On birthdays in our house, the birthday celebrant gets to choose whatever (s)he wants to eat that day. For my son’s 6th birthday, one of his requests was brownies.
I’m pretty sure that this recipe originated with The Spunky Coconut, though I’ve modified a bit over the few years we’ve been making it. At the time we started making it, I needed to accommodate both grain-free and vegan sensibilities.… Continue reading
“With mindfulness there is more to unlearn than there is to learn.”
― Michael H. Brooks, This. Only This … Continue reading
When I use vanilla in my home, I no longer use vanilla extract. Instead, I use ground vanilla beans. There are several reasons why I do this. The first reason, and what led me to seek out another option to begin with, is food-allergy based. The second reason, which I only discovered after trying ground vanilla beans, is their superior smell and taste.… Continue reading
My 5-year-old is turning 6 this next week, and one of his requests was for a birthday piñata. I have never been a huge fan of whacking apart animal-shaped things; even as I child, I found this extremely disturbing. So, we decided to make a piñata of our own.
The process is actually rather simple, though it does take an investment of time.… Continue reading
Today I’m tackling my dresser drawers. For almost seven years straight, I’ve been either pregnant or nursing or both. Needless to say, my drawers hold a huge array of sizes. I need to get rid of the stuff that’s the wrong size or that I don’t like or that’s worn out.
I’m not posting a picture. No one needs to see pictures of my old underwear.… Continue reading
Our local markets all have a section where they sell fancy soaps. Frequently, sitting with these soaps, are a bin of bath bombs. My 5-year-old has become obsessed with them. The idea of having something that smells good and fizzes in his bath is really appealing to him. The biggest problem: they’re $5 each.
The high cost, in addition to some questionable ingredients, led me to decide that we were going to make our own bath bombs.… Continue reading
Little Libraries are a fun and easy way to foster and build community. Well, it’s relatively simple once your community has a Little Library in place.
If your community doesn’t have one, you may be wondering what constitutes a Little Library. A Little Library is a place where community members can exchange books for free. It’s generally a cabinet of some kind that is set up outside, often in a park, on a street corner, in a parking lot, or even in someone’s front yard.… Continue reading
Today a couple of people in my house woke up with a sore throat. When this happens, I start to pull out my natural remedies, hoping to stop a potential cold in its tracks before it can progress.
One of the best ways that I know to soothe a sore throat is with Hot Honey Ginger Lemonade. It’s a simple recipe, we almost always have all of the ingredients on hand, and each of the ingredients is helpful to boost immunity.… Continue reading
“Few of us ever live in the present. We are forever anticipating what is to come or remembering what has gone.”
– Louis L’Amour
Today, let’s simply Be Present.
(Much easier said than done, I know.)… Continue reading
Once a month, our local Natural History Museum puts on a Family Day. Each family day consists of several hands-on experiments, activities, and art projects that all center on the day’s particular focus. Today’s focus was Dogs.
Today my boys watched a demonstration of dog agility put on by the local Humane Society. They learned about how dogs use body language to communicate, and made their own dog ears and tail so that they too could communicate like a dog.… Continue reading