Clean.

Unschooling: Our Daily Rhythm

After I shared our Family Planner with you I got quite a few emails looking for more information. How do we organize our day? Where does "schooling" fall into our schedule? When do I have time for play?

I thought I would share our daily rhythm with you to give you a feel for how we organize our weeks for the most relaxed, joyful, natural learning experience we can. For me removing distractions (telephone and computer specifically) is critical for me to be present and available and in the flow of our rhythm.

Developing a family rhythm is not just for homeschoolers. A rhythm is helpful for transitioning your children in and out of their school day as well as for parents home with babies and toddlers. We all thrive when we have a predictable, comfortable rhythm.

There are of course many exceptions every week. Field trips, appointments, errands, play dates, and gatherings all pull us joyfully from our routine, but it is the springboard for our days. Here is how we roll (most days anyway).

7:30 - 9:00 Early Block

First thing in the morning we get ready for our day. Each child has their own checklist that contains tasks like "hang up your jammies, make your bed, and put away laundry". (Little ones like Lupine initially require hands-on assistance and a picture checklist, while Sage can go it alone with a written checklist.)

We wash a load of laundry, cook, eat, and clean up from breakfast, and begin our day together. I check email and do a little computer/LuSa work during this early slot.

 

9:00 - 11:30 Morning Block

This is our inside learning time. As unschoolers I believe it is more important to simply be available to my kids rather than schedule specific lessons, but this is the time so much of the learning happens here. While we don't follow a curriculum there is learning happening at a startling rate - much of it before lunch time. We read books, play games, work in the kitchen, do projects and experiments together. We play with numbers, blocks, the microscope, puppets, art supplies. It is our "school" time.

11:30 - 2:00 Mid-Day Rest

After our morning block we prepare, eat, and clean up from lunch. We take some time as a family to tidy up from our morning and also all do our housekeeping chores during this time. (I clean a different room each day (in a perfect world anyway), so this happens during this slot. The kids also take a bit of quiet time to be alone, playing quietly for Lupine and reading or drawing for Sage. During quite time I can tend to some LuSa business and check emails.

2:00 - 4:30 Afternoon Block

This is our ideal time to get outside and play. In the summer we hike and forage, bike and swim; in the winter we walk the dog, sled, or ski. In the winter I need this block scheduled because (like Lupine) I could easily stay in all winter. Sometimes the outside time is just a few moments, sometimes most of the day. There is flexibility and flow in our rhythm.

4:30 - 6:30 Dinner Time

We fold and put away laundry, cook and eat dinner, and tidy up from our day. The kids often play alone while I cook or stand beside me and help.

7:00 - 8:00 Bedtime

Our kids have a fairly early bedtime. It works so well in our world, as regardless of what time they go to sleep both will rise with the sun. Lupine is lights-out by 7:00 or 7:30 at the latest, Sage an hour later. We read lots of books to unwind for the hour before lights-out, then the day is closed for our kids.

Repost: Valentine Heart Babies.

Matchbox babies are one of our favorite craft projects any time of year, but these wee ones are especially sweet for Valentine's Day. As you look ahead to your weekend, perhaps you'll find time to make some of these sweeties. This is a repost from last winter and since I have so many new readers I thought perhaps some of you had missed this sweetness.

P.S. If you insert a strong needle threaded with embroidery floss through the top and bottom of the box slider (not the bed) about 1/3 of the way down and tie the thread about twice as long as the box, you can make your drawer open as if by magic when you pull the string.

Love,
Rachel

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We started a new tradition this morning: Jammie Craft. Smoothies, fruit, toast, scissors, glitter, and glue - all while we're still in our PJs. I know. It sounds like a disastrous mix. But it was wonderful!

With Valentine's day on the horizon we collectively came up with this project: Heart Babies.

A simple (kid-friendly) tutorial follows:

Supplies:

Wool Felt * Wooden beads * Acorn caps

Thread * Paper * Fabric scraps

Cotton or wool stuffing * Glue

Small match boxes * Glitter

Mod Podge * Paint brush * Needle *Scissors

The Box Top: Cut a strip of paper and a strip of fabric as wide as your matchbox. Cut long enough to allow 2/3" overlap. Coat matchbox cover with Mod Podge and wrap with paper. (This will keep the matchbox printing from showing through the fabric). Secure overlap area with additional Mod Podge.

