A very happy new year to you all! We are doing our very best here to ease back into a routine, a process made so much easier by the fact that I don’t actually have to leave the house for work. We made a slow start this morning, donning sweaters and fuzzy socks to enjoy our waffles and local maple syrup. It’s bright and sunny here, though the temperature is barely in the double digits with a wind chill below zero.

We have had such a calm stretch of days here, following the rhythm of our minds and bodies for our sleep, food and play. I think we all feel nicely recharged and ready to welcome a fresh start.

Our first snow is still on the ground, and we are anticipating a new layer at the end of this week. My reading list is growing (do you use Goodreads? I love being able keep track of my books and get suggestions from friends. Join me!) as is my list of projects. I’m looking forward to sharing them both with you!

Wishing you all a cozy sweater, a warm cup of tea, and an easy start to whatever you’re returning to this morning.

Our little Solstice celebration was quiet. We read to the girls, and made treats for the birdies together. J and I played a couple rounds of Scrabble after bedtime. It was not quite the meaningful evening I had orchestrated in my imagination, but these things seldom are when toddlers are involved. We did have some nice conversations with Swee about the days growing longer and lighter, even though winter is just beginning, and had not even yet begun to show herself.

We woke up this morning to a crust of ice on everything out of doors. It sparkled like glass on the tree tops as the early sun shone through the branches. We’re expecting eight to twelve inches of snow tonight into tomorrow, so like any good Pennsylvanian, I went to the store today for milk and eggs and bread (we were set on toilet paper). I had to scrape a solid crust off my windshield before getting out of the driveway as we just barely broke 20*.

I have been talking about taking down the Christmas tree, a conversation I am usually loathe to entertain until New Year’s Day or after. J is firmly in that camp this year, but I am feeling an urge for a clean sweep, ushering this very long year unceremoniously out the door and making way for light and renewal. I have a strong feeling of potential and I am itching to realize it.

He and I wrote out goals last year for the first time ever. We wrote them separately, in order not to influence each other, and then shared and compared. Nothing was off the table. Some were very personal, some were practicalities for our family, and some were definitely pie in the sky. I won’t share them, not out of shame, but because they were of a sort where we were not to be held accountable to anyone but ourselves and each other. I did, however, find it an enormously helpful exercise. I stored them in my email inbox (due to the nature of showing our house and having people in and out), but I think it would be better to put them on my vision board this year where I can see them daily. I’m looking forward to writing them out again, together this time instead of 600 miles apart as we were last December.

As the last few days of the year spiral out, our little family is taking some much needed time to wind down and draw in. I wish you and yours all the love and light that you may need to wrap things up, and then take your own steps into the New Year with intention and with purpose.

 

I love to visit friends at the holidays and see how their traditions differ from my own family’s, and I can’t imagine I’m the only one, so I thought I’d invite you in today to see our tree. I don’t remember ever having a themed tree, though I know a lot of people do them. Our tree growing up was always a mix: soft ornaments at dog level, handmade school crafts and personal favorites at kid level, and a couple of special ones up high. With two toddlers, the tree looks very similar here, and the soft ones are all clustered on a few branches thanks to my “big helpers.” My special ones, I realized, are mostly souvenirs from trips and experiences. The straw angel and wreath is from our day in Cozumel on last year’s cruise, and the only thing we bought on the whole trip. The wooden starburst was purchased in Germany when we visited for my brother’s wedding. The cardinal perched at the top was a decoration at our wedding. J’s gram makes the snowflakes, and she gifted us the Currier & Ives globe some years ago, passing it along from her own collection.

I didn’t unpack a lot of decorations this year because Beans is still into everything. Most of the breakables went right back into the box, but we put a few things out to make it look festive. We will hang the girls’ stockings on Christmas Eve, probably on the tv console as we don’t have anywhere high enough to keep them from becoming playthings before Santa fills them up.

We are going to celebrate the Solstice tonight, and maybe begin some new family traditions. I have been wanting to mark this date for several years now, and when Heather shared the simple ways that her family makes it special, I was inspired to give it a go. I’d love to hear what traditions you and your family hold close this time of year.

Most of my Christmas memories include some kind of stove-top potpourri. Actually, it’s such a part of my childhood that it’s not even a distinct memory so much as the knowledge that it’s always been there. My mom had a little old saucepan, lightweight and wobbly on the burner. The handle was rough metal, and gave you that fingernails on the blackboard feeling when you rubbed your skin across it. Throughout the season, it bubbled on the back of the stove with a spicy concoction, filling the house with its scent and some much needed steam. The three of us kids would save our orange peels, knowing they’d be tossed into the little pan to simmer away.

