Brrrr...

Winter has arrived! (Now just remind me why I was complaining about balmy temperatures a few weeks ago?)The children have been thrilled by a few flutterings of snow - and run outside to sled down the mudhill. (it's the Eastern Shore - we take any sledding opportunity we can get. This was a pile of dirt.)

The woodstove is running nonstop - and the woodpile decreasing at an alarming rate. After our first winter here we invested in a new woodstove that uses soapstone to retain the heat. Love this thing - you can almost always get a fire started from just a pale ember. On the down-side - it's VERY efficient - so very little heat goes up the stove pipe. Unfortunately, our house (built 1900) was designed to bleed off the heat from the chimney to warm the 2nd level. Doesn't work so well, anymore. Ah well. At least I no longer worry about the chimney getting too hot and starting a fire. (one worry down, 9764 to go)

Living in an old house is.....different. I used packing tape to cover some cracks in the living room floorboards to deter the wind. At one point, the mice and I were on a first-name basis. And whenever the temperature falls below 20 degrees, the walls disappear. Seriously. There's no way to get warm. I usually grab the kids and head for a friend's house until the artic gale disappears.

And yet, I love our house. It's a work in progress. I love the fire-engine red 4 oven AGA that fits exactly into the spot once occupied by the wood-fired cookstove. (I found a used AGA - British cookstove - in our nearest town just as we bought this house. It was fate.) I love the old houses in our village, and the differences between them. I love that our kids can run free outside, and be safe. I thoroughly enjoy our neighbors. I like NOT having a rush hour.

Just remind me of all this, the next time the temperature drops and I start searching the web for a warmer geographic location!

Let it SNOW!

We have SNOW!!!! Very exciting here on the eastern shore of Maryland - we don't get much of the white stuff. I took advantage of hubby being home with the kids and hit the local Food Lion today (yeah, I know, but it's the ONLY grocery store around) and it was PACKED. Apparently an inch of snow could be a national emergency.

My new year's eating plan is going well - I think I'm down about 5lbs. Not quite sure because I bought a new scale a few days ago - and immediately went up about 7lbs. I'm rather impressed, because the weight loss included my eldest daughter's birthday week and the plethora of cake, cupcakes, fudge frosting and ice cream! [NEVER substitute egg beaters in your baking - it just doesn't work. Trust me.]

I still love the SmartGlobe by Oregon Scientific. My 5 year old was helping his father find Morocco, Turkey and Mali earlier. Gotta love it!

Ok, this seems like a boring post - or perchance a boring life. {{{sigh}}} We did go see "Arthur and the Invisibles" for Kathryn's birthday. It was quite good, although seeing Mia Farrow as Grandma is somewhat startling.

Yeah...that's all I've got. Sorry. Maybe something exciting will happen tomorrow {definition of "exciting": anything that doesn't involve cooking, cleaning, homeschooling or kamikaze kittens!}.

It's a wild, wonderful world!

Or globe, actually. I had bought the kids a GeoSafari Talking Globe by Educational Insights for Christmas - and returned it 2 days later. Poorly made to begin with, the questions it shot at you resembled a nasty teacher holding a switch. Learning should be fun - so back it went.

I remembered seeing one at Costco before Christmas. I used to buy everything at Costco, but I'm now 1.5 hours away. They have a phenomenal return policy - it's still well worth the trip. At any rate, they were no longer carrying the globe in the store, but I was able to order it through www.costco.com.

The SmartGlobe by Oregon Scientific arrived yesterday - it's amazing! My kids haven't put it down. (and that's after the battery in the pen died!) By using the pen you can click on any location and learn about it - currency, time, history, amazing fact, geography, etc. It even has a pull out blow-up of the United States to learn about individual states. There's a question mode - continents (I got one wrong - apparently Australia is no longer a continent - it's part of Oceania????), countries, cities or capitals. It gives hints when you have no idea where something is. It's absolutely wonderful. And...if it ever dies....Costco will take it back - no problem.

