is it fall?

before

after

now i know that most of the northeast is suffering under some kind of arctic blast but out here in california we are unseasonably warm.  now dont get me wrong, we have had some cold weather, we actually had 3 feet of snow the week of thanksgiving (which resulted in a 5 day power loss and some very creative cooking strategies for the big day) but now we are sitting in the 40's and 50's daily and spent our weekend raking and burning.  now this usually gets done in september and october and believe me i did my fair share then, but the early snows caught us all unaware and the trees hadnt finished dropping their leaves.  so after two weeks of good weather
that allowed all the leaves on the ground to dry, we spent saturday finishing the yard clean up.  although i am grateful for some sunshine i am worried about the lack of rain and snow.  so now that everything is finished, bring it on mother nature.

fabulous friday!

i love friday!  i know everyone loves friday,  but i am not sure that they love friday for the same reasons.  it's not because its the end of the work week, as i don't work outside of my home.  it's not because i want to go out and party on friday nights, as i am no longer 20 or single.  the truth is i love friday because my girls love friday, they wake up happy, they have a great attitude in the morning while they get ready for school and they always hug me on their way out the door.  just the mere words, "it's friday" holds promise for them, no homework, no chores, friday is the gateway to the weekend and around here that means fun.  sleepovers, dinners with friends, playing outside, or just having a jammie day.  their enthusiasm for friday is downright contagious and apparently i've caught the bug.  friday is fabulous!

leash training

aisy, gilli and i did some leash training with harley down at the school today. this is something that requires persistence and patience both of which we exercised in abundance.   we were less than successful.  however, we did teach him something...




                                                                        how to drink out of the drinking fountain.


















we were pretty impressed that he could master the fountain so we had a little play time.





guess we'll have to try again with the leash training.

party planning

i am the mother of 4 so this is not my first rodeo when it comes to party planning, however i realized the other day that this is the last 7 year old birthday that i will plan.  my baby turns 7 at the end of this month and although her first birthday i had the realization that i would never have a 1 year old again, i brushed it aside and didnt think about it again. but for me 7 isnt a baby anymore.  this is when they truly start making some of their independent choices, like soccer vs dance, this friend vs this friend, chocolate vs vanilla, anyway you get my meaning.  the crux of all this rambling is that i feel like this birthday party should be special so i have been giving it a great deal of thought.  gilli would like a sledding party and so we discussed all the ways that we can make that great it will be a bust if we dont get some snow in the next 2 weeks. so we had to have an alternative and her idea was to have her little girl friends come over and we would have a baby doll party.  her friends can bring their favorite dolls and we will fabric paint some baby t shirts and they can have a fashion show and a tea party.  if by chance we get some snow we are thinking a snowman theme for the cake and we will do sledding, and have hot cocoa.  any ideas would be welcome for the tea party cake.

meet the zoo

meet the zoo.

bandit, 12 year old, black lab/? mix, he is the most beloved member of the family and definitely the king of the castle.

mischief, 5 year old, rescue kitty, we got her from the shelter when she was a kitten. she gets into trouble regularly hence her name.

fitz, 18 mo old, rescue kitty, that came home one day from the grocery store (i have 3 little girls at home and they have the best sad faces ever).

tango, 9 year old, cockatiel, who can say pretty bird, and whistle songs, but chooses instead to do medleys of his own choosing that appear to most to be unrecognizable.

so as not to offend any of the fish population we do have a rather large gold fish in my 6 year old's room, but his name changes at her whim and the only interaction i have with it, is that i feed it every night at bedtime and clean it when it gets too green in the tank. and last but not least...

harley, our 4 month old ?/? mix, that we rescued at 5 weeks old. the speculation has been that he is everything from a lab/shepherd to a bernese mountain dog.

so now that you met the zoo come back and visit us again soon!