Results are in!

The goal was to read 100 books in one year. After carefully updating my reading page, blogger promptly refused to post it and managed to lose the last 18 books I recorded.  Phooey.  I'm too lazy to retype them, but I'll have you know that most of the last 18 books came from the Hannah Swenson series by Joanna Fluke  :-P

But I am proud to say that I managed to log ***91*** titles this past year!  Had I updated my list at the beginning of winter break, I probably would have hit the magic 100.  I still feel as though I did well. 

How did you do on your reading challenge?  Do you have any reading goals for the next year?

Happy Thanksgiving!

Let the feasting begin!!

Simple Pleasures: Monkey Bread

 

I had a few tubes of refrigerator biscuit dough in my fridge.  Originally, they were intended for a school project that I never atually got around to doing.  Turtle was wanting a project to do on a Saturday morning when inspiration hit:  Monkey Bread!

I remember it from my childhood as a Sunday morning treat.  All it is really is biscuit dough cut into pieces, rolled in cinnamon sugar and pressed into layers in a bundt pan with melted butter poured over and baked.  I don't have a bundt pan, so we used a regular loaf pan.  Really, is there a recipe out there more suited for a preschooler to do?



It did not turn out the way I envisioned -the layers w too deep to get all the dough to bake  :(  Maybe I need to add "bundt pan" to my Christmas list so I can make this again!

BTW, these pictures are driving me NUTS! I took them with my nifty new tablet. Love the pixelated effect?  I also can't get them moved to where I want them to be.  Oh well, looks like I'll be blogging from the ol' laptop from now on  :-P

Music Monday: Halloween Edition

Boo!

Did I scare you?   hehehehe

Because it is Halloween, I'm giving you not one, but TWO tunes to get you going:






That head-thingy on the stage certainly creeped me out!  At any rate,

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

Simple Pleasures: Candles

I got out of the habit of using candles around the house because of the bird and Turtle.  Now that we no longer have a bird & Turtle is old enough to leave lit candles alone, I'm bringing candles back into my life.

One ritual I read about in Simplicity Parenting was eating breakfast by the light of a candle.  I get up very early on workdays so that I have time and space to get myself ready for the day, and having a candle lit while I read blogs is absolutely delightful.  It is so peaceful to see the light flickering on the walls, to see the flames dance when the furnace turns on, to know that my loved ones are nearby.  It also means I'm not completely stumbling in the dark while I make my tea in the morning.

I've also started lighting a candle when we sit down for our evening meal.  Again, I feel like the candle makes the statement that this is a special time.  Turtle loves blowing out the candle when we are done!

Being the overcautious mommy that I am, watching kids blow out candles leaves me a little bit anxious.  So I scoured the stores yesterday and finally was able to bring this little lady home:

an angel candle snuffer!  Turtle loved learning to use it to put out the flames.  Are you a candleholic?

Midweek Giggle: Cat and Mouse

Some days, you're the cat.  And other days, you're the mouse.  What kind of day will you have today?

Seeking Simplicity

I read an amazing book at the beginning of the school year, Simplicity Parenting.  It was written by someone with a Waldorf background, but it ties in beautifully with what I am trying to accomplish with Montessori.  I was so inspired that I decided to redo Turtle's room (in the midst of preparing for her first friends-at-the-house birthday party).  It was elegant, it was beautiful, it worked, it was short-lived.  Because of course after the birthday party, we had more toys to accommodate, which I hadn't planned for when I redid her room.  Now we are back to chaos.

It seems to be a recurring pattern for me: seeking to streamline and simplify, but instead managing to over complicate. I do it at home.  I do it at work.

Recently my sister and I had a Christmas planning session & we decided that THIS year we WILL keep the celebration simple.  Simple menu, lots of time for outdoor fun, streamlined gift giving.  I shared the plan with DH.  He laughed.  Apparently there is some doubt in our ability to keep the menu simple. (I blame all the shiny holiday magazines that brazenly stare at me in the checkout lanes!)

Where does this longing for simplicity come from?  How do I stop the "you know what would be a great idea"  from getting in the way of reaching simplicity?  What is simple these days anyway (asks the woman who is blogging from her laptop)?

While you ponder these deep questions, I'm off to read another chapter of Little House in the Big Woods to Turtle  :)