A Simple Day for Our Bub

Last night; the night before Zubin’s birthday, I said the birthday verse to my beautiful bubba (the same waldorfy verse I have said to Elki and Anusha for years) as we lay in bed. He was looking up at me with his little mouth open (his way of kissing) as I recited the words, kissing him between each line (my heart melting just a bit!)
Today we celebrated Zubin’s first birthday. We kept it simple; focussing on the things he enjoys and gifting him mostly handmade toys.

Anusha had been getting very excited about her little brother’s special day and was the first awake ready to give Zubin her gift; a secondhand trike we bought from an op-shop.

We gave him loads of love, kisses and cuddles; Elki proudly hugging his now one year old brother.

The morning sun shone with a beautiful warmth,

A glorious day to spend outside.

Yesterday he surprised us by easily clambering up the slide, now one of his favourite things to do.

We spent a lot of time at the playground,

And a lot of time sitting around on the grass as Zubi played with his new toys.

Tree blocks made by Scott, beach rocks and shells collected by Elki,

And a Waldorf inspired fern baby made by me.

A simple day devoted to our little fella.

I spent moments of the day remembering this time one year ago; his amazing birth and a magical day with my family.

Some of the day was also devoted to one of his favourite things; eating!

His birthday treat; family made chocolate date and apricot logs.

He couldn’t wait to get his hands on them!

There was more time spent at the playground, a walk with me around the lake, and lots of playing in the sunshine.

And here he is at twenty to five; exactly one year old, waving to his Dadda. Blessed we are to have this adorable little soul in our lives 💖

Celebrating My 14 Year Old’s Birthday | The Melbourne Museum

My first born turned 14 years old on Tuesday the first! I am such a blessed mama!
In the morning we woke, wished our boy a happy day, gave him his birthday cards and gifts, and I read him his birth story….

We camped close enough to Melbourne so that we could take Elki into the city to celebrate his special day.
After breakfast we took him out to spend his birthday money; he had planned his spending and knew what he wanted, and then we went out for a seriously delicious vegan lunch at Lord of the Fries, and dropped in to Smith and Deli for takeaway vegan birthday donuts.

That night we sang Happy Birthday by candlelight and torchlight and he ate his Birthday donut (Amazingly yummy!)

The next day we embarked on another big day; the Melbourne museum.

There was some initial frantic, rushing to see what came next; the dinosaur walk an exciting start, and the flying pterosaurs (especially Quetzalcoatl) sparking a lot of interest.

Elki was in awe of the giant squid in the underwater gallery.

The bug gallery was super interesting, we saw dung beetles with life sized elephant poo, gorgeous stick insects, and tiny, tiny wood insects but Anusha was very trepidatious about seeing any spiders so we walked on to the Wild gallery to see the animals.

Animals are what she is drawn to and most interested in. Even though we all found the stuffed animals rather unnerving, we tried out the interactive computers to find out the names of animals we didn’t know.

We had a wander around the Children’s gallery,

The textural feel of this a favourite of all the children.

The different visible levels and layers of the forest gallery were quite beautiful. The children looked into the core of a dead tree to see what lived inside,

and saw fish swimming under the water of a creek.

The Aboriginal cultural gallery was fascinating for us all: Anusha listened to the different languages of the varying Aboriginal countries and Aboriginal names for some Australian animals; telling me the name for Echidna and asking me to listen.

Elki spent time finding out the names and uses of some Aboriginal hand tools and weapons,

And we all learned about Aboriginal toys. I absolutely loved the breasts and baby toy!

After wandering the Aboriginal gallery and Te Pacifica gallery, with it’s awesome boats and masks that Elki showed me and thought were awesome, (interestingly, the masks were made in an area of New Guinea close to where Scott spent the first five years of his life) we had a look around the Melbourne gallery.
Anusha and I were fascinated by this construction of an old Melbourne house. Elki found the old weapons most appealing.

We then made our way outside for a picnic; Elki happening across a blunderbuss, a favourite of his!

After lunch and a rest in the shade we made our way back in and looked around the Mind and body gallery.
We were all getting a bit weary but before leaving we checked out the Dynamic Earth gallery and it was a definite favourite!
After Elki and I had looked at each of the globes of Earth in formation and were dazzled by the crystals, we all found each other in the movie theatre. The 3D volcano movie was amazing, Elki exclaiming in delight; “it was like surfing the lava!” Anusha and I loved it and felt slightly sick and overwhelmed all at the same time. But definitely a great way to end our visit.