Coat the papered matchbox with Mod Podge and wrap neatly with fabric. Trim edges as needed. Coat again with Mod Podge and apply glitter if desired.

The Bed: Cut the fabric lining for your matchbox bed. To do so you can sacrifice one match box to make a pattern by slitting at the corners and pressing flat, or use or method and guesstimate. Notch out corners.

Mod Podge the inside of the box and carefully press lining into place.

Baby: Cut out two identical hearts suitably sized to fit into your matchbox. Select a head-sized bead. Check if the bead will fit in the box with the lid closed. If not, select a smaller head or don't sweat it and let the box stay partially open.

Beginning at the "neck" area of the heart (top/center), use a running stitch or a blanket stitch to sew hearts together. Stuff with a bit of cotton or wool before closing. Sew bead to heart as follows: Heart, bead, scrap of felt (to secure head). Sew the head to body securely with a few stitches and tie off. Cut thread.

Select an acorn cap sized appropriately for your bead head. Coat top of head (including felt scrap) with a generous amount of glue and press acorn cap into place. Wipe off excess glue with a cotton swab or your fingertip.

 

After glue and Mod Podge has dried, tuck baby into bed.

Happy Valentine's Day!

 

 Note: If you think these are lovely, please check back often. We're pretty crafty around here and have lots more sweetness to share. xo Rachel

 

Homemade Cashmere Long John Top.

Although it has warmed up here considerably (+20 yesterday!) we're still in our long johns everyday. We keep the thermostat low (62ish) and head out into the snow each day. Lupine's cashmere long johns have been a huge hit, so I finished stitching up a coordinating shirt for her as well.

I used a long sleeve t-shirt pattern that I had on hand as the springboard for my pattern. (From Ottobre winter 2004, if you want specifics.) I used the existing sweater sleeves but narrowed and shortened them from the shoulder and also used a portion of the existing neck hole to avoid having to add ribbing that I didn't have on hand. The neck was a bit too small so I added a notch at the manufactured seam to make it go on easily.

Because Lupine wears dresses almost every day I left the shirt extra long (to keep her extra warm), and decided to make the sleeves cuffed. My theory is that next winter with the extra length in the body and arms it will still fit. Soft, warm, and woolly. $1.50 and fifteen minutes. Works for me.

Hooray for homemade!

Our Culinary Journey: Gluten free and then some.

I had been waiting for years.

The day I moved out of my parents' house I stopped eating meat. Born of my big/sensitive heart and a desire to not pay someone else to do something I was unwilling to do myself (ie: kill animals), I enthusiastically quit eating meat for most of a decade. I always viewed it as a personal choice, one that did not effect how I viewed the omnivores in my life, but an extremely important one when it came to "living my truth".

From an ethical place I think I did the right thing by following my heart. Each of our hearts knows our own unique truth, and at 18 this was mine. (I'm sure for many of you it is still your heart's truth today.)

But I had a belly ache.

I had often had belly aches as a child and after a few years on a legume and grain based diet I nearly always had a belly ache. Diarrhea, a crampy gut, and other unpleasantries were the norm and each meal I ate would end not when I was comfortably full but when my stomach hurt.

In my possession at all times were various over the counter treatments including Imodium, gas-x, lactase, and tums. I was in sorry shape. Western medicine wasn't any help, labeling it as "irritable bowel syndrome" and telling me to continue to take said pharmaceuticals daily into perpetuity. No "cure", no recommendations to change my diet, just "take this pill."

And so I did. Unhappily but not aware of other options for years.

And then I noticed something.

The more vegetarians I met, the more belly aches complaints I heard. Not all of course, but nearly everyone I knew who complained of chronic digestive woes were also vegetarian or vegan. And something clicked. I believe a vegetarian diet can be a healthy one, I decided, but perhaps not for me. I slowly started eating meat again, first fish that Pete and I caught ourselves (me crying for twenty minutes in the bottom of the boat after killing the fish I caught), then venison from my dad. Only wild game for the first years and that only occasionally, then slowly branching out into locally farmed organic meats."Happy meat," I called it. It was the only solution I could see to bridge my belly ache with my ethics.

