We are still recovering from our vacation on the Big Island.  Before I blog on that, I wanted to write about the monthly birthday party that Ikea puts on for kids.  I had signed up for n earlier this year, but someone was sick (can’t remember who), so we had to cancel.  This month, I signed up for k.  You can bring a maximum of 2 adults and 3 kids and it is entirely free.

We started out by making cute snowman photo frames.

Petals the Clown was running the show.  She did face/arm painting for all of the kids.

She also did a magic show, which the kids enjoyed.

(k is smiling funny because I told her to show her missing tooth, which she lost just a few days before).

Each birthday kid received an art set—cool!

The kids each received a kids meal.  The choice was either a hot dog or pizza, so I ordered one of both and had them split.  They had extra meals in the end, so I had a piece of pizza too!

There was also birthday cake for everyone (adults too).  It was a black forest cake with cherry filling, and was actually really good!  I hope they still have these celebrations for n’s birthday next year.

The kids sang during our church’s annual Christmas program.

On Sunday afternoon, k went to a classmate’s birthday party @ Pump It Up!  We made it back in time to see Santa at the pool.

Not sure why n is wearing his tie on his jeans.

Then we went straight to my parents’ house for an early celebration of k’s 7th birthday.  The cake topper is a HK ornament she can add to her Christmas collection.

Seven years.  Oh my.

Here are some glimpses of our Christmas merriment:

These Chocolate & Cranberry Rolls from Trader Joe’s are SO GOOD!  In the store, they were toasting them up and putting a little butter on them.  I would suggest you do the same.

I made 48 reindeer cupcakes for a kids’ Christmas party.  This was my original, based on an idea found on Pinterest.  It looked kind of goofy, so I modified it to this:

Much cuter, no?

We visited this house at 2351 Caper Tree Drive in Tustin after reading an article in the OC Register about the over-the-top decorations.  You have to see this guy’s garage:

CRAZY!  He collects canned food for donations, which I thought was a nice gesture. 

Watching the kids ooh and aah over the little details together really warmed my heart.  k even put her arm around n while they were talking about everything, and it was just too cute. 

The house is on a cul de sac, and a few of the other houses have pretty impressive displays as well, including one that is synchronized to music.  If you are in the area, I suggest you check it out. 

It turns out I spoke waaay too soon when I said it was fortunate that the rest of our family did not get sick.  k was better for a full week, and then n got the stomach flu.  I was the next victim, with D following not far behind.  It was really awful, but we’re better now, thank goodness. 

The Christmas season is upon us, and there is a lot to do.  Yesterday I went to a women’s breakfast at church, and our whole family went to a Christmas concert/play at a local church in the evening.  Both of these events helped to focus my heart on Jesus’ birth, which is often lost in the busyness of the season.

A Christmas vignette from k’s room.

We had a nice Thanksgiving dinner at my parents’ house two days ago.  My BIL made a delicious turkey, my sister made a scrumptious pumpkin cheesecake, and I volunteered for the easy sides: asparagus, rolls and salad.  My mom made the rest of the sides, and it all turned out well, I thought.

We started out with an early afternoon walk around Peters Canyon, which has become a sort of tradition.  It was good to burn off some calories pre-dinner.

Bird-watching

Cousin love—(maybe a little too much!)

Kids’ table

“Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!”—Psalm 107:1.

As previously mentioned, k was sick with the stomach flu two weeks ago, pretty much from Wed.-Sat. night.  Fortunately, none of us caught it, and she has fully recovered.

n wrote this sweet letter to k, completely of his own volition.  (I helped with the spelling, though.)

Since we were stuck at home, I broke out the Lego Holiday Post Office Set I received last year.  Working on a set that is designed for twelve years + with a six year old and a four year old is not the easiest thing in the world.

I’ll have to take a picture when it is done—we’re still working on it.

Luckily, k was recovered in time to go on her Girl Scout field trip to Logan’s Candies in Ontario.  She was able to form her own warm candy cane!