I’m not even going to explain why I’m 6 weeks behind. I’m just going to post these as if I’m not that behind.

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eloise: you got to go ice skating for the very first time. Your Dada was bursting with pride as he helped you glide across the ice. You loved it so much. You stayed out on the ice for a whole hour and you and Dada were the last to leave the ice.

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eloise: fly little owl, fly!!

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eloise: We spent the week in Boston for Thanksgiving. The weather was cool and crisp. And we packed it full of lots of fun, like always. You were a little disappointed there was no snow, but we found you a giant pile of leaves… and you were happy.

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eloise: While in Boston, we got to bring you to The Eric Carle Museum. My all time favorite little museum. You enjoyed it very much (in fact we had to take you out screeching). You look so grown up in this iphone photo. Some days I wonder where all those baby days went.

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eloise: We’re lacking photos from last week, so one more goodie from the Boston trip.
This girl. She can be so tough to the point of bringing me to tears. But then that same day can make me cry tears of joy. Spunky, strong-willed and boisterous. My little love.

One day I will start posting regularly and on time again, but as for now, here’s last weekend’s Halloween shenanigans. Ellie had a bit of a cold over the weekend, so we tried not to over do it, but man this child is hard to keep calm. She’s  bouncing off the walls no matter what. She did go out on Halloween. We didn’t stay out too long, but our neighborhood is always incredibly busy and crazy on Halloween night. Ellie went a couple blocks and then was just as happy passing out candy till way past her bedtime. She dressed up as Kiki from Kiki’s Delivery Service (her favorite Friday night movie).









The end of the weekend we laid low. Spent most of it at home, until Sunday afternoon when we headed up to Carpinteria for their Dia De Los Muertos Festival and Parade. I thought it would be a neat cultural event for all of us to attend and it certainly was. Ellie wasn’t scared by the Sugar skulls at all. She followed the small parade and danced behind them all the way down the avenue. I made her a little set of sugar skulls, we read (I paraphrased most of it) this book and talked about things that were dead or gone. She remembered the “dead shark we saw on the beach” and the “dead possum who fell out of the tree”. So, we remembered the shark and possum and a few others who have left us too soon. I don’t think she understood much of what it was all about, but was touched that she remembered the shark and possum. We only just skimmed the surface when it comes to talking about death and since she’s only 3, I don’t think she needs to understand or know much more right now. But, it was a fun and very interesting event we got to attend and experience.

(p.s. the day after Halloween the switch witch came and took most of Ellie’s candy and replaced it with goodies (that Halloween Bunny was a last-minute request).

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eloise: deep in exploration on a sunny, hot afternoon in October

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eloise: (instagram photo) Halloween 2015 Kiki from Kiki’s Delivery Service!

Okay, I’m finally getting to posting photos from the last couple of weekends. My computer has been down and my phone wasn’t allowing me to blog with photos, plus I’ve been crazy busy with orders and Ellie things and life…. but I’m here now. I’m missing this space terribly and really need to get back into the groove here. Find the time to get things posted.

So, big news… I went away without Ellie for the very first time, and we both survived! We had been prepping for months for this trip. One of my very best friends got married in Colorado and it just wasn’t feasible for Ellie to come. Jeff stayed behind with her and although the nights were a bit hairy at times (this was the first time she couldn’t have Mama’s milk at night), she did really well. I felt very comfortable leaving her with her Dada, and I think it helped them bond a little bit more too. The wedding was fantastic! I had the very best time with my oldest friends.



(photo by Lyndsey Burr)

(photo by Mike Cuffe)

Since the wedding weekend, we’ve been busy getting ready for Halloween and hoping it starts getting cooler around these parts. It’s been 80 to 90 for quite some time. We headed to an Octoberfest birthday party a couple of weekends ago and then to the pumpkin patch last weekend.






This past weekend we also made a visit to the beach to run around and get away from our hot house.



This week we’ve been attending all sorts of Halloween parties and get-togethers. It’s been a busy but fun couple of weeks.




Hoping your Halloween weekend is a fun one!!

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eloise: An autumn walk in the 90 weather we’ve been continuously having lately. It’s been making all of us a bit grumpy and longing for some sort of seasons.

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eloise: A visit to the pumpkin patch. This year you were very into finding “the perfect pumpkin”. We ended up leaving with a barrel full of “perfect” pumpkins.

