You know something has become a tradition when I start titling it by the year, for example…Maypole 2012. It makes me so happy to know we have settled in America for long enough to have a larger pattern and rhythm forming in our life…we now have annual traditions….and lucky for us, Maypole is one of them.

Maypole is a feast of cuteness. It is a celebration of things that are really lovely in life. Children, Spring, singing, dancing, flowers, food and friends. We were first introduced to Maypole through the Waldorf Playgroup Maya attended, and now get an annual invitation as Playgroup Alumni. This was our third Maypole event, and when I looked back at 2011 and 2010, it struck me just how much Elle has grown up.

This was our first trip back to Brooklyn since moving from there nine months ago. We had not seen many of these faces since we left, and it was wonderful to pick right up where we left off…funny how that happens. The same conversations started up again – something which seems like everyone who lives in Brooklyn with children discusses…”We think about leaving Brooklyn, but we are not sure where to move to?”…It felt good to be having this conversation from the other side…and reassure friends, that there is life after Brooklyn. We felt that it was wonderful to be back and that we still love Brooklyn and we would want to live there again if we could afford to have the space and freedom we felt we needed to grow. Simultaneous we felt happy to be where we are now, living life in Montclair. This is a nice way to feel, we liked that life and we like this life too. It can be daunting to make a big decision like moving towns, states (or countries!) and it is reassuring when you return to a place you once were and reflect, that regrets do not surface….because then you know, you can keep on enjoying life.

We were blessed with perfect weather, warm but not hot, with a gentle cool breeze.

We gathered, shared and connected. We cherished those who have taught us.

And looked up to friends we have always admired.

It was a wonderful time had, and really, a highlight of our life…which brings me to something else…

I am to leave you for a while my friends. You might have noticed the last month or so I have not been blogging as frequently – or  when I have been, I have been feeling like I should be doing something else. I have had recurring feelings that I needed to pause, to make change, and to use my time differently. For a few reasons, but mostly for our Girls, it is time for me to have a break from blogging. This is not because I don’t want to blog, but because I want to do something else too! I have so much enjoyed keeping this journal of our life, and sharing it with you here in this space, thank you all so much for reading. Thank you also to all of those that took the time to write words of support and encouragement it mean’t more than you could imagine to know you were inspired to be there, checking in with us, and our life. I have some exciting plans on the horizon, and will be back some time in the future…but for now, on a sweet note, it is goodbye from me…goodbye from us!

Kirsten xo

Spring flowers seemed to come and go in a week this year with yo-yo weather making the flowers bloom early, and over quickly. We were lucky that the week of Spring break was the peak of the cherry trees blooming and so we made a trip to Branch Brook Park to enjoy the blossoms. This was our first trip to Branch Brook Park in Newark, NJ, which we specifically went to as it boasts the largest number of cherry blossom trees in the nation. We have come to look forward to cherry blossoms blooming, being that we love pink and we love flowers, cherry blossom time is divine (allergies and all!). The past few years we have enjoyed the cherry blossoms all over Brooklyn, and especially the Cherry Blossom Festival at the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens. This year I was looking forward to seeing our new neighbourhood in bloom – it came a close second to the gorgeous streets of Ditmas Park in Spring.

Branch Brook Park has a Cherry Blossom Welcome Center with a beautiful cherry blossom mural and life size imitation cherry blossom tree inside it. The week we attended was during the Cherry Blossom Festival, but the welcome center did not offer us much, and I am not sure if this was due to us being there on a weekday or not, but while it was pretty I wish it had been more like a museum. I also wish it offered a detailed map of the cherry blossom trees throughout the park.

We did not travel very far into the park as it is huge and the tress appeared very spaced out. The Girls were on their scooters so we were able to cover some ground. I felt like the cherry blossom trees would have had more impact if they had been planted close together like at the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens. From what I gather there are numerous variety of cherry blossoms trees at Branch Brook and when we went the single blossoms had already flowered.

