Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Week 39

It's Tuesday again!  Welcome back.  Things here are as crazy as ever.  I miss those slower summer days.  This coming week has not started well.  Yesterday there was a car AND an air conditioner repair.  Ouch!  But at least they were both taken care of quickly and we can now move on.  I'm glad it's Tuesday and we're past the Monday blues.

Here's a look at last week's pictures:


Day 264- Monday, 9/21/15
Someone was so happy about his 6th grade progress report he ran all the way to the car after school to show me and was beaming with pride.  I'm glad to he's got that spark back and want to do well.  I'm not sure where it went last year and why but it doesn't matter.  He's in a good place this year and we'll take it!  Middle school agrees with him :0)




Day 265- Tuesday, 9/22/15
Game #1 for the week is at Laguna.  The boys are lined up and ready to rumble.  It's a great day out to be sitting poolside watching some polo and it's nice to see them play well.





Day 266- Wednesday, 9/23/15
Happy Birthday Tyler!  He's 17 today.  I made cupcakes to take to game #2.  It was an intense and violent match in Rio Linda that unfortunately did not end well for us. That kind of put a damper on the birthday festivities, but we still tried to make the most of it.  Presents always help ;0)





Day 267- Thursday, 9/24/15
Pope Francis is here in America and made it to New York today.  I really like this Pope and the way he thinks, and I hope we did him proud.  In honor of his visit I'm enjoying a glass of red wine as I watch the season premire of Grey's Anatomy.  This is a bottle Bella would approve of.





Day 268- Friday, 9/25/15
Date night--dinner and a movie for us.  We had gift cards that inspired us to get out.  Everest was wonderful movie even with a hard ending.  You gotta give props to the people who attempt to conquer this mountain.  Nothing about it looks even slightly appealing to me except maybe the scenery, but that's what I watched the movie for!





Day 269- Saturday, 9/26/15
Today was a busy day for this guy.  He gave blood this morning, went out to dinner with the family at Sapporo Grill, enjoyed the cake I finally had time to bake him, and then was surprised at a party thrown in his honor by his wonderful group of friends.  His actual birthday may not have been the best, but it was made up to him today and was well deserved.





Day 270- Sunday, 9/27/15
I've been wanting to take the boys to the annual reptile show here in Sacramento for years but have never gotten around to it until today.  Both Justin and Brandon had a blast.  There was so much to see and touch.  Of course they wish they could have brought something home, but we were just there to look.  The cat and dog we have are more than enough for now.



Wait!  One more:

September's Family Photo







Here we all are at Sapporo Grill enjoying a nice dinner with the birthday boy.  He requested Japanese food and was not disappointed.





Ok that wraps it up.  Thanks for stopping by and see you next week.


Tuesday, September 22, 2015

Week 38

Welcome back.  Well, we got about a 3-day taste of fall last week and then, bam!, right back to the heat and triple digits.  Don't pack those shorts away and pull out the sweaters just yet.  It felt good while it lasted, and we also got a few sprinkles but not really enough to amount to anything worthwhile--maybe in October.

Here are last week's pictures:


Day 257- Monday, 9/14/15
 I'm not sure what was going on with the dog today but she was not well.  She kept throwing up and made a huge mess of our carpet.  Just when I thought she was done it would happen again.  Poor thing!  On a happier note it was nice and cold out with sprinkles so the boys suggested soup and sandwiches for dinner--done!





Day 258- Tuesday, 9/15/15
 After a good month and a half break Karate is back on.  Now that Justin has his black belt he helps teach the younger class and then continues to work for another higher belt in the later class for older kids.  Go Justin go!





Day 259- Wednesday, 9/16/15
Today was the first high school league home game for water polo.  The starters easily ran up the score in the first 5-10 minutes and then the coach pulled them so the younger less experienced boys could play.  They enjoyed watching their teammates from the bench and got a kick out of cheering them on.  You can tell it's still cold and gloomy out but that all changes tomorrow.





