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Gingerbread Cookies
It’s the afternoon before Christmas Eve, and my 8-year-old daughter is itching for something to do. Presents are wrapped. Too early for a movie. We turn into Cookie Monsters and bake up a batch of Gingerbread Cookies! Ingredients: 3/4 cup (or 1 1/2 sticks) organic butter 3/4 cups organic brown sugar 1/2 cup molasses 1…
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Chalkboard Linen Closets
Since we moved into this old ranch-style farmhouse in the winter, we did not want to paint the walls and be stuck indoors with the smell of fumes. But there are child’s scribbles on some parts of the walls including these white linen closets. I tried and tried to scrub them off but they would…
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Airplane Sock Puppets
Any parent traveling with children on a plane stocks up on activities to do while in transit. We certainly had a backpack’s worth of toys, drawing books and art supplies. Most important for parents, however is a creative mind to keep kids entertained during the many hours in limbo. On our flight from San Francisco…
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A Child’s Creation Story
My daughter loves hearing about how she was born. I tell her about her beginning as a tiny baby the size of a pea growing inside my belly. I tell her about how happy I was when she grew big in my belly and I felt her kicking against me. I tell her about the…
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How Does Your Garden Groove?
Vacation comes, school is out Summer ends, year in, year out. -Neil Young I can’t believe the summer went by so fast. This summer marks Malaya’s first theatre production. My baby girl is all grown up and onstage! Here is a video (a little over 13 minutes) of their summer camp production of “How Does…
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The Pretzel Fairies
What do you do with two 6-year-olds on a misty Sunday afternoon? Make pretzels! It’s so easy making pretzel dough on the breadmaker. And after seeing me make spider-shaped pretzels, the girls, still wearing their fairy wings, took over with their own creations: bacteria… uhrm… dots of some sort. Still yummy! 😀 More pretzel shapes:…
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Amigurumi Girls
Amigurumi Girl gets a little sister! Sunday morning my daughter and I were going through my leftover yarn collection. I have a bag of one-skein yarns that I reserve for very small projects, such as amigurumi toys. We found a skein of the Classic Elite Flash in marled pink that reminds me of peppermint candy.…
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Lemon Garlic Tea
Well, actually this recipe is listed as Garlic Lemonade in Aviva Jill Romm’s book, Vaccinations: A Thoughtful Parent’s Guide: How to Make Safe, Sensible Decisions about the Risks, Benefits, and Alternatives. Among recipes for boosting immunity, this one excited me most because my daughter and I can incorporate it into one of our favorite playtime…
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Doing Nothing When My Child is Sick
There is nothing worse for a parent than having a sick child. There is no sleeping when the germs are having their way with our kids. And as a reward for our care, we parents get a dose of the same sickness after our kids are through with it. Can someone please remind me why…
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Preschool Pen Pals
My 5-year-old daughter has a pen pal. Iris and Malaya met one summer in Maine when they were both three. They hit it off instantly! We had play dates all summer and rainy days spent indoors. When we headed home to California, the girls hugged each other and promised to stay friends. It began with…