Posted in Changing Seasons, Locally grown, Moderation and Economy, Outings, Working the earth/harvesting its bounty on Oct 30th, 2009
Some pictures from the cider pressing party last weekend. It was also my husband’s birthday – I’m so glad he had a great time! (We all did!)
Most folks brought apples from their own trees and also gleaned many from abandoned orchards along country roads.
Apples were washed, wormy parts and bruises removed, and then cut in [...]
Posted in Changing Seasons, Crafting, Learning, Locally grown, Outings, Playing/ Free Exploration, Uncategorized on Oct 7th, 2009
The past month has left me feeling stretched pretty thin because of obligations and responsibilities to my family and others. Tackling domestic duties and “home schooling” the girls while my non-stop motion toddler “explores” the house into a distaster zone has also been a challenge. Crafting has been particularly tricky – Tum Tum either attempt [...]
Posted in Knitting, Learning, Outings, Uncategorized on Sep 29th, 2009
Over the weekend, we took advantage of the Smithsonian’s annual free pass day to visit the World Forestry Center, located right across from the Oregon Zoo. The building is light and open, and the exhibits are well designed, educational, and attractive to children.
There were displays appealing to many senses – here Firecracker is smelling the [...]
Posted in Birding, Crafting, Learning, Outings on Sep 25th, 2009
Kortney at One Deep Drawer told me about the congregation of Vaux’s swifts in NW Portland, and this week we made it over to the Chapman School to see them. For a bird nerd like me, it was a huge thrill.
We set up early, with hundreds of other families, enjoying our picnic dinner (homemade hummus, [...]
Posted in From my kitchen, Giving, Moderation and Economy, Outings on Sep 12th, 2009
Today Firecracker and I are attending our church’s fall kickoff of our monthly Ladies’ Breakfast. The pastor’s wife is hosting at her house, so we thought we’d take her (and her daughter – Firecracker’s friend) a little hostess gift when we go.
Earlier this week, we went to to the thrift store and picked up a [...]
Posted in Building Community, From my kitchen, Locally grown, Moderation and Economy, Outings, The Gift of God, Working the earth/harvesting its bounty on Sep 7th, 2009
Saturday, I was blessed with the opportunity to ride with another family of volunteers out to Mosier, OR (in the beautiful Columbia Gorge) to glean pears for Birch Community Services. The weather was very rainy, windy, and chilly, so I was grateful that the children could all stay home, snuggled up reading their latest chapter [...]
Posted in Learning, Nature Table, Outings on Aug 21st, 2009
Some pictures from our nature hike at Mt. Tabor Park (which is fast becoming our favorite day hike – right in the middle of the city, great hills, great hiking, lots of nature to examine and exlpore!). Check out those helicopters!
Firecracker stood for a long time and watched the water pouring in at the reservoir.
Little [...]
We took the children for a quick visit to the Oregon Zoo (the best part of having a pass, in my opinion, is that you can pop in for an hour or two and just see a few things, so the children don’t get maxed-out). This visit, we decided to go with a bird theme [...]
Posted in Building Community, Outings on Aug 16th, 2009
Last week we traveled north to Ridgefield, WA for the Clark County Fair. The kids’ aunt and uncle, niece, grandparents, and great-grandparents met us there for an afternoon full of livestock viewing, carnival rides, and ridiculously unhealthy food.
All of the kids enjoyed the hula-hooping contest, and my niece (with the white ribbon in her hair) [...]
Posted in Changing Seasons, From my kitchen, Outings on Aug 9th, 2009
To make this refreshing, healthy summertime snack , you will first need 4 medium oranges. Give them to the kids and let them roll the oranges around on the counter and between their hands to prep them for juicing.
Juice the oranges (you should get about 1 cup of orange juice). If little hands are [...]