Usually, after school, we have a tight schedule. The kids have a snack and get to work on music lessons/homework/practice/whatever else is going on that afternoon. But every once in a while (usually on Fridays), it’s good to be The Fun Mom. The Non-Nagging Mom. The Homework Skipping Hot Chocolate Embellishing Mom. So we recently […]
Stovetop Spiced Apple Cider Recipe
Oh, goodness, I do love apple cider. It’s just so…fallish. And winterish. And when you make it on the stove it makes your entire house smell HEAVENLY, it really does. In a house where people still argue with me over showering and try to re-wear dirty clothes, good smells are not taken for granted. So […]
Spooky Halloween Popcorn
OK, so — y’all know me. I don’t do scary. No haunted houses or scary movies or ghost stories. I only made it through “Stranger Things” with all the lights on and my husband sitting next to me. But I do love funny and quirky, so that’s what we do for Halloween around here. Today, I’m over at See Vanessa Craft, […]
Make These Gem Magnets for Lockers or Fridges
My daughter just started middle school. She’s loving it so far (okay…it’s only Day 2), and one of the things she’s excited about is that now she gets a locker. A locker to cram full of stuff that I can’t nag her to pick up or organize. But also a locker she can decorate. She’s […]
The Best Apps for Back to School Shopping
I just took the kids back to school shopping. Oh. My. Goodness. All four of our kids are in school now, and our school asks that we supply everything from 60 pencils per kid to markers and folders and reams of paper to Kleenex and paper towels. Times four. So I need to save money […]
How Meal Planning Saves Me Money and Saves My Sanity
I can’t believe the kids are already headed back to school! I’m pretty sure I say this every summer, but wow, that went fast. So I’m getting all our back to school stuff ready — clothes shopping, and school supply shopping, and grocery shopping for lunches and dinners and snacks. I’ve noticed that meal planning […]
How to Make Sweetened Cranberries
Why are cranberry recipes only for fall and winter? Is it tradition? Is that when they’re harvested? Are we afraid that if we have cranberries all the year long, by the time Thanksgiving comes around we’ll be burned out and just want some applesauce instead? Because, really, cranberries are pretty astounding. They’re one of the […]
Cozy Drinks for Chilly Days
Is the weather where you are frightful? Here in Colorado, it’s downright terrifying right now. We had a snow day today (so actually inside my house was probably more terrifying). And on days like today — I like to drink. Not that kind of drinking (although after Hour 2 of our Snow Day, I wouldn’t rule it out…). Warm […]
Simple Cranberry Sauce
I have a meat and potatoes kid. Not as in “he has an affinity for meat and potatoes.” More like “he refuses to eat anything but meat and potatoes.” Including fruits and veggies. Especially fruits and veggies. He is so ardently, adamantly against produce that he once dug through a piece of Chocolate Cherry Cake […]
A Thanksgiving Scavenger Hunt
Are you an early Thanksgiving feaster? Or a late one? It seems to me people fall into two camps — those who eat their Thanksgiving dinner around noon (this always reminds me of the Little House books, where Ma served dinner in the middle of the day), and those who eat their dinner around 6pm […]
