Winter Woods

Guess what we woke up to Thursday morning? The "possible light dusting of snow" that was supposed to clip the northern part of our area actually descended right into our backyard and decided to stay all morning. It was quite an awe-inspiring, exciting, can't-hardly-finish-breakfast surprise for the Littles.

Oh, how we love these surprises out in our winter woods!

How Sweet It Is

We celebrated a little milestone early this week. For so long, we were stuck in a phase that just didn't seem in a hurry to pass: Henry, just after Christmas, started waking in the wee hours, and by 3am would start screaming at the top of his lungs (never for a real reason), waking the whole house.

I remember Audrey going through something similar, but it lasted for a week or two at the most. For Henry, it was dragging on and on.

I tried everything I thought would work.

We were all tired.

I felt like I was at the end of my rope.

Then the hubs suggested a sticker chart. Something that would help us shift our focus from what Henry needed to stop doing to what we wanted him to do.

After such a long struggle with no change, the sticker chart finally went up. The first night, it didn't work. But when Little Brother saw Sister get a star the following morning and he didn't? Well, that was all he needed. Every night since that first night, he's been quiet. It's been peaceful, we're starting to catch up on our sleep, and in the mornings we celebrate the good night and slap on another star (with all due pomp and circumstance, of course).

This week they finished their first row, and it was time for them to claim their prize. I have intentionally kept the definition of 'prize' vague to allow for a little parental flexibility, and this morning the most fitting prize felt like it should be as sweet as the past few nights have been...

...and how sweet it is.

A Belated Monday, in Photos

Right Now

Right now, I'm...

...looking around at a few more completed (or almost completed) projects that will be big on wow factor when they're finally crossed of that ol' to-do list (and when they're done I promise I'll show 'em off!).
...realizing I've had another one of those weekends where I've fallen down on my photo-documentation duties, but feeling mostly OK with that because there aren't very many spaces around the house right now that aren't touched by project debris, epoxy in one form or another, discarded packaging, or snack crumbs and spills...
...feeling cold! It was damp, or wet, or sleeting for us most of the weekend. No warming trend this time around (but it could definitely be worse), and the fireplace is kinda out of commission at the moment as it is the focus of one of our projects (photo teaser above).
...loving the last few nights of peace and quiet, thanks to a goofy little sticker chart I made that has finally stopped Henry from arbitrarily screaming in the middle of the night. Holy cow, I was at my wit's end. Yes, loving that simple little sticker chart.

Right now, I'm sitting in that peaceful pre-sunrise dim, holding a hot mug of coffee (my new Karen Walker mug, to be exact, also love!) and thinking about the wide open week ahead of me. With a chill outside and a bit of a mess inside, it's pretty clear how I'll be kicking this one off! Have a good one, and happy Monday!

Weekending

Happy February 1st, and happy weekend to you and yours! Now, back to the fireside for me and the Play Doh-encrusted kiddos camped out there...

This Moment

Playing along with Amanda today... in her words: 

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

On a Friday Night

Last Friday, I drove over to a fairly local butcher and picked up our share of a forequarter of organic grass-fed beef that we've gone in on with a second family. I requested to have included in our share all the 'waste' products from the butchering process- i.e. the bones and leaf fat (can you believe those are considered waste?).

After reading The Happiness Diet and having so much of what I've read here and there cemented for me even further, we bit the bullet and went all-in in the organic, minimally processed food game. No more dabbling, no more picking and choosing and keeping that tub of Crisco in the back corner of the pantry.

So what does one do late on a Friday night with a freezer full of all this good stuff? Why, make bone broth, of course.

Out came the pressure canner, the jars we've been emptying of late summer goodness, and the two biggest of the 15 pounds of stock bones, and a few hours later... ten quarts of good beef stock! (Originally 13 quarts, but three were broken in the process, sad day.)

That was fun.

Next stop: rendering tallow!