When we were planning our daughter’s baby shower, I knew I wanted something extra special for the dessert table. The theme was “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star,” and I thought, what better way to celebrate than with a star-shaped cake glowing with sunshine-yellow lemon flavor?
Author: Tanya Reilly
I'm a homeschooling mom and founder of Moonprint Academy.
How to Make a Sculpture with White Clay
There’s something majestic about a statue, and something beautiful about capturing a moment in time with your hands—especially when it involves your children. Photographs are wonderful, but creating a sculpture brings an entirely new dimension to preserving their personality and smallness at a certain age. Recently, I set out to make a statue of my son Neil, who was three at the time.
A Magical Birthday in the Forbidden Forest
When I was nine years old, my world shifted forever. My parents gave me a copy of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, and I devoured it in a single weekend, sprawled on my bedroom floor with a flashlight long after bedtime. Those pages weren’t just a story—they were a portal. Suddenly, my childhood imagination…
How to Survive (and Maybe Even Enjoy) Life With 2 Under 2
If you’ve ever thought, “How hard could two under two really be?” I have news for you: you either already have them and are currently reading this while stress-eating a granola bar in the bathroom, or you’re still pregnant with your second and blissfully unaware of the storm that’s coming.
How to Make Old-Fashioned Russian Pickled Cabbage
There’s something magical about cooking traditions that cross generations. In our family, one of the funniest and fondest memories is when little Neil helped Grandpa mix up a big batch of Russian pickled cabbage—sauerkraut, the old-world way.
Firethorn (Pyracantha) Shrubs: Growing Tips and Wildlife Benefits
When I was a kid, there was a strange kind of fun plant in the backyard that only children could see. Among the usual grass, trees, and garden beds, there stood a bush full of bright red berries. They looked like tiny ornaments strung up by nature itself. We didn’t know what they were called…
How to Make Tiny Wooden Furniture
(Furniture is 1:24 Scale for a Dollhouse) There’s a certain kind of magic that happens when children, imagination, and a bit of wood glue come together. For us, it began in the backyard when Neil and Leon joined their Grandpa at the picnic table, surrounded by tiny wooden cutouts, a cordless drill, and the promise…
Rustic Cherry Galette
When summer cherries find their way to the kitchen counter, there’s something deeply nostalgic about transforming them into a dessert that feels both rustic and celebratory. A galette—the French free-form cousin of pie—offers exactly that kind of charm: unpretentious, flavorful, and steeped in culinary history. Today, we’ll dive into the story behind tart cherries, explore…
The Black Grackle: Behavior, Diet, and Why They Thrive in Cities
This month, our family had more run-ins with grackles than ever before, and each one turned into a little adventure. The first happened at our neighborhood H-E-B. We were walking through the aisles when I heard the boys squealing and pointing upward. A shiny black bird was flying back and forth under the fluorescent lights,…
Pumpkin Nights Experience in Austin
If there’s one event in Austin that knows how to capture the magic of fall, it’s Pumpkin Nights. We had the chance to go, and let me just say—this was no ordinary pumpkin patch. From larger-than-life installations to glowing trails filled with music, lights, fog, and the most stunning collection of hand-carved jack-o’-lanterns, the entire…
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