Adventures with an Oak Tree - around our area these trees are all over the place and man, are they beautiful. Big, impressive oaks line our neighborhood and Maverick posed for a pic with her beloved dog Tahoe here. What better way to honor a tree of this kind - than to learn all about them.

Conserving Oak Trees - Northern California
Trees in Northern California
Photo Gallery - Northern California Trees
Native Trees of California

Ideas turn into reality -- one of my favorite theories in the kitchen. M&H called these (fudge cookies) because I took leftover fudge and stuck it between some leftover sugar cookie dough. The result was pretty impressive, far more impressive than the effort it took to create these. That is almost what I find most wonderful about something like this. I spend 10 minutes thinking, 10 minutes creating and 10 minutes later we had a wonderful treat. On most days I find that it is easy to surprise, delight and impress M&H with simple ideas like this, it is taking the time to act - and being thoughtful in the attempt that make the most impact. Truly what I aim for.
Chocolate Stuffed Cookies - on Pinterest

Mardi Gras is a wonderful, colorful spring holiday to celebrate in any classroom. Here are some links to help you celebrate in an educational way - because learning happens at any time of the day and can be really hands-on. For us, this is important - experiential is best - and M&H will learn about Mardi Gras while making some incredible BEIGNETS, nothing like fried dough and sugar.

History Channel - Mardi Gras
National Geographic - Mardi Gras
New Orleans - Mardi Gras
Beignet Recipe

7 Up Biscuits - via Pinterest

I take most Pinterest recipes with a grain of salt - some are not really on my healthy foods list. This one really isn't either :) but, it sounded so comforting, so good - that I had to give it a try.

Everyone in our home was glad we did, these are amazing. The taste is light and the edges are buttery crispy. While they don't make the cut everyday, they are surely going to be a special occasion food. The reality is, this southern family is always looking for a well made biscuit.

Baseball - a wonderful, simple sport. The great-grandparents purchased a bat, a dozen balls and a mitt for each kiddo. Amazon was a great place to look, if you are out of the way, like we are. Although, this means we have plenty of space to play - rare and great. They have already gotten an incredible amount of use of this equipment already. It's fun to do and watch, good times had by all. This also satisfied Haywood's request to participate in baseball. We found that this part time play and watch is a nice balance - esp. for a sport that he does not play competitively,  we had to cap that at 3-4 per kid, and most other parents still think we are crazy.

Karate is a sport that Papa Bear and I had not initially thought about for M&H. As college students we met at the Community Pool while teaching swim lessons and lifeguarding. We had swimming, soccer, track, cross-country, baseball and other adventure sports in our back-pocket. We did not expect to love this fighting sport. First mention was from Haywood's kindergarten teacher - (he would be really good at this) and then from him (I really want to do this) so we jumped right in. We have all found a new sport and one that is already at the top of our list of favorites.

Maverick's Favorite Sporting Event - for obvious reasons is the Mavericks Surf Contest, happening today. We cannot say enough wonderful things about Northern California and the amazing beaches we have the opportunity to see. Here is Maverick as a toddler, spending some time at the Samoa Dunes in Eureka, CA. Right next to another famous surf spot, the North Jetty.

Here are some important links.

LIVE STREAM - Mavericks Surf Contest
Mavericks Surf - Official Website
Surfrider Foundation
Save the Waves
NEWS - Mavericks Surf Contest

Maverick Sews

First project is complete and she couldn't be happier. This one was pretty simple, old sweater utilized - Maverick was happy to see this one again, she was a little miffed when this cute pink & grey striped cable didn't fit any longer. She turned it into hand/wrist warmers, complete with a cool thumb hole.

Overall, really simple project with a ton of value for the kiddo, she completed nearly all steps independently. Plus, the end product is really cute and functional for the winter months.

Scott Halsey's Kenpo Karate is our school of choice and both M&H have learned an incredible amount from this program. The benefits of Karate have been many - concentration, focus, technical skill, flexibility, athletic variation, positive socialization, etc. and as Homeschoolers, this is part of their school day. We love the fact that M&H get a very specialized PE class, with this and other vendors serving as PE teachers. Our school - New Day Academy - provides a comprehensive list of vendors and they cover the majority of the cost. In this day and age a fully covered program is unheard of in any spectrum.

Sewing School - a fabulous little book that Maverick received for Christmas, is a wonderful way to introduce Homeschoolers to sewing. The book is broken up into nice lessons that can be easily added to a weekly schedule.

Maverick completed lesson 1 here - a cute little sewing kit. We utilized many used items from around the house. In fact, we purchased nothing to complete this kit. The box came from a delish candy treat from last year's Easter basket, thread - buttons - thimble all came from boxes full of great-grandma stuff in the garage and the pin cushion at the top was made from reused fabric.

M&H loved this activity because it was so hands-on and it was a sign of projects to come, very exciting. Each kiddo now has a nice little kit, ready for moving on to the real deal - sewing. One of the best activities to promote manual skill and dexterity.

Our first project came from Parents magazine and is waiting in the wings for the next couple of days. This one utilizes sweaters that the kids have grown out of. More to come on that project.

