thanksgiving gvl long weekend

wow, what a fun weekend! i haven't been up to the cabin in awhile (been working weekends to PAY for it!) so this 3 day trip felt like a real vacation. stay tuned for lots of photos:

indoor tent making


we took our outdoor table up to the cabin so we have two tables now, the second table made a great tent, so the girls made good use of it (when we get enough muscles together we will move it to the garage)

toes



clear blue skies

playing our homemade gvl game




lots of drawing time, this is "mama yelling at liz" yikes!




liz made this "shaker" all on her own



we went to the annual christmas party at the gvl community center, always fun to see santa and bid at the auction






i bid on these deer, didnt win, oh well


liz wolfed down her cupcake, she's a blur now


with the community tree lit, i feel the christmas spirit coming on... more gvl pictures to come (it was a LONG weekend!)

turkey day

this is my dad, carving up the turkey. i contributed the garlic mashed potatoes, the girls made the butter (heavy cream shaken in a jar, pinch of salt) and the salad came from our garden (romaine and red lettuce) yum!


liz had a thanksgiving party at school yesterday, this cool vest was made out of a paper sack, it is quite sturdy and clever. i love it! she has been wearing her indian hat nonstop since yesterday and entertained us with the "story of thanksgiving" about the pilgrims and indians. the preschool years are fun!



i think i am all turkey'd out. happy thanksgiving, again!

happy thanksgiving

my view this morning, we had a nice rain and everything is cleaned off... no more smokey skies and the kitties are out warming themselves on the jacuzzi



indulge me if you will








it will soon be time for dinner at grandmas, hoping my grandpa can make it (he is slowing down, down, down) and looking forward to snow up at the cabin!

happy thanksgiving!

Kiniya

this is the all council event where we celebrate service projects. it is very inspiring and tonight was especially great, it was better organized and we had a new group to hang with. so glad jean and mary are on board!!!

free range kids (mish mash post)

wow, i found the greatest website, something to think about for sure. i often talk with friends about how we grew up with so much more freedom than kids have today. i also had a patient recently tell me she works at a university and parents are actually registering their "kids" for college and intervening with professors if they feel their "child" has been "mistreated". she said it is epidemic, meddling parents in college!! who knew??? it is embarrassing to think a college student would have a parent involved in their schooling this way, when do you let your kid grow up? college isnt the right time? hmmm....

handmade christmas. this is a bean bag i got from the craft fair, i have been using it as a paper weight. it works great! might be a nice assembly line gift... i have enough fabric for sure.


i am a big fan of lara bars, i have even made my own version of peanut butter cookie, the best!! i went to their blog and posted a comment, guess what? i got a t shirt and a whole case of bars!!! thank you lara bars!


i am realizing more and more, i am a cat person. lu lu minds the plants, my dogs are driving me nuts! they are elderly and disoriented and just plain bonkers!

cleaver bead meeting

thanks cleaver!

smoke out

man, it's hard to breath around here and this is another sad fall here in so cal. i had a strong urge to go to the cabin and just water it down, but so far the fires are in another area all together. still makes me nervous. 

we watched this cloud of smoke come over us while eating our breakfast and ashes came down like snow. it's hard to believe these fires are 50 miles or more away. fingers crossed these are put out quickly and that the mountains are spared this year (or any year for that matter!)

the newest felt mouse

congrats to the felt mouse house, henry has arrived!

handmade christmas

a new design, not quite right but good enough for a christmas gift, shhhhh dont tell!

The Bead Fair

today was our first ever bead fair, the kids (many who are new to adventure level just like my girls) earn beads as they move from station to station doing different activities. we earn at least one bead from each trail (there are 5) and they get to take the beads home after a brief ceremonial at the end. 

butter making (run by the fabulous dori from my group)




rocks, geology



pencil holder sewing station (run by my fabulous moms christine and kim)


therapy dog




basketball




fitness and stretching


manners and how to set a table correctly


candle ceremony

a great way to hang out with friends


i am just glad the butter "worked" since that was my idea for a station. happy veterans day!