Angel

Oh what fun it is to play... we are closing 2010 with lots of laughter and happiness!

Festival of Christmas Lights

We drove through glitzy River Oaks tonight to see the lights. Beautiful decorations with Santa and reindeer and snowflakes and toy soldiers and colors were all over. In the middle of it all a blue shark on a gate, huh? All in all, several houses could easily make the "Extreme Holiday Lights" list!

It was a fun Sunday evening stroll/drive.

Pigeon Point

Pigeon Point Light Station State Historic Park sits on a cliff along the California coast between San Francisco (50mi S) and Santa Cruz (27mi N). The 115-foot Pigeon Point Lighthouse is one of the tallest lighthouses in America and has been guiding mariners since 1872. Its five-wick lard oil lamp and first-order Fresnel lens, comprised of 1,008 prisms, was first lit at sunset on November 15, 1872. The lens stands 16 feet tall, 6 feet in diameter, and weighs 8,000 pounds. Although the original Fresnel lens is no longer in use, the lighthouse is still an active U.S. Coast Guard aid to navigation using a 24 inch Aero Beacon.



UnklStuart in Flickr shared some incredible shots of the original fresnel lens. In his shot above you see the current working light outside the window and the fresnel lens. Stuart was part of a team that cleaned the lens prior to it's annual lighting in November. While no longer in service, the fresnel lens is lit once a year on the anniversary of the first lighting in 1872!

The restored lighthouse keeper's housing operates as a Hostel. We've been a guest at Pigeon Point several times and it's always a wonderful experience to wake up to the sounds of the ocean. I took the photo at the top on our last visit a couple of years ago.

A "Big" Christmas Tree

I decided this year that I'd get a small 5.5-foot Christmas tree so the kids could trim it and reach all the way to the top. They were super excited when it came home a couple couple of weeks ago. We set off to decorate it together with small ornaments, ornaments they had made, we added lights, a few red globes and we were mostly done. Over the course of two weeks we've added a few more pieces as they've made additional ornaments at school and at home.

Yesterday, I was talking to Daniel's teacher and told her that I had chosen a small tree this year. Well, she told me that Daniel said that he had a BIG Christmas tree at his house. I guess it's all a matter of perspective and relative size!

Daniel is responsible for supplying the tree with water every morning. Our tree drinks about a cup of water a day.

Scratch-off flakes

Kaila's holiday party at school was a blast today. Pizza, chicken nuggets, chips, veggies, fruits, a bite for everyone. The kids made a frame for their class picture and decorated scratch-off snowflakes! To finish it off they had a book exchange - it was truly fun day at school.

I was happy to visit and spend time with the class today.

Snowflake Bentley

Dentrite Star


Star Crystal


How is it possible that I don't recall ever hearing about Wilson Bentley?! The most incredible snowflake photographer, born in 1865.

This winter, I'll be sure to check out some snowflakes upclose.

For the kid in everyone - Snowflake Bentley is a wonderful biography written by Jacqueline Briggs Martin and illustrated by Mary Azarian. The book is sure to captivate the imagination and curiosity of kids and adults alike!

Bentley's photographs are available in the public domain. I love the collection at the Smithsonian: "There are seven basic shapes of snowflakes: the Star Crystal, the Dendrite Star, Columns, Plates, Capped Columns, Needles, and Irregular Forms."

Photos by Wilson Bentley from the Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 31, Box 12, Folder 17, Negative no. 976 & Negative no. 332.

For a modern microphotography spin it's worth checking out Kenneth Liebbreth's book Snowflakes.

The windows in our computer/guest room have been decorated with snowflakes all year round, courtesy of Kaila. Kaila and I love to make the paper cutouts. It was specially fun and 'refreshing' to have them up through the 100-degree Summer days.

Urban Coyote

I was finishing up a run at dusk a few days ago when a coyote darted across the street right in front of me. The animal was running so fast it didn't even acknowledge I was coming. It continued on it's merry way without a blink which I was very thankful for...

Happiness

There is nothing like hearing your kids laugh spontaneously and worry-free. We had a great weekend!

Skating

Kaila found a new love last night - ice skating! She is all excited about going out to the rink again...

Elves and More

'Elves and More works in partnerships with local school districts in Houston to distribute bicycles to under priviledged kids. Students "earn a bike" by contracting with their teachers to make improvements in one of four areas: Academics, Attitude, Attendance or After-school activities. The contracts are signed by the student and teacher, as well as their parents in an effort to involve the greater community in the activities of both the school and their children. As the semester progresses the teachers use the "carrot" of the bicycle as an incentive to keep the students on task. Early in December the contracts are reviewed and all those that have made improvements in their chosen area are assured of a bicycle. The bicycles are distributed by volunteers (who have also built them) to the children at their schools, usually in December. Local communities, principals, administrators, students and parents are all involved in this process; which has a very positive impact in the greater community.' - Elves and More

Caroling

Daniel was super excited about Christmas caroling yesterday with his class. We were treated to Jingle Bells, The Dreidel, The Twelve Days of Christmas, Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeeer, and Santa Claus is Coming to Town - and yes... a surprise visit from Santa!

Rudolf was the most enthusiastic one for Daniel, we practiced it a lot the last couple of weeks at home and on our ride to school.

Dear Santa

Can you bring me a crystal ball?

Kaila and I traded secret Santa wishes. I can't tell hers, but I want a crystal ball.

The Story of the Orchestra

On my shopping list for the kids - The Story of the Orchestra by Robert Lavine. The book discusses the history of orchestral music, famous composers and instruments of the orchestra. A CD accompanies the book with selected pieces paired to specific pages. Beautifully illustrated by Meredith Hamilton.

The Snowman

A couple of years ago, we saw the animated short Snowman, based on the book by Briggs, with the score played live by the Houston Symphony. It was wonderful. Today, we were back at the Houston Symphony to see a family matinee of the Snowman. This time however, they did not play the movie. Someone narrated the story while the symphony played. Having seen the book and watched the movie where pictures alone tell the story - no words are spoken, I did not like this presentation as much. The real magic of the book is that the illustrations alone tell the story - you interpret it on your own.

After the performance, we joined friends for a holiday lunch and ended the outing with baking gingerbread cookies!

Letters and Friendship

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows.

The Perfect Front

A perfect cold front came through Houston yesterday morning, November 30th. My husband called and told me to look out the window. In the horizon, I saw this perfectly straight line of clouds crossing the city - I took a short break and snapped a few pictures... A co-worker sent me the NOAA satellite image.