JOYFUL...

MEMORIES OF HOLIDAYS PAST...

Betsey Johnson Store ~ Stanford Shopping Center, Palo Alto, CA

Do you remember the fake, aluminum Christmas trees (from the 50's)? 


Did you ever have a rotating color wheel aimed at your aluminum tree? (the colors on the tree changed as the wheel rotated)


My grandma had one of those fake trees & a rotating color wheel that turned the tree red, blue, yellow & green... at the time, it was the latest trend?!? As kids (I think I was 7 or 8 years old), we thought she was the "best" grandma for having such a shiny tree! 


But - the shiny tree was missing something! that pine scent! ummm... pine always reminds me of Yosemite National Park or Big Sur.


Take a moment to share a memory with the readers of this blog! then other readers can visit your blog!!

A TATTOO...?

pineapple plant @ Pottery Barn

William F. DeVault
has been called the
"Romantic Poet of the Internet"
http://cityoflegends.com/about/

food-for-thought, huh?

SCAVENGER HUNT SUNDAY 11.27.11

CANDELABRA FOLIAGE @ BIG BEAR LAKE

I just love participating in SCAVENGER HUNT SUNDAY... it helps create "balance" in a busy week. Often JPE helps by noticing a photo opp & getting my camera... always wanting the best for me. I'm so T-H-A-N-K-F-U-L to be part of his life!


This week JPE & I spent most of our Thanksgiving Break at Big Bear Lake, CA --- with 14 individuals... ages 8 to 87... most from various locations in CA, but three traveled from Cinncinati, OH. iNcREdiBLe visit!


I limited my pictures to the ones taken at our Thanksgiving Family Reunion at Big Bear Lake... Unfortunately, I didn't take as many as I thought... distracted by conversation, cooking, clean-up and cards.


photos for the week: Waiting, Foliage, Candid, Knife Fork or Spoon & Rule of Thirds.

WAITING

Someone is WAITING for a fish to jump on the line!

FOLIAGE

This candleholder was frozen solid when we arrived Monday night. Late Tuesday, the ice had melted leaving an example of the beautiful Autumn FOLIAGE behind.

CANDID

She doesn't like to lose... Loved this CANDID shot of Lydia.  Here's another shot of Lydia playing this game with her cousins...

KNIFE FORK or SPOON

Pumpkin pie & Legos for breakfast... had to search for a clean SPOON!

RULE OF THIRDS
(taken by JPE)

This might be a stretch... I was thinking this qualifies as RULE of THIRDS, but the more I look at it, I don't think so?!!? But, you can LEARN MORE ABOUT RULE OF THIRDS HERE!


Our visit was fabulous! bittersweet!! (we don't know if the GUEST OF HONOR will be healthy enough for another trip to California)...

Stop by ASHLEY'S for this week's SCAVENGER HUNT SUNDAY participants. 


Remember, to post your photos by Tues (midnight EST).

THANKSGIVING RECAP!

cabin-life @ Big Bear Lake!!

"One way to get the most out of life

is to look upon it as an adventure."

― William Feather, author from Cleveland, OH

LYDIA TRYING OUT HER NEW MITT!

FISHING THE BASEBALL OUT OF THE LAKE!

FOG BLOWING IN ~ OVER THE LAKE!

DOING SOME HOMEWORK!

"DIARY OF A WIMPY KID" PUZZLE

NAPPING IN THE HAMMOCK

WHAT AM I?

JPE CHECKING THE TURKEY!

GUEST-OF-HONOR = CHICK 

How was your

ThANKsGIVInG?

HAVE A "TASTY" THANKSGIVING!

artwork by Tasha & Lydia
sorry for the blurry picture!

SO...
what's your favorite 
Thanksgiving dish?

FAMILY ----

:: GAMES PEOPLE PLAY ::

" 1 - 4 - 3 "
equals
"I LOVE YOU"

If the family were a fruit,

it would be an orange, a circle of sections,

held together but separable - each segment distinct.

  ~Letty Cottin Pogrebin, founding editor of Ms. Magazine

LYDIA WELCOMES THE REST OF THE FAMILY!!

THE GANG'S ALL HERE!

well, just missing Mr Is...

A DAY OF QUIET...

11.22.11 ~ Big Bear Cabin

"True silence is the rest of the mind;

it is to the spirit what sleep is to the body, nourishment and refreshment."

 ~William Penn, English philosopher

:: ready for company ::

:: sun's coming up ::

:: morning sun on the lake ::

:: view from the dining table ::

:: guess we won't be sitting on the side patio ::

:: hot-tub cover ::

family will begin arriving

this afternoon & tonight

tomorrow & Thanksgiving morning!

PATIENCE...

holiday cute-ness @ Pottery Barn

“The key to everything is patience. 

You get the chicken by hatching the egg,

not by smashing it.”

 ~ Arnold H. Glasgow, American humorist

THANKSGIVING

has yet to arrive

(but, it's coming)...

I'm having a difficult time

sticking with this weeks' holiday!

when all I want to do

is "put out the red & green"

Hard to do...

with such cute-ness 

in catalogues, the shopping mall

& my favorite window-browsing stores!

