Bubba Banksy - Spreading Her Wings

It's a merry thing watching your children develop their interests so passionately.

Seraphina is blossoming into quite the little artist which is no surprise to me as she is always singing and drawing something. Yesterday she ran to me and said "Mummy, come and see my street art!"

 

We have a very similar nature Seraphina and I. Both Librans, both lovers of all things beautiful and a past that runs oh so deep. If there is ever a child that triggers and stirs my very existence, it is Sera. x

Some of our similarities....

* Our emotional sensitivitity can be wild and foreboding, causing physical anxiety to varying degrees and at times, disconnection from our loved ones and each other.

* We both possess intense acuity to the ethers and the world around us, which has graciously inspired a longing to be of service and the desire to contribute much healing in the world.

* One of our most avid traits is a never ending quest to discover the truth and to actively participate in helping others to find their own truth. Even if it ruffles a few feathers ;)

So... Those who know and love us well, understand the challenges within our relationship that have presented themselves so meticulously since being reunited 8 years ago at her birth.

I am slowly piecing together our story and beginning to see and feel the blessings and lessons amidst the storms. It has taken me a while, but I finally feel like I am closer to connecting the dots on my parenting journey with Sera than I have ever been before.

 

There are many avenues for healing ourselves and this week I have remembered how powerful it can be to immerse yourself in art.

Not only is ART (which I like to imagine stands for Actively Remembering Truth) a gentle way to express and release painful experiences but it has the remarkable ability to instantly reconnect you to the infinite source of creativity that resides within each and every one of us, which is ultimately the universal love and creation of life itself!

Just like meditation, creative pursuits can lead you back to your core essence so that you may free yourself from limiting beliefs and self sabotaging behaviour. Art, in all it's forms, enables you the space to regroup and redefine the person you dream to be and to manifest the life you desire.

 

It is my endeavour to continue bringing more art and creativity into my life and here is how I hope to do this.

1. Create a sacred space within my home where I can retreat to daily to play with a creative project.

2. Spend time in quiet interlude, free from distractions, to develop my art.

3. Be more involved with my local art community and participate in classes and workshops.

4. Introduce more artistic and cultural experiences into our family life and play time together.

5. Switch off the TV and listen to music.

6. Spend more time in nature with pencils or camera.

7. Travel

8. Sleep, regenerate, dream......

9. Affirm "There IS enough time in the day!" and

10. Let go of the idea of perfection to allay procrastination. :)

 

So, to my dear Sweet Seraphina girl, thank you for once again opening my eyes to what is important in my life and for helping me to remember the things that bring me most joy. I Love You eternally xxx

 

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Basic Everyday Gluten Free Bread

I'd like to eat less bread and I guess lately I do, but most days my family still enjoys home baked bread.

It has been a bit hit and miss for me with gluten free bread making and I am happy that I have finally found a recipe that never fails.  It may not be the most nutritious or fanciest around but it works and saves me dollars when the gluten free breads at the supermarket and health food shops tend to be a bit on the high side.  Not to mention the non-organic ones still contain synthetic preservatives.

Having said that I still keep an organic gf bread in the freezer for lazy, busy or cloudy days.

Here is the finished bread...

Resting nicely beside the cookies

Here is the recipe...

* 2 1/4 tsp dry yeast

* 1 1/4 cup warm water

* 1 cup organic brown rice flour

* 1 cup organic millet flour

* 1 cup tapioca starch

* 2 tsp xanthan gum

* 1 1/4 tsp celtic/himalayan salt

* 3 tbl extra virgin olive oil

* 1 tbl raw honey

* 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar

* 2 eggs

1. Add yeast to water and blend well.

2. Combine dry ingredients and add to yeast and water.

3. Add wet ingredients and mix well.

(Dough will be more like a spongey cake mixture)

Ready for the oven

4. Let rest for 1/2 hour.

5. Grease and line loaf tin.

6. Pour in mixture.  Cover with a tea towel and sit in a warm, sunny place for at least another 1/2 hour or until dough doubles in size.

7. Bake in oven at 200 C for 40 mins.

8. Remove from tin and let sit for about 10 mins before cutting.

NB: I warm my yeast and water mixture in my thermomix and then add all other ingredients.  Blend on medium for about 20 seconds and then set the machine to 3 mins on interval setting.

Enjoy!

Gluten Free Choc Chip Cookies!!

Cookie Monster would be proud!

Experimenting with different gluten free flours has been fun albeit not always successful.

So when I pull off a recipe that calls for gluten free flour and it WORKS, I am stoked!

