Lexi's Blog

Last Post

2008-02-07T14:54:00.000-08:00

I've decided to combine my two blogs and stop posting here. I started them both for different reasons, both which no longer exist, and so to simplify things, I will post over at Lexi Art & Design.
See you there!

Saturday Morning

2008-02-02T10:29:00.000-08:00

This morning there was a story on NPR about Beethoven and they played part of his 5th Symphony and it made me want to hear it. So I put it on, which led me to Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, and then to Overture to William Tell (my favorite hair-raising song). I forget how much music can move the girls, especially Sofia (remember how the "sad" song from the Madagascar soundtrack would bring tears?). They were playacting and with every change in the music they would get more lively or more quiet, marching around to the beat.

They were playing so nicely together, I had to take a picture. Sofia is wearing her "Easter best", just because she likes to dress up. Notice Maia's bedhead (hehe).

New Fishies

2008-01-10T21:44:00.001-08:00

20080110_IMG_9854
Originally uploaded by antanaklasi

We got the girls' fish tank set up last week and just got some little guppies today. It's funny, everyone seems to have their recipe for starting up a tank, and they're all different. In the end, I just did what the guy at the store recommended. I can see already, this is a starter tank, they're going to want more fish than this one can handle. So we'll see how it goes with the rules I laid out: no tapping on the tank, only feed them when mommy and daddy are there, no sticking your fingers in the tank and no jostling the table. We like them, cute little buggers swimming around. We'll see how I feel when I have to clean the tank...

Oh, and do you like Sofia's haircut? She's been asking to cut her hair shorter and she's very happy now that there are fewer tangles to manage.

Name This Bird... 2008

2008-01-08T11:23:00.001-08:00

20080108_IMG_9842
Originally uploaded by antanaklasi

I've seen this little bird in the last couple months in a friend's backyard and this morning in ours. I haven't been able to identify it yet. So here's your chance, dear readers, to have a go at it. There are several more pictures at our flickr site.

By the way, when you're in flickr, click on the photo to see it larger and then click on "all sizes" right above the photo to see it even bigger.

Winding Down

2007-12-07T17:27:00.000-08:00

If you're not interested in reading about extended breastfeeding then this isn't the post for you. Ms. Maia is down to two nursings a day, nap and bedtime. Last week, I told her that pretty soon she'll be a big girl and we won't have nursing at bedtime anymore. Her eyes lit up and she said, "And then I can have my big girl scissors!" Um, yes, exactly. So I went searching for left handed children's scissors (not as easy as it should be) and ordered some off the internet. They came yesterday. I'm going to wrap them up and present them to her. Maybe tomorrow. I'm going to hang on to that nap time session though. I'm not ready to give it up - the nap, that is, and neither is she.

Happy Birthday Sofia!

2007-11-01T08:30:00.000-07:00

We're off to the happiest place on earth. She was so excited when we told her where we were going this morning. She has heard about the teacups from her friends.

Darn Wind

2007-10-22T11:06:00.000-07:00

Sofia came to me on Sunday afternoon and said, "Mommy, there's a tree in our yard that we didn't plant". Well, not exactly, turns out this one just tipped over with the winds. We had to remove one of the pine trees in the front after our first winter here when it had rained a lot and we could see the ground bulging. Now we just have the one pine tree left (that is propped up by a metal rod) and another one of this type (not sure what they are). We may end up removing those too. Planting trees next to this retaining wall doesn't seem to be working out. Looks kind of naked out there. I'd hate to lose the pine tree, it provides some privacy from the street.

Oh and by the way, that's our lovely smoky air, not bad picture color. *cough*, *cough*

Storytelling

2007-10-21T15:36:00.001-07:00

Sofia telling stories on Saturday morning. She spent about an hour first telling the Pumpkin Moonshine story by Tasha Tudor and then improvising and making up her own stories. Such a little character.

Glindas

2007-10-07T08:28:00.000-07:00

Aw, aren't they sweet. Just seconds before they were marching around, chanting, "Kill the witch! Kill the witch!" to the tune of "Kill the Beast" from Beauty and the Beast. We made the birthday hats yesterday to practice for Sofia's birthday party. We're going to have the guests make their own party hats.

Maia-isms and Sofia-ims

2007-09-21T21:08:00.000-07:00

It occurred to me today, as it has before, that I better write down some of these funny things that the girls have said so that we can remember them later and chuckle a little. Of course, anything worth remembering will be remembered... like eagle-birdies, too hommy, hee-hees, scoosey, Enin, Hetsa, etc which have all been passed down anecdotally. Even Sofia knows how Logan said, "Excuse me" when he was little. But just in case...

