Half Moon Bay, California November 2012

Friday, April 29, 2011

A lesson from MD

Learning works both ways -- As much I would love to teach him everything I know...  It is often that he teaches me everything he knows too!  I am not much of a chess lover.. because it takes patience and sitting still.  If you know me, you know that I am not known for sitting still!  But as you can see in the picture below, he agreed that it would be a great idea for me to have my cup of coffee while he taught me how to play chess...  :)
 In the end he won!  Today is only my first lesson... we'll see how I do in a few weeks!  lol  Better get to the library quick or youtube ways to beat your 5 year old at chess!
 This little guy felt a bit ignored, so we went over to help him build his track...
 MD loves the challenge:
pieces everywhere!!!!
This is a great morning... they are playing while I am editing.. well, I am taking a brief break!  Back to wedding videos.... sigh... and yawn... i think I need another cup of coffee!

Baking and Wildlife

The two could go together... but not really!
Today in science MD did some baking... no rules really just pure mess and fun -- that just about describes MD's dream!!
Getting the ingredients:  his group put everything in their mixture except for fat (lard) and spices (so no sugar, vanilla, etc.) -- what kind of muffin/cookie is that?! lol

 mix:
 put into pan -- yes, all by themselves.  We moms were able to just stand and watch this time -- fun!  :)
 Mr. Mac came to give a hand when their mixture seemed a bit "dry" -- then the muffins were put into the oven....
 While they waited they taste the various ingredients that went into their batter:
 Hey, E, try this:
 Ewwww.... he didn't like the baking soda!
 Now that all the groups are finished and the muffins were baked - let's try out the baked goods -- one group put every ingredient in except for flour and oats, another put everything in except for sugar, another everything except for eggs....
 time for the taste test:
 Big brother always willing to share...  (sigh....)
 The winning group was the group that put everything in except for eggs -- I imagined myself in that winning line too.  No sugar, butter, or spices... I couldn't eat any baked goods without those fine ingredients!  That's just me...

Then we went home, I worked on my video editing, they took out every toy they owned (not really, but it sure seemed that way when we had 5 minutes to throw everything back in its place so we could leave the house!) and we picked up MG from her art class.  She loves that class and her teacher is the sweetest young lady!  We then zipped over to the Los Gatos library to learn about wildlife!  Yes, we met some wild animals that should technically be in the wild... but through no fault of their own, they have ended up in a rescue center where they are taken from place to place to educate children on preserving our natural habitats so that they can live peacefully with us.
How cute is this porcupine?!
 Here they are watching from afar:
 An owl.. what kind again?  Sorry, I've forgotten!  How much do you think it weighs?  (it's barely 1/2 a pound!  I know!  crazy, huh?  it's bones are hollow!)
 a monkey... rescued from a drug raid - how sad!
 a black throated lizard... his claws were HUGE and sharp!  Thank goodness we were in the back!  (yikes!)
 a baby crocodile
 an opposum
 a corn snake... because it eats corns?  NO!  Because he lives in the cornfield eating the mice who eats the corn!
 Ewww....  can you see the wheels turning?!
 Then it was time to touch....
 no fear guy...
 um, I mean guys!  :)
 This is my baby fix... her name is Marie and she is as cute as a button!  She is the daughter of my friend, Martina, they are from Austria.  They are going to stay in Los Gatos until next Spring.. then they go back...  :(

It was such a fun event for the children - and myself!  

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Today...

We gathered flowers from the garden to give to the secretaries at MG's school.  (It's administrative assistant day.)  Aren't my mom's roses beautiful?  For the "vases" I used some recycled coffee cans, wrapped them up in some fabric, tied a bow, and hot glued a note from MG on the back.  MG also spent some time in the morning folding paper cranes for each of the ladies.  They were happy to receive this bouquet today.
 After dropping off MG, the boys and I went to Happy Hollow.  It was nice to visit again after a long absence - after all, we are members! I did not take any pictures... until we were about to leave and they wanted to feed the goats.  Well, maybe he just wanted to touch his ears!
 He wanted to feed the goats and did just that!  He followed any goat that would let him...  Too cute!  And just so you know, I am too cheap to actually "buy" the food.  So, guess what my little one discovered?  He watched a child one time pick up food from the ground that was dropped from the machine.. so he now does that!  He never asks me for money to buy food.  He walks over to the machine, bends down and starts collecting as many pellets as his little hands will hold.  Then he runs after any goat that will pay any attention to him.  Today some of the children were chasing the goats with wet brushes, hoping to brush their hair... but the goats were not amused!  (Don't know who that girl is.  E didn't mind that he had to share his goat though.)

Dear Black and Decker

Thank you for inventing this wonderful handy dandy vacuum cleaner... I now have this great helper!

 He doesn't ask for much in return - just some help plugging the machine back in to charge so he can help me clean again whenever he gets the urge to suck up some dust bunnies, leftover food under the kitchen table, hair that constantly falls off my head in the bathroom, etc. etc....
Ahhhh... now when should we start the training on dishes?!!!  (He already help me unload the dishwasher.)

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Happy Easter!!!!

It is starting out to be the best day ever....
I mean... look at their faces!


 And the hunt was on... while still in their PJs!


 Check out the loot!  Pretty good huh?  Some had chocolate candies, jelly beans, but the best ones had quarters and half dollar coins!  Score!!!!
Happy Easter... we are off to Corinna and Dave's.. for yet another hunt this afternoon!  More photos to come...

It was a nice day to celebrate with friends.  After arriving at Corinna's house and setting up for lunch, we started the egg hunt.
They were very excited!
 And then they were off!
 His first find -- he was so excited!!!!
 Checking out the "competition" while finding eggs:
 It was all a blur for everyone...
 Eggs everywhere and adults taking pictures in every corner -- that's Vince with his camera!
 This basket full makes up for any missed eggs the day before!  She was quite the speedy one this morning!  (Maybe a little too speedy...  We had a talk about sharing the enjoyment with others.  I'm hoping next year will be a bit more "fair.")
 He had a blast!
 He was anxious to dig into the treats!
Thank you Corinna for hosting such a wonderful event for us all -- the children had a wonderful time!