The other day we had our first big snowfall of the season. My 6-year-old asked that we celebrate by making Maple Snow Candy, something we read about last winter in a book about American pioneers.
It was fairly simple, as candy making goes, to make this candy. It only requires maple syrup, a bowl of snow, and a stove (or a fire – if you want to be really authentic) to heat it.… Continue reading
If you’re anything like us, you have more than one size of bed in your house. We happen to have one of each size: a king, a queen, a couch that folds out into a full, and a twin.
This means that we have sheets in four different sizes. And because we live where it gets cold in the wintertime, we generally have a set of cotton sheets as well as a set of flannel sheets for each of the beds.… Continue reading
This may not be our first snowfall of the season (our first snow was only a dusting; see HERE), but today we woke up to our first snowfall with more than a symbolic significance.
This morning when we looked out the windows, we saw several inches of snow. It blanketed the trees, covered the deck, and was plenty to spend multiple sessions playing in throughout the day.… Continue reading
When something occurs, we have the ability to choose how we’re going to react. That choice, if made consciously, can take us in the direction we want to grow. Today, let’s make the choices that take us in that positive direction.
“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. … Continue reading
Bear Snores On was Karma Wilson’s first picture book, and this playful tale of friendship is our favorite of the bunch. Her lyrical rhymes tell a cute story of how an assortment of woodland creatures end up having a party as they one-by-one gather in a sleeping bear’s den while a raging winter storm “howl[s]” outside.
The inviting tale is told in a wonderful, flowing cadence that makes it easy to read.… Continue reading
I know that tree climbing can be a controversial practice. I know this mostly because of the dirty looks I receive when I’m sitting at the park and I allow my boys to climb the trees (well, my 6-year-old actually climbs high into trees; the 2-year-old generally hugs the trunk from the ground and yells, “Climb tree! Climb tree!”).
When I receive these looks, sometimes I smile and wave – pretending the other mothers are not giving me the evil eye, most of the time I ignore them, and every once in a rare while, I rehearse what I might say if they asked me about why I let my boys climb trees.… Continue reading
Cooking real food from scratch can take a lot of time and effort. Part of what makes it take so long is all of the cleanup involved. Thankfully, when my husband is home, he takes care of the post-dinner cleanup. That truly helps a lot. But another way to simplify your mealtime is to cook a One-Pot meal. I try to do this at least once a week.… Continue reading
We’ve known that the first snowfall of the season could hit at any time for a while now. We’ve had it snow as early as September here at our Rocky Mountain home, so making it until early November without snow actually feels a bit luxurious.
Last month my 6-year-old excitedly asked if we could celebrate the first snowfall with sledding and making maple candy (recipe HERE).… Continue reading
Pumpkin custard is one of our favorite fall desserts. While I typically make my pumpkin custard with honey (recipe HERE), I recently decided to substitute maple syrup instead. This added a distinctive maple taste, and we all enjoyed it.
However, no one in our house could decide which they liked better, the maple or the honey-sweetened version of this recipe.… Continue reading
The other day I was talking with a friend who lives in Southern California. When I said something about all of the baking with pumpkin we’ve been doing (recipes HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE), she responded, “It’s still 90-degrees here. It’s too hot to bake. Can you make up a recipe for pumpkin ice cream?”… Continue reading