here we go again...

We had a weekend full of snow, candlelight, board games, and...back pain.

My back went out again. Why is it that the most excruciatingly painful injuries happen over weekends when all offices are closed? I am not able to move much - can't stand, sit, lie down, ya know, get dressed. I'm not one for emergency room visits for pain meds (allergies) so, I'm crossing my fingers for a miracle-working acupuncture/acupressure massage appointment this morning (if they understand my PLEEEEEEEEASE can you see me this morning and not tell me they have a slot, say, next Wednesday) and throughout the week. I am hoping to get mobile quickly enough to put my little boys worries to rest. Until then...I think I'll be posting some favorite photos of the week and will return to longer posts when I can sit again! :)

Hope you all had a nice weekend!

candles...check.

Don't forget to join us tomorrow for Earth Hour - Saturday March 28 at 8:30PM local time.


The boys love any excuse to decorate and embellish beeswax candles. So, today we cut, carved, decorated and embellished candles to light our hour (or more) tomorrow night.


We are ready!

mud season.

"The world is mud-luscious...and puddle-wonderful."

~E.E. Cummings

The strong winds and cold pouring rains of March are in full force - we venture out for some puddle and mud stomping and then retreat back into our warm cozy home, entertaining ourselves with books, crafting, baking, garden projects, storytelling, games, dancing and watching the rain on the windowpanes.

Mud season has arrived!

weekend adventures.

We went on an adventure yesterday, to a (not too) far away place that the boys had never been before. We needed to add to our camping supplies for the summer, and knew the boys would find the 165,000 square feet of Cabela's pretty interesting.

The boys had a fun day strolling through the aquarium and checking out tents, boats, fishing poles, ATVs, camping supplies and so much more. I think the two most exciting things included a) both boys getting their own new fishing poles, and b) both boys getting turns in the archery range where they were able to use a bow. They did not want to leave, and A definitely wants to take an archery class this summer.


Of course the first thing they wanted to do today was practice casting with their fishing rods. They both had a quick 'how to' with us, and then got started. They spent a lot of time outside today casting over and over and over - they even put out some markers so they had a spot to aim for. Fun!


I only got bonked in the head with a practice weight once (and that was because I thought I should rake the beds while the boys were casting). Not bad!!!  ;)

happy spring!

Spring is here! While it doesn't feel like spring (it is snowing), we celebrated the return of the light and the sun. After weeks of the plague, uh, I mean the cold virus ravaging our household, today was the first day where all four of us finally felt a bit better.

G's first order of business was to make our sun/flower spring equinox cookies. While the dough was chilling we started some egg coloring experiments.

We put a few eggs in with vinegar, water and food coloring.

We juiced some fresh wheatgrass from the trays of it we grew just for today. We put a few eggs in plastic wrap with some of the green juice and smushed grass to see if it would color.


We wrapped a few eggs in tissue paper, dipped them in a vinegar/water mix, and tied those into plastic wrap to see if the tissue paper would impart color.


We ended up with some interesting results - and had fun doing it. We also read books, looked at charts that show the path of our earth and the sun at this vernal equinox, decorated paper mâché eggs, started our spring nature table, watered and cared for our plants, started even more new seeds to bring life to our garden, started cloth rabbits, breathed fresh air and danced. After such a rough week with asthma-boy in addition to three of us getting ear infections with this nasty bug, it was such a relief to feel better, celebrate Ostara, think about the warmth and light that is coming, and to be silly and have fun with each other.

Happy Spring!