Blizzard of 'O8

David and I always look forward to the first big snow fall and we have been blessed with a big one right before Christmas this year. It has been so much fun, getting snowed in, drinking hot chocolate, playing games with friends and having sing-a-longs with Jeff & "Nate" playing music. We ended up going over to the Bucholtz house last night and sledding on the reservoir and then back to their place for dinner and fun. It was the best set up for a blizzard. And then today we got to go sledding again. We have an awesome huge tube that two adults can easily sled on together, and we got some pretty sweet air off of the lip that is half way down the hill.

We are really enjoying ourselves and hope that you are taking advantage of this weather to get outside and enjoy this snow. Also for all those that are traveling we hope you all get to your destinations safe and sound.

Arts & Crafts!!

I have never considered myself very creative however I find that I've surround myself with people who are and lately they are really starting to rub off on me and I have made sure to take advantage of this creative energy and put it to good use. I'm unable to post pictures of everything I am doing during this well deserved time off because they are wrapped under the Christmas tree, but there are a few things, actually books to be specific that I can share. While I was in England my friend Mary taught me how to book bind (see above and below), which was so amazing. And now I'm on my own working on one with a friend here in the U.S.

I decided as soon as I got back that I should made a second book so that I didn't forget how to do it. Luckily at my house a good friend of my Margaret wanted to learn which was perfect because it's proven you learn the best when you need to explain the task to someone else and it ended up being so much fun. I decided to work on a larger album, 12x12 and Margaret has made a book to fill with fun stories of her son Kasaan. Below is a picture of Margaret's cover after drying. It's so awesome, covered in a gold book binding paper and then topped with a great paper that has different types of dinosaurs on it with their names. It has come out really great, the picture isn't the best. She also made one out of an old Starbucks bag which is really beautiful however I don't have a picture of it. I also have been sewing and scrapbooking but will share those after the holidays ;-) This holiday season has been so much fun for me and I am excited that I have learned so much from my friends and family who have inspired me.

Big Kids Now!!!!

Emma and Kasaan have now both celebrated their first birthdays, Emma this past Sunday at Rainforest Cafe and Kasaan last month with a celebration at the house. I thought I would share some fun photos from Sunday at Rainforest Cafe of the two big kids.

Kasaan enjoying his chicken finger and Emma being a ham for the camera

The two of them enjoying Emma's monstrous volcanic cake

Emma enjoyed chewing on her wrapping paper, maybe next year she'll understand that you don't eat it but rather open it to see the present inside.David and I both really enjoy living with these two kids and Emma's brother, Theo. It has been a wonderful experience and they are all so precious.

Happy Holidays from the Garden Street House

Meet the Garden St House Family

David and I have been wanting to introduce our family here at Garden St House for a while but have needed to collect pictures prior to writing so that you can meet everyone almost face to face. So as of right now there are 4 couples living in the house, Danielle and Nigel just moved out with their son Caleb who is now 1mo old. The other family members include Austin and Missy, Margaret, Gregg and Kasaan, and Natalie, Mr. L, Theo and Emma.

Missy and Austin are the ones who started this community home we live in. About 4 years ago they decided that they wanted to start a community house in Lawrence, to have community in their own home and get involved in the growing community of Lawrence. They are continually taking time out of their own schedule to help those around them and to support their neighborhood and larger Lawrence community by taking part in Lawrence Community Works and different groups in the area. Missy is also a physical therapist in the area and learning spanish to better treat her patients and Austin works for LCW. David and I have know Austin since middle school and really admire what they are doing in this area.

Gregg and Margaret "Bird" as her family and friends call her, just moved in this past summer and we are all so thankful to have the opportunity to get to know them and their son over the past couple of months. Bird is an ER nurse, which I think is so cool and Gregg is a minister, which is also cool of course ;-) . Their son Kasaan has fit right in with the other kids in the house with his giggles and love for. All three of them have been a blessing to David and I and we are so thankful we can call them our friends.

This beautiful family is Mr. L, Natalie, Theo and Emma. They are part of the original crew that moved in when Austin and Missy bought the house and the Garden St House would not be the same without them. They are a real joy to get to know better and spend time with. Natalie, originally from France, is teaching her kids French as they grow up which is so fun to hear in the house. Theo, who loves to play with David, asks him all the time to help him make a track with his train set and play with him, which he often does and is always entertaining to watch. And Emma, the little princess, of the house is learning to walk and become more independent with Kasaan which is so fun to watch even when you aren't their parents.

