Harvest Festival and Campout

Harvest Festival was such a magical experience!

Clank the gnome came and led the children on a fun filled scavenger hunt so they could make a magical mobile. 

When the children first arrived they all got transformed into fairies with a new name! They loved being able to create new identities. 

A wonderful friend of mine built a play space with stockings and balloons, she is such an outside the box thinker!

A week later, myself and 2 other families went on a Campout! We had even more fairy and gnome magic happen. 

We had a sand pit for water play.

Bubbles that were made from dawn dish soap, Karo syrup and water.

Behind the tent was a magical fairy village. Most of the kids were believers by the end of the weekend. There were some that just wouldn't budge that fairies and gnomes were not real to them.

I had planned a multi part scavenger hunt to last the entire weekend. Each part of the story, lead to an item to be collected. The water fairies flew from the ocean with shells from the ocean. The gnomes infused pine cones with the magic to find wild edibles. The airy fairies infused feathers to see with the sight of Hawks, and the gnomes brought crystals infused with the magic of love. With the magic of love the whole world can transform. 

Overall, this was such a great beginning to the first of many magical mothering seasonal retreats! 

I am now offering magical mothering mentorship programs. These are available virtually or in person. If you feel lead to transform your body, mind and spirit on a year long journey through the seasons, please feel free to contact me!
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Searching for community, found my purpose

I have officially been doing seasonal festivals for a full year. I have loved the varation, the astute differences that characterizes each one. I am sold! I will continue to have community festivals every 6 weeks no matter where I am located. It has been so meaningful and the connections have been healing to my soul. I have learned a lot in the past year and really had to put myself in check, get really clear with my intentions and expectations of people.


I started on this path to help make the festivals something that we would stick to doing, especially if other families were relying on us. Then I saw an opportunity to make money from them, and that failed miserably. I spent way too much money and over 1/3 of the people who RSVP'd canceled or didn't show. I got a swift kick in the A$$ an that one. Saying Wake Up! I told you to create community not try to make a living off of this! I got it real fast. So I am back to my original intention! Create community!

I love the tribe that has started to gather around these festivals, and I am blessed beyond words to have these people in my life. They are teaching me so much, all the while I continue to let go of my expectations and limiting beliefs. Through this past year I have realized that in order to have awesome friends, I myself must be an awesome friend. In order to get to know people and create real lasting friendships I must be willing to put in the effort.

I have found my purpose through these seasonal festivals. I am still learning and studying my Steiner teacher training. I am exploring alternative homeschool and playgroup options that can include families from public or homeschool settings, and I am now listening to the I AM that speaks through and within me. I am so grateful for this journey of discovery, wisdom, and most of all friendship!

Really looking forward to the next chapters of my life, helping moms find their passions, purpose and create a life that feels awesome!

New rhythms for bedtime

I have been pulling my hair at bedtime since 2 months ago when I weaned my two littles. When we went onto a vegan diet I lost all my milk so had to suddenly stop nursing my 2 and 3 1/2 at the same time. I was not prepared for the bedtime repercussions and how easy getting them to bed was while cuddling and nursing. I have been racking my brain while laying with them for sometimes more than an hour while they are bouncing up and down trying to wind down. I have read so many books and studied the Waldorf approach for now going on 3 years and still was at a lost at how to implement something that actually worked.
My son had dropped his nap almost 7 months ago, and suddenly started napping for almost 2 hours at this time as well. So my early to bed, and by early I mean 5:30pm, was now napping and then staying up until 9 with no foundation for bed. I was getting exhausted fast!
Finally, over the past week I implemented something that has had a truly transformational affect on getting them to sleep, telling a story! From my head. I started the story of Star and Zenith a brother and sister that live in a tipi in the middle of the forest. Each night I tell them how they walk to a meadow nearby and all the animals, bugs and birds that come out to eat, and then go to sleep. So this story has been the pivotal turning point in my children having a new stability to fall asleep. We start some hot water 30 minutes before I want them to get into bed, have some sleepy time tea, read our course in miracles book for children, then get Jammies on and head to bed. We get tucked in and then I close my eyes and start the story. My son has started waking up and talking about the meadow, and I realized it is giving him a foundation for his dreams so he can process his days through the safety of this meadow!
This process has really shown me how change is a choice. We can work against it and create a struggle or we can accept that there is a new phase. When I finally accepted that life had moved on from diapers and nursing I had to create a new foundation to lay for rest. I am really loving adding stories to help heal and calm myself and my kids. I purchased the book "healing stories for challenging behavior" by Susan perrow and it changed the way I thought about "discipline" and more about looking at the root of behavior and telling a story to help heal.
So for now bedtime is once again a time of snuggling and ending the night with connection instead of frustration. Change happens we just have to flow with it instead of trying to keep it the way it has always been.

