Whoosh - Santa Monica Pier

Photo credit to Rafael Panlilio at Canyon News

We were lucky enough to spend some time in Santa Monica this weekend. Of course, we went to the pier. And no visit to the pier is complete without a tour of the aquarium tucked below it.

We love all the ocean life. Jewel got splashed by the antics of the Tiger Sharks. Brenne made a paper-bag fish puppet. My favorite is the octopus. I always remember how she flooded the whole aquarium last year, and I think - now there is a girl with some SPUNK!

Another highlight of the day: Brenne's first and Jewel's second roller coaster ride on The West Coaster. It is a tame, wooden coaster, rattling its way around the pier, and taking in breathstopping views of the shore and city. But roller coasters are so NOT MY THING!

I played the good sport and went along so that both girls would have a ride partner, but gee, nothing about whizzing up and down and around and around appeals to me. It's like sticking your tongue out at Fate for no good reason at all.

The girls loved it, and would have gone again and again, except for the financial limitations we quickly encountered. Still, the up-into-the-sunset-sky part was really awesome!

Storm Gathering

Yesterday one of the fiercest storms we've had here ripped a large branch off a tree in our front yard. Because I was diligently working in a nearby cafe, my car wasn't parked in its normal spot and the branch landed harmlessly on street and sidewalk, only tickling its leaves up against the neighbor's mailbox.

My husband came home soon after I and began the daunting task of cutting it up. Within minutes, our next door neighbor was there with his saw, helping. After that, each time I glanced out the window, another neighbor had shown up with equipment to assist. Five guys with assorted chainsaws, ear protectors, and clippers made short work of that huge mess.

I'm just feeling so grateful for living in a neighborhood where people still gather to help each other, where we know each other by name and circumstance and feel like working together is in our common interest.

I think they actually had a lot of fun, reducing that hefty branch to logs and twigs.

Last night, the girls and I baked homemade chocolate chip cookies and dashed out through a break in the rain to deliver them, still warm, to all our helpers. Our way of saying thank you for a job well done.

Tra La La! It's Christmas Morning...

is the ending line of a picture book I love to read to my girls at this time of year. I love the colorful illustrations, the extra fuzzy small animals, and the snuggling together for stories.

Of course, I also love almost everything else about this time of year. I feel so blessed about that. I understand that there are people who simply don't like Christmas because the hassle factor overwhelms them, or for other legitimate reasons. I feel truly bad for them. It must make December a tough month.

But I adore every little crazy, social, spiritual bit of the whole season, from the shopping to the goodies to the Solstice.

This year for the first time in my daughters' lives, we actually belong to a church. We walked to services Saturday in the rain and were rewarded with Christmas pageantry heretofore unwitnessed. Our new church is astonishing with music and has choirs at every level from preschoolers to the elderly.

It feels great to celebrate the spiritual aspects with such a group of people!

Our New Pets

I've mentioned before that Patience isn't my strength. Less than a week from idea to inception. Meet the two newest members of our family, yet to be named.

They're sisters, three months old, and a bit shy, but J and B can't wait to tame them. And, yes, their cage smells. So does the hay that they have to eat every day. It's not a bad smell, the aroma of hay, very barn-like, but perhaps it is not a house smell. Still, though, they're cute as buttons and fun to watch!

It's coming down, it's coming down...

Coming out of the house to head to school this morning, we noticed that the sky promised rain.

"I hope it will be a downfall!" Jewel exclaimed.

Trying not to laugh, I said, "I think you mean downpour, honey."

Heaven forbid it's a downfall!

Sophie's Cookie Recipe - Perfect for Autumn Fun

Last Autumn, the girls and I found a great book at the library. Believing Sophie is the story of a girl wrongly accused of shoplifting and how she solves her problem. The book ends with a wonderful cookie recipe that our family loved.

Now that the weather's turning back to cool, dark nights, I think it's high time to do a little family baking. Hope your family may as well!

The recipe follows below if you want to try it out at home :)

Sophie’s Cookies
From the book Believing Sophie By Hazel Hutchins

Cream together:
1 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar

Mix in:
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt

Lastly add:
2 cups rolled oats
1 overflowing cup of M&Ms

Stir until well mixed. The dough may be crumbly, but if you use your hands it will form easily into balls. For large cookies, the balls should be golf-ball sized or bigger. Smaller cookies are also very good.

Set cookie balls on a greased cookie sheet and flatten them gently with your fingers to a nice cookie thickness. Bake at the top of the oven at 350 degrees F for 10-12 minutes until a pale golden brown. They are best when cooked through but not overcooked or hard. Makes at least 1 dozen large or 3 dozen small cookies.

Enjoy!

Spooky Winds are Blowing...

Halloween is in the air! (Finally! The last few weeks we've endured temps well into the 100s!)

With the cool nip of autumn, our thoughts turn to... costumes, of course!

My older daughter Jai wants to be a spy. She's got the black leggings and turtleneck and has been collecting "spygear" for a month now.

My littler one Brenne wants to be a bat. Yes, a bat. Not a vampire, just a flying mammal. I'm not sure why but her mind is made up. She's got a great black velour leotard. But I'll have to figure out how to make some bat wings. Unless I can buy them. I haven't found any anywhere - but I hope I do. Because I'm not very handy with the making of things, especially out of cloth.

Three weeks and counting. What will you be?