Lehman’s asked me to write about the many benefits of sugarmaking as a family recently over on their blog. Go here to read why I think maple syrup making is one of the best things any family can do–but especially a family with teens.

For the full scoop on how to make maple syrup in your backyard, read this post.

And listen in on the podcast I recorded with Glenda Lehman.

By the way, if you don’t know of Lehman’s, you really want to check out this superstore for the homesteader or really anyone who wants to steer their family towards a slightly simpler way of life, even just one small step at a time.

I love that they have an incredible selection of cast iron, farm and garden equipment, and a huge array of Amish-made products that I love. But they also sell maple syrup from the Lehman’s Family Sugarbush, some neat items like these smoker bricx for making mouth-watering barbecue, and amazing maple-baked goodies that you can splurge on if you want some true maple deliciousness without even making a mess in the kitchen!

Just click any image below to know more:

But, seriously, don’t get too distracted by that amazing-looking maple whoopie pie right there that you forget to click over here and read what you really came here for, right? Why every family should try making maple syrup. Oh, and I also share the secret to baking with maple syrup in place of refined sugar in any recipe! Seriously… go check it out.

Meet my teens–and find out what they really think–and get a glimpse into our family’s sugaring operation, here on our rural New England sugarbush right here.–>

“Two [or a whole family!] are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor.” Ecclesiastes 4:9

Pin this for later!

Click on the image below to pin this post.

Find out why SoulyRested was considered to be one of the Top 20 Must-Read Homesteading Blogs of 2018 and then one of the Top Homesteading Blogs of 2019 as well.

Glance at my Resource Page if you’d like to get a glimpse of other supplies I use for maple syrup making (as well as gardening, homeschooling, homesteading topics, nature journaling, and more).

Many readers often ask what camera I use to take the images you find here on SoulyRested. I love my Nikon; you can read more about my camera and even purchase your own here.

I’d love to connect!

To find me in some other neck of the woods, just click any (or every!) icon below:

And please follow along!

And have you tried my a-MAAHZ-ing Maple Sugar Cookie recipe that’s in my Resource Library? You won’t find this deliciousness anywhere else… until Sweet Maple is in print this fall.

The post A Great Family Activity (that’s seriously sweet) first appeared on Souly Rested.

I can picture myself in an MLA support group (Maple Lovers Anonymous).

There I’ll be, rising from my folding metal chair that’s part of a circle of similar uncomfortable chairs situated in the middle of some cold gymnasium floor. My eyes will scan from one face to another of those who feel my addiction. Those who also drink way too much tea, just so they can add some maple sugar. Those who can’t make a cake or mix up a marinade without wondering if they should add maple syrup to the recipe. Those who watch the thermometer and weather forecast way too closely this time of year and obsess over the thought that maybe today the sap will start its slow-moving dance down every maple’s phloem.

“Hi. I’m Michelle. And I’m a maple addict.”

Melissa and I Both Got Excited.

In anticipation of the soon-to-be-here sugaring season, I’m elated to share this podcast (see below)–which I just recorded with Melissa K. Norris, over on Pioneering Today–about all things maple. Melissa, on the other hand, was very excited when I didn’t hesitate to say “Of course!” when she asked if I’d share one of my all-time, absolute-favorite recipes on her blog.

When Melissa asked what my favorite maple recipe was, I hesitated. I mean I’ve always been a sucker for chocolate chip cookies, but especially now that I make them with maple.

I’m a sucker for this giant chocolate chip cookie in cast iron.

But I’m a Goliath sucker for this super sized Maple Candy Cookie.

Then there’s maple fudge. Um, yes! And maple scones. Be still my heart. But when I told her that my most favorite recipes are ones that I love to bake in my old, heirloom cast iron pans .  .  .  Ones that I inherited .  .  . Ones that come with a story .  .  . Well, I had Melissa at “cast iron.” Then we spent a moment being a little side-tracked ohhh’ing and ahhhh’ing over our favorite family cookbooks.

But if you know Melissa and I at all, none of that would surprise you.

