Category: family

An Old-Fashioned Treat: Honey Candy

Last week, the kids & I stopped by the home of a lovely elderly couple in our neighborhood, with whom we enjoy visiting often. My favorite thing about our chats is when conversation turns to their childhood memories, and on this particular occasion, we listened to stories of Halloween in the late 1920s, and how children then looked forward to treats of cookies, apples, popcorn balls and honey candy.

I was sweetly surprised this week when my little man suggested we make honey candy to take over to our friends, so, we did! It’s super easy–you can make it too:

Old-Fashioned Honey Candy

2 c. sugar
1/4 c. water
1 c. honey
1/4 t. soda
1 T. butter

Combine first three ingredients in pot and cook over medium heat to hard crack stage (294 degrees). Remove from heat immediately and stir in soda and butter.

Pour hot liquid into a buttered teflon pan (can use a cupcake pan for individual batches) and let sit until cool to the touch, about 10-15 minutes.

Spray hands with cooking spray and pull cooled candy until it turns white and hard.

p.s. Don’t worry, your fingerprints will reappear in a few days. {wink}

Weekend Getaway

At the last minute, we decided to fill our camper with kids and ATVs and head for the hills over the weekend. We landed in one of our favorite spots…a tiny town next to mountains full of old mines, perfect for days of exploration. Here’s what we found:

Old mine shafts…you wouldn’t believe how cold the air coming out of that caved-in tunnel is!

Lots of old mining equipment, begging to be climbed upon.

Little Miss stumbled on a pile of Fool’s Gold and spent several blissful minutes gathering a handful of the sparkly mineral.

Every abandoned homestead boasted patches of tiny wild raspberries, which we happily picked and enjoyed on the spot.

The view from 9,000-ish feet above sea level:

What did your Labor Day weekend look like?

Third Day of School

The bus came ten minutes earlier than expected on Monday (our official first day of school), so I did not get our traditional first-day snapshots for my older two children. I was slightly frustrated at the time, but looking back, I’m totally okay with it, because today is also a milestone: the official start of Kindergarten. The first day I send all three of my darlings out the door at the crack of dawn.

And there you have it: the end of an era. I’m crying and jumping for joy at the same time…motherhood is full of absurd contradictions. {grin}

August Campout

One of the highlights of summer at our house is *the* annual August campout. This year we met with eleven other families in beautiful Challis, Idaho (one of my favorite places on the planet). The Challis Hot Springs Resort is nestled between a gorgeous mountain range and the powerful Salmon River. The campsite is lovely, the hot springs are heavenly, and the company, well, it’s pretty great.

We spent four days playing with cousins. Activities included rock-painting, hammock-swinging, croquet, food (the best part!), lots of chatting, swimming, bicycles and ATV riding.

The only sad part: when it’s over, so is summer.

Looking Closer

I was going through the photos on my camera card the other day and ran across a large (LARGE) number of images I did not shoot. 9-year-old Jessa has been sneaking Mom’s camera and snapping close-ups featuring various in-and-out-of-focus flowers, clocks, wall-art, her brother, the cat, power poles, trampolines and sunsets.

My first impulse was: Sigh…There are a lot of pictures of nothing here…I don’t really have time to slog through them all…Where am I going to store them?…How many should I keep?

And then I looked closer.

Sure, there were a lot of throw-aways. But there were some amazing photographs in the bunch. (The image above is unedited: straight-out-of-the-camera.) They told me something about the world she sees through her eyes, the details that catch her attention, the natural artistic talent she possesses. And my feelings changed from mild exasperation to profound gratitude for the glimpse I gained into her, and for the opportunity to be part of her life.

The experience reminded me of something I truly believe: there is joy to be found in everything around us. Sometimes a closer look is all you need to see it.