Homeschooling is something very special and something that the general population is fairly unfamiliar with. We are constantly and pleasantly answering questions for fellow parents, people in the community, etc. We find that homeschooling becomes even more wonderful as we explain why we are committed to this education style for M&H. We see it as a positive battle to fight against the grain of society on this topic, our energy is used to make it experiential, rich and full of original compelling content. This has truly been a battle well worth fighting and one that will make M&H more thoughtful for life.

BAZINGA - is the name of our new coffee machine. The ultimate in environmental responsibility has been using less coffee beans and never having the need to visit a Starbucks EVER. Really, we have cafe quality coffee at home. We have never been happy about all those paper cups and severely limited ourselves, now we have no reason.

Bazinga is a Saeco Vienna Plus and you can even find this gem at Costco for a great price at times - last year it was the black friday special.

Every morning is special with Bazinga :)

Mt. Lassen, California - It was a brisk 3 degrees while we were out with the snowshoes, tubes, sleds and Maverick's little skis - we picked up this training pair at REI.

Lassen Volcanic National Park is a pretty great place to adventure, hike and explore. I will not say that it is for the meek - during the winter, most roads are closed and you can expect very cold temps. During the summer, there are many lakes to discover and camping to be had.

Next on our list is the Anselmo Winery - we have heard it is the place for a fancy night out.

Cookies, in a spread?! Read enough and you will find incredible gems - this one came from my many blog resources. I had read more than a few posts about this wonderful spread, enough that I had to try it. What an awesome discovery, the hype was correct - this is amazing. It tastes like a paste of cookie bits and chocolate spread, it's hard to describe just how velvety it is - the cookies just melt in your mouth. Dubbed - "Europe's alternative to peanut butter" - this spread is not entirely easy to find in the US, well at least not for me. I purchased this jar on Amazon and had it shipped to my remote location.

Tahoe is our beloved Chihuahua and Papa Bear found Tahoe one day, while out picking up some food for the other furry animals in our family.

Pets Without Partners - a local rescue org - was at the store and this little dog had to become ours. According to Papa Bear, she came right up to the kiddos and had the best little attitude. Since Tahoe has lived with us, she has been best friend to Maverick, play pal to Haywood and we just love to dress her up in pink. It's hilarious.

Learning about Ono, California - an experiential field trip to a very small town.

Locally, we have (2) little towns - real close to our out of the city limits homestead. This is real out there in the boondocks of Northern California. Igo and Ono sit right next to one another in the rolling hills. Both are wonderful places to visit. We decided to work from a local article (Enjoy Article Here) and see the Ono Store & International Cafe, which was reported to have amazing homemade hamburgers.

We set of and saw cool new things in our local landscape, then when we arrived there were a few friendly horses waiting to sat HI to the kiddos. We had already passed the fire station, post office, etc. Haywood, pictured below - immediately walked in and took a spot next to the roaring fire. This was by far, the coolest element of any small town adventure. The atmosphere was awesome, the walls were covered in taxidermy - all with Captain hats, rattlesnake skins, a boar with an apple in his mouth and so much more. M&H had a great time reading all the stuff posted everwhere. In addition to being a little country store, this is also a bar, cafe, video store, local library, etc. The burgers were fantastic.

Krispie Treats are always a big hit with kids, who wouldn't love a buttery, marshmallowy treat?

I thought we should add a few extra items to the original - for one, Oats! Haywood is a huge oatmeal fan, so this one addition made him really happy. The other items added - vanilla, peanut butter and chocolate chips. The recipe here - created a soft and fluffy granola bar like treat.

This stack was for a playdate. After spending a couple of cold hours playing baseball all the kids came in for one of these and some honeycrisp apple cider. Another stack went home when kiddos were dropped off back at their houses - a goodie bag for the rest of the family.

REUSED FRUIT BOXES
These boxes bear fruit and then serve a great purpose. This might be reason enough to enroll in the H&D fruit of the month club, the boxes are that awesome. A friend sent me a wonderful gift -- 2 boxes of these pears and a cool reuseable tote. I loved the gift and noticed that the boxes were amazing, meant to protect delicate fruit - they are thick, full of tissue and have a nice foam piece that rests on top before sliding on the lid. Best re-useable I have ever encountered. These were perfectly clean when I received them, so I decided to store all of my Christmas ornaments in them. Everything stays perfectly protected during storage.

Snow is one of those things that children look forward to, hope for and dream for in our area. As it shows up on special occasions and without warning. It is always a shock to see, that makes it rare and extremely beautiful.

You can see the barely there dust on our trees. This was the wonderful makings of snow, during the month of December. To our dismay, there is no snow in sight, at least at our house. It was seriously magical to have snow, even for a short few days.

Time to head up to the Mountain.

New Year Dessert - with Great Grandma

The Greats come all the way from NC to visit during the holiday season. They always pass on money for the kids and this year we surprised them with thoughtful (do something fun) with the Great Grandkids, kind of gifts. Maverick received a mini donut machine, along with a cookbook full of recipe idea. She promptly choose a Buttermilk Nutmeg donut - it was really good with the Buttermilk Vanilla icing drizzled on top. They finished these little bites with pink sprinkles, chocolate chips or mini m&m candies.