The kids have been wanting to make Chocolate Chip Cookies and I kept putting it off not really wanting to go to all the trouble and then make a flop.

While googling today I found a basic recipe that looked promising.  A slight tweak with the flours and mmmm wah lah! These turned out so good.

Chewy and soft, not too sweet and delectably chocolatey.


Here is the recipe...

* 1/2 cup raw organic butter
* 1/2 cup packed organic rapadura/brown sugar

* 1 organic free range egg
* 1 tsp pure vanilla extract (gf)

* 1 cup of organic brown rice flour
* 1/4 cup organic millet flour
* 1/4 cup tapioca flour
* 1 tsp xanthan gum
* 1/2 tsp gluten free - alum free baking powder
* 1/2 tsp bicarb soda
* 1/4 tsp celtic/himalayan salt

* 1 cup chocolate chips (gf)


And here's how we made them...

1. Combine butter and sugar in processor or bowl and mix on medium speed until creamy.
2. Add egg and vanilla and continue beating until well mixed.
3. Add flours, xanthan gum, baking powder, bicarb and salt and mix slowly and thoroughly.
4. Add the choc chips and mix.  I found it best to remove from my thermomix and mix in by hand.

(There were a few sneaky chips that disappeared.  Wade kept looking with his tastebuds.. and so did I!)

5. Prepare a tray with baking paper.
6. Roll dough into smallish balls and press lightly onto tray.  Keep a bit of distance between each one.  Maybe an inch or two.
7. Bake for 7-9 mins only.  Remove from oven and leave to cool a little.

Enjoy with a cuppa or milk.  So good!

Gluten Free is Good for Me

This last year I have been learning about grains and their role in our daily diets. I have learned about the importance of soaking grains well before their use and have even enjoyed dabbling in sourdough cultures when bread making.

The wisdom and methods of food preparations in traditional societies have always fascinated me and their unprocessed ingredients and lack of manipulation of the raw product has proven to be most suited to our biological bodies and optimum health.

This is not my kitchen!!!

My family and I have a predominantly natural diet. We have avoided preservatives, additives, colours and other synthetic chemicals in our food for well over 10 years. Although we do not have any distinct allergy issues, we have become increasingly aware of different sensitivities and intolerances to certain foods.

I have taken my family on a bit of a whirlwind adventure over the years and it has definitely not always been smooth sailing. Ok, that is probably a huge understatement! There have been times when a favourite food is taken out of the diet and an equally appealing substitute has not been provided. I have not found this hard to adjust to because I am naturally progressing with my food choices. Also, my motivation to be healthy and fit well into my 90's is incredibly high, as is my passion for rejecting the "food" and farming methods of mainstream society to provide a natural and real diet for my family.

My husband and kids however are understandably not always immediately on board and this has caused some conflict at times. I have finally learned and made peace with the fact that they are ultimately in control of their own health and wellbeing and my role as mother is not to force or conjole but to inspire and offer the best quality food and nutrition I can get my hands on. I have also realised that what may be unhealthy (or healthy) for me is not necessarily the same for every member of my family. And there are now 7 of us!!! This has probably been the greatest challenge so far as I attempt to meet the food needs of everyone. I am grateful to all the humans out there who love to share their pics and recipes of delicious and healthy foods on the Internet.

Fresh Fruit - Yum!

As I gain more information and knowledge surrounding food we continue to make changes to our daily diet.

Briefly, our 16 year family food journey has evolved like this... Elimination of cow's milk, introduce soy milk, elimination of soy, introduce rice milk, eliminate and avoid synthetic chemicals, introduction of fruit and veg juices, introduction of organic and biodynamic foods and produce, introduction of raw foods (mainly desserts and salads), introduction to super foods (cacao, mesquite, maca etc.), introduction to power smoothies, elimination of rice milk, introduction to nut milks, introduction to Sally Fallon's "Nourishing Traditions" and Dr Weston Price, introduction to raw unpasteurised dairy and goat's milk, introduction to raw virgin coconut oil, introduction to fermented foods and natural probiotics... I am sure I have missed a lot in this list and I am sure it does not end here with our recent removal of gluten from the diet.

A textbook of information

I had read quite a bit of research on the effects of gluten on our body and at the time couldn't really see the connection of how it was effecting our family. I believed, and still do, that celiac disease was curable providing the gut can sufficiently heal before gluten is reintroduced to the diet. Our own encounter with gluten intolerance (not the same as celiac disease) stemmed from a visit to a dear friend whose young daughter was diagnosed with celiac disease. I had noticed some sores on her legs that my own daughter of the same age had had for at least the past 3-4 years. The sores would come and go and we thought they were from insect bites that she would pick and scratch until they turned to sores. When I commented to my friend that my daughter (and son actually) was effected by bites too she quickly responded that her sores were the result of accidentally ingesting small amounts of gluten the day before. I was completely gobsmacked at how acute the reaction was for her and also at how similar the sores were to those of my children.

