party day

today was all about fun. i started my day at an elegant ladies luncheon at a friend's house. we had a simple gift exchange and a delicious lunch that looked like it could be served at a five star restaurant. it was so fun to be with all the girls.

later i met my husband and kids at a family party close by. this party is one we go to every year. it is at my dad's friend's car shop that has rooms intricately designed to look like movie sets from the past. there is always a band and lots of food and drinks. my kids love to play in the soda shop or sit at the piano in the salon.

the whole family comes to this party and it is always a lot of fun. there is tons of people there and the atmosphere is very family friendly. it gives me a small town feeling that is very nice to be a part of during the holidays.

picking out a tree

we had a lovely morning. today was nice and sunny and was the perfect day to pick out our christmas tree. we went to our usual home depot where we can always get a nice tree for a good price. it is not quite as romantic as a tree lot but the kids enjoy the process just the same and we save about $40.00.

we got a really pretty tree this year. i think it is perfect. we just got lucky. miles only had to unwrap three trees before we found this one.

i love the look of a tree strapped to the top of a car. it is so fun to see everyone driving home with a tree on their roof. the kids were crazy excited to help unload it.

our tree is now safely inside with twinkly lights on it. we still didn't finish decorating but the kids put lots of ornaments on it and it is looking really pretty. i think i will finish it tomorrow.

cookie party

after the recital we had to rush home, change clothes, and head off to a cookie exchange party in huntington beach. i was up super early yesterday morning and late the night before baking all my cookies for the party and printing the recipe. this year i made cranberry-orange pinwheels. they are super good. i make them every year at christmas time. they are pretty easy to make and really pretty without being too fussy. my sister jen made these incredibly cute spice cookies that look like melted snowmen. i loved them.

we were an hour late to the party and most people were already leaving. that was a bit of a drag but because we are such good friends with the host i didn't feel weird hanging out after the other people left. in fact, it was kind of nice to have time to sit and chat. the kids went straight upstairs and had a great time playing with all the toys. they were so funny. connor was rocking out on a microphone singing the ninjago theme song. mason and the rest of the kids were building with magna blocks and jumping on a mini trampoline. they all seemed to be getting along great so we just sat downstairs and had a glass of wine. it was just a little bit of heaven to finally relax.

all the kids got to exchange gifts before we had to drive home. i brought home a box filled with a variety of cookies. i was so tired but it was a really fun day.

christmas recital

whew, what a busy day we had yesterday. dahlia had her christmas recital. she did great. i was not really worried about her. she loves to be on stage. she did a tap number to shake santa shake. it is kind of a strange song. i volunteered as a back stage mom this time. she likes having me backstage with her. the kids played hide and seek and watched arthur's christmas while waiting to go onstage. she had two performances at 11:00 and 2:00. most of my family came to see her at the 2 o'clock show. it was very sweet. jen and ray brought her flowers and christina and zena gave her a small gift.

i am kinda of annoyed that i didn't get a really good picture of her in her costume. she looked so cute. everything felt so rushed. we had an hour between shows to get lunch and then we had to be backstage again. oh well. i am so proud of her. she was so good and looked beautiful.

kidspace with daddy

miles and i took the kids to kidspace today. he had never been there before and it is really close to where we live. it seemed like a perfect outing. after being stuck in the house yesterday the kids were ready to run around in the sun. no rain today! we had the best time. i love kidspace. it was a bit crowded but not that bad. we still were able to enjoy all the exhibits.

miles helped them build a big robot out of these giant foam building blocks. we also spent time looking at all the shells, insects, and toy dinosaurs in the nature exchange room. dahlia and mason love the shells. it always makes me want to organize our shell collection.

we walked all around the outside and the kids got to play in the water for a little bit. it was such a fun visit. miles and i rarely get to take the kids somewhere with just the five of us so it was really nice. we got ice cream before it was time to go.

gingerbread house

today it rained and the kids were going crazy sitting inside all day. they needed a project. i decided it would be a perfect day to make our gingerbread house.

i bought a kit again because the real fun is decorating it and not making the cookie dough. i am all about easy this year. miles' mom is still visiting so she got to help.

i always bring out different candies than the standard ones that come with the set so we have more to play with. i am not sure if more candy went into the kids bellies or on the house though. they seemed to be sampling while we decorated.

this kit was super cute and came with fondant to roll out and make trim with it. it also came with two little gingerbread men to decorate and place in front of the house. miles helped us this time so the house looked really good when we finished. much more polished than last years house.

yes, it is officially christmas time. yikes! so much to do.

thanksgiving

today was thanksgiving and this year we celebrated together at my sister's house. i was happy to have the year off after the two kid parties. i don't know how i did it last year.

miles and i made our traditional cranberry sauce and mushroom gravy. i also made an artichoke dip and whiskey sours for the grown ups. we were running late this morning with all the cooking. for some reason we didn't make anything last night. we were too busy finishing up the shopping and cleaning. miles went and picked up his mom from the train station and i had to get the guest room ready.

we were a little late to christina's house but it was fine. she had all the tables decorated so pretty and a large chalkboard where we could all write what we were thankful for. i thought it was so sweet that dahlia wrote "mom and dad."

dinner was delicious and the kids looked so cute sitting at their own table. my sisters were going to go shopping after dessert but i chose to just go home. we have a long drive and i am not really interested in shopping on black friday. i will just do my shopping online in my pajamas.