such a powerful reminder, that we cannot under estimate what our young children understand, or the depth of their own spirituality.

It was indeed, the perfect day. Happy Birthday, dear Sophie. Welcome to year 3!

We headed to the park today to find items to add to our nature table.

But first, a swing… :)







We live in a suburban area so there is no forest within walking distance for nature walks. We are very lucky to live by a park which has many trees, so there is a still potential to find natural objects in this highly populated area.





Colorful leaves, acorns & flowers were ready for the taking. Once we had enough items we headed home to add them to the nature table.



I light the candles on the table & Sophie & I get to work, quietly arranging the items to our liking. Ava (almost 18 months) tends to not be interested in the nature table as far as set up is concerned, but she does like to visit it throughout the day.

Today we started getting the house ready for fall, inside & out since the equinox starts officially this evening after 11pm. The yard needs a lot of work in general but we at least made the front step look festive. :) The nature table was prepped so that it would be ready for any new treasures we find on tomorrow’s nature walk.



We have a new nature table! The set up we had before was not ideal, and this table is the perfect size for items & the best use of space.

On a recent trip to Vermont, we encountered the Camelbak water bottle. This bottle is well sought out by outdoor enthusiasts for its bite valve…I found this out after the fact. The BPA free plastic version seemed really durable & we decided to get the kids’ bottle for Sophie as an upgrade from a sippy cup. She was turning 3 & the bottle was for ages 3 & up.

What we weren’t expecting, was that there would be a battle over the bottle. You see, my 17 month old adored the water bottle as well. Seeing that the bottle was rated for ages three and up, and the bite valve looked rather thick to us, we didn’t think she would pay any attention. Maybe a case of I want what big sister has, but we learned our lesson that if we buy for one, we have to buy for the other. :)



So I researched Camelbak here in Canada to see who sells them but ultimately we went back to the US to purchase from the same place.



Happy as a clam. :)

Here is my interpretation of wet-on-wet watercolor, which I introduced earlier this month to my almost three year old. The color is able to move more freely on the damp paper than it would on dry paper, so the child is able to experience the color with purity of movement. The goal is not artistic technique but to experience & get to know color. Therefore, in very young children you introduce only one color at a time, starting with the primary colors.



The painting is done on painting boards. You can buy actual painting boards or simply find supplies at the hardware store or art/craft store that would work in the same manner.



We soaked a high quality water paper in water for several minutes. Then, after being placed on the boards, sponged off any excess water.



Then we added paint to water in small jars. Baby food jars work well, or you can buy actual painting jars. We are working with yellow.



I explained to Sophie that Peter Paintbrush needed to get his hair wet before he gets to work. The Peter Paintbrush analogy is taken from Rahima Baldwin Dancy’s “You Are Your Child’s First Teacher” – an excellent book I cannot say enough about.

Then we get to work. I paint along side Sophie. I made a story up as we painted about a little girl who loved the color yellow so she wanted to paint the whole world that color. I still am learning the art of story telling so I thought I did horribly – but she seemed happy with the story.





I used back & forth motion as I filled the page with yellow while telling the story to encourage Sophie to not be shy & experience the color on her own.



When we finished we washed Peter Paintbrush’s hair until it was all clean.



Our painting project left out to dry.

Another outdoors project we did this summer was making our own felt. Colored wool and water meant a nice tactile project for my two year old that we enjoyed together.



On a baking/cookie sheet we started to lay our first color of wool.



Once we loosely covered the bottom of the cookie sheet we added the next colour, gently patting it down as we went.



Two more colors, and we had the thickness we desired.



I poured boiling soapy water onto the wool. The hotter the water the faster/easier it is for it to felt.



Until the water was cool enough to touch, we used potato mashers to give the wool friction & start the felting process.



Once the wool was cool enough to touch – the fun really begins. We started pressing down the wool using our fingers.



Quickly we start to see a sheet of felt emerge.



I gently place the wool onto a bamboo matt. Then we roll it up, and roll it back & forth both slowly & vigorously to add more friction & complete the felting process.



A quick rinse…



Then laid out in the sun to dry.

