Tis the season. Soup season that is. Nothing says home, more than coming in the house after a long day to smell a delicious aroma drifting from the kitchen. Knowing it’s healthy and satisfying makes it our family’s fall comfort food. After a season of raw vegetables, salads and fruits, it’s like putting on a …
Welcome Fall! Will started his first day of kindergarten today. If you can call it that. It was more like a few moments in class, as it only lasted long enough for me to go to the grocery store for a quick shop with the little girls and to the library. He was excited all …
Goodbye summer! It’s been sweet. There have been so many wonderful memories and special moments to hold close to my heart. Summer ends today on this sacred Sunday. Yesterday, after working really hard around the house and yard, me cleaning the house, then mowing our lawns and working in the garden, while D cleaned the …
Another year of reading has begun. Last night was my first book club meeting for the year. Our book club year starts in September and concludes in June. We take the summer off to read our own material. Most of my summer reading was on the subject of homesteading. I LOVED the book called, “Chickens …
Look what I have found in my garden this summer? This was the first one I found in my garden. EVER! And look where I found it. I know hey, a jumble of pumpkin, raspberry bushes, somewhere under there are also potatoes growing in containers …but then cantaloupes have been discovered too. This mysterious …
Hi! Come on in and let’s talk about hummus and growing healthy children. As you may know from reading my blog, I’m currently homeschooling but perhaps for not much longer since it looks like the Province and the Teachers may have struck a deal. Only a vote away will tell whether I’m a home-school mama …
What is energy? Have you ever thought about that? How is your energy depleted and how do you refill your tanks? Don’t you think when you are doing something you love, the energy just comes even though you may be physically exhausted. This reminds me of when our twins were newborns …
It’s Monday and laundry day around here. While everyday is laundry day in our large household, Monday is my BIG laundry day. It’s the day that I try to strip as many sheets off beds as possible. The older kids love Mondays as it’s the day that they don’t have to make their bed. They …
It’s around the table and in the preparation of food that we learn about ourselves and about the world. ~Alice Waters~ It’s a gorgeous September Saturday here in the Okanagan. Welcome! View of Kalamalka lake from our deck I’m thinking it’s the perfect day to prepare my black bean burgers so they are all ready …
Will takes his sisters safely across the parking lot to preschool….me snapping pictures and weeping over how bittersweet this moment truly is. This is the last time I take any of my children to their first day of preschool When we arrived at preschool I could hear this weird booming sound and it wasn’t …
We only have so much time with our children and then we are gone. Whatever imprint we want to leave on them, whatever wisdom we want to share, the moments are ticking by. I remember when our first baby Alyssa Rae was born and I was alone with her day in and day out. All …
Yummy kale in our garden As you know from my last couple of posts, I’m a homeschooling mama now and since I know many of my friends are also in the same boat, I thought I would do a post on the energy elixir I discovered a number of years ago. I started thinking …
On the heels of my blog post about homeschooling our children, I have been sent an inspiring message on what is the MOST important thing we can teach our children. To teach them to be conscious in the moment and to make choices on how they want to think about ANYTHING. If we can …
What is that saying? Watch what you wish for, or it just might come true. Well my wish has come true. Yes, I have been wishing for a farm for a few years now. I want space where we can grow enough food for our family to be sustainable. Land for animals to roam and …
Children are the living messages we send to a time we will not see. ~Neil Postman~ (The Disappearance of Childhood (introduction), 1982) Mitchell and Emily, his grad date and guitar partner In a blink of an eye our children grow up. In a blink, the bike is still Yesterday was my son …
Yum! I love basil pesto. One basil plant growing in my garden…I have lots! I discovered my love for pesto when my new friend Susan, whom I met while working at D.S. Gardens this past spring, brought it to our employee luncheon party. Although the picnic table was loaded with delicious and healthy food, …
Welcome to Lakelin Reach Urban Homestead. It’s late August and everything is over flowing and some things, like our tomatoes are requiring daily harvesting and processing. Now I’m questioning whether 16 plants was too many for our family of 10, well actually, soon to be a family of 8 living in our home now …
“Grace isn’t a little prayer you chant before receiving a meal. It’s a way to live.” ~ Jackie Windspear ~ This evening my day 16 meditation was titled, Radiating Grace. As Deepak spoke on the definition of Grace, I was thinking how I have experienced it deeply in my life. Our daughter, aptly named …
One of my fav songs….Teach Your Children by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young (If you can’t view this video above, check out this link to the song, “Teach Your Children, by Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young”) One of my web board friends just wrote a post on our parenting support board regarding how scared she …
This plaque in my bathroom reminds me daily to “Count My Blessings” For a few weeks now a blog post has been composting inside my head. It started when our 18 year old son Mitchell came home after being out really late, to tell us that there had been a little mishap with …
Last night I finally got back to my “Expanding Happiness” meditation challenge with Oprah and Deepak and guess what the theme was for where I left off? “Hope” of course. In case you are not following along with the meditation program, I thought I would share this one with you. If you are, then you …
When our now 5 year old son, Will started preschool 2 years ago, I thought there may be some serious adjustment issues because on day one, when he was introduced to his new teacher he immediately gave her a huge hug. I thought it was loving and kind and watched with joy but I …
As I grieve over the fact that our oldest daughter has moved to the other side of the world and I miss her terribly, I realize that I can’t just lay in bed and be sad. The thing about having other children is that you have no choice. You have to get up and …
Life around the homestead has been busier than usual this past week as we have been helping our oldest daughter prepare to leave home. Although she has been in and out of the proverbial nest for the last 6 years while she has been attending the University of Victoria, this trip is the big take …
What makes you happy? For me, chocolate is right up there. Up there with eating chocolate, is making something chocolatey for someone I love. So on the heels of expanding my happiness quotient, I decided to share my recipe for Ice Cream Sandwich Cookies, CHOCOLATE, ice cream sandwich cookies. Just for you. Expanding happiness everywhere. …