Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Week 13

Here we are on another Tuesday--the last day in March and Justin's birthday :0)  He's happy it's happening while on Spring Break because no school and no karate tonight.  The day is all his.  We can actually do something fun.  I'm just glad March is almost over even though it won't truly feel like it until the end of the week because we still a few deadlines to meet and a lot of moving parts to be aligned.  At least there is an end in sight.  

Here are last week's pictures:


Day 82- Monday, 3/23/15
This crazy boy loves burnt toast.  He'd have it even more burnt if I'd let him, but we don't want the toaster catching fire.  I'm not sure what the deal is, but it's one of his latest obsessions.





Day 83- Tuesday, 3/24/15
We have been receiving samples from our 4-H project on Mondays so we spend all day setting them up for an overnight incubation and then I spend a couples hours on Tuesdays reading them.  We're looking for total coliforms and E. coli.  Let's just say yellow is not good.





Day 84- Wednesday, 3/25/15
Brandon and Bella have been enjoying the super nice weather by heading outside to play in the yard after homework.  Frisbee is a favorite game for both of them.





Day 85- Thursday, 3/26/15
Keeping it real.  I hate the dirty dishes that pile up.  The dishwasher takes care of a lot of them but usually the hardest to clean cannot go in there.  These are the last things I want to deal with at the end of my long days.





Day 86- Friday, 3/27/15
Here we are at the last race in a swim meet before Spring Break can officially start.  Look how beautiful it is out--a little windy but otherwise perfect spring weather.  Go, Tyler, go!  He's the anchorman in this relay race so he has to bring it home.





Day 87- Saturday, 3/28/15
We're having Justin's birthday sleepover party today.  He's super excited to have his friends over and managed to convince his brothers to find somewhere else to stay so he had the house to himself.  He also didn't want me to bake a cake because he wanted a ColdStone ice-cream cake.  Fair enough, but I still got my hands on it to do some customization ;0)   





Day 88- Sunday, 3/29/15
It's Spring Break now, but Tyler still has deadlines to meet.  He was at a friends house doing homework yesterday and is working on an essay due Wednesday today.  Thank goodness he's on top of it and doesn't complain.  I think after Wednesday he can relax a bit and enjoy himself more.



Wait!  One last one--

March's Family Photo




It's been so nice out lately (temps in the mid 80's) that we had to take a picture in our backyard with all the beautiful greenery.  It smelled so good out there too because John had steak and shrimp on the BBQ for dinner. 




That's it for now.  See you in April and thanks for stopping by.


Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Week 12

Welcome back and happy Tuesday!  It's the last week before spring break and we're counting down the days. It will be a busy break.  We're not going anywhere but have a lot of stuff planned.  Now if we can just make it through this week--modem problems at home are not helping.  You'd think the world was coming to an end last night when the kids couldn't get on the internet.  It's amazing how crippling that can be especially when it involves homework.  Forget, "My dog ate it."  The new excuse is, "My internet was down."

Here's a look at last week:


Day 75- Monday, 3/16/15
Brandon was here.  This boy and his rocks!  He collects them from wherever and stashes them everywhere.  I find them in his pockets, wrapped up in towels in his room, and scattered randomly through the house.  These ones he wanted to showcase in our potted plant out front.  That's actually a much better place than anywhere in the house!





Day 76- Tuesday, 3/17/15
Happy St. Patrick's Day! We had a little fun by adding some green to dinner.  Yep!--breakfast for dinner again.  I did make it fresh this time ;0)  And look at the little black dog's head in the background to the right so patiently waiting out of the kitchen/dining area where she knows she cannot be when the kids are eating.  She'll sit there and watch them intently keeping her distance until they are done and she can come in to clean up their crumbs.  LOL!





Day 77- Wednesday, 3/18/15
I really hate adjusting to daylight savings, but I do enjoy the longer hours.  It makes the evening walks with Bella so much more pleasant especially when it's been nice and warm out.






Day 78- Thursday, 3/19/15
It's science fair night and Justin had to wear a shirt and tie.  You'd think with 3 boys I'd know how to do this, but John is usually the one that takes care of it.  Unfortunately he's out of town for March Madness so I had Justin look up and print instructions for me to figure it out.  Thank goodness our modem was working then because I tried on my own without a guide and failed miserably.  Doesn't he look handsome?





Day 79- Friday, 3/20/15
We're so glad it's Friday!  Tyler is at an away swim meet and Justin is staying late at school to count pennies for patients so Brandon and I celebrated on our own with an ICEE from Target.  Yum!





