Pink - P52 and 52 Week Photo Challenge 2014 - Week 20

The crab apple tree is in full bloom...just in time for the "pink" theme this week for the photography challenges.

The tree used to be grafted - one half was the crab apple that had pink blossoms and one half was a green apple that had white blossoms.

A couple years ago, we had to cut down the green apple part of the tree after it was damaged during an ice storm.

The crab apple part has managed to continue to grow providing food for the bees in the spring; and a waiting and relaxing area for the birds while they are visiting the feeder on the mudroom roof.

Interestingly, there is another crab apple tree that we planted nearby. A few years ago I noticed a different type of tree growing right next to it. Last year there was an apple on one of the branches. It was the green apple tree...except next to this new tree. Hopefully this year both parts of the tree bloom at the same time. It's so eye-catching when a tree has two different colors of blossoms.

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52 Week Photo Challenge 2014 and  

Animals - P52 and 52 Week Photo Challenge 2014 - Week 19

On Thursday, Sophia, Olivia, and I went to Northwoods Humane Society and took a look at four puppies that were part of an 11-puppy litter. After meeting two of the puppies and seeing how they interacted with us and one another, we decided to look at another one.

So, we went back to the kennel area and took Aspen out and brought her to a "meeting room." 

We spent a lot of time with her to see how she responded to each of us, how she played with the toys, and her general temperament. 

We needed to be particularly careful because we have another dog, Cooper, who we introduced to another young dog a couple of weeks ago. That didn't go so well. In fact, he was so stressed out by the other dog that he began foaming at the mouth and showed other signs of high anxiety. So, we didn't go ahead with adding that puppy to our family.

Aspen had a nice mixture between puppy-playfulness and mellowness. She would play, cuddle, and rest on our legs. Not too overwhelming and not super high energy. Seemed like a perfect companion for Cooper and for our family. 

We were given the opportunity to "try out" Aspen and see how Cooper responded to her (and vice versa) at home.

So, after resting during the car ride, Aspen arrived at her new potential home. We took Cooper out for a walk and brought Aspen with as a way to introduce them on neutral territory. This was the same process we used to introduce Cooper to Montague.

They were curious about one another and seemed to do well together.

There were times on the walk, though, that Aspen needed reassurance that the big animals she was seeing (Cooper and Hoss, our miniature horse who walked up to the fence to see the new family member) weren't going to hurt her. She would hide behind Sophia's legs or between her ankles, knowing she felt much safer there.

After a positive first afternoon and night together, we went on another walk the next day at Osceola Landing (it's one of many parks along the St. Croix River that is managed by the National Park Service). 

Aspen seemed to enjoy the walk, would take some breaks, and ran a bit. 

Most of all, she enjoyed being wrapped up in the towel and being carried. 

By Friday afternoon, Aspen was feeling quite comfortable in her new home. As Olivia read on the deck, Aspen chewed a stick while relaxing next to her. 

This morning Cooper and Aspen played together so well. It reminded me in some ways of the first few days that Montague and Cooper would play for two hours non-stop in the mornings. Hopefully this is a sign of how well they will get together.

Playing is tiring business for a puppy, though. It was so nice to see Cooper and Aspen resting together on the couch as I read the newspaper next to them. This seems like a match that is meant to be.

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52 Week Photo Challenge 2014 and  

Flowers (Pottery, and Wood-Fired Pizza) - P52 and 52 Week Photo Challenge 2014 - Week 18

Yesterday, my sister (Mary), Sophia, Olivia, and I spent the afternoon doing the artOPENer tour along the St. Croix River.

We visited eight of the eleven studios which featured a variety of mediums including glass, jewelry, painting, pottery, and sculpture. My favorite ones were the pottery studios - especially Spiritworks Pottery in Stillwater, Minnesota, and Zac Spates Pottery in Hudson, Wisconsin.

Flowering branches in vases at Spiritworks Pottery in Stillwater.

Both of these potters make handmade dishes. At some point in my life, I would like to reduce the number of mis-matched plates, cups, and bowls we use and invest in a set of handmade plates, bowls, and cups. Just one set per person...and maybe a few spare pieces just in case one breaks.

We have some hand-sculpted bowls that we use to put small meals, cereal, or fruit in. There is just something about eating food from hand-crafted pieces that make the meal more special.

