Thank You!!!!!

Thank you so much for all of the lovely birthday wishes!!!! Each one made me smile!

I spent part of the day here at the Berkeley Rose Gardens. This is one of my favorite places! It is also a favorite for weddings.

I usually visit a little earlier in the season when the whole garden is bursting with roses.

But there were still some real beauties to admire!

I love the colors of these roses!! It's like they are on fire!

This one was my favorite of the day!

Oh, and there were bees on almost every flower!

The colors were just amazing!

Maybe I went a little overboard on pictures, but I couldn't help myself!

Thank you again for the sweet birthday wishes!

t h i r t y - s e v e n

Today is my 37th birthday!

This is a photo from last year when I received my Reiki Master certificate.

My teacher, William Lee Rand, was great!

And, so, on my 37th birthday, I am thinking about my life and its purpose.

Yes, I am a mother, wife, teacher, student, but there is something that has been calling me for most of my life. And that something is healing.

Friends and family have always come to me with their health issues, as if they knew I could help them. In my twenties I just went with it and seemed to know what they needed. After discovering Reiki, I realized I had an awareness of other people's health.

So...

I, along with my Mom, will be teaching my first Reiki class to my kids and their friends later this summer. I am very excited!

Today is my 37th birthday I am still waiting to feel like a grown-up!

Joyfull wishes to all!!

celebration

wishes

wizards

potions

dragon eggs

dragons

golden snitches!

This party was so much fun! There were 7 wizards total. There was even some spell-casting by the end of the night! Goose received an invisibility cloak from a friend and she has been wearing it constantly! Which makes it kind of hard to know where she is! The dragons come with a special gift themselves. Each wizard can go on-line(these are modern day wizards) and enter in there special code which lets them name their very own star in the International Star Registry! Isn't that cool! I mean, wicked! Goose already named her star! It is located near Ursa Major.

Making potions was a favorite, too! By 10pm everyone had gone home!

Thank you to everyone for the very sweet birthday wishes!

Happy Birthday Goose!!!

Happy Birthday to you!

Happy Birthday to you!

Happy Birthday to Goose!

Happy Birthday to you!

We love you!

Mom, Dad, Binky, Cody and Scratch

xoxo

Goose turns 9 today!

Our girl turns 9 today! We are so excited for her party tonight! We will be handing out wands to each guest upon arrival. Dinner will be served promptly at 7:15pm. Followed by craft-time, which will include making a Golden Snitch. Next class is Advanced Potions. This will be very exciting! Followed by dessert! Each guest will leave with a Gryffindor scarf, a wand, a dragon egg(with a dragon inside), a dragon coloring book and parchment word searches! All I have to do now is download some Harry Potter soundtracks! Can't wait to share some photos!!

Happy Birthday Goose!!!

We Love You!!!

Mom, Dad, Binky, Cody and Scratch

moon cakes and skateboarding

This is one of my favorite photos of the Moon and Earth together.

To celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the first landing on the moon we made moon cakes. We made a simple pastry dough and filled them with fresh raspberries or shredded coconut. The raspberry cakes are my favorite! Very yummy!
But first, our morning began at the skate park. Here is a little peak into one of Binky's favorite things to do! He is too cute!

my Sunday

Sunday morning breakfast. With coffee, of course!

A long forgotten friend was pulled from the closet and enjoyed by Binky and Goose. Yep, that's Thomas the Tank Engine! Haven't seen him in maybe a year or so. Kind of miss him, really.

I spent the day organizing and putting away.

You would not believe what this cupboard looked like before!

More to do tomorrow!

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday!

Harry Potter Party

It's very hard for me to believe it, but my first born is turning 9 on July 25! How did this happen? Where has all the time gone? Is Goose really turning 9? Oh, yes she is! And we are having a Harry Potter party to celebrate!! We sent out lovely parchment invitations, where each wizard is to arrive at Platform 9 3/4 at 7pm sharp! And Grandma is crocheting each wizard a Gryffindor scarf! Goose and I are going to make paper mache dragon eggs with a baby dragon inside for the goodie bags. For the party, each wizard will make his or her own golden snitch. And there will be potion-making, too! Goose is so excited!!!!!

When I pick up the scarves I will post a photo of them. They are really great! I am still hoping to learn to crochet and knit one of these days. And speaking of yarn and such, there is a great Giveaway over at Natural Suburbia. The yarn she is giving away is so beautiful!!! She also has an etsy shop you must check out!

Hope you are enjoying a wonderul weekend!

Moon Study Lap Books

Binky's Moon Lap Book!

Goose's Moon Lap Book!

Moon Fast Facts

Lunar and Solar Eclipse Book

Lunar Eclipse

Solar Eclipse

Moon Phase Flip Book

Cover photo and drawing by Binky!

Earth rise photo taken by Michael Collins while orbiting the Moon.

Photo of Buzz Aldrin

"Thirteen Moons on Turtles Back"

Native Americans believe the 13 sections on turtle's shell represent the 13 moons of the year. And each Moon has a name

Moon of Popping Trees, Baby Bear Moon, Maple Sugar Moon, Frog Moon, Budding Moon, Strawberry Moon, Moon When Acorns Appear, Moon of Wild Rice, Moose-Calling Moon, Moon of Falling Leaves, Moon When Deer Drop Their Horns, Moon When Wolves Run Together, And Big Moon.

"The Bright Moon"

It shines in the night and it's quite bright.

It has four phases and they are named

Crescent, First Quarter, Waxing Gibbous, Full Moon, Waning Gibbous,

Last Quarter and Crescent.

Can you guess what it is?

I will tell you!

It is the Moon, the bright Moon!

The Moon guides the night sky and its companion, Luna.

They shine so bright in the night sky.

It will never fade away.

I will always find the Moon no matter where it is.

It will always be there in the sky at night.

The moon guides the night and it always will!
by Goose

Regolith covers the surface of the Moon. We even added a "sample" to our books!

We have been working on these books for a while now. We actually took a break from it because the kids were Mooned out! But now we are back in action! And ready to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the first Men on the Moon, which is Monday, July 20th at

02:56:15 Universal Time(which is the precise measure of time used as the basis for all civil and scientific timekeeping thoughout the world) which translates to 10:56:15 pm Eastern Daylight Time. Goose and Binky have really enjoyed making these books. And so have I! We are not finished yet, but the kids are inspired and that is what makes it so much fun! I will post a list of all the great books we've been reading as soon as I can. Lisa over at 5 Orange Potatoes has a great post on Moon lore and illusions here. Did you know NASA is planning to go back to the Moon and build a permanent base for scientific study? Or that the United Nations has an Office for Outer Space Affairs?

What are your kids excited about right now?

Ocean Beach

We were heading to San Francisco to run an errand with Daddy so we packed a picnic and headed to the beach! In this photo, Binky was almost knocked over by a wave! It scared him a little, but he didn't fall down. After this wave, it was time to head home!

The beach was filled with people and dogs. Not surprising because it was quite warm for July in San Francisco.

I love watching them play in water! Daddy said, "At least they're not arguing." And I told him they NEVER argue when we are at the beach! What is there to argue about?

I love this action shot!!

Me and the kids! The water is freezing, but you'd never know it by the way the kids go running into it! I grew up in Southern California where the water is a bit warmer.

This photo says it all! We had the best day! Spending the day as a family was wonderful!