Homemade Carmel Corn to Welcome Us Home

We were in Asheville. It was treacherous, icy, relatively miserable and absolutely fun. Magic happens when couples embark on adventures together & that's what the past couple of days were. Layers of clothing, our sturdiest tromping boots, the good fortune of owning a Subaru & a silly notion that a mountain town like this would be equipped for the inclement weather--not so, but what a great time. In good time most of the local indescribably good cuisine spots were open & with full bellies we skated, slipped and stomped all around town.

The girls spent a couple days with their Savta & for no other special occasion but taking advantage of an opportunity, Drew & I took a little break. We visited all the spots mentioned in this post & even a few new ones, like this & did you know about this local treasure?!

Anyway, we're back home & it's nice too. To make it especially sweet to be home, and to re-warm the house we're making some caramel corn. Thanks Charissa! It's not done yet, but my sampling promises it will be delightful.

Making things over

Drew calls it nesting, but I think when we took our house off the market, for a myriad of reasons, my mindset changed. We've been in this home for 5 years and what excitement it was when we moved in! We've remodeled every room with the hopes of selling it for some profit. The market is not in our favor, or perhaps the time is just not right. Whatever, we have decided to step back and make the most of what we are blessed with. While the new baby coming puts some strain on the size of our place, it offers us a chance to be resourceful as we know we can be. Simplifying plays a major role in all of this, and in the end I know we'll be happier for it.

Some of the changes we're making are the ones we overlooked as they're more cosmetic and preference based, but who knows how much longer we'll remain so down with the mantle! I need suggestions. Here's a picture:

I'm not sure where the terraced molding idea came from, but i'm not a fan. My thoughts are these: 1. strip the paint, stain & get a new mantle piece of natural wood. 2. paint the brick a neutral color, probably beige-ish.

What are YOUR thoughts?

Cookies, Squares and the Number 4

Naomi surprises me with her enthusiasm and downright ingenuity. And, on my part I'm happy that I rediscovered a way to get her psyched about looking--something she generally abhors.

We've been looking at the number 4, so we made these cute little pictures with scrap squares & then I assigned a task of going around the house and taking pictures of objects in groups of 4. Well, she seemed a little confused at first, but 10 minutes later she came back with some really observant collections that were EXACTLY what I'd hoped she'd find.

As part of our rhythm Monday is baking day, so in the morning just after breakfast we all gather together to whip something up. Today it was cookies with chocolate chips and heath bar bits (because they jumped in my cart 'accidentally' last time we went to the grocery). & the girls don't seem to notice a bit that we used an alternate to the standard all purpose white flour--we went with spelt & the only real difference I can tell is a little extra chewiness--maybe. I've used the spelt in cookies before & there's never much notable difference, other than color, but maybe the extra chew.

Heath & Chocolate Cookies

2 1/4 cups Spelt flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1cup butter, softened

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup chocolate chips

1 cup heath bits

Convection: Preheat to 330degrees 

Standard: Preheat to 350degrees

Blend sugars, butter and vanilla until creamy. Add eggs and mix thoroughly. Add baking soda, salt and 1 cup flour and mix, add remaining flour and mix thoroughly. Add chocolate chips and heath bits. In our convection oven we baked for 8 generous minutes, leaving them on the trays to cool. In a standard oven it may take closer to 10 or 11 minutes. (remember, take cookies out before they look done or they will be too crunchy).

Enjoy!

Renewal Homeschooling

We have rebooted homeschooling. With Hanukkah & the worst of the morning sickness behind us, we are moving on. Though we had a rhythm earlier in the year, we have decided to rearrange and I'm SO glad. Thanks to one of the Waldorf communities I've joined I found a great resource that has helped us start a new rhythm, one that suits us and goes with our flow. It is less forced & more melodic. While we're experimenting with it this week, I'll share more of the real day-to-days later.

We even got a desk for Naomi which is simply a way of designating a workspace for her. It's a simple desk with a little storage so our homeschool books can stay out of the way, rather than scattered around the dining table. It's nice to have a place next to a window, with the sunshine...

But, today we had a 'focus activity' of handwork, circle time with poems, a story, and some songs, and a seasonal craft of snowflakes creation.

These new patterns are going to make our lives so much simpler and even Leviah enjoyed our focus activity today which I was a little concerned about. Including a 2 year old in the activities of a 6 year old is tricky, but we can't save all our accomplishments for nap time anymore...

Hanukkah Complete

A few days late, but we've been recuperating from our 8 day string of non stop adventures! Here is the final tally of notable events and creations.

We finished off some salt dough ornaments, visited the local library to enjoy some more crafting and finished up with these vintage donuts shared by Joy a few weeks ago--she had me at 'vintage'! They were really quite easy & absolutely delicious. The kids really enjoyed seeing where donuts come from...

Now we're moving on to projects around the house. Stay tuned--I'm going to need some opinions!