It never occured to me that not only had I been eating a vegetarian diet but I also had taken antibiotics, eaten conventional food, drank chlorinated city water, and taken birth control pills. Only the food layer had occurred to me so at that time it was the only correction that I made.

Fast forward another decade after returning to a non-vegetarian diet. My belly still hurt. Not as much, but it still hurt. Eventually I gave up gluten and a few other trigger foods but it still was there. And dark circles beneath my eyes and an edge of un-wellness that I couldn't put my finger on. It was like a shadow, barely perceptible but present.

Then in 2004 as if by magic I stumbled upon a book at the coop called "Breaking the Vicious Cycle: Intestinal Health Through Diet." Without even opening the book every cell in my body confirmed that it was my right answer. My intuition was screaming out for the information in this book. I thumbed through it then and there, standing in the isle at the coop then turned around my full shopping cart, putting most of my items back on the shelf. I filled my cart with nuts and nut flours, honey, eggs, meats, fruits, and vegetables.

The Specific Carbohydrate Diet was designed to heal children (and adults) with severe gut imbalances and was found to also reduce or reverse many mental health issues. The diet, if strictly adhered to is said to correct everything from irritable bowel syndrome, chrone's disease, celiac, autism, colitis, and ADHD - among others. It spoke to the underlying imbalance of a gut that isn't working as it should.

I read the book cover to cover and started "The Specific Carbohydrate Diet" just a week later. Within three days the stomach ache I had carried with me for nearly two decades was gone. Completely gone. I honored the diet for a year and found all of the digestive symptoms I struggled with since childhood disappeared. So did my eczema, dark under eye circles, and malnourished appearance. It was pretty sweet. My gut healed by this diet, I returned slowly to "normal" omnivorous food and saw no return of my symptoms.

I joked that after being on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet for one year I ate all the animals I saved during my decade as a vegetarian.

Fast forward a few more years, to today.

I'm still well. I still eat "happy" meat and limit my grains. We live primarily on traditional foods, based on whole foods, bone broths, vegetables, and soaked or sprouted grains. But those grains. And that sugar... they are so seductive. So I eat more of them than I should and my belly churns and howls when I do. It's too much, I know. And I've come to think that we all (in our house and much of our society) have digestive systems that are a bit out of balance. Gut flora is imbalanced by chlorinated water, antibiotics, birth control, and environmental toxins. And I believe all four of us have signs of a flora or candida imbalance: thrush and colic as babies, sugar craving, a little eczema, and a sporadic red rash on Lupine's chin.

So in the next couple of weeks we are embarking on the GAPS diet (a variation on Specific Carb. that includes traditional foods and probiotics) as a family. While giving up grains, sugar, and most dairy isn't something that sounds like great fun at the surface, I am actually stoked to be heading down this healing path once more. I've done it before and know we can do it again, and I believe it will heal and nourish us on many levels.

For more on the GAPS diet see this site, and information about Specific Carb. can be found here.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Thanks to Tiffany who introduced me to the GAPS diet this autumn. I'll get you your book back, I promise!

An Old Cabin and the River of my Name.

Despite the below zero weather we headed north for the weekend. We lit the fire, settled in, and picked up our (okay, my) knitting. And we got out into the cold to play. Snowshoes, skis, skates, and sleds, we played under the bluest ski I've ever seen. (When it's extremely cold it's also extremely beautiful.) We played until we were chilled through. Then we hustled back inside to sit by the fire and warm our toes. There were stories, games, knitting, and conversation. There were good friends, good food, and long dark nights. And did I mention the knitting? Lots of knitting.

The cabin is a special place for my family built more of memories than wood. (Search "cabin" at left for dozens more stories from this place.) With its paneled walls, stone fireplace, and hunter decor, it was built by my grandfather and my great grandfather most of a century ago. The cabin sits alongside the Wolf River where I played as a child, floating homemade boats, building dams, drifting on innertubes. The Wolf River where Pete and I got engaged on a fly fishing trip when I was 24; where we later married each other along her banks beneath the hemlock trees, and who's name chose as our own.  The river where our children - who also carry her name - first swam and where we come to wet or feet and recharge our souls each season.