My teenage son has had mild eczema and other skin conditions since birth. The severity has fluctuated over the years but never bad enough to warrant any kind of strict elimination diet. However, this year and most likely due to the biological demands of his growing body, the skin on his arms have given us a clear clue as to the struggle his body is undergoing. I felt sad that I could not pin point the answer for him and so after seeing my friend's little girl I wondered whether gluten might be the key. I mentioned it to my boy and he agreed that he would like to try a gluten free diet.

The results were AMAZING and IMMEDIATE!!!

I can not stress to you how instant his skin began to heal. Within a few days there was no redness or sores and it progressively got better and better. This was after years of symptoms. My son felt happy we had found such a simple solution. We substituted gf bread and pastas, experimented with different flours in our baking and treats and continued to read food labels, choosing only gluten free products.
There has been some challenges, particularly when eating out or at friend's places. No one likes to visit and be a fussy eater and it is particularly tough on kids to have to say "I can't have this, I can't have that".

We were caught out one evening, about 3 months into the gluten free journey, at an impromptu BBQ at a friend's house. We didn't come prepared with any gf foods and our boy by this stage was tired of having to eat different to everyone except me. He was also beginning to feel like he was missing out on certain treats if they weren't gluten free. Hungry and surrounded in food we ate all that was offered. That night only confirmed to us that we were on the right track. The sores and redness came back just as instantly as they had departed, however this time they came back with a vengeance. It was clear that gluten was not a good thing for him to have in his diet.

Gluten Free Raw Passionfruit Birthday Tart

Our 7 year old daughter had a lot of reservations for going completely gluten free so the healing on her legs has been a lot slower, though still apparent.

My own experience with gluten has been with the condition of my scalp. Removing gluten from my diet has eliminated a very chronic dry and itchy scalp and I have read reports of others who have had the same healing. It is incredible once you pinpoint and take away the physical cause (still working on the emotional and spiritual causes) how much more in tune you become with your body and the effect that certain foods or environmental factors have on it. I can recognise immediately now the effect of gluten as my scalp stings and itches like nothing else. There is an acute response rather than a dull and constant itch. The intense sensation doesn't linger thankfully as I don't eat gluten often, but it just goes to show the sensitivity and awareness that is gained by taking it out of our diet almost completely.

So that is where we are at now. I have my suspicions on how gluten is affecting the other members of our family though at this stage they are happy to eat foods that contain gluten. They do not present with any obvious skin afflictions and so have little motivation to make the switch. With a little more research and perhaps some subtle whispers from me, they may eventually connect the dots with the symptoms they do have (ie. migraine and tummy issues), but for now, the majority of our food at home is gluten free for everyone and I feel that with the manipulation and tampering of even the most organic modern wheat grain, that can't be a bad thing.

If you have reduced or eliminated gluten foods from your diet, I'd love to hear from you and learn more. Please comment and share your experiences with me.

Angel x

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SPACE to SOW and GROW - Compassion

I read Seraphina the story of The Little Match Girl today, written by Hans Christian Anderson.   If you are familiar with his original stories you will know that they are deep and thought provoking and often sad and heartbreaking.

Something I used to do with the older kids was read them a passage or chapter of a story and then have them draw a picture afterwards. It might be of a favourite character or scene, whatever connected with them at the time. I loved seeing what they would come up with and how although they both heard the same story, they would each create a different picture and in their own unique way.

I could see that Seraphina was really feeling the tragedy of the story and kept asking a lot of questions.   Like, why was the little match girl so poor? and Why would her father beat her if she couldn't sell any matches? This was a great opportunity for us to discuss these issues and to feel gratitude for our fortunate lives. We talked about homeless people and how they would feel when the cold winter rolls in.

Seraphina chose to draw the Christmas tree that the little match girl saw in the story and then drew the girl smiling. Unfortunately, without thinking, I said, "She wasn't very happy in the story was she" and Sera said "No" and rubbed out her mouth and drew a sad face.

I regret to have interfered with her creative expression. It was more me thinking out loud but Sera quickly took that as me telling her that her picture was wrong.  Such a shame on my part but another lessoned learned. I will not say a word next time.

