diva dog photo shoot

The diva dog got a new jacket. The occasion called for a photo shoot.

 The JC Penny pose

 Serious- on the job look

 Take this- it's my best side

 Up close and personal

Faux fur

No more pictures please.

I said no more pictures!

learning begins in the kitchen

 peanut butter play dough - P week

orange you glad you got up in time for breakfast?

when life gives you lemons

sometimes they arrive in

color-coordinated tool bags....

rain rain

We are having some wet weather today. It's been working up to a real rain the last two days. After one of the trial runs I found this interesting pattern of water drops on a piece of mirror Jay had outside.

dress up

Last week I took Natale to the second hand store to help pick out some things for our new dress up box. We had a fun time shopping together. 

Natale's free time activity of choice is dress up while Tessa prefers the sandbox.

trashy reward

I don't want this to to be a place where procrastination is encouraged, however I have to

admit that there are times when waiting until trash morning to haul the bucket out to the street is

rewarded in the form of visual stimulation on the return trip.

s like snake

Tessa had a good S Week at Grandma School.

She headed home this afternoon to do more S things with Mommy.

We hauled sand up from the wash to make a sandbox.

lettuce be thankful

We lost a lot of plants during the recent unusually cold weather but I am very thankful that my lettuce, which has been producing quite nicely, survived the ordeal.

I'm looking forward, now that the freezing temps appear to have left us, to planting my spring garden. Jay purchased some new (used) containers and I'm working at filling them with my nice rich compost soil. Then I'm going to let my assistant gardeners each have a container that is their own little garden. 

patterns

mr potato head

I remember there were times when I was teaching in public school when I had a first grader drawing potato people at the beginning of the school year. Tessa's drawing, with the great big grin, made me smile.  

Natale's drawings are very detailed, almost always including a crown, wavy hair, eyelashes and big lips, typically wearing high heals, and, in this case, fingernail polish.

cosmos

I wanted to post a picture of the

Cosmos

flowers that I planted.

They had been growing

so nicely 

in my greenhouse.

And then the cold weather hit.
Maybe this is more appropriate after all.

gramma school

 Since we were in town helping a friend move on Sunday we made plans to pick Tessa up on our way home thus saving her parents the long drive to our house. 

During the drive home we talked about "doing school" at grandma's (the title Tessa lovingly bestowed on me during her stay at our house last spring) house. 

"Ha," I thought, "What a great name for our little school! Grandma School."

Tessa is just getting started on the basics of written language so I decided to start at the logical place...the first letter of her name.

Hello T Week.

I found these adorable, but cheaply made, little alphabet bean bags at the teacher store last week. Since I now have a school stipend I splurged and payed way more than cost for a set of 26 bitty bags. When Natale opened her gift word Monday morning Tessa opened her gift letter.

While laying in bed lesson planning the night before our first day as a school of preschool I came up with an activity the girls could do together. I gave them both little flash lights and sent them looking for things in the house that began with the letter T. They found (with some hints) toy, towel, toilet, trash, tub, teapot, and table. After lunch we added tomato and for dinner we celebrated T week with a taco.

 

 After Natale left at 5:30 Tessa and I braved the cold and dark and made a trip to town for school supplies (and the taco). On the way we continued the conversation from school, (me naming things that started with T and having Tessa say "T, ta, ta, ta ____".

Suddenly there was a flash from the backseat and Tessa asked, "What does Starbucks start with? What does ___ start with? What does ____ start with?"

Ahhh! Just what this grandma school teacher was looking for...a connection between the alphabet (that up until this point has just been a fun song) and the written word. Success on day one!

support hobby lobby

My latest paint project ...
painted to match the house trim and hang over the entry door. 

juice day

Today I've invited a friend over to do juicing together.

Sara and her husband want to start eating healthier and hopefully loose some weight in the process. We'll spend the morning working with her juicer (that she has never used) my faithful Hurom Slow Juicer along my newest kitchen gadget, the Nutribullet. 


I stopped at the fruit market yesterday and grabbed some fruits and veggies to add to those already in my kitchen. We have berries and leaves, nuts and seeds, heads and bunches, roots and recipes all waiting to we whipped and squeezed into yummy healthy creations.

multiplication

My single homeschool student has been a blessing....
so two students should be twice the blessing... right? 

After a visit from my two self-proclaimed grandchildren on Sunday it was agreed that Tessa, now four and a half, will join our little homeschool routine next week. Although both girls are excited at the prospect of learning together the teacher is feeling a bit daunted by the challenge. 

thumbs down

One of my favorite things about ending one year and starting the next is the "best of" lists that pick the cream of the year and lets it float to the top. I was excited to see a list of best recipes on the Choosing Raw blog that I recently started following. Unfortunately, the two recipes I've tried from the list have received a thumbs down review from my number one food critic.

This weekend I tried Toasted Almond Quinoa Bake . I was excited to find another way to include Quinoa in the kitchen but alas, it didn't pass the test.

the end

The last day of 2012 was packed full of fun and games.

The day started with a chilly run and ended with a quick hike up Silly Mountain to watch the sun set. Sandwiched in between there was basketball, Frisbee golf, four square, table games, a little bit o' shopping all together with a generous helping of authentic Mexican food. It was a good way to end the year.

six

Natale celebrated her sixth birthday on Thursday 

with a pretty pink hat cake 

topped with white roses 

and unfortunately, 

an undiagnosed case of pneumonia.