Family and history run deep in this place. I can feel my grandparents around us each time we come here, see my grandpa in his blue work clothes, smelling of two-cycle engine oil and woodsmoke, out beside the shed. I can see my grandmother in her flowered night gown, her hair miraciouly always perfect, her knitting in her lap.

The cabin was a special place for them as well, and their built their permanent house next door where they spent the last decades of their lives. Because of this when I come to the cabin I also come to remember my grandparents, my childhood, and a flip-book of the most defining moments of my life. There is joy and sadness mixed together in this place, and for that I am grateful. It's our story - woven inseparately into the bunks, the skulls, the sky and the water and the earth.

Winter Weather and Remembering.

  Here in Wisconsin it is the coldest week of the year so far. When we woke this morning it was well below zero and the windows were coated with ice throughout the house. (On the inside that is.) The weekend promises more of the same. Lupine, however, is staying toasty warm in her woolies, including a fresh and fuzzy cashmere undershirt that I'll share photos of next week. Cozy I tell you. We all deserve some cashmere unders.

Despite the chill, we have our skis and snowshoes in the truck and we're heading off for a long weekend in the woods with plenty of quick forays into the crisp winter air. We live here after all. Might as well get out there and enjoy it.

I stumbled upon these photographs from years ago that I thought you would enjoy. (Sage, then 3 1/2 and now 8 1/2, has always been my winter child. He kicks off his slippers, his covers, and any suggestion to bundle up. Just another lesson from my children of the richness of their differences.) These photos predate Lupine and our life in Viroqua and Pete and I working at home together and our commitment to homeschooling. It is almost as though they are from a different lifetime. The memories rush in as I flip through the photographs.

I vividly recall this day, a New Years weekend that we spent with friends on the North Shore of Lake Superior. As I flip through these photos I remember so richly this snapshot of time. I remember this boy who we called "Baby Sage" well beyond his babyhood. I remember him at three and the nuances of him, the fears I carried with me, the clarity of the magic within that young boy. I remember that we were eight months in to our journey of wishing for pregnancy and just before these photos were taken discovering - once again - that I was not expecting. I remember wondering if we would forever be three or if the daughter I had dreamt of since childhood would someday join us. (Just a few weeks later we were pregnant.) And the memories keep rushing in...

Keep warm, friends. Wishing you a memorable weekend, whererever you may be.
Love,
Rachel

P.S. When I lived on the North Shore a friend taught me that "There is no bad weather - just bad clothing." We'll be testing that theory all weekend long.

Homemade Cashmere Long Johns. Really.

Lupine is my summer girl. Born during the first snowfall four winters ago, she must have held the memory of those first blasts of cold against her fresh skin. I can still remember the way she would gasp as the cold air reached her lungs, an inhale that seemed to go on forever until wide-eyed, she ducked back into the warmth of my jacket.

At four she bucks winter and I think she would stay in the house until spring if we didn't have to venture out. She is perpetually cold when we are outside, and therefore miserable. She has polypropylene long underwear, but never seems to stay warm. The Waldorf tradition is to dress children in wool, so I got the idea of sewing up some woolies for her, similar to these, minus the $43 price tag.

And so we thrift again. We go sweater hunting.

A little moth nibbled, but a wicked bargain at $1.50 each, I found these 100% cashmere sweaters while thrifting with my sister last weekend. After washing and drying them on hot they were a little felted but still plenty thin for under clothes. And seriously. Cashmere. Long johns. How yummy does that sound? Warm, softer than soft, plus cheap, recycled, and mama-made? It doesn't get any better in my world.

I hand stitched the moth holes and turned them into long johns in under fifteen minutes using another pair as a pattern. And with the entire blue sweater and the remains of the green I'll have more than enough for a matching shirt.

 

When she put them on she made a gasp similar to her newborn gasp in the cold air, but with her eyes dreamily closed and a smile on her face. "Soft, soft, soft! Warm, warm, warm! Love-y."

I think I'm onto something. Now, can we go outside?

I'll post the top in the next few days!

Organizing: Family Planner Book.

I have had a few requests recently for guidance and even guest posts on simplifying and organizing the home. When these questions and requests roll in I tend to give a little snort - a stifled laugh - thinking, "If you only knew...".