Seraphina explained to me that she drew the happy face because she hoped that the little girl would feel the happiness that SHE feels at Christmas time. What a sweet gesture xx

The story of The Little Match Girl inspired us to make some precious candle holders. This Autumn we have been having fun making beeswax candles to connect with the shorter days and longer nights of the season.

I found a sweet tutorial on felt tealight candle holders in Amber Schmida Green's new book "Parenting Fun Everyday". Amber's book is full of useful information on keeping a natural rhythm flowing in the home while parenting small children. I've only read a handful of chapters so far but can highly recommend her work.

Here are the candle holders we made..

While we were sewing we made up a little song to honour the Little Match Girl. We felt her sadness and her pain and it was our way of sending a prayer out to all of the less fortunate people in the world. 

Sera would like to do some knitting so perhaps we could work together on a project to donate to charity and homeless people. Do you know of any such charities?

Here's our song..

"Little Match Girl we light a candle for you, Little Match Girl we light a candle for you, To warm your fingers, your hands, your toes and feet, Little Match Girl we pray your life will be sweet."

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SPACE to SOW and GROW - Sera's Self-directed Learning

For the last couple of weeks, Seraphina has initiated a new learning venture.

She grabs an early reader book from the shelf and copies it word for word into her notebook. She seems to really enjoy forming the letters on the page, holding her pen and mouth just right. It is such a pleasure to watch her as she delves into reading and writing.


As she writes, we read the words together and she makes sense of the story. Afterwards she draws a beautiful picture to illustrate what she has just written.






She's also been practising math. Totally self-directed! I have never taught her how to form numbers or how to write sums. I think she saw an example of a written sum somewhere at sometime and then decided to experiment herself with it. Was such a surprise to find this in her book!

Love this Life!

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SPACE to SOW and GROW - Waldorf Alphabet (D)

Well, this week there was a great deal of fire breathing and unfortunately I don't mean literally.. That would have been super cool!

I told the girls the Grimms story of "The Dragon's Grandmother" and when it came to doing our drawing Seraphina chose not to draw... She was still anti-drawing since the week before :(

She kept saying "You just draw it for me!".

I didn't want Seraphina to think I agreed that she could no longer produce a lovely drawing for her book so we stalled for a couple of days while I put my thinking cap on...

At the end of the week I made a suggestion that surprisingly she liked. We decided to help each other draw each other's dragon! It was fun and a little silly and I have to say the result was most wonderful x

 

During the week we dressed up, danced and played our djiembe drums. We discovered new dips and desserts and loved up Dad for Father's Day xx

 

 

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SPACE to SOW and GROW - Waldorf Alphabet (C)

"C is for Cookie" yom yom yom yom yom...

Cookies and cake were on the agenda this week. We played around with different varieties until we were all cookied out! Smartie cookies were the most fun to make and eat.

Story time has always been a lovely experience in our home. Since travelling along our Alphabet Journey, Seraphina has been getting upset if her drawing isn't "perfect". She cries and wants to throw her drawing in the bin saying it's not as good as mine :(

Although I'm flattered that she thinks my drawings are so lovely, I am finding it challenging finding the right words to encourage her as she's not very receptive to anything I have to say in these moments.

I try and tell Seraphina that Art comes from the Heart. It is an expression of our own inner beauty and feelings and that even if it's not perfect, it's perfect!

This week we read "Alice in Wonderland" and the scene where Alice meets the Cheshire Cat was the inspiration for our "C" page.

Let's see what "D" will bring....

 

 

 

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SPACE to SOW and GROW - Waldorf Alphabet (B)

Our 'B' page was inspired by a classic Winnie The Pooh story. Here you can see the bear in the 'B' and if you look closely you will see the wings of the bees are 'B' shaped too.

Seraphina decided to draw a home for her bear too. So sweet x

Earlier in the week we did some traditional butterfly paintings where you fold a sheet of paper in half and put blobs of paint on one side only. Then you fold the paper closed and smooth over the top, spreading and mixing the paint underneath. The girls really enjoyed this activity and they couldn't stop at one or two. They made sooo many.. My logical brain kicked in and I started thinking, "time to wrap this up, they've experienced the concept.. Seriously, how many butterfly prints do you really need?" (I have a thing about "wasting" paper) but then I relaxed and went with the flow letting them get what ever they needed from the moment. The result was lots and lots and LOTS of gorgeous, colourful pieces of paper.

I knew that they would come in handy one day for decorating gifts or being a gift in itself or even perhaps morph into some other fabulous crafty creation... I was right :)

Going with our 'B' theme, I folded the prints in half again and cut an outline of half a butterfly. I let the girls open them and to their delight they saw beautiful colourful butterflies appearing before their eyes. They also commented on how each side was exactly the same. There's our lesson on symmetry!!

