Lala's 5th Birthday (part 1) A trip to the Snow!!

Today we drove up to Mount Baldy to celebrate Lala's birthday.  We sledded, built a snowgirl, (Lala named her "birthday girl Lala") and rode the ski lift to the top of the mountain.  We got some snacks at the top and warmed up and then rode back down.  We had a wonderful time even though we aren't at all used to snow & cold.  Lala was a total trooper and partied in spite of being very cold and wet.  (At one point, Bella had to cry in the car for a bit while we finished our snowgirl.)  Riding the ski-lift was BEAUTIFUL!  My favorite part was that I got to snuggle my little birthday girl all the way up the mountain and all the way down.  The view from the top was gorgeous.  The girls fell asleep on the way home.  When we got home, we enjoyed some delicious vegetable soup to warm us up.

Making Valentines

Today we spent the entire afternoon into late evening making Valentines.  First, we water colored some paper and then let it dry.  Then we got out paper, scissors, glue, doilies, stickers, glitter pens, etc., and made Valentines for Daddy, Grandpa, Grandma, and each other.  After the water colored paper was dry, we cut hearts out of them and wrote the names of our home schooling friends on them for our exchange that we are having on Tuesday.  We had a great time making these!!!

Descanso Gardens (I miss you Susan!!)

We had a wonderful time today at Descanso Gardens. We rode the train.  The camellias were GORGEOUS!  We partied in the gift shop.  But I just have to say that I miss somebody.  One day last spring, Susan K.B., our wonderful children and I spent the day there literally until they closed at 8pm.  It was a day from heaven sitting among the roses.  Oh, how I miss my beautiful friend!

What a fun project!!

Today I taught the girls to felt!  (I had been unsure if I should, because I didn't want them to poke themselves too much with the needle!)  We decided to make some hearts and used cookies cutters to hold the shape in.  We started by needle felting the hearts and then ended up wet felting to make them tighter and smoother.  The girls LOVED it!  ( I LOVED it!)  We poked our fingers a few times and used lots of lavender oil, but ultimately they came out super-cute!  We then sewed the hearts together to make little pouch necklaces.  They immediately filled them with acorn cups and favorite pebbles.  After we were done, I realized this was not only their first time felting, but also their first time sewing!!  I'm so proud of my little girls!

February Felting Class

I just had to show the cute little treasure boxes we made in felting class today.  We took a wooden cube, wrapped carded wool around it, needled felted a heart, and wet felted it all.  These are everyone's from the class.  Cute, huh?  In a few days, when totally dry, I will cut the lid open and get the block out.  So fun!!!  I really hope to help the girls make some!! 

Celebrating Candlemas

Candlemas is a new celebration for us but is a very old tradition.  Candlemas means "candle-less"-- because the days are getting shorter as we get closer to spring, people use this day to make candles and celebrate the fact that we wont need as many!  We celebrated "Candlemas" by making some little floating candles out of our old candle stubs.  We melted them down in a double boiler, added some red grated crayon, and then poured the wax into our little heart molds that were ready with wicks.  SO FUN!!  We had no idea how things would turn out, but they turned out super-cute.  The girls then rolled and decorated some more candles.  We finished off our project by lighting all our candles for fun and then blowing them out!!!.

A Special Discovery!

Today is February 1st and we made a very appropriate discovery.  While playing outside, Bella found that our Hollyhocks (that we planted last spring from seed,) got their first bloom!!!  I cannot express how exciting this was.  When we planted these, we thought they would bloom in a couple months--not almost a year later!  All year long we have watched these plants slowly grow. To finally see a bloom was really exciting and a long time coming.  (unlike sunflowers, for example!)  So does this mean Spring is coming soon?  Who knows?  After all, we are in sunny So. California!

Winter Nature Table

This is what our winter nature table ended up looking like.  The girls LOVED cutting out snowflakes and loved that I hung them.  If you look close, you can see our tiny beeswax snowmen and duck.  We put Camellias because our bushes are totally in bloom!  I had to take this picture from the side because otherwise, I would come out in the mirror!  With February coming, we will be adding some Valentine crafts!

