We put up our lights!

In spite of being sick, (and having to buy lots of new ones because so many had broken!) Craig finished putting up our Christmas lights tonight.  The girls LOVE them!

Lighting two Candles and Stringing Popcorn

Tonight we got to light two candles on our advent wreath.  We ate our pizza dinner by the candlelight.  We then had some fun stringing popcorn and cranberries to decorate our tree.  The girls were so good at it!

Our Ward Christmas Party

We had a great time at our ward Christmas party.  I spent the first half in the kitchen helping make food and dish plates, but I got to enjoy the second half with my family enjoying the dinner, watching a puppet show and enjoying Santa's visit!!  The girls had a blast, except Ceci.  She's been a bit of a grump lately, and obviously, she didn't like Santa!!  We had to appease her with a candy cane.

We got our Christmas Tree!

I love it when we finally get our Christmas tree!  It smells sooooooooo good!  We were all sick after Thanksgiving so it took us a little while to get out and get our tree.  We're probably going to take our time decorating it because we want to make some (if not all) of our ornaments this year.  We'll see how it goes!

Our Advent Wreath

We are starting a new tradition this Christmas!  We decided to make an Advent wreath to count down the time to Christmas.  We learned that advent is not just a countdown, but actually a time to prepare for the coming of a special person or event.  We are trying to do Advent to prepare ourselves for the birth of Jesus and the very special event that that is.  We cut some pine branches from our tree and wired it onto a ring.  Then we put candles in it. The girls helped me and decorated it with pine cones.   Advent is celebrated every Sunday, the 4 Sundays prior to Christmas.  So we started today, December 2.  We sang a song, read a verse, lit one candle and enjoyed the candlelight!!  Next week we will light 2 candles.

Visiting Underwood Family Farm

There is a beautiful farm out in Moorpark that we love.  They have lots of animals and produce.  We went there yesterday and it was a beautiful and hot day for late November.  Bella and Lala got to ride the ponies.  We tried to put Ceci on one, but she instantly cried!  We got to feed goats, horses and alpacas.  We saw ducks, chickens, pigs, turkeys, and more. We had a great time.

Our Thanksgiving

We had the most simple and quiet Thanksgiving we've had in years.  Usually, we go out to dinner on Thanksgiving day with Craig's family.  Then the next day we get together with all of my family (now 30 of us!) at my sister's Brenda's home. Brenda would make the turkey and the rest of us each took a side dish (which meant I did very little).  The kids would get crazy and we'd have a great time.

With my sister gone this year and our families getting bigger, we each had our own family celebrations.  I don't think we've ever cooked the whole meal ourselves until this year and I have to say it was really fun!!  We decided to do everything organic.  We went to Whole Foods and Trader Joe's and got our turkey, potatoes, yams, stuffing, rolls, etc., all organic.  (Craig took a picture at the new Whole Foods because we had just gotten a new camera!)  

I decided that we would make an apple pie from scratch the day before.  We got organic flour, butter, apples, even organic sugar!  Bella and Lala LOVED helping make the pie.  They peeled apples, helped stir them while they cooked, helped make the dough, roll the dough, and put the top on.  Here's a picture of Lala crimping the top to close it (excuse Bella in the other pic for being in her panties, but Ceci was smiling too cute!)  

On Thanksgiving, after the turkey was in, I took the girls out to gather leaves and we made placemats with leaf rubbings.  The girls helped Craig to peel the yams, the potatoes, and later mash them.  They totally LOVE helping in the kitchen.  I have realized this also keeps them out of mischief.  They helped set the table too, and helped make a bouquet of marigolds for our centerpiece. Ultimately, our meal was delicious, and we had a wonderful day.  I am so thankful for all of my blessings.  I try to live that was every day.

The Elves Faire

The Elves Fair is one of my favorite things in the world!!  It is a big fair put on by the Pasadena Waldorf school.  We went last year and it literally changed my whole life!!  I had never even heard of it, but Waldorf is a philosophy and a way of life that is very simplicity and family oriented. I feel that it backs up Mormonism/Christianity.  I am learning and using Waldorf curriuculum in home schooling my girls.

Anyways, the Elves Fair was a blast. 

