Eating dinner together as a family is a vital part of our family life. Food is so central to our lives, and I love stopping at the end of the day and enjoying each other’s company as we sit down and eat a meal together. From the time my 6-year old was born, we’ve worked to implement this. As an infant, he sat in my lap or in a baby seat ON the table, so he could be at eye-level with everyone.… Continue reading
Grain-Free Spiced Breakfast Bread
After my recent success with an ultra-simple Grain-Free Bread (recipe HERE), when I stumbled upon an old bookmark for this Breakfast Bread recipe, I decided to combine the two and make a very simple spiced breakfast bread.
If you haven’t mixed up the Chai Spice Mix, than cinnamon (or any combination of the spices in the mix) would work in its place. … Continue reading
Thought for the Day: Hanh
“Walk as if you are kissing the Earth with your feet.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, Peace Is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life… Continue reading
Simple Spring Salad
As the days get longer and warmer, I find myself desiring more fresh raw greens in my diet. Perhaps it’s something primal; my body instinctively knows that this is the time of year when fresh greens start to become available, and that it needs them to help clean things out after a winter spent in relative hibernation. But whatever it is, recently I’ve found myself craving more salads.… Continue reading
How we Welcomed Spring
A couple of weeks ago, my 6-year old announced that he wanted to do something special to celebrate spring’s arrival. Spring arrived on a warm, clear, sunny day. Here’s how we welcomed the change of seasons:
We forced tulip bulbs. It’ll be a while before outdoor tulips will bloom in our mountain yard. But we bought a bunch of tulip bulbs, placed them in a large glass vase with a small amount of water, and watched them sprout and grow.… Continue reading
Simplify Saturday: Evaluate your Commitments
Over the last couple of weeks, it seems like we’ve been invited to take on a number of commitments for the upcoming months. Most of these sound great, but I don’t know that all of them are the best use of our time.
I have particular goals for our family and for our boys. My boys have interests that I want to foster.… Continue reading
Making Music Together
Music gives a soul to the universe,
Wings to the mind,
Flight to the imagination…
And life to everything.
–Plato
My boys both love music. Every day we make music together. Most days we sing, making music with our voices. Today we decided to pull out our bin of instruments and use those to make music too.
We spread out all of the instruments on the ground, so we had a clear view of what was available, then everyone grabbed his instrument of choice and we all began to play.… Continue reading
Homemade Chocolate Ice Cream
We’ve had several warm days in a row. When our local dairy cow-share had an unexpected supply of cream, my 6-year-old immediately asked if we could use it to make chocolate ice cream.
I wanted to fulfill his desire without serving up a bowl of typical, sugar-laden ice cream. So I made our own ice cream that I sweetened with bananas.… Continue reading
Public Water Bottle Filling Station
Our local Natural History Museum has a water bottle filling station connected to its drinking fountain. Every time we walk past it, it makes me smile. We head to the museum about once a month, and each time we look to see how much the number of refills has increased. It now stands at over 15,793.
It can be challenging to fill a reusable water bottle from a typical drinking fountain; this spigot makes it easy.… Continue reading
Thought for the Day: Milne
The other day I read A.A. Milne’s Winnie the Pooh to my boys. As we read one of my favorite passages, I realized that it would be a perfect thing to share here:
“…Pooh and Piglet walked home thoughtfully together in the golden evening, and for a long time they were silent.
‘When you wake up in the morning, Pooh,’ said Piglet at last, ‘what’s the first thing you say to yourself?’… Continue reading