Week 9

Welcome back and happy Tuesday!  We're catching up on rain here in California.  It was a wet one last week but much needed so we'll take it.  This next week involves a lot of swim for all my boys so I'm hoping it's not too cold and stormy although we did get off to a wet start.  March is shaping up to be super busy.  I'd kind of like to just fast forward.  Is that an option?

For now we'll rewind and take a look at last week:

Day 55- Monday, 2/24/14

John is helping Justin build a catapult that can be used in his science fair project this year.  It involved a lot of gluing and drying so I'm glad they didn't wait until the last minute.  We have a few more weeks before the actual experiments need to be done.

Day 56- Tuesday, 2/25/14

Today was a nice day but this evening it started to turn cold and ugly because we're expecting a storm early tomorrow.  Rusty is happy to have the fire burning.  This is his favorite place in the evenings before we head to bed.

Day 57- Wednesday, 2/26/14

Hello rain!  It dumped and dumped today.  After school the boys had to bring in garbage cans so they enjoyed a few minutes standing and playing in the rain.

Day 58- Thursday, 2/27/14

I'm working on getting these kids settled down and off to bed.  They are looking forward to tomorrow since it will be Friday.  That makes everyone happy.  It's been a long week.

Day 59- Friday, 2/28/14

Yep--still raining.  The after-school pick up was worse than normal with more people driving to collect their kids in the rain.

Day 60- Saturday, 3/1/14

Happy March!  It's coming in like a lion so that means it will go out like a lamb, right?!  Justin's birthday is in March and his favorite color is green so he was happy to pose with my monthly marker.  After the morning rain passed John and I headed to Old Sacramento for a picnic that paired with wines at this tasting room.  I had a Groupon and it turned out to be such a fun outing with friends.

Day 61- Sunday, 3/2/14

We had fajitas and tacos for dinner yesterday and there were leftovers so that meant nachos for dinner today which is one of Tyler's favorite meals.  He was a happy boy.  It was a nice warm treat on another gloomy and rainy day.

That's it!  Come back next week for more fun and probably more rain.

Week 8

Welcome back and happy Tuesday!  It feels like spring here but is supposed to rain later this week. With the warmer weather the bugs are out in full force.  Stay safe and fight the bite!  At work I'm knee deep in processing and testing over 5000 horse samples for a 50-state epidemiology study.  It will probably take us 8-12 months to get through all the testing.  100 down and 4900 to go!  It's called job security people :0)  but I still can't get over what 5000+ samples looks like in my freezer --Yikes!

Here's how last week went:

Day 48- Monday, 2/17/14
The kids are out of school today for President's Day so we checked out the Lego movie.  My in-theater picture did not turn out--too many crowds, grumpy kids, and poor lighting so this picture will have to do.  It was a funny and cute movie that my die-hard Lego builders enjoyed.

Day 49- Tuesday, 2/18/14

After the movie yesterday I took the boys to get new shoes and they got to wear them for the first time today.  Everyone wanted black.  Thank goodness they also had a touch of their favorite color to spice them up a bit.

Day 50- Wednesday, 2/19/14

They issued university-wide PPE (personal protective equipment aka lab coats) at work this week and they're actually pretty nice.  We look all official now with the fancy embroidery, and I especially love the cuffed sleeves and free laundry service.  After working here for almost 20 years it's about time the university stepped up to do this.  It's too bad it took a couple really bad accidents to make it happen though.

Day 51- Thursday, 2/20/14

Justin has been doing his nightly reading on his Kindle in our room so he's not bothering his younger brother who needs to go to bed earlier.  Rusty is a big fan.  He curls up with Justin each night which couldn't make Justin any happier.  They're so cute together.

Day 52- Friday, 2/21/14

Brandon joined me on our afternoon walk with the dog.  He enjoys holding her leash and being in charge.  Look how nice it is out.  Brandon is only wearing his hood to keep the bugs off his head and out of his ears.  There are way too many mosquitoes right now especially in the park.

