Make and Takes at Pinecone Press

The kids and I decided to set out today and work on our 26 Things photos. They both decided they want to set up blogs and blog their photos.

As we were on our way to the Balboa Pier we stopped at Pinecone Press to check out next months Book Club Kit. My friend; Claudine and I took the first Book Club class at Timeless Treasures last Thursday. Since the project done in the clas was far form my style, I wanted to see what we'd be working on next month and decide if I want to continue on.

While at Pinecone Press we were told they have free make and takes every Saturday. the kids loved that idea. So, off they went to the workroom while I photographed next months Book Club project to email to Claudine.














MJ chalking the flowers for his card.















MD Scoring her card














The finished products. MJ had to make a gray flower. Why? Because it's a boy color. Odd kid.:p

POTD 30/365 Video Games

I really don't like video games, video game systems and seeing my family glued to the TV wasting their time playing them. So, this really bothered me. My little Wubie found the booklet that came in the Elmo Numbers video game. She's been asking and asking, really nicley to please play that game. MD finally caved in and let her. She LOVED it! Darn. Oh well, at least it was educational.

POTD 29/365 Baking Cookies

My little Wubie has been asking to bake cookies for the last couple of weeks. We finally had the time ot do it. She loves M&M's so of course they needed to be in the cookies. We used the mini baking ones. I think they're semi sweet instead of milk chocolate. To make the a little healthier; if you can do that with a cookie, we used old fashioned oats too.















As you can see by her nose, she's really loving the cookie dough. As soon as I turned off the mixer, she asked to lick the beater.














This is the end result. She was so happy to have a giant bacth of cookies ot share with everyone.

POTD 28/365 Othello

I love this game! I got this small 'travel' version for my 13th birthady. It's seen hundreds of days at the beach. Now, we don't play it at the beach, since I think MJ would end up losing pieces, so it's an at home game.

Today MJ was home sick. He spent most of the day just resting and reading but by this afternoon he was feeling restless, so out came Othello. He won. By two.

I tried to buy the larger version for him for Christmas but I think it's been discontinued. Darn.

POTD 27/365 Arrow of Light

MJ had his Arrow of Light ceremony for Cub Scouts last night. He was so excited to finally get his arrow. He finished up his 20 pins back in November has had nothing to do at all in Cub Scouts since. He was done with everything.

I spent hours working on that darn arrow. MJ worked hard at sanding and staining the plaque. He loves how it turned out and has a place on his wall all picked out to hang it.

I've spent the last 5 years as a Cub Scout leader. I've enjoyed it alot, but I am seriuosly burnt out. I am looking forward to not having to plan and prepare meetings.

We only have our Blue and Gold Banquet to do at the end of February where the Boy Scout leaders receive the Cub Scouts into their troop. We need to make a centerpeice with the theme ABC's of Cub Scouts. I have no idea what we'll do, but I'm sure the boys will have a lot of fun working on it. I need to make MJ's shadowbox. Traditionally in our pack, the parents make a shadowbox with all of the kids memorabilia from Cub Scouts to present to the boys at Blue and Gold and to display for all of the younger Scouts. It's really neat to see all of the different boxes and the kids look forward to seeing them every year. I am seriously stressed about this because I forgot about it; since I am in the mind set that I am done with Cub Scouts, and the banquet is exactly one month from today. But, then, we're done with Cub Scouts. YEAH!

K took MJ to his first official Boy Scout meeting Monday night. He had a great time with the boys in his new troop and even made a new friend.

POTD 26/365 Meyer Lemon Marmalade

This is how I spent the better part of my afternoon. Making Meyer Lemon Marmalade. It was a three day process. Todays part was hindered a little by the fact that I don't have a big enough shallow perserving pan. I suppose it wouldn't have been a problem, but the recipe I use calls for 20 lemons. My lemons are huge. Maybe regular Meyer lemons aren't as big. It should have taken 30 minutes to cook off some of the liquid and be ready to put up, but it took a lot longer since the surface evaporation wasn't as good in my taller pot.