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eloise: One of our artist study photos. Your first time exploring oil pastels. You drew a ballerina, “just like Degas”. (This was after you did your own ballet show for me in your Ana costume).

Okay, so it’s almost NEXT weekend now…. I’m trying. Keeping up with everything has been tricky…. my poor blog has really gotten the brunt of it though….

Last weekend, was Jeff and my 6th anniversary. We spent it at the Avocado festival in Carpinteria with friends. It was a fun night!






Then on Sunday, we had my Grandmother’s 80th birthday bash out in Los Angeles. It was a really, really fun day with family. A mini family reunion! Ellie had a blast with cousins from all over and  I had a really nice time reconnecting with lots of family I hadn’t seen in a while.

Oh it was such a nice weekend. We were very busy and battling yet another sick bug, but this time, it was just a little cold and it didn’t slow down my child. No way. So we kept on truckin’. Saturday, I had a book club date with some Mama friends. And then we spent the rest of the day hanging out with my parents and siblings. Ellie enjoyed playing with my brother and his girlfriend (one of her favorite people of all time). Sunday, was a big trip though. We have been talking about trees and then moved into apple trees and Johnny Appleseed and on and on. All of this leading up to this day trip to San Luis Obispo to go apple picking with my childhood best friend and her family (who live up there). It’s about a two-hour drive and something we usually do not do with our child who has never liked the car. But there is no where close by the apple pick and I thought we could do it, now that she’s 3 and easier in the car then before. It turned out to be a wonderful day. Both car rides went very well (despite Ellie not taking any nap) and we enjoyed our time immensely at the orchard and then down in Shell Beach where my friends live. The evening ended with the most divine sunset I had ever seen. Certainly a day we will remember.


(I surprised her with the amazing Johnny Appleseed doll. I had been coveting it from Aly Parrot’s etsy store and instagram feed and after a sleepless night, I knew we had to have it. I sewed him up a little apple bag for Ellie to carry him around in (because I knew she’d want to bring him) and surprised her the night before we went to the apple orchard. She’s had him for two days now and has not put him down.

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eloise: the drama that is 3 so far is both at times, hilarious and exhausting. There is never a dull moment with you… ever.

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eloise: Happiness for you is eating corn on the cob in an apple farm, standing in front of “Van Gogh’s sunflowers” with Johnny Appleseed around your neck. Life is good.

(playing a bit of catch up here…. I had computer issues and this post never got published….)

Ellie has loved this whole “Artist for tea” thing. Van Gogh is part of the family now. He goes to Whole Foods, rides along in the car and talks to Ellie daily. We were in Michael’s the other day and she saw a Van Gogh coloring book and immediately knew who it was. But these past few days, Ellie has asked if “someone new is coming? A new artist”. So, we’re moving on. Van Gogh went back to France and Jackson Pollock has come to stay with us for a while. (and yes, those are pumpkin O’s Ellie has shared with Jackson).

We read a fantastic book about Pollock called Action Jackson. Great illustrations and Ellie was captivated by the rhythm of this story. I also let her watch a you tube video of Jackson Pollock actually painting. I  found these little cartoons about artists. They are a bit jarring for my taste but, I liked that they introduced artists in a way that Ellie seemed to understand and enjoy, even if I didn’t quite appreciate the noisy cartoonish-ness. The next couple of days, I set up a few painting like-Pollock activities. We did a full-scale large canvas:

And a spinning top with paint activity as well as dropping paint from a ladder ( we used her high chair).
It was certainly a fun art experience. We talked about movement while painting and explored texture (paint, upon paint) and using different materials to paint with, like Pollock did. I’m not sure looking at his paintings were exactly her cup of tea (mine either), but I sure learned a lot about this fascinating man and very much respect the talent he had. I’m wanting to rent the movie Pollock for Jeff and I to watch after Ellie goes to bed. Anyone seen it?

We are moving on to Paul Cezanne next week. I normally wouldn’t switch artists this quickly. I like staying with one artist for as long as we can, but I really liked the idea of incorporating Cezanne’s apple paintings into our Autumn and Johnny Appleseed festivities.

Another very warm weekend. A baby shower and fun morning with Mama friends (every one of my friends seems to be pregnant these days, so baby showers are a weekly occurrence) ;). Some crafting. A chance encounter with the same chalk festival down by the beach. And a lovely walk on the beach with my favorite two people in the world. Good weekend.