almost made it.

We almost made it to the holidays without the early winter cold bug. But not quite. A came down with a cold over the weekend, and so we are in asthma boy damage control mode, hoping to keep G from being hit too hard. While I usually can keep myself from catching colds when they are in the house, G always gets them. And this week is just bad timing!


We finished most of our crafty making, so we can just focus on snuggles and healthy little boys. Lots of warm ginger elderberry lemonade, library books, and holiday DVDs, I think!


I have had a few goodies come in the mail just in time for a week at home, too. Seed catalogs (whole garden re-work going on this year) and yarn. Perfect combo.


We are looking forward to the lunar eclipse, several more inches of snow and a beautiful solstice!

.

Whirlwind.

Wow! While we have had plenty of time to cozy up to read, play, and craft, we have also had lots of family and visitors.


We've been making, building, decorating, creating, and baking...


A lot of baking...


Of course lots of playing with all the holiday goodies.


With lots of time for music - playing, singing, drumming, dancing.


This time of year is a whirlwind, and we are looking forward to January to center ourselves at home, and work on all of our projects we saved for those coldest of winter days.



Can't wait to share!

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday.

Holiday Tradition.

I am always amazed to see how different these two boys are - who spend every moment together, enjoy many of the same toys, and are close in age. A is a big fan of model trains. Even when he was 3 years old he had already memorized all of the different types of engines, passenger cars, freight cars, all of the different motors and rail types. He reads model railroad magazines and books. He visits train shows whenever he can. He LOVES them. Every winter we visit the holiday model train show put on by the botanical garden. It is a small exhibit, but A can watch for an hour without even blinking.


G, on the other hand, enjoys them...but, ya know, no biggie. He tolerates train shows and enjoys the first 1.2 minutes, but after that he is ready to GO!!!! Or, perhaps, see how riled up he can get his brother. Because, HEY, don't they have SUGAR COOKIES in the lobby? ;)


This year the tradition continues...

Photos of the Day...Saturdays.

We took a break this afternoon from our crafting, baking, cooking and other holiday busy-ness, and wandered a bit. Warm cider, cookies and a game of chess at a cozy cafe. Shopping in a small town (yarn store!). Watching snowboarders at a local ski hill (in preparation for their snowboarding class soon).




Ahhhh.

crafty days.

The boys craftiness lately ebbs and flows. I have noticed that they are interested now in tradition - doing what we do every year, just so. So now that the holiday season is upon us, they have been crafting away - in between their other projects that have been keeping them away from the glue, of course. ;)


They have made ornaments, stamped clay,


painted and decorated all kinds of things,


iced and assembled - both from scratch and from a kit they picked up along the way.


They have made gifts, cards, baked goodies, knit and more. And we have many things still to make on our list.


I love that they enjoy the tradition of making gifts, crafting, and baking in the kitchen, and that those are the things that make them feel at home and in the spirit of the season.


While they may have opened every single window in their solstice calendar in the first week, the crafting has been going on daily - so our countdown is being measured in activities, not chocolates. And with many days to come, I'm looking forward to it all!

Happy Imbolc.

Today the boys had a friend over for some Imbolc crafting. We made orange skin beeswax candles, painted terra cotta pots and planted crocus bulbs, baked sugar cookies that the boys rolled in golden sunny sugar, and celebrated the returning sun.

"Fire and purification are an important aspect of Imbolc (St. Brigid's Day). The lighting of candles and fires represents the return of warmth and the increasing power of the Sun over the coming months."

Tonight we will have dinner by candlelight, burning our sun shaped orange citrus globes to light our way into the coming spring, read some poems, and have a cozy evening at home.


It is easy to make orange skin beeswax candles. Our friend brought the oranges - the tops cut in a zig zag pattern, and then all the fruit center removed (yum), leaving a perfect shell for the beeswax.

I melted beeswax in a double boiler we use just for candle making.

We then put 2/0 cotton wick into a wick holder, and pinched it closed with pliers. I dipped the wick into the melting beeswax to coat, and dripped a bit of beeswax into the orange to secure the bottom wick tab in place. We then wrapped the wick around a chopstick balanced on top of the orange...to hold the wick straight.


Once the wax was melted, we chatted with the boys about wax safety, and then with me holding their hand over the handle and guiding the pot, we poured the cooling beeswax slowly into the oranges. We left just under an inch of space of headroom at the top of the peel. We let the candles sit to harden/dry. When they are hard, we unrolled the wick, and trimmed it down to 1/4 - 1/2".


The candle is ready to burn - the orange ball is so sunny and inviting and the smell of beeswax is amazing. We will burn these tonight, and continue to use the candles until the peel is no longer fresh, and will then peel it off and use the candles in a heat safe dish or canning jar until they are done!


Happy Imbolc to all of you...to the return of the sun!

lovely days at home.

I don't think there is much I like more than those in between days. Days at home, puttering, baking, creating, playing, being silly, singing, reading lots of books, hanging out, making stuff, and just, well, enjoying life. I always like the last week in December. It usually snows, gets really cold, and we settle in and get used to winter, which will now sink in for a few good long months.



We have been busy at home. Lots of lego building and fun science projects (well, A doesn't like the glowing germ gel with the blacklight...ahem...don't ask).


