Santa has arrived at The Shops at Mission Viejo and he’s waiting for you to come visit until December 24! Grab your wish list and head on down for a visit and special keepsake photos at the Santa Photo Experience! You’ll find Santa in his workshop, located downstairs in Why not make a reservation to see Santa? For more information and to make your reservation to see Santa, go here.
This year, The Shops at Mission Viejo is, once again, offering the Caring Santa program. This very special program is exclusive for families of children with special needs. This year’s event will be held on Sunday, November 20 from 9-10:30 a.m. To reserve your spot, go here. 
If you’re interested in having your pet photographed with Santa, you can register here for Santa Pet Photos, which will be held on Sunday, November 13 from 6-7 p.m., after mall hours. There is no fee to register but please make a reservation. 
Don’t miss out on this year’s festive Kidgits Holiday Extravaganza! The event will be held on Saturday, December 17 in the Center Court from 8:30-10:30 a.m. For more information about Kidgits Club, go here. 
Connect with The Shops at Mission Viejo on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
I absolutely adore my 31 first graders this year! They are the cutest bunch of kids and are so sweet and eager to learn every single day. They also like to give me tons of hugs and even share their snacks with me
.It’s a sweet gesture when one of them hands me a snack and I’d never want to crush their spirit so I kindly thank them…and dispose of it properly when they walk away. 
It’s extra important to be on top of your health when you’re a teacher because if you’re sick and have to be out of the classroom, it affects everything. (We all know what can happen when there’s a sub.) I’m very fortunate to be a “seasoned” teacher because a brand new teacher is likely to get sick more often, suffering from up to 2 colds per month. I remember those days!
With cold and flu season upon us, I set up an appointment with Kaiser Permanente Orange County Physician Dr. Eric Troyan to chat and get his his best advice for keeping healthy in the classroom. He had some great tips and advice for me, which could be valuable information for anyone who has prolonged contact with children on a daily basis and works in a school or daycare like me. 
Here are some of the great illness prevention tips we talked about:
Keep Your Immune System Optimized
He really stressed the importance of this one for people like me who are around children. He also explained that the flu vaccine this year will be more effective than the one last year and told me that it’s considered a “killed version” vaccine as opposed to a live one, which you would hear about people actually getting sick after receiving it. The best time to get a flu vaccine is before Halloween but if you don’t do it by then, you’ll definitely want to get yours before Thanksgiving! Flu season tends to peak after the New Year in California, so why not go into it well prepared to fight it off?
Teacher wellness is essential when it comes to a successful school year. Do you or someone close to you work with children? What kinds of things do you do to help fight off illness during the school year?
Also new for the season is the holiday-themed “World of Color—Season of Light,” a nighttime water spectacular that will inspire guests with cherished holiday music and treasured Disney animation. This fourth all-new production of “World of Color” creates a sparkling winter fantasy with magical storytelling, brilliant lights, lasers and high-definition projectors, along with fountains that shoot as high as 200 feet to create the giant screens of water.
Holidays at the Disneyland Resort is a time many guests celebrate as an annual tradition,
At Disneyland Park will enjoy the one-of-a-kind transformations that create “it’s a small world” Holiday, Jingle Cruise and Haunted Mansion Holiday. Now celebrating its 20th holiday season, “it’s a small world” Holiday has added some “Hidden 20s” for guests to discover on their voyage.
Holiday Highlights at Disney California Adventure Park
Haunted Mansion becomes Haunted Mansion Holiday, with Jack Skellington
Jungle Cruise is transformed into Jingle Cruise, as the jungle skippers gather
There’s so much to see and do during Holidays at the Disneyland Resort and it’s a perfect time to create new family memories together! For more information, please visit 
When I received a very special opportunity to attend an advanced screening and a press junket with some of the cast of Trolls, I walked around asking my friends to pinch me! I think my family was equally excited to see it early! Can you tell we’re big movie fans in our home?
The Story of Trolls 
Here’s a synopsis:
Once I screened Trolls, I found that I’d completely fallen in love with it! By the time I walked out of the theater, I felt so happy, colorful, invincible, empowered, and positive. Part of my empowerment may have come from the adorable Trolls wigs they gave us! 
1. It features an all-star cast.
And did I already mention that I got to meet Justin Timberlake and Anna Kendrick?
3) The music
4) Princess Poppy
I don’t believe in posting spoilers or any sort of details that will ruin it for someone who has yet to see a film, so don’t worry, nothing I’ve written will spoil any of it for you! I can honestly say that Trolls is appropriate for all ages and will definitely keep anyone from young child to senior citizen engaged and interested! DreamWorks Animation’s Trolls is in theaters November 4th! Please come back and tell me how much you loved it, ok?
One of our favorite annual traditions this time of year is to visit Irvine Park Railroad for their Christmas Train! Have you been before? It’s open 7 days a week from December 1-December 23rd and it’s a family event that’s not to be missed! It’s also so popular that it sells out very quickly! (Tickets for the Christmas Train may only be purchased in advance, online and are $12.00 per person. Children 24 months and younger are free. Click 
Irvine Park Railroad’s Christmas train will take you on an enchanting night ride through the historic Irvine Regional Park to meet Santa Claus. The train departs from the brightly-lit train station and drops passengers off at the North Pole. 