The following day we recovered and Elki enjoyed his new birthday purchases; Lego, Yu gi oh cards, which he tried out with his Dad and sister, and a set of the Heroes of Olympus books.
I’ve now been a mama for about two fifths of my life and I am dearly looking forward to sharing another fifth with this beautiful boy.

Eleven Years Over the Rainbow Bridge

Recently we celebrated Elki’s 11th birthday!

When we started Waldorf homeschooling last year I decided to write a Rainbow bridge birth story for both of the children’s birthdays. The stories both tell of the children’s journey over the rainbow bridge as they were born. I got inspiration for the stories from Beyond the Rainbow Bridge by Barbara Patterson and Pamela Bradley, and other blogger’s stories, including this one at Mystical Kingdom.

We began Elki’s birthday with his celebration and followed this with giving him his gifts. I had previously made Elki a birthday book, which started with his Rainbow bridge story and then went on with photos and stories of each year of his life. I added to his book this year to include his last year. I have a rainbow play cloth that I lay on the floor, me at one end and Elki at the other, and we have a candle holder that Scott made from a salvaged piece of wood with eleven candles in it and his birth candle in the centre.

And I began by reading Elki his birth story,

Once upon a time, in a beautiful heavenly place, among the shining stars, there lived a very special little child. He worked in the house of Moon, he worked in the house of Sun, and he worked in the house of Stars. When he had finished his work in each house he received gifts of Love, Warmth, and Magic.

One time when he was with his special fairy friend, the clouds parted and down below him he saw a round emerald jewel. He dearly wanted to see more, but as he looked closer the clouds came together again. He went to Fairy and told her of what he had seen. “That is Earth”, said Fairy. “May I go there?” he asked. “Yes, you may, but when it is the right time”, replied Fairy. So the child went on living happily, amongst all his fairy friends in the stars.

A while later the clouds parted again, and this time the child saw all the colours of the rainbow. He saw many beautiful things on Earth and felt like he were a part of them, there was vast, sparkling blue oceans with whales splashing their enormous tails, lush, leafy forests with giant, sprawling trees, buzzing bees and butterflies fluttering amongst flowers of all colours, gentle, cuddly creatures munching on dewy green grasses, and strong, rocky mountains reaching up towards him!

Then he saw earthly children playing, running, jumping, and laughing. He saw earthly mothers and fathers doing their work. There was a farmer, a builder, others were bakers, shoemakers, and shopkeepers. And he saw mothers and fathers taking loving care of their children.

Then the child was drawn to look at a special place where he saw a woman and a man full of love and kindness. “Oh, I want to go to them”, he said. But when he told Fairy, she said, “It is not yet the right time, first you must go through the land of Dream.”

So, the child went on a very special journey in the land of Dream. There he saw the loving woman and man from Earth and loved them dearly. He said to them, “I want to be in your family, will you be my mother and father?” The woman and the man warmly gazed upon the child and with all the love in their hearts, they answered, “Yes”.

When the child told Fairy about his dream, she said, “Now it is time, I will accompany you on your journey, and the gifts of Love, Warmth, and Magic that you received from Moon, Sun, and the Stars will help you with the work you choose to do on Earth”.

So the very special little child once again went to the land of Dream, and while Moon waxed and waned ten times, the child gently rocked in a little golden boat. At the end of that time a beautiful rainbow bridge stretched out before him and with Fairy he travelled over the rainbow bridge. He felt a bit anxious about leaving his heavenly place among the stars but with courage in his heart he said goodbye to Fairy and………

a little baby boy was born upon Earth. He opened his eyes and saw the woman and man from his dream. “Oh, he’s so beautiful”, they said, “we shall name him Elki Oscar”. His mother and father were overwhelmed with the love they felt for Elki, his mother picked him up in her arms and hugged him for the first time. It was very early in the morning and Elki’s mother and father had been waiting for him to come all night long. Elki fed from his mother’s breast and hearing her loving heart beating and feeling the warmth of his father close by, he fell asleep in his mama’s arms.

As I read the part where Elki crosses the rainbow bridge he came over the play cloth to me and sat with me as I read the rest of his book. Whilst I read Scott lit the birth candle for Elki’s birth, and then each of the eleven candles for each year of Elki’s life. My sweet boy loves this celebration even at eleven, and it is a beautiful way to share with him how special he is to us (but beware you may end up in tears!)

After gift giving we had a family lunch and special dinner followed by cake, and he got to share his special day with his grandparents who are visiting at the moment.

Here’s Elki with his long awaited (after I made Anusha one last year) Waldorf doll ‘Oscar’,

And posing for two cameras with his vegan blackforest birthday cake,

And so my beautiful boy is now eleven!