I love our town. There are great sledding hills and snow. And when you go out sledding on a Saturday morning, there’s only a few people out. We went with some friends. Incidentally, last year, just a week after we moved here, we went sledding at the park, and this same family was there. Didn’t know each other then, but I thought they looked like a fun family, and now we know each other quite well. Smallish towns are fun, I like to bump into people over and over.

I got this picture through a window after PB was playing by himself outside for awhile. He was sitting in a fresh snow angel eating snow, I love kids happily playing by themselves. Sometimes it needs to be documented, as a reminder that they are not dependent upon me for everything.

I mostly like the snow. Growing up we went sledding all the time on the hill in our backyard, so I love that now my house has a small hill, perfect for little kids to sled on.

PB crashed once, and then preferred shoveling snow and making snow angels to sledding. I kinda do too. (I actually love to shovel snow, just being outside working is awesome and in the winter there aren’t as many opportunities, so I’ll shovel nearly every chance I get.)

We went to the art museum after getting cold outside. This is PB making a pie. It was actually a pretty cool museum for how small it was, lots for the kids to do.

It’s snowing! I opened my blog and found the wonderful WordPress surprise of falling snow. I like Christmas time, especially when it follows a mild fall. We got the tree up, and with modifications over a few days it looks beautiful.

The fake poinsettias are turning out to be a toddler-friendly choice for ornaments.When I started to put the tree up, our hanging light was in the way…or maybe it was just in the perfect spot to top the tree. No need to buy a star.  Now I just need to get all my presents under the tree. We are having a simple Christmas, unless you decide to count the house as a Christmas present. One afternoon on Amazon and $100 later, I finished most of my Christmas shopping–just one present a piece, and a big fun gift from Santa.

I invited all of my family over for Thanksgiving. It was wonderful–all four of my grandparents came, along with all of siblings, spouses and their children. We had a full, happy house.

My brothers organized a Walker Family Decathlon. Joe won. (He is very athletic and doesn’t really try that much. Lucky.) I didn’t do too bad, at least beat out my sisters. We did a flexibility test and I was happy to see that years of yoga are paying off. I’m still not flexible, but I can touch a bit past my toes, which is far better than most of my life. We also did a limbo contest–the only one that the little kids won out.

Basic Breadcraft
MATERIALS
4 cups (1 L) flour
11⁄2 cups (360 ml) warm water
1 cup (250 ml) salt
bowl
baking sheet
board
plastic wrap
foil
wax paper
PROCESS
1. combine flour and salt in bowl
2. make well in center
3. pour in 1 cup (250 ml) water, mixing with hands
4. add more water and continue mixing
note: not crumbly or sticky, but should form a ball
5. knead 5 minutes on floured board, until smooth
6. work with small portion of dough at a time
7. wrap remainder in plastic and put in refrigerator
hint: if dough dries out, add a few drops of water and knead
8. work on foil or wax paper (or just on the counter if you don’t mind a mess)
9. bake 1 hour or until hard at 325°F (160°C)
hint: dough should not “give” when tapped with knife

From Mudworks

It snowed. It was fun.