At any rate, while we were at Zac Spates Pottery, they had their wood-fired oven going and a table filled with pizza-making ingredients.

Olivia, Sophia, and my sister (Mary) at the table with the pizza ingredients.

They invited us to make our own pizzas that they would bake in the oven.

The wood-fired oven ready for baking pizzas.

Zac created this oven and the interior has clay that he placed around a sand mound in order to create the shape.

My pizza in the oven baking.

The fire was started at 9:00 a.m. and by mid-afternoon it was about 500 degrees in that oven. Needless to say, the pizza was baked and ready to eat in less than five minutes.

Sophia watching her pizza bake in the oven.

Seeing the wood-fired oven in action made me want to build one of these in the backyard even more.

One of the finished pizzas.

I think of how nice it would be to use the oven and then open it up to others who want to make pizza or bake a loaf or two of bread in the oven. It would be a way to building community and developing friendships around a common interest: healthy food.

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52 Week Photo Challenge 2014 and  

Sleep - P52 and 52 Week Photo Challenge 2014 - Week 17

The theme for this week's challenge is "sleep."  It seems like the cats are the only ones who rest during the day and that I can capture sound asleep.

The cats have favorite places throughout the house to sleep - especially when the sun is shining like it is today. Eenie and Meenie like to sleep on the ledge behind the bed that is below a south-facing window.

Lucy and Shadow often sleep on Olivia's bed on an incredibly soft blanket.

Maggie sleeps downstairs - typically on the top of a sofa or on a big floor pillow by the bookshelf.

All of the cats - with the exception of Maggie - seem to enjoy finding spots to rest right next to where I'm working.

Shadow curled up today while I was working on the computer. He slept contentedly on the blanket and my calendar with his tail curled onto the computer. Every so often he would open his eyes to check on me, and then fall back to sleep. 

Cats are rather delicate creatures and they are subject to a good many ailments, but 

I never heard of one who suffered from insomnia.

 ~Joseph Wood Krutch

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Shadow - P52 and 52 Week Photo Challenge 2014 - Week 16

The theme of this week's photo challenge is "shadow." It seemed like every time I thought about the challenge it was either in the morning or evening when it was dark; or the day was overcast and no shadows were being cast.

I wasn't even thinking about shadows that one can see indoors. So, when I went to the library I passed the front door and took a look at the metalwork. Entwined in the metal bars were letters. With the overhead lights shining at an angle, it created shadows of the letters onto the wall. 

It's something that I've passed by countless times, but never noticed the shadows. It kind of makes me wonder how many other things I see but don't notice. 

There's so much to appreciate about my life every single day, and 
I make a big point of taking time to smell the roses and noticing how lucky I am. 
I never want to take that for granted.
~~ Josie Maran ~~


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52 Week Photo Challenge 2014 and  

3:00 - P52 and 52 Week Photo Challenge 2014 - Week 15

For most of the day I cleaned seven cupboards in the kitchen. At 3:00 p.m., the alarm on my phone went off as a reminder to take a photograph of something that was happening at that time. 

So, Cooper and I went outside and Bailey (the pony) was standing near the gate. As she saw us approaching, the came closer to the gate. Before long, Cooper and Bailey were visiting one another. 

Both Cooper and Bailey enjoy seeing one another at this shared fence. Sometimes, with encouragement from Cooper, Bailey and Hoss will put on a "show" for him - galloping around the pasture, kicking their legs high up in the air, and acting like day-old lambs who frolic in the field and turn in circles in the air.

Today, however, Bailey just wanted to walk alongside the fence with Cooper and me. Initially she was afraid of the camera, but before long it was almost as if she was posing, turning her head in different directions and making sure her ears were forward or upright.

It was a nice break for us all. Perhaps this is something worth doing: setting my alarm at a random time during the day in order to take a walk outdoors. There's something refreshing about taking a break from work and heading outside...even if it is for a short period of time.

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52 Week Photo Challenge 2014 and  

Something Beginning with L - P52 and 52 Week Photo Challenge 2014 - Week 14

This week the photography theme was "Something Beginning with L." As I looked back on photos I had taken, I came across quite a few from the Macy's Flower Show in Minneapolis. This year's theme was "The Secret Garden."

