a cleaver christmas party

we finally got to cleaver's annual christmas party (i think we have missed a few years in a row) the girls were cute and helpful, they really love cleaver

lots of yummy snacks, great music, some cool "artist friend" art, cleaver's pad always delivers. so glad we could make it this year, even though we had to leave early, passing crowds of arriving guests as we headed to our car and off to bed. the girls both fell asleep on the way home.

today is lizzies arts and craft birthday party, stay tuned!

christmas countdown

remember these guys?


funny what you find under beds, buried in boxes, in the back of the closet. we're still decorating around here, taking our time with this christmas season. making it last.

i'm a winner!

ok, time to brag, i actually WON something (see my name all in lights??)! out of more than 1700 comments, mine was picked! who would have known how cool this is, since my christmas theme this year is all fairies and gnomes and waldorfy stuff. i am sooooo happy!

soon to be wrapped for lizzie, cant wait!
there is a waldorf school just starting out in our area, i have been loving the interactions with some of the staff and parents. they recently had a winter festival and liz and i were in heaven making some very fun crafts. check this windchime out:


and we made hand dipped candles (present for grandma, she will love it) and christmas ornaments and decorated a candle with this great little tool that carves our shapes from thin sheets of wax. i also bought some beeswax candles for gifts (seems like candles are a theme every year for me, sorry if you are the recipient of a candle year after year, i just like them!) we ate gingerbread cupcakes and oh... the highlight was lizzie tripping over the hot wax on container and spilling it into a perfect maple leaf shape on the floor. only waldorf parents would point this fascinating fact out, its ok, no one was hurt AND look at that marvelous maple leaf shape of hot spilt wax on the floor, lovely! we had a blast!

wendy crabb

well we set up a meeting with wendy crabb and just about everyone had plans that conflicted so my little "group" of camp fire girls set off for noho (north hollywood) to see her artwork at cella gallery. the girls were so excited, lizzie has been drawing crabs to present to her for weeks now. they all wanted to see where the movie stars live (not sure how they know so much about it but they sure had a long list of stars to look for). we saw wendy walking along the street with baby jasper and the girls yelled from the car at her, they recognized her from her blog. we had hot dogs then headed over for a look at the gallery. the space was gorgeous and all the artwork was lovely up close, cant beat seeing art in real life.



a personal favorite








you know i could live in a place like this, just put a bed off in a corner somewhere.


the girls got these shirts and emily is wearing it again today, i think it will be a favorite for a long time. lizzie is asking to go back to the "nursery" today, i finally figured out she means "gallery" and from the fit she is throwing about it, i think i did good with trying to influence the girls on viewing art at a gallery. meeting wendy (who is so sweet and i didnt get a SINGLE picture of!) and visiting a gallery was a great way to spend an afternoon, well worth the drive. thanks again wendy for meeting with us! we will keep in touch!

squeezing in some christmas spirit

stamped gift bags

i have been super busy at work, there is always a rush of work at the holidays, thats what happens when you are a temp worker. i just didnt think i would get so behind in all the christmas decorating. we have a tinsel tree this year that is just sitting waiting for "something" to happen, lights? ornaments? not sure. chris and the kids spent an entire day last weekend setting up the outside lights and as a special treat, did the avocado tree.


there seems to be a lot of the handmade spirit out there this year, i have seen lots of shoppers at the thrift stores, not so many at the department stores. with this mixed up economy, hoping people are happy with less (i am talking to myself as well). still have lots to do, off to work for another day of thrilling internal investigation. ick!

handmade christmas continued

more magnets

belmont shore parade

3 years running

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this was the best parade yet! the place was packed, a record crowd and this year we were here two hours early (in the past we have rushed in last minute, frantic and freaked out) here's to another successful parade event!