We have some friends that we met through Montessori school and starting last year we carpooled with them. They were called lovingly by Maia, Tooshie, Coopoo, and Car (Patricia, Cooper and Claire, of course).

We get a lot of laughs lately about this one. Maia asks for gazert after dinner (dessert) and she shows off her gazigns (designs) that she has made with the pattern blocks.

Let's not forget Maia's way of asking for nursing, it was one of her first words... "SSSsss, SSSssss". It evolved to nuss, nuss, and then to "Peas I have nussing?" or sometimes "I want nussing now!"

First one that comes to mind for Sofia is "Gwamma Doolie", Grandma Julie.

This one is a little hard to describe. Sofia had a special word for the act of nuzzling one's head into someone's neck, usually Mommy's or Daddy's, "neeking". She would say, "I'm neeking on you".

Also worth mentioning here are Sofia's imaginary friends that she started talking about around 2ish. First there was Keytone or sometimes Keyton. I don't remember much about him, other than it was a him. Then there was Mully. Mully came around the time we moved to Thousand Oaks. Mully was always getting in trouble. Mully hit and pushed and grabbed. Mully was not very nice at all. Mully got scolded a lot. Sofia still works out her problems by play acting.

Then there's "buller in the bunsuck", "sickett", and "whackett" - don't ask, we have no idea what these meant. She said these at around age 3.

Here they are at Grandma Helen's 80th Birthday Party. They are playing with a little water fountain that pours water into a bucket until it is filled and then it spills out. All you need is a little water and a bucket and they're set for hours. Seriously.

So, do you have any kid-isms to add? I'm sure I'm forgetting some good ones, I'll just have to add them later.

Name This Bird

2007-09-18T22:56:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm a little behind. This birdie visited our backyard back in July. It sat on top of the girls' playhouse and promptly flew off. I think this was taken through the window.
Any guesses?

1st Day of Montessori

2007-09-05T09:36:00.001-07:00

Here she is, our little Kindergartener on her first day. She was so excited to go back to school, especially to be a Kindergartener. This is teacher Helen, one of her two teachers. This is Sofia from last year.

Celebrate World Breastfeeding Week!

2007-08-07T15:04:00.003-07:00

This one's from about 2 1/2 years ago, but still a favorite of mine. Maia is 4 days old. Sofia is 27 months, and nursing Rebecca.

Nana's Garden

2007-08-05T16:51:00.001-07:00

I worked on an ugly part of our front yard this weekend. I'm guessing at some point someone sprinkled a bunch of "wildflower" seeds in this small planter along the walkway. I have nothing against wildflowers, but in this case they looked messy and should have been put in a more "wild" location. So I ripped them out (I'm sure I'll be picking them out for years to come...) and replaced them with some succulents that were salvaged from 11 Dartmouth. Most of the succulents in our yard came from 11 Dartmouth, which if I'm not mistaken, came at some point from 4 Stratford, Nana's garden. I was thinking about Nana quite a bit while doing this work, about her pretty garden and courtyard, the green house and compost, and the endearing way she would smash snails in the yard with her foot. I can't bring myself to do that, so I throw them in the street.

Nana passed away 12 years ago on August 7. I was very much in my own world and even though I appreciated her as a youngster, I sure would have loved to have her around in my adult life. I would have loved for Chris to know her, too. I don't believe she can see my yard now but I do believe people can live on by the influences they leave behind. I think we all still miss her.

Welcome Thomas Charles!

2007-07-22T17:55:00.001-07:00

Meet Thomas, our new nephew, four days old here. Such a sweet little face! More pictures soon at the flickr site.

Little Painters

2007-07-12T08:49:00.000-07:00

I'm trying to make painting a little easier to set up and and clean up - they often want to paint and I often don't feel like it. So, we are starting to use the easel again (instead of the dining room table) and got some used men's shirts to use as smocks. Put a cloth on the floor, et voila, much easier. The problem with the dining room is that I didn't necessarily want to sit there and watch, so I would go do something else and come back to find paint all over their arms (and some pretty paintings too) but I can do without the body painting.

