Short Story Long

         Crinkle-Faced Ginger Monsters While we were snowed in yesterday we tried a new cookie recipe.  I am SO happy I found my Great Holiday Baking Book , which had been missing since last December!  This cookbook goes by season or holiday starting with St. Patrick's Day in March and continues through Passover, Easter, Mother's Day, and so on, ending with President's Day in February.  There are recipes from many cultures including Irish, Jewish, Mexican, Christian, and eastern European.  Some holidays have only a few recipes from one culture, like St. Joseph's Day which is an Italian holiday.  Others like Christmas, celebrated by many cultures, have many different recipes.  And how many holiday cookbooks have recipes for April Fool's Day?  Although this book covers baking, there's more than just sweets; there are also traditional baked goods like ...

I'm just stopping in here to give you a weather update!  So far this storm, (since Tuesday night) we've gotten 21" at our house.  My dad says he's cleared just over two feet from his driveway this morning, in the mountains.  My husband and I were discussing last night how the "official" Denver weather is measured at Denver International Airport, which is nowhere near Denver, and would only be in the Denver city limits as a technicality, if that.  It's several miles from the city, and over 30 miles from our house.  With the huge difference in terrain over 30 miles in our state, that also creates a huge difference in weather!  Currently the airport is reporting 10".  Well anyway, we're all safe in our little home, with a garage full of firewood, and lots of projects to do.  We didn't get to the castle yesterday, maybe today.  I would like to post pictures of the snow, but without getting out in it, it is really hard to get a picture with any ...

Ducks on the creek, me in the snow and my own WARM wool hat. Tree in my in-laws' front yard. Zoom, melting the snow at Grandma's house.   fence Grandpa's fish pond Watering can!

Thank you for all your helpful replies earlier this week.  I am happy to report we do not have bugs of any sort.  We ended up taking Zoom to the doctor and she said it is hives or a rash.  Although, why he has hives, we have yet to find out.  She said the number one reason for red bumps is strep so he was tested for strep and found negative.  He is now on Benedryl, which will hopefully do the trick.  As the doctor said, as long as we can get rid of it, that's what matters.  Today is a snow day!   It started snowing late last night, continued through the night, and we are expecting more.  Personally, I'm glad to have the day with everyone at home feeling extra-lucky to be home instead of school, but it seems kind of silly to have a snow day when we only have a couple of blocks to school.  I guess the teachers have to drive farther.  We got a call at 5:30 a.m. that school was cancelled.  I understand some people are alre...

Let me just start off by saying I know this is kind of creepy, but we don't know what else to try!  I'm hoping that someone out there will have a good suggestion.  Our oldest kid wakes up every day with a new bite; you know, like bed bugs.  They look like mosquito bites, or possibly spider bites, a small red bump.  He usually has one or two new ones a day, as many as eight, but they are spread out all over his body, not in one spot.  We have washed and changed his sheets and everything on his bed, more than once, covered his mattress in plastic, etc. Finally, we took his whole room apart, washed the sheets, all the stuffed animals, took everything out from under his bed, off the shelves, vacuumed, removed anything suspicious (he has a rock collection and a bottle cap collection).  While we were dismantling his room, he slept in his brothers' room for two nights, and did not get any bites, so therefore, we deduce it is in his room.  We have nev...

I have been busy working on Christmas projects but I'll save details on that for later , so as not to miss out on the fun of Halloween.  (Matt and Jen, tune in next week!)   Today was the first day in a long time for which we had no plans of any sort, and last night BFJ and I stayed up late and watched State of Play .  That was a much better movie than we were expecting.  At one point, we paused for a bathroom / snack break, and both commented on the constant tension.  So Mom, not one for you!   This morning, we slept in.  Or tried to.  I do not understand how my kids can get up at 6:30 on Saturdays only.  BFJ spent the day doing yard work, including cleaning up all the leaves.  As soon as he was done and coming in for dinner, we had a huge gust that swept through the neighborhood, scattering leaves all over our yard!  What I "accomplished" today was minimal, but I did get some laundry done, and nothing was rushe...