Trash craft- DIY Gnome tree house and tree branch blocks

Jacob and I made this for the girls nature corner , daddy designed the base and I designed the top using some cut down discarded branches I cut in to segments with a hand saw, I made a swing from a mossy dry piece of branch ,cut in half ,sanded and then drilled with two holes for the hemp rope. I used two old bird cage ladders to complete it , really simple. Draped with some green play cottons, along with a little homemade gnome family (ours has been abused) and some wooden or little felt animals and your all set to go. I also made so tree branch blocks using the hand saw , the girls love them even though they don't exactly sit straight , but I guess that's part of the fun. They become tables and chairs, castles, beds and more for the little animals.

Amelies' first birthday

The day started off beautifully , we sat and made paper lanterns from old art work and scrap paper , covered the house with some yellow streamers we found at the thrift store. It was a slow and lovely morning . We even went for a walk to pick up some treats to share with our friends, amelie on my back , and elis' dolly on hers , both with our grocery bags in hand. We decided to just have a little play date with two friends this year instead of a big party , that way we could keep it simple and focus more on the girls. We made raw Apple pie, and raw kale chips , date coconut rolls, bought some kettle chips , and coconut agave icecream sandwiches and nori maki crackers . It was nice to focus on the needs of just a few friends instead of a whole house full. In past years ,I've always  had the tenancy to become extremely overwhelme at even thought of a event or celebrations, so I was determined not to stress this time and just enjoy my little girl on her birthday and I did!

Our winter nature table

King winter made a late appearance on our table, but better late then never. There are also two little gnome by his side , along with boxes of rocks and seeds, a giant salt rock  , a basket of natural treasures and on the floor a basket a nature books , fact books along with story books, a shelf with more delicate items like bottles of beach sand, shells, sea spongy, feathers and the prize of our collection a deer horn , found and given to us by a friend. I can't wait till spring , the equinox is on it way and I have so may ideas!

Making pita bread

We had a wonderfully slow homeschooling day, fill with flour kneading, and giggles,We spent it making pita bread with our friend susie ( she is the one who got us into making our own pita bread) for vegan gyros ( daddy made the seitan with onions and green peppers ) pita bread has to be by far the simpliest ,  most kid friendly of all breads, that's not say it doesn't get messy with a 4 and 1 year old. If you haven't made it before you should definitely give it try, it's a   great homeschooling activity, not to mention cost effective.
We used a basic recipe from the fresh loaf website which is really great for kids . It's soft, stretchy, not to stick, easy to roll, and puffs up quite nicely. We also use a spelt pita pocket recipe I found on line which works quite well but is pretty sticky to handle so I wouldn't recommend it for kids , though it is much healthier , here's the recipe

2+1/4 cups whole wheat spelt flour
1 cup lukewarm water
1 tbsp gave nectar
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp oil
1 package active dry yeast

Mix water oil salt gave and yeast , mix flour with glutan, add wet and dry ingredient together and knead 5 minutes , divide dough in to 6 balls and let rise in a warm place for 20 - 30 min , o rise mine in the dehydrater with a wet cloth on top , warning it may stick to the dough , not a big deal , just peel it of carefull y , preheat oven to 250 c . Roll dough balls 2 at a time to around 1/3 of inch and bake on a preheated baking sheath or stone for about 4 mins or until golden brown but still soft and puffy, the trick to getting your bread to puff is in the rolling pin , keeping the dough nice and even and round , with no thin spots , good luck
ps we also made a yogurt tahini sauce using coconut kefeir