I ended up with 16 jars of marmalade. Yum! Sunday morning I might even have a half piece of multigrain toast with some on it. I've been avoiding breads and such, but I will do multigrain on occasion.














I started on Saturday. It looked like this. This mixture of lemons, zest and water went into the fridge for two days.














These are some of the seeds I saved. I decided that since Marmalade uses pretty much the entire lemon except the bitter white pith, I would save my seeds and plant them on the hill in our backyard. If they grow, I'll be so happy. If they get eaten by birds, at least they didnt get thrown away. I hate to waste stuff like that.

POTD 25/365 Bob rides in front

Yesterday we went to Disneyland. Just us girls; MD, my little Wubie and me...and Bob.
Bob is my little Wubie's bunny. He travels with her everywhere. He even dresses like a princess or girl pirate just like Wubie. Yesterday Bob forgot his sweater. Yes, Bob has a sweater very simliar to the one Wubie is wearing. He was naked yesterday. Except for his bows.

Anyway, Bob rides in front on the Alice in Wonderland ride with Wubie everytime they ride on it. Even when MD and Wubie's Godfather; Deryk go. MD and Deryk ride in the back. I'm sure that's a pretty funny sight since Deryk is a big guy,; very tall and has really long legs.
I love how Bob holds onto the safety bar.

POTD 23/365 Dishes, they're like the mail

Yep, you know how the mail never ends? well, neither do dishes. I feel like I clean dishes all day everyday. I don't mind cleaning them really. I don't even mind loading them into the dishwasher. I am really good at cramming every single little space full of dishes. There is great satisfaction seeing my washer jammed full of dishes.

Then it comes to emptying it. I hate that part. It's actually MD's job to do it, but she 'forgets' daily, or she's busy playing with my little Wubie. Then I end up with dishes piled on the sink waiting to go in. Arg! She really needs ot start remembering a little better.

POTD 22/365 Where have you been all my life?

Serioulsy, I think I'm in love! My mom gave me a Floormate for Christmas. I truly love it. I actually enjoy cleaning my floors now. I look forward to it. Really, I could clean my floors everyday and not hate it. What could be better?

POTD 21/365 Tropical Acai Smoothies

MJ has a minimum day every Wednesday. Today, after he ran home from school, while he was reading his new book
















and I was cleaning the kitchen we decided to go get smoothies. We haven't done that in a long time. Maybe a good 6 months. And, since it was just the two of us because MD took my little Wubie to Disneyland for the day and K was still working we figured, why not? They're not really on the budget, but I had a couple of full frequent buyer cards so they ended up being free.

We have been buying these Tropical Acai Smoothies for at least 5 years from a place called Fresh Squeeze near us. They are made with













Sambazon Acai puree. We've tried Acai smoothies form other places like Jamba Juice and such, but they are know where near as tastey as the Fresh Squeeze smoothies.

If you haven't tried acai it's really delicious and you can read all about it at http://www.sambazon.com

I don't beleive it helps people lose weight, like other companies say. I do however beleive it is a healthy treat, high in antioxidents.

Now, off to walk 5 more miles to burn off that yumminess.

POTD 20/365 Bookworm

We have rediscovered our love of bookworm. Everybody in the family enjoys this game. Even my little Wubie. She likes finding letters and when the worm burps.

MJ and I were playing this last week. He suddenly realized that it's kind of educational.

MJ: Hey I really like this game.

Me: I know, I like it too.

MJ: I like how it shows the definition for words I don't know.

ME: I do too MJ.

MJ: Hey, wait a minute! You tricked me! This is educational!

ME: Yep, do you still like it?

MJ: I LOVE it!

:)

POTD 19/365 A bird called Dinner

This is Dinner. He is a Green Heron. Dinner visits our yard every year for about 4-6 months at a time. He flies in, in the morning, then leaves at night.

We actually have alot of neat birds that vacation in our yard each year like, Egrets, ducks, Black Capped Night Herons, American Bitterns and some others we still havent figured out yet.

We call this bird Dinner because each bird that visits gets a name. We cannot have people or animals vacationing in our yard or in our home without a name, ya know?