Lucy helped punch holes in the top of each butterfly and with the help of a dear friend, we made a garland of butterflies to decorate our living room.

We made Honey Bee muffins and played the Bongos and I finished our 'B' week with a tale from The Brother's Grimm - Snow White and Rose Red...

 

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SPACE to SOW and GROW - Waldorf Alphabet (A)

Seraphina has really been wanting me to spend more one on one time with her doing "school stuff". Not that she knows what goes on in a classroom at school, but never the less, I took her request as a sign to start some formal kind of academic work.

She is already familiar with most of the letters of the alphabet but I have been secretly waiting for the day I could introduce her formally in a Waldorfy kind of way.

For 'A' we read two picture story books written by Neale Donald Walsch (author of the famed "Conversations With God".

The first book was "the Little Soul and the Sun" and the second, "the Little Soul and the Earth - I'm Somebody!".

These books are beautifully written and illustrated. The first story gentle describes our connection to God, the light and explains that all we see as "good" or "bad" is ultimately LOVE. It provides an understanding and awareness that we are ALL eternally connected.

It touches on life purpose ideals and that we make an agreement with God to have an experience on Earth. Depending on that choice, or choices, other souls will incarnate and help us to experience the feeling or lessons that we have agreed upon.

The second story is when the soul is born to Earth and guided by her personal guardian angel. It shows how as we begin our journey on Earth we are still aware of where we came from and WHO we are. Then as we begin to feel and think in our human bodies we tend to lose sight of this and forget why we came. That is when the guardian angel comes in to support and remind us of our purpose and our universal connection to God.

So, for us, these books were a great inspiration for our 'A' page...

Other things we did to reinforce 'A' was to listen to an old record of Johnny Appleseed, produce some Apple Cider and Apple Peel Vinegar and bake an apple pie. Lots of apples that week!!

Now we wait three months for the vinegar. It smells fantastic already!

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Birth of a Babe - 4th March 2012

So good to be back on the blog and to celebrate the arrival of our newest family member, Chloe Shekinah!!

Chloe was born 4 days early which is not really "early" as such, but was an interesting, new experience for me.  My babies always come "late".  Well, except for Wade.  He was spot on his due date!  Lani was a day over, Seraphina was 3 weeks over and Lucy almost 2 weeks over.  So, when I woke with a strong contraction at about 1.45am, I wasn't quite convinced that labour had begun..

You see, another new experience for me was to feel Braxton Hicks quite strongly and literally for 2/3 of my pregnancy.  I had mildly noticed them with the last pregnancy, but this time they were often regular and VERY noticable.  I just figured my lovely uterus was working a little harder this time (being the 5th pregnancy) and needed a bit longer to prepare.  And it was this reason that when that first "real" contraction presented itself, I half thought it may be another Braxton Hicks.  Surely, baby wouldn't come early??

I continued to lie in bed, eyes wide, and breathed calmly through the contraction.  It did seem a little stronger than the BH's, so I opted to wait and see if another one or two generated and if there was any regularity to them.

10 minutes passed, and along came a contraction.  Just as strong, and enough to make me stand and get out of bed.  I had the urge to go sit on the loo.. (as you do!) and while there another two contractions passed, each ten minutes apart and each increasing in intensity.  I started feeling rather excited and believed that labour was in motion.  Should I wake hubby??

My instinct was not to wake Steve just yet, just in case it was a false alarm and all over as quick as it had begun.  And besides, the house was soooo quiet and serene.  I was really enjoying the moment alone.  I potted around the house, putting things away, folding... and transferred slowly to a favoured corner of our dining table for support as I felt a contraction rising.  

Recognising the familiarity of the way my labours generally progress, I decided that I was most likely going to birth my baby this morning and best be setting up my birthing space.

At this stage I wasn't counting contractions, however, intuition invited me to quicken my waddle slightly when foraging the following items.. mattress, towels, waterproof tablecloth, sheets, placenta bowl etc.  I had another contraction as I was dragging the mattress up the hallway, (It was a child's size IKEA mattress, so nothing too strenuous), made my bed then decided to go and wake sleeping Papa Bear - with a midway sojourn at the dining table.. Another contraction!  Yep, well and truly 5 mins apart now.  The time..  about 2.45am.

Papa Bear rose with sleepy eyes (he was due to wake at 4.30am for work).  

Steve:  "What's happening", rubbing eyes.

Me:  "I think baby might come today." - another contraction.. "Yeah, baby's definitely coming!"