I don’t have a beat up saucepan of my own (that’s on my running thrift shop list, actually), but I still save Beansie’s orange and clementine peels for potpourri. This year, I realized it would make an excellent little handmade gift: cheap, easy and useful!

Now, the whole point of this is to use what you have, and not to run out and purchase oranges and whatnot in order to make it. I think, however, that most people will have the supplies readily available. We slice oranges for Beans so that she doesn’t have to fight with the segments, which has the side effect of making pretty peel slices. For gifting, I decided it would be best to dry the peels and avoid mold, so I tested two different methods. I threaded a few and hung them up to dry above the sink. The rest I just tossed on the counter and left them there. Both efforts worked just fine.

Pinterest will have you believe that this is a complicated recipe, but it truly doesn’t have to be. Yes, you can purchase cranberries and all manner of spices, but again – I prefer to keep it simple: the peel of one orange; one cinnamon stick; eight whole cloves; 2-3 dashes of ground nutmeg. Voila.

The cinnamon sticks were my one purchase, but please, go cheap for this project. I bought a jar at The Christmas Tree Shop for a dollar. If you’re doing this for yourself rather than giving, a little ground cinnamon works just fine – it just doesn’t look as pretty.

Add water and simmer. Just check the pot periodically and add water as needed so it doesn’t scorch.

I ended up packaging these kits in sandwich bags because I was shipping them, but you could use any old jar you have laying around. I think baby food jars would work nicely, and so does this squared off jar that used to contain marinated artichokes. A scrap of fabric or burlap, a little ribbon, and you have a hostess gift, or something for the neighbor who surprised you with cookies. If you want to get really fancy, add one of these free printable gift tags from Taproot. 

Do you already use stove-top potpourri? What do you put in yours? I’d love to try some other blends throughout the year!

 

I used to be embarrassed about my inability to lavish high-end gifts on the people around me. Everywhere I turned, it seemed there was another person I was supposed to provide a gift for at the holidays, and that list certainly isn’t shrinking. We’ve added teachers to the mix, and have wonderful neighbors and librarians we’d like to show our appreciation to as well. Living within our means doesn’t bother me so much anymore, and through years of practice, I’ve gotten pretty good at coming up with little tokens to share at the holidays that are simple enough to put together at home, unique enough to stand out, and inexpensive enough to spread the love freely. In a word, they truly are enough.

Swee and I put together these birdseed ornaments this morning to share with our friends and neighbors. I thought these would appeal to her because she loves projects, loves watching the birds, and loves to make things for other people. It’s a simple enough process, and she enjoyed stirring all of the ingredients together with the wooden spoon. From there, her attention waned, but that’s to be expected at three. This might be a really good project for a kindergartner, particularly one who likes to get her hands dirty.

This is the second time I’ve made these, and I follow the tutorial laid out here. I shelled out about ten bucks for the supplies, all available at the grocery store on my regular trip. The recipe made eleven ornaments, but they cost far less than a dollar each – I still have half a bag of seed to use in our own feeder, most of the corn syrup, and three packets of gelatine for other projects.

We will let them dry overnight and I’ve printed Becca Kallen’s winter bird ornaments to use as tags. You could also use these free clip art birdies, available this week for download from Creative Market. Tomorrow we will string them on plain garden twine and talk about who we’d like to share them with.

 

Again and again I am awed by this little community we have landed in. Tonight, we joined several dozen of our neighbors for a Christmas party and tree lighting. We were asked to bring cookies to share, so Swee and I baked with Gramma last night and prepared a plate of little sugar snowmen, carefully decorated by little fingers. The planning committee was to provide hot chocolate, and they were going to read a story for the children before lighting the tree, which sounded like a splendid evening. I was blown away to discover that each family got to take a copy of the story home, and then the Big Man in Red came with presents for everyone. As we waited in the cold for the tree to be lit, a spontaneous rendition of Jingle Bells made me well up a little. I can’t help but feel that we have found a very special place.

*I’ve always liked Rhonda’s tradition of sharing the interesting things she has found to read during her week. I don’t know that I’ll make it a regularly scheduled thing, but now and then I might share some things that caught my eye. I’d love to know your thoughts!

– A neat story about a family of strong Maine women working for change

– Tips for surviving winter as the Norwegians do

– So glad we can see stars like this in our new home

 

One of the holiday perks of being a mama to gorgeous littles is the relative ease I now have with gifting. When I was young, I thought it was so crazy that my grandparents and family members were satisfied with our school pictures as gifts. I understand now.

