lil doggy

so we did it, we got a new puppy and i have to tell you it's been a life changer!  the first dog i ever chose on my own as an adult was charlotte, an american pointer i found at the pound in virgina (who died last year at 16 years of age) then rudy then olive... two chihuahuas who were all impossible to train and difficult to live with too... all three were dogs i struggled to make pets and eventually gave up on, such a disappointment. i would say that olive being the last of the three has FINALLY come around and i am quite fond of her now. maybe the other two overshadowed her? not sure...

growing up loving dogs and then having three extremely difficult dogs in a row put me in an "anti dog" mode for many years. i told chris i needed a major break from dogs since i saw them as just work and stress most of the time. when maggie came around i was hesitant...but only for a minute. she has won me over big time and is pretty much amazing if i do say so myself. i have always loved pitbulls, so smart and loyal...  a lab pit mix was a no brainer for me.so far so good!

 

 

the dog park is a must with this much energy!

holy toledo!

where have i been??




kinder graduation (who's idea was it to have them "graduate" from kindergarten? weird!)



two front teeth gone missing



lunch at the beach




HUGE (dead) gopher snake found under a HUGE (very much alive) tomato bush (yes it scared me to death at first but we made a nice lesson out of it, the girls and i became quite fond of our little guy after much investigation)



another trip to the "tree of life nursery" for more california native plants, man this is addicting!



zoo trip (my favorite was the hippos, although they seemed a bit cramped)




inspirational parking spot, which seems fitting:


yep, new member of the family. long story to come on that decision!

kitty love

  
this is my mama, daughter duo and i have to say, these gals are the easiest cats i've ever had. they stay in the backyard and never ever go in the street. like never. i love them so, even if they are a bit skittish at times. they are lovely to look at and pet and i will miss them when their time with us is up.

kool aid bonanza

so we are nearing the end of the first year for my kinder camp fire group. it has been challenging but rewarding too, for one, i have another great group of parents i can really count on. can't believe i scored again on that one. nice! i decided to try the kool aid painting and kool aid play dough for this meeting and it went very well.

 

 

you have to really concentrate the kool aid for painting though, but it does work and smells divine!



emily always starts the meetings with songs and games, she is an awesome right hand man



duck duck goose, easy and always a crowd pleaser






next up was the play dough making, love this recipe



super easy, smelled great and easy to mix






we had fun tie dying the blanket/table cloth after everyone left



soooo one more meeting to go for both groups. i splurged on a yudu machine and hope to master it tomorrow so we can silkscreen multiple t's for summer and beyond. stay tuned for that! learning "brown eyed girl" on my guitar!...

time speeds up

well the year is winding down and summer is right around the corner, sure feels strange to be moving so fast. my plate is overflowing with events and i just keep adding more to it. need to slow down!! my two camp fire groups have final meetings soon, then we take a break until day camp in august. can't wait to get in to my garage and really gut it out, get organized for next year's meetings, so many ideas so much to do! i will be running both groups at day camp this  year, with lots of parental help. i want to make it fun and interesting for the girls who have been going for 4 years now. one idea i have is to make lip balm and bath salts using high quality ingredients, warming them over the fire and gathering flowers to decorate. maybe make candles too, using the flowers to decorate. we have a fabulous native california garden at the front of the council, i have been gathering seeds there for weeks now. the girls have taken a tour of it and the lady who takes care of it gives talks about how the indians used each plant. very interesting and i have been inspired to create a small native garden at my house. we have milkweed (to attract monarch butterflies) and white sage (which smells divine and is a gorgeous plant). the more i read up on native plants, the more interesting they become. i am completely addicted to california poppies. the seed bombs we made in our kinder group have been thrown all over town, hoping to see some of them blooming next year. i have heard that they need to be sown in the fall so i have held back a bunch to toss in sept-october. 

  

i am so happy to be able to continue our relationship with "the potential lunatics" and their "world tour" ha ha! what a refreshing fun family! the girls attended an acoustic concert at a local coffee shop, staying up until 10pm, what a treat.



i was happy that one of our camp fire families joined in as well



these images are all from chris' phone soooooo not so hot



but you get the idea. well today is my own guitar lesson, coming right along with that although it is HARD HARD HARD!! i suck so bad but would be really disappointed in myself if i didnt conquer this mountain. chipping away at it!
happy sunday to you!