As we did last year, Sophia, Olivia, and I took my mom to see the show. There are so many landscaping ideas as one looks at the wide variety of flowers, shrubs, trees, topiaries, and hardscapes. For my mom, who is in a wheelchair and blind at this point in her life, the smell of the flowers along with a verbal description is what made the show so delightful for her. 

One of the many landscapes at the flower show.

This one was the "English Cottage" display.

I particularly liked the English cottage garden where there was a wooden wheelbarrow, hat, gloves, and hoe among the planted flowers. It looked like someone was taking a break from planting the yellow tulips, and would be returning soon.

The horse head topiary was another feature that we all liked. It would be interesting to see if we could create garden sculptures like that at our farm.  

One of many bright, colorful flowers at the flower show.

The variety of flowers within each themed garden was delightful. The overwhelming smell of spring was invigorating and mood-lifting. After such a long, difficult winter with over 135 days below zero, smelling the scent of spring - especially the hyacinths - was needed and enjoyed. 

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52 Week Photo Challenge 2014 and  

Looking Down - P52 and 52 Week Photo Challenge 2014 - Week 13

We had the opportunity to visit Poplar Hill Dairy Goat Farm with the 4-H club in which Sophia and Olivia are members. Although we were hoping to feed the baby goats, they had already been fed for the evening.

Nonetheless, when we visited the kids (as the baby goats are called), and looked down in the many big white bins, we were greeted with adorable little ones...eager to be pet and get some extra attention.

Many were hoping we came with bottles, yet - even though we were not bearing food - they still enthusiastically clamored up the sides of the bins to get close to us.

I remember my dad telling me when I moved to the farm to never get goats. He said they eat absolutely anything they can find. We got to see this happen: some of the babies like to nibble on Olivia's and Sophia's hair.

We had a lot of fun seeing not only these goats, but the many dairy goats that are used for producing goat milk, cheese, and soap. The meat goats are kept in a different barn that we didn't visit.

The girls now want to have goats...though I think they are more fascinated with the tiny ones they were looking down at in the bins. The bigger ones weren't as captivating as the babies.

After the tour of the barns, we were able to sample some of Poplar Hill's goat milk and cheese. Sophia and Olivia both enjoyed the milk and cheese, and we ended up buying a quart of milk. Within a couple of days, the milk was gone. Clearly it was a hit!

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52 Week Photo Challenge 2014 and  

Looking Up - P52 and 52 Week Photo Challenge 2014 - Week 12

For this week's theme of P52 and the 52 Week Photo Challenge, the theme is "Looking Up." At first I was thinking literally: the sky, sun, moon, clouds, constellations...the list could go on. 

But then I thought, as I was looking back at the pictures I took this week, about the one I took of the flock of robins that visited our tree with the bright red berries next to the driveway.

There are five robins that landed within seconds of one another in the tree. 

Four are facing the house and one is facing the driveway. 

Seeing so many robins flying between this tree and the crab apple tree was such a day-brightener.

Given the long, cold winter when I saw these beautiful robins I thought, "Spring is finally coming. Things are looking up!" Before long the snow will be melted and there will be buds on the trees. Flowers will be emerging from the soil...and the gardens will be planted.

I'm hoping this happens sooner than it did last year. (We had a big snowfall on May 6th.) I'm eager to get outside and start mowing the grass, planting flowers, and maybe even plant a few new trees this year!

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52 Week Photo Challenge 2014 and  

Small - P52 and 52 Week Photo Challenge 2014 - Week 11

At the base of one of the pine trees in the front yard, there is a little wooden door. A pathway of stones leads up to it, and feathers found on nature walks we've taken are placed in the front yard of this home.

This year, we are going to add more elements to this area. We have been looking at pictures of fairy gardens to get some ideas for making this space a bit more magical and fun to look at throughout the year.

I'm thinking miniature shrubs and flowers would make this a welcoming and prettier place to look at and spend some time.  Now we just need to wait for the ground to thaw and the temperatures to climb a bit more before we can start to embellish this tiny area of our front yard. Until then...we'll continue to gather ideas.

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52 Week Photo Challenge 2014 and  

Reflection - P52 and 52 Week Photo Challenge 2014 - Week 10

The sun was so bright today that its reflection in the puddle on the driveway was just a circle of almost blindingly-white light. 

The light was so strong that it was impossible to look directly at it - even in the puddle. What a welcome sight after months of frigidly-cold weather and rather dull sunlight.