Moving forward with family transformation package

The past couple of months I have been trying to figure out my place in the work world. Over the past year I have been holding seasonal festivals every six weeks for local families.

We gather families in the forest and play, make a craft and enjoy a picnic lunch. 

After realizing that I really enjoy and my passion is working with kids and families. I am going to be kicking up the festivals up a notch this year. We are already planning a family Campout for harvest festival and have more families joining us each festival.

I finally realized that through the festivals this is just one aspect of all I have learned over the past 3 years of studying, implementing and creating a simpler home life. So I have created a program for other moms that includes the 4 main areas of transformation. 

Simplify

Create rhythms 

Figure out your tools

Play!

This program is for parents that are tired of the overwhelm and chaos that can come with life with children. Through this program you will create an environment for your children to have higher self esteem and reduce your stress along the way. When your family is in a space that allows for less stress, success and bliss are natural outcomes. 

This will be a 90 day family transformation program!

I am now taking emails to sign up for a free family transformation session with me, where we can see if this program would help you. 

Please email steivy33@hotmail.com

Elimination diet

As a family we gave been looking for a holistic doctor. We found one, and the first thing she told us to do was an elimination diet. An elimination diet takes away all foods that are highest known allergens. Allergens tend to inflame or cause irritation to the body especially if they are eaten on a regular basis. Mist people know that smoking and drinking cause irritation to our bodies, but until they are missing for a period of time we usually don't realize how crappy they really make us feel.
Our elimination diet was to be
Gluten free
Egg free
Dairy free
Sugar free (could have honey, stevia, and maple syrup)
Caffeine free
Nicotine free
Chocolate free

All at once!

I didn't think I could do it, but now being 13 days in I know what a huge blessing this has really been. The awakening process has been vital. I didn't realize how much of a huge sugar addict I was/am, and how I was creating the same pattern in my children! We have eaten more fruits and vegetables in the past 2 weeks then we usually do in a month! I am excited to finally have experienced eating only whole foods, and killing sugar cravings with handfuls of raisins and apples. I feel like this is the boost that needed to happen for us to turn a new corner and enter into a better, fuller way to eat.

I am only too happy to try eating our whole wheat handmade bread, and hopefully find that gluten is not an issue! If it is I will just have to get really creative!

Best gluten free, egg free, dairy free, sugar free oatmeal cookie recipe I have found to date
2 cups of GF oats
1cup of puréed dates (soak in warm water for about 15 min, then put in food processor slowly adding a tablespoon of water at a time until smooth)
1 1/2 puréed bananas
1/2 cup finely chopped peacans (I used a coffee grinder)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 1/4 tsp cinnamon

(If you like dried fruit in your cookies, just realize cranberries and many others have added sugar!)
Preheat oven to 350*
Mix ingredients and let stand for about 10 min.
Add spoonfuls to greased cookie sheet and cook for 14-16 minutes.
Cool on cookie sheet as long as you can, they disappear pretty quickly!

I have found that on this elimination diet we stay fuller longer, eat more whole raw foods, and more vegetable based meals. Now give some bread and butter and all will be right with the world!