The part of the podcast that you won’t believe until you hear it for yourself? All right, I’ll come clean. I confessed to Melissa that I used to hate maple syrup. Listen for the full story and what caused my change of heart.

Oh, and if you need some all-natural syrup? This sampler is a great place to start (it makes a great gift!), and this wood-fired syrup is amazing. Highly recommend.

Also be sure to hop over to Melissa’s site for my grandmom’s Melt-in-Your-Mouth Blueberry Cake recipe (yes, it really is all that). Well, it’s kinda collaborative recipe I guess, between grandmom and I, across the generations, after I altered it a little and made it Melt Melt in Your Mouth Blueberry Maple Cake.

I shared Grandmom’s blueberry cake recipe here a while ago (sans maple, before my obsession took deep root). I’ll admit that both versions are truly delicious. But I thought I’d link to both versions in this one post, so you can just PIN THIS and have everything you’ll need in one post.

You’ll Hear the Whole Story.

So when you have a few minutes listen to the podcast I recorded with Melissa. I fill you in on the whole story .  .  .  why I wasn’t a fan of maple. And why I changed my mind.

Click here to hear me on the Pioneering Today podcast talking about my favorite sugarmaker ever, who happens to be my high school sweetheart, and who loved me long before I loved maple.

If you’d like to read more about my family’s sugarmaking experiences the past few years, there’s plenty to read around here.

But consider yourself forewarned. My story, along with my grandmom’s blueberry cake recipe, might make a maple addict out of you too.

Please follow along!

Please take a second to follow along here on SoulyRested to catch up on a few of my memorable mishaps, discover fascinating things about my centuries-old farmhouse, glean a little parenting/homeschooling insight from this momma who’s been failing at the effort for almost 2 decades, or enjoy the inside scoop on the secrets other legit homesteaders might not tell you.

I hope my focus always encourages you, because simple joys require hard work. Let’s face it, we all need all the encouragement we can get!

As soon as you subscribe (in the box at the end of this post), you’ll have immediate access to my Resource Library, which includes many useful printables, my FREE EBOOKs, and other amazing recipes for things like whoopie pie cookies, maple sap switchel, and another heirloom recipe, from a different grandmom, for a perfect pie crust.

Things we have heard and known,

things our ancestors have told us.

We will not hide them from their descendants;

we will tell the next generation

the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord,

his power, and the wonders he has done.

Psalm 78: 3-4

Glance at my Resource Page if you’d like to get a glimpse of all the supplies I use and recommend for everything from gardening, to homeschooling, to chicken care, to nature journaling, to maple syrup making. Of course, my favorite cast iron pans are there too.

I’d love to connect!

To find me in some other neck of the woods, just click any (or every!) icon below:

Pin this and listen again later!

Just hover over an image for the Pinterest logo.–>

Before you even scroll down and subscribe, I have a free eBook for you that might help your family live a little more simply and use a little less refined sugar. Download Maple Goodness here or just click on the eBook image below. Your family will truly love the Best Ever Maple Scone recipe in this free eBook.

Type your email address in the box below, or click here for the 33-page eBook, A Sweet Taste, and so much more.

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The post Should you consider swapping out sugar for maple syrup? first appeared on Souly Rested.

Heirloom pumpkin treasures draped over our garden fence mean homemade pumpkin bread in a few weeks. (See this post for my family’s favorite pumpkin bread recipe.)

Just-picked apples are a downpayment on fresh apple cider. (I share my recipe for Amazing Apple Cider, made in a slow cooker, right here.)

Marked maple trees on our New England farm promise yummy possibilities of winter syrup. (My posts about maple syrup are itemized here.)

This post breaks down all the steps you’ll need to know if you’re ever interested in making backyard maple syrup.

And this article and podcast will inspire you to consider a simple little step toward healthier living–> Should You Consider Swapping Out Sugar for Maple Syrup?

While our apple harvest was tiny this year, due to our bad summer drought, some yummy cider is in the works. I share our cider recipe right here.