David and I are really blessed to be living here. We are learning so much from everyone and it has been a really wonderful support system. We hope you all can come visit and meet these wonderful people for yourselves by taking part in the activities the house hosts or ones in our neighborhood...parties, documentary night or just come over for dinner.

Recipes for the Things We Make

When we posted about roasting our own coffee, we mentioned that we made some other things from scratch as well...granola, bread, yogurt, laundry & dish detergent. From the comments we learned friends and family would like to learn how to make these things as well. Most are very easy and can save money over time along with giving you the opportunity to say you made it yourself.

Dry Dish Detergent
Equal parts of washing soda, borax and regular dry dish detergent (helps with the rinse cycle). We usually do 1.5 cups of each and it lasts about one month because you only need 1-2tsp/load with a regular sized dish washer.

Laundry Detergent
Ingredients
1/3 bar of fels naptha or ivory soap
1/2 cup washing soda
1/2 cup borax powder
6 cup water
4 cups HOT water
1 gallon plus 6 cups water (each water is added at different times)
Containers to hold detergent in will need to equal 2 gallons

Grate the soap and put it in a sauce pan. Add 6 cups water and heat it until the soap melts. Add the washing soda and the borax and stir until it is dissolved. Remove from heat. Pour 4 cups hot water into the bucket. Now add your soap mixture and stir. Now add 1 gallon plus 6 cups of water and stir. Let the soap sit for about 24 hours and it will gel. You use ½ cup per load.

Yogurt
Things you need: crockpot, milk, starter yogurt
Process takes 24hrs with little hands on time

1. Plug crock pot in, place temp on low, add 8cups milk; the lower the fat content of the milk the thinner your yogurt will be. We usually use 2% and it still is very thin unless you decide to strain it.
2. Leave the crock pot on low for 2.5 hours.
3. After 2.5 hours, unplug crock pot, keep lid on and leave for 3 hours.
4. After 3 hours, take about 1cup of milk out of crockpot and add 1/2 cup of yogurt to be the starter, wisk together and then pour into crockpot.
5. With crockpot still unplug, wrap in big towel to insulate and leave over night.
6. Next morning you can eat it. If you would prefer it was a thicker texture you can place a big coffee filter in a colinder and place the yogurt in the coffee filter. It will filter the liquid out and become thicker.

We love to add things to our yogurt - granola, sugar free fruit preserves, frozen chocolate chips or some honey are all our favorites.

Granola (this is my mom's recipe)
Process takes about 15hrs with 45min hands on time
Ingredients:
Large container of old fashion oats
1/2jar sunflower seeds, unsalted
1cup coconut
1cup slivered almonds
1/2cup sesame seeds
mix in 20oz cup - 1/2 full of HOT water, 1/3 more honey, 1/8 of oil

1. mix all well in later mixing bowl
2. pour into 3 9x13 pans
3. Roast in 200 degree oven stirring occasionally for 2hrs
4. lower temp to 170 degrees and leave over night.

Now we are working on making our own cheese. I'm sure you'll hear about it soon...ricotta, goat, mozarella, it's going to be wonderful.

Andover High School 5yr Reunion

This past weekend David and I had so many things to celebrate and take part in. One of them being our five year high school reunion which took place at the Brewery Exchange in Lowell. I was so nervous heading over there, nervous people wouldn't remember me, nervous I wouldn't remember people's names, nervous it would be a night filled with awkward memories. And to top off the nervousness, David and I got lost driving over there which is always frustrating.

It ended up being a lot of fun. It was so great to catch up with old friends that we hadn't seen since high school. And of course there was always the funny stories of the night, Eddie knocked over one of the DJ's speakers which caused a big hub bub, Dan M. (a good friend of ours who wasn't able to come) had his quote from the time capsule read "Your brain stays alive for 8min after you die" and there was crazy dancing that looked like we were back in high school. Overall it was a great night, reconnected with some people, enjoyed ourselves and feel really proud of where our lives are 5yrs out of high school.