This is a sure sign that spring is right around the corner. I'm ready...as are most people in Minnesota who have endured a rather brutal winter. (The average temperature from December 1st through February 28th was 9.8 degrees at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. That's the coldest meteorological winter since 1978-79 and the ninth-coldest in records going back to 1871.)

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52 Week Photo Challenge 2014 and  

5 of My Favorite Things and Me - P52 and 52 Week Photo Challenge 2014 - Week 9

Although the theme for this week's 52 Week Photo Challenge 2014 is 5 of My Favorite Things and Me, I wanted to use another photo that I took at the International Wolf Center in Ely this past week.

At first glance, this photograph is of a single image. Yet, for me, this image represents five of my favorite things:

=> Traveling and exploring a new area. In this case, I had never been to Ely or the International Wolf Center before, and enjoyed being there and Duluth from February 23rd-26th.

=> Wildlife. I'm always excited to see wild birds and animals, especially when they are up close and I can see individual feathers or hairs....the detail of their eyes...or watch them breathing. Such little things, but ones that inspire me.

=> Spending time with Sophia and Olivia. We had so much fun driving to and from Ely; and going dog sledding and ice climbing. These type of memories are ones that I cherish; and I hope they do too, especially when they are older.

=> The outdoors. Being connected to nature and spending outdoors always lifts my spirits. I am so thankful that my parents encouraged me to spend time outside when I was young since that has continued well into adulthood.

=> Education. Learning about new subjects, and challenging myself to continually learn about things I don't know is rewarding. By homeschooling Sophia and Olivia, I am able to learn something each day. Taking field trips and visiting different organizations and businesses always results in learning new information.

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52 Week Photo Challenge 2014 and  

Framed - P52 and 52 Week Photo Challenge 2014 - Week 8

This is the eighth week of the P52 and 52 Weeks Photo Challenges, and the latter selected the theme of "Framed."

There were some clever ideas that I've seen that use empty frames propped at an angle in the sand and there's a person in the distance within the frame...or others holding an empty frame with their face behind it. Lots of different ideas for using actual picture frames.

Had I allowed more time perhaps I would have been more creative. Yet...here it is...the end of the week and the eve before leaving on a multi-day dogsledding and ice climbing trip. I was pressed for time.

Looked around the house and out the windows and realized: the entire house is filled with window frames. So I looked out many of the windows to see the views. All are different variations on the same theme: high drifts of snow - some almost as tall as the 4-foot high fence around the backyard. In the driveway, the 6-foot high fences are almost buried. It's been a challenging winter.

One of my favorite views is from this window:

It's one of many pine trees around the farm. This one is on the west side of the house so it provides a nice windbreak (as do the other ones that are in two rows along the driveway).

Beyond the pine tree is the west pasture. The sun is slowly making its way north as it sets. Right now, the setting sun is southwest of this window. By summer - it will be directly ahead. Needless to say, the sunsets are magnificent...especially when the entire summer sky is all different shades of lavender, magenta, and blue.

Until then...I look at the big banks of snow and wonder when it will melt and where it will go. Perhaps there will be a big pond this spring. Those spring peepers will be singing quite a bit in a couple of months...even better when they have a nice pond to hide in and swim around in.

Lots of memories as I look out this window...perhaps that's why it is one of my favorite ones.

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52 Week Photo Challenge 2014 and  

Square - P52 and 52 Week Photo Challenge 2014 - Week 7

The theme for this week that I'm using for my photography challenges is Square. 

It's part of the game board for Blokus. It's a game that we've had for many years now that I bought at homeschool conference. 

Blokus is supposed to be pronounced as "Block us." However, we didn't know how it was pronounced so we have been calling it "Blow kuss." Although the former way to pronounce the game makes more sense, Sophia and Olivia are in the habit of saying the name the latter way and want to stick with what they prefer. 

At any rate, up to four people can play this game. Each person has 21 game pieces of one color that include:
1 one-square piece
1 piece with 2 squares
2 pieces with 3 squares
5 pieces with 4 squares
12 pieces with 5 squares

The goal is to get as many of your 21 pieces on the board while simultaneously trying to block your opponents from getting their pieces onto the board. The only caveat to placing a piece on the board is that it may not lie adjacent to one's other pieces, but instead must be placed touching at least one corner of the pieces already on the board. This is a great abstract strategy game that we enjoy playing.

