Autumn Traditions

Ooey-gooey, dripping caramel sweetness. Sometimes in Autumn, we'd pass by a fairground and my husband and I would pull in just so I could buy a caramel apple. Now that I've found this recipe, making my favourite treat will become a tradition. 

 I'm concentrating here to be sure my apple is becoming evenly coated with the caramel sauce. That makes all the difference, you know :)

 The reactions were hilarious.

 The excitement was building.

The final outcome was delicious and I like to think that underneath all of that sweet-once-in-awhile-treat lies a very good fruity excuse for keeping this Autumn tradition :)

The Perfect Amount of Silliness

There was much silliness in my house today.

Yesterday afternoon we decided to have Meghan's birthday party today. All six of the girls she invited could make it, even with such late notice, and she was elated. We had very little time to prepare so we thought it might be a great idea to have the girls bake their own cupcakes and decorate them as part of the festivities. What a load off of me and what fun for them! They had a grand time and for a couple of them it was their first time baking. Really? Are there people out there who can live a few days in a row without eating baked goods? (I'm raising my kids to bake, simply so they can serve me my tea and some goodies in my old age :) We even kept it easy for them by using cake mix from a box.

I love these girls. Two of them are Meg's real cousins and two just call me "Auntie Heather" because I've been in their lives since before they were born :) The other two are special friends of Meg's from dance, which means she has seen them a couple times a week... for years. Can you imagine the amount of giggling and noisy silliness that was going on at my house? Just the perfect amount.

It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year...

Hangin' at home and continuing blessed traditions from childhood and making a few new ones...

licking the beaters...

wearing my apron Meg made me...

making cheesecake for the first time...

hushed, secret gift-wrapping time...

bellowing through the wrapping paper tubes...

brown paper packages, tied up with strings...

"no peeking!"

some lucky person is going to get Oliver's mini-van :)

knitting, just like Great-Mama taught us...

creating books of the Christmas story (idea from here)...

(no room at the inn)

(im)patiently waiting for the glue...

painting Christmas scenes on the windows...

keeping the mint hot chocolate and marshmallows on hand...

diving into the cookie jar filled with goodies from our sweet neighbour...

relishing in the details that make the holiday perfect...

playing with the nativity scene...

O Come Let Us Adore Him!

A Healthy Attitude

We baked "Auntie Kathy's Banana Bread" this morning--my youngest three, scooping, stirring and slopping. They were commenting on how slimy it looked and ew!, those ripened bananas! Emily, who eats all of her vegetables and chooses an apple over chocolate treats boldly announced,

"The more yuckier it looks, the more healthier we are!"

Well, this one's certainly not sugar-free but I love her healthy attitude! :)

A Lesson in Fractions

One of the benefits of homeschooling is the use of everyday situations for immediate application to schoolwork. Thus, baking muffins became a lesson in fractions. Little did I realize that as I left my daughter to carefully write down the ingredients to Camille's muffins, she would assume that 1 3/4 cups flour meant #1--3/4 cup flour. Needless to say, after attempting to remedy the situation, this is the concoction she ended up with. Not necessarily the look and taste we were aiming for but after her siblings picked out the chocolate chips to eat, we were sufficiently satisfied. In this family, chocolate chips equal at least 1/4 of anything baked anyway :)