Starry Night

C created this beautiful piece of art in school. It is his interpretation of Van Gogh's Starry Night. I love it. I want to remember these beautiful creations my children make, so expect to see a lot of them here!

Counting the days!

Now that we are pretty settled in our new home, Christmas excitement has completely taken over. To help C and R understand how many days we have to wait before the big day, we made a Christmas countdown paper chain. We love to make these; the last one we made was to count down the days before our trip to Disney World.

For this one, I gave R the green strips and C the red strips. They decorated their strips with Christmas stickers and then we made our chain.

The very first thing we do each morning is pull off one of the links and count the remaining links to see how many days are left. C pulls off the red links and R pulls off the green links. This is definitely a highlight of the morning!

A Guest Post by T - The Secret of the Sacred Scarab

A few months ago, I was offered a free copy of The Secret of the Sacred Scarab by Fiona Ingram. In exchange, I agreed to post a review of the book on my blog. Below you will read a completely honest review by my twelve year old son, T. He really enjoyed reading this book and was happy to write a review. I have not read the book myself, but T has convinced me that I should read it soon. If you are interested in learning more about the book, check out the website www.secretofthesacredscarab.com.

So, here is T with his review of The Secret of the Sacred Scarab:


The Secret of the Sacred Scarab is about two boys, Justin and Adam, who are very excited to finally go on a trip to Egypt with their aunt and grandmother. When they get there, they run into a peddler who begs and asks if they are English. They finally tell him, and the peddler drops three scarabs in Adam's hand as he runs away. He also sneaks something into Adam's pocket without Adam's knowledge. What they don't know is that this secret will only lead to more trouble as the story develops.

My favorite part of the book is when Adam and Justin, along with some people they become friends with on the adventure, are led by the villain of the story to the Scarab King's tomb. The book has many exciting and surprising twists.

I think most people would like this book, and I recommend it to anyone looking for an exciting, action packed story that will keep you on the edge of your seat wondering what will happen next. Even if you are not a person who likes books, this is a great book that will inspire a love of books!

Not a Box

We have had so much fun reading Not A Box by Antoinette Portis. The rabbit you see on the cover is asked repeatedly why he is playing with, standing on, or sitting in a box, and he replies, "It's Not a Box." It is a cute story about the imagination of children when they play with ordinary items. Everything about this book is great, including the cover - it is a brown paper cover that feels like a box! C and R both loved the way it felt! Not A Box is a Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor Book and is also on the New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Book list.

As you know, we just moved so there is no shortage of cardboard boxes around here right now. Our boxes have been everything from swimming pools to race cars. Here are just a few photos:


Antoinette Portis also wrote Not A Stick, and we think that book is great too! Head to your local library and borrow both books. You will love them!

Rudolph Sandwiches

This is our second year making these reindeer sandwiches. They are such a big hit in our house, that we have been known to make them in July! This is a super easy way to make your child very happy!

I have seen different versions of the reindeer sandwich. I cut the crust off a slice of bread and then cut the slice diagonally to create two triangles. I then spread the triangles with peanut butter and use m&m's for the eyes and nose. The pretzels make perfect antlers. Sometimes we use chocolate chips or raisins for eyes.


These sandwiches always lead us into a very merry version of Rudolph, the red nosed reindeer!

Molasses Cookies

Years ago, I used to think molasses cookies were gross. I had only tried the store bought variety. My husband kept asking me to make them for him and I finally did about two or three years ago. Now, it is one of my favorite cookies. It's amazing how much a good recipe really can make or break the finished product.

Here is the recipe:

3/4 cup butter softened
1/2 cup white sugar plus more for rolling cookies in before baking
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup molasses
1 egg
2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground ginger

Cream butter and sugar in a mixing bowl. Beat in molasses and egg.
Combine dry ingredients; add gradually to creamed mixture.
Chill for 1 hour or until firm.
Shape into 1 inch balls. Roll the balls in sugar.
Place balls on cookie sheet and keep in ball form for best results. (They spread a lot so I only put six on a cookie sheet at a time.)
Bake at 375 degrees F for 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned.
Cool on wire rack.

Enjoy! I don't have a picture of anyone enjoying these cookies because they disappeared too fast!

A Favorite Tradition

A few years ago, we began a new tradition. Every year we buy photo frame ornaments with the year on them and put a photo of each child and our dog in the frames. I love looking at the photos of them over the years as we decorate the tree. Eventually, our tree will be covered with the smiling faces of our children. This is by far one of my favorite traditions!