Week 4

Hey there!  Welcome to Tuesday :0)  Last week was a really great week for us as you will see.  It's nice when we can escape even during or maybe especially during the busiest times of the year.  We had to give up and miss a few things but what we gained in return was priceless.  There is nothing better than good, active, family fun.  Hopefully everyone can carve out some time here and there to help make that happen.  You won't regret it.

Take a look at how we made it happen last week:

Day 19- Monday, 1/19/15

It's Martin Luther King day, and I'm home with the boys.  John gave me my birthday present early so I could play.  I was planning to make calzones for dinner and this beauty made it all the easier especially since I needed a double batch to feed my growing boys.  They turned out great!

Day 20- Tuesday, 1/20/15

Junior year is the year of testing and now that Tyler's 1st semester is over and he has an easier course load next semester it's time to start studying for all these exams.  The books are taking over his room.  I'm so glad I'm past this stage in my life.  At least he's cool with it and has a plan.  First up is the SAT in March, then all those AP tests in May and right as summer starts the ACT before re-taking the SAT at the end of summer.  ACK!  His brain will be filled to the max and tested out.

Day 21- Wednesday, 1/21/15

This cat!  I like to sit with my leg over the arm of the chair, and he likes to rest with his chin sitting right there.  He's one of the only reasons I slow down and sit for a good length of time.  What choice do I have really?

Day 22- Thursday, 1/22/15

It's time to celebrate my birthday.  Thursday is a good day to have a birthday in this house.  Tuesday is the worst day but, Thursday is alright--not much going on at least on this Thursday anyway.  John made me a nice steak dinner and then we had cake and ice-cream without having to rush or wait on anyone.  It was nice!

Day 23- Friday, 1/23/15

Time to pack up the winter boots and head to the mountains for a weekend getaway at Northstar.  We left just after the kids got out of school and are all excited to spend the weekend here in the village.  This is my happy place.  I can't help but be happy here.  It's got the most amazing vibe.

Day 24- Saturday, 1/24/15

Today was a ski day.  It felt like spring out which is great but also sad because it's only January and we need so much more snow.  Thanks goodness Northstar has great snow making machines to keep all the main runs open.  We still had an amazing time and all enjoyed skiing TOGETHER.

Day 25- Sunday, 1/25/15

It's our last day here, but before we headed home we made time to play in the snow and have some fun tubing.  There wasn't really enough good snow to make a snowman so instead the boys made an arsenal of snowballs to pelt each other with while waiting for our tubing hour to start.  It was so warm out--even warmer than yesterday that we were shedding layers before we even made it back to the bottom of the mountain.  Hopefully some more cold and wet storm systems will move in over the next couple months to help restore this winter wonderland.

Wait!  One more:

January's Family Photo

Look at that Lake Tahoe view!  The Epic Mix photo team was perfectly positioned to take pictures in this amazing location so we took them up on the offer and got this month's family photo done.  Forget that you can barely make out who we are with all the ski gear on, it's still a great picture that we'll look back on fondly and laugh at one day because of the memories and those winter clothes.  My family has a picture like this from when I was Justin's age (13 also at Northstar) and yep, the gear and clothing choices were interesting to say the least.  LOL!

OK, that's it.  I told you we had fun and can't wait to do it again next year.  Where's your happy place?  Find the time to escape there with the family and enjoy!

Week 3

Happy Tuesday!  I'm so happy it's a short week. We had a great long weekend, and at the end of the week we are headed to the mountains for our annual ski trip at Northstar. Everyone is looking forward to it and can't wait.  I'm also looking forward to a lab meeting this afternoon.  We always celebrate birthdays, and I'm usually the one who brings the cake, but today the cake is for me ;0)  My birthday is Thursday and my boss can't make it then so she baked me a French chocolate cake to celebrate today.  It sounds yummy and will be a great way to end the day.

Until then here's how last week went down:

Day 12- Monday, 1/12/15

Brandon finished punching out all those windows and got his model built.  It's almost bigger than he is, and he's super happy with it.  It's nice and sturdy enough to carry around but can also easily be taken apart and rebuilt at anytime.

Day 13- Tuesday, 1/13/15

John's got the younger boys at karate, and me, I'm out on yet another milk run.  Seems like every time I turn around we need more milk. Three growing boys in this house is blowing our food budget.

Day 14- Wednesday, 1/14/15

Bella is supervising homework and patiently waiting for her boy to finish so they can play. Homework time is torturous to her.

Day 15- Thursday, 1/15/15

They don't make clothes like they used to.  Seems like I'm always mending seams that were never stitched right in the first pace on otherwise perfectly good clothing items.

Day 16- Friday, 1/16/15

Today was a bad day at school for Justin.  He came home in tears and thought his weekend was ruined, but then it started to mist rain, and I  suggested he shoot his new arrow out in the damp weather.  He loves gloomy skies and rain.  He perked right up and it turned into "the best start of the weekend ever."  Thank goodness he's easily redirected.