So, yes, fall has settled in, in delicious ways, and winter is on her coattails.

But before I start working on the yummy posts that are on my mind and in my kitchen, I wanted to share with you the 10-page printable and complete unit study I just released today on Proverbial Homemaker. I started writing it as soon as Tauna asked if I’d like to share my thoughts on one of my favorite children’s books of all time, one that recalls sweet tastes of summer.

When my teen homesteader was a toddler, I had no inkling that the little one with bouncy blond locks and a deep fascination for Blueberries for Sal, by Robert McCloskey, would one day traipse a New England mountainside to fill her own pail with juicy blueberries that she planned to can for winter.

But she does. She and I pick for hours, with no signs of bears, only our content pooches running beside us and nestling in the coolness of the bushes. Back home, we can the deliciousness.

We will enjoy the sweet wild blueberries on a cold winter’s day when the sap is running, the winter wind is whistling, and our memories are crisp. . .  Memories of the warm kaplink, kaplank, kaplunk of the blueberries dropping in our pails. . .  Memories of the sweet times we curled up and read of Sal’s adventures oh-so-long ago. . .  Memories. Delicious every one. Every last kaplink, kaplank, kaplunk. 

Take a second to follow along here on SoulyRested for yummy recipes for every season, as well as a downloadable book about Nature Journaling with children.

And make sure to snag the Blueberries for Sal printables  I’ve written for you to enjoy with a child or grandchild as you read the book together. I truly hope you love it.

---

Many readers often ask what camera I use to take the images you find here on SoulyRested. I love my Nikon; you can read more about my camera on my Resources Page and even purchase your own here.

Glance at my Resource Page if you’d like to get a glimpse of all the supplies I use and recommend for everything from gardening, to homeschooling, to chicken care, to nature journaling, to maple syrup making.

I’d love to connect!

To find me in some other neck of the woods, just click any (or every!) icon below:

Please follow along!

Please take a second to follow along here on SoulyRested to catch up on a few of my memorable mishaps, discover fascinating things about my centuries-old farmhouse, glean a little parenting/homeschooling insight from this momma who’s been failing at the effort for almost 2 decades, or enjoy the inside scoop on the secrets other legit homesteaders might not tell you.

I hope my focus always encourages you, because simple joys require hard work. Let’s face it, we all need all the encouragement we can get! As soon as you subscribe (in the box at the end of this post), you’ll have immediate access to my Resource Library, which includes many useful printables, my FREE EBOOKs, and amazing real-food recipes for things like whoopie pie cookies, maple sap switchel, and my grandmom’s perfect pie crust.

Pin this for later!

Just click on an image below to pin this for later.–>

 

 

If you already ARE a subscriber, just hop over to the Resource Library here and enter your personal password. (If you don’t remember your password, no fear, we always include a personalized reminder in every Thursday email, “Hard Work, Simple Joys.”)

The post Fall deliciousness & Blueberries for Sal first appeared on Souly Rested.

I know it’s time for our thankful tree to grace our carriage house walls again.

The signs of pending November are shouting with insistence that I give in and prepare for winter. So many leaves around our homestead have given up their grip on autumn, now offering the chickens a brittle brown carpet to scratch in for their daily treats.

My high-school sweetheart and I have walked the property marking the maples worthy of taping for sap this winter.

The garden is barren, except for lonely bushes of broccoli that are still providing a fresh veggie snack every so often.

And the apples have all been picked.

But it’s more than the signs of a pending November that have me longing for our Family Thankful Tree. Truth is, I’ve felt like I’m more incapable than usual the last few weeks.

For one thing, Scout’s empty field is a continual reminder of my most recent homesteading failure. Our sweet little Holstein is a 10-minute drive down the dirt road, staying in a neighbor’s field, on a 6-week vacation with their bull.