Molly; MJ's kitty used to stalk the birds everyday through the window. She was intently watching this bird. molly died a month ago and now our new kitties; Hazel and Pheobe stalk him.

The conversation between MJ and me went like this:

MJ: Hey Mommy, what should we call that bird out there?

Me: Dinner (I go about my cleaning)

MJ: What?! Dinner...no what do you think it's name is?

Me: MJ, his name is Dinner. look at Molly, she wants to eat him.

MJ: Bwahahaha, good name Mommy.

So, this is Dinner. We love having him here. He is fun to watch and entertains the cats all day.

POTD 18/365 Impatient Pointer Sisters and a photo of MD

These are the beastly pointer sisters; Morgan and Gabby. Morgan is the liver and white and Gabby is the black and white.

They got a bath today. These dogs love thier baths. They get a lot of one on one time without the other, just getting loved in while they get clean.

After they were dry, MD decided to take them for walks. The beastly pointer sisters failed puppy school so bad that we were offered free schooling for them for life. You know your dog is a failure when the trainer offers you lifetime instruction free.

Anyway, since they are good on a leash alone, but not together, MD had to walk them seperately. I stayed home to brush each one while they waited for the other to get home. We thought it was really funny that they both stood at the front door with their noses practically touching the knob; and in they pointing stance, waiting patiently.























This is MD. She asked me to take some new photos of her this morning. We took a lot and found about a dozen we loved.

POTD 17/365 Lemony Goodness

Our Meyer lemon tree is all confused. Our lemons aren't supposed to be ripe until about May. WE usually get one crop in November and another in the spring. It's been so hot the last week or two that they're ripe early. What a nice winter surprise. We'll be making lots of meyer lemonade and freezing the zest for future recipes.

If you haven't ever had Meyer lemons you're missing out on maybe the yummiest citrus. Serioulsy, it's almost like a cross between a lemon and an ornage, but not exactly; even better. And, they're huge, the size of a medium orange. YUM!

POTD 16/365

Just a few of the things I have everyday.

POTD 15/365

Yes, those are my wacky kids and my little Wubie running around the front yard with THICK hats on. They had a whole game going on that involved LOTS of running and hiding while waiting for my little Wubie's father to pick her up for the night. They were sweating by the time she left.

As you can tell by the tank tops; in what should be the middle of winter, we're still having a heat weave. It's still 85 during the day here and quite warm at night.

POTD 14/365

Just a photo of my big guy Gonzo all cozy in the linen closet, on the clean white towels. Cute, but now I need to rewash the towels. Darn.

POTD 13/365

Since it was 85 degrees, my little Wubie got to play in the sprinklers while she waited for MJ to come home from school. 85 in mid January. Holy cow! I hate it so hot. Well, it's very dry, so it doesn't feel as hot as it is. But, I do work on an asphalt playground for several hours a day, and it's just too hot for that. Especially in January.

We actually had about 2 weeks of real winter. I hope there's more to come. Soon.















This is one happy girl. She's been asking to play in the sprinklers for over a month now.























Oh, look at that tummy. What a melon.:)

POTD 12/365 Mary

This is Mary. She's old. really, really old. She is so kind and loving and just wants to snuggle all day, everyday. Mary isn't doing well, and every morning I think... well today's the day. She keeps hanging on though. Everyday we're thankful for another day with her.

12 on the 12th

1. MJ's lunch. Same thing almost daily.
2. Hot chocoloate together to warm the tummies.
3. Mary. Hang in there old girl.
4. Hazel. With her eyes open, finally.
5. The tree finally came down.
6. Smooches
7. Wubie's new baby.
8. Pheobe all tuckered out in the tree
9. Rode his new scooter home from school.
10. Texting the love of her life...all the time.
11. Homework...again.
12. Arg! Shiver me timbers!

POTD 11/365 Let me introduce...

Hazel.















Yes, Hazel. She is MJ's new kitty. When he saw he knew right away she was the one for him. On the way home he tells me, "Mommy, this is the most beautiful kitty in the whole world. I have to find the prettiest name for her." Then he starts listing names he thinks are pretty.