The project with the completed felt coming soon. :)

Rick & I love a good gadget. We are also very skeptical of hype so we are usually reluctant to buy a new one. Take the new eReaders that on on the market: such as the Nook from Barnes & Noble or the Kindle from Amazon. Are they really as good as they say, and why would I want to download books? I like the feel of a real book in my hands, the smell of the pages, the crisp feel of the paper as you turn the page…

The main inspiration for getting the Nook was due to the fact I hate reading pdfs on a computer. I have a laptop & I find the back lit screens very harsh. They even can lead to migraines. Also we were getting ready to depart for a trip across the border & I longed for something I could read the Earthschooling curriculum on that was portable. So I started looking at my options. Rick & I both agreed the Nook was affordable and sounded just up our alley. Using Android technology – just like the phones, the Nook is hackable. For us geeky types the opportunity to tweak & add apps was appealing. Also Barnes & Noble seems to be dedicated in updating & evolving their software.

So a trip into Barnes & Noble and we were sold right away. We chose the version with wi-fi for $149. They also have one for $199 which also includes 3G – but seeing that we are not from the US we decided to pass on that. I also purchased a cover for my Nook. Other than the fact that it protects it, it is nice to actually be able to hold it like a real book.



I love this gadget. It goes everywhere with me, & I sneak reading in where ever possible. Adding files is a breeze – it’s drag & drop similar to a flash drive. The screen is a matte black & white that mimics that of the pages in a printed book. It is not back lit – you have to use an external light source which I love – no migraines or eye strain. It makes reading my downloaded projects, curriculum & tutorials a breeze…since I can read on the go, I am being more efficient!

The screen itself is not touch screen but the strip at the bottom is. You can advance pages with the buttons to either side or flick the touch strip in the same manner you would to turn the page in a paper book. The response drags a bit, but nothing I can’t live with or really notice.



You can also customize the look of your Nook by using your own photos for wall paper & screensavers.





The only downfall, is that it does not display photos well with my pdfs. This is because the Nook resizes the document to fit its screen, so in order to be able to read the text, it omits the pictures. Hopefully this issue will be addressed in the future. But if not it still doesn’t sway me from using it.

What about downloading books? If you are outside the US and looking to buy the Nook to download books – forget it. You are not able to download outside the US. I tried it with my US address just to try, but it tracks your geographical location. Rick tells me there are ways around this, but for me, we go to the US enough that I can wait & download books while we are there. At the moment, I am completely content with using it to read my pdfs.

Read about my other latest purchase, a Canon EOS Rebel DSLR camera on my creativity blog. :)

While my dad & brother were here for a visit, we decided to check out the Eco-Museum in neighboring Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue. After spending a wonderful afternoon there, we wondered what took us so long to go! We definitely would like to become friends of the zoo next year, and get a yearly family membership.





The animals who inhabit the Ecomuseum are all indigenous to the St. Lawrence Valley region, and are either rescued or would otherwise not survive in the wild.





What impressed us the most about the animals was how CONTENT they were…I don’t think we have ever visited a zoo where the animals looked so calm & happy. You can tell they are well taken care of and a great deal of thought goes into their man made habitat.



Besides the animals, a wonderful boardwalk encircles the park, which makes it an enjoyable place to go for a walk. Certain parts of the boardwalk truly make you feel one with nature (so yes, certain times of the year – you will want mosquito repellent. ;)).



The swamp for example, was so still & eerie with a healthy layer of green algae. You wonder how anything could live in it. Then, with curious observation you start to notice it is teeming with life!

We look forward to our next visit.

This summer we added to our outdoor play space mobile by making a sun out of a styrofoam ball, pipe cleaners, and then needle felting two shades of yellow wool over top.



Sophie (age 2.5) helped hold the pipe cleaners as I placed them around the ball.



Once we got them where we wanted, I started needle felting the pipe cleaners.



This is a project I was making up as I went along, so after I had one pipe cleaner felted I tested to make sure it would indeed poke into the Styrofoam.



Success!



It was a bit of a tedious process, but Sophie had her own project on the go. :)





The finished project…




At home with the cloud & the butterfly. :)

I would recommend that a layer of wool be needle felted over the entire body to make sure the pipe cleaner rays are in there good and snug.