Mmmmmmeringues

2007-07-03T14:19:00.000-07:00

We're having our second annual 4th of July dessert party where we eat dessert and walk over to the open hillside by the park and watch the fireworks. I am trying a couple new things - these meringue cookies and a fresh fruit tart. I tried one recipe for the meringues from Betty Crocker's Cooky Book but they didn't turn out well (too chewy), so I tried this one from Joy of Cooking - and these came out great. Happy 4th!

Final Destination, Ouray, Colorado

2007-06-15T21:14:00.000-07:00

We left Mesa Verde on Thursday after lunch with about 125 miles to drive to Ouray, Colorado. If this had been a class on trip planning, I would've failed because, while I knew that Ouray was at an elevation of close to 8,000 feet, I failed to notice that one has to drive over not one, but two, nearly 11,000 foot passes. Woops! Here we are at the second and highest pass - Phew! Made it!

We arrived in Ouray in time to join the bride and groom for pizza and beer at the local pizza joint. On Friday after doing some obligatory laundry at the laundromat (a word that has now been added to Sofia's pretend/playtime vocabulary), we went to the local community hot springs. Very nice and relaxing. On Saturday we took a nice walk around town and up to a waterfall.

Then the wedding festivities began... The welcome dinner, hosted by Tom's parents, was held Saturday night at another bed & breakfast across the street for all of the 27 guests of the wedding.
Chris and Sofia

Shealyn and Sofia (photo by Geoff Smith)

Me (Alexis), Susan (my mom), Erin (the bride), Shelden (my sister) (photo by Geoff Smith)

Sunday the wedding was to be held at 3:00 at "Inspiration Point", about 20 minutes northish of Ouray. The weather had been perfect the whole time we were there, always with some clouds hanging around, just in case it might need to rain. So, there we were at 2:00 on Sunday, everyone piling in to cars, dressed in our finest, and it was POURING. The locals were confident that everything would be ok at the ceremony location so we went ahead. They were right - a bit chilly but a gorgeous location.

Sofia, Shealyn & Maia before the ceremony
The ceremony went off without a hitch... oh, except for one smalllllll detail.

I'm afraid Sofia's career as a ringbearer is over. She had to be coaxed to walk down the aisle (or dirt path as it was) by Faith, the maid of honor. Well, I suppose worse things could've happened. She perked up and had an absolute blast dancing with Grandpa and others at the reception. The reception was held back in Ouray at and old, superbly renovated hotel.

And here they are, the lovely bride and groom, following the ceremony:
(Photo by Geoff Smith)

So that's our trip! We had a great time. Our drive home was pretty much miserable because we had to drive 1,000 miles in two days and that is just too much, even for two grown adults, let alone the little people. Next time (haha) we'll plan a more leisurely route the whole way. We do think traveling to the northwest next summer might be in the cards, so we'll see... If you haven't already, check out our flickr site, which has more photos of the whole trip (click on the Colorado button along the right side).

Boys

2007-06-06T17:11:00.000-07:00

I'll get back to our trip updates... but I have to write this down somewhere. It was so classic. Yesterday, Sofia says to me, "I know who I'm going to marry." Here's the rest, paraphrased.

A (me): Oh yeah, who?
S: Matthew Dutton [this is not new, Matthew Dutton has been Sofia's favorite Kindergartener all year]
A: So why do you think he'd be a good person to marry?
S: Because I like him.
A: Oh, is he nice to you?
S: He doesn't really play with me.
A: Oh, so why do you like him?
S: I like his hair.
A: What do you like about his hair?
S: The color.

So there you go. For the record his hair is dark brown and straight.

Stop 3, Mesa Verde National Park

2007-05-29T19:10:00.000-07:00

We left Grand Canyon Wednesday morning and drove through Arizona's Navajo Reservation to Colorado's Mesa Verde National Park (303 miles). It was at times very dismal looking but also at times very beautiful. We stopped at Four Corners - what a silly place. They charge $6 per person (kids free, or we wouldn't have stopped at all) and it's just a funny concrete monument with flags surrounded by a dirt road turnaround and outlined with shacks for the Navajo to sell their wares. We did have to try the Navajo fry bread. It's like a big flat churro without the sugar. Pretty tasty. This was a view out the front of the van looking toward our destination - yep, you guessed it, thunderstorms...
It rained on us as we were entering the park and it looked for a while like we were all sleeping in the van that night, but it stopped raining just long enough for Chris to throw up the tent. He slept well, albeit by himself that night. The next morning, after drying out a bit, we took a drive and then a walk to see the cliff dwellings. These flowers were abundant - not sure what they are, except stunning in the landscape.
Here we are at the cliff dwelling.
And on the way out of the park, I stopped to capture some of the evidence of a fairly recent burn. Next stop... Ouray, Colorado.