Children can share their wish list with Santa (print out a free wish list to fill out and bring to Santa 
In addition to an option to purchase a Santa photo taken by Irvine Park Railroad, you may also take pictures with your own personal camera.
After visiting with Santa, you’ll hop back aboard the train and enjoy the colorful Christmas lights and decorations, as well as the magical “Tunnel of Lights”, on the ride back to Santa’s Village.
Santa’s Village is a fun area that includes a variety of festive activities, some require tickets, while others are free.
Santa’s Village Activities include:
Irvine Park Railroad is located inside of Irvine Regional Park, which has a fee to enter. Prices are as follows:
Also, for a limited-time only, Yogurtland has two new collectible spoons inspired by the Trolls main characters Poppy and Branch so guests can bring home the fun from Trolls and the tasty flavor from Yogurtland. These collectible spoons are only available while supplies last so hurry in to get yours!
So, are you headed to Yogurtland right now? I would be! You can also enter my giveaway for a $20 Yogurtland giftcard. Just go to the Rafflecopter below! Good luck everyone!
About Trolls Movie
Don’t worry, The Switch Witch is a friendly witch and she will make your life so much easier. This time of year, kids everywhere are gathering way too much candy for their own good. Whether they’ve gone to Halloween parties or received goody bags from school, it’s all more candy than they should be eating. As soon as Halloween night hits, your home is going to be overthrown by even more sweet treats! 
The story of The Switch Witch is a fun, friendly one and a game changer for parents everywhere who are looking to get rid of their kid’s Halloween candy! It’s important to know that she is a friendly witch and a friend of The Tooth Fairy, Santa, and The Easter Bunny, so that’s how I first explained her to my daughter. She only visits during the first few nights after Halloween (including Halloween night). 
Kids get to pick out 10 pieces of candy and put them away somewhere safe. Then, they leave the rest of their candy out for The Switch Witch before they go to sleep. (Some kids even write her a nice note!) Later that night, when everyone is sleeping, The Switch Witch will come in and “switch” out their candy for a surprise!
When kids wake up the next morning, they get so excited to see what she left them! We’ve done this for every year that my daughter can remember and it really saves what could be looked at as a lot of unwanted sugary treats from being ingested by your kids. Your pediatrician and your dentist will be so pleased with you! Happy Halloween! 
What starts off as a headache just seems to escalate and get so intense that my head feels like it’s going to pop off! The pain can get so bad that I need to go lay down in a dark room to sleep it off, which usually means sleeping until the next morning. Even worse are those migraines that last more than one day.
I decided to set up an appointment to meet with a Kaiser Permanente Orange County Clinical Dietician. I wanted to chat in person and talk about my own experiences with migraines, what I’m eating, and if there’s anything I can alter in my diet to help minimize my migraines? I’ve had a few friends mention certain foods being related to the cause of migraines,so that was one of the things I wanted to inquire about. I also wanted to ask for other tips to help minimize the frequency of my migraines. I was anxious for my appointment with Natalie Lloyd, R.D., who’s a Clinical Dietitian from Kaiser Nutritional Services. 
The first thing I learned was about 90% of migraine sufferers have a family history of migraines, which means, if your parent has migraines, you’re pretty much guaranteed to experience them also. My mom does get them, so that was discouraging news, however, there are still things I can do to combat that statistic. I’m not giving up hope.
Some other factors that can be related to migraines include lack of sleep, dehydration, hormones, and stress. Well, I fall into every one of those categories, too. 
I decided that it was time to make some big changes and get more pro-active in my efforts to do things to counter what could be making me get migraines. 
During my appointment with the Clinical Dietitian, I learned that there’s no actual evidence that’s been found to link any certain food as the actual cause of a migraine. So weird because I swear there are foods that set mine off. We discussed this further though and although there isn’t actual evidence to support that, there are certain foods and ingredients used in foods (and some drinks) that can be avoided to help minimize migraines.
The Clinical Dietitian also gave me some great general nutrition tips to follow as well. I feel like her tips were great for maintaining overall wellness, which is something that Kaiser Permanente Orange County strives to teach all of its patients and staff. It’s really more of a general guide to daily living, that could easily keep you on track and I feel like it’s really helpful. She also suggested keeping a food journal or food log, especially if you’re attempting to eliminate certain foods to see how your body reacts.
I learned so much at my appointment with the nutritionist. Although there’s no cure and nothing will completely eliminate my migraines, it’s been a big help to be more educated about some of the things to avoid. Since my appointment, and after making some changes in my diet and regimen, I feel a lot better and have experienced far fewer migraines lately.
I made the decision to take a few steps to turn it around and honestly, just making those few changes to my daily diet and regimen, has me feeling better already. I’ve had a few friends ask me what I’ve been doing differently, which makes me happy because it makes me realize that others can see a difference. I’m always open to sharing my secrets and what works for me, so here you go. 
I started keeping a journal.
I started drinking more water. 
I chose healthier snacks and foods. 
I took myself out for a daily walk. 
I added 
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