The Short of It...

• my husband has Crohns disease
• he had a flare up last week and we ended up spending the week in our local hospital
• the kids have had a record number of snow days ie: days they are out of school but alas I am not
• I am approaching mid terms at school and trying to catch up from a week being MIA

"You can do what you have to do, and sometimes you can do it even better than you think you can. " Jimmy Carter

This quote is on my bulletin board above my desk. The mantra running through my head at all times: "Put one foot in front of the other". Missing you all and dreaming of catching up on all the lovely postings I have missed reading.

Valentine Vignettes

My daughter just loves holidays. After reading Manuella's blog

I was inspired to decorate our house for Valentine's Day. Nothing could have thrilled my daughter more! We were going to make a tree to decorate but alas, life has kept us busy and no ornaments have been made. We will definitely aim for that next year. Here is what we accomplished.

Our front door.

My mom had these sweet brambly and button wreaths at her shop.

A Valnetine platter a friend gave me years ago, and our cookie cutters:)

This is a shelf in our entryway. The sheet music is for "I Love You So Much It Hurts".

...and the fireplace. The running joke is, it looks like cupid threw up:)

Hope your Valentine's Day is full of love!

A Winter Walk

Snow is a rare thing here in our little valley. We would be remiss to not venture out and enjoy all that she has to offer. With mittened hands grasping cameras we set off to explore the woods near our home deep in Winter's grasp. All of the pictures (with the exception of the ones I took of the kids) were taken by my nine and seven year old. It fascinates me to see the world through their vantage point.




This is the path from our house to my parent's home next door, all made by little feet. I loved the circular route. It speaks volumes of how children journey through life.

A pine cone nestled in the snow.




A neighbor's barn.

A quaint birdhouse.

A portrait of mom.

Journeying into the small wood.

I didn't even see this little habitat when as I walked along! What a nice little home for mouse, mole, or rabbit. Although I'd rather like to think of a large gnome family living here!

This I didn't notice right away either. My son spotted it first and did an amazing job of capturing the futility of winter.

The clearing coming out of the wood.

Let's stop and make snow angels. Notice my son has brought home a treasure (beside him in the pic) someone long ago abandoned in the wood.

Now that is beautiful.

His view of his treasure... some sort of metal box.

And my perspective as they journey home...

So grateful for these moments.

I have been blissfully rolling along with life, reading everyone else's blogs, but having little motivation to say much here.

The kiddos and I took a wonderful walk in "woods" near our house today in the snow. That was a great adventure. It occurred to me recently that my kids are missing out on many of the things I enjoyed most from my own childhood, foremost roaming outdoors with no supervision. I don't know if it is fear of random acts of violence or the impending doom that rushes past with each vehicle, but I just cannot see letting them play out of my sight in this day and age. I don't know if I was any safer, living in an era gone by in the middle of no where, with no traffic, but it felt that way. Anyhoo, I wanted them to experience some that sense of exploration and so I decided to escort them on a walk off the beaten path. They chose the route which hopefully gave them some sense of independence in the whole experience. I will try and post some pics they took along the way tomorrow.

We are experiencing some snowfall for the second time this year. So much fun for us. Unfortunately, the kids are on snow day number four which is not the case for the local University I attend. It leaves me scrambling to find last minute childcare, ughhh.

On a completely other than note...I came home from a small get-a-way weekend with my Mom and sister to the most wonderful surprise ever. My family had cleaned out our garage enough for my car to actually park IN the garage. Especially with all the recent weather, it has been such a huge blessing. Best present ever!