Stop 2, Grand Canyon National Park

2007-05-25T13:49:00.001-07:00

We drove 321 miles from Mojave to Grand Canyon, through Needles (yuck). We arrived in the afternoon, got to our camp site, then hopped on a shuttle to go to the rim.

First Look - Wow! Really beautiful. It was a little hazy but still breathtaking. Maia was not impressed, Sofia was impressed for a couple minutes, then they were more interested in a beetle. I would have loved to sit there at the rim and just gaze at it for a while but it's just not possible with the little ones. There is next to nothing to keep them from running right up to the edge and beyond.
On our full day there, we decided to do the "Junior Ranger" program with Sofia, which involved doing some age-appropriate activities and going on a ranger tour - we did the fossil walk.
Here is Sofia with her certificate.
'Smores for everyone of course...

Saw some cool wildlife there - California condors fly right around the rim, lots of ravens, mule deer, Western bluebirds.

Journey to Colorado, Stop 1

2007-05-24T13:23:00.000-07:00

We left for Colorado on Sunday May 13, Mother's Day. We drove about 260 miles to Mojave National Preserve and stayed the night at Mitchell Caverns campground. This area is beautiful in person, pictures don't do it justice. But you do have to look for it - we only saw a handful of birds, a couple lizards and some very large ants. Some cactus were in bloom. It was already pretty hot there - about 95 degrees F. We took a walk out to where the caverns are but couldn't wait around for the 1:30 tour the next day. On to the Grand Canyon!

Posting Extravaganza

2007-05-07T14:06:00.000-07:00

What? Three posts in a day? I'm trying to figure out where to go with this blog. Our flickr site has largely taken over the photo posting function of this blog. We are using it pretty much as a backup for our best/favorites photos, since we have unlimited space there. Then there's my art blog and my personal flickr site, all with their own functions, sort of. There seems to be a little overlap. My apologies in advance for duplicates! I guess for now if I have something in particular to say, then I'll post it here... we'll see how it goes.

Now, read this: I am reading a book right now and I can't recommend it strongly enough! It's called "The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan and everyone should read it, I mean everyone. There's not one of you reading this, that wouldn't get something out of this book. I haven't even finished and it's making me rethink everything I eat and it's also making me stronger in my resolve to be vigilant about what my family is eating. I also highly recommend his previous book, "The Botany of Desire". The subject matter in both books is truly interesting and he is a very good writer (contributes regularly to the New York Times Magazine). And if that's not enough, he's a professor of journalism at Cal. I'll be giving quizzes next time I see you :) haha. OK, enough said.

First Strawberry Picking

2007-05-07T13:59:00.000-07:00

Last week, Maia's class went strawberry picking. This was a much better age for Maia than last year. She had a lot of fun and got to ride a pony, too.

Mother's Day Lunch

2007-05-07T13:50:00.000-07:00

Sofia's school has a Mother's Day lunch every year the week before Mother's Day. They sing songs, then serve us lunch that has been prepared by them and their cooking teacher. This year it was lasagne, salad, and strawberry shortcake for dessert. Sofia sang very nicely and was a super server.

Mr. and Mrs. Oriole

2007-04-24T13:53:00.000-07:00

Mr. and Mrs. Oriole are back from their winter home. I just got the food up yesterday after I spied them in the yard a couple times. They don't seem to mind my brown organic sugar.

I got these shots through the window using a 75-300mm lens we're borrowing indefinitely from our friends, Petra and Chris.

New desk

2007-04-12T20:48:00.000-07:00

Oooooooo, aaaaaaahhh. Chris, take a bow. Thought I'd better get a picture of this up before it gets covered in my stuff. I'm very happy with my new desk. Thanks, honey!

Trip to the Wild Animal Park

2007-03-05T07:50:00.000-08:00

My favorite animals were the gorillas; they are so fun to watch.

These little monkeys had fun too. Sofia was a bit apprehensive about going to the "wild animal park", imagining a park with a bunch of wild animals roaming around.

Happy Valentine's Day!

2007-02-14T16:01:00.000-08:00

I made these for the girls this year. Sofia's reaction was more than I could have asked for. She said, "Oh, Mommy, this is so cute. You did not make this - this is too hard for you!" Heehee.
Here is Maia trying out her new scooter at the park (ahem, we don't have a helmet for her yet) in her way too cute outfit from Aunt Shelden
Sofia was zooming around too...