So many of us put effort into choreographing family pictures and designing holiday cards. Sometimes we can do it on a budget, but often we end up sinking more into it than we intended: trying to make the outfits coordinate without being too matchy-matchy, then ordering prints, buying stamps, getting them mailed, and spending oodles of our emotional and organizational energy.

Sometimes I can accomplish this exercise. Sometimes I cannot. I am working on being ok with either outcome.

I wanted to share an alternative with you here, because I know that sometimes things have to be let go in the name of sanity and love and all things peaceful and joyful.

This summer, a sweet friend from Baltimore posted one of her new endeavors on Facebook. Tera is a talented graphic designer, and sister to one of my good friends/neighbors/former colleagues. She is branching out into silhouettes, created in the color of your choice. They are gorgeous and classic, able to tug the heartstrings of any Gramma but still polished enough to hang in your home. And on the effort scale, these rank a solid ZERO for a tired mama.

I snapped profile photos of my gorgeous gals while they were zombied out with Princess Sofia one afternoon, emailed them off to Tera, and received a printable file back in my email. Easy.

I’m sharing these with you for several reasons. I believe in supporting other mamas. I believe that creating thoughtful and well-loved gifts shouldn’t be difficult or wallet-emptying.

As Tera put it, “the shoemaker’s children go without shoes and the graphic designer goes without her own website.” But if you’re interested, shoot her an email. Tera works under the name of Smith Studio, and can be reached at terapike at yahoo.com.

– J and I were able to take a small overnight trip to New Hampshire last weekend to attend a wedding. It was our first overnight without children since our cruise last November. The venue was gorgeous, seated right on Lake Winnipesaukee, and the bride’s family graciously provided open bar. As such, we chose to partake of our favorite adult beverages (scotch and champagne), and consequently were on the first trolley back to the hotel at 8:30pm. Still, it was a beautiful evening, and we got some much needed sleep.

– The next day, we were on the road to Elmira, New York, to spend Thanksgiving with J’s mom and family. The girls and I collected pinecones to make a garland, which we then hung over Grandma’s kitchen sink. Thanksgiving dinner was a mess of noise and children – we were joined by J’s brother and girlfriend who have four kids between them, as well as their grandmother, giving us four generations in attendance.

– We were able to meet up with J’s best friend from middle school and her family for the Christmas parade on Black Friday. I had previously only known her through Facebook, but had the impression that we’d be fast friends in real life, and was glad to have that confirmed. I’m hopeful we can all get together again before too many years go by.

– Our sweet neighbors’ chickens have started laying, and they brought us a half dozen eggs, and almost three pounds of home-raised beef. J scrambled some for dinner the other night, half store-bought and half fresh. You can clearly see the difference in the yolks.

The leaves are all gone, and we’re lucky to break 40* these days, but it’s still so beautiful. We went and cut our Christmas tree this morning at a little farm just down the street. They also tap their maple trees so we picked up some syrup for ourselves while we were there. I’m glad to support our neighbors and keep our money here in our community.

We decorated it when we got home, and listened to Christmas music. I’m looking forward to crafting some of our gifts, and slowing down a little bit. The past few weeks have been very frantic, and I’m not sure how we managed to live like that all the time before moving here. I certainly don’t miss it.

I’ll share some of our handmade gifts with you later this week as we get into them, and I’d love to hear about what you’re crafting these days!

 

I am sitting here among the detritus of my toddlers’ lunches, waiting for my second cup of tea to cool a bit and trying to keep myself from Googling images of “Lyme disease” and “bullseye bites.” I have next to zero experience with the nasty buggers, and spent the first few weeks here completely freaked out, especially after reading this horrifying article from Outside. Seriously, consider this fair warning: my skin was crawling for days.

Beansie got the first tick last Friday. Not just her first tick, *the* first tick. Six months of playing outside, and the baby gets the first one. I found it attached just outside her right shoulder blade, almost in her armpit, and am so thankful that we’re a hands-on, tickling/snuggling/loving type of family – it couldn’t have been there more than a few hours by the time I found it. J extracted it while I commenced scratching my entire self. The bite has all but healed, and is just a tiny spot.

Today is gloomy and just so gorgeous in its true November-ness. We spent some time at the library this morning, and as we were snuggling on the couch afterward,  reading our books, I plucked a crawling tick from Beansie’s hair. Full-body searches commenced, stripping both girls down to their birthday suits. I found nothing else living, but there’s a small boo-boo at the nape of the baby’s neck. Is it a bite-sized boo-boo? Maybe, but maybe not. I can’t tell if I’m paranoid, if it’s a ring forming around it or if it’s just irritated from her little baby claws pawing at it. My fear is that I overlooked a tick yesterday, and let that disgusting thing feed on my baby all night.

