All Is Calm, All Is Bright

As I trudged up our long driveway, pulling my legs out of a foot of snow at each uphill step, I second guessed the groceries I had purchased, weighing their value against the work it was to get them back home.

Drawing near the top I realized something had changed. I was surrounded by a rosy glow.

Amazing how much faster I moved when I had to hurry to get the camera!

Christmas Craft: Snowman Ornament

I combined and idea I saw here with an idea I saw here and we made these snowmen.



Make sure you use microwave popcorn. We used regular popcorn and it turned out okay eventually.

We are going to make some other stuff with clear ball ornaments too. What have you made with them? (They are 50% off right now at Joann's if you can get to one).

I am thankful for the icy weather that is forcing me to NOT finish my Christmas shopping and TO spend time doing fun things with my younger kids. We have several fun things lined up just in case the weather stays icy. What do you do with your kids when you are stranded at home?

Stranded. Darn.

As I mentioned yesterday, it snowed here. And we don't get much snow in these here parts. So it's a pretty big deal.



Due to treacherous driving conditions because of ice, church was canceled yesterday. And all activities for tonight too. So we actually stayed home all day for two days!

May the snow stay long enough for me to get caught up on stacks of projects. You see, this way I can stay home, give rides to no one -- and still not be the villain who is not giving rides to anyone. Yes, that's the way uh-huh, uh-huh I like it. Uh-huh.

I loved staying all cozy all day yesterday. Except for playing in the snow of course.

We had nowhere to go. No agenda. It was pleasant.

I made the yummiest coffee cake evvv-uhr. Believe me when I say it.


You make the batter, pour pecan sauce over it, then bake it. Can you see it glistening?


I also made Salted Caramel Cocoa. With fresh whipped cream. And I mean fresh.
(That link no longer has the caramel sauce recipe so go here instead. This is a really, really great recipe and very versatile too).

Maybe it should have been ice cream!

I made mine a coffee. With a little something extra added. I discovered that Salted Irish Cream Caramel Coffee is very tasty indeed. Very.

I will be making these items on the first snow of the season every year. They are winners. In the taste category.

As for the nutrition category? Well, I'll just leave that one blank.

What kinds of foods make you feel all warm and snuggly? Any snow traditions (involving food or not).

(P.S. If you'd like to see more snow pics, you can look here, on our family blog)

Don't Shine Red

Oregon is known for it's lush forests and for having lots of greenery, scenic hiking trails and other outdoorsy stuff. Oregon=Rain. Rain is practically synonymous with Oregon. There are all of the jokes about Oregonians having webbed feet and rusting rather than tanning. We understand rain and wet. We know how to handle it, to cope with it throughout most of the seasons. We don't do well with sun.

We have had a wet winter. We had unseasonably cold weather in April, even snow - which is not at all common for us. In fact, I have lived here all of my life and I don't ever remember an April snow. Now, suddenly, we find ourselves in a heat wave. We had a couple days over 90 degrees in the middle of May! Also uncommon. Wasn't it just snowing a few weeks ago?

There is something about us, apparently, that makes us not quite believe it really is sun. We probably assume there is always enough cloud cover to protect us. Or maybe we believe that, because of all of the rain, and the many days of dashing from protected buildings and diving into our cars, touting around umbrellas (or forgetting them), tolerating wet or frizzy hair, mud and puddles wherever we go and the cooooonstaaaaant drizzle, somehow it is owed to us to not have any worries associated with sun? Maybe we use sunscreen so rarely that we let it expire and it loses it's effectiveness?

Why else would there be SO MANY sunburned Oregonians already, when we have only had 4 days of sunshine? Everywhere I look, there are burned shoulders, chests and faces. Maybe we just want to be able to prove we got some sun.

Rise and shine Oregon. The sun has. Just don't shine red.

(Oh, and I may as well tell you that my husband has had skin cancer multiple times. Don't be fooled by this tricky Oregon sun. Lather sunscreen on.)