Birthday Girl

2007-02-11T21:51:00.000-08:00

Maia didn't like the birthday hat this year. See more pictures from her birthday party here.

Happy Birthday to Maia!

2007-02-08T14:28:00.000-08:00

It was a special day at Marsi's class, Maia got to paint...
She read...
She got to play with Sofia... (Sofia was out of school today due to parent-teacher conferences.)
We sang happy birthday to her...
And she had a blast...

Symmetry

2007-01-29T18:47:00.000-08:00

I've been slacking in the photo department lately, but had to capture this one. Sofia did this all on her own. Symmetry just clicked with her.

It's the return of.... Name that Bird!

2006-12-18T13:59:00.000-08:00

I've mentioned this little bird before but never had a chance to photograph the little bugger. They are a bit shy. BUT I (we) have a new lens which allowed me to capture this bird, who was all the way across the yard, from the kitchen window.

Tree Cutting

2006-12-03T13:23:00.000-08:00

Third annual trip to the Christmas tree farm to pick a tree. Mom and Dad Hillman came along for the ride after a yummy breakfast at Stella's.

Goooooo Bruins!

2006-12-03T12:00:00.000-08:00

Here were are enjoying a post-national-championship-hopes-smashing-football-game dinner. Woohoo! Seven years and finally a win for the Bruins.

Dyeing Party

2006-11-29T13:18:00.000-08:00

So many things to post about... we saw Sofia's Thanksgiving show, visited with some old friends, travelled up north and back for Thanksgiving, celebrated Chris' 37th, but today...

On this blustery, chilly day, I had some friends over to dye a bunch of silks for playing with - Santa will be bringing one of the rainbows to Sofia and Maia.

Check out this video!

2006-11-12T18:15:00.000-08:00

We had a Sunday morning drumming session. See it for yourself over here. Be sure to check out Maia, the backup dancer.

Root Children

2006-11-09T15:11:00.000-08:00

I've been working on these little people for a new story at our Waldorf group. They are called "root children".

Happy 4th Birthday Sofia!

2006-11-01T13:41:00.000-08:00

Today happened to be the day that my friend Aimee watches Maia, and Sofia didn't have school due to teacher conferences, so Sofia and I took her new Razor to the park for a spin. She had a blast. We played a while and then went to Whole Foods for a little birthday dinner shopping.

Two Little Witches

2006-10-31T15:47:00.000-08:00

These little witches don't keep their hats on very long let alone stand still for a picture...

Another Evening Trip to the Beach

2006-10-30T07:40:00.000-08:00

We made it just in time for the sunset, played for a while and made some dinner.

Halloween Preview

2006-10-27T16:31:00.000-07:00

Sofia is so excited to be a "bad witch" she can hardly contain herself. We were working on her costume this afternoon - that's basically it, minus the pink outfit underneath, maybe some green face paint...

Who's that?

2006-10-22T08:21:00.000-07:00

Why, it's Sofia H. of course.
Walking at the Ventura Pier.

Almost 4

2006-10-19T12:43:00.000-07:00

Chris ripped out the overgrown bushes on the north side of the driveway last weekend and then built this nice new fence. I love it, but with no overgrown bushes to block the view, the driveway isn't as "fun" to back out of... :)

Pumpkin Season

2006-10-12T14:03:00.000-07:00

Last week we went to the beach one evening for a little sand frolicking and a picnic. The closest beach is about 25 minutes away, not a bad drive at all.
Sofia the earth mover.
Maia and I went to the pumpkin farm with our class today. There were ponies, turkeys, goats, etc. and literally piles and piles of every kind of squash imaginable.

Christmas in September

2006-09-30T14:23:00.000-07:00

We're celebrating Christmas and birthdays a little early here. We bought a new camera. Wow. What a difference. Love it. We discovered that my old zoom lens (the one that went on all my college field trips and everything up until we went digital) is really dirty/hazy/fungussy, so we're using the 50 mm macro that came with my old camera. I never took time out from art and dance to take a photography class in highschool, but I'm determined to educate myself a little more about how all the settings work. Right now, we're just enjoying the super quick response and auto focus.

This morning we went on a walk at Malibu Creek State Park. Here are some photos:

In other news, I sold 3 kits at the conference but at Waldorf play group on Friday I offered them "at a discount" (whatever that means) to my friends as long as they would provide feedback for the next batch. I sold all but 2 now. Woohoo!