Day 260- Thursday, 9/17/15
I'm happy to report Bella is feeling much better and today was getting into all kinds of trouble with her partner in crime.  These two should really go outside and burn off some serious energy.  Nice look kiddo.  Brandon is less than thrilled with me because I told him to settle down and the dog is panting because she is all out of breath from running around the house.





Day 261- Friday, 9/18/15
I got to see my younger kids off to school again this morning as I wait to head to another polo tournament.  For breakfast Justin is enjoying a pumpkin donut.  We found these last year and loved them so we were happy to see they made it back on the shelves for this fall.  Later it was off to Roseville for a couple games in the pool on this beautiful sunny day.  That's Tyler with his freakishly long arm up in the air ready to shoot in warm ups.





Day 262- Saturday, 9/19/15
Day two of the water polo tournament was brutal and not really fun at all.  I didn't take any pictures there!  Thank goodness I had my guy waiting for me at home with a fresh made Bellini.  He takes good care of me.





Day 263- Sunday, 9/20/15
Here I am at work on a Sunday.  We had our last set of county fair samples collected this weekend which meant I had to spend some time in the lab processing samples that couldn't wait.  It actually went quicker than I expected, and I had a good team helping out so it wasn't too bad.  I was happy to get back home though and enjoy a nice dinner made by John and a quiet evening with my family.  After dinner and a shower Brandon got in some last minute screen time before heading to bed and having to give up the computer for the school week.  This kid lives for weekends but then again who doesn't?



That's it.  I'm in the midst of a super busy week and not sure exactly when I'm coming or going and where.  One day at a time!  See you next week.


Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Week 37

Welcome back and happy Tuesday!  Boy was it ever hot last week and now we are experiencing a cool down with rain drops here and there.  Talk about night and day, but I'll take it.  I hope we get more than just a few drops too.  We really need some serious rain with all these fires and dead trees.  You know where we aren't missing water is the pool.  High school water polo has started so things are super busy, but it's fun to see them play.  We'll just take one day at a time.  If I can make it through November I'll be golden.

Here are last week's pictures:


Day 250- Monday, 9/7/15
Happy Labor Day!  We were lazy yesterday but are getting things done today.  Thank goodness we had that extra day.  John and I went out to get me a new phone and updated plan.  This was my anniversary present we only just now had time to take care of.  I hate the hassle of switching phones, but I do love the new phone and plan.  While we were out we also decided to have a quick lunch date at In-N-Out.  That hit the spot!





Day 251- Tuesday, 9/8/15
This is Justin's favorite chore.  He loves to feed the cat especially since he gets extra attention from Rusty as he's prepping the food.





Day 252- Wednesday, 9/9/15
Yay for minimum school days and minimal homework.  Brandon was so happy he only had a little math today for homework and could spend the rest of his extra time building a Lego set.  I gotta say the homework load in 6th grade is so much better than 5th grade and makes for a much happier kid.





Day 253- Thursday, 9/10/15
These chili peppers have really taken off.  We must have over 50 ready on the plant.  What will we do with them all?  I heard they are good in Thai food so I may have to give that a try.  The weather here is just as hot as these peppers.  I think yesterday was even hotter at 107!  I'm so glad my oldest plays water sports.  That is where you should be in this heat!





Day 254- Friday, 9/11/15
Today was a super long day.  I got to see Justin take off to school on his bike because I'm home from work for a water polo tournament.  We left just after him and the boys played 3 games ending just before sunset.  They had a rocky start but finished strong.  The skies are really smokey from the fires which is not good for the air quality, but it does make for a pretty sunset.  This was the first year in awhile I could not take my kids to see the local 9/11 memorial but it was still on my mind most of the day.






Day 255- Saturday, 9/12/15
Day 2 of water polo.  Today there were only 2 games so we got to sleep in a bit and got home much earlier.  It was still a pretty full day though, and the boys had some really intense and close games.  You can see the sky is still gross and smokey.  I think it was even worse today because you could also smell it.  The only good thing about the smoke was that it kept the sun from being so intense.





