It has been a very busy week around here!  Our time has been spent unpacking and planning, unpacking and organizing, and unpacking and exploring.  And the time spent exploring is my absolute favourite.  While part of me would love to simply lock myself in the house for a few days solid so I could bang out all of this unpacking and actually feel settled (and even just typing that does truly sound like a marvelous idea!) I have opted instead to focus on getting my little ones into a rhythm.  And while this means I will be unpacking for another week or so, it also means that my little ones are adjusting quite well.

I have tried to keep our rhythm very similar to what it was like at our old house.  And for us, that means at least an hour or two each morning is spent outside exploring, creating, and playing.

Yesterday morning I had been chatting with Sammy and Madeline about where our new garden would be (and perhaps lining the space with sticks to visualize … I may be missing my garden a little this season …) when Madeline mentioned that the little pine in the midst of our ‘garden’ was going to be our Christmas tree.  Sam thought this was incredible.  He also thought that it should be decorated.  Immediately.

So, with a little tape and a lot of scavenging, my little ones decorated our Christmas tree in July.

Most of our decorating time was spent creating nature chains.  We made them the same way we make paper chains.  We simply scavenged some long thin leaves, thick blades of grass, and the like, and rounded them into circles.  We bent the first into a circle, secured with a little piece of scotch tape, inserted the next leaf through the middle, bent it into a circle and secured it with tape.  And so on – voila! Our leaf garland was created,

And a lovely wreath was constructed from (I believe one of my Garden plants) leaves.  Madeline took the long leaves (grass?) and braided them, securing it into a circle with a piece of tape.  This also made a lovely crown!

Finally, clovers were added as final Christmas tree decorations.

Fine motor skills, problem solving skills, collaborating, counting — so much learning was happening, simply from being outside with unstructured play.

It was a lovely way to spend a July morning – decorating a Christmas tree.  Something I have never done before!  And something I was very glad I didn’t miss out on because I was cooped up in the house unpacking.  Memories like this one won’t wait — but my boxes will.  Unfortunately.

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