Day 80- Saturday, 3/21/15
He's back and everyone is happy.  We all missed him.  He usually stays through Saturday and returns on Sunday for March Madness but came home early this year which was nice.  I hate being a single parent especially with a full-time job.  It's just too hard to juggle it all on my own.  Talk about an exhausting week.





Day 81- Sunday, 3/22/15
John is teaching Tyler how to fix the sprinkler head he broke with the lawn mower.  Sometimes this boy does not know his own strength and has broken quite a few things carelessly ramming that mower here and there. On the bright side he's learning how to fix the things he destroys.  Speaking of destroyed.  Look at our yard swing to the left.  Brandon sat on it without the cushions and the fabric which is quite weathered gave way.  *sigh*  Time to fill that space with something else.



That's it for now.  Thanks for stopping by and see you next week.


Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Week 11

Welcome back and happy Tuesday!  We're plugging along here and adjusting to the time change.  Things at work have been busier than at home which is unusual but in a good way.  The weather has been funky too.  It can't seem to make up it's mind.  The spring like conditions are very nice but almost too warm, and we still need more rain.  I'm prepping for a few days without John as he heads to Reno for March Madness.  There's only 2 weeks until spring break.  None of us can wait!  We all need the downtime.

Take a look at last week's pictures:


Day 68- Monday, 3/9/15
Prom tickets in the house!  Just a few weeks ago I asked him if he was going and it was an absolute NO.  Funny how things change.  I am glad he's going though and know he'll have a really good time.  He takes things a little too seriously sometimes so it's great to see him break out of his comfort zone and try something new.  I think he'd regret it later on in life if he'd never gone to prom.  Oh, and I found out he was going from another parent first before he told us!  Talk about being out of the loop.  In his defense he had a plan and was waiting until he had the tickets in hand to tell us, but they took longer to get than expected because of a required signature page he didn't know about.  Fun times!





Day 69- Tuesday, 3/10/15
 I'm not sure why Brandon chose to curl up here after finishing homework, but Bella was less than thrilled.  See the look she's giving me . . .  "Really?  You're going to let him take my bed?  First the cat and now the boy.  Help a puppy out!"





Day 70- Wednesday, 3/11/15
 Rain!  We got a lot more rain today than anyone was expecting but that's ok--the more the better.  Rusty likes to watch the raindrops fall and also wishes it would happen more often.






Day 71- Thursday, 3/12/15
It's time to put his science fair board together.  It's not due until Monday but he has a sleepover to go to this weekend so he wants to bang it out before then.  I'm all for that!  Later we found these beautiful flowers in a neighbor's yard as we walked the dog.  I just love their colors.  It's gorgeous out--you'd never know it rained yesterday.





Day 72- Friday, 3/13/15
 The past couple Fridays Justin has stayed after school with his NJHS group to count Pennies for Patients.  It's a lot of hard work but for a good cause, and they have fun visiting and enjoying party food as a treat.  That's his favorite part ;0)





Day 73- Saturday, 3/14/15
Happy Pi day!  We made a couple pudding pies (lemon which is looking a little lopsided and chocolate with a cookie crumble top) to enjoy after lunch.  Everyone was excited and couldn't wait.  We would have had them earlier at the exact "Pi time" (9:26:53) but the younger kids had tennis and Tyler was off taking his SAT.  At least they were a good treat for after all that.  Later, to work off the pie, Brandon and I took Bella for a nice long walk.   It was a warm and amazing day--the perfect kind of spring day for making wishing with magical weeds :0)





Day 74- Sunday, 3/15/15
 It must be treat weekend or something.  There will be no time Tuesday on St. Patrick's day to get Shamrock Shakes so we decided we better partake now before they're all gone.  The boys have been looking forward to them since the first of March.  What a lucky lot!



That's it for now!  See you next week as we prep for the end of March.  A lot of things happening then and many deadlines to meet.  My head is spinning trying think how we'll make it all work.


Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Week 10

Welcome back and happy Tuesday!  March is whizzing by as expected, but so far I'm surviving.  I do have to say that last week was a though one with something going on every single evening.  Talk about exhausting. The good thing is the week went by quick and this coming week is a bit slower.  I'll take what I can get.

Here's how things went down:


Day 61- Monday, 3/2/15
At work we're trying out our test kits.  We went to the university dairy for a trial run.  It was a beautiful day and so nice to be back on old stomping grounds with the cows.  Dairy science classes were some of my favorites in college.  Look at that cow's face--love it!!  Fieldwork is so fun especially when it involves animals.  We learned a lot and made a few adjustments to our sample kits.  The first real samples come in this weekend.




Day 62- Tuesday, 3/3/15
Brandon is done with his karate class and we're waiting on Justin's class to finish.  In the meantime  Brandon is working on his art project for the week.  I love how into it he is.  He's definitely my most artistic kid.




