My Maplerose Blog

Oh smoothies. They make life so easy. They really do.

Here at Maplerose HQ I make smoothies at least twice a week. Kids love them (most of the time) and I love that I know they’re getting a boost of all the good things in one cup. And smoothie leftovers are in the fridge for when I’m starving and need a boost!

Cooking together is something we’ve always done. I was a chef for years and love to cook and this is something of “mine” I want to share with my kids.

Involving the kids in the kitchen with me teaches them so much. And while the learning opportunities abound it’s also a chance for us to do something fun together. Connecting through cooking is so delicious

My oldest has always been keen to get up first thing in the morning and do his own thing for a while. Since he could toddle his way out of the bed he spends early mornings reading and playing. Often the sound of LEGO block searching  gets me up.

Lately though, he's been into foraging first thing and the sound of the cookie jar lid at 6:45am often wakes me up.

My way to combat this behaviour, rather than get myself out of bed, is to just make cookies and muffins so chock full of goodness they pass for "pre-breakfast" and this mom can sleep on.

It was very important for me to write Pysanky this year for so many reasons but mostly because I am free and safe and I can. Creating is very healing, calming and it's usually pretty fun. I've found it's one of the best things I can do for myself.

And while the days leading up to it were so full, Easter unfolded with such ease this year that allowed for all kinds of creativity, including making Ukrainian Easter eggs.

One of the concerns of homeschooling/unschooling parents is often how to achieve all the lessons in all the subjects (especially if you're responsible for documenting all the "learning" that's going on at home). I often find by just getting outside and doing what we love so many of the boxes get checked off and it happens in such a gentle and organic way.

I realize it's become increasingly hard to give myself time. I run this business from our home. I love cooking and baking for our family but it's a part time job. Homemade marshmallows and soup and bagels are sooo good. And I get so much joy from doing it.

I crave more joy in my life.

And then there's the laundry, sweeping, and snack making that seem to work together to fill every other spare moment there is. Oh yeah, and I'm unschooling the hooligans.

Unschooling requires energy and attention and the willingess to go with the flow. And there's a whole lot of mental energy required to deschool myself.

Last year we started doing a new Autumn craft that preserves leaves perfectly and they're a lot easier to keep track of.

It's a quick craft, takes very little prep and smells delightful. And with enough newspapers spread out, it's any easy clean-up, too.

Are you ready to try dipping leaves in beeswax? Oh yes, you are!

Curious kids come to sensory play quite naturally. As a child, I remember loving the feeling of putting my hand in a bag of dried beans or rice. I loved the smell of fresh raspberries as I picked them in the warm sun. I love balancing and hopping over cracks in the sidewalk and I loved homemade playdough.

Not all playdough recipes are created equally but I do believe I found the best one ever. Once sealed in a mason jar this stuff lasts for months or until it is forgotten outside or in the couch or crumbled around the house. You know how it goes :)

The hooligans and I had such fun baking these. We actually do most of our home learning when we bake.They loved making the Tanzhong in the first step and it opened up all kinds of conversations about baking, Asia, language, chemisty, stories from when I was a pastry chef. And we smelled the cinnamon and meausred and mixed and rolled the dough. And while it rested to let the yeast do it's magic we rested too. And talked a little bit about yeast and sourdough and looked for the dental floss.