We recently came across a papercutting I had made some time ago, of an exotic figure with great hoop earrings, pointy shoes and wide pantaloons—a genie perhaps (I was reading The Arabian Nights when I made it). It was one of the first cuttings I had made, aside from the hearts, snowflakes and paper dolls […]

Somehow, suddenly, our trees have come alive with color. A week ago, they were still green, or maybe a muted brown at best. My wife remarked that perhaps you need such a humdrum year to make you appreciate those times when the leaves truly are ablaze. But now the hills show a patchwork of […]

I am pleased to see that Amazon is now selling Earth, Water, Fire, and Air by Walter Kraul, which features many fun and educational toys that children can make to explore the four elements. Herr Kraul is, of course, the mind behind several of the kits we feature in our Science and Discovery category, and […]

It has been a late fall for us. September and even early October gave us June weather, and with the long dry spell, the leaves have been slow in changing.
Now however some color is coming, and I am starting to see the winged seeds on the ground that maple trees give off. I can never […]

With our six-month-old now eating solids, we are overflowing with small glass jars. I had been recycling them all dutifully, but now I keep several in reserve (with the lids, and with the labels peeled off) for the nuts and seeds and other keepsakes my boys pick up in the garden or on walks. No […]

It has been a busy week for our family, with two of our boys returning to school. Our eldest is now in third grade, and the second has begun (finally!) kindergarten: he has been itching to go ever since his big brother first got on the bus three years ago. It’s easy to forget the […]

We spent one morning this week making pop-ups, after my eldest son found Paul Jackson’s The Pop-Up Book in my office. He was drawn to the more elaborate projects in the book, featuring illustrations that pop out from the background; his younger brother liked the simple, abstract cuttings that just allow the paper to fold […]

We took several days off to take our boys to Cape Cod—it has become something of a family tradition to stay at the beach each summer, either here or on the North Sea in Germany.
We stayed in Orleans, at the elbow of the Cape, with beaches on both the Atlantic and the Bay. Thus situated, […]