Pen Pal Cousins

I have always loved writing letters. I love the feel of paper, the way a pen glides across the page, the sound of a pencil as it scribbles words. Writing letters is slowly becoming a lost art.  Emails are being sent, updates are given on Facebook, pictures are being posted on Instagram, and lets not forget texts and tweets. Communication is convenient these days. 

My kids go to school with a lot of kids who at 8 & 9 years old have cell phones. Mark and I won't allow our younger children to have cell phones for our own personal beliefs. I'm an older parent in the kids' school and I am very much an old school, old soul parent too. I try to teach my kids to appreciate the simple things in life. We like growing our food, getting our hands dirty, we like taking walks, we like unplugging, we like having lemonade stands, we like board games and card games, we like playing with lego and barbies. We like spending our time swimming during the day 

and gathering around the fire pit at night. 

We love simple. Cell phones will always be there, 

but these moments are fleeting.

Distance can't keep these two apart. Mary Kate lives in Arkansas and Keely lives in California.

And that's what gravitates me to sharing with my kids the lost art of actually writing letters...do you remember what it was like receiving a special letter in the mail? 

The excitement of checking the mailbox, seeing an envelope addressed to you. 

For those few brief moments you feel special, you feel excited and most of all you feel loved. 

Because someone took the time out of their day to write a letter to you. 

Letters will always be far more personal than any Facebook update, any Instagram post, text, tweet or email. Letters contain words written by someone's hand. They had to think of what they wanted to say before they said it, they had to have the supplies to write the letter. So much more goes into letter writing than anything else. 

These two girls are animal lovers. Mary Kate wants to be a vet and Keely wants to be a farmer!
Maybe they can work with each other one day!

And that's why my Sister-In-Law, Katy, and I are teaching our daughters to write letters. We have started something fun for them to share with each other by becoming Pen Pal Cousins, writing letters back and forth to each other. You see, just like me, Katy is an old soul and we love things like this. Sure it adds more to our already busy lives, but this is something we know will be special for our girls as they grow up. Mary Kate and I are even going to put the letters from cousin Keely in their own special pretty box. So Mary Kate will always know where they are and one day she will be able to look back on them and reminiscence with her cousin. And overall, it will help build their relationship to be stronger. It's my prayer and hope that even though our sweet daughters are far away, that their relationship will be a close one.

Friends Forever

As I was talking to Mary Kate about starting her letter to Keely, I realized, I had to actually teach my daughter how to write a letter. Mary Kate was full of questions, "Why do we ask how are you?" "What am I supposed to say?" "Why would she want to know about my basketball team?" I had to explain to her that these are things about our lives that we might find boring or mundane but others might find fun and exciting. They learn things about us that we didn't realize they never knew. And we ask how are you because that shows we care and that we've been thinking about them. 

The plan is, sometimes we'll send just a letter, sometimes we'll send a little trinket with a short note, sometimes we'll send a care package of some of MK's favorite things from Arkansas, we'll send postcards from places we visit big or small....we'll have fun with this and that's what matters most. We want this to be a positive experience for our daughters. Something they always look forward to. We want this to be something (we hope) our daughters 

continue to do on their own as they grow older. Even after they get their own cell phones one day! I said I hope...LOL! 

I'll write back soon!

Memory Baker

I love handwritten recipes. I am currently in the process of handwriting all of our family recipes for all four of our children. I'm starting with my two oldest sons, Ryan an Matthew, since they are both out of the house living like adults. Like most of you, I grew up learning that feeding others is another way of saying "I love you." Food celebrates, it shows your love, gratitude, welcome and sorrow {They call it comfort food for a reason}. Anytime there is something big happening in our lives, food is a part of it.

{My recipe card box and recipe books I'm making for my oldest sons}

But what happens when we lose those people that made those recipes for all those moments? They are gone and we are left with only the memories of how much we miss them and miss their food.

Food impacts our lives just like people do.

{My daughter, Mary Kate, learning all of Mama's recipes}

That's why I write it all down: the recipe, the year I received the recipe, who gave it to me and some recipes even contain a story. For example, the recipe that I'm sharing with you today, Pumpkin Crunch. Written on the recipe card I have, "this recipe is a fall favorite of mine. Given to me by my Mom when I was in my 20's living out on my own for the first time." You see, recipes don't have to be passed down because you're married or have children. Recipes should be passed down because you saw how it touched someone else.

{A treasure of family recipes}

These days, when I see people make over something I made, I write the recipe down on one of my own recipe cards and send it their way with a little note. It's the cheapest gift you can give, along with one of the most personal gifts you can give.

{Share you next recipe on a recipe card, not in an email}

Recipes are a part of family history and family tradition. Sharing recipes with family and friends, written in your hand, connects us in a way an email, text, blog or even a cookbook can't. So next time you go to a gathering and as you lovingly prepare your food for others, bring a piece of paper and pen, and make note of who complimented you on your recipe. When you get home write that recipe down for them with a little note and mail it as soon as possible. I promise you, you'll make someone feel loved. And there is no better way to say "I love you," when we run out of words, than to say it with food.

{Pumpkin Crunch}

Pumpkin Crunch

1 box yellow cake mix

3 large eggs

1 can {15oz}pumpkin

1 1/2 cup sugar

1 can {12oz}evaporated milk

1 cup melted butter

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

whipped topping

1/2 cup chopped pecans or chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease bottom of a 9x13 baking dish

In a large bowl, combine pumpkin, evaporated milk, eggs, sugar, cinnamon and salt

Mix well and pour into baking dish

Sprinkle evenly with dry cake mix over pumpkin mixture

Top with chopped pecans or chopped walnuts

Drizzle melted butter over nuts and cake

Bake at 350 for 50-55 minutes or until golden brown

Let cool and serve chilled

Top with whipped topping and sprinkle with remaining nuts

Enjoy!