Ruby
Pearl
Violet
Opal
Rose
Scarlett
Ember

Hours later still no name actually chosen. So we start with an online list of baby names. We make it to the H's. I'm saying the names and we get to Hazel. He says, "Hazel? You know, I kind of like that." I think to myself...really?...okay.

So we proceed through the rest of the alphabet. At the end, I ask him if he has a name. Being the boy he is, he's not sure he can make the decission. He starts to stress. Decisions are really hard for him. I take his list and read him the names. He still likes Hazel the best, by far. So I say, "Well I don't think the decision is so hard to make if Hazel is your favorite name." He says, "Oh, well it is a really beautiful name, okay, her name is Hazel."

So Hazel it is. :P

Hazel is a quite camera shy. She doesn't prefer to have her photo taken, which I kind of find a little funny since MJ doesn't like to have his taken either. She hides form the camera when I take it out. I got the photo above because she was sleeping on MJ's bed when I approached her. She woke up when I started clicking, but closed her eyes tight. See the funny smile, like she's taunting me. Hmmm.

POTD 10/365

This is yesterdays POTD. I took it last night right before I left to scrapbook with my friend Claudine. I didn't have time to upload and blog, so it's here today.

While this may not be the best photo...or even a good photo, it does describe my little Wubie. Notice the princess-y dress? Well, she wears one almost everyday. All day long. Yes, she beleives she's a princess. But, being a princess never stopped anyone from enjoying a little sport. Notice how she's keeping her eye on the ball? Ya, she's a great little baseball playing princess.

One more photo from the beach

I just had to add this one more photo from our afternoon at the beach during the low tide. I couldn't leave it off. I love this photo.

POTD 9/365

Yesterday we had astronomically low tides so naturally we had to go to the beach after school. We were on a quest to find beach glass.




We did find lots but even better was what we saw. We saw the bottom of the ocean.





Sea caves, seaweed, giant holes, shells, huge starfish, and so much more...oh my! It was magnificent. All there for us to see; out in the open.













Two kinds of seaweed. Kind of segregated. Growing on two different rocks. Neat!





















MD and I are going to research what kind of rock this is. It was even more beautiful in person. Well, if you're inot rocks. It was so smooth, and the colors were so pretty. This was no small rock either. It was about 18" across. I wanted to dig it out and bring it home, but why even try. We would have never been able to even pick it up.













These are some form of Trilobites as far as we can find. We'll be searching for more info on them too.













Usually underwater, this was just too pretty not to photograph.













Sea grass. Way underwater normally. So fun and almost wig like...in a green, halloween, witch wig like way. :P













Just some enormous rocks. We thought they were neat.
















This was one of the neatest things I saw. I love this sea shelf. Isn't it wonderful? Too bad it had so much growing ion it and we couldn't climb up to look in the big hole. It was too high and slippery.

POTD 8/365

MJ finally got new shoes! He's been wearing Red Keen Newports for 5 years. This is his first real pair of shoes. He's actually happy about it too. He is such a creature of habit and gettng him to get different shoes has been something I've been trying to do for ages.

I was listening to MJ tell me one of his lengthy stories after school Wednesday. I looked down at his stinky feet and noticed how his arches have fallen and his feet have changed. A LOT. He's been complaining about how painful it is to walk more than a little. I didn't understand that it was his arches that hurt so bad. He just said the bottoms hurt.

He wore his new Brooks running shoes to school yesterday and was so happy. He ran all day. We'll be seeing his doctor for a referal to a foot specialist to see what we can do to help correct the arch problem.

Once we see the doctor, he's going to join the local Cross Country team since he is continually telling me he was "born to run." No short distance stiff for this boy, he wants the long runs.

POTD 7/365 Duck Butts :D

This is what we saw in our yard this afternoon. Our ducks are back. They aren't really our ducks, but they come to our yard every year and we love them. Every year we hope thy'll build a nest and lay eggs so we can have ducklings, but it hasn't happened yet. Maybe this will be our year.