Winter Wonderland

Our family participated in our schools crafting fair called Joyous Elves. We spent the morning wool felting, leather stamping, bath salt making, felt sewing, candle making and apple strudel tasting. We finished our day at the Winter Wonderland. The kids pegged Matt so many times with snow balls, he finally retaliated. Kids scattered everywhere when this big Marine jumped the hay stacks into the snow. It twas a wonderful evening being surrounded by hay rides, Christmas songs and people you love.

Picnic in Carmel Valley

What a wonderful day for a picnic! It rained thousands of leaves everywhere. Some leaves were almost as big as Connor. What was really fantastic is we found two different types of salamanders. We all made a blanket of leaves and sat around singing while eating our snacks. What a way to start the winter.

Celebrating Chanukah

As the nights get colder and longer there also comes time when Chanukah is celebrated. Chanukah is celebrated for eight days in honor of the Jewish victory over the Syrian-Greeks.

The children playing with the Dreidel to win chocolate gelt.

After the gelt is won, latkes (potato pancakes) with homemade applesauce are eaten, the menorah is lite and the kids try to play with the melted candle wax and blow out the menorah candles, we say goodbye to our friends.
We are so blessed that friends were able to share a part of their culture.

Gilroy Gardens

Christmas time is here
Happiness and cheer
Fun for all that children call
Their favorite time of the year

Snowflakes in the air
Carols everywhere
Olden times and ancient rhymes
Of love and dreams to share

Sleigh bells in the air
Beauty everywhere
Yuletide by the fireside
And joyful memories there

Christmas time is here
We'll be drawing near
Oh, that we could always see
Such spirit through the year
Oh, that we could always see
Such spirit through the year...

Thanksgiving Harvest Masque

As the Kindergarten fairys visit the gnomes and lavish them with gifts, we bid farewell to the autumn and gather our inner harvest of light for the cold winter months ahead. The abundance of food which nature provides, the ability to experience and share with others the years treasure through a goodness of attitude and inner growth, and our valuable relationships within our community of family and friends contribute to strengthening our body, mind and soul. The fairys and gnomes sang and danced before fluttering to a harvest feast. This is a special time of year that allows us to reflect on the goodness of attitude and value our relationships with our family and friends.

Cub Scouts Biking Event

The biking rodeo was in full swing with tigers, bears, wolfs and weblos, OH my! The event had several stations including a safety station, figure eight, turtle crawl, obstacle course and a mile bike ride. Badges and bike loops were being earned but smiles were given freely:)

Lantern Walk

The annual lantern walk tells a story of St. Martain. Martain was a Roman soldier who one cold November night shared a piece of his warm cloak with a beggar. That night, he dreamed that the beggar's face was really Christ, and he learned that by helping others, he was really in service to God and the betterment of man. He quit the army and devoted his life to service, eventually becoming the Bishop of Tours.

We made a lantern and decorated ours with tissue paper pieces, leaves, and glitter glued onto a mason jar, then string and a wire were placed around the lip of the jar for a handle. We placed a tealight in and voila, a lantern!

We headed out on a walk through the trees singing lantern songs and looking out for wildlife. Deer scampered away as we walked on the path. Looking around, it appeared the lanterns were fireflies floating afar. Autumn is, indeed the crowning glory of the year, bringing us the fruition of months of thought and care.

And I will have to tell a few stories that tickled me this last week. I pushed my coffee table on it's side so I could vacuum.

Connor climbed to the top and sat. I said "Connor, you know you aren't suppose to sit on my coffee table like that!"
Connor said" Well mom, today I'm Humpty Dumpty."

So close to Thanksgiving but Christmas is in the air. We went to the local mall and Santa is already welcoming the children.

Connor pointed at Santa and said "Evan, Evan look it 's Santa!"
Santa said "Well, Hello Evan!"
Evan fell silent and his eyes went round "Santa knows my name!"

Happy Diwali!

Happy Diwali! Diwali is popularly known as the festival of lights, is an important five-day festival in India occurring between mid-October and mid-November. For Hindus, Diwali is the most important festival of the year and is celebrated in families by performing traditional activities together in their homes.

In each legend, myth and story of Diwali lies the significance of the victory of good over evil; and it is with each Diwali and the lights that illuminate our homes and hearts.

Rangoli decorations made from colored powder, is popular during Diwali. From darkness unto light — the light that empowers us to commit ourselves to good deeds, that which brings us closer to divinity.

The red 'kumkum' or 'tika' between the eyebrows is said to retain energy in the human body and control the various levels of concentration. It is also the central point of the base of the creation itself — symbolizing auspiciousness and good fortune.

While the story behind Diwali and the manner of celebration varies from region to region, festive fireworks, worship, lights, and sharing of sweets are always a part of the agenda!

Santa Lucia Preserve

Field Trip! The Santa Lucia Conservancy was donated in the 1830s, when California’s Mexican governor granted the Preserve’s original parcels of about 20,000 acres. This is the bottom tip of the Coastal Redwoods trees being preserved; the top coastal tip advancing to Oregon.

This was our tour guide showing us that Redwoods live to be 2,000 years old. Most of the Redwoods in our area are under 1,000 years old.

These redwoods are several hundred years old. When looking from below, the top of the tree seems never ending.

Then there are the mother trees that would take about 20 people holding hands to be able to encircle.

The unusual branch pattern has become a Village for Owls. It was fascinating to walk below the trees and view the pellets of the un-digested 'stuff' such as fur and bones that squish together to form a ball-like figure, otherwise called a cast.