But much heavier on my heart is my distance from my parents as Mom prepares this morning to start her cancer treatment. She’ll go into a doctor’s office and wait for six hours while a conundrum of medicines slowly pump through her veins. She’ll sit and watch the leaves that are blowing outside, the news announcers on a big TV screen who are spewing political analysis, and the others around her who are fighting similar demons; and I will be sitting 400 miles away, completely helpless. But I will also sit with a thankful heart. Yes, I am thankful to serve an omni-potent God who has given me many promises to cling to and words of hope that sustain me. And I am thankful that I have a paper tree, painted on a brown roll of paper, tucked under the eaves of my barn attic, waiting to be filled with reminders of the overwhelming blessings I have to be thankful for.

My friend Tauna, of Proverbial Homemaker, asked me months ago if I would write a post for today about our Family Thankful Tree. How perfectly timed by God’s loving, omniscient hand that this was the very morning I would need a physical, painted reminder of His goodness. So please glance at my post on Proverbial Homemaker, where I’m also sharing a free printable to get your family started on this wonderful Thanksgiving tradition, while I go uncover and hang a joyous paper tree in our carriage house.

For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. 2 Chronicles 16:9

UPDATE: I’ve walked through many hard days after writing this original post, but I’ve also been blessed. Blessed to be sitting with my sweet momma in the wee quiet hours of the morning when she met Christ. Blessed to be with my handsome southern-boy Daddy when he stepped into eternity where he’s gardening without weeds and pests today I’m sure.  A few of my experiences I’ve written about here. But through it all I have gone back many times to that verse in 2 Chronicles that I was clinging to in the beginning of this journey of grief. The verse I shared in this post on the day mom started her chemo treatment.

I had no idea when I first shared this verse with you how much I would need to remind myself of it in the months ahead. Remind myself that I could rely on God’s strength and rest in His sovereignty. That would be enough.

If you would like to follow along here and receive my weekly-ish newsletter “Hard work, Simple joys,” you’ll have immediate access to my subscriber library. Please enjoy all the printables under the section of ‘Encouragement”–including a list of 14 verses that gave me great comfort when I was grieving the loss of both parents. Because God is good. All the time.

Many readers often ask what camera I use to take the images you find here on SoulyRested. I love my Nikon; you can read more about my camera on my Resources page and even purchase your own here.

Glance at my Resource Page if you’d like to get a glimpse of all the supplies I use and recommend for everything from gardening, to homeschooling, to chicken care, to nature journaling, to maple syrup making.

 

I’d love to connect!

To find me in some other neck of the woods, just click any (or every!) icon below:

If you already ARE a subscriber, just hop over to the Resource Library here and enter your personal password. (If you don’t remember your password, no fear, we always include a personalized reminder in every Thursday-ish email, “Hard Work, Simple Joys.”)

The post Making a Family Thankful Tree first appeared on Souly Rested.

As pathetic as it is, I will admit it: We were only 3 weeks into a new school year, and my daughters and I needed another summer vacation.

So last weekend we did the next best thing and made HOME feel like a vacation…

We promised each other we’d fit in a few moments of down time, even though we knew it would be hard, surrounded by numerous responsibilities on the homestead this time of year. Thankfully, September’s Harvest Moon helps extend our hours of light. Even so, fall’s chores are bittersweet, reminding us that summer is indeed gone. And she’s left the short, cold days of New England winter eager to take her place.

So we hurriedly harvest the garden’s bounty and preserve it in any way we can. We hope that our efforts–pulled off a root-cellar shelf, or uncovered from a freezer drawer, and warmed on a snowy January day–will bring the smells of summer to our kitchen, the tastes of summer to our table, and the joys of summer to our cold winter evenings, to sustain us through another long, northern winter.

We try to squeeze in harvesting chores among the cracks of our homeschool days. Last Friday that meant breaking beans while reading history and keeping the day’s science lesson short to allow time to can pasta sauce before making dinner.

As we struggled through a Chemistry conversion problem, I realized it was time. I knew it was the weekend to make home feel like a vacation when my daughter announced, in no uncertain terms, that if she was on a desert island with only her chemistry book she would simply no longer read.

