A neighbor offered us persimmons from their family’s tree in California. Yes, please! Well, I think they dropped off all of them:) So we started with persimmon butter and persimmon ice cream (kid approved!). Next up is persimmon pudding and gingerbread persimmon cake.

Maligayang Pasko! Merry Christmas! Disney released a Christmas themed short film this year focused on an annual tradition between a Lola and granddaughter making a parol together, a star-shaped lantern seen all over the Philippines during the holiday season. Holmes’ teachers also did an art project focused on parols today too! So, we absolutely needed to watch the film tonight. What a treat to see this symbol of Filipino Christmas spirit celebrated!

Settings? What settings? These kids love to joyride, and press all the buttons…rocking out with the bass pumped up:)

And dare I say we are…HOT! And, the cleanup crew is taking care of business.

Pizza night! After the heater installation, we felt an easy dinner celebration was just what our bellies wanted. Good thing as these kids love black olives…specifically cooked on a pizza, picked off, and eaten separately. Forget those black olives straight from the can, the ones cooked on pizza are magic:)

And they were delicious. Did the kids eat them? Nope. Did we eat them all? Yep.

Have no fear of a lack of a heater here. Flannel sheets, fleece blankets underneath and on top, a space heater nearby…she’s enveloped in softness and warmth. Clothes optional.

Fireplace fires are serious business here.

Behold the Great Flapping Box Wing stork walking its way to Recyleville. It is a Big Year for birding, indeed.

Santa upped his visiting creativity by meeting with kids through the magic of the Internet this year! We are eager to see how the WAC captures this moment as we love our photo collection…and Sasha’s annual holiday outfits:) (It’s also snowing outside the whole weekend. ‘Tis the season! AKA, the blinds are closed to keep the heat in till our furnace arrives.)

Remember Highlights, the magazine? Oh yeah, we’re now subscribers.

Bonus, we’re heading into the weekend having not blown up the neighborhood. Our furnace blew yesterday and sprung a gas leak. Thanks to a late night energy company visit, the gas was shut off before we lit up the night sky. Thanks to a visit from the heating company today, we have a shiny new furnace arriving…Tuesday. Thanks to our neighbors, we have space heaters galore that are very successful at blowing fuses. Thanks to our deep log pile, we’ll be burning a fireplace fire through the weekend. And, thanks to Lola having a birthday tomorrow, we’ll be baking a cake - ahem, heating the kitchen too:)

We’ve rediscovered picture books as a helpful guide to reading letters and words! The tricky silent “g,” the “b” and “d” that look the same but face different directions, and don’t forget the “p” that flips them both upside down…reading letters a part of words is a lot more challenging when they’re set a part from the alphabet!