Christmas Program

Here are a couple of pictures from the X-mas program at Isaac's preschool. The videos are below.

These are from our Ward's x-mas party. The last two video are of Isaac dancing. It was a great dinner and the DJ and dancing is always a plus with the kids.




Jim and I walked into the kids bedroom to find this. What crazy kids we have!

This is our X-mas tree this year. There is not 1 store bought ornament on it. Everything is homemade besides the candy canes. We have strung popcorn and strung colored noodles, art work that Isaac made and bell ornaments made from egg cartons that the kids painted. I think this is my favorite tree so far.


I would like to apologize for all of the videos. However, since family (aka grandparents) couldn't be in town to watch Isaac, I thought I could just video it and post it. So here it is.

Shower

Elizabeth LOVES taking showers. Well, she doesn't know any difference between a shower and a bath because we don't have a bath tub. Every time she hears the shower running, she comes running into the bathroom and tries to take her clothes off. Well this morning, Jim started running the shower so it could heat up and he had his back to Elizabeth. Well, she said forget it and hopped right in with all of her clothes on! She thought it was the greatest thing and didn't understand why we were making such a big fuss over it.

Feast Day, Earrings and Birthday Surprises

For Thanksgiving, Isaac participated in a Thanksgiving feast at his school. It was really cute. The kids all had different hat s on; Isaac's was a turkey on both sides with feathers glued on. They sang a song, said a prayer and then feasted on preschool friendly Thanksgiving items. Think cubed turkey, cheese, fruit mini rolls, mini cornbread muffins, etc.


I have always wanted to get Elizabeth's ears pierced but Jim has always been a bit more apprehensive about it. Well, we finally did it! I took the kids to the mall and had Elizabeth's ears pierced. Isaac was so excited that he was able to pick out the earrings that she would wear. he picked some crystal flowers. Elizabeth cried for about a minute and then she was fine sucking on her lolly pop. She always looked adorable but now I think she is even more so!

Jim turned 30 on the 18th and since Jim isn't the party type, I planned a couple outings to celebrate his Dirty Thirty. On his birthday we kept things simple and the kids gave him a cupcake cook book since he really enjoys decorating cakes. On Friday Jim and I went to the Oaks mall and bought VIP tickets to see HP7P1. We ordered lunch and ate it in our big love seat during the moving. We then went to the outlets in Camarillo where Jim was able top buy some shorts and running shoes. Lastly, on Saturday, it was the big event. I booked reservations for us to eat at the Gordon Ramsey at the London West Hollywood. Jim has been wanting to eat there for a few years so I thought this was an appropriate time. It was so nice to actually put a dress on, curl my hair and wear make up to go out with my husband. Below is what we ate. It didn't disappoint!!!! It was some of the best food I have ever eaten! After dinner we went up to the rooftop pool to look at the panoramic view of L.A. We enjoyed the view and the warm fire before leaving to go home. 3.5 hours later, we turned back into pumpkins and headed home with full bellies.

We started off with:
artisan bread and butter
toasted crackers with ricotta, mascarpone, truffle oil, extra virgin olive oil

Then we moved into the many courses of our dinner

Amuse Bouche
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Pork with blue cheese and sauteed figs
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Seared Hamachi
Ras el hanout spices | compressed watermelon | avocado | ponzu
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Potato Dumplings
Chanterelle mushrooms | foie gras | roasted tomato
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Sweet Butter Poached Lobster Tail
Summer corn | Baby Blue Lake green beans | sugar snap peas (It also came with potato crisps with truffle oil...so good!)
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Filet Mignon
Onion Jam, Chanterelle Mushrooms, SherryWine
mashed potato | piquillo pepper | tarragon sauce
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Artisanal Cheeses
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Valrhona Dark Chocolate Mousse
Praline crunch | caramelized banana | sudachi sorbet
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Pumpkin Soufflé
Gingerbread Ice Cream

Monday Funday

Today I took the kids to the beach. It was such a warm, beautiful morning. I am glad that I took my camera and took some pictures. The rest of the pictures are left overs from after Isaac's party.