Rather than looking for more trees we planted ourselves beneath one lovely old tree that had tapered limbs bowing to the ground. It was covered in popping buds and so we were in a canopy of pink petal pom poms. We had a picnic packed, and so quite happily spent a couple of hours beneath the tree building dandelion and cherry blossom fairy houses. I think in fact it looked like we were the fairies, playing in a cherry blossom fairy house.

The petals were already starting to drop and so we were treated to pink snow when the breeze blew. I let the girls pick the flowers as they were to come to pass so quickly anyway. I am glad we were able to savor the moment and spend a day playing in the pink. Until next year…when we will surely do it again!

We have a favorite toy in our home at the moment that is the source of much creative play and so I am going to introduce you to our unicorn.

I designed and needle felted this unicorn from scratch and since finishing it the unicorn has been within reach more often than not. Currently unicorn is dressed in a Barbie sized flamenco dress from Grandma and Pop’s trip to Spain. Elle has claimed the unicorn as her own and it has been very busy doing the unicorn’s job of cleaning the worlds water ways.

We love the folklore of the unicorn – something that many people actually do not seem to know. The unicorn horn purifies water. If a unicorn dips it’s horn in a pond, stream or river, the water becomes pure. However it is said that the unicorns power is rendered useless if it is near a virgin female…(I left this bit out when telling the Girls…as I did not want to spoil all of the water purification going on). I learnt about this folklore many years ago while reading the history of the unicorn tapestries at The Cloisters Museum.

It makes me so happy when the Girls play for hours with hand made toys or found objects. Sticks, rocks, shells, wooden animals and the needle felted things I have made keep them inspired and content. There is something peaceful and free in these objects, they are not loaded with environmental issues that I feel guilty about. Let me explain why…

A friend of ours is a toy designer for Mattel, an industrial design university lecturer and the maker of these magic wands. He told us the other day while having a ‘bad plastic’ conversation that plastic never actually breaks down, it only breaks into smaller pieces…yep folks…that means dust sized particles of plastic in the air, in soil and in the water. He also went on to say that when plastic is in the ocean, it becomes a sponge for toxins. It absorbs and holds chemicals and toxins from the water and so when a sea creature swallows it, it is like a toxic pill. Now I am not telling you all of this to upset you or worry you, but it helps to think of this as motivation not to be a plastic using person in your daily life. Especially for use-once-throw-away items like food packaging, plastic straws, balloons and a million other things. After having this conversation with Anneliese’s husband Matt, I was inspired to be a better consumer…and so my mantra…I am good, but I can be better.

I seem to come and go from being strong about not buying plastic toys for our children to play with. I have moments when I fall into the dark again and I am somehow blinded into a false sense that it dose not matter if I buy them plastic toys…I mean look at all the people buying plastic toys? My husband is also not as passionate as I am about this issue. He purchased a Barbie doll house and our first lot of playmobil for the Girls while we were in Australia. This makes it difficult as I then feel like I should not  care…but I do care…and the light comes on…and clearly it is wrong for me.

I know he can be converted because he is smart and wants what is best for our children and the planet. Just because others buy it, should not ever be a reason to think it is ok, because that should be the point of clarity, yes, the visualisation of millions of Mothers, buying billions upon billions of pieces of playmobil. Stack it all into a great heap and it should be disturbing. Yes, I understand that not all toys are going to end up in landfill, but lots and lots will, especially when many children these days have such large collections…Barbie, Lego, whatever it is, bits are lots, broken…chewed on by pets. Who wants an old barbie with ratty hair and chewed on fingers? Maybe a child that has never seen or owned a Barbie doll would like it, but who is going to send that gnarly Barbie to her…and does that make sense? Not in the slightest because even then it will likely still end up as land fill…and so my friends…once again I have found the strength to live in the light. No more plastic toys will come into our home, this is a declaration! We have enough, and what we do have we will take great care of so it can be recycled to another family and future generations.