Steve:  "What do you need me to do.  What do I need to set up for you?"

Me:  "Nah, I've already done it" - pointing to my little sacred space.

Steve:  "Oh, you've already done it.  That's nice Babe."

Me:  :)

At this point I went and checked in at my birthing alter, read my blessingway blessings, lit my candle and put on my birthing necklace.  I felt the support of all my friends, my own mother and all the mothers before her.  I was ready to travel to the deepest part of myself, where time seems to stand still.  I knew what physical and emotional demands would be offered to me.  I was ready for the experience.  The spiritual exaltation that is childbirth.  -  Beautiful women.. stay with me. xx

Another contraction sees me back to my favourite corner of the dining table.  Head down, focused breathing, body swaying....

Things were really moving quickly.  I could feel my body expanding, dilating.  The pain was advancing incredibly and a moment of fear crept in.

Me:  (having a little cry..) "I don't want it to hurt"

Steve: .........silent pause.........

Me:  "I take it back.. I do want it too"

I knew my body was working hard to birth our baby.  I knew that what I was feeling was perfect and that baby was with me all the way.  I transformed my thoughts.  I knew if I focussed on the pain, resisted the pain, I would hand over my power to it.  I needed strength and courage to birth this baby.  There was no turning back now!!  I welcomed the pain, invited it back in to my experience, and the fear subsided. 

The space between contractions was narrowing and I had that immediate urge to get to the place were baby was to be born.  No more walking around.  I needed to get into position....

We decided to let Lani (14), Wade (11) and Lucy (3) sleep until just prior to baby's arrival.  Seraphina really wanted to be a part of the birthing experience, so Steve woke her and the two of them sat at the dining table while I kneeled on the mattress, leaning on to the couch, cuddling pillows tightly through contractions. 

My body was being consumed.  With each wave I could feel baby moving closer and closer, traveling down the birth canal, preparing to crown.. and yet part of my spirit was watching from above as the mechanics of childbirth took over.

I rested in between contractions and sang like a whale during them.  Baby was being born..

The other children were woken.  At this moment, I felt I needed to change position, so on Steve's return I turned to kneel upright, facing his loving eyes and holding his forearms for support.  

The contractions were working to push baby.  However, in this position I felt some resistance.  Intuitively, I asked Steve to help me stand.

Steve:  "We don't want baby to fall out"

Reflecting on our previous births, I assured him that I will need to birth the head first and baby will not "fall out". :)

Standing certainly released the resistance I was feeling and during the next contraction, an ocean of waters gushed out blessing my birthing space.

With another hard squeeze and a roar of emotion from me, I noticed a few drops of blood on the mattress below.  I took this as a positive sign that baby was crowning.  "Oh Good" I whispered.  We had traveled well.. Baby is almost here!!

Once again through divine guidance and pure direction from my baby and body, I asked Steve to help me back down.  

Baby crowned.  I felt her head presenting. 

Elated, I knew that with the next surge she would be with us, safe in the sanctity of her family and home.

Our last contraction together felt more like two in one.  It was a good thing I had kneeled back down on the mattress as baby's head and body birthed in one last momentous push.  4.18am - She was here!!

As she lay before me, I paused quietly.  A brief moment in time to integrate between two worlds and for me to soak up the euphoria.  She was perfect.  Raising her to my heart, I felt relieved, proud, overwhelmed, grateful... totally immersed in a universal blanket of love and beauty .

Words can not describe those first few moments together.  So much LOVE...  A life is born and a new journey begins. XX

MAMATOTO - Over the Moon!!

Mamatoto - Mother and Child are One

Last week I found out I was pregnant with baby number 5!  You might think that being my 5th pregnancy I wouldn't be so surprised or ridiculously happy but each time fills my heart with incredible joy.

As I sit and meditate on this glorious new divinity growing inside of me, I see a little Buddha resting peacefully, radiating love and healing light out to my extremities.

I feel so very blessed.. again.  

Being an attachment parenting, extended breastfeeding mama, I relish the way my body evolves and prepares for the demands of reproduction and childbearing again.

  

Technically, baby is 4 weeks along... Moonfully, baby has been dividing and exponentially growing at warp speed for 2 weeks.  The Lunar Eclipse last month was a sacred moment indeed.

I am feeling.... a little tired, a little strange in the tummy, very thirsty, a lot like fasting, a lot like meditating and a lot like smiling!! :)

I love being pregnant!

SPACE to SOW and GROW - "Dragon Language"

My little man is not so little any more..  In fact, he turned 11 last month.  Today I want to share his handwriting journey as it was such a fascinating time in our unschooling life.

