Stack and Whack...

School starts Tuesday and we're trying to savor every minute of unscheduled time.  Today, we stacked wood and whacked our way down to Clark Pond.  We still have a way to go on the wood and on the trail blazing, but we're feeling like we've put a dent in both and we had some WONDERFUL family time.
Lark and Si are growing fast and become more and more independent as the days go on.  Silas, for instance, now has his own pair of loppers and can help with minor shrub trimming.  And Lark, has enough muscle to tear out small trees!  Very impressive.
It's a little strange teaching the same grade that your child's in.  Larkin is now a fourth grader (where did the time go?).  I now find myself asking her, "What did you do in school today," but secretly trying to pry good teaching ideas from her at the same time.  I've also been trying to dump information about New Hampshire into her mind so she'll be ready when her teacher asks her about the state insect, state flower, state fruit, etc.  She was surprised to learn that the pumpkin was nominated by children to be the state fruit.
Silas is a first grader now and LOVES his new teacher!  She's quite dynamic.  I have to tell you, though...I was a very bad parent and didn't do EXACTLY what the teacher wanted us to...
At meet the teacher, Silas's teacher gave him this cute poem and some sprinkles to put under his pillow.  The sprinkles were glitter and jimmies. I'm an OCD keep-my-bed-clean kind of girl.  So instead of sprinkling the ready confetti under his pillow, we kept it in the Ziploc and slipped it under his pillow.  It still worked and his bed remained clean and the confetti is now reusable!  I think I'm  going to need it come Tuesday!

Going on a Bear Hunt

We're going on a bear hunt, gonna catch a big one!  I'm stepping out of the classroom tomorrow to enter my big backyard.  In fact, the whole family is! Lark and Si are taking the day and Jamie is too.  We have a mama bear denned up here and Ben Kilham has invited us along to inspect her and her three yearling cubs.  We are very excited!

Sick Silas

Silas is sick with strep for the third time this winter.  I hope this time he'll kick that bacteria out of his system!  The upside?  I get a day off with my Bee.  Right now he's in his pajamas quietly playing with his hand-me-down Playmobile toys.  He's decided that all the captains and now, "good"  and that there are no bad guys.  Isn't that nice?
I'm home with this little fella and glad for it! Every time one of the kids gets sick, it's always a scramble to figure out who will stay home and IF we'd keep the kid home that was sick.  Sometimes we have to make those hard decisions because things at work rely on us so much that we feel bad when we need to take a day off.  My decision to stay home this morning was based on, "What would I do if I WAS a stay-at-home mom?"  It's obvious! I'd stay home with the sick kid!  I am thankful I have a job that allows for sick days.

Larkin turned nine yesterday.  It's hard to believe it was nine years ago when I was at DHMC having her.  It seems like just yesterday when my Danbury Elementary friends filed into the hospital room to see my sweet baby girl.  Happy birthday to Lady Larkin.

Snow Day

Looks like it's been a while since I last wrote.  It's always lovely when you get a bonus day off and you HAVE to find SOMETHING to do.  Mascoma had a planned two week holiday break.  Lebanon was two days shy of two weeks UNTIL Hercules stepped in bringing over twelve inches of snow and cold temperatures.  The slippery white stuff landed me two snow days.  I know it'll cost me in the end, but having those two extra days off with my kids while they are on break has been delightful!
Yesterday we enjoyed being outside.  We took a short snowshoe through the bridle path and returned to roast marshmallows in the wood stove for s'mores.  YUM!
Today, it is BRUTALLY cold.  We woke up to -2 and are expected to get to -20 tonight.  BRRR!  So, what do you do on a COLD, SNOWY day?  You make snow day cookies!  Here's a recipe I used to make the cookies currently baking in the oven.  The recipe comes from my mom, and boy are they good!

Snow Day Sugar Cookies - no chill required!
Cream together:
1/3 c. unsalted butter
1/3 c. shortening
1 1/4 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 T. milk
1 t. vanilla

Add in:
2 3/4 c. flour
1 t. salt
2 tsp. baking powder

Bake @ 375 degrees F for 4-5 minutes.
Ice with your favorite frosting or icing.

Here's a tip from my mother-in-law: use a ketchup bottle (the kind like they have at restaurants for hot dogs (red with white cap - not a name brand).   Fill the bottle with your frosting and pipe your design on your cookies.

Enjoy!