I do however like toys and I like the Girls to have new things, and so the best option for me seems to be to make them toys. The beauty of making your children toys is that the children then see the time and energy it takes as well as the beauty of creativity and skills. My children love to be part the design process. It personalises the toy for them. Over time they learn the skills by watching and imitation and they see the love put into it which gives the toy value. As the creator of the toy you are more likely to encourage your children to care for the toy…after all you do not want to see your hours of work sitting in spilt milk…or sucked up the vacuum cleaner. I understand not everyone is a toy maker, but there are lots of people out there who are. Esty is a great source of hand made toys. I also like  Bella Luna Toys and Nova Natural . I plan on holding a needle felting workshop in the future to share this wonderful skill.

Thus one manifests the beautiful Unicorn…and for so many reasons the unicorn is fantastic, because  Elle loves it, because I made it, because it is made from wool and because this environmentally friendly biodegradable unicorn does a wonderful job of helping keep earths waterways clean. Both in reality, and in our imaginations.

Happy May Day! One of my favorite times of year, the celebration of fertility, and of new life. Our May Day began with rising early and dressing quickly so we could go out and pick flowers to fill May Day baskets. Last night we made some simple cone shaped baskets out of cereal boxes from the recycling bin. We decorated them with ribbon and water colour paint. For those of you not familiar with this tradition, May Day baskets are small baskets usually filled with flowers or treats and left at someone’s doorstep. The giver rings the bell and runs away. The person receiving the basket tries to catch the fleeing giver. If they catch the person, a kiss is exchanged.

We left May Day baskets on Nina’s door step. Before 8am the Girls rang her doorbell, and ran to hide. It was very early and so Nina was not expecting visitors, but kindly answered the door like a sleepyhead anyway! Thankfully – with delight, she found the May Day baskets, and two giggling little Girls behind the bushes.

Maya’s school celebrates May Day with a maypole, which the children have been practicing for the past few weeks. The Maypole event is a combined school event with two other local schools. Sadly though, we heard at school drop off that Maypole had been cancelled due to the rain. I spoke with Mrs Hopper our school principal and she said that she planned on organising another Maypole day for our school on the 11th of May.

We intend on heading to Brooklyn this weekend to attend the annual Waldorf Playgroup Maypole event. I am really excited as it is the most wonderful day, so incredibly beautiful. I look forward to maypole all year. This will be our first trip back to Brooklyn since moving, 9 months ago. It will be a special day for us, seeing friends, and being a part of this magical ritual. At this point rain is predicted for the weekend…fingers crossed it does not dampen our spirits. Happy May Day to you my friends!

It has been a quiet week here on the blog…last week was Spring break for Maya’s school and so our days were busy. Now a rainy and cold Monday morning, with Maya back to school, it is the perfect moment to sit and re-cap. We were very lucky with the weather for Spring break with warm gorgeous days – unlike this week that is predicted to be cold and wet. I am certainly glad we made the most of the sunshine, with the highlight being a day spent at the Jersey Shore with friends. Nicole suggested we all go to Bradley Beach and so we made a convoy south. It is about an hour drive from Montclair, and while an hour seemed like a long way to me to drive to the beach it was an easy drive. Amy and her two Children car pooled with us which meant we each had a friend to chat with on the way. Nicole chose Bradley Beach as she said it is one of the nicer beaches close to us, and it really was nice!

We were quite the beach party, with 4 Mothers and 8 children.

There were beach rocks to climb on and a tidal pool for them to splash and play in.

We collected, shells, built sandcastles, and of course as we always do…we made mermaid tales for the mermaids.

It was such gorgeous weather with blue skies and a gentle breeze perfect for flying a kite.

Much thanks to the friends that made this day special!

Have you heard the news, yep we are getting chickens! Chickens, chickens, CHICKENS! Can you detect my excitement? I have been dreaming of raising chickens for a while, and now that we are settled we can finally commit to them. You might remember during the first weeks of moving to Montclair we found ourselves chicken sitting for friends of our new neighbour Nina. It was then that I was reminded of  just how great chickens can be as pets for children. As a child I had a pet bantam named Wilhelmina, who had two chicks I named Juliette and Julian. I have always felt I would like the girls to have a pet, and there has been some talk of a dog, but the idea of having to buy meat products for a dog did not sit well with me. Being that we are vegetarians this led to the visualisation of a pet food abattoir, and that is really unappealing, (yes, I have thought it through thoroughly) and because so I have not reached a place I feel I can commit to a dog…despite my loving Boarder Collies. Anyway, adorable puppy aside, chickens seemed like the perfect fit for us. We give them our compost scrapes, so that is an environmental win, and they give us fresh eggs, another win! We get to name them and care for them, and if you are up to date on current chicken trends, it is not unusual to see a chicken sitting happily on a lap getting a pat. Did you know that you can buy chicken diapers made of fabric to avoid any poop disasters! Funny right?

