Every year I try to plan activities to go along with our advent calendar.  However, sometimes it is difficult to think of things for weeknights when we don’t really go out.  Tonight’s activity was “giant coloring page”, which I downloaded and printed out from Mr. Printables.  It took longer than expected to put together, but the kids had a lot of fun with it.  I think it will keep them busy for a good while!

Last night we went to the Christmas program held by a local church.  It consisted of instrumental and choral music, a play, and devotion.  There was an amazing piano player that was unreal—I would go back just to hear him play again.  It was almost two hours, but the kids sat through it all.  What a wonderful way to start off the Christmas season.   

k received an award at school today and I was able to attend the assembly.  She received the “Character Counts” award; this month’s focus was “respect”.  It was nice because the teachers prepared a short explanation of why each child received his/her award. 

At the end of the clip, when k is receiving her award, you can hear some of the girls in her girl scout troop cheering for her—aww, how encouraging.

Now we just have to make sure that “character counts” at home, too!  It is a good reminder for all of us. 

We opted out of fighting the crowds for Black Friday and went to the LA Zoo.  Beforehand we stopped in Silver Lake, aka hipster central, and checked out Intelligentsia.

We ordered a hot chocolate for the kids and a macchiato.

I thought the macchiato had a sour aftertaste, but what do I know?  I do not claim to be a coffee/espresso expert.  The hot chocolate was good—not too sweet, but again, it was a tad sour.  We added some of the hot chocolate to our macchiato and made our own mocha.

D was lamenting that he forgot to bring his beanie for the hipster photo op.  We figured out that all of his clothes are way too baggy for him to ever look like a hipster anyway. 

It’s all about the name/branding.  That’s why they can charge $7+ for our two drinks and we’ll willingly pay for the experience.

We are truly grateful to God for who He is and all that He has given to us. 

As part of our Thanksgiving tradition, we did a mini hike at Peters Canyon in the afternoon.

This time we took a different route on the Willow trail. 

I had fun taking pictures of the trees.  Some of them seem to be growing horizontally.  It was nice because the trees provided a lot of shade.  I cannot believe how warm it is still…this is November? 

As usual, my mom did the vast majority of the cooking.  As usual, everything was delicious. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

We’re on a roll with the soft openings.  On Saturday we went to Pieology at the Spectrum.  They gave away a free pizza or salad and drink for each person.

We again arrived one hour before opening.  We were the first ones, but a small crowd soon formed.  Fortunately, they let us in about twenty minutes early so we didn’t have to wait the full hour.  This time D came prepared with a magazine.  The kids entertained themselves.

n’s turning into a little ham.

The pizzas were good—nice crisp crust.  I thought the amount of topping was better at Blaze, though.  The pre-made salads had walnuts, but they were able to make a salad with walnuts in a separate container for us. 

I really like the branding of this place…down to the take-out boxes.

On Saturday morning I read that The Habit in Costa Mesa was having a soft opening and giving away a free hamburger, fries, and drink to each person who showed up.  Not being ones to turn down free food, we arrived at 11 a.m. even though the promotion did not start until noon.  Turns out, we were the only ones in line for a good 45 minutes—doh!  On the bright side, there was good family bonding time during our wait, without distractions.  D called one of our family friends that I thought lived close by and told them about it.  Turns out, they live only a couple of blocks away, and we were able to give them our booth by the time they ordered their food, so I was glad D called.  I’m sometimes reluctant to tell other people about our “good deal” hunting because I’m not sure if the deal will turn out to be worth it, whether they would be willing to wait a long time, etc.  

Open—Open—Open!  (Remember those Mervyn’s commericals?)  *For the record, n picked out his outfit.  He has been quite insistent on wearing a t-shirt and shorts these days, not caring whether they match or not.

By the time we ordered, which took quite a while, a good size line had formed.

In this case, we were able to choose any of the types of hamburgers, except the “double char”.  We had been to The Habit in Santa Ana, so we knew what to expect.  I like how the bun is toasted, and that the standard comes with lettuce, tomato, pickles and grilled onions.  The employees were all enthusiastic and asked us how we were doing numerous times.  I hope this new location does well. 

Before we know it, Thanksgiving will be upon us.  However, I don’t want to miss out on posting some pictures from Halloween.  It was a fun-packed day.  I took the day off from work and 1. Walked k to school and stayed for the beginning of her Halloween parade.  2.  Took n to his speech therapy class.  3.  Took n to his preschool Halloween party and stayed to help.  4. Took both kids to a community Halloween event (see train ride picture). 5.  Went to our neighborhood pizza party and witnessed the Gangnam Style performance from my previous post.  (n is now doing the dance—uh oh).  6.  Went trick-or-treating around the neighborhood.  By the end, the kids finally had the hang of saying “Trick or Treat?” and “Thank You!”  Put a bowl of candy out since we were out trick-or-treating.  7.  Collapsed into bed.  Three minutes later, n called out from his room…”Mommy, me have a lot of candy, right?”  k reassured him that yes, he still had a lot.

Dividing the candy stash (with a separate pile for the candy with nuts—for mom and dad!)

For more than a year, my state quarter collection has been *almost* complete.  I was just missing New Mexico.  Yesterday, I started trying to follow Money Saving Mom’s 4 Weeks to a More Organized Home.  The first assignment was to clean out my purse.  I was going through my extra change, and sure enough, there was New Mexico!  I felt like my attempt at organization was instantly rewarded!

I am pretty exhausted from all of our Halloween activities today.  However, I had to share this video of some of the boys at our neighborhood Halloween party—too funny.