That's one of the great things about attending homeschool conferences: they are wonderful resources for educational and fun games. Although I won't be attending the annual conference in April this year (the first time since I started homeschooling), I do hope to go to another one in September where I'm sure there will be plenty of used and new games to add to our collection.

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52 Week Photo Challenge 2014 and  

Savory Edible (Homemade Samoas Girl Scout Cookies) - P52 Photo Challenge - Week 6

This week's theme for the 52 Weeks Photo Challenge is "Savory Edible." I looked at different recipes on Pinterest that I've wanted to make and came across a pin for Homemade Samoa Girl Scout Cookies.

The pin led to Recipe Sweet which led to Just to Taste which had the complete recipe and photo instructions. These cookies are amazing! They taste very similar to the Girl Scout cookies...at a fraction of the cost. They require a bit of work, though. The time is well-invested for how good they taste.

Homemade Samoas Girl Scout Cookies that we made.

Homemade Samoas Girl Scout Cookies
Yield: 4 dozen (2-inch) cookies
Prep time: 2 hours (includes chilling)
Cook time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

For the cookies:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the coconut topping:
3 cups shredded sweetened coconut
15 ounces store-bought or homemade soft caramels (Note: there wasn't enough caramel to cover all the cookies. This amount could be increased a bit along with the milk.)
3 Tablespoons milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 ounces dark chocolate (about 1 1/3 cups chocolate chips)

Directions

Make the cookies:

Preheat the oven to 350ºF.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. In three increments, add the flour mixture to the creamed butter, mixing between each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Add the milk and vanilla extract, blending until combined and the dough begins to come together in large pieces.

Use your hands to divide the dough in half, pressing it together to compact it into two disks. Wrap the disks securely in plastic wrap and refrigerate them until firm, about 1 hour.

Once the dough has chilled, roll each disk out onto a lightly floured surface until it is 1/8-inch thick. (Note: If the dough is too firm to roll out after being refrigerated, let it rest at room temperature for 10 minutes before rolling and cutting out the cookies.)

Cut out as many cookies as possible with a doughnut-shaped cookie cutter. (Note: we just used a round cookie cutter.) Place the cut-out cookies on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet and repeat with remaining dough.

Bake the cookies for 10 to 12 minutes, rotating the baking sheet half-way through, until the cookies are pale golden brown. It is better to underbake them than overbake them. Transfer the cookies to a wire wrack to cool completely.

Make the coconut topping:

Spread the coconut flakes onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake the coconut for about 10 minutes in a 350ºF oven until toasted, stirring frequently to ensure even browning and so that it does not burn.  (Check frequently since it burns very quickly.) Remove the toasted coconut from the oven and set it aside.

Melt the caramels, milk and salt in a double-boiler by placing the caramels in a medium pot set over a large pot of simmering water. Cook, stirring, until the caramels are fully melted. Remove the pot from the heat and combine 3/4 of the caramel with the toasted coconut in a large bowl.

Carefully spread the remaining 1/4 cup of caramel atop the cooled cookies then press on a portion of the coconut mixture. Let the cookies cool for 30 minutes. If the caramel-coconut mixture thickens too much at any point while pressing it onto the cookies, return it to the double-boiler and warm it until it's spreadable again.

Melt the dark chocolate in a double-boiler or in the microwave. Dip the bottoms of the cookies in the chocolate and place them on a wax paper-lined baking sheet. Use a fork to drizzle the tops with chocolate. Let the cookies sit until the chocolate hardens fully.

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52 Week Photo Challenge 2014 and  

Blue - P52 Photo Challenge - Week 5

This week I focused on "Blue" as a theme for both the 52 Weeks Photo Challenge 2014 and P52/Sweet Shot Tuesday.

After a string of incredibly cold days with dangerous temperatures and windchills, today marked the first day of what felt like a "summer-like" temperature: 27 degrees.

After -40+ below zero windchills, 27 feels very warm. Warm enough to be outside in only a t-shirt, sweatshirt, one layer of pants, one layer or socks, and boots. No hat...mittens...or face protector.

At any rate, the sky was a beautiful blue today and there was an interesting cloud formation that criss-crossed itself.