Winter solstice the waldorf way

Yule was spent in a rather normal everyday kind of day. We spent lots of time outside and enjoyed the warmth that has been unusual the past couple weeks. The night before we went over to a friends house, and about 5 other families showed up to go house to house singing carols. Z is not usually great with these big social situations but I realized he knew he was giving something special. He shook his jingle bell and watched the Christmas lights dance and knew he was a part of something great. Of course S loved this social environment and sang into between houses and shook her jingle bell with just as much gusto!
When the light started to fade on the evening of Yule, we bundled up and walked our neighborhood looking at everyone's Christmas lights. We brought the book 'the little drummer boy' and we sang rum pum pum pum pum the entire walk. They could feel the energy from the night before of a crowd of 20 to our little walk of 3, but it was still reverberating in our souls. When we got home no lights were turned on only the Christmas lights and candles. Dinner was eaten in candle light, despite my husband saying over and over that he couldn't see his food! The children took a bath with only candlelight, then got into their diapers and wool pajamas, we have wool pants, boots, and sweaters.

When I think about the ideal of simple living, these past couple days fit the bill. We have continued lighting candles at dinner and only using firelight to guide our evening routine and it brings such a warmth to the process. I know firsthand how magical candlelit evenings can be, my mom would have us eat by candlelight on occasion and it made us so much more aware of our food, the glowing light, and what was really going on around us. I often think how much I would love to live in th east, but then I remember my bread maker and crock pot, and stop mid thought. I can bring simplicity into our lives while using all the convinces of modern electricity, finding a beautiful balance is a worthy and lifelong goal.

As for now with Christmas fast approaching my children have no idea that most other kids have a list for Santa of things they have seen and want. My children know nothing of cartoons, store bought dolls, or many other materialistic thoughts. They will be getting a rocking horse that hubby found on the side of the road, and added some reienforcement and a couple of screws, a basket full of new tree branch blocks, wheelbarrows made from old bar stools, and some vintage books that I printed out and hard bound myself.
I also tried my hand at whittling. I made Z and S these little wooden gnomes, for 2 days these little treasures have not left their hands. I am now fully inspired by Stiener's, the creator of waldorf schools, thoughts on handwork.

Life is simple in this house, but it makes for happiness, lots of playing, and me in the kitchen, a lot! But good food is being made and lots of love is being shared while the children see what really matters, in our own little corner of the world.
Happy holidays, and hoping simplicity finds you this season!

Goodbye Autumn, thank you for playing with us

He loves autumn because he gets to shuck corn, this kept him intertained for hours! Once the corn comes off the cob the kernels are used for corn necklaces for our door blessing and dress up. Then the cobs are kept in the play kitchen for use the rest of the year. The corn is also put through their grinders in their play kitchen to cook with.

With the change of the season it seems as though life automatically becomes slower and draws us into our homes. Longing for long baths, warm fires and deeper conversations. We begin to prepare for the real cold that is coming and reading our hearts for the shift that comes with being indoors longer. However that change is longed for come summers end. I love that on the cold mornings the coffee is longed for, not just to wake up, because some days I really need it, but to warm me up. I love pulling out my sheep skin boots, warm wooly sweaters, and once again that ever growing pile of wooly pants I have made for the kids. I think I have a bigger pile of wool pants that need patching from last winter, but I have the desire to stich and prepare that I didn’t once spring had arrived last year.

I have decieded what I am going to do with my career, which has been a pressing battle in my head. I am going to read the rudolf Steiner lecture he gave to his students, and see what I can acquire through them. The first teachers of waldorf, and subsequently have all learned from the lectures, why not do school myself. Simple. This is my goal, stop spending money on what other people figure out, do it myself! This will be for the benefit of not only my children but I will have the background to begin the waldorf nature school that will be a private school. This will be for homeschooling families that want a rich full experience for their children but still be a part of every aspect. I know that with the training I will feel confidant to teach the other kids and families involved to the best of my ability. I am eager to begin and longing to get families on board so that this can be fully funded and all the pieces in place once big brother begins kindergarten. I have 2 1/2 years, so I better get moving!!!!

I feel quite vulnerable right now, but that is when we are most mold able and trusting. So here is listening with my heart and my head, and meanwhile I will keep my hands happily busy making and creating! I know that the  Rudolf Steiner model of education is right for my family, I trust that the universe and all Godly knowledge will direct me, I must stay open, willing and know that the journey is so much more important than any "final" goal that will be reached.