kyoot.

If I could listen in on my five-year-old's thoughts these days, it's likely I would hear a constant stream of words broken down into letter sounds and slow phonetics as she obsesses about reading and spelling. At least that's what I see coming out: words, words, words.

Here, I'll show you.Here's yesterday's grocery list. As you can clearly read (no?) we need coffee, cream, mushrooms, peas, meat, broccoli, potatoes, apples, turkey and onions. And unlike boring adult grocery lists, this one comes with a little scene from the store.
From her perspective, we see little Eden fussing for something. "Please Maz," she says. Mazzy says "No Eden," and reaches down to pick her up while mama, pushing the cart, is saying "Stop fighting Eden."

Am I the only one whose heart is melting?!

I am loving this phase of her learning. I love the fact that she's taken on her mama's preoccupation with spelling and pronunciation. I'm reminded of those days when she was learning to talk and I was the expert translator for anyone who couldn't understand her early language. Only now it's the written word. And it's everywhere.
My house is littered with words, names, lists. Written the way she hears them, the way she thinks them, the way she says them. She even writes little love letters.

I V U too, Mazzy.

A Step Back In Time

This past weekend was Old Mill Days at Bale Grist Mill. This is one of my favorite events as it lets us get a glimpse of life in our little valley the way it was in the 1850's. The mill not only ground farmers crops into flour, it was also a gathering place to learn news, share gossip and get to know your "neighbors".

The day was filled with good old-timey music, fire building demonstrations,

spinning wool into yarn.....this was particularly exciting to one little girl I know who has been trying to convince her father and I to "move to the country so we can raise sheep and spin the wool into yarn to sell at the farmers market."

The kids also got to make rope, corn husk dolls, do some hand-stitching, use a giant saw and run around in the crisp autumn air.

Lunch was chili and corn bread and fresh pressed apple juice.

One of the highlights of the day was pressing the apples into juice.

Everyone got a turn.

Some needed a little help.

The end result was oh so delicious.

It was a great way to spend a day. Good friends, good food, beautiful surroundings, fun, magic and educational.

On To December!

Just starting the second week of October, I can already feel the inevitable pull of the Holidays. The next three months get so much attention but they pass by so quickly. As soon as you're done making Halloween costumes and sorting through trick-or-treat booty, you're planning Thanksgiving Dinner. Then there's Winter Solstice and (gulp) Christmas. My knitting needles tremble at the thought.

This year we have one more thing to squeeze in there in December...

That's right, we'll be making our 2nd annual appearance at Bazaar Bizarre! If you're anywhere near San Francisco on the weekend of December 12 and 13, you'd be well-advised to make your own appearance at the Bazaar.

And not just for us, we are only one of over 100 vendors with one-of-a-kind crafts to tempt and amaze you. Jewelry, ceramics, feather headdresses, clothing of every persuasion, letter press papers, butterflies under glass, and all manner of handmade art for everyone on your Christmas shopping list. If you're like me, you'd rather get them something original to stand out against all that chain store-bought stuff that's usually under the tree.

We'll be at another smaller festival, right around the corner: the St. Helena Hometown Harvest Festival, which kicks off with a Pet Parade where dogs and their owners strut down the street and are judged on their costumes. A must see for anyone nearby this weekend!

Bring it on, Holiday season!

Hoes Down

This weekend brought us out to the beautiful (and little known) Capay Valley for the 22nd annual Hoes Down Harvest Festival.

We packed our crew into three cars and treked 75 miles to this Wonderland of Organic Autumn Fun. The place was crawling with delighted ragamuffin hippy kids and their adult counterparts. Ours jumped right in to climb and disappear into the tunnels of a huge haystack pyramid; brave a ride down a zip line;

dye silks with natural pigments and paint their own Tibetan prayer flags;

make clover flower wreaths and corn husk dolls; indulge in a bit of roleplaying... as chicken

and potato farmer;

dance to rocking bluegrass bands;

navigate through an obstacle course;

ride in a covered wagon;

pow-wow;

and generally "celebrate rural living." Holy harvest festival.

And then there was the food! Organic smoothies blended by bicycle, apple cider the kids could press themselves, sweet hot barbequed corn and ridiculously good homemade ice cream.