I am not what you might call a pillar of organization. But sometimes organization comes out of the contrast of our normal tendencies. Everything moves towards chaos (including my kitchen, closet, and wallet), right? It is a universal law that we are moving against every day that we strive to maintain order. And to move in an organized direction I need all the help I can get.

Today I have six more bags of thrift store donations by my front door (that bit of organization dates back to this post, in case you are new here). Less stuff equates to less chaos. But there is some stuff that we all inevitably live with. And the paper bits seem to be among the biggest offenders to maintaining or creating order. Receipts. Bills. Meal plans. Grocery lists.

Enter the Family Planner Book. Call it your Binder, your Control Journal, or Family Organization Book. Make it frilly and fancy or boring black. How ever you put it together it does the simple task of corralling your vital/messy paperwork in one neat little package.

A Family Planner Book is custom made - by you - for you. Ours is divided into eight sections that fit our needs including Daily Rhythm, Chores, Meals, Homeschooling, Phone, New House, Calendar, and Other. What goes in your book depends on your family needs. As homeschoolers these were the categories we had needs for. You might want one for Travel, Budget, Garden, School, Work, or Emergency Information.

The point of the binder is to give you one place to go with and for all of the day-to-day business of running your family. When are your library books due? Where is your insurance card? What is the phone number of the yarn shop (this one is important, I tell you.) I made my binder two years ago and never looked back. I reworked my book last night so I thought it was photo-worthy enough to share with you today.

Want to make your own? You won't regret it. I promise. You can easily do it in an evening. Here's what you need:

Supplies

Three-ring binder: every thrift store and many basements have many of these.

Colored Tabs: I found these at a thrift store but any office supply shop has them.

Clear page protectors: Smooth is better than matte if you plan to check things off of lists with a dry-erase marker.

Three-ring binder pockets: for receipts, cards, etc.

Decide on the sections you want to include. Do this by looking at your fridge, desk, and junk drawer. What needs a proper home? Below are some details on what is found within some of our sections.

Rhythm: As parents and homeschoolers and small business owners, having a rhythm to our day is vital to being productive and relaxed at the same time. Our Rhythm section outlines how our day and our week lays out so we all know what to expect. It also provides a reminder to make time for ourselves. Movie night, yoga, meditation, or date night are the types of things to get on your weekly rhythm.

Chores: To keep my house (relatively) clean I have chosen one to two rooms a day that I (ideally) clean. If I miss a day (which I do every week) it's no big deal. That room will be cleaned the following week. The children have also chosen chores they do each week and we keep a written list of these in this section.

Homeschooling: We jot down subjects the kids want to learn about, library book return dates, classes and activities and field trip ideas here.

Phone: Three phone lists: family, business, and kids.

New House: We're dreaming some big dreams right now. This section will ultimately become a binder of its own but for now a single pocket is plenty for inspiration and ideas.

Calendar: Our master calendar where we jot down all classes, play dates, and appointments.

Attach your tabs to the page protectors and pockets and start filling your binder. You'll be amazed at how wonderful it feels to always know where to find that important document and having less paper magneted to your refrigerator door. Happy organizing!

Unraveling: Recycling Wool from Sweaters.

I spent the weekend in the city with my sister. There was good food, good conversation and - of course - a lovely bit of thrifitng. While we didn't have a cabbage glass moment like the last time, we did find a few treasures including two cashmere sweaters to felt and sew with and two lambswool sweaters to unravel, dye, and reuse.

The project above is my first sweater unraveling project (except when knitting goes wrong). It was inspired by my love of knitting combined with doing the math on a knitting a sweater with new wool. (Once yarn is purchased the cost of a homemade sweater far exceeds what I would ever spend on a purchased sweater.) I found two perfect candidates this weekend both ready to dye and both buttery soft, and costing me $4 and $6 each. I'll share my progress with you as these projects take shape!

A Little Break.

Hello friends. I think a long weekend is in order, don't you? Lupine and I have some special plans for a lovely (extended) weekend that she thinks should start immediately (nevermind that I'm still in my jammies). But really, what better time to start the weekend than two days early? I think she's onto something.

I'll be back in this space on Monday. Wishing you a sunny and satisfying few days!

Love,
Rachel