A LOT of trampoline jumping.


Headlamp wearing in the dark (ooh, fun!).


Spinny art making.


Snowball fights and fort (re) building.


Baking and soup making, coffee drinking while reading those crisp new seed catalogs, and watching the birds out the windows.

I hope you all are enjoying some downtime after the hustle of the holidays.

happy holidays.

Wishing you all a wonderful holiday.

Photo of the Day.

snow!

After a weekend of middle of the night on-call Physician phone calls and Urgent Care, we woke up today to a winter wonderland. Everything is covered in beautiful fluffy thick snow. The boys were so happy - SNOW SNOW SNOW SNOW! Just right to rejuvenate and excite on a Monday morning. I think it makes us ALL feel better!


So while we have to stay home for a few days, we get a glorious view out of our windows - it may only be a few inches, but that is enough!


Snow usually jump starts our holiday crafting - it inspires and brightens everything and gets the boys excited. And I love shoveling first thing in the morning - the quiet, the cold air, and coming in to a nice hot cup of coffee and warm snuggly little boys. Ahhh. Snow!

a little of this, a little of that.

We have been busy - writing lists and planning and experimenting - getting our holiday crafting ready to roll. We have been working on little things here and there, and are getting an idea of what we want to work on as we go. Our garden is finally wrapped up for the season, and we will move into our holiday projects just as the deep freeze arrives.

We have started on some things already - I like to make a few of this and that to see how it works and if the boys enjoy it before we go big. So far we have molded tea light holders out of air dry clay, made many clay beads and jewelry shapes, poured beeswax candles, painted some silk, and sewn a few templates. All good.


Here are some of our ideas for this year (this is our ideas...we won't make all of them)-

print::
-stationery sets, note cards, calendars...using our photos
-recipe boxes/cookbook...using my recipes
craft::
-potpourri (essential oils and spices)
-painted clay ornaments
-painted clay tea light holders
-painted clay bead napkin rings
-painted pressed clay necklaces
-painted silk scarves
sew::
-embroidered fleece throws/lap blankets
-embroidered tea towels
-stationery set holder
-cloth napkins
-journal/notebook covers
garden::
-garden bulb box
-seeds/pots
-garden journals
food::
-chocolate caramel popcorn
-seasoned nuts
-mulled wine kit
-granola
-cocoa mix with homemade marshmallows

A few things we have made in the past two years::
Embroidered felt wallets/business card holders/coffee cozies, library bags, fabric bags, zip wallets, purses, scarves, rolled beeswax tapers, poured candles, melt and pour soap, chocolate covered pretzels, peppermint bark, stockings, wood plaques, sachets, hankies, fleece soap covers, coasters...

I'm sure I forgot a few things, but it is a good base to work from. The ideas list gets long, but we always zero in on what sounds best for us right now, streamline the list a LOT, and then take advantage of any rain and snow to cozy up inside and make stuff a bit at a time. The boys have also picked out fun ideas for our own decorating and crafting projects for the holidays...from card making to solstice calendars to bird feeders...sounds like fun!

So, what are you making this year?

light the fire.

Ever since I hurt my back in August I have felt a little off. Behind. Not 100%. Tired. Sure, my house is decent and laundry is folded (although stacked on the bed until later), I'm still canning and preserving, doing crafts and projects with the kids, going on field trips with them and working, and, and...whew. It just wears ya out! I have always had endless energy and this back business slowed.me.down. A lot. I think that can be a good thing, though.


So while I feel like I have so many recipes I haven't posted yet, or several craft projects that I haven't written about yet, or things I haven't been working on, I'm OK with that. Life is good. What is beginning to get me twitchy is the thought that Halloween is getting close and I haven't sewn the boys costumes yet. Cough, cough. Or that the holidays are coming (really) in a few months and I haven't even started making gifts yet, not to mention only having a rough idea of things and no lists or materials yet.

So this post is to light my fire. Kids costumes are sketched and I need to get my sewing machine working again (uh, yeah) and will have those out in no time.

And the holiday plans - I have an outline of ideas in my head and will be posting some gift making ideas and lists soon. For the last 3 years I have chosen a main theme for batch-work of gifts and then put it all together based on each recipient. We have made embroidered felt items (checkbooks, biz card holders, wallets, etc.), home made soap, hand poured candles, recipe boxes, scarves, sewn book bags, and this year will once again be a new direction, I think.


As the weather cools, the rain comes, and the garden beds down for the winter, I always feel rejuvenated to come inside and do more handwork and get ready for all of the holidays (and birthdays) to come. We are nearing the end of the biggest part of the canning/drying/gardening extravaganza of late summer and early fall, and things will be slowing down just in time. I'll be ready, really.

Earthy Eggs.

Today we made our first batch of hard boiled eggs. We get farm fresh eggs, so they are already beautiful shades of white, brown, blue/green and beige. We hard boiled the eggs in a mix of natural dyes - onion skins, paprika, and ground espresso beans. This gave all of the eggs all a deeper, rich color.

We then drew on each egg with oil pastels and the boys put them into little jars of additional color (vinegar, food coloring, water) for a few minutes before fishing them out with spoons.


It was fun - and we ended up with rich earthy colors, which we all like. We plan to make some using purple cabbage and beet juice this week too - fun!