Fish Faces

(Fair warning: If you’re squeamish, you might skip this post. It’s for my teenage brother-in-law. And for his pet carp, may he rest in peace. 🙂 ) My in-laws came for a visit last week. I’ve explained some of their story in a previous post. It poured rain the entire weekend of their visit. Two of my husband’s younger brothers came along, as well as the... Read More

Pumpkin Muffins and the Power of Listening

This has been a busy week – no time for cooking adventures. I did make some pumpkin chocolate chip muffins, though. A new friend made these when I went to her house to meet her for the first time recently. We sat on her comfortable sofas and had a refreshing polysyllabic conversation that did not involve her asking me to fill a sippy cup with milk. Not even once. (Click... Read More

Zipping By

This has been such a busy week, and Wednesday has already come – the day I would normally post on my blog. I haven’t had time for cooking adventures or for processing pictures this week. Instead, today I’m leaving a post that I wrote a few weeks ago. (Click here to read more or leave a comment on Zipping By)  Read More

Shrimp with Salsa Fresca

For years, I’ve been looking for THE perfect book to teach me to cook. I’ve assembled quite a collection of cookbooks in the process. Many of them have failed to inspire, and I was ready to decide that cooking is just one of those things that I’d have to buckle down and do, with or without inspiration. This past week, though, I may have found it – THE cookbook... Read More

How Wild Horses Dragged Us Together

Recently my husband and I had a bummer of a few days. We really needed an evening at home together. A night finally freed up for my husband… but then of course, I couldn’t be there. I had to take the older two kids to a class. I was just pulling out of the driveway when our horses escaped the paddock. With a fall nip in the air and some sprinkling rain, all five horses... Read More

Spinach Penne Salad

To kick off my year of focusing on cooking, I made an easy penne and spinach salad. It has a unique flavor – and a bit of a bite! This recipe comes from a Cooking from A to Zest video. My kids love watching this series of instructional cooking videos. I hope they grow up loving to cook! To make the salad, boil a pot of water, add some salt, and pour in the penne. Cook the... Read More

Smile on the Horizon

A couple days ago my hyper-responsible older daughter burst inside yelling, “MOM! There’s a cow in the yard, and the baby is trying to go outside!” I peeked out the door and saw neither hide nor hair of cow. What I did see was the most marvelous light from the sunset… the kind of light that keeps reminding me, “You’re home.” I cajoled... Read More

The One Year Blogiversary (And a New Challenge)

One year ago, on September 9, 2010, I hit the “publish” button on my first post in the blogisphere. I was stuck in the mountains, getting ready to be snowed in for my third winter, nursing a baby for hours a day, and changing four sets of diapers. My only goal for the blog, besides not going nuts, was to learn to take better pictures of my kids. (Click here to read... Read More

New Home: The Place of Perfect Marital Bliss

My husband and I have spent hours daydreaming together about our perfect home. These have been fun times for us (the dreaming part of it, not the hard years). I feel a little foolish admitting this, but I was a tiny bit worried that after we moved to our permanent place, we wouldn’t have anything to dream together about anymore. Haha! There was no need for concern! (Click... Read More

Houses Past

My husband and I have been married a dozen years now. We’ve moved about six times (depending how you count it). Before I show pictures of our current house, I thought it would be fun to walk down memory lane! The walk turned into an all-day hike, so I’ll give the tour of our current place tomorrow or Friday. Where I Grew Up My parents have lived in the same house for... Read More