Martinmas In the Making

This year, my second-grader, Ian, will be lucky enough to celebrate Martinmas twice. First, on the eleventh of November, my parents will take him to celebrate with his old school friends from the Waldorf School of Pittsburgh. They will assemble at Frick Park for their annual lantern walk, complete with songs, lanterns, hot chocolate, coffee and home-made pretzels.
Here is a photograph of one of the lanterns he made while at the Waldorf School of Pittsburgh. It now sits on the nature table in our Waldorf-inspired classroom at home in Arkwright, New York:


And as long as we are on the subject of our classroom...here are a few of the things I really like about our homeschool:



The rolltop desk ("my desk") is very old and was salvaged from a tug. All three of T's children used the desk at the center of the room ("Ian's desk") and I painted the chalkboard wall and created the window treatments myself from silks that Ian dyed in kindergarden and some scrap fabric generously given to me by my dear friend (and fellow fabric/yarn/office supply junkie)Lori.

The cross on the wall in this one is made of drift wood we scavenged on the beach at Lake Erie this past summer. Lots of beach glass from those same recon missions is displayed on our nature table. I created it on the spur of the moment one morning while Ian was still asleep. Needless to say, it was a big hit...I had an idea it would be, given his affinity for sticks (and for Our Lord, whom he used to refer to as "Saint Jesus"...but that's another story).



And the second celebration...the one Im so excited about... will take place on the Tuesday after Martinmas. My first annual Martinmas Celebration at our home in New York. If all goes as planned, the second annual Martinmas Celebration will be taking place in another hemisphere, so Im making a point of inviting a few of our dear friends to walk with us, bearing both light and witness into the beautiful Western New York night.