Been Busy

2006-09-26T16:11:00.000-07:00

I put together a kit to make the felt wallets that I've been making. A friend of mine took them up to a Waldorf School conference this weekend, so hopefully a few sold. I made 20 altogether. It was fun putting it together. I definitely learned some things about packaging a product! And if it goes well, I've got some other ideas for kits. If not, well, I'll have to go to plan B. Maybe an etsy.com shop. Not familiar with etsy? Thing of ebay for the crafter/make it yourself set.
We went to McGrath State Beach adjacent this weekend for a nice long walk on the beach. Beautiful weather and lots of things to see.

Seaweed on a stick!

Gelato in Ventura for everyone afterwards.
This week, while I'm supposed to be working on Natalie book stuff, I got a tip from Erin to enter the NOW "Love Your Body" Poster Contest. It's due this Saturday, so it'll be tight, but I like the cause and thought it was worth a shot. I'll post when I finish over there... http://lexillustrations.blogspot.com/

Visit to Santa Barbara

2006-09-16T19:48:00.000-07:00

We strolled State Street today in Santa Barbara and found a great outlet store, got to browse through Design Within Reach. But, the highlight was for sure happening upon the Santa Barbara Snake Rescue folks, who before I could object, plopped a snake around Sofia's shoulders. Who knew she would love it - she didn't want to give it back. No joke.

Getty Villa

2006-09-14T13:01:00.000-07:00

We went to the Getty Villa in Malibu, which reopened this past spring. What a wonderful place! They have just antiquities - pottery, sculpture, metalworks, jewelry. It was really nice to just stroll around the garden. They have a family area now, a cafe (although we didn't try it) and a nice looking outdoor amphitheatre. Did I mention it is still free? Those Gettys sure know how to share.

Maia's Baby Class

2006-09-07T12:41:00.000-07:00

What?!!? You need a class to be a baby? Actually, she and I are in the class and I am officially the student - it's a parenting class. Anyway, it was her first day with a bunch of other toddlers of similar age. She had a great time.

Back to School

2006-09-06T11:33:00.000-07:00

This is from last year...

Strange Illness

2006-09-05T09:16:00.000-07:00

I'm told that I have an inner ear viral infection - oh,...ok. What it means is that starting Saturday night I have had episodes of vertigo and on Monday I was nauseated the entire day to the point of not being able to move. Thanks to Chris, I didn't have to move much. Today I'm getting better, I guess I feel like I've had a couple beers, a little woozy. I had to cancel our last day of summer beach trip because I probably should't be driving. At least the nausea has subsided. But that's not why you visited my blog, now is it. We braved the holiday traffic this weekend and drove down to Encinitas and drove back Sunday night after dinner so the girls were sleeping. Here are some pictures...
Sofia painted while Grandma assisted ...
We went to their local park...

Ooooo, a shoulder ride from GrandDad!
And then we visited a nearby park with some friends. It's one of those new fangled water parks, super fun!

2006-09-01T17:55:00.000-07:00

Busy, busy...

2006-08-27T17:33:00.000-07:00

I've been working on these little wallets - I started out making one for Sofia and then decided to make them for all the birthday parties we've got around this time of year. I'm on number 5 right now. They're fun and pretty cute, if I don't say so myself :)

What on earth?

2006-08-27T17:23:00.000-07:00

It's our new garden art - Chris' creation... we're thinking about training a bougainvilla on it.

Summer Fun

2006-08-25T08:53:00.000-07:00

Here Maia is painting while at our Wednesday playgroup.

We took a bus ride with our friends Cooper and Claire. The kids got lollipops from the busdriver and had a lot of fun. We rode to "Gardens of the World", a free garden to walk around and enjoy, right here in Thousand Oaks.

Sisters

2006-08-07T08:22:00.000-07:00

Chris was trying to get a picture of the girls and got some cute ones, but ....
I just couldn't resist putting this one up... "OK, put your heads together," says Chris.

18 months

2006-08-07T08:19:00.000-07:00

18 months tomorrow

Finished Wrap

2006-08-04T08:25:00.000-07:00

And in a strange twist of globally warmed fate, it is overcast and drizzly today, so I can wear the wrap today!

Oh, the nature!

2006-08-03T12:45:00.000-07:00

You have to trust me a bit when I say that there are about 15 quails underneath the bird feeder in this picture. Then there is the one sitting on the wall standing guard. No really, I read that when a group of quails are pecking around for their food, there are guards that stand around looking for cougars or Rockys.

