Happy New Year, everyone! As I contemplated this day, I thought hard about to mark it for our family. Typical resolutions always seem to fall by the wayside. After reading about various bucket lists, I thought it might be a good idea to make a 2012 bucket list. It took some explaining over lunch one... Continue Reading →
Balloon Count Down for the New Year
This morning my children came into the living room and found balloons taped to the wall, all with times written on them. There are 12, beginning at 11 AM. Each hour, on the hour, they are popping a balloon to discover the secret activity inside. So far, it's been a blast. I ended it at... Continue Reading →
2012 Reading Challenges for People Who Love Books
This is my last list of reading challenges for 2012. For those of you who just love books and can't get enough, one (or more) of these challenges is certain to spark your interest. Last year I had such fun with the YA debut author challenge. I was introduced to quite a few brand new authors... Continue Reading →
2012 Topical Reading Challenges
With all of the great reading genres available, it's easy to skip over some of them. Check out these great topical reading challenges for 2012. Perhaps you'll join me for some. When Melissa at Melissa's Eclectic Bookshelf didn't see any witchy reading challenges for 2012, she decided to make her own. The 2012 Witches and... Continue Reading →
2012 Reading Challenges for Children and Young Adults
Reading is a very important part of our lives. We are well known at our library, review books for various authors and publishers, and then pick up some more books in our spare time. I'd like to share with you some great reading challenges for children and young adults coming up in 2012. An Illustrated... Continue Reading →
Getting the House Organized with Motivated Moms
With a new year looming, many people are looking to organize their homes. My children came to me with a request for 2012. They wanted to order Motivated Moms. We haven't used Motivated Moms in a couple of years, but they liked the system so well that they wanted to reimplement it. Motivated Moms has daily,... Continue Reading →
Happy Boxing Day!
Photo by Rob Howells Boxing Day isn't celebrated much in the States. It started out long ago as the day when wealthy land owners would give supplies to their workers for the following year. Hundreds of years later, the day has turned into a day to think of others - those who are less fortunate or... Continue Reading →
Clementine Cake (gluten and dairy free)
I love using citris in recipes at this time of year. I love citris, period, although I rarely use it anymore due to my 1 1/2 year old's citris allergy. When I saw this gluten and dairy free recipe for clementine cake by Deb at Smitten Kitchen, I knew I wanted to try it. I ended up... Continue Reading →
Orange Pomanders
I've always known about orange pomanders. They were once used as air fresheners during the winter, a time when bathing was limited. I'm certain I even heard about my mother making them as a little girl. However, until recently I had never made an orange pomander. I bought a bunch of oranges and bulk cloves... Continue Reading →
Happy Holidays!
I don't care what holiday(s) you may or may not celebrate. I don't care what religion(s) you may or may not be. I don't care if you believe the same things as I do or not. It doesn't matter to me. I won't assume that you celebrate my holidays. I won't force my personal salutations... Continue Reading →
living peacefully with children 