Day 53- Saturday, 2/22/14

What a busy Saturday!  We had a bunch of morning chores to do including fixing our fence out back.  Justin was kind enough to lend a hand and help John with that.  I was prepping for a baby shower I was in charge of throwing at my boss's house, and Tyler had a semi-formal birthday party to attend.  Whew!  Long day that didn't end until well after 11pm.

Day 54- Sunday, 2/23/14

It's been so warm and nice out that John decided to fire up the grill for our Sunday family dinner.  I sat outside with him on the porch swing sipping wine while he worked.  It sure doesn't feel like February.  It got so warm in our house today I had to open the windows and turn on all the fans!

Wait!  One more--

February's Family Photo

After our yummy Sunday meal we busted out the drumstick ice-cream cones for dessert.  Seemed only fitting given the spring-like conditions.  Love these guys of mine!

OK, now that's it.
Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you'll join me again next week.

Week 7

Here we are at Tuesday again which feels more like a Monday since I had yesterday off for President's Day. Last week was a short work week but it seemed really long because things were crazy busy.  I was just glad it ended early and with a nice long weekend.  We've been enjoying the Olympics and also watching in awe at all the crazy winter storms the rest of the nation is experiencing.  What a weird weather year it's shaping up to be!  While our lack of rain here in Calif. is no good I think I'd rather be here in the warm sun then stuck in some of the ice storms others are dealing with.  Let's just hope I don't pay too much for it later.

At any rate here is how we spent last week:

Day 41- Monday, 2/10/14

I'm sitting here at work waiting on our cryo tanks to fill.  They have to be topped off once a month and we have 3 of them so it takes me about 20-30 minutes to get through them all.

Day 42- Tuesday, 2/11/14

Last week was conferences so this week it's awards.  I had to miss Justin's assembly yesterday because it was in the morning which is really the middle of my work day, but I was able to attend Brandon's today because his was in the afternoon at the end of my day.  Both boys are doing great and make me proud.

Day 43- Wednesday, 2/12/14

This is how Rusty greets me when I get home from work.  He likes to rub up on my legs and then stand and stretch like he's scratching on a tree trunk or something.  His face looks mean here, but he's just concentrating and actually really happy to see me.  LOL!

Day 44- Thursday, 2/13/14

I was able to get out at lunch and take a stroll through the arboretum on campus.  There are actually quite a few flowers in bloom which is pretty to see but also a reminder of how we've pretty much fast forwarded through winter this year.  After the good rain dumping a week ago we really haven't had much more :0/

Day 45- Friday, 2/14/14

Happy Valentine's Day!  John brought home some dinner, we exchanged gifts, toasted to our love, and then we all enjoyed a brownie ice-cream heart dessert--Yum!  It was a nice evening and a great way to start the weekend.  The kids had no school today so they didn't have any class parties for Valentine's this year which seemed weird.  I missed helping them fill out cards.

Day 46- Saturday, 2/15/14

The Placer County Wine Trail had a wine and treat tasting event so we went to check it out with Sharon and Richie.  It was a lot of fun, and we get to continue to use our glasses for free tastings through March--Score!

Day 47- Sunday, 2/16/14

Yesterday was grey and gloomy, but today was bright and sunny so it was a perfect day for a bike ride.  I had 2 eager riders join me on a cruise around the neighborhood to finally test out my new bike which is quite smooth.  Love it!

That's all for now.  Thanks for stopping by and I hope you'll join me again next week.

Week 6

Welcome back and happy Tuesday!  We are wet, wet, wet here in California and it's a welcome sight. It's not convenient or fun but much needed so we'll take it and pray for more.  I think we're only about 20% of normal so we still have a lot of catching up to do before we're out of drought danger. Let's just hope it doesn't really come to that.  In the meantime we'll keep plugging along.  My three boys keep us as busy as ever even in the rain!

Here's a look at last week:

Day 34- Monday, 2/3/14

The younger two have minimum days all week for conferences and today we had no extra curricular activities (no where to go!) so I decided to make a real dinner and cook enchiladas.  They were so good and spicy warm on this cold and yucky day.