Urban, and suburban chickens have been hot for a few years now, and it is not surprising considering the ghastly conditions average supermarket hens eggs come from. I am going to avoid touching too deeply on this topic as it is loaded and I am passionate about it and I feel like most of you reading my blog buy free range organic eggs anyway…I mean who able to sit at a computer reading blogs, with a conscious, would by any other type of egg to save $3? Bad chicken farms are old news now, but the articles are still coming about the plight of the chicken and the quality of the egg. Most recently I read this  article in the New York Times, which I found interesting, honest and very grounding, and even though I thought I was doing right by being a proactive consumer, I realised we could do more…so my friends we are getting chickens!

Thus begins the joy of shopping for a coop. I would love to say that we were going to build our own chicken coop, but as we are still in a lot of ways getting on our feet in America – and we do not own any woodworking tools. I also did not want Cam to feel he had to build our coop next week…(did I mention I was excited?) and so we decided with our combined Birthday money from my Mother we would buy a ready made coop. Mum was so happy to hear this is what we decided on. My Mother is a devoted animal lover and has dedicated much of her life to animals and can not stand animal cruelty. For example, just recently Mum paid $500 for a retired dairy cow to save it going to slaughter (yep! it was bound for dog food!). Mum felt that after a lifetime of being a milk slave the cow deserved to live out her remaining years eating grass in a paddock, so she paid the farmer the predicted meat value to let it live. Mum is an advocate of raising backyard chickens to help reduce the number of chicken farms. With Mum’s character in mind, it seemed right that we would use money from her for chickens. We are so grateful to her for generously gifting us with (enough!) money to make this possible.

I have very much enjoyed looking at all the coops available, even Williams Sonoma are selling chicken coops now! There are a lot of options out there from do it yourself coop plans to top of the line luxury coops. Some adorable, some laughable, but all coming from a good place, to liberate the chicken. Just so you can really get the scope about what is happening out there I chose four that caught my eye for various reason….the practical Eglu, the sleek and clever Nog, and one that really made me laugh, the Co-Op Coop. Then lastly the one that I think we have decided on, the Clubhouse Coop.

It is no secret that chickens can live, and lay eggs daily in almost anything. Another article I read interviewed a farmer from Ohio state (where most of America’s eggs come from) who is proud of his state-of-the art facilities, where four million birds produce more than three million eggs a day. In just one typical barn there is 268,000 small white hens that live in cages about the size of an open newspaper, six or seven hens to a cage. There is no space to move, to spread their wings or roost. These chickens do not get to nest, peck for bugs or take dust baths. This farm supplies the standard American supermarket chains – and restaurant food chains with eggs. A bit sad right?

So in a bid to hopefully bring more joy to our life, chickens are to become our pets, and increasing both quality of the chickens life, and the quality of ours. Looking forward to sharing our chickens journey with you friends, maybe you will want to do this too?

The Eglu: $650 (including two chickens)

The Nog: $3150

Coop Co-Op: $3500

The Clubhouse Coop: $569

So hear we are back to the beach again…this time visitng Evans Head. Evans, as locals call it is a small coastal town half hour drive south of Ballina. It is about the same distance as driving to Byron from Ballina, but the other direction – heading south down the coast. It is sandwiched between two National Parks, the Bundjalung National Park and the Broadwater National Park. To get there form Grandma’s house we drove through Broadwater, or ‘Sugartown’ as it was once dubbed because of the sugar cane mill. It is a beautiful drive south, through cane fields and bushland. The vegetation is different to that driving North, there is a noticeable change from rain forest into dryer and coarser vegetation.

