Our House in the Middle of Our Street

A very ambitious pile So many 'to-do's' this month, not enough reading time. Sadly, over half of that pile never got digested before having to be returned. But here's what I did read this month: * The Collapse of Parenting by Dr. Leonard Sax-- Just like all his other books, Sax's latest did not disappoint. His main premise for this book is that in the last 30 years, there has been a transfer of authority from parents to peers, and it's ruining our kids and our culture. He makes really great points, uses stories from his practice to illustrate, and science to back up. I'm definitely the choir here, but if parenting, sociology/cultural trends, and brain science appeals to you at all you'd probably find his books really interesting.  * Le'ts Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson -- This memoir was laugh out loud funny. She is the female David Sedaris, only way more open about her neurosis. Some of these stories I was laughing so

  peek through the trees looking at Hayward Lake  A couple weekends ago, we planned a hike. We've got to be really intentional about getting it on the calendar. The work doesn't end there. There's lunches and water for four people, researching where to go and get directions, find car items for kids if we have quite a drive, and get out the door at a decent hour before most recreational parks get too busy.  Stefan found Hayward Lake and said that it would be a walk around a lake. That sounded alright, since we hadn't been hiking hiking in over a month, but thankfully we talked to a very nice and engaging Parks worker cleaning the bathroom who told us, 'oh no, this is for the dog-walkers, if you want a hike, go to the Reservoir trail'.    Ani near the water taking a quick break with a power ball in her mouth! I'm really glad we took her advice, though it took us two tries to find it, and we happened upon the BC Hydro Stave Falls visitor cen

As the kids start to get older I'm putting a lot of energy into finding excellent resources to teach my kids that are affordable and interesting outside of picture books. Cooked , a 4-part series by Michael Pollan on Netflix, is one of those resources.  As an American in Canada, I sometimes feel a bit snobbish turning my nose down at the options found here. My pitiful, first-world-problem attitude of 'there's nothing on this Netflix'! led me to this series, which I'd never pick in a million years if I could watch Parenthood, Nashville, and New Girl back to back. Such is life, and I'm glad, because watching this--a show I was only marginally interested in--became a full supply of conversation between myself and my kids when we watched all four parts together.  I own one of Michael Pollan's foodie books , but I haven't read it yet. This documentary series is four parts named after elements used in or with cooking: Fire, Air, Water, and Ear

Andie's cookbook, Eating in the Middle , open to the Banana Bread donuts with maple cinnamin cream cheese frosting I don't often do single-book reviews because I save them for a monthly series, but this cookbook, Andie Mitchell's Eating in the Middle, deserves a spotlight. I first heard about Andie via my friend Meg and her blog , and I promptly read Andie's memoir (the cover grabbed me) and then placed her cookbook on hold at the library. I'm so glad I did, and I'm already in line again because there were a number of recipes I just didn't have time for in the blip of two weeks that I had it in my kitchen. I made a number of her recipes, including the delicious donuts (seriously, read that description), a flavorful Asian chicken salad, some breakfast muffins that had pineapple, carrot, raisins, and coconut in them, and a batch of different brussel sprouts. The only 'dud' for our family was the Brussel sprouts, and only because of the ch