Yep, only 3 weeks into the new school year, and I needed simple ways to relax and I needed them quickly. Truth be told, we were ready for another summer vacation. So we did the next best thing and made HOME feel like a vacation. Tauna asked me to share on Proverbial Homemaker the 3 simple ways we accomplished this feat.

So go check out the three piece-of-cake ways you can make your home feel like a vacation today.

What are some of your favorite simple ways to relax and make home feel like a special retreat?

—————

 Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” Mark 6:31

The post When You Need a Vacation (at Home) first appeared on Souly Rested.

DISCLOSURE: This post contains affiliate links. 

While I realize that Sweet Summer can only offer a few more stray weekends of her long, warm days before she tucks them away for another year, I allow myself to start opening my tight grip on these fleeting warm New England days. In truth, I’m ready for a new season.

Spring brought unsettling news that forced this daughter–a daughter of a cancer patient–to cling to God’s promises.

Summer ushered in disappointments that brought this momma–a momma of a brave daughter in dismal pain–to her knees with a tear-soaked, downcast face.

So I’m ready for a new season. Both my mom and my daughter are under the care of compassionate medical professionals who can help them, we are all experiencing hope and growth, and I’m noticing beauty in my days again. An imminent season that promises autumn hues on every branch and crackling color under every footstep sounds just about perfect.

So when Tauna asked me to share some ideas for fun fall foliage activities with kids, a dozen ideas of things to do with autumn leaves spilled out into my contributing post over on Proverbial Homemaker this week. There’s inspiration for everyone–from a photography challenge to a Thankful Tree, from nature journaling ideas to tradable art card inspiration–so take a peek.

Any day now, fall leaves will be precariously positioned on sumac stems and beech branches…

We’ll harvest our apples, finish canning our garden surplus, And enjoy cooking over a warm fire.

Check out these dozen things to do with autumn leaves and enjoy the beauty of fall with your family. Join in a jubilation with creation itself, who is rejoicing before the Lord, as King David described it in Psalm 96.

That’s right, by pressing some fall leaves, taking some breathtaking pictures, or making some autumn art cards with your kids, you’re joining the party.

Charles Spurgeon points out, “Then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice. He does not say, let them rejoice, but they shall do so. ” The party’s happening folks. We’re invited. Join in.

Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
let the field exult, and everything in it! Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy
before the Lord... Psalm 96: 11-13

If you’d like 5 Simple Tips for Amazing Fall Photos, be sure to check out this post by clicking the photo–>

Glance at my Resource Page if you’d like to get a glimpse of all the supplies I use and recommend for everything from gardening, to homeschool, to nature journaling, to maple syrup making.

Pin this for later!

Click on the image below to pin this post.

Many readers often ask what camera I use to take the images you find here on SoulyRested. I love my Nikon; you can read more about my camera on my Resources page and even purchase your own here.

Glance at my Resource Page if you’d like to get a glimpse of all the supplies I use and recommend for everything from gardening, to homeschooling, to chicken care, to nature journaling, to maple syrup making.

And hop over here to find out why SoulyRested was considered to be one of the Top 20 Must-Read Homesteading Blogs of 2018.

I’d love to connect!

To find me in some other neck of the woods, just click any (or every!) icon below:

If you already ARE a subscriber, just hop over to the Resource Library here and enter your personal password. (If you don’t remember your password, no fear, we always include a personalized reminder in every Thursday email, “Hard Work, Simple Joys.”)

The post 12 Things to do With Fall Leaves first appeared on Souly Rested.

I think Robert Brault, an American operatic tenor who must create melodies in a garden as beautifully as he does on stage, answered that question well with a query of his own: “Why try to explain miracles to your kids when you can just have them plant a garden?”

A few days ago, I shared 5 Simple Steps to Garden From Seeds, and today I’m sharing 5 Tips for Gardening With Your Kids over on Proverbial Homemaker.

There’s nowhere I’d rather be than in the garden with a daughter. Or two. Or all four. We share our thoughts, anxieties, and daydreams right there between the beans and the tomatoes.