Day 35- Tuesday, 2/4/14

These two are enjoying their short school days and look so cute in their high-tech headphones.  They love these things.

Day 36- Wednesday, 2/5/14

Tonight is the high school open house and a pizza fundraiser for the water polo team so Justin helped me pick up a couple pies for dinner before I headed out to meet Tyler's teachers for this next semester.

Day 37- Thursday, 2/6/14

It's time to pick classes for next year.  See that 11 on his sheet?  He'll be in 11th grade--a Junior!  How did that happen so fast?  He's selecting some good courses and is excited to see what next year brings.  

Day 38- Friday, 2/7/14

Yep!  It's just a little wet around here ;0)  Thanks to the "pineapple express" we have system after system lined up in the pacific just waiting to dump rain on us.  Finally some good, solid relief from the dry winter that's been taunting us.

Day 39- Saturday, 2/8/14

Brandon is super excited to be going on a sleepover tonight for his friend's birthday.  Usually his older brothers are the ones going to sleepovers and it's him stuck at home, but not this weekend.  He could hardly wait and kept asking me all day if it was time yet.

Day 40- Sunday, 2/9/14

It was the perfect day to stay indoors by the fire and watch the Olympics.  I like that the rain helps slow everyone down so we can relax at home more.  I pretty much did laundry and watched this all day long and not much of anything else which was nice.

There goes another week--poof!  Thanks for stopping by and hope to see you again next week.

Week 5

Happy Tuesday and welcome back!  We did mange to have a few days of wet weather last week which was nice but now it's back to bright sunshine and warm temps. Hopefully we'll get some more rain and colder temps again soon. Nature is so confused with trees blooming, bugs out in full force, and bears not hibernating--so crazy wrong for January.

Here's a look at how last week went:

Day 27- Monday, 1/27/14

My boys fight over who's going to get the mail.  Brandon won out today and our box was quite full.  We didn't have time to check it over the weekend with us being out of town.

Day 28- Tuesday, 1/28/14

I got a pretty new bike for my birthday, and John was kind enough to move my name plate from my old bike to this one.  It's hard to believe I had my last bike for over 20 years!  I got it to ride on campus in college.  This name plate came from my very first 2-wheel bike at age 8 so it's over 30 years old, and my new bike is the very same color as that first bike.  Talk about full circle.  Sadly I've had no time to take this beauty for spin but hopefully soon.  The boys can't wait for us to all ride together.

Day 29- Wednesday, 1/29/14

Bella had her annual visit at the UC Davis community practice and Brandon was giddy with excitement to come along and lend some support.  Bella doesn't mind the veterinary visits because they mean car rides and cookies, but even so she's more than happy to have her boy tag along.

Day 30- Thursday, 1/30/14

Tyler just got home from school, hit the pantry for a snack, and sat down to devour his crackers.  Bella is hoping he'll drop a crumb or two so she can quickly clean it up.  These two are both very food motivated!

Day 31- Friday, 1/31/14

We did get some rain the past couple days but not as much as we were hoping for or needed and then today as I was walking back from my coffee break on campus I noticed that the ornamental pear trees are starting to leaf out and flower--in January!  It's a couple months too soon.  Spring really needs to wait.

Day 32- Saturday, 2/1/14

Happy February!  I spent my day with Tyler at a winter polo tournament so I made him pose with me for our monthly marker.  He had 3 games and came home totally exhausted.  They really had to fight and play hard in that last game.  I think he also got a little too much sun.  It was gorgeous out.  That's it for the polo season until summer.  High school swim starts in a couple weeks and then life-guard training over spring break.  I swear this kid is going to grow fins and gills if he hasn't already.

Day 33- Sunday, 2/2/14

Rain, rain, rain!  I took the boys in for haircuts and we got caught in a down pour.  It was a wonderfully grey and wet day.  It kind of ruined my plans for gardening and bike riding but that's OK.  We lit a fire at home, made some warm drinks, and enjoyed the dreary, winter-like weather for a change. 

That's all I've got for now!  Thanks for stopping by and hope to see you here again next week.