Ah, life is good. Especially with lemon white-chocolate biscotti to munch. Enjoy!

The Healthy Eating Craze

Life used to be so simple. If I was hungry I'd forage around until I found something acceptable to eat. If it was yucky I'd only eat enough to keep from fainting. If it was yummy I'd eat at much as I could hold, because you never knew when a wolverine would come around and snatch it from you! [husband and children count as would-be wolverines, just so you know. Actually I've been known to tell my kids there's nuts, or spinach, or some other entity I KNOW they won't eat in the scones or biscotti, just so I can eat more. Yes, I am evil, but I now repent.]

A few days ago, after listening to a friend, I began logging every bite I eat into this lovely free site, www.fitday.com. Who knew I was such a pig? Even on days when I think I'm eating well, my little pie showing my caloric distribution indicates half of my calories are from fat. [probably left over from the Atkins craze, when I ate all the butter and cream I wanted - and lost weight.] I'm not doing Atkins now, mostly because I LOVE baked goods - even when made with whole grains! In the last 36 hours I've made whole wheat bread and whole wheat scones, even sneaking some ground flax powder into the mix. Even got my kids to eat them by NOT putting in nuts, fruits, or coconut.

In case you didn't know, whole grains seem to be quite high in calories. I found this out when entering them into my daily food counter - YOWZA! It's hard to be healthy! I've been fighting to keep my total calories between 1500-1800. Emphasis on the fighting. Last night got an email from the girlfriend that got me on this particular bent.

"I hate when this happens. After dinner, all food accounted for, and I am at 839 calories. Obviously, I’m going to have to have another scone and a cup of hot chocolate (with marshmallows) later. I may even have to have a couple of pieces of Dove dark chocolate."

I promptly sent her off a one-word reply. I'll let your imagination figure out the word!

Go forth and eat well!

Paxton, drinking black coffee to save the calories!

Welcome 2007!

It's a whole new year! (rats, that means the video store coupon expired yesterday). We celebrated the end of 2006 with a "Loser's New Years Eve Party". In other words, a party for people with young children who tend to act like wild animals (or college coeds on spring break) when in groups. The party broke up before 8:30pm - and as much as we enjoyed each other - everyone was ready to go home and muzzle, medicate or mutilate their loving offspring.

Actually, we only had 5 adults and 9 children - but I'd swear the children were multiplying. In an attempt to lower the sound intensity in the living room I amended my "NO FOOD UPSTAIRS" law and encouraged them to take a bowl of pretzels upstairs - and LEAVE US ALONE! I began to sit near the hallway door and check packages when I realized one girl (who was grinning at me in an alarming way) was trying to smuggle a huge bowl of APPLESAUCE up to the bedroom! To be honest, I haven't investigated the kids' rooms this morning - there could be worse things already up there that I totally missed (and obviously smuggled by NON-grinning children).

John made stromboli for yesterday's gathering, and I made French bread and curried chicken salad. [The recipe's from Epicurous.com - Curried Turkey salad with cashews -and is absolutely AMAZING. I've been making it for years.] We're into breads right now. I even severely wounded my 20 year old food processor this week making French bread, and was forced to order a MUCH better one. Awwwww.

Back to the New Year's bent: many people make resolutions round about now, usually involving diet and exercise. A friend told me yesterday that her family does a New Year's Family Mission Statement, then frames and mounts it in a well-viewed spot. I like the idea! Her family's 2007 is entitled, "The Zen Year", and is all about de-stressing the home and the lives of those who reside there. Mine's not done yet, but will certainly touch on the importance of a restful, organized home. We've been doing MUCH better on that. I'm thinking ours will promote creativity this year. Promoting creativity in our home [I'm gonna get the walls painted if it KILLS me], creativity in education, in the kitchen, in our art [mine's writing, John's is digital photography with post-editing]. Hmmm...needs more work. I'll let you see the finished product.

What wonderful adventures await you in 2007? Let's start planning our lives and making informed choices, rather than just drifting along!

Happy New Year!