We watched sheep shearing, cow milking, fiddle playing, flour grinding, spinning and weaving all under a glowing early October sun.

Why do the best days only come once a year?

Saxophones and Synthesizers

We take in and put out a whole lot of music here in the Jones house. The girls have always just gone along with it. Every once in a while we throw in a kid's song, but for the most part they hear what we like. This way, when they latch onto a song and want to hear it over and over, it's usually something awesome and nobody minds listening again. For the most part, they like what we put on. Their favorite bands happen to be our favorite bands, too. No quarrels at the DJ booth.
But Mazzy, at five, is just beginning to develop a musical taste that's distinct from ours. There's been something cooking since she first heard "Beat It." (Which we now perform regularly with Maz on the electric guitar and me on Micheal's part. We've almost got it down.) Couple that with the fever pitch she puts on when she sings "Eye of the Tiger" on Rock Band. I didn't really catch on until the other day when a song I didn't recognize came on the car radio. A little dramatic spacey intro led into some funky horn-heavy synth rock. She kept asking me what it was and I couldn't tell until the chorus. It was this,

and she was rocking as hard as one can rock while strapped into a five-point harness. That's when it hit me: this kid LOVES eighties music. Well, what's not to love? The acid-wash, the boppy dances, the catchy tunes, the hair?!
So we've been having some fun with that (though we're trying to keep our hair out of it). We use Pandora to keep a fresh supply of sing-along hits coming. It's like when I was young and my mom would always have the oldies station on. These are our golden oldies. Cyndi Lauper, Duran Duran, Tears for Fears, Hall & Oates, INXS, it's been an all-out revolution. We even borrowed SpaceCamp from the library, just to round out the experience. She's not quite ready for Dirty Dancing.

We invite you to come along on our little trip down memory lane. Comment your favorite eighties song or movie or line from a movie or whatever. I might bestow a hand-knit gift on one of you.

One of her newest favorites is "Voices Carry." I think I'd go with "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" if I had to pick one.

Loving the mohawks and mullets!

Back to School

School started for us the other day and it couldn't be more pleasant. It's nice to change up the routine and Scarlett is more than eager to be learning new things. We are going to be doing things a little differently this year. For the most part she'll still be homeschooling with me but for two days a week she will be going to a friends house, who just happens to be one of the best teachers I know and is homeschooling her own child this year. This is a perfect solution for us since I struggle with finding a balance between all the regular mama duties, running a small business and homeschooling. Sometimes I feel that it's impossible for me to do it all......and stay sane. Especially with a new baby coming. Oh wait, have I mentioned that we will be joined by a new little one this winter?

We are very excited about the changes taking place in our household. I feel that now I can more fully enjoy every minute I spend with Scarlett and also every minute I spend alone. It's the best of both worlds.

School Spirit

Mazzy started school last week and it's caused a gentle shake-up of the JLF routine. I say "gentle" only because so far most of the changes have been positive.

For example, our typical morning routine of getting dressed, eating breakfast and brushing teeth now actually takes place in the morning rather than sometime in the afternoon, if at all. Mazzy's relationship with her sister seems to have benefitted dramatically from a little daily separation. There's more talking and far less screaming between them (or among the three of us), and the increased calm has laid the way for a lot more sweetness.

It's perfect timing, really. As the Summer heat gives way to the breezy coolness of Fall, the tempers inside shift from boiling hot to pleasantly warm. Sigh.

The change I was looking most forward to, though, was spending some quality "alone together time" with my youngest.

She's loving her new ability to make decisions and execute plans without interference. I'm loving her enthusiasm for following on my heels as I mill around the house. ("Yeah!! Let's make the bed!") We treat ourselves to some time at the downtown bakery at least once a week because I've found a new novelty in walking through town at a two-year-old's pace.

As for the school, I'm satisfied with our choice. It meets or exceeds all the criteria my husband and I put into place: it's public, it's small, we love the teachers, there's a strong emphasis on music and art, and when I wave goodbye to Maz every morning, it feels right.

Plus, though it's only been a week, they haven't squelched her love of reading just yet.