Day 17- Saturday, 1/17/15

Tyler was lucky enough to spend the weekend in a skills clinic with 4x Olympian Tony Azevedo.  I got to meet the guy on the first day and he was really nice and great with the kids.  Tyler came home sore and tired but mostly inspired.

Day 18- Sunday, 1/18/15

John likes to make us brunch on Sundays.  Today he's making breakfast burritos complete with eggs, bacon, cheese and hash browns.  Tyler is still in the polo clinic so he missed out and his absence was surly felt--we actually had leftovers.  LOL!  That would never happen if he were here.

That's all for this week.  Check back next week to see our mountain fun.

Week 2

Welcome back and happy Tuesday.  Wow!  Last week was a kicker.  I would have liked to ease back into work and school and all our other activities slowly, but we got hit hard with one after the other.  I'm hoping this coming week will be a bit slower but it's not shaping up to be that way either.  I'll just have to power through and count my days until the next time when we can unwind again.  I'm thinking it will be the end of March for spring break.  *sigh*  That sounds so far away!  Enough complaining.  I'm going to take 2015 by the horns and master this beast.

Here are last week's pictures:

Day 5- Monday, 1/5/15

It's time to get back in the lab and wrap up some unfinished projects so we can start some new ones.  This week we will finish all those 5,500 horse samples it's taken 8 months to plow through and then work on analyzing the data.  We're all excited to see how it turns out and think it could change the way EPM prevalence is seen across the country.

Day 6- Tuesday, 1/6/15

Brandon is fascinated with the Empire State Building and received a wooden puzzle to build a model of it for Christmas, but before he can start building he has to punch out all the windows.  The first few planks are done but there are many more.  He looked it up, and the building has 6,500 windows in all!  Happy punching :0)

Day 7- Wednesday, 1/7/15

I needed a quick and simple but fresh meal for dinner tonight since I'm short on time and have a meeting later.  Soft tacos did the trick.  The best part is that the whole family loves them.  The boys like theirs wrapped like burritos so all the good stuff doesn't fall out.  It will be nice in a couple months when everyone is out of braces and we can mix things up by making crunchy, corn taco shells again.

Day 8- Thursday, 1/8/15

Tyler's science teacher asked him speak at the school board meeting tonight.  He presented a small power point on his trip to Washington DC so they could see how the Project Lead the Way Bio-medical classes are helping advance students in wonderful ways.  It was a full house with standing room only so I was really nervous for him but he did fantastic.  There were many of the high school teachers there, a couple counselors, the principal, general public and even the mayor.  He did us all proud.

Day 9- Friday, 1/9/15

425 degrees of happiness going on right here.  It's pizza night.  John is out of town all weekend for "Mancation" so the boys and I are having some fun of our own.  Tyler's favorite Papa Murphy's pizza is the "Cowboy," the 2 younger kids loves the "Bacon, Bacon, Bacon," and I like the "Mediterranean Chicken deLITE." We also watched "How to Train Your Dragon 2" and "Teenage Mutant Nina Turtles" while munching on popcorn.

Day 10- Saturday, 1/10/15

Tennis is back on with the help of some drier weather.  It was a nice, sunny day, and I was happy to see these two get out and play.  I don't like it when bad weather keeps everyone indoors all the time so this was a welcomed treat.

Day 11- Sunday, 1/11/15

With winter polo you never know what you're going to get in terms of the weather.  The first picture was taken at 11 am.  The boys played 2 games in this crazy fog.  We could barely make them out as they played in the pool, and then 2 hrs later the second picture was taken at 1pm.  The fog lifted and the VERY bright and hot sun shone upon us.  We shed layers real quick.  The temps went from the 30's to the 70's in no time, and I even ended up with a slight sunburn just from watching the last game.  Go figure!

That's it for now.  See you next week.  Are we really to mid January already???

Week 1

Happy New Year and welcome!  Here's to hoping 2015 will be a year full of wonderful memories and pictures.  This will be a short post since there are only 4 days in this first week.  I can't believe I'm starting my 6th year of a picture a day.  I don't even really think about it anymore--it's just habit and I'm super happy to have all those years documented especially as we get closer and closer to my boys growing up and leaving the nest.  Eek! That's bittersweet.  This will be Tyler's last full year with us. Wow! I'm not ready to go there yet so for now I'll just take it one day at a time and not get ahead of myself.

Here are a few pictures from our first week in 2015:

Day 1- Thursday, 1/1/15

Happy New Year boys!  What will this year have in store for these guys and our family?  I can't wait to see how it unfolds.  After a nice party last night we enjoyed a low key and quiet day at home.

Day 2- Friday, 1/2/15

This new year is starting out COLD!  The rain has gone and the freezing temps have arrived which means a visit from Jack Frost most mornings.  Brrr!