Easter 2011

Easter blindsided me after a week filled with kid-running, crunch-time deadlines, and an all-day Saturday meeting. As much as this mama craves visions of Easter bonnets, frilly dresses and darling pastel tea parties with bunnies & fresh flowers, we were doing good to make it to 9 a.m. church on Sunday…sans pictures of children in Easter finery. I did, however, manage to catch a few shots of the action at our annual egg hunt before it was all over. Yay me!

How was your Easter?

I Blinked

It happened. I hoped it wouldn’t. But it did. I blinked…and my baby went from this:

To this:

Really, how is it possible for five years to go by so quickly?

So I’m left to hope the next five slow down…but I’m here to tell you: snuggle and kiss and soak up all those precious tiny moments. They go by fast.

It’s the Little Things

Little things keep me grounded.

Let me explain: I often find myself running full-speed with a brain on fire. I love most of the sweet obligations & tasks that fill my days, but sometimes I get so wound up trying to get all the moves right and be everywhere (on time) that I get stuck in my head, bouncing with ideas, to-dos and worries. Then, mercifully, some small thing catches my attention and brings me back to the present: my four-year-old grabbing my face and looking me straight in the eye to tell me what is on her mind right! now!, the sunrise as we drive home from an early-morning violin lesson, a little voice singing softly (oblivious to listening ears). Yesterday, it was this sweet valentine from my little man. Life is full of beautiful little things!

What are the small things that anchor your days and bring everything back into focus?

A Confession, a Rescue, & a Giveaway

Confession: I’ve been a bad portrait mom. As much as I try to keep up with everything, between work and home and family, one of the casualties of this busy life has been the ritual of sit-down, formal portaits of my children. Fortunately, I’m blessed with some serious photographic talent in my family, so we have actually shot random portraits, but until recently, I haven’t followed through with printing/framing/hanging very well. This makes my mother-in-law crazy, but she still loves me. {wink}

Why does the above confession matter? The holidays are fast approaching, and I decided that for Christmas this year I would like to create small photo books for each of my three kiddos chronicling the first year of their lives (because I’ve also been a bad scrapbook mom). I started sifting through digital files and quickly pulled together sweet little books for my younger two, then realized I didn’t have much on file of my darling first-born. How does this happen? Well, the short answer is: the digital camera we had when she was little is so archaic the files had to be specially converted, and somehow over the years, we’ve lost a lot of images. (Back to that printing problem I’ve already explained.) Boo.

This morning Grammie came to the rescue! She dropped by with an external drive filled with portrait sessions of my babies, sessions I had completely forgotten. One of those sessions included this image of my sweet little one in her original version of our Jessa blessing dress. Phew!

So this whole episode got me to thinking: do you have similar experiences? Do you find that some things you’d like to do fall by the wayside in the crush of busy-ness and responsibility that is the life of a mother or grandmother today? I’d love to know what those things are…and that I’m not alone in not having *everything* as together as I’d like.

Just for fun: all those who join in conversation in the comments section of this post before 10 p.m. (Mountain Time) Wednesday, September 15th will be entered in a random drawing for a $25 gift certificate to One Small Child. One entry per person, but feel free to converse away!

Celebrations

My family gathered this past weekend to celebrate the blessing of a precious, long-awaited baby. It was fabulous to be together, to feel the spirit of the occasion, to laugh and reminisce and play. These are truly days we remember.

Interestingly enough, we talked about that–the remembering component of celebration. My ever-thoughtful sister pointed out that ancient civilizations instituted celebrations to mark significant religious, political and cultural events (think the Children of Israel and the Passover, etc.). They knew this was the way to instill in themselves and their children the importance of what happened.

Today it is the same: celebrations are our way of reminding ourselves and teaching our children about what is truly important to us, about things we want to internalize and remember for life. I hadn’t thought of it exactly that way before, but truly, the things I remember most clearly in my life are linked to celebrations, which in turn speak about the beliefs and values by which I live.

What celebrations have had a lasting impact or meaning in your life?

photo credit: Paisley Studios