Ellie@Home by Nicole Kapise-Perkins

   Crayola.com is such an amazing website; eons ago when I was a teaching assistant I looked up lesson plans for my students, vacation and weekend crafts for my kids, and today I'm back at lesson plans for my four year old to keep him arting and learning until he begins kindergarten. I get their monthly newsletters, and wanted to share this month's with you, as many families are taking vacations and day-trips this time of year. My little one is especially interested in the layered book, and wants to make one the next time we go to the local Discovery Center for our weekly animal class.  Happy arting!!  http://www.crayola.com   Children always need places to store their travel treasures. Take a dream vacation with them as they cover their suitcase with handmade travel stickers. 1. Choose a box for your suitcase. A one-piece sneaker box is great because the lid is attached. 2. Cut construction or white paper into rectangles with Crayola® Scissors

     More fan-girl gushing here, my friends. This time about simple, delicious, so-called rustic cuisine that people have been eating for hundreds of years and will continue to eat for hundreds to come. That's probably the biggest disadvantage to being an American. We have no historic food culture. (That, and the fact that through our own actions {broadly speaking} we have a reputation of being pushy, loud-mouthed, arrogant bastards. If I ever get to travel, I swear I will use the very good manners I have been taught.)      Granted, this reason is because we are a country of many different cultures, and believe me, I'm not complaining. We have access to so much amazing food, music, art, that there's plenty to 'borrow' if you're like me. (And, let's face it: being of English, Swede, Irish, Scots, Welsh and German descent, my own food cultures leave a lot to be desired. Unless you like scones. Which I do. Though I haven't had an opportunity to try any aut

     If you live in Massachusetts (or are planning to visit), the Highland Street Foundation is hosting their annual Free Fun Fridays series: 67 museums and cultural venues open for free on Fridays all summer long. As I cannot seem to copy and paste (gr) the link is below: http://highlandstreet.org/freefunfridays.html This Friday the choices are:    The Freedom Trail Foundation (Boston)    Battleship Cove (Fall River)    The Children's  Museum in Easton (I have NO idea where Easton is, lol)   Tower Hill Botanic Garden (Boylston)    Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University (Boston)   Cape Cod Museum of Art (Dennis)   Danforth Art (Framingham)        Admission is free to all of these places this Friday; you'll want to bring cash or credit with you for food, souvenirs, etc., not to mention a camera, and if you're going to do the Freedom Trail, very comfortable shoes. (I've done it. Great walk. Long walk.)   Enjoy your Friday!

     I'm going to rave about food for a moment here. I promised you food earlier, and failed to deliver, but I am about to make it up to you in this single post. Last night I made the most kick-a$$ burritos for dinner: spicy, tangy, zippy, everything people like me love in Tex-Mex cooking. I take no credit for this. I have a subscription to Rachael Ray magazine. Thank you, Rachael Ray. 7 Layer Burritos Ingredients 2 cans spicy vegetarian refried beans (16 ounces each) 3/4 cup vegetable stock 2 teaspoons hot sauce, such as Frank’s Red Hot, to taste 2 teaspoons ground cumin 1 small red onion, finely chopped, divided 3 jalapeño chili peppers, seeded and finely chopped, divided Juice of 1 lemon 1 clove garlic, grated Salt 2 ripe avocados, pitted and peeled 3 plum tomatoes, seeded and chopped 1/3 cup cilantro, finely chopped 4 large flour tortillas 3/4 pound pepper Jack cheese, shredded 1 heart of romaine lettuce, chopped 1 cup sour

http://wildsister.com/ To celebrate their third birthday, WildSister is offering everyone free copy of the July 2014 issue! Check it out here:  http://wildsister.com/latest-issue/

If not, how can you change this? If you're not sure, read more. How do I know I am living my life consciously? This question came to me as I stood at my kitchen counter preparing a morning cup of tea, gazing out at the neighbor's immense apple tree. I pondered it as I sipped my tea. How do I know? I realized I know when I'm not, and that seemed like as good a place as any to begin exploring this new question. http://witchesandpagans.com/SageWoman-Blogs/living-life-consciously.html

This is just a quick line to say I have not forgotten about my pathetic little blog; I have a bunch of things to share: more family activities, posts for SageWoman, links to WildSister magazine, garden updates and food...and I will be back, hopefully later today, to begin this stuff! Stay tuned!

     Saturday. No plans, no beach visits or day trips scheduled: my husband's work schedule is just too busy. I suppose I should be thankful for books (well, more than the obvious, I mean) for the escapism they provide. I have recently visited the glittering court of Catherine the Great; now I am walking the dark streets of Victorian London as killers stalk their prey. (Despite the fact that I am a reasonably well-adjusted person, Jack the Ripper holds endless fascination for me. Sick, I know. Ditto the incredibly violent movie The Crow . I don't get it either.)      And so, instead of packing my family up and heading to some unknown destination (fun as that would be) I will tuck myself into a leafy corner of my vine-engulfed back steps with book, tea and journal and travel the vicarious wordways of others' works.      Here's a few of the more interesting 'armchair travel' books I've read recently: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/587013.The_Ice_Mast

probably of more interest to littler ones, but my 17 year old is pretty excited by this too. (But he's a science kid, so I guess it is to be expected!) Pressing Plants and Flowers Supports Summer Learning & Memories July 8, 2014 at 12:00 pm ( Suggested Activity ) Tags: craft and composition , flower pressing , Herbariums , learnscape , nature based education , nature education , Plant preservation , plant pressing Creative documenting of summer blooms capture memories and learning Herbariums are collections of preserved plants and are fun ways for families to preserve summer memories while supporting an interest in botany and local habitats. As the many flowering plants of the summer grow buds, burst into bloom, and fall to the ground to make way for the next wave of plants to come into season, children often collect specimens of their favorite colorful plants in an attempt to preserve them for endless enjoyment and examination. Inevitab