Why? & Free Crafts

Some of you know the unlabel-able ins and outs of our faith & while it is really only important to those in my 'real' life, I do want to explain something about why it is we celebrate Hanukkah. As with most things in our lives, we try to be aware of the way we're effecting the world, the way we interact, participate and the footprints we leave. We're also careful with the celebrations we've chosen and the events we've allowed to become a part of our 'rituals'. What goes into our bodies is important, so we choose the best foods. What goes into our hearts is the same.

Drew and I were not raised in Jewish homes, though more so than we realized. Our faith walks have lead us to a place that embraces the ancient traditions that would have been celebrated in the time of Messiah, the ones that are outlined in the Old Testament. Those include Passover, a seventh day Sabbath, The Feast of Tabernacles and more. Our conclusion is that these Hebraic festivals are so filled with the spirit of our faith that we have grown to crave them and love them. We've learned that their timing is not only relevant to our spiritual life, but to attaching us with the earth and inspiring our desire to relate to the seasons, the harvests, the animals, etc. in a a seriously connected way.

Hanukkah fits in, not as a commanded feast, but as tradition based on the providence of God in the lives of people who depended on Him, people who were suppressed, suffering and isolated--a place we all feel to be at different times. The message of standing firm, keeping your candle from under the bushel in the face of absolute destruction is one I've not found so well represented in any other celebration.

As with all the festivals, Hanukkah is a time of reconnecting us also with our family and friends. One of our favorite places to find great resources for study put out a Feast of Dedication (the translation of Hanukkah) booklet that had a great essay about the importance of family.

"During this week we are reminded about how the mighty arm of the Lord saves His people. We remind the kids that fiery persecutions come upon those who follow after the Lord, but that in the end, the Lord is always victorious, and He rewards those who seek Him." 

(Light: Rededication, Miracles, Enlightenment, Celebration. 2010. p56.)

Life is not easy and there is no road you can walk on which there will be no stumbling, but if we carry our lamps we can stay on course--we can find joy. This is where our family is. We are not Jewish, but we're not simply Christian either. We are believers and at our best we are doers.

Also, I wanted to share a few links to free Hanukkah activities.

We already love the toymaker, but yay for these!

Lots of info, songs & more here. 

Wish I'd found these before today, but we'll get busy.

And a little Hanukkah coloring book.

& A Creative Jewish Mom has loads of great ideas!

Crazy Nights: #3 and #4

the weather outside was frightful

but the Latkes were so delightful.

dreidel, dreidel, dreidel...

i made you out of clay.

and when you're dry and ready...

then dreidel I shall play.

We had a big Hanukkah bash last night with lots of crafting, dreidel spinning and fun. & 3 birthdays to celebrate, too. It was a memorable night.
The above picture medley includes gelt bags inspired here. Thanks Martha.
& Dough ornaments using this recipe:
4 cups flour
1 cup salt
1 1/2 cups water.
Shape your ornaments, bake at 350degrees for about an hour, allow to cool then paint! (don't forget to put a hole for hanging)

Simple fig newton/pretzel stick recipes & our local weather. Off to prepare for night #5...

Crazy Nights: #2

Oh our second day of Hanukkah.

Well, first we went downtown to the Menorah lighting last night, ate latkes, cookies, heard music and shivered. It was a chilly night, but it was a nice crowd & there was more huddling than usual amongst strangers. & there was cider...

We came home to and lit our own menorahs (we have 4, one for each of us). Due to the chill the girls opened their gifts a little early (note cloves/hats in the outside pictures above).

The girls shuffled off to bed excited about a week more of fun.

Today we ran some errands and made shortbread cookies. I worked on a simple project that got me frustrated with our new printer. Maybe I'll try again later...Naomi colored the first part of this adorable coloring book I found on etsy. (not the cause of my frustration).
The cookies are delicious and I'm sharing the recipe. If anyone has a good recipe for icing, I'd love to try it. Ours didn't work so great, but Naomi LOVES decorating things--most of her works were devoured upon completion, Leviah's too.

Shortbread

3/4 Cup Butter

1/4 Cup sugar

2 Cups Flour

Cream sugar with butter, add flour & mix well. Roll about 1/3" thick and cut shapes. Bake on ungreased cookie sheet for about 18minutes. (check regularly, under cooking is better than overcooking--nothing raw to worry about). Decorate as you choose & enjoy!

More on how we finished tonight later!

Crazy Nights: #1

Our first few Hanukkah crafts:

 1. This sweet advent style menorah craft a friend of mine found in Family Fun magazine. Although we were a little rushed in putting them together, they turned out really cute & I look forward to using it, or something similar for years to come. I know the girls will flip when they realize what it's for (which will be this evening). Each candle has a paper behind it that lists one special activity for each day of Hanukkah...what could they all be?!

2. Rolling a few candles out of beeswax. Naomi loves doing this. It takes 44 candles to light a menorah all week, so there will be plenty more rolling to do, but we have enough done for tonight's first candle & the Shamash (servant candle in the middle of the menorah--it lights all the rest).

We'll keep rolling them out!