Christmas Celebrations!

What a super fun marvelous beautiful Christmas celebration this year!

It's best told in pictures...

My fantastic kids!

Me and my son. Can't believe he is almost as tall as me and he is only 12!

He can actually pick ME up now!

Me and my pretty daughter! She'll be taller than me any day now too!

I got this poster of Taylor Lautner for her and we were having a little fun for the camera! :-)

Our happy trio!

Then it was off to my parent's house for a big celebration with all my siblings and their families!

Here are the girl cousins.

And the boy cousins...

Me and Oma.

My sister-in-love, me, my brother, and my daughter.

Me and my sisters!!

My brother holding our niece.

And of course a big feast!! I could put a ton more pictures on here, but I'll spare you. I'll just say that it was sheer happiness to be with my family. Sure love them ALL!!

Painting a la Yoga

I love this place. Let me just begin by stating that fact. (Many of you already know this!) The Yoga Center of Los Gatos has been my second home for the last year and a half. This week we did a little "home improvement"!

Me and my two AMAZING friends, Hutch (owner of the studio) and Wendy, have been "feeling" out the new color for the front section of the studio for a couple of months now (note all the possibilities on the wall...) When painting a yoga center, you have to "feel" the color. That's just how it works. :-)


Yesterday we finally FELT the color! It just about SANG to us! It was GOLDEN and beautiful and would replace the pale yellow that has been there.

So we got to work. We're pros at working together... supporting each other... being there in case someone falls. We've been doing this for each other for a while now and it translated beautifully into our painting project.



Not only that... but painting is very yogic. Check out the poses! All those classes and all that practice has paid off. I can even balance on a 10' ladder on one foot. :-)

Wendy can easily scale the cubbies to paint the wall... and make it look graceful!

Even the painter's tape is used in creative exploration here at the Yoga Center!

It was hard work mixed marvelously in with tons of FUN! Here I am cracking up so hard I can barely paint! (Maybe that's why it took two days!)

The new color is gorgeous and already gives a warmer glow to the space. It matches the warm glow I get from being a part of this great community and having such AMAZING friends.

The Charlie Brown Christmas Tree (or proof that I get too attached to inanimate objects)

When I was younger (I don't remember what age... 9?), my mom and I were out and about running last minute errands on a cold, foggy Christmas Eve. We drove near a Christmas Tree lot which had only a very few trees left. I remember looking at those trees and feeling so sad that they wouldn't be in someone's home for Christmas.

I'm not sure exactly how it came about or whose idea it was, but my mom turned the car into the parking lot and we got out to look at those last few trees. There was one in particular - only a few feet tall and rather scraggly - that caught my eye. It looked just like the tree that Charlie Brown picked out for his Christmas Play.

(Image from "A Charlie Brown Christmas")

My mom bought the tree and I remember feeling so very happy that it would be in our home for Christmas and not in a cold lot. When we got it home we put some simple decorations on it, and like Charlie Brown's tree, it suddenly looked like the most beautiful tree ever.

We started a sort of tradition that year. Not always, but many more times, we went out on Christmas Eve to find that last little tree that was still sitting in the lot. Those trees have been on my mind again this year. I may just find myself at a tree lot this Christmas Eve.


But more than trees and other inanimate objects (which I still seem to believe have feelings), I've been thinking of people who may feel like they are in a cold lot on Christmas Eve. I can't take them all home with me, nor do I think they need to be decorated with popcorn strings, but I will be watching this week for those who need a smile, a hug, or a friendly conversation.


Will you join me? Remember what Linus told Charlie Brown about Christmas. Remember how beautiful the little Christmas Tree became just because someone showed that they cared. The angels had it right - it's about peace and love to all.

Home for the Holidays

It's December! Which means it's time to haul the tubs of Christmas decorations out of the storage cabinet and make this house twinkly!

Naturally, we watched, "The Muppet Christmas Carol" while we decked the halls. We also sang along at the top of our voices.

Wish you could all come over and have a mug of hot peppermint chocolate and sit by the tree. We'd tell you all the stories about where each of the ornaments have come from and then watch Charlie Brown's Christmas.

Hoping you all have a marvelous December and that your home is warm and twinkly too!

Book Time

November was slow in the reading department again. But I got two good books read:

1. Cupid - Julius Lester - A retelling of the Greek myth of Cupid and Psyche. The author has a fantasic voice with very amusing asides. He also plugs in moments of real truth about love and relationships that really made me ponder.

2. The Last Olympian - Rick Riordan - Awesome! Book 5 in the Percy Jackson series is a great capstone. Even though the majority of the book is a battle, it is well written, moves quickly, and still takes time for great character development. I can't wait to see the movie of the first book The Lightning Thief (February 2010!)

Happy Reading!

