Look who’s ready for winter!

Posted on January 14, 2012 by Ann

Scottish Highland Cow (gouache on watercolor paper)

One of our favorite activities is to visit the animals at a near by historic farm open to the public. They have chickens which enjoy being hand fed grass (keep your hands away from the rooster though!), donkeys that don’t get along very well, sheep, and two Scottish Highland cows.

These cows are amazing! They look like woolly mammoths without the trunk! This breed of beef cattle was developed in The Scottish Highlands and they do particularly well in the colder climates of North America as well as windy and mountainous regions. This is because of their thick fur and ability to “browse” for food which means they eat twigs and leaves in addition to grazing (or just eating grass). Continue reading →

My Grandmother

Posted on January 9, 2012 by Ann

My Grandmother as a child (center back)

My grandmother was the oldest of 13 children born in 1906 to German-American parents in Brooklyn, NY. Her father was a game warden on Long Island. Although she always took them off for photographs, she wore glasses from a very young age just like my daughter and she was a very early reader just like my daughter. They even have a strong resemblance. She grew up in Brooklyn in what was then a German neighborhood. She got married late at the age of 34. Before she was married she worked as an operator for the telephone company and at one point she had a factory job making doll clothes. I’m sure she was also kept busy helping her mother with all her siblings. Continue reading →

We Bought a Zoo – Review

Posted on January 2, 2012 by Ann

Free roaming peacock from our zoo visit

My 6 year old daughter went through a long phase of wanting to become an animal scientist and although she has moved on to wanting to be a “multimedia artist” I was still surprised that she wasn’t more excited about seeing “We Bought a Zoo” starring Matt Damon and directed by Cameron Crowe. I really liked it! She had her heart set on Chip-wrecked so maybe it was predetermined that she wasn’t going to enjoy it and feel the need to repeat her new word “boring” throughout the whole film. Continue reading →

A few of my favorite things

Posted on December 14, 2011 by Ann

Apparently my daughter loves it too!

Continue reading →

Christmas Tree Ornament Craft: Spoon-Santa

Posted on December 1, 2011 by Ann

Santa Ornament Craft

To help you and your kids get into the holiday decorating spirit here is a simple Santa ornament craft. Click on this link to print out the free Santa Ornament Craft!

What you’ll need:

Card-stock
Scissors
Glue-stick
Plastic spoon
12 inch string
Crayons
Sharpie

Continue reading →

96 Crayola Crayons

Posted on November 7, 2011 by Ann

"coloring on the floor" crayon sketch

My daughter just got a box of, not 64, but 96 Crayola Crayons! I think there is even a box with 120, believe it or not. There is not much that beats the nostalgia of Crayola crayons. My husband and I were reminiscing about how great it was getting that GIANT box of 64 crayons with the sharpener built in! Just the waxy papery smell can take you back to the exact spot you sat to draw and color and dream. Check out this Mr. Rogers video How People Make Crayons. This will really take you back. Continue reading →

This is how I keep my house from slipping into utter chaos

Posted on November 6, 2011 by Ann

"clutter" felt-tip pen on marker paper

I don’t think I am especially tidy. I often go into other peoples’ homes and drool over how perfect they are. Even so, many guests of mine have openly asked how I keep my house so neat with two small children. They are either being polite or maybe I am just a bit neater than average.

I must have some order in my home to be able to think. It doesn’t exactly make sense but I have hear other people say the same thing so there must be something to it. Continue reading →