The hooded orioles are coming very often these days to the feeder. I saw four females at once in our tree yesterday. They finished a batch of sugar water in 4 days. Food must be getting scarce.

Then today, I saw a whole flock of bushtits come and sit on the mulberry tree for about 20 seconds and then off they went. Those cute little buggers.

And THEN, I saw a cute little rabbit hopping along the grass, awwww, how cute. Look Maia, a rabbit in our yard... Hey wait, he's headed for the tomatos... You get out of here! You stinky little fuzz butt!!!!

Who are these people?

2006-08-01T12:25:00.000-07:00

We like to say "progressives". But call 'em what you want, flaming liberals, pinkos, commies, hippy dippies. And what are they doing in my house? We had a dessert party for people associated with moveon.org to hear a conference call with Senator Barack Obama and personality Al Franken (former SNL). It was great fun - 38 people! We did not know most of them but some turned out to be close neighbors, so it was nice to meet them. Some were friends and work associates and some came from as far as Ventura and Oxnard. And Sofia... what a character. After the call, when people were mingling she went around to all the guests and asked, "Have you seen the playhouse? Would you like a tour?" Makes me all fuzzy inside.

Visit with Connor and Sienna

2006-07-27T13:38:00.000-07:00

But first, here are my two cuties swimming at Grandma's:

Sienna gazing at her mommy:

Sofia holding Connor:

More Sienna:

Playing at a cool park in Berkeley:

Sofia and Shealyn:

Sofia REALLY liked the babies:

More Connor...

Here we are at Grandpa's enjoying a cool drink and a dip in the pool:

July 4th

2006-07-11T08:22:00.000-07:00

On the 4th, we had a little dessert party before going over to the fireworks viewing spot.

Listen to the Music

2006-07-05T20:15:00.000-07:00

Sofia was very happy to see her school friend Jessica at a live music show this evening.

The kids had fun dancing even during the intermission...

Day at the Beach

2006-06-30T16:37:00.000-07:00

We had a fun day at the beach with some friends. It was great weather there, but still mid-90s here at home.

Playing in the Van

2006-06-25T19:41:00.000-07:00

Sofia and Maia on Saturday.
I started a new shawl using a pattern I saw here. Thanks to Suzanne. She has some really beautiful work.

New Words

2006-06-20T18:28:00.000-07:00

Maia's vocabulary is exploding - One of her favorite new expressions is "mmmm, gooo". She says it after she has smelled something or tasted something. Mmmmm, goood. So cute.

Happy Father's Day

2006-06-19T11:30:00.000-07:00

We drove to Encinitas and visited a park that was Leo Carrillo's ranch. Now peacocks live there. None of them wanted to spread their tails for us, but they did let us get pretty close.

On Sunday, Grandma and Sofia played with their food:

And then we went to the beach for a taco lunch and some surf play. Sofia and Maia both had fun playing in the water.

Last Day of School

2006-06-16T16:52:00.000-07:00

It seems like just yesterday we were starting school. Here's Sofia enjoying some pizza at the school picnic.
It is a scorcher today so we had a little bubble and pool fun...

This is Sofia's "smile for the camera" smile:

Hyde Babies Are Here!

2006-06-15T14:34:00.000-07:00

Connor and Sienna, my newest nephew and niece, were born yesterday, June 14. They are both just over 6 pounds, with red hair, and doing very well. Sofia is anxious to meet them, and so am I. Here's the whole gang, Logan, Shealyn, Laurel, and babies.

Tying up loose ends...

2006-06-12T15:33:00.000-07:00

I recently finished a couple other projects that had been hanging out there for a while. These are napkins for our everyday use. I made about thirty in all to go with our mix and match fiestaware
This little piggie was really easy and fun to make. I used the leftover Debbie Bliss cotton angora from a blanket. Next up, maybe some piglets and sheep friends to go with him.
Grandma and Granddad came for a visit this weekend. Here Maia is enjoying Granddad's lap. Love those chunky thighs...

Catching up

2006-06-09T16:28:00.000-07:00

This may not seem so remarkable to some, but this is how I often find Sofia after taking Maia upstairs for her nap. No more nap struggles...
I finished the scarf today. It turned out nice but it curls in. I suppose scarfs will do that no matter what to some degree, but maybe blocking it would help. Now I have to figure out how to do that. I used two skeins of Debbie Bliss cotton cashmere with size 10 needles.
And finally, here are some cactus flowers that are blooming right now in the front yard. Beautiful!