We will take her to the pediatrician in the morning if it looks worse, but what’s really getting to me here is the fact that I can only keep her so safe. I have to let her wander and stumble and get dirty. She wants to slide down the hill in the yard on a cardboard box, like her sister. She wants to run and climb on rocks, like her sister. I can hover, and I do, but I can’t save her from everything. It’s an awful feeling, this tiniest hint of letting go and letting her do.

I guess it’s clear what’s weighing on my mind today.

My parents should arrive tonight with all of their worldly belongings. They’re renting a small place from the same landlord, just around the corner, and our girls are thrilled to know they’ll be so close. I baked some beer bread this afternoon to take over for snacking, and will probably also take the rest of the butternut squash soup I tucked into the freezer last month. Moving is exhausting, and we don’t have any local options for food delivery; I don’t want them to worry about what to eat right away.

We have a small garden started in the backyard. I laid down some of our moving boxes to smother what little vegetation was in my chosen plot, and we collected rocks from around the yard to build up the sides. One of my goals for next planting season is to spend as little money as possible, so we’ll be using found materials and I’ll be watching the seed exchange box at the library. Ms. Linda’s open invitation to come get horse manure is so wonderful, and laying it over the cardboard now will give it a chance to season and break down throughout the winter. I’m hoping to get another bed of similar size completed before the snow flies. We have plenty of boxes, there’s no shortage of manure, and somehow, I don’t think we’ll have any trouble collecting more rocks – they are our new state’s main crop, you know!

This past week, for the first time since moving here, I felt truly harried by our schedule. Working at home provides me with much needed flexibility, and I am glad for it, particularly as we settle into this new home. I was able to throw on a hoodie yesterday morning and swing by the old house to help J lift some of the heavier things we left for last, and then stop to mail some packages before coming home to start my work day while he and the girls went to story hour. The peril of having that flexibility however is the tendency to pack more into our week than I can really handle, necessary though it all may be. I am relieved that there is nothing official on the calendar for tomorrow.

1. Last weekend, we met some wonderful friends at the corn maze for fall family time. It was cold, and we were bundled in hats and mittens. We had six little ones with us aged four and under, and an eleven year old. There was a piggy and a calf to look at, and a team of oxen pulling a cart to ride in. We took Swee into the corn maze, and she was pumped to run ahead and choose our path. And then we lost her. I was in a panic. Thankfully our friends found her, but then we all got lost. It felt like it took forever to get the heck out of the cornfield, and I won’t willingly do that again any time soon.

We went back to the same place this morning to pick pumpkins. The tractor took us out to the field where Swee declared she would only choose a clean pumpkin. Talk about a tall order. We finally found one that met her approval, but it was an interesting experience.

2. Sweebee’s nursery school hosted a spaghetti dinner on Friday night, which was a nice chance to interact with her teachers. They had been asking families to donate pasta and sauce over the past few weeks, and we took a jug of juice to share. The children had made placemats for the tables, and the pre-K group designed centerpieces.

3. Today, I finally dealt with the bag of apples we picked in the other yard, how many weeks ago? Some were no good. Others were perfect down to the middle where the core was rotten. I sliced and peeled and salvaged enough to make one pie filling, which is now in the freezer, and a batch of crockpot applesauce, which is currently simmering on the counter. I followed the basic Better Homes & Gardens recipe for the pie filling, minus the nutmeg. It works really well to freeze it, and then thaw just before baking in a single crust pie. We usually do a crumb top – it’s easier, and J actually prefers it. I’ve never tried making applesauce this way, so I’m curious to see how it turns out.

4. I asked our new neighbors if their chickens would enjoy all the apple peels and cores, and they invited us to come over and feed them. Beans and I walked down to their driveway with an enamelware pan full of bits and pieces. She got to push chunks of apple through the fence, and did a lot of pointing. I learned a little more about the birds, and got some insider info on the pigs they raise. We left with a promise of eggs and a “bye-bye bock bock!”

5. I’ve got a blanket I’d like to finish hemming tomorrow, and two trick-or-treat bags to make. I couldn’t get the homemade costumes together this year. It was just too much. The projects were really weighing on me, thinking about ideas and patterns and what we have that I could re-purpose, and then Thursday I just decided it wasn’t going to happen. I shouldn’t have been surprised to feel the weight lift, but I was, and it did. And now we have two purchased costumes hanging in the laundry room – one is secondhand, and the other is half new, half thrifted. Honestly, at $25, I probably spent less than I would have trying to make them myself.

I’m going to unplug for the rest of the night with a cup of Tazo cocoa mint mate and a book. And I couldn’t be happier.