Wade was slow to speak by conventional standards.  At age 3 he used hardly any words at all to communicate to me.  People found it very hard to understand him when he did talk, which frustrated him to no end.  I always knew what he was saying however, but in all honesty we very rarely spoke with our voices.  Most of our communication was telepathic.  It came so natural to the both of us and at some point I wondered if perhaps that was why he wasn't choosing to verbalise his thoughts. It was working for us :)

As he grew and became more and more a part of society he realised that he needed to "speak" if others were to know what he was feeling, thinking, needing...  This was challenging for Wade for a couple of reasons.  

The main reason being that it annoyed him that other people couldn't just "hear with their minds" as he put it :)

He was never all that interested in books as a little fella.  Way more into pulling real life things apart to discover how they worked and what made them tick.  Old clocks, radios etc. were his preferred toys.  

Our eldest child was really into books and reading.  Around about age 3, she showed interest in learning how to read and by the time she was in preschool she was already reading.  Reading is still something she enjoys to do.  When Wade was a similar age, maybe 4/5, I thought it was only right to offer him the same opportunity to read.. and write.  He quickly showed me he was not interested and became frustrated when I encouraged him to do so.  This was my sign to back off and try again in a couple of years... Which I never did as he was too busy doing the things he loved most, like drawing diagrams, labeling inventions with x and y's and mc squares.. well that's what it looked like to me. :)

What we did notice with Wade was that he had a photographic memory with numbers at a very early age.  In his third year he would memorise really long numbers after reading them once.  For a kid who hardly spoke this was a complete spin out to us as he would look at a bank card number or a phone number on TV etc. then recite the numbers back to us!!  Where did that ability come from??  It's still a bit of a mystery :)

Before numbers, Wade would fill notebooks with symbols.  Think hieroglyphics but more like Rune style.  I would say "What you doing there Wade?", in which he would reply, "Oh, that's Dragon Language."  Okaaay... "Cool!".  I thought it was the most awesomest thing I had ever seen!! and I was intrigued to learn more.  Dragons have always fascinated me.  His "work" inspired many great conversations between the two of us and as he spoke I clearly envisioned him cloaked up all Hermit like, in his Dragon type lair, concocting spells and wizardry and mastering the arts of alchemy!  Fantastico!!

Had Wade seen Rune symbols before??  Not in this life time :)  His scripting was coming from a very intelligent and ancient source.. Well that's my take on it anyway.  Love a bit of Past Life Wisdom!!! and possibly Future Wisdom for that matter!

He's also been totally into making "potions" since as long as I can remember, and anything to do with chemistry, electricity and physics.  Is it any wonder he wasn't interested in bedtime stories :)  I remember his favourite book around the age of 5/6 was a thick Science encyclopaedia and the page he religiously wanted to look at over and over again was the pages showing the Periodic Table!!  

You really can learn so much about a person, their past, present and future, by respectfully allowing them to pursue whatever sparks their interest at any given point in time and to notice what information naturally flows through them.

Wade played out all his past chemical and mathematical experiences as a little boy.  He's moved on to scripting online games now, which is totally over my head, but still interesting to me as I love to support my children with whatever it is they are in to.  They are after all, the Masters of their own Creation xx

SPACE to SOW and GROW - Learning to Write

I am inspired today to blog about "Learning to Write" as I am amazed at my 5 year old daughter and her progress in handwriting.  

My lovely Seraphina girl has been really enjoying grabbing a pencil and paper lately (or anything that could substitute) and is beginning to write letters.  She holds the pencil "correctly", holds her tongue just right and goes about crafting a story, a menu, a love note or whatever inspires her to write.  At the moment she is writing the letters "A B H i S o P e E T" - to make up words and sentences.

What I find so intriguing is that she has never once had a lesson on how to write a single letter of the alphabet and only 3 weeks ago her writing was of the zigzag variety.  Lines and lines of up down up down, repetitively down the page.  This appears, to the untrained eye, as scribbles.  However, being classically trained in 5 year old manuscript I knew precisely the message that was being delivered. ;)

We knew Seraphina was beginning to recognise letters as she would shout out if she saw an "S" and say "That's in my name!!".

She knows the alphabet song, we've read some alphabet books (not many) and apart from the letter "S" she hasn't really been into wanting to know what the names of the letters are.  Now when she writes a letter she asks, "What did I write Mum?".  I let her know what the letter is and she is over the moon to know she is writing REAL letters!!  Such a joy to watch her learn this way.

