Exploration & Community: Raccoon Clan Fall 2011

Another season of Raccoon Clan has flown by! Bella loved her time spent exploring and learning last spring and she was SO excited to get "back to the land" after the summer break.

Every Thursday we dressed her in layers & warm boots, and sent her off with hot soup, bread, and treats.

Lucy loved playing with the other kids, but of course had to say goodbye as they prepared for a fun day spent entirely outdoors.

Last week was this season's closing celebration, where we were able to see everything they have been working on and learning. One of Bella's favorite activities was carving her own arrow and learning about archery.

It's always fun to connect with my beautiful mama friends...we enjoyed hanging out each week and would stand and talk about unschooling, our kiddos, and the weather :)

To kick off the ceremony, we gathered around the fire and sang a blessing together. It's so lovely to get all of the families together in one place for a common purpose.

The kids created this awesome centerpiece from pods, berries, and leaves. So fun!

Potlucks are the BEST! I should have taken the foil off of these front two dishes because they were amazing...but as you can see, it was a cornucopia of whole food goodness. Lots of squash, quinoa, black beans, bread, meats, and cheeses. Mmmmmm...

Everything tastes better when eaten from a hand carved wooden bowl! :) This was Lorene's (the Raccoon Clan leader) bowl and it was so beautiful...I had to stop her before she ate it. She carved the spoon herself too!

Bella was so excited to show us everywhere they had been exploring...and this red rock wall was nothing short of stunning.

This was the flag that the kids had worked on and all of their arrows, throwing sticks, and fire making supplies. It was neat to see all of their hard work laid out on display.

As the evening continued on, there was lively conversation, children at play, and drying of socks over the fire.

Lemonade berry tea was brewed over the fire during our time there...it was quite tasty, kind of like a sour hibiscus tea.

It started to get dark and it was time for goodbyes. The next session starts up again in late February and Bella is already asking "how long?!" I'm thinking the same thing! We've loved getting to know all of these families and I'm thankful that we'll see many of them at unschooling group events over the next couple of months.

Click HERE to view the entire Fall 2011 album on Flickr.

If you would like to find out more about Raccoon Clan and other programs, check out Her Feet On The Earth.

Things That Make Me Smile

Happy Sunday everyone! We are finally coming out from the cloud of flu that has been hanging over our house since last Tuesday. I haven't left the house since then...so I think we may go out to a little cafe for lunch and I am oh so excited! Fresh air, someone else cooking for me, mountain views...sounds good to me.

Here are a few of the things that made me smile this week around the web:

I'm always looking for playtime ideas for the cold winter months. I recently filled a large, flat tupperware with about 10 lbs of popcorn seeds and the girls have been going crazy with it. Yes, it can be messy...but fun is sometimes messy! We call it the "seed box". You could also use beans, wheat, or real sand if you're out of your mind :) Here is another idea with oatmeal.

This week I want to make homemade playdough.

I know I have seen Kat's incredible sweaters on Etsy before...but had never seen her website until today. Kind of obsessed. And I want her house. Oh, and her busses. As I type this, I'm listening to this podcast interview with her. Love. It's a beautiful conversation about making art, how "stuff" can take over, traveling light, and more!

I adore this idea. I have many cards and letters from dear friends, but they are all just in a box. Punching holes in them and putting them in a pretty binder sounds like way more fun.

I like to buy sweaters at the thrift store & cut off their arms for leg warmers...but I've always wanted to do something with the part that is left. I think I will try this next time! Circle scarf = happy.

Bella has been obsessed with snow globes for as long as I can remember. Can't wait to make these with her!

Have you seen my "Lovely Spaces" board on Pinterest? I go there when I want to smile. :)

I like to make stuff and feel crafty...although it seems to happen less and less these days. These bracelets look pretty simple and I'm excited to go thrift store!

We have oodles of gaffers tape laying around from all of our hoopmaking...so I was excited to see this idea. Bella has loved making duct tape wallets, so I know she'll love this.

Thank you to everyone who posted recipes and links for bread and muffins! So excited to try them out over the winter. After posting that, I found this great page with tons of bread recipes.

Hope everyone is healthy and enjoying a restful Sunday! xxoo

Baking Up a Storm

I have been spending a lot of time in this here corner of loveliness...it houses my baking corner and my bulk goodies. I have longed for a space like this forever...and oh how grateful I am to finally have it.

There is just something so wonderful about having everything I need right at my fingertips...and yet not cluttering up the kitchen. It's inspiring to see them all on display and  it makes assembling recipes so easy!

And so...we have been baking up a storm...in the snow storms :) We love baking something warm and delicious inside while the snow is falling outside.

Bella is an excellent helper and always offers to help with any baking task...we've been learning a lot about numbers and measuring through this.

I like to call this beauty "My Precious". I LOVE having a full size oven again. Love love love. And it's gas. Which makes me insanely happy. I think I would rather cook over a fire than an electric stove!

Our muffins must always be eaten with hot tea! I recently re-stocked my favorite tea, Rishi's Citron Oolong...so I'm a happy girl. The muffin that we tend to make the most around here is the Delightful Banana Nut Muffins from The Garden of Vegan. It's one of my most requested recipes from from friends and family...so I thought I would post it here!

Delightful Banana Nut Muffins Cookbook: The Garden of Vegan By Sarah Kramer and Tanya Barnard

1 1/3 cups whole wheat flour ½ cup dry sweetener (I like rapadura or turbinado) 1 t baking powder 1 t baking soda ½ t salt ¾ cup ground flax seed ½ cup chopped walnuts (optional) 2 bananas, mashed 1/3 cup olive oil 1 t vanilla extract 2/3 cup soy, rice, or almond milk

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sweetener, baking powder, baking soda, salt, flax, and walnuts. In a small bowl, combine the bananas, oil, vanilla and soy milk. Pour the liquid ingredients with the dry and mix together gently until “just mixed”. Spoon into a lightly oiled muffin pan and bake for 15-20 minutes. Makes 12 muffins.

On the day of our big snow, Bella decided that we simply must have a muffin picnic in front of the fire, and so we did! Such sweet memories I have with my girls.

And lastly, my friend Ellen gave me a yummy recipe for Sunflower Seed Cookies...and of course we made them right away! They were SO GOOD. Although, I think it had something to do with the copious amount of sugar in them :) You can always cut back or add alternative sweeteners if you're so inclined. They can also easily be made vegan.

Sunflower Seed Cookies Serves/Makes:   4 dozen

Ingredients: Cream together: 1 cup butter or Earth Balance 1 cup sugar 1 cup brown sugar 2 eggs or egg substitute 1 teaspoon vanilla

Blend in: 1 teaspoon baking soda 3/4 teaspoon salt 1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour 3 cups oatmeal 1 cup sunflower seeds

Directions: Mix together well. Drop onto greased baking sheet. Bake at 350 F for 8-9 minutes.

For more yummy muffin recipes, check out my food blog, Happy Foody, under the muffin category. If you're a fellow muffin lover, be sure to check out this great article on "How To Make the Best Muffins Ever". It's a goody.

Next I'd like to get into baking homemade bread. I've done it before...but I would especially like to make sourdough and english muffins, along with some crusty, hearty soup breads.

If you have a tried and true recipe...please share it below! Also, please share your all-time favorite muffin recipe so I can stop making the same one over and over :)