November

November has been a bust month so far for us but we have been able to have a great time. One of the highlights has been Isaac's birthday. At his school I brought in brownies for the celebration and then we had a pirate themed party at our house with friends. Isaac was "pee your pants" excited for this party. We had scroll invitations that I made that had a rhyme type pirate-y saying, homemade pirate hats, a treasure hunt and a ton of cupcakes and a cake. The kids all had a great time pretending they were pirates and the treasure hunt and treasure map were a huge success!

The Rest of October

Orange and Blue Madness

We had a great time taking the kids to Orange and Blue Madness on campus. There were games, blow up jumpers, small rides and club booths along with a DJ, 2 In N' Out trucks, Dominoes pizza station and a Just desserts truck all of which were free! Isaac and Elizabeth had so much fun running around and playing while Jim and I thought it was awesome to get FREE In N' out! After the carnival, there was a big basketball game preview/pep rally. Isaac thought that was cool too. Pepperdine's mascot s a wave.

Disneyland

We had the opportunity to go to Disneyland with Jim's uncle, John and his family during Halloween time. Isaac had fun with his cousins and it was a treat to spend some time with family that we never get to see.

Northern California

We were able to make a quick trip up to the Bay Area and by quick I mean only 3 days. The main reason we went up was because I threw Melanie an "Under the Sea" baby shower. While we were up there, my grandpa celebrated his birthday so the whole family was able to get together for dinner and celebrate.

Halloween Celebrations

We had many Halloween celebrations. Our ward party was a chili cook off and a trunk or treat. The kids had a great time sliding down a homemade slide and getting a ton of yummy treats from people's trunks.
We also went to the Malibu Halloween celebration at the park across the street from our house where there was a costume fashion show, trick or treating, games and a bounce house.
The day before Halloween we took the kids trick or treating around our complex. The undergrads and the law students were so generous to pass out candy to my kids and the rest of the kids in the complex. The kids had a great time trick or treating together!
On Halloween we went to our friends, the Cox's, house. It was great because they have grandchildren the same age as Isaac and Elizabeth so they were well prepared for us. We had a Halloween themed dinner with mummy dogs, witches fingers, green jell-o and a meal in a pumpkin. Isaac also helped Becky make chocolate cat cookies.

Disneyland Again

The kids and I met up with my friends, Kelly, Rick and Jaime and their kids in Disneyland for the day. It was great seeing them and visiting with them. I went to elementary school with Kelly and Rick and high school with all three of them. All of our kids had a great time hanging out together as did we adults. Elizabeth became attached to Rick which was very sweet and Isaac seemed to adore him and Kelly as well.

Disney, School and Art

Disneyland

Last weekend BJ and Richard came down and we met up with them to go to Disneyland. On Friday night we left the kids with BJ and Richard so Jim and I could check out Electronica at California Adventure and ride the rapid ride. We then finished our date at the Cheesecake Factory sharing a huge slice of red velvet cheesecake which was awesome, might I add. It was nice to have some alone time. On Saturday we had a great time with everyone at Disneyland and had quite a long day.

Red Day

You might remember my post about Yellow Days, well now it is time for Red Days. For two weeks the kids focused on the color red and the shape of a rectangle. Here are some pictures and videos of the Red Days parade. The kids were also allowed during the Share Days to bring in something red to share with the class. One day Isaac brought his fire truck and the other day he brought El Torro Loco, his monster truck.

While Elizabeth and I were waiting for the parade to start, she mastered going down the slide by herself. She LOVES going to Brother's school and playing with all the kids and toys!

Art Class

On Wednesdays up in the faculty housing up in Drescher, the Graduate campus, some women faculty and faculty spouses put on an art class for the faculty kids. They let us mom's of students come too. It is very cute. They do singing, stories, a craft and a snack all corresponding with the theme. So far the themes have been apples. scarecrows and skeletons. The kids have a great time and it is nice for me to get to socialize with other moms. When the class is over, we just walk down from the club house to the park and let the kids play at the private park for a bit before we catch the shuttle back home.