The Ancestor Tree

Samhain is the time of year to remember those who came before us, those without whom we would not be here. The veil between the world of the living and the world of the dead becomes thin at this time, and communication with our beloved dead is a bit easier.


Here at home we bring our ancestor altar to a more central location (photos to follow) and this year, since I talk about Aidan's ancestors so much to him, we made an Ancestor Tree. Instead of a typical family tree where the branches are the family members, the roots are the family members... as they are our roots, our DNA, what we are still connected to and who we can still learn from if we are so inclined. 

During this project, even I learned something. I learned that I have Scottish and Irish ancestry! I'm really happy about that.:) Aidan and Ciaran now add Scottish to their nationality chain, and a bit more Irish to make them...

Italian, German, Irish, Scottish, English and a little bit Native American.




my side...






.. and Scott's side.

Homemade Pasta

Recently I found an old Italian cookbook printed in 1968 in the cabinets over my fridge. It was good timing being that the season of Samhain is almost upon us and I was thinking about cooking more closely to my Italian heritage (even though I've now learned that including German, I have Scottish and Irish ancestry!!)

The recipe for making pasta was something Aidan and Ciaran wanted to do, so we gave it a shot.






Start with a cup and a half of flour (ignore the while flour... I tried to at least!)



Add an egg plus one egg white.



Start kneading to combine egg and flour.



This is where it got crazy considering 2/3 of the chefs were under 6 years old. Notice baby dragon in the danger zone of flour messiness. Those 2/3rds also got freaked out by the sticky nature of the dough at this point and went to wash up. Next time I'll spray their hands with some cooking oil or something.



Dough should form and be 'glossy and shiny'. Mine really wasn't. It was like a brick!



I rolled it out as best as I could, but it didn't get to paper thin as the recipe called for. It kept wanting to shrink back. This is where a pasta machine would help!



Roll it up...



... cut into thin slices...



.. and unroll the slices before the pasta has time to dry.



This is what Aidan and Ciaran did while Mom was cooking. Bowling with walnuts collected on our nature walk. More play with natural items... and Ciaran sans clothing, as usual.



They Enjoyed dinner... except Ciaran didn't like the pasta.





Mine...



Theirs.

Drum Class

Aidan and Ciaran and I are taking a drum class with our friends Mary and Sky Blue. Its been pretty fun so far!

Leaf Presses

In our home school co-op, Little Spirit Garden, we made leaf and flower presses. At one of our gatherings, we cut the wood, at another meeting the kids used hand drills to experience drilling the holes. Shanon and I finished with a power drill. At home, the kids sanded the wood, experiencing the wood grain and grit of the paper and how they could smooth the surfaces. At yet another meeting they waxed their wood pieces with beeswax polish.

Our trip to Avalon, posted earlier, gave them the leaves they then pressed and will soon use for their next project.

Now, while you can use these things for both flowers and leaves... they can also be...

....parking garages and a heliport.

Pretty awesome. :)

Autumn Equinox / Mabon

My great friend Mary follows a Native American spiritual path. Her husband Sky is of the Diné, otherwise known as Navajo. Aidan and Ciaran are good friends with their son Sky Blue.

This year we had a kids Summer Solstice at their place where I brought my spiritual background to the people who attended. We had a very kid friendly Egyptian 'ritual' to Ra and Sekhmet, and I did a little paper doll story about the Myth of the Distant Goddess, something I celebrate at the Summer Solstice.

For the Autumnal Equinox, Mary did a kids ceremony and told a wonderful story about respecting the corn spirits, i.e. respecting the Earth and the food she gives us. Aidan and Ciaran loved the music CD she gave us, the Three Sisters, a song about beans, corn and squash being their favorite. We've been singing it a lot. :)

The kids are always like their own little tribe when they get together. This day they played in the fire pit and there was dirt everywhere!

Apple Pie

We made this with the apples we picked. I swear it was the best apple pie I've ever had.




I probably gained 5 pounds per slice.

Proof...

One day my kids might complain about household chores. I will then show them this...

and this....



.. and tell them how the fought over who was going to scrub the toilet (once Ciaran saw the sudsy spray cleaner on the sink he was a goner) and that Aidan exclaimed, "Mom! This is awesome! Can we do this until Dad gets home!?"

Nature Bags

We take lots of nature walks. Whether it be around the block here or at a park or preserve, we walk and get out in nature a lot. At the change of seasons, I ask the boys if they can see any signs of the approaching season. So if its winter, I ask them if they see signs of spring. If its summer I ask them if they see signs of fall.

I love the whole thing... except being the one who has to carry all the bits of nature home in my pockets or bag. Plus, those delicate things break easily in my bag. So... Nature Bags! It was a perfect time to see the idea in my Earth Schooling curriculum. I could get some sewing in our home school plan, as well as some one finger knitting with Aidan.

They both chose purple backings. Aidan picked a light green front and wanted a pine cone on his, and Ciaran picked a darker green front and wanted an acorn on his. They glued on the cut outs and later I had to restitch them on, because the glue didn't hold. Note to self... experiment with glue and felt.




They both sew quite well. Ciaran is a bit faster because Aidan is a Chatty Cathy. :)


We added little sewing projects on the front as pockets. Aidan's is a picture frame pocket and Ciaran's is an apple. Aidan picked up one finger knitting pretty quickly, and did one of the straps on his bag. This took us a few weeks to work on, but we finished....

.... in perfect time for our trip to Avalon to collect leaves with our co-op, Little Spirit Garden.






It was a good day.

It was also my block to tell the story... I hose The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid Of Anything. Story post to come...