Plus, if you plant a garden together, you can reap the harvest together. You can even preserve it and enjoy it all year round. You can grow and preserve your own herbs. (All you need is a little patience and a few paper bags. Really. Check it out here.)

You might even have enough veggies to can a few jars.

Or enjoy some quick-and-easy berry desserts I posted last week. Better yet, you can preserve your fruit.

Then the cold snowy January night that you pop open a jar of jam and slather it on biscuits, you’ll enjoy the rewards of gardening with your kids even more. (Be sure to snag the Amazingly Easy Freezer Biscuit Recipe I shared on a previous post.)

If you need any more inspiration, glance at these 10 Reasons to Make Sure You Play in the Dirt this Summer and–if you do nothing else–be sure to join me over on Proverbial Homemaker today for some inspiration!

Then go dig in the dirt somewhere with someone who looks up to you, someone who just might want to share with you their thoughts, their anxieties, or their daydreams while you’re gardening together. Here on our homestead, I can honestly tell you, we plant much more than seeds, and we harvest much more than produce.

In my far-from-professional opinion, I imagine gardening has always had that effect.

Take a second to read more over on Proverbial Homemaker, and be sure to snag the FREE PRINTABLE I uploaded there for you!

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Do you follow along on SoulyRested.com? Just click “FollowThisBlog” in the right-hand column, and you can snag a FREE 7-page, chock-full-of-information printable that will get you started on an unbelievably easy, unlimitedly rewarding journey of nature study with a child. The free printable even includes another ID page! (This one is for studying mammals.) And even the least science-oriented parent (or grandparent) ever can dive right in.

And love it.

Really.

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Another post you’ll like–>

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The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. Isaiah 58: 11

“Build houses and live in them; and plant gardens and eat their produce.” Jeremiah 29:5

Find out why SoulyRested was considered to be one of the Top 20 Must-Read Homesteading Blogs of 2018 and then one of the Top Homesteading Blogs of 2019 as well.

 

I’d love to connect!

To find me in some other neck of the woods, just click any (or every!) icon below:

The post 5 Tips for Gardening with Kids first appeared on Souly Rested.

I became the new owner of the most amazing old treasure at our library book sale. It’s dusty. It’s huge. It’s a tome of words… a dictionary printed in 1920.

A daughter sauntered over to me as I perused the historical fiction table and announced I had to see THIS. She knew I’d love it. She pulled me three tables down and a row over. “Look!” was her one-word invitation to glance at the richly marbled end papers and water stained, worn, embossed cover as she gingerly turned some of its thousands of pages of vernacular expressions, idioms, and agricultural and botanic terms from 1920.

I knew one particular entry I wanted to look for immediately. I’d heard this word didn’t exist prior to WWII. I’d heard this word was simply never a thought in a parent’s mind. It’s a word I use sparingly. It’s a word I dislike because of what it stands for.

Today I’m sharing my thoughts over on Proverbial Homemaker on this particular word, this beauteous book of words I unearthed, and my four daughters–3 teens and a 20-year-old–whose own words make me laugh, drive me crazy, and swell my heart with endearance.

So click over to my post today on Proverbial Homemaker… I know you wanna know what atrocious word I use sparingly… what word I immediately looked for in my printed-in-1920 treasured tome.

“Shame on us veteran moms if we make younger moms feel like their days are easy. We need to build up those who are still in the trenches of Barbies and diapers and sticky fingers. We need to encourage moms with young children to fight the good fight, bandage scrapes, enforce chores, listen (really listen) to long boring discussions about legos and lincoln logs, inspire respect, and demand kindness—all with the end in mind: Raising teenagers who will make a parent laugh until it hurts. Raising teenagers who will cause pride to swell in their parents’ hearts when they witness their independence as young adults who respect their parents, love others, and honor God.” –SoulyRested today, on Proverbial Homemaker

I’d love to connect!

To find me in some other neck of the woods, just click any (or every!) icon below:

And please follow along!