My Extreme Home Makeover (sort of)

I've been restless. My house has essentially been unchanged since I moved in 3 years ago. So I've been doing my own version of Extreme (or not so extreme) Home Makeover.

My bedroom used to be blue. Very pretty and soothing.

Although, I also had my desk in my bedroom, which made for... um... a bit of a mess...

From a previous post, you may remember that I mentioned moving into a RED phase. I added a red bedspread and red art to the walls.

But my desk was still... um... a mess... When I mentioned the fact that my desk was in my bedroom to a feng shui artist she about had a heart attack. NO! Desks do not belong in bedrooms. Work should be separate from rest. Makes so much sense...

So... Voila! BIG shift this week!! I moved my desk, my files, my... um... mess... OUT of my bedroom! (Special thank you to helping hands!)

Now my bedroom is so clean and clear and simple and... Ahhhhhhh... I added a red throw to my "blue" chair, put more red accents and art in the space.

There is still more to do (I'm thinking chandelier...) but this is a HUGE step in a beautiful direction. I just love how the space feels in my bedroom now.

The next task is the desk space, which is now downstairs in the dining room. Still working on that. More to come... Stay tuned!

So Full of Thanks!

Happy Thanksgiving!! So much to be grateful for this year I could write a HUGE post to list it all. But I won't bore you. I'll just put a couple pictures of our celebration this year.

Here is my daughter all ready to dive into the yummy food!

Here is my son who packed away his whole plate in record time and then went back for more!

Here we are, ready to dive into the feast. We had a joint dinner at my kids' dad's house and his cousin (pictured) was in town. A good day!!

Soooo thankful for all of you!!

Stage Left

Another show! My daughter just finished a successful run of her first high school play.

She played Suzanne in the dark comedy, "Dearly Departed."

Lots of fun... though she's glad it's over... and she's ready for the next play!

Drumming

I've fallen in love with drums. Actually, it might be more correct to say that I've RE-fallen in love with drums. I've always loved drums... I just hadn't hit one for a while.

Then last Saturday I spent some time with friends in Santa Cruz on the cliffs just north of the lighthouse (surfing museum) and as the sun went down and the stars came out we drummed.

The beauty of drumming is that it doesn't take too much instruction or technique to get started. You just hit the thing! Granted, as you learn technique the sound gets better. :-) But in a matter of minutes you can feel your way around a drum and start to get a pretty awesome sound.

Not only is the sound booming out to the universe, but the sound beats inside of me too. When I took this drum (pictured above) to my preschool music class last Friday and I hit the drum dead on in the center with the palm of my hand... you should have seen the children's eyes!

"Did you feel that?" I asked. Because not only do you hear the sound but you really feel the vibrations in your body. Twenty little heads nodded and put a hand on their chests. They felt it.

I love the sound of the rhythm and the feel of the vibration of a drum. I get why human beings have been banging on these things for as far back as anyone can remember. Music fills us up and connects us to each other.

I think it's time to go drum...

Now Seating...

Funny story...

The beautiful dining table I currently have was the one I grew up eating around. My parents gave it to me when my family started growing and theirs was shrinking. Then my family stopped growing and now it's a very big table for just three people.

Now my parent's extended family is growing (all those grandkids!) So the beautiful dining table is going back to its original home and I found a table just our size. And it's pretty too!

One Book

I got through at least one book last month!

Forest Born - Shannon Hale - All you fans of The Goose Girl, Enna Burning, and River Secrets... here is the next one. It's just as marvelous as the others. I'd say it's most like Enna Burning with plenty of inner angst in the main character, who happens to be Razo's sister Rinna.

Oh yeah, I did read one other book... I re-read New Moon in preparation for the movie on November 20th!!

Halloween!

My trick-or-treaters are getting big! But they still love dressing up. (I do too!)
My son decided to be a hobo this year. It was an easy trip to Goodwill to find a costume.

Besides, he and his sister have a theory that hobos are actually saving Earth. They don't waste water, use too much electricity, drive poluting cars, etc. Athough we are well aware of the reality of these people's lives, there may be a lesson there too...

My daughter dressed up as Mother Nature. I guess you could say she was Planet Earth!

And a very pretty planet she is!

I finally finished a costume that has taken me 5 years to make! I found the pattern 5 years ago, bought the fabric 4 years ago, cut it out 3 years ago, bought the trim last year, and finally....

Finished it this year!

Happy Halloween!

Creative Carving

Food art is one of my favorite things...


So carving pumpkins is really right up my alley!

This year my daughter carved Charlie Brown! It was very appropriate, since we watch "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" every year while we carve. We can practically say it by heart.

My son carved a ... mutant... of some kind. I think it's a very cute mutant.

My pumpkin is waiting to be kissed. :-)



The finished masterpieces!!