Sowing the Seeds of Spring

For about a month now, my alarm clock has been a cute, wild-haired little girl who jars me to consciousness with the words, "Is there a school delay today?"

I think maybe there have been a lot of school delays and cancellations as of late. There have definitely been enough for Alexis to start to consider them the norm.

So when Sunday's storm rolled around, I decided it was time to declare war on the snow and cold the only way I could figure out to do so. It was time to make the most the snowy weather, but then move on to declare that spring was on the way. The first order of business was for Alexis to spend several hours outside giggling and laughing as she went sledding with friends. Then she came inside and I busted out the ammunition for mission #2.

Seeds. Lots and lots of seeds.

Alexis planted watermelon, pumpkins, zucchini, and zinnias. They are all now sitting in a little greenhouse in the kitchen. As the days go by, little plants will peak up from the dirt and remind us that spring is coming.

Because it is. All I need to do to remind myself is to look at the plants.

When we were done putting little seeds in the dirt, I bet Alexis $5 that it was the last winter storm of the year. She took the bet, so we'll see who ends up richer in the end.

My odds of winning are up there with the odds that the weather man will be right about the next forecast. Not that I'm mad that the weather man was wrong when he said 12" of snow this weekend -- I'm not AT ALL. The 2" we got was enough for sledding fun, but meant the answer to "Is there a school delay today?" was NOOOOO.

Kindness for Carli

I first met Katie a little over a year ago. She was at one of my Photography Workshops (Which, yes, I know I need to run another one soon. I'm working on it.). She instantly struck me as a kind, happy person.

That's why it's no surprise that she's behind something this fantastic. Just in case you can't follow the link for some reason, I'm going to borrow Katie's words.

In January 2010 our unborn daughter, Carli, was diagnosed with a fatal condition. We chose to continue the pregnancy to give her as much life as possible, and give her a chance to hear our voices and know our love. On March 26, 2010, Carli was stillborn. We were blessed to know her, and her life changed our family for the better.
We want Carli's life to impact others in a positive way, too. We want her life to make a difference. Carli would have been 4 years old this year. To honor our little girl, we are inviting our friends and family to do a random act of kindness on her birthday. Please invite your friends too! A random act of kindness can be as big or as small as you want. Pay a toll, volunteer at local charity, take a friend to lunch. It doesn't have to cost any money. It can be as simple as helping someone carry their groceries.
We would love to hear about your acts of kindness, so please share stories and pictures, if you have them! We hope you will join us in doing random acts of kindness on March 26, 2014.
Thanks in advance!
With Love,
Ray and Katie Ewing


“It's not how much we give but how much love we put into giving.”
- Mother Teresa

I can't even imagine. I refuse to imagine. Losing Carli was obviously a terrible, terrible thing, but how amazing is it that some good can come out of tragedy?

So, on March 26th, I plan to be all sorts of random act of kindness-ing up the place. It isn't hard to make someone's day a little brighter, so if you'd care to join me, I'd love to hear your ideas, what you end up doing, photos, stories, whatever. Here's some of the things I'm thinking about doing:

• Paying for the person behind me at the Starbucks drive thru
• Sticking a dollar in a vending machine and walking away
• Putting a quarter in someone's parking meter
• Leaving unused coupons next to the appropriate items at the grocery store
• Donating some bags of clothing to charity
• Sending flowers to someone who I think could use a little cheer
• Taping pennies and other change to hidden little spots all over some playground equipment for kids to find later
• Leaving quarters on top of the payment box at the carwash
• Throwing out compliments all over the place
• Bringing in baked goods to work
• Dropping off baked goods at the fire department and/or police station
• Leaving kind comments on blog posts all over the place
• Doubling the tip if I go out for lunch

And I'm just getting started with the ideas.

If you decide to join, let me know. It's always nice to hear that good people venture around these parts. Oh, and make sure to mark "I'm going" over on Facebook so that Katie and her husband Ray know just how much support they have.

Rice Cripy Treats

I started posting recipes in this space several years ago specifically because I wanted to leave Alexis not just a trail of words filled with love, but also with words that she could use to pass the love on to others. Recipes are often passed down through generations, but we all know that it's just as common for someone to take a piece of childhood to the grave with them.

My grandma's fruit salad, for example. I haven't had it since I was Alexis' age, but I remember it vividly. Sadly, I never had the recipe. I've searched for hours on the internet to try to figure it out, but to no avail. The recipe is gone.

My recipes will live on in this space, as will those of friends and family and sometimes random people from the internet who post amazing things. Some I'm sure Alexis will dismiss, others may end up being just as important to her as they are me. Or, maybe she'll end up being someone who hates to cook and won't care about any of it. That's fine, if that's the case. I still put it all here just in case.

While I leave this digital footprint, often Alexis helps me cook. Right now she seems to enjoy helping. She has talked her way into cracking eggs, measuring flour, pouring rice, and all sorts of things. A few weeks ago, she talked her way into helping with Rice Krispies Treats.

There was nothing special about the Rice Krispies Treats since I'm currently feeling this vibe right along with Denise. Just butter, marshmallows, and cereal. Alexis wrote down the instructions as we were making them, though. This weekend I found out why.

She wanted to make them herself. I didn't start learning to cook until I was 14, but if she wants to start now? Cool. I asked Alexis to wait for me before she started, but she decided to be a punk and start anyway when I wasn't paying attention. Instead of reading her the riot act when I found out what she was doing, I double-checked that she wasn't putting a metal bowl in the microwave or something equally risky, and then let her be.

She managed to make those Rice Krispies treats all by herself. 100%. I know that it's not really a big deal, but it kinda is in my head because that's pretty cool that she went from handwritten recipe to finished product without a single bit of help.

So, Miss Alexis, here is YOUR recipe for Rice Krispies treats. I'm pretty sure it's the same one that comes on the cereal box, but that's OK. That really is the best way to make them.

Oh, and I like the addition of the sprinkles, even if it was the ENTIRE jar of sprinkles.

(It says:

Rice Cripy Treats

1. 4 tablespoons butter. Microwave 1 minute.

2. Swish around

3. Put in 1 more minute. Bowl hot careful.

4. Pore in marshmallows. 1 minute microwave.

5. Stir

6. 6 cups cereal

7. Stir

8. Put in pan

9. Eat)