Showing off our cute batik dresses!

When I went to the eco gift expo in December, I bought these darling dresses for the girls.  They are made by an artist up in Washington state.  Although they are not organic, they are 100% cotton, and sweatshop free!!  My girls love them and love matching!  I think they look pretty cute so I had to post this picture!

Cute Snowmen sculpted from beeswax

Today Bella and Lala had their first experience sculpting with beeswax.  It was very new to us!  It was so hard at first, that we had to put it in the oven to warm it.  But next thing I knew, I'd melted the heck out of it!!  The colors had run together a bit and we were worried.  After it cooled, we found everything was fine.  It was nice and soft and they made lots of little snow people and Lala made a duck.  Bella added a tree and a "snow house." The wax dries very hard so your project stays strong.  The girls had a really good time!

Craig finished his Student Teaching today!!

Craig spent the past semester doing his student teaching at Jordan High School.  It was a pretty grueling task, and very challenging for our family.  But he did it.  And he did a great job too. He student taught at Jordan High School in Long Beach where most of the students are from Compton.  Some of the students were pretty unruly-- they are so young and energetic and love to push boundaries.  So there were lots of obstacles to overcome, but Craig ultimately grew to love his students.  He now wishes he could get a job at Jordan!!  He hates to leave his classes!!  The two ladies are the teachers who showed him the ropes.  They were wonderful!!  I am just so proud of Craig.  He learned this past fall/winter semester what he is capable of.  He overcame some serious anxiety issues.  We are looking forward to him getting a full-time teaching job ASAP and having a stable carreer.  Yay Craig!!  

We started our compost!!

The time is finally right for us to do a compost!  We've been meaning to for a while, but other responsibilities continually got in the way.  We are so excited to have our "Green Machine" set up.  We had been collecting scraps for the past several days in anticipation.  We are so happy--our trash cans are already way less full!  Hooray!!

I learned to felt wool!

Today was one of the most fun days of my life!  I took a felting class where I learned to wet felt and needle felt.  Coming from a sculpting background, I took to it fairly well.  I really loved the feel of the wool.  I made these cute guys and I love them!!  I fall so in love with the little characters and dollies that I've created that slowly come to life before my eyes.  

The other reason why today was so fun, was because the teacher of the class and the other student that was there were two kindred spirits.  We all became instant friends sharing so many common beliefs.  We had wonderful conversations about home schooling, green/sustainable living, buying fair trade, just to name a few.  It was very refreshing.  The class was supposed to go from 9-12 and we all stayed together until 4pm!!  The class was in our teacher's home and she even fed us the most delicious quiche and salad.  I know these ladies are going to be close friends.  I am going to teach them how to make dolls in the next couple months!!  February 2nd is our next class where we are going to learn how to wet felt a Valentine treasure box!!

New Years Day

Well, we started our day by watching the Rose Parade a few times.  But later on, we got ourselves going and decided to take all the kids on a hike!  We drove up to the tope of Lake Ave. in Altadena.  The kids were pretty capable, as it got pretty steep.  While we were hiking, Craig and his mom, Grandma Ginny, kept Ceci and made our traditional "New Years Sandwiches"  They are a roll stuffed with sauteed onion, diced black olives, mild green chiles, tomato sauce, grated hard boiled egg, and cheddar cheese.  YUM!!!  You toast them in the oven so it all melts.  We all came home to a yummy feast with potato salad, chips, and apple, orange and ginger ale punch.  After this, I think I'm ready to get back to healthy eating!!!  But YUM!  Happy New Year!!

Happy 2008!

Over the last few years, one of our weird traditions for New Year's Eve that has evolved is that the girls and I fall asleep, but Craig wakes me up and we put "Happy New Year" crowns on ourselves and the girls.  We bug them by giving them a kiss, and then let them go back to sleep. If you're wondering if Ceci sleeps in her carseat, well, yes she does.  We think she loves the straps.  I was always an attachment parent and Bell and Lala slept with us forever.  But Ceci likes to be alone.  She is a thumb-sucker and I think that's why she'd rather sleep alone.  Crazy, huh?  Anyways, Happy New Year!!