i say it every year. “next year i’m not making so many (or any) cookies”. and then next year rolls around. and i start small. and then i keep adding. and before i know it, i’ve made even more cookies and more varieties than the year before. i would hate to see what would happen […]
hazel
gingerbread neighborhood party.

another christmas season is upon us. so it’s time to do all of the yearly tradition type things. first up. the decorating of the gingerbread houses. i’ve been contemplating the evolution of this activity through the years. the first few with tiny kids, where i had to have all hands on deck for help. the […]
chorus concert round up.

the crazelnut loves to sing. and loves chorus. and loves her chorus director, mr. howe.this year, the vienna chorus was selected to perform at some big north carolina music teacher type convention in downtown winston-salem. the kids were pretty stoked. we packed carpooled and filed into the hotel and waited forEVER before packing into a […]
harry potter themed birthday confections

our girl hazel is super into harry potter this year, which works nicely, because she’s eleven and that’s the year when harry and his fellow wizards get their owl delivered invitation letter to hogwarts. anyways. i actually covered that detail in my post about hazel and her parties. for her low key family party, i […]
you’re a wizard, hazel.

well. this kid is eleven. and if you’re a wizard, eleven is the birthday that you find out you’re invited to hogwarts. so it was only fitting that this wizard have a very harry potter themed birthday celebration. or two. i wasn’t able to get a good pic before school, so had to settle for […]
november is my fave.

it might be because it’s my birthday month. or because of the fall vibes. cool nights. or because of thanksgiving and delicious foods and christmas around the corner. but i think we can all say that november is a good month. anyways. we kicked off our november this year with our annual bonfire and chili […]
thanksgiving in batavia.

since we didn’t make it to ny all summer, we decided to head up for thanksgiving this year. when we homeschooled and then in covid and then when the schools gave a whole week for thanksgiving, it was a lot easier. but with kids in activities and work and my school, it was a little […]
happy birthday to me. camping/hiking edition.

my little rest and relax trip to virginia over fall break reminded me how much i need some camping/hiking/outdoor/alone time built into my schedule. so, for my birthday weekend, i snagged a campsite at hanging rock, then proceeded to get way ahead on my school work so i could properly enjoy the downtime, and then […]
halloween ’24

not much exciting news regarding halloween this year. as the kids get older, it gets weird. isaac doesn’t even bother with it. anna pulled together her costume and made plans with friends. and hazel went as hermione granger, a costume she already had. i took her to a friend’s neighborhood, where we did a bit […]
whirlwind visit with the jacksons.

in late october, we had a surprise and very whirlwind visit from our road life friends, the jacksons, when they found themselves with some extra time while passing through the area on a long stretch of travel from the northeast to florida. i had already made plans to take a hike to hanging rock that […]