Day 63- Wednesday, 3/4/15
Yep!  It's still spring here and more and more flowers are blooming.  Everyday I spot new ones and each prettier than the last.  We should all be outside enjoying this weather but sadly my kids are stuck to computers doing homework.  Justin is in the office on this computer working on his science fair results and discussion while Brandon is working on an opinion writing assignment upstairs.  Tyler is happy to have his own laptop and can work in his room.




Day 64- Thursday, 3/5/15
Tonight was the high school academic assembly.  Tyler didn't really want to go because it's not cool,  but he was right there getting out of swim practice just as it was starting so I made him go.  Poor thing! I'm pretty sure he'll boycott next year so this may be our last one for him anyway.




Day 65- Friday, 3/6/15
Here we are at the first high school swim meet.  Unfortunately the meets are Friday afternoons this year.  Last year they were on Wednesdays which was much better.  I'm toast by Friday!  At least it was a wonderfully warm and sunny day to be sitting poolside.  I usually help time events and had Tyler in my lane for the backstroke today. 




Day 66- Saturday, 3/7/15
John and Brandon took advantage of the warm spring weather so they could wash the dog.  She really needed it and is so nice and clean now but was not thrilled at the process.  Later I enjoyed attending a baby shower with my boss for Heather who got her PhD in our lab.  She's now a faculty member in Washington and we're so happy for her-- new job, new home, new baby.  It was great she could come back this way for the shower so we could see her.  We miss having her smiley face and contagious laugh in the lab.




Day 67- Sunday, 3/8/15
These boys!  I love them so much.  We have a family time capsule that we open every 5 years and it's so funny to see what the kids put in there and how much they have grown and changed in those years.  We had fun opening the box today after dinner.  Brandon was only 5 and in kinder when we last added things to it.  The next time we open it they will be 21, 18,  and 15--Wow!!




That's it for now.  Thanks for stopping by and see you next week.


Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Week 9

Welcome back and happy Tuesday!  Here we are in March.  I'm so not ready for this month.  February was nice and mellow, but March will be ugly.  Pretty much all my days are booked in the month of March.  There are a lot of things to prep and plan for too so my head is spinning just thinking about how I'll make it work. I know it will come to together and be great in the end, but it still stresses me out.  At least there is spring break to look forward to and help me recover just as April starts.  I'm hoping things in April will be a bit slower, but I don't think that will truly happen until school is out in June.  I just need to go with the flow and ride this school year out.

Here's a look at how we spent our last peaceful week in February:


Day 54- Monday, 2/23/15
They brought art back to the elementary school (it's about time!) so now Brandon has it every Wednesday and is loving it.  Each weekend he brings home a project to work on that has to be turned in Wednesday.  This afternoon he continued to work on his current project and is almost done.  It takes a lot of time, but he doesn't mind at all.





Day 55- Tuesday, 2/24/15
More signs of spring.  Our tree out front decided to bloom this week.  I'm so happy I got a picture today because later in the week the wind and a little bit of rain ruined a lot of the blossoms.







Day 56- Wednesday, 2/25/15
I'm missing this guy since swim started.  I leave for work before dark and he gets home after dark.  At least today he needed me to drop off some workout clothes for lifting weights after pool time so I got to see his smiley face in bright daylight :0)





Day 57- Thursday, 2/26/15
At work I'm prepping sample kits for field work.  Four coolers with 10 sample kits each.  We're starting a project testing the effectiveness of a bio-security class taken by 4-Hers with market animals.  It's great to see that the UC extension people are continuing to work and improve these programs, and I'm happy to be a part of it.  I raised 4-H market lambs as a kid so it's like I've come full circle which is pretty cool.





Day 58- Friday, 2/27/15
There were a lot of insane looking clouds out today that made our neighborhood look pretty small in comparison.  The boys were excited to see the change in weather and were more than happy to join me on a walk with the dog so we could cloud gaze.  Thankfully the clouds meant a lot of snow in the mountains but didn't really bring much rain our way.





Day 59- Saturday, 2/28/15
It's date night and we decided to try this new place out which was a fun experience.  It's Studio Movie Grill which means drinks, dinner, and a movie all in one place.  The best part was being able to hit that red button and have them bring stuff right to our seat.  We'll have to come back again soon so we can try more of the food and see another movie.





Day 60- Sunday, 3/1/15
March is Justin's month so he helped me with my monthly marker while the cat played in the laundry that needed sorting.  Laundry day is one of Rusty's favorite days.  He loves to tunnel and jump through the piles




Wait! One more:

February's Family Photo




This was taken on the very last day of the month because we just couldn't get it together before then ;0)




Now that's it!  See you next Tuesday.