So from observing letters in their natural habitat.. in books, on signs, on tv/games.. everywhere!.. Seraphina is remembering the structure of the letter and copying it down.  Just as she did in the past with basic shapes like the circle, square and triangle.

People comment that unschooling is an organic way of learning and it truly is.  It's wonderful how different skills and experiences unfold by simply traveling through life. Each popping up at the precise moment it is needed.  

josephinewall.co.uk

The more I think about rote learning and other conventional early learning methods, the more I feel blessed to be able to allow my children the freedom to learn at their own pace, in their own way.  

Forcing a child to learn how to read and write, when they have no interest to do so, is like force feeding them to eat.  It might go in the right hole and down the right tube but will most likely never be absorbed optimally and quite possibly will be rejected altogether.

Trusting our children to intuitively know when they are ready (if at all) to grasp a new skill, is one of the best gifts a parent can give.  

Just as we sat back and waited for them to take their first step and speak their first word, it is equally important to wait for their own internal desire to read and write, ignite.  Reading and writing will then only ever come from a place of purpose and pleasure.  After all, that was it's intention in the beginning.

mesopotamia.co.uk

I'd like to share Wade's writing journey with you as it had a very interesting and somewhat bizarre beginning. At this minute I have a very sleepy, little one needing my attention, so this will have to wait until next time..

Thanks for reading friends.

Much Love

Angel x

FAMILY ADVENTURES - A Land of Giants and Lost in the Wind

Day 3..

A drive South through towering forests led us to the gorgeous town of Walpole.  We purchased tickets for the Valley of the Giants - Tree Top Walk and made our way towards Nornalup.

I know there are a handful of these tree top walks scattered throughout the country, but I had never been to one.  The views were amazing and the feeling of being so high up in the canopy of the forest was exhilarating!

As much as I loved this experience, I think I felt more at peace and in harmony with nature down below on the Ancient Empire walk.

Being an absolute tree hugger, I savoured every moment of this walk.  The breath of life, the wisdom, the heart expansion...  In my mind, I had transformed into a tiny wood nymph and there were many little secret hollows calling me to take up residence :)

I could have wandered on blissfully all day...

Me and The Petals of My Heart

From here we traveled East along the coast to Albany.  A spirited city with a rich seafaring history.

We checked into our motel as the sun was setting.  There was still one place, however, that I was keen to see before retiring for the night. 

Albany Wind Farm

The Albany Wind Farm sits 80m above sea level along the Torndirrup Peninsula, just 12km's out of the city centre.  The paths throughout the turbines offer some of the best views of the Southern Ocean in the area. 

It was an incredible feeling to walk amongst these eco-friendly giants.  They are 60m in height.  The sound of the wind powering the 35m long blades to turn is reminiscent of something you would find in an extra terrestrial movie.  Quite eerie actually.

You would expect a wind farm to be.. well.. windy, but seriously this place was windy.  The top speed of these awesome towers of metal is 22 RPM.  Which works out to be about one revolution per three seconds.  Not all that fast yet still impressive considering their size. The twelve turbines lower Western Australia's greenhouse gas emissions by 77 000 tonnes per year.  Fantastic!! 

Lulu doing her airplane thing

I found the sheer size and design of the turbines fascinating.  So much so, I spent a great deal of time looking up through the lens and not a great deal anywhere else. (I had already been mesmerised by the beauty of the ocean and the surrounding hills) Before I knew it the sun was down and I was separated from the rest of the family.  Lucy was still with me as she was content to skip around the paths following me as I snapped away. 

I didn't panic initially as I was pretty confident I would find my way back to the car park.  Unfortunately, all of the paths looked identical, especially in the dark.  There were no street lights out here :)  

I began to fret when I couldn't hear the whir of the turbines anymore...  I had walked for ages!!!  It wasn't until I realised I was heading towards Albany on the main road out of the park that I scooped Lucy up, switched directions and began sprinting frantically back in the opposite direction.  At this point I didn't know which way was up :)  I felt completely lost... and I'm usually good with directions, especially when I turn the map upside down and back to front hehe :D

Somehow, I managed to find everyone ?? We were safe and sound.. Phew!  It did get me thinking though how having my head securely glued to the back of my camera had caused me to lose all sense of direction. 

And now I'm wondering...  Is getting lost like this a keen (amateur) photographer thing or is it genetic??  

1.  Because I love my SLR and was obviously caught up in the moment and 

2.  Because my mother got lost in the Nevada desert somewhere blissfully taking photos until she too did not know where she had come from..

Whatever it is, I will be a lot more observant of my bearings next time.  That was a little bit too "Woman vs Wild" for my liking.  ;)