 There were lots of fun crafts to do including candle-making, fairy-making, magnet-making.  The girls and I did all of these.  They also decorated oranges with cloves, and decorated tin mugs.    Lorell and I and our kids had a delicious tea party, too.  Wish I could have taken a picture of John C. Riley (the actor) holding Ceci.  His kids go to Waldorf and he and Craig talked while waiting in line so he asked if he could hold her.

Am I really that old?? My 20 year reunion!!

Has it really been 20 years?  I thought I was still in my mid-twenties, but I guess that can't be.  Anyways, the reunion was great.  It was so fun to see old friends, especially my friend Jackie, because I hadn't seen her in 10 years.  We all had a great time.  Everybody was so down to earth, it was nice.

Halloween Fun

We had a really fun Halloween!  Bella was the Lavender fairy, Lala was the Rose fairy and Ceci, the Sweet pea fairy. I made Bella and Lala's crowns and wands from real flowers.  I made Ceci's hat from felt. I BOUGHT their costumes.  We did lots of fun stuff.  Our homeschooling group had a party and we watched Granada school's parade go by in front of the house.  Our dear friends, the Peays, had a really fun party which served dinner and then we all went trick-or-treating together.  The girls chose a few pieces of candy to keep but left the rest on our porch for the Halloween fairy.  In the morning they found that she'd left them a beautiful fairy tent!

Gymnastics Class

Well, today was the last day of a gymnastics class the girls were taking.  They enjoyed it a lot.  Their teacher's name was Logan and he worked really well with the kids.  We're taking a break for now just to be mellow for the holidays, but hopefully, we'll start back in the new year!

The Legendary Tom Waits

Today Craig and I had a fantasy fulfilled.  We saw the incomparable Tom Waits in concert.  He has not performed in California since 1999.  It was at the Bridge School Benefit put together by Neil Young and his wife Pegi.  We had the most amazing time.  We drove up to Mountain View to see this show.  Neil Young opened the show with "Sugar Mountain." It took our breath away.  We went on to see Regina Spektor, Sara and Tegan, My Morning Jacket, John Mayer.  But we were just waiting for Tom to come on.   In fact, I was just DYING for John Mayer to end because I couldn't wait anymore.  It was so great when Tom finally came out.  He was backed by the Kronos Quartet and they were fantastic.  Tom put on an incredible performance.  We loved every song and were so happy that he started with some old stuff.  He was also hilarious!!  Before he did his last song, he said "You know, . . . I learned at a very early age that I could hypnotize chickens."  He also went on about how he used to swallow dice during the prohibition and how it looks good on a resume.  The concert continued with performances by Jerry Lee Lewis and Metallica.  For all you Tom Waits fans out there, he did:

• Down in the hole
• Cold, cold ground
• Little drop of poison (played in Shrek II)
• The part you throw away
• God's away on business
• The day after tomorrow
• What keeps mankind alive
• Diamond in your mind
  

 If you care to, you should youtube this show.  It was out of this world!

I made a doll today!!

Today I went to an all day workshop where I learned how to make a doll from very basic materials.  We used all cotton fabric, 100% wool for stuffing, and needles and thread.  Our teacher told us that we were "ensouling' our dollies. (Giving them their soul)  It really felt like that.  I had the most wonderful time.  Once I had sewn on the eyes, I started to fall very in love with this baby.  I made her for Ceci so I tried to make her look like her.  I couldn't wait to show her to the girls.  They all loved her!!  I bought kits to make one for each of my big girls and one for myself!!  I hope I can make the time to have them done for Christmas!

Oak Glen Orchard with the Schof's

Today my dear friend Lorell Schofield and I took our children out to Oak Glen in Yucaipa where there are lots of apple orchards.  We went to a place where we could pick our own apples and watch them press fresh apple cider.  It was a beautiful day and the kids had a great time picking and eating the apples.  We went to lunch and had grilled cheese with apples on it, and apple dumplings for desert!  It was a fun autumn thing to do!  

A Tea Party in Cambria

On the way home from the Renaissance Faire, we drove through Cambria and stopped at a Tea Parlor to have afternoon tea-- it was delicious!!

The girls were so well behaved.  We then took a stroll on the boardwalk and then down to the ocean.  Cambria is Beautiful!