Top 2017 LWTH

Doesn't everyone do some kind of count down or year-end wrap-up about this time of the year?  I figured I should join-in on the fun with a look back at the best posts of this year that YOU selected :-)  So here we got, top posts of 2017 here at LWTH:

Rerooting

Our Lady is One!

You Don't Have to Explain

The Montessori Approach

Stop Blaming Disney

Books for Conversation about Character

Dutch's Birthday- A Different Celebration

Road Trip Ready- Hitting the Road with Toddlers

One Room School House

Monat for the Skeptic

A Day in the Life- Video

Rerooting- Fall Check-In

Skip the Flu~ Elderberry Syrup Recipe

Tonight I posted that I was making another batch of elderberry syrup.  Little did I know that it would make my phone blow up; love it!  Apparently A LOT of y'all love it or are VERY interested in it.  Even though I didn't really plan on blogging this week, there was such an overwhelming response to my Instagram post that I thought I would hop on here really quick and tell you about this syrup & share my recipe with you.

What is elderberry syrup & what is it good for?  Elderberries are a plant that has natural medicinal components.  I'm all about natural remedies, but more than that, I'm interested in increased wellness & prevention.  Don't we all want to skip the doctors office & dealing with insurance companies?! This syrup does both of those things.  Elderberries:

-are high in vitamins A, B, & C (higher in C than most oranges)

-are high in quercitin (an antioxidant)

-improve & prevent major colds

-are high in anti-viral properties to improve & prevent influenza (the flu)

-improve sinus infections

-improve allergies

-reduce inflammation
-enhance sleep (due to the tart cherry juice)

-a natural diuretic

-improve chronic fatigue

This syrup is an awesome promoter of wellness and prevention, as well as, tastes great (reminds me of gingerbread), and is easy & affordable.  As a personal note, and I hope I don't jinx anything by saying this, but I have never received the flu shot, and I also have not had the flu in over 2 decades.......soooooooo there's that ;-)
Ingredients:
2/3 cup dried elderberries- here is what I get
3 1/2 cups water
1 tbs fresh ginger root, grated
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp whole cloves
1 cup raw, unfiltered, honey- here is what I get
Want to know how I make this into gummie bears?! Check it out here!

Directions:
1. Combine all ingredients, except honey, in a medium sauce pan and bring to a boil.  Boiling honey can decrease the medicinal properties within the honey so you'll want to wait to add this ingredient.
2. Once boiling, cover and reduce heat to a simmer for 45 min-1 hour, until the liquid has decreased by half, and then remove from the heat.

3. When the liquid is cool enough to handle, pour through a strainer into a glass bowl.  Allow all of the liquid to squish through the strainer, & then discard the chunks still in the strainer.
4. When the strained liquid is lukewarm, stir in the honey and mix well.  Pour into the glass bottle you will store the syrup in.  Because this recipe makes about a quart (4 cups) of syrup, I use a quart-sized mason jar.  This will last in the fridge for several months.

For storing & serving: keep this syrup in the fridge.  You can put it on pancakes, in your tea, in homemade gummie bears,  or just by the spoonful.  We take this daily, after breakfast 1/2 tsp-1 tsp for kids and 1/2 tbs-1 tbs for adults.  Do not give this to children under than age of 1 because of the honey in the syrup.  I would only take this once a day, but if you come down with something, I would take the regular dosage but every 2-3 hours until symptoms disappear.  As with anything you should always consult your doc (especially if you have an autoimmune disease) because I am not YOUR doctor.

Santa Out {2017}

Happy Friday friends!  The big week we’ve been waiting an entire year for is finally here!!! 

Christmas is coming!!!  

Can you believe it?!

We're going to be spending this weekend watching Christmas movies, baking cookies, lounging around in our jammies, wrapping gifts under the tree, and sipping hot cocoa.  I’m going to try and get some school work in with Dutch, but nothing intense.  I have one more person to finishing shopping for.  I have the gift in mind, I just have to go get it and then I’m done.  What about you? Are you finished shopping?     I’m trying to soak in these special years with my little ones and don’t need anymore distractions.  So I'm out for the rest of the year, but wishing you all a very festive, warm, & delicious Christmas.  I might try and check back in between Christmas and New Years, but I’m not going to promise anything. You can follow our Christmas on Instagram though! Merry Christmas!

Visiting Santa 2017

Two posts in one day?! Who am I????

Tis the season for photographic moments, clearly!

Our kids had a visit with Santa.  They spoke about snow, reindeer food, and fire trucks......all of the important things ;-)

I am praying these moments move slow over the next few days so that I can soak it alllll up!

Thank you Grace Hill Photography for these magical moments captured forever. 

Christmas Shopping for Daddy {FACE PALM}

I made a short video for The Mr. this week of the kids Christmas shopping for him.....I filmed the entire thing with my phone in the wrong direction {face palm}

Hawley Christmas Card + a Special Heart

Since we don't know everyone's address, here is our family's Christmas card this year.  But this year something different happened before they went in the mail.

Every year we keep the cards that people send us to pray for each family for a week out of the year (more details here).  But this year, I caught my precious 3 year old with the cards on the living room floor.  They were stuffed & we were taking them to the post office to mail.  I asked him what he was doing with them, and he told me that he was "praying for our Christmas card people" So if you get a card from us, know that this little 3 year old was thinking about you and prayed for you!  His precious and gentle heart is infectious.  Merry Christmas from our family to yours :-)

First Snow Day

A couple Fridays ago, Houston had a big snow.  Now when I say "big snow" remember that I live in Houston and "big snow" is very geographically relative.  We've had 2 other dustings since we've been in Houston (10 years), so this was kind of a big deal.  Thursday night I kept seeing friends around Texas posting on Facebook that they were seeing snow.  Those friends kept getting closer & closer to Houston so I was hoping that we would get to see some too.  The Mr. went to bed around 11 and I started staring out the window, like a little kid waiting for snow to cancel school.  With the first flake of snow I was out the door.  Not going to lie, I shed a couple tears.  There is something so magical about snow, and being someone who loves snow but has not seen it in a long time, getting to experience the quiet majestic snow was breath taking.  Of course I woke up my husband but he was not impressed considering it was a flake here & a flake there, so he went back to bed.  I continued to check outside every 15 minutes until I fell asleep on the couch.  When my husband got up for work around 4, he woke me up and said "It snowed!" I have not gotten off the couch that fast in a long time.  There was a blanket, a very thin blanket, of snow on the ground and the entire city was silent.  It was beautiful!

I could barely wait for the kids to get up so that they could see their first snow.  When they got up at 8, we got dressed and ran outside to play.  They were a little skeptical at first, but loved to play in it.  I think Dutch has been waiting his entire life to throw a snowball lol  They played outside for about an hour before telling me that "snow is cold mama"  We came in and had school.  I had a lesson planned for January about snow, so I quickly moved that up so that we could actually see snow for our snow lesson.

It was a magical snow day.  One that left a brilliant memory in my mind.  I loved getting to see their faces experience snow for the first time.