Day 3- Saturday, 1/3/15

For one last family-fun event before the end of break we headed to Cal Expo after dark to see the lights at the Global Winter Wonderland.  We pretty much traveled the world in just under an hour.  It was pretty cool but also VERY crowded.  I think everyone else had the same idea.

Day 4- Sunday, 1/4/15

Here we are on the last day of winter break and of course Justin is just now finishing up a science project.  Ugh! I was not happy he waited so long after having 2 weeks to get this done especially since we didn't have all the supplies he needed on hand and it required yet another trip to the store.  How many times in the past 2 weeks had I been at the store?  At least it's done, and he's happy he got it done before lunch.  Obviously our timeline goals were different.

. . . And that wraps up our first week of 2015--short and sweet!  Be sure to check back for a full week next Tuesday, and for those who don't know I also make a point of getting at least one family photo a month and will share those here too.


For inspiration and support from others capturing a picture a day I like to visit these sites.  Check them out.

Week 52

Welcome back and happy New Year's Eve!  Sorry I'm late.  I wanted to get these last few days of 2014 in so this is going to be a big post with a lot of pictures.  I hope you are all having a great holiday and winter break.  I know we are enjoying some good quality time together and are having some much needed fun. Can you believe the new year starts tomorrow?!  

Here is how we spent our Christmas week and the last few days of 2014:

Day 356- Monday, 12/22/14

Today we had some business to take care of.  Tyler had a dentist appointment in the morning and Rusty had his annual checkup at the Vet this afternoon.  I know it looks like Brandon has him in a choke hold but Rusty actually kept positioning himself this way so he could hide and was happy one of his kids was there to protect him.  All is well.  He's one healthy cat that just wants to go home ;0)  

Day 357- Tuesday, 12/23/14

I was actually was able to bribe Tyler to sit in one the Santa picture again this year.  I had to up my ante though.  Just Starbucks wasn't going to cut it.  It took Starbucks AND Cinnabon to do the trick.  Whatever works!  After spending the morning at the mall we came home and started our baking frenzy to make cookie plates for the neighbors.  Justin and Brandon both were a huge help.

Day 358- Wednesday, 12/24/14

Then one foggy Christmas Eve we whipped up some homemade pizza for a grand feast and toured the neighborhood holiday lights with cocoa in hand before opening a gift and heading off to bed.  The boys almost love Christmas eve more than Christmas day itself with all our little traditions.

Day 359- Thursday, 12/25/14

Merry Christmas!  Even the pets got some good gifts.  We had a nice relaxing day at home opening gifts and playing with our new toys.  It's great when there is no real timeline to keep and we can just let the day unfold  however it may.  I also decided to try something new and make a yule log instead of my usual Christmas cake for dessert.  It turned out great and was a huge it.  Justin now wants one for his birthday :0)

Day 360- Friday, 12/26/14

Today the WHOLE day (why does it have to take so long?) was spent buying a new to us car.  We needed to replace our Nissan Armada so we found a more recent model with a lot less miles and more high-tech features.  John's a happy boy.

Day 361- Saturday, 12/27/14

It's their first ride in the new car and we're off to Middle Earth.  Seeing the Hobbit movies has become somewhat of a Christmas tradition, but what will be do next year?  It's sad this is the last one.  We enjoyed them all very much.  Next year we'll just have to find something new to see together. 

Day 362- Sunday, 12/28/14

Time to say goodbye to the old Armada.  John is taking it to CarMax today.  We bought this rig brand new just a couple weeks before Brandon was born and now 10 1/2 years later it's been replaced.  Here he is with miss Olivia as a baby the first year we had the car and now grown so big and into a fine boy on our last day with the car.  Time flies!

Day 363- Monday, 12/29/14
We are lucky enough to have snow in the mountains over winter break this year.  It's been a few years since that has happened so we took advantage and headed up for a family ski day at Sierra at Tahoe.  It was cold but sunny and nice out.  The kids had a blast and did great.  It's wonderful that they no longer need ski school so we can all ski together.

Day 364- Tuesday, 12/30/14
There's not a whole lot going on today so I'm finding some time to get to know my new camera that I got for Christmas.  I wore the buttons out on my old one and had managed to put a chip in the lens somehow so it was ready for retirement.  This one will come in handy for a lot of pictures to take in the brand new year.  My kids just roll their eyes and tell me I need help.  Haha!  Jokes on them--photography is my therapy ;0)

Day 365- Wednesday, 12/31/14

It's New Year's Eve and the boys are getting ready to party.  We are packing up and heading to a friend's house.  They are super excited to be celebrating with others this year and are looking forward to a sleepover.

Almost done but there's one more-

December's Family Photo

This was taken Christmas Eve just before we let the kids open their one gift.  It's amazing how well the cooperate when they know something good will be happening next.

Ok that's it!  Wow!  That was a lot, but we are all done for 2014!!!  Thanks so much for stopping by and hope to see you in the new year.  Stay safe and enjoy the celebration tonight.