The Pinata

It worked!
It came out damn near how we imagined it would! Go figure!

Liv and her painting of a hot air balloon (we've had the easel and paints out all week).

As some of you know, this was my first ever paper mache project, and I sought advice from Google and my facebook friends - where else? 

Turns out, it's like most things, follow the instructions and everything will be OK. I was nervous about making sure that a toddler/preschooler would be able to break it (in less than half and hour!!!)  - and yet not hyper fragile... so I didn't enlist much help.

But Camila and Liv did help pick out the toys and treats that would go in the pinata and filled it! 

And I let Camila choose if she wanted to break the pinata at home with just us or if she wanted to bring it to playgroup and share with their friends. Liv made sure she helped choose, and together, they chose to wait until the day after Mimi's b-day, and bring it to playgroup.

The Mommy hosting the group was kind enough allow me to bring it, for which I am very grateful!

These kids are so well behaved - they waited patiently while we got everything set up. 

Liv and Mimi had been waiting for this for days and days! They were READY...
(a vacuum extension tube as a bat - light enough for Mimi to swing.)

Every kid got a turn, I think almost everyone got two turns. Every hit put a dent in it, some broke it.

Liv made a small hole. 

Jordan was fascinated - it took a few quick mommies to make sure he didn't end up getting bonked himself, he was always right there!  And really loved it when it was HIS TURN!!

But Abbygail, with her blonde braids flying, dealt the final blow! Crrraaack!

YAY!!!

What fun!

I realize that I really should have brought my big Nikon to take these pictures, the little camera is just too slow! - Or at least I need to choose my settings much more carefully.
Well, there you go, now I know a lot more than I did before! 

Birthday Cupcakes for Playgroup

Liv still likes to help in the kitchen; first thing in the morning, she helped make the frosting and then frosted & decorated these cupcakes by herself! 

When Camila got up, oh boy, was she excited! 

You can imagine what kind of exercise it was to keep little fingers off these pretty little cakes. ;o)

She had a special day-after-your-birthday breakfast, though.

and Liv and I sang to her again!

and yes, she slept in her clothes from the day before...

and yes, she still has paint splatter on her cheek. 

sigh.

Birthday Trip to Super Franks

What's to say? We had a blast! 

Happy 2nd Birthday

Look Who's Two!

Our special little girl had a very happy day! Cinnamon Rolls and birthday candles for breakfast! 

Dozens of birthday wishes from Mommy's facebook friends,

A new bike (a "wunning bike yike yivvy" is what she asked for),

A very fun day trip to Super Franks,

Hot dogs and birthday cake for supper,

and another party with her playgroup friends the following day! 

WOW! What a lucky kid!

A Little Windy?

Sheesh!

California Poppies

This pretty orange wildflower, is native to these hills, and the state flower. 

Our property consists of and is surrounded by some pretty barren hillsides. I recently ordered a pound of Orange California Poppy seeds online and they arrived the same day as our first rain... how serendipitous! 

We immediately headed out to start scattering seeds! 

Livvy thought it would be nice to have some down by the climbing tree. I couldn't agree more! 

With any luck at all our hillside will look something like this in the spring.

Diablo Grande Sage Honey

(as I posted earlier this week on Facebook) 

I had the pleasure of meeting Mr Orin Johnson this afternoon on my way home as he was tending the hives in the canyon that the Diablo Grande Parkway runs through. 

We've been discussing nutrition and various components, including allergies and the benefits of local honey. I promised my friends that I would try to track down the honey produced in the hives that spend the winter months along the road on the drive home. No sooner said than done... on the way home, I spotted someone working with the bees -- so I stopped! 

I learned that Johnson Apiaries are the beekeepers of the bees (and hives, obviously) that spend their off-season (when they are not pollinating Almonds) here and have for over 60 years! 

Mr Johnson is a very nice man, and does mostly pollination and bulk honey - but has some customers who buy smaller (household) jars. He even happened to have a jar of the (mixed) Sage honey that he collected here last year and I happened to have some cash! Lucky me. ((by the way - it's DELICIOUS!!))

This is a photograph of Orin Johnson and his bees in an Almond Orchard that I found on a photographer's site: http://www.annehamersky.com

This is the story of Johnson Apiaries http://www.agalert.com/story/?id=779 , written by Christine Souza in 2007.