On Baking Therapy

I've had this basic muffin recipe for several years. The other night I was feeling like breakfast for dinner so I started a quiche. I don't know why but I simply cannot eat quiche without something sweet. I was all out of the usual suspects when it occurred to me I had a bag of apples slowly going the way of the cross in my crisper bin. Apple cinnamon muffins it is! Now let me warn you, these contain no nutritional value. They are just sweet and serve to calm my nerves. Baking brings order to my very chaotic life:)

Apple Cinnamon Muffins

• preheat oven to 400 degrees
• lightly grease muffin tins or line with cupcake papers
• 2 cups flour
• 1 TBSP baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk (I used buttermilk but sometimes I use sour cream)
• 1 cup sugar
• 8 TBSP of real butter
• 1 tsp real vanilla
• 1 to 2 tsp cinnamon (I just eyeballed it)
• 1 to 1 1/2 peeled, chopped apple

Mix first four dry ingredients. Cream butter and sugar together. Fold into dry mixture. Add eggs and milk and blend. Add remaining spices and fruit. Stir until just blended. Fill muffin cups almost to top. Bake 20 to 30 minutes or until fork comes out clean. Enjoy!

Like I said this is a basic muffin recipe. You can delete and add spices and fruit to your liking. I like to make them with blueberries when they are in season.

Weebles Wobble but they won't fall down...unless boiled in hot water!

When I was a little girl my parent's bought their first home: a gorgeous, rambling, Victorian, fixer-upper. I loved, loved, loved, that house. I have fantastic memories of playing hiding seek with my siblings, which was quite a challenge with all the nooks and crannies that house held. I remember sliding across wooden floors, basking in a sunshine filled room (there were literally two walls of windows), and eating in the breakfast nook off the kitchen. I also remember opening the pantry on any given occasion to small bugs colonizing our dry goods. My parent's referred to them as weebles. I'm unclear on their scientific name. I remember eating more than one bowl of cereal half way before realizing there were weebles drowning in my bowl. Ahhh, childhood.

Needless to say I was more than a little chagrined last night when I had slaved over from scratch beef stroganoff over whole grain brown rice, only to discover there were more black flecks than usual in the rice. Never mind I reasoned, I did use the pepper grinder. Until I saw legs, yes, I am pretty sure those are legs. By this time my apparent scrutiny of my stroganoff had brought the curiosity out in the rest of the family. "What are you doing , Mom?" my son asked as he shoveled his second helping of stroganoff in his mouth. (I had only begun to eat, as the movie The Christmas Story so truthfully proclaims "my mother hasn't had a hot meal in years".) Then my very squeamish husband began to ask questions while at the same time reassuring everyone it was just the flecks in the rice. Until our son loudly proclaimed, "It's got legs! It's not rice. It's got legs!" At this point my darling husband got up to insect, excuse the Freudian slip, I mean inspect the bag of very expensive uncooked organic all natural rice. At first nothing, until he dumped the entire bag on the counter top. "Um, everybody stop eating," he said calmly. "Is it bugs?" I inquired. "Yeah, it's definitely bugs. They're still moving around in here."

So we all scrapped our plates, put on our coats, and headed for taco night at our favorite Mexican restaurant. "You know this only serves to confirm my aversion to cooking," I calmly informed my husband. "Yeah, I know. Thanks for all the meals."

Yes, this is what 36 looks like

Dear Twenty Somethings...or for that matter Dear Teenagers:

Yes, this is what 36 1/2 years of living looks like. Do not look at me like I have two heads or just dropped the F bomb in class. I am becoming accustomed to your raised eyebrows and dropped jaws when someone who is still young enough to ask others how old they are pops the deadly question. I am resigned to the fallout that occurs to all other college students within hearing. Thirty six is great, I hear forty is even better. All my pieces and parts still work as good as yours, some even work better, although out of politeness I shall not name them here. I did not have my babies when I was still a baby myself, 36 explains the nine and seven year old, don't you think? Please don't ask me to get out my driver's licence. Really? Have you ever heard of anyone lying to make themselves older???!!!! Thirty-six is just that, a number. You are as young as the body God gave you and the sense you have to treat her gently. So remember me on the eve of YOUR thirtieth birthday. Don't buy black balloons. Thirty is no occasion for tears or fears. Thirty is wonderful. It's like getting all the perks of being twenty but without being quite so, ahem, stupid.

Sincerely,

ME