i see red

Hello, quickly touching base. 

• The picture above is what we woke up to this morning, a glorious day
• Boxes, still there but less intimidating, have been loving discovering lost loves and homes for some of our stuff. 
• Went to see Boy & Bear last night with support by Jungle Giants and Tin Sparrow. It was great, Boy & Bear and Jungle Giants (we missed out on Tin Sparrow as we were eating delicious Vietnamese food) were so wonderful and fun. I must admit even though I went with a few lovely friends, which was great, I did experience a few pangs, remembering beautiful and wonderfully emotional times with a couple of dear Sydney friends at gigs, they were missed. 
• Went to an amazing Visioning Workshop for the school with over 60 parents, lovely group collective on hopes and dreams for the school. This workshop will be followed up soon with more focus on the most popular visions (NVC was mentioned a number of times, yay). 
• Below are a couple of dresses (complete with little built in pockets) I have made for themarket and a sweet cord skirt. Will pop them on and show you in more detail after the market, if I still have them.
• The lovely Jude (yes 'Jude') included us in a sweet post on her blog, awww shucks. 

the very first day

             

Yes, finally we made it to Poe's very first day of school, oh my goodness. Poe was super excited as he planned his outfit, demolished his breakfast and got ready for his day ahead. I was experiencing a number of lumps in my throat as we headed there, but managed to breathe through them and experience joy and excitement for Poe (this can't be said of my journey home!) It was lovely seeing all Poe's friends and their parents, we settled straight into winding yarn into balls, then making the art folders, drawing pads (which you lean on when using the beeswax crayons), and twisted yarn for attaching a little folder to the children's bags, it was a really lovely atmosphere, everyone working, chatting, a real buzz in the room. We then enjoyed a delicious morning tea, a story and a couple of songs. It was around then Poe asked when we were going to go, I loved that he was so ready (sob).
With a very special cuddle and kiss, we were sent on our way. Our original plan was to pick him up from school but Poe was very keen to catch the special Kindy/Year One bus with his friends, and so he did, he looked so big yet so small hoping off the bus (yes, sob again). Once off the bus we went along with two other families to the Gelato Bar to celebrate the occasion and to squeeze in just a little bit more play.

I did have a cry on the way home from school and then felt a bit empty, the idea that he is now really on his journey into the 'real world', the years stretching ahead of school and beyond, even though it has always been a forward journey, this just marked a massive moment. I am also so excited for him and can see how much he loves being at school and with his friends.

At dinner tonight we were talking about school and asking about his new teacher, Connie, and what it is like having a different teacher from Paige and Poe replied "She is good, I like all teachers. But Mumma and Dadda.......they are not as good as you". Oh darling one.
(Will explain about Poe's foot in the next post)

we've been

Cycling with Poe, who has been getting more confident everyday. 

Drawing with fabric crayons.

Loving how cute this bird is, if it didn't kind of also look like an airplane, I would have got a tattoo of it, oh still waiting for the picture that will adorn my arm. 

Loving Ilo's running dialogue as he creates (actually he has a running dialogue all the time). 

Making pancakes on a whim. 

Adoring these curls and the colour of his hair. 

Delighting in what Poe creates with these stunning bamboo blocks. We got them for Poe a while ago from Flying Penguin in Newtown

Enjoying more colours as I hide the majority of my fabrics away in cupboards and delight in the simplicity of the minority. 

Loving seeing the way Poe and Ilo have been playing in their fabric cubby house. Poe decided to sleep in it one night. My mum, the amazing crafter that she is, created this for Poe's 4th birthday. 

WARNING TO CASS, ANOTHER COMMUNITY EVENT COMING UP NEXT.

After all this home time we decided it was time to get loved up by the community (again!). This time was a bit more exclusive as we headed to Chrysalis for a Carnivale. Again, it was really lovely to spend some time at the school, it is very easy to forget you are an adult in such a place, you can easily get caught up in the wonder of it. There was music (yes a bit more drumming, I think Scott started to feel just a little scared), delicious food (prepared and cooked by some of the students) and kids (and parents) running around, dancing, laughing and catching up with friends. 

Spring Festival

Last Tuesday Chrysalis had their Spring Festival and their Open Day, a celebration of the change of season and a chance for parents to have a look around, learn some things, ask some questions and meet with other parents. We have visited Chrysalis before but not in such detail.  Getting to the school you cross a number of rivers/creeks as you wind your way into the Thora Valley, when you arrive at the school you can't help but be struck by the surrounds; waterfalls in the surrounding mountains, the luscious bush, the flowers, the rivers (yes the school gets flooded in, usually without students in it), all pretty damn striking and then you have the school which looks like hobbit town nestled into it. The school is on a few levels and it really fits the environment, most of the buildings are mudbrick and made by the school community. There is so much to discover here and I love the undeniable presence of the natural environment that is part of the school. 

Scott and I both fell in love with the school all over again and just felt so lucky to have the opportunity to send our children here. We really love the gentle nature of the school and it's approach to learning. One student who is now sixteen and has gone through Chrysalis from Kindergarten to Year 8, was just beaming as she was telling us how even now her and her friends (all the kids in her Chrysalis year) say these have been the best years of their lives so far, there is such a tight bond with the steiner kids, their parents, their teachers and the community. 

Scott sat in on the curriculum talk whilst I played with Ilo, and he was really impressed by the variety of skills and the way in which the students learn; learning through nature, through experience, through stories. Scott is currently asleep, so cannot really comment further or give any detailed examples, maybe at a later date perhaps.

Poe spent the day with the Kindy class and was in heaven, he couldn't believe there was a fireplace (a mud brick one at that) in the storytelling room and that whilst they were eating lunch there was a swallow flitting about feeding it's babies in a nest just above their heads (they were eating lunch at a table in a kind of little cave, a roof and three walls but a big opening to the outside). He and Little Kindy performed a Spring dance with Kindy as part of Spring Festival, complete with flower garlands on their heads and little feet and arms going in and out the "windows". He claimed that his flowers were so bright he nearly couldn't see and every time he looked at them he just went "what!, flowers on my head! what!". Sweet precious one. As I write this, we have just finished decorating the house for when he wakes on his fifth birthday tomorrow. He is having a fairy party and he wishes that when he wakes up he will be as tall as Harriet. I will definitely post all about the party but before that post I have to post about the amazing Genevieve and her birthday gifts, our nourishing and precious visit from Annie, Genevieve, Olive, Oscar and Megs, my birthday, the arrival of Jen, Rod, Lily and Saul and then finally the Poe adoration/birthday blog. Oh my goodness what a backlog (for some reason I am tempted to say backblog but it kind of sounds too much like backbog, which really doesn't sound great at all). hmmmmm i am tired.