Evans Head is a favourite destination for many who want to avoid the crowds of more developed beach towns like Byron Bay. With a population of less than 3000 people, it is tiny, and in the off season, very sleepy…but you really get the sense while there, that it wont be like this forever. It offers much in the way of natural beauty, and still comes across as ‘undiscovered’, which is what I love about it (and I know that is why you love it too Zoe and Donna!). Evans Head beach is popular for fishing, surfing, swimming, and I might add, collecting shells too. Evans is very much a classic coastal Australian town that has not yet become overly trendy or hip. It is not at all a shopping destination, the majority of the stores are closed on Sunday, but you can buy a great espresso coffee there. Evans offers a few good places to eat and has a large supermarket, so you can grab some groceries for a picnic.

It is a good place for families with small children as it offers both the beach and the river. Cribb Reservation on the river is the best! It is a popular place to picnic or camp. There is a well designed esplanade, with lots of grass, shade, and BBQ areas. Along the way you will find plaques about protecting the native wildlife and a historical figure statue. The Girls loved riding their scooters along the river to where it meets the ocean.

We were there at low tide and so they played on the rippled sand flat of the river. There were lots of low tide treasure to be found, shells, kelp and crab sand balls..and the odd piece of plastic rubbish. The river at low tide was ideal as there were isolated warm clear shallow pools for them to run and jump in. As you will see they wanted to wear each others bikinis…nice to have a sister to swap with right?

As a child a was inspired by the crab sand balls, the amazing little spheres that are the product of an industrious search for food. The Girls were familiar with them as we would find them daily at low tide on Grandma’s beach. They are something that I think everyone finds intriguing. Even now as an adult I stop to try the impossible task of pick them up and involve them in some sort of sand play. On this day there was an enormous mass of crab balls, all over the place. I love the disposition of the crab, the way they seem to be so neat, tidy and efficient, making these little perfect balls, into a haphazard patterns that are somehow orderly…so artful of them!

For the most part, we were the only people swimming in the river, that was until a high school class arrived with their teacher. They all undressed down to their swimwear in one of the rotundas, leaving their school bags sit while they swam in the river. Their teacher joining them. It gave me great appreciation for the Australian school system. I think it is fantastic that the schools are not fearful of something happening and involve outdoor activities at the beach as part of the curriculum. Surfing and fishing are offered as class activities, meaning you can choose surfing as sport, or for gym class you can go fishing. While at many of the North Coast coastal towns you can find a group of children spending time by the sea or river with their teacher. This kind of thing is not a special excursion, but part of the weekly schedule. Ballina primary Pubic school has a Marine Biology research Center built on the school grounds. I have never been in the building, but the outside is painted turquoise, and looks gorgeous. I am pretty sure (correct me if I am wrong!) the Ballina High School has a school boat to take students out on the ocean.

We have a soft spot for Evans Head, and when we were considering moving back to Australia last year we looked at houses there. Maybe one day we just might end up in or near Evans again…In the meanwhile though, I am so glad we had this lovely day there.

This time last week we were celebrating Spring with an Easter party. I invited the families in our street with small children and some of our friends. We could not have asked for a nicer day, the sun shone brightly, and our Easter party was lovely in so many ways. I decorated the dogwood tree in our back yard with ribbons and flowers, we made fresh flower crown wreaths, and many brought dyed eggs, filling the giant basket for the egg hunt. We played pin the tail on the bunny, and had an egg and spoon relay race with both parents and children. We played duck duck goose, and enjoyed a small feast of great home made food. The children had a blast, and all looked so adorable.

It was exciting for our family to host a Spring celebration, it made me feel content and settled. Growing up my family would gather to celebrate Easter and I have fond memories of Easter being a lot of fun. Grandma would dye eggs for an egg hunt, and make chocolate bunnies for each of her children. The fireplace seat in the family room would have a long line of Easter baskets that would magically be filled on Easter morning with goodies. We would wear our best clothes, have a large elaborate meal and play games.

