(Another) Valentines Party!

Today we got to go to another Valentines party! I have to admit, we do A LOT of celebrating in the month of February because of Valentines day, Lala's birthday, and our anniversary.


And we are so blessed to be a part of a Waldorf home schooling group. This time, my girlfriend Kikanza invited us all to her home for a Valentine friendship party. It was so nice!! She has a beautiful home up in Pasadena. It is very child-friendly because she does Waldorf child care in her home. Many of our friends were there so it was so exciting. Earlier in the week, we had hand sewn our Valentines to make pins. I was so proud of how they came out! Bella and Lala did such a great job. ( I did about half of them.) We also made some Valentine (Yummy Earth) Lolipops to give out.



It was a totally rainy day. We got to the party and the first thing we did was greet our friends and play!! As I said, Kikanza's home is very child-friendly so there was a ton of fun toys, dress-up, and even bunnies to play with!!





Then the girls decorated some shoe boxes to put Valentines in. They painted like crazy and put on other embellishments.







Next, there was a circle time with singing and storytelling.



Then we had a little lunch. The highlight was fresh-baked mini-muffins.


Then we did our Valentine exchange. Kikanza played the flute while the kids went around the table delivering Valentines. It was really fun to get all home-made Valentines! It was sweet to see the care that went into them. We had such a wonderful time. (Thank you Kikanza!)

Happy Birthday Lala!!

Today was my sweet little Lala's 6th birthday. I don't know how the time has gone by so fast. I still remember her birth and infancy so vividly, she was the fattest, cutest baby! I made her this birthday crown so she could announce to the world that she was the birthday girl! Craig took the day off from work so we could all celebrate together. I love my Lala so much!











Lala requested that we go to the Fair Oaks Pharmacy and Soda Fountain to celebrate. This place is super-cute. It is always beautifully decorated and has the cutest gifts and toys. It has an old-fashioned theme and is a lot like Farrell's Ice Cream Parlour which is where we used to go when we were young for many birthdays. We had a yummy lunch and delicious ice cream treats. The girls loved wandering the store and playing with the cute toys and valentine gifts. It was nice that grandpa could join us too!











She got a fun clown sundae and we sang "Happy Birthday" to her. Later, she opened a couple of presents--Bella made her a felt heart pin and bought her the heart necklace she is wearing. Craig and I got her a beautiful Sleeping Beauty book.
























We then drove out to Santa Monica to the Acorn Store. This store is like a dream come true! It carries our favorite kind of toys--mostly wooden and other very beautiful (Waldorfy) things. It is so much fun just to hang around in there. We told Lala she could pick out one new toy there. It was hard, but she finally chose a really cute magnetic ballerina set.





We then went to the Santa Monica Pier to ride the ferris wheel. It was just before sunset. It was very cold and super windy, but so much fun!! The view from up on top is fantastic!


















We then walked the pier and the girls rode a bunch of the little 50 cent rides. It was a very nice birthday and we all had a lot of fun! Happy Birthday, Lala!!

Making Valentines, Girl Scouts, and Home School Valentines Party

Yesterday the girls made Valentines to hand out at our home schooling party that we had today. We kept them simple, just stickers, markers and doilies. They loved getting creative although after a while, they got a little tired of writing their names!! (They made 30 each!)





Today was a very special day for Lala. She started in Daisies which is Girl Scouts for 5 & 6 year olds. Two weeks ago, was a very special day for Bella because she started in Brownies! (which I wish I would have taken a picture of!) They both are super excited to be a part of Girl Scouts! Today felt more "official" because today they came in their uniforms-- Bella in her vest, and Lala in her apron. Little by little we will be adding patches as they earn them. Girl Scouts is every two weeks at our home school park. They start with a little meeting together and then they break off into separate groups. Bella worked on making a puzzle in Brownies. Then they walked around the park looking for shapes in nature. Lala got to make a bracelet in Daisies (and even Ceci got to make one too!) Afterwards, they played "duck, duck, goose." We're all pretty excited to have joined Girl Scouts.









