Hotel Del

Christmas at the Hotel Del is simply beautiful.  The white lights outside, the beautiful decorations inside the hotel...definetly a must do for the Bijan crew each holiday season. 

This year was even more exciting as Bella went ICE SKATING for the first time!  W(e thought she may last for like 15 minutes, but she skated for over an hour and was LOVING it.  Bijan was a very good teacher and Bella was BEAMING. (might I add...this was a very expensive skating experience....$45 bucks for the TWO of them to skate). Caleigh opted for the ice cream over the ice skating-which I think worked out best as I have no idea how Bijan would have taught the two of them at the same time. 

Bella woke up this morning and asked if she could go ice skating again.  :)

So fun!

Christmas Sing

The Village Nursery School put on their annual Christmas Sing. Soooo adorable.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFvPlBWh3bs

Christmas Spirit

So its our annual tradition to go to Santa's "San Diego" house. This generous family opens up their doors to the public for 2 weeks, for 2 hours each night.  Their house is decorated like no other house I've seen before. Santa and Mrs. Claus are their each night, the kids each get a present, AND they have free cider, hot chocolate and cookies.  Its the most amazing display of Christmas Spirit.

Tons of inflatable decorations.  They even had an inflatable tv screen, showing Xmas movies...

The girls weren't so sure about Santa.  They wanted mom and dad to go with them. 

They made sure to tell him that we'll be at Nana's on Christmas morning...

One of the many rooms at Santa's house...

The jungle room...the girls favorite.

The outdoor area...

So fun!

the bins and bins of toys that the kids can take home-wow!

xo

                                     check it out! 17868 Joyas Court , Poway , CA

Buca de Bella

For Bella's 5th birthday party, we had a cooking party. 12 friends. Our house. A lot of prep. The kids made pizzas, fruit shish kabobs, and decorated cupcakes. I went to Little Italy to buy the dough..what if the kids pizzas didn't turn out after all that work?  So I made the extra effort, to get the "good" ingredients, and I am so glad I did!  The pizzas turned out really good!  The kids had a blast and Bella was just so happy.  All the work was totally worth it. 

FIVE!

How is my "baby" FIVE years old!? Geesh, five feels old. She' s not a baby anymore. A little girl now.  Oh how I love my Bella.  I love the way she crawls into bed with us each morning when she wakes up and asks me to spoon her.  I love that she loves bagels just as much as her mommy. I love how proud she is of herself when she makes her bed and gets herself dressed each day.  I love her sense of style...putting together all kinds of different colors, and fabrics, and looks---somehow she pulls off each of those fabulous looks. I love how she adores her little sister and views her not only as her sister, but also her best friend.  I love the way sh squeals when her daddy comes home from work and she is just so sincerly happy to see him. I love that she could sit in a bath tub daily for over an hour if time permited.  I love how she goes into my closet and walks around in my highest most inappropriate shoes for a 5 year old. I love that she asks for "meetings" with her friends or family,if they need to work something out.  I love the dimples in her cheeks.  I love her kind and big heart.  I love the way she smiles, the way she laughs.  I love the person Bella has become at 5 years old.

Happy Birthday to Miss Bella.  December 15th is one of those incredible days that will forever bring a smile to my face and heart.

We GET to go to Sea World.

Sea World...again.  I was talking to this really kind woman at the doctor's office. As we got to talking, she was sharing how powerful a simple shift in words was....instead of saying, "I have to...." change it to "I get to....".  When I got home, we asked the girls what they felt like doing today.  What do they say....again....Sea World. Don't get me wrong, Sea World is fun, but we go to Sea World....a lot.  Instead of saying we have to take the girls to SW again... I shifted my thinking to we GET to take the girls to SW. And let me tell you, it completely changed my attitude and we had one of the best times at Sea World!  :)

Trolley time

These girls of mine have a thing for riding the trolley.  Whenever I ask what they feel like doing they want to ride on the big red trolley. This time I am not sure what was more fun...the trolley ride itself, the curling iron kiosk that curled Caleigh's hair, or the ice cream treat we had.  :)

Acacia Mae

Little Acacia Mae....she is sooo dang cute. Such a sweet little baby. Kevin and Kayla are such wonderful parents.  They are SO in sync with one another, with Acacia....its just beautiful.  We haven't had a baby around in a few years... I forgot the way they feel, the way they sound, the way the smell....sooooooo good.  I am so proud of Kevin for embracing fatherhood in such a kind, sweet, loving, sincere and generous way.

Trick or Treat

The kids were on fire with trick or treating this year. Caleigh definetely wasn't a fan of any "spooky" decorations...she needed mom or dad to hold her hand on those houses.  The kids were running from house to house and after each and every house, so excited and happy to get "another piece of candy"!!  Fun night with friends indeed!

(she was soooo excited to meet the "real" wonder woman!)

Sleepover time!

The girls had a sleepover at Omi's and Grandpa Stan and Bijan and I had a sleepover at Dave and Janine's.  Great night for all.

Janine's been having Halloween parties for yearS. Always lots of drinks, music and of course...jello shots. (uh oh).  Bijan and I were ready to get our party on as we were "free" for the night/morning. My feet were hurting in the morning (not to mention my head) from all the dancing.

School-o-Ween

Sooo cute to see all the kiddos all dressed up. Lots of princesses, action figures, Minnie Mouse, Dorothy, kitty cats. Happy to say that my girls were the only action heros in the bunch!

The parade up to the sanctuary for the Halloween sing along.

The kids walked the "parade" route up to the sanctuary for music and songs with Miss Monica. The kids sang about 5 or so songs. Sooo cute.  After the sing along the kids each had a class party. Bijan came too. Special to have Daddy come to school.  I did facing painting in both Bella and Caleigh's classroom. I think I busted out 20 or so butterfly eyes that day-probably more.  It was a fun day.

The Yellow Room

The Blue Room