Guess I better go

rearrange the 

puMpkiNs & goURds!

SCAVENGER HUNT SUNDAY 11.20.11

STANFORD SHOPPING CENTER, Palo Alto, CA ~ 11.19.11

Got home (this afternoon) from visiting ACE ~ won't see her for Thanksgiving (nor SLE ~ boo! hoo!)... Christmas should bring us ALL together again! Unpacked, started laundry, and began packing to leave tomorrow for Thanksgiving with JPE's family... 


After a day with kindergartners, we were ready for some "girl-time" & a little shopping. I kept my Canon PowerShot handy - so here are my pics for this week's SCAVENGER HUNT SUNDAY. Even with the busy-ness of the approaching holiday feasting ~ there are 90+ photographers participating in this week's hunt...


The words this week are: Mainly One Color, Around the Home, Reflection, Writing & Water... 

MAINLY ONE COLOR
@ Fiesta Del Mar Too, Mountain View

We ended our day eating a late lunch? early dinner!! at our favorite Mexican Restaurant. In addition to fabulous food, they display amazing artwork & have these adorable chairs ~ this one was MAINLY ONE COLOR... a brilliant orange sun.

AROUND THE HOME
@ Pottery Barn

Ummm ~ this is NOT my home! looks inviting, though ~ a cozy nest of a bed...  the beds AROUND MY HOME are cushy, comfortable & warm too!

REFLECTION 

@ Bare Escentuals Boutique, Stanford Shopping Center

Stopped to check out the make-up... which I ended up buying!! Last time I bought make-up anywhere but CVS was in 1998 ~ decided to treat myself! see my camera in the REFLECTION of this display? (faces belong to sales girls)

WRITING
@ Urban Outfitters, Stanford Shopping Center

Brillant orange WRITING! & an eye-catching design! the sign over the local UO in SLO doesn't look as amazing as this one!

WATER
@Stanford Shopping Center, Palo Alto, CA

Okay-okay... there is WATER in this picture but this barely qualifies, I know! I did take some pictures of WATER fountains & a tea display with WATER elements, but they just didn't make the cut (meaning, I deleted them)! I noticed each of my pictures had shades of orange or burgundy in them.


Hope you enjoyed the snapshot of Saturday "girl-time" with my youngest daughter! click here to find out how to participate in SCAVENGER HUNT SUNDAY... it's a great way to document your week, day or capture a moment in time! Best of all ~ it's open to everyone!


The words for this next week are: Waiting, Foliage, Candid, Knife, Fork or Spoon, Rule of Thirds. I'll be looking for your post!

KINDERGARTEN = ACTIVITY...

A DAY IN KINDERGARTEN...

REVIEWED THEIR SIGHT WORDS

THEY ALSO DANCED & SANG A SONG TO PRACTICE SPELLING THEIR "SIGHT WORDS"

PRACTICED CUTTING, GLUING, COUNTING & MATCHING THE NUMBERS

ARE LEARNING ABOUT SEASONS ~ FALL TREE

LISTENED TO A STORY ABOUT THANKSGIVING

PRACTICED MAKING "PATTERNS"

TRIANGLE, SQUARE, CIRCLE, TRIANGLE...
WHAT COMES NEXT IN THE PATTERN?


ACE HAD THREE PARENT CONFERENCES
AFTER SCHOOL... 

THEN, WE WORKED TOGETHER TO DE-CLUTTER HER ROOM, FILED ARTWORK (FOR END OF YEAR DISTRIBUTION), STAPLED THE BACKGROUND FOR A NEW BULLETIN BOARD, SORTED WORK SHEETS, DUSTED (THE COMPUTER AREA WAS SORT OF GRIMMY - 5 YEAR OLD HANDS GET GRIMMY), WASHED TABLES.... AND WHEW!!! LEFT THE CLASSROOM AT 6PM.

LOLA & ACE

AT THE END OF AN 11 HOUR DAY & A BUSY WEEK OF PARENT CONFERENCES... THIS IS ALL WE HAD ENERGY FOR - CUDDLING WITH LOLA.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN!

LOLA WIGGLE-BUTT

Headed to visit ACE

and LOLA...

after work today!

been missing them!

HOLDING ON...

11.11.11 ~ Harmony, CA

WHAT YA LOOKING AT?

Harmony, CA ~ population 18

...A COW TAKING A LUNCH BREAK!

photos taken Friday when our 

Hot Air Balloon Ride was

C-A-N-C-E-L-L-E-D 

(due to unstable weather)

can you see the blades of green popping up?

DINING WITH THE GIRLS...

11.15.11

Candles were lit...

JPE & I live in a condo!

which suits us fine

EXCEPT

when we want to entertain

more than six people!

sorry for poor quality of the picture ~ in a hurry!

So, I moved JPE's chair into the dining room

next to the buffet table...

tasties to spoil DINNER

AND

moved the dining room table into the living room!

Just enough time to hop in the shower!

(opened a bottle of sparkling mineral water &

it sprayed all over the floor & my shirt ~ 

sticky mess to clean up before the girls arrived)

P-E-R-F-E-C-T...

plenty of room for seven to dine comfortably...