There's a  faint circular shape of rainbow colors near the intersection of the contrails.

It's on the contrail that is leading to the upper right of the photo.

The clouds were actually contrails - short for "condensation trails"/also known as "vapor trails" - that are long thin artificial (human-made) clouds that sometimes form behind aircraft.

According to Wikipedia, "Their formation is most often triggered by the water vapor in the exhaust of aircraft engines, but can also be triggered by the changes in air pressure in wingtip vortices or in the air over the entire wing surface. Like all clouds, contrails are made of water, in the form of a suspension of billions of liquid droplets or ice crystals.

"Depending on the temperature and humidity at the altitude the contrail forms, they may be visible for only a few seconds or minutes, or may persist for hours and spread to be several miles wide. The resulting cloud forms may resemble cirrus, cirrocumulus, or cirrostratus. Persistent spreading contrails are thought to have a significant effect on global climate."

In the case of the picture I took, the contrails were visible for less than five minutes before they slowly dissipated and completely disappeared from the sky.

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52 Week Photo Challenge 2014 and  

Water - P52 Photo Challenge - Week 4

This week the theme for the 52 Week Photo Challenge 2014 is "Water." The middle of January in Minnesota does not have a lot of outdoor opportunities to photograph water. 

In thinking about sources of indoor water, faucets came to mind. One of our cats, Shadow, enjoys drinking from faucets. Apparently, fresh water from the tap tastes better to him than water in the pets' water dish.

I was curious as to why he does this and the other cats don't drink water from the faucet. One reason I found on Animal Nation is this:

Dr. Cathy Alinovi of the Hoofstock Veterinary Service agrees that it may have to do with the water's freshness, since fresh water "is cooler than that which sat out on the counter all day." She suggests that cats who eat corn-based foods are pickier about water temperature, too, because these foods can "make the stomach hot and make the cat dry."

Another theory presented on Animal Nation is this one:

Dr. Valarie Tynes of Premier Veterinary Behavior Consulting thinks that finickiness might derive from their ancestors: "The cat evolved from a desert-dwelling animal that does not require a lot of water anyway. That may lead to them simply being pickier about the source of their water since they will be consuming a relatively small amount." She agrees with Alinovi that cats might consider "moving water, such as that from a stream … safer than still water, that might be stagnant and therefore not only not taste as good but possibly have a higher chance of being unsafe."

I learn something new every day!

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52 Week Photo Challenge 2014 and  

Tell a Story with One Picture - P52 Photo Challenge - Week 3

Each year at Christmas, I hide two ornaments that are in the shape of a pickle. One is a glass ornament and the other a hand-embroidered, wool felt ornament.

As we did when I was growing up, after all the presents were opened, the kids would search for the Christmas pickle. The reward was the satisfaction of knowing you found it first. That was good enough for us.

Nowadays, there seems to be a need for a prize. So, it's simply a piece of candy or a very small gift. Historically, the finder would receive either a reward or good fortune for the following year.

According to Wikipedia, "There are a number of different origin stories attributed to the tradition, but it was primarily thought to have originated in Germany. This has since been disproved and is now thought to be an American tradition from the late 19th century."

In fact, the tradition is largely unknown in Germany. It has been suggested that the origin of the Christmas pickle may have been developed for marketing purposes in the 1890s to coincide with the importation of glass Christmas tree decorations from Germany.

This year, I didn't put the pickle ornaments on the tree. I had them ready to go, but with all the health challenges with my Mom and Christmas Day feeling rather disjointed because of visiting her in the hospital, I completely forgot to hang up the ornaments.

It was in the taking down of the tree that Olivia reminded me about the pickle ornaments, and that she and Sophia needed to find the ornaments before all the other ones were removed and put away for the year.

So, on went the Christmas lights on a  very dry and past-its-prime Christmas tree. The girls stood ready a few feet from the tree. I announced, "On your mark...get set...GO!" and off they went searching for the pickle ornaments.

Within a few minutes, both ornaments were found.

I thought I had hid them well...apparently they are getting better at this game as they get older. Next year: I'm really going to nestle those ornaments in the branches. Perhaps it will help too when the tree is fuller and less dried out.

Nonetheless...it was interesting to see how important some traditions are and how doing them is so meaningful to Sophia and Olivia.

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52 Week Photo Challenge 2014 and