Then it was time to get ready for our Valentines Party! We had a little potluck and everybody brought decorated bags and boxes to put Valentines in. It was really fun going around the table filling everyone's bags. There are over 40 kids in our group so we got quite a lot! Afterwards, the kids had a great time playing and enjoying their Valentines and treats. I love being a part of our home schooling group and enjoying the company of other home schooling moms. I've made such wonderful friends and feel so blessed to be a part of this group! My kids are so blessed with such great friends.

Happy Valentines!

I LOVE Valentines day. I love hearts, pink, red, chocolate, candles, romantic music. Craig and I were even married on Valentines day. Here's one of my favorite pictures from our wedding day in 1998. Maybe I'll post some more later. I just felt I needed to "decorate" the blog for Valentines day!

Beautiful Aunt Lenna

Craig's Aunt Lenna passed away last Sunday. She had been diagnosed with terminal cancer last summer and had made the decision to not fight it. She felt that it was her time to go and was ready. She passed away with all her family around her very peacefully.

Her funeral was beautiful. She had been a wonderful and kind person all her life. It was great to hear the different sweet stories and experiences that people shared about her. We had driven through a lot of rain to get to the funeral, but it was so neat that we got to see a rainbow! It felt like Lenna had brought the rainbow. I had only met her a few times, but she really was like an angel. She makes me want to be a better person. There was so much peace at the funeral. We know that she is at peace and very happy. I believe she is reunited with her husband who passed away 5 years ago which is a wonderful thought. They had been sealed in the Temple. The funeral made me feel so grateful for Christ and His atonement. How wonderful that He made it possible for us all to resurrect.






It was great spending the day with Craig's family. Here is a picture of Lenna's daughter, Cheri, her husband, Steve, her granddaughter, Christa, her great-grandaughters, Nicole and Heather, and her tiny great-great granddaughter, Alyssa! (Only three weeks old!)

This is Lenna's son Steve, his wife Becky, and their son Scott with our family last September.


































This is from the last time we saw Lenna and this is right after the funeral-- each of the girls got to hold Alyssa.

Stormy Weather

Tonight my precious Dad took me to see a wonderful production about the life of Lena Horne called "Stormy Weather." It was at the historic Pasadena Playhouse--what a GORGEOUS theatre. The weather was totally appropriate because it was raining plenty. There were two women who played Lena, a young Lena and an older Lena. Both were fantastic singers and actresses. There were so many wonderful songs performed and lots of great dancing. My favorites were "Honeysuckle Rose," "Can't Help Lovin' that Man" and of course, "Stormy Weather." My Dad LOVED it and I was so glad he took me with him.

Happy Candlemas!

Pasadena Green Fair

Yesterday, we all went to the Pasadena Neighborhood Green Fair. It was so nice to have a green fair right in our own area. It was at the Unitarian Universalist Church. We love going to green and eco fairs because we like to learn what's out there so that we can make good choices. We like to support companies that care about the earth and practice earth- (and people-) friendly principles. I also love to look for learning opportunities for the girls.

One of my favorite stores was there called Ten Thousand Villages which is a fair trade store on Lake in Pasadena. I think it's the ONLY local store to shop for gift-buying (unless you make it yourself!)

I also was very impressed by L.A. Guerilla Gardening, a local group that takes unclaimed ugly pieces of land and beautifully landscapes it! I would love to do a project with them with my girls sometime!

There were crafts for kids to do and Bella and Lala enjoyed decorating some boxes with recycled scraps of fabric, lace and paper.

We mostly went because we knew that Path to Freedom was going to be there with a table and we have always wanted to meet them and tell them how inspiring they are. If you want to know more about the Dervaes family and the amazing way they are living their lives, you must check out this video:


We weren't sure if the Dervaes family would actually be there, but they were, all of them, and Craig and I got to talk to each of them! We were delighted to find out that they are gracious, friendly and very down-to-earth! I especially enjoyed talking to Jordanne for quite a while. We got to see a screening of their latest film which was wonderful. It makes me want to live just like them!! I want to live off of my own garden. And Craig and I are trying to figure out where we can have a chicken coop!? The thought is so exciting! I'm getting very excited to plant our spring garden. Thanks, Dervaes, for the inspiration! It was so great to meet them. And don't forget: The prophet said to plant a garden!