And have you tried my a-MAAHZ-ing Maple Sugar Cookie recipe that’s in my Resource Library? You won’t find this deliciousness anywhere else… until Sweet Maple is in print this fall.

The post Celebrating Teens’ Independence first appeared on Souly Rested.

Now that it was time to take down our leaf-filled Thankful Tree, we were eager to make the trek to unearth our Reading Tree… the trek into the belly of the barn’s attic. It was dim and cold, and the smell of hay made my nose itch. I tripped over a few field hockey sticks, stubbed my boot on a steel bucket, and rammed my head into a low, hand-hewn beam before we finally found what we were looking for: an artificial tree and an unassuming black plastic storage box, with a gray lid labeled “Reading Tree” in elementary-school penmanship.

I should explain, the Reading Tree is our family’s first step into Christmas each year–starting with one little corner and branching out from there. It is not our “real” tree. We will go to pick that out in a few days, and that one will smell of evergreen and MOOOOve into “center stage” in our home.

(Like how I snuck in that allusion to our newest member on the homestead? But more about Scout in another post… )

Yes, our Christmas trees and even our cows offer literary references. I am, after all, a Language-Arts-kinda gal, and–thankfully!–all my daughters have followed suit.

Today I’m sharing over on Proverbial Homemaker all about our Family Reading Tree, the memorable ornaments that little hands made over the years, and the family tradition I UDDERly cherish. (Whoops, I did it again.) Take a second to read how the “wasted” hours, which stretched over many years, turned into one of the most memorable, productive, still-on-going projects in which we ever invested our time. Honestly. Check it out…

The post Unique Yuletide Book Reports… yes, book reports first appeared on Souly Rested.

Our muddy boots directed shovel blades to cut thin strips of sod. My dirt-under-my-nails hands grasped the wooden handle as the rain drizzled from the ominous gray sky. The year’s first autumn chill had blown in with the rain shower, and she and I were racing against the calendar. We were intent on turning over a plot of land to have it prepared for next spring’s garden. She, so she could transplant baby plants into the May soil, plants that she would grow from seeds and nurture inside through the cold days of winter. Me, so I could tackle a project with my teen. She was thinking about salads and salsa of next summer. I was thinking about how parents and teenagers simply don’t spend enough time together. I was thinking about her and the seasons of our relationship that still lie ahead. I prayed it would remain strong and grow.

That was last fall, and today I stand amazed at what we have cultivated.

Physically, with a bounty that has blessed our kitchen and our pantry, but also relationally, with a common bond that we will treasure long after the last canned vegetable of summer becomes part of winter’s meal.

Anytime she asks for my help with a new project I say “yes.” Even if the whining voice in my head cries that I have more important things too do, even if I hate the sound of whatever she is planning, even if I am ill-equipped for the task she’s undertaking, I say “yes.”

Maybe I’m quick to acquiesce because this daughter who had me peeling up a garden, strip by strip, last autumn is not the first daughter I have assisted with a scheme. She has two older sisters who have coaxed me into my share of out-of-my-comfort-zone projects. Our projects had us–parents and teenagers–working elbow-to-elbow and included everything from sewing machines to creepy insects; from power tools to even robots. And along the way, I’ve discovered many reasons why I want to tackle every project I can with my teens.

Alicia, at Your Vibrant Family, asked me to share my thoughts on her blog today. This is a topic that’s been near and dear to my heart for many years, and when Alicia asked me to write about it, I narrowed it down to 5 Reasons Parents and Teenagers Should Tackle a Project Together. Please take a peek at the 5 reasons and let me know what you think!

And the next time the parents and teenagers in your house throw around ideas about a project they may want to tackle, don’t hesitate. Whether it’s a BHAG (Big, Hairy, Audacious Goal) or a simple, almost crazy idea, wholeheartedly invest some time, point out their talents and passions as you work, enjoy the conversations that will surely ensue,  and revel in what you both learn and all that you cultivate.

Stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. I Corinthians 15:58

The post 5 Reasons We Should Tackle a Project With Our Teens first appeared on Souly Rested.