Memorial Day photos

2006-05-31T14:09:00.000-07:00

Our friends came over for a little evening "bread and cheese on the lawn" and took some photos of the girls with their digital SLR and portrait lens. Wow! Neat pictures - makes them look almost as cute as they are in person. Thanks for the photos P & C.

2006-05-27T18:14:00.000-07:00

Sofia likes to take care of the bird feeder.

Hollow Trees

2006-05-23T10:45:00.000-07:00

Here is Maia (with Sofia and Chris in the background) listening to her favorite band, The Hollow Trees, at the Topanga Banjo and Fiddle Contest and Bluegrass Fair.

Saturday in May

2006-05-20T17:35:00.000-07:00

I'm using a different way to post pictures, so you don't have to scroll down anymore to start "at the beginning" when I post multiple pictures at one time. You were scrolling down to start at the beginning, weren't you? Anyway, today Chris spent the whole day fixing the CV joint boots on my car - what a guy. I mean really, he is pretty awesome. Here he is:

And here is the old boot - hmmm, that doesn't look good:

And lastly, here is our little lefty. It may be a little early to be sure, but it seems that Maia prefers her left hand. Why is that so exciting to me? So that we can both enjoy trying to cut a straight piece of bread with a serrated knife and then try to butter the darn thing with one of those annoying right-handed butter knives?

New knitting

2006-05-15T10:45:00.000-07:00

I saw this scarf on Needlebook's blog and decided to try it. After several starts, I think it's coming along nicely (albeit different from hers)... Thanks for the help!

2006-05-14T18:59:00.000-07:00

Rody rider.

2006-05-14T18:58:00.000-07:00

Some of the fellows.

2006-05-14T18:57:00.001-07:00

All the little people after brunch today.

2006-05-14T18:57:00.000-07:00

"Grandma, I drew a "sssss"!

2006-05-14T18:55:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's Day!

2006-05-14T18:21:00.000-07:00

We're planning a chalkboard, cabinets, a play sink and maybe a bench, but for now, it has a roof.

2006-05-07T17:07:00.000-07:00

Progress on the new playhouse.

2006-05-07T17:06:00.000-07:00

Playing at the Satwawiwa hut afterwards.

2006-05-07T17:04:00.000-07:00

We went on a nice walk with Petra, Chris and Matthew this morning. Chris had the camera so here I am...

2006-05-06T19:46:00.000-07:00

Did I mention it is going to be red?

2006-05-06T19:45:00.000-07:00

Oh my goodness, what happened to the princess playhouse?!?!? We're working on building a little playhouse that isn't so pink and purple and plastic.

2006-05-05T15:41:00.000-07:00

And there she is singing... this is the third little show they've put on and the first time that Sofia sang. It really is adorable the way some of them put so much feeling into their singing, while others just stand there. After the singing, the children served there mommies lunch that they had prepared. It was very nice.

2006-05-05T15:39:00.000-07:00

Today at school there was a Mother's Day luncheon. There is Sofia front and center.

2006-05-04T17:50:00.000-07:00

And in bird related news, this is our new bird feeder, courtesy of our nice neighbor. This is the view out of the window at my desk. Sofia spotted a male hooded oriole taking a sip, but he was too fast for me to get a photo. I'm happy they found the feeder so quickly though.

2006-05-04T17:46:00.000-07:00

Sliding at the park. Maia can do this on her own, but Sofia loves to be big sister and hold her.

2006-05-02T19:18:00.000-07:00

Here is a better view of the beak, which is key. I think I've got it now. I was wrong - not the oriole, but another cool bird.

2006-05-02T19:17:00.000-07:00

Some more hints - here it is shown on the finch feeder next to some female purple finches - it is much bigger. Also, its breast is peachy-yellow, which is why I thought of the orioles...

2006-05-02T11:13:00.000-07:00

I stalked the bird a little more and got this slightly better picture.

2006-05-02T09:42:00.000-07:00

Another shot.

2006-05-02T09:41:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's that time again. NAME THAT BIRD!!! You've all been waiting, I'm sure.

2006-04-30T16:08:00.000-07:00

Close-up of the light fixture. Those are tangerine fiestaware bowls and stainless rods that he welded for the frame.

2006-04-30T16:04:00.001-07:00

Another view.

2006-04-30T16:04:00.000-07:00

Notice cute shelves next to the stove, another Chris invention.