With our family now on the other side of the world, more often than not during holiday times we are unable to be with them. Non the less I hoped to make Easter into a special occasion for our children, and a party with friends was a great way to make it memorable. I wanted it to be symbolic of Spring, to be colourful and lively, and I wanted to share it with people we care about.

It will be great to look back at these photos in years to come. We feel lucky to be living in a street with so many little ones, always right there ready and able to play! I am grateful especially to our neighbour Nina who was a tremendous help setting up…and to my husband who made this party possible…and to my daughters who are a continual source of inspiration. I just loved it when Maya filled her wheat grass basket with flowers and hung it on the tree…Elle then had to do it too. Our creative girls…always making beautiful things.

Our day wound down, bit by bit neighbours left, and then friends, until it was just us, sitting in the yard. The girls building fairy houses out of shells, pebbles and the left over flowers…and I, sitting still…in that special quiet space after a party where I get the reward of a resonating heartfelt feeling…from a wonderful celebration.

A few weeks ago our family became a part of something special that has changed our life. That something special was Sparkle Stories. We are often looking for calm and gentle ways teach our children, and we are often looking for ways to teach or children to be calm and gentle – Sparkle Stories does just this. All round Sparkle Stories is a positive addition to our lives, it entertains, it inspires, it educates and the Children love it. I love it too, Sparkle Stories has become my Friday afternoon shinning light, as I know that just when I need it most the Sparkle magic will cast a spell over my children. The enchanting story lulls them into an enthralled still and quiet, which is oh so valuable for energetic little ones…and oh so valuable for this stay at home Mama.

Since joining Sparkle Stories I have been meaning to spread the word, then today I received an email with a special Sparkle Stories offer to share with you, so that you too can have the gift of Sparkle Stories in your life.

For the coast of $1 you can join Sparkle stories for one month (four weeks). This will be 12 stories that equals 3.5 hours of delightful audio for Children. If you do not want to continue ( which I know you will want to…) you can cancel at any time and you still get to enjoy the month’s worth of original, delightful and relevant stories for only $1.

We enjoyed all of the free Sparkle Stories samples, listening to each of them many times first before deciding which story we were going to subscribe too. Maya then chose At Home with Martin and Sylvia. We look forward to each installment with anticipation. Friday now has an added pleasure for us as we get a new Sparkle Story segment – following the two delightful characters Martin and Sylvia who have become a positive influence in our daily life, in so many subtle ways.

So my friends, follow the link below and enjoy this Sparkle Stories bonus! I hope you too all subscribe. I look forward to hearing which story, or stories you choose.

The magic code: SPARKLEFRIENDS

The magic page:  www.sparklestories.com/trysparkle.

A big thank you to the generous, creative folks at Sparkly Stories, you are the best!

Some things I make for decoration, some things I make for utility…this falls into the later category. Any parent I know is familiar with the perfectly timed phrase “I’m thirsty”…once you are more than a block from home…sometimes you will quench this thirst with a water bottle dug from deep inside a bag, but other times…and this is more frequent now that we do not use a stroller…I think that we can go out and I can leave Mummy’s bag of everything behind and be hands free…but you know, this is impossible…I always have to carry a water bottle…or do I? No, of course not, my children can carry their own water bottle…and so comes the little bottle bag.

It seemed like each time we were to walk in the woods, I was carrying a large backpack in order to carry a small bottle of water. I did not always want to do this, so one day the solution popped into mind – a drink bottle bag for the children! I made this one for Elle from cotton calico and a strip of cotton binding. I really like calico, it is easy to sew with and very inexpensive. I have been working on my embroidery skills and so asked Elle if she would like embroidery on the front? Elle said she wanted a red flower with a green center…which as you will see is exactly what she got. I am part way through making Maya’s, who wanted a lotus embroidered on hers.

We tested the water bottle bag out, and Elle went between wearing it and hanging it off her scooter. I too carried it a little way – and so even though I may end up carrying the water still, I like that they are learning to carry their water bottles themselves part of the way, sometimes…