Wednesday, December 31, 2014

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.


The Mom Creative

Tuesday, December 23, 2014

Week 51

Welcome back and Happy Holidays!  Only 2 more sleeps until Christmas morning!!  There is a whole lot of excitement in this house as you can imagine.  We're having a great break so far and hoping to do some holiday baking today.  My two younger boys just love passing out cookie plates to the neighbors--seriously it's a huge highlight of the season for them which is fantastic.  I love that they like to give and share the joy.

Here are other ways we are enjoying the holidays as seen through last week's pictures:


Day 349- Monday, 12/15/14
Today was my day to drive the water polo carpool.  The boys have practice twice a week in Rocklin for 2 hours which is about an hour away so that's a 4 hour total trip!  Thank goodness we can carpool.  It's raining out again so I dropped them at the pool and took my laptop to Starbucks to stay warm and dry while waiting and working on my blog.





Day 350- Tuesday, 12/16/14
Scout decided he wanted to be included in the family holiday canoe so he grabbed a makeshift paddle and hopped in.  Later that night the younger boys and I watched the Charlie Brown Christmas special together.  John is in LA on a business trip, and Tyler is stuck doing homework.






Day 351- Wednesday, 12/17/14
The boys and I wrapped some EOS lip balm to look like holiday candy for teacher gifts this year, and I also finished addressing my Christmas cards today.





Day 352- Thursday, 12/18/14
Today was a short day at school and the last day before winter break.  We used the extra time to start wrapping presents.  The boys wrapped the gifts for their dad, and Bella wanted to help.





Day 353- Friday, 12/19/14
We're kicking off the first day of break by taking in a new release movie-- Night at the Museum Secret of the Tomb.  It was a fun movie, and I loved seeing all the London sights which make me want to go back.  As you can see it's another wet and rainy day.





Day 354- Saturday, 12/20/14
Tyler and I spent the morning at a water polo scrimmage, and then John and I went to a neighbor's holiday party.  I snapped this picture just after we got back when the house was quiet and peaceful with the lights all lit up on the tree.  This simple nativity set is one of my favorites that I somehow inherited or pilfered from my parents.






Day 355- Sunday, 12/21/14
The elf left a Gingerbread house kit for the boys to work on, and they had great fun decorating it together.  I love the teamwork especially when there is no fighting.  They probably ate more candy than they put on the house, but hey it's the holidays and they had fun TOGETHER so that's all that really counts :0)



That wraps up one of the last few weeks in 2014.  Check back next week to see how our Christmas went.  I hope you all have a merry and joyful one!


The Mom Creative

Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Week 50

Happy Tuesday!  It's raining here again but not as bad as last week.  It's shaping up to be a good winter and a good ski season. Hopefully we'll get a quick trip to the mountains over winter break to have some fun in the snow.  Speaking of winter break only 2 more days until it starts. WooHoo!  I'm so ready, and it's less than 10 days until Christmas.  Wow!  I just need to wrap up a major final report on our NSF grant at work, and I'm good to go.

Now for what happened last week:

Day 342- Monday, 12/8/14
We're focusing on trimming the tree this week.  Brandon and Justin started today.  Tyler is at polo practice so his help will have to wait.  It's starting to all come together.





Day 343- Tuesday, 12/9/14
Tyler had a minimum day and has nothing going on this evening so now he can add his ornaments to the tree and we'll be done.  Each kid receives a new ornament every year, and I keep them in their own special box so they can put theirs on the tree.  When they move out they can take the box of ornaments with them all except the baby's 1st Christmas which is mine to keep ;0)





Day 344- Wednesday, 12/10/14
It's Justin's turn to blow out the candle on the advent wreath after dinner tonight.  Tomorrow we can light the second candle because we'll be just 2 weeks from Christmas.





Day 345- Thursday, 12/11/14
Rain, rain, rain!  This was supposed to be a huge rainy and windy day and it did rain A LOT but there really wasn't much wind here in the valley.  Other parts of California got hit really hard, but thankfully it wasn't too bad for us.





Day 346- Friday, 12/12/14
Now that the tree is all decorated it's time to start wrapping presents and sticking them under the tree.  I hate the way a tree looks without any presents there to keep it company.  As usual Amazon has been my best friend for holiday shopping, and I love the free 3-day shipping with Prime.





Day 347- Saturday, 12/13/14
Cheers to the weekend and the holidays!  John threw a "pray for snow" party, and I think it worked.  We are most certainly getting some good snow in the mountains.  I had fun with these lovely ladies sipping on yummy holiday drinks after spending some time freezing poolside at winter polo.  The boys did great though and won their first tournament.





Day 348- Sunday, 12/14/14
Our elf recruited some friends for a fun marshmallow snowball fight.  I think he intends to take Pikachu down.  The kids got a big kick out of this one.



That's it!  I can't wait until my report is done and the week is over.  We have no real plans again, but that's ok.  I'm fine with spending the holidays at home just hanging with my family.

The Mom Creative

Tuesday, December 9, 2014

Week 49

Welcome back and happy Tuesday!  It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here although it's still a work in progress.  I'm afraid it will take us a few days to finish trimming the tree between all our other weekly obligations.  Thank goodness there's less than 2 weeks until our next break. I have so much to do, and work is getting in the way, but it will all get done eventually ;0)

Take a look at what happened last week:


Day 335- Monday, 12/1/14
Welcome to December! My two younger boys are so happy to be home for the holidays this year.  They truly love all our little traditions and were happy to see our elf, Scout, back to help us celebrate.






Day 336- Tuesday, 12/2/14
The rain is also back and here to stay for most of the week.  I'm so happy we are getting these early storms and hopefully building up some good snow in the mountains.  It's been too long.  This feels more like the fall and winter I'm used to.  Bring it on slow and steady.  We could really use a good ski season and a great snow pack to help with the drought.






Day 337- Wednesday, 12/3/14
We don't have our tree yet, but I did mange to get our stockings hung and our new family photo up.  It's been a very crazy and rainy day with flooding and road closures but at least during the break in systems we were blessed with this beautiful, large, double rainbow.





Day 338- Thursday, 12/4/14
The boys are happy to be working their way through an advent calendar with yummy chocolate treats.  They each have their own and then share a Lego building one.  Only 21 more days until Christmas.





Day 339- Friday, 12/5/14
The only decorating I got done today was hanging the wreath on the door.  Hopefully John can get our outside lights up this weekend so the wreath doesn't look so lonely.  Inside Brandon is drawing Scout.  He's quite enamored by the little elf who left him an extreme Christmas dot-to-dot book to work on during the holidays.






Day 340- Saturday, 12/6/14
Ahhh . . . Sunshine!  It was pouring rain just before we had to leave but then the clouds parted and the sun came out so we could actually enjoy watching some winter water polo.  The boys have been practicing in the rain this week and had their 1st scrimmage today.  Thankfully it was dry and pleasant out.  Welcome to winter polo!  The first real tournament is next weekend and guess what?  More rain is expected :0)





Day 341- Sunday, 12/7/14
We're happy to have another dry day so we could get out and hunt for a tree.  We headed to Silveyville Christmas Tree Farm in Dixon and found the perfect tall but skinny fresh-cut tree to bring home.  I love the smell of a fresh cut tree.




That's all for this week.  See you next week with more holiday fun.  I hoping to at least get the tree decorated and a couple presents wrapped before a holiday party at the end of the week.

The Mom Creative