Goodbye 2008

The last day of 2008 a friend and her family were visiting.

We headed to the beach to enjoy the beautiful coast of California.

The Sand at this beach looks like tiny polished rocks.She brought her four kids and added them to my two.
That makes six pairs of shoes and twelve socks to keep track of.

The weather was surprisingly warm.

The kids enjoyed running in the water and getting their feet wet.

Maybe more than their feet got wet.

I love the spirit of children, rarely do they do something half hearted. The kids ranged in age from 14 to 2 and there was little difference in their approach to experiencing the water and waves. In the end everyone was very wet and sandy. The men were flustered and the women were laughing. We were not at all surprised, with lots of laundry and rocks in my dryer.

For me, as someone who loves the beach and enjoys the company of children, it was a wonderful way to say goodbye to 2008. My new year's resolution is simple for 2009...

Try to experience the beauty of life more like a child,

without reservation, jumping in with both feet and eyes wide open.

Visions of Sugar Plums

I purchased two different gingerbread house kits this year.

Then we added some additional candy.

My kids had so much fun... What a mess...

But it was worth it.

The Christmas Tree Farm

Going to the tree farm and cutting down our own tree.
A tradition born with our move to the country twelve years ago.

My Bookworm found a baby tree.

We finally decide on a White Fur.

To see more Photostory Friday posts head over to

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

Twelve Days of Christmas

I continue to have a love/hate relationship with Christmas letters.
I love getting letters from others, I hate trying to write one for our family.

This year I came up with a way to let people know what we have been up to while giving a nod to the familiar 12 days of Christmas song. I had to change some numbers to reflect the real frequency of things in our lives.

In the year 2008 my true life gave to me …

1000+ ground squirrels in the vineyard
106 gymnastic classes
88 karate lessons
25 cases of wine
21 play rehearsals
12 beach days with boogie boarders
10 bins of fruit at harvest
8 diving classes
5 furry kitties that make sure there are …
NO MORE MICE
4 wine events
3 school calendars
2 sets of keys locked in the truck
And 1 black belt for my true love

See You Soon

Contrary to what I like to believe, I can't do it all!

I have to focus on my day job, selling wine, and my family.

I am taking a blogging break for a few weeks.

Most of the world's wine is sold between October and December.

See ya in a couple weeks.

Tuesday Tales - A Beautiful Feast

I am guest posting again at AVT Coach with a Tuesday Tale.
The holiday season is upon us and with many feasts planned I was reminded of this book.

A Beautiful Feast for a Big King Cat is written by John Archambault and Bill Martin JR. The beautiful illustrations are by Bruce Degen.

I love children's literature, and I have many favorites about cats. This is certainly due to the influence of my Bookworm who is a cat lover. She loved cats at a very young age and now her love of cats has grown to include leopards, tigers and lions. She and the Artist are both animal planet junkies.

I found this book many years ago in a scholastic book form and ordered it for my then three year old cat lover. She loved the rhythm of the language and as time went by we could explore the more complex lessons and the moral found in this book.

For the full review hop on over to AVT Coach.

The story involves a litte mouse who teases a cat and learns it is a dangerous game. In the end the mouse gets himself out of trouble by using his imagination.You will miss the magic of this book if you only read it a few times! As the child anticipates the story and memorizes the text they will join in with the rhythmic rhyming verse. We read this story at least 100 times before my daughter could read and then again we enjoyed it as she was learning to read. A true gem.

I will finish this post with a quote from one of the author's Bill Martin Jr. who incidentally didn't read until he was in college and became an expert at hiding his own illiteracy.

"A blessed thing happened to me. I had a teacher who read to me." Bill Martin Jr.

Mud Anyone?

How about some pond scum?

Ah yes, the joy of living in the dirt country.

I am playing wordless Wednesday at five minutes for mom.

Faces of Freedom

To honor Veterans Day, we visited a local Memorial.

The local news interviewed my bookworm about Veterans Day.

In November 1919, President Wilson proclaimed November 11 as the first commemoration of Armistice Day with the following words: "To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations…"