Day 256- Sunday, 9/13/15
The nice thing about a Fri/Sat tournament is that you still have Sunday to yourself.  We made the most of it with some pool time and good food to grill for a nice Sunday family dinner.




That's it!  We'll be at another Fri/Sat water polo tournament this weekend and then it's all about weekday games until late Oct for the last tournament.  Thanks for stopping by and see you next week.


Tuesday, September 8, 2015

Week 36

Welcome back and happy Tuesday!  It was so nice to have a 3-day weekend.  We all needed the downtime, and I was sure not to overbook so we could just chill for a change.  Now when's the next holiday?  Sadly not for awhile.

Until then here are last week's pictures:


Day 243- Monday, 8/31/15
This crazy kid is not a fan of reading literature and of course he has an AP Lit class this semester.  He's just not that motivated to read what he needs to read, and I'm sick of nagging him so I decide to take a different approach and encourage him by rewarding reading milestones with chocolate mint treats (his absolute favorite).  So far so good.  It's most certainly working better than threats.  He's getting that reading done and we're both happy about it.  I love that he's just as food motivated as the dog.  That works to my advantage for a lot of things!  Also notice how he's always wearing those sunglasses on top of his head these days?  It's just a thing ;0)





Day 244- Tuesday, 9/1/15
Wow!  Here we are in September already and September of course is all about school so Brandon was kind enough to pose with my monthly marker while doing some homework.  I love how he decorated his Earth Science notebook.  He's most certainly my most artistic kid.  And like any good earth scientist he's got a rock by his side :0)  He was also super excited to tell me all about mealworm behavior they observed in class.  I'm so glad he's more into school and his studies this year.  Keep it up Brandon!





Day 245- Wednesday, 9/2/15
It's a minimum day today so we used our extra time this afternoon to bake cookies for a work celebration.  I told Brandon he could be my official taste tester and quality control expert, and he was thrilled with that.  It's nice to have more one-on-one time with him this year since the older two are at the high school and have a later release time with different minimum days.  It took a lot work to get this picture too.  I was trying to use a selfie stick with my big camera that works on the stick, but it's heavy, and my hand kept shaking from the weight, and the battery was dying, and the oven timer kept going off.   LOL!  It was quite comical but we did it with just a little blur ;0)






Day 246- Thursday, 9/3/15
Tyler's senior picture proofs came in the mail today.  It seems a bit premature to see pictures of him in a cap and gown holding a diploma when school is only just starting, but that's how they do it these days.  I'm happy with the pictures but not so happy with the prices.  I swear it's a huge racket.  I'm not sure what I'll do just yet, but I don't need a ton of pictures so it will be minimal.  Also today Bella is acting as the wonderful support dog she is for Justin.  It's so nice the kids have her.  They can come home from a bad day, grumpy and upset, but after spending a few minutes with the pup all seems right with the world.  She's our therapy dog, and we all look to her for comfort, love, and support even this boy who claims he's 100% a cat person.  Yeah right!





Day 247- Friday, 9/4/15
TGIF and hello to the long weekend!  Justin actually came home super happy today and was thrilled to show me the bug he discovered out front.  It's the first day in 2 weeks he's been happy after school.  Too bad I had to spoil the good vibes and yell at him for going to a friend's house and not telling me.  He was over an hour late coming home from school and had his phone turned off so I couldn't get a hold of him to make sure all was ok.  I hated to be a buzz kill, but this is the second time since school started that he's done this and he needs to know how serious it is.  I'm fine with him visiting friends after school as long as he tells me first so I know where he is, and gosh darn-it turn your phone on!  These independent teenager are going to be the death of me.





Day 248- Saturday, 9/5/15
Today was a fun day with good friends we haven't seen for months.  It was so nice to get Cody and Tyler together again before Cody heads off to college at UC San Diego.  They had a great time playing games together.  John grilled some amazing food, there were lots of good eats, and Sharon and I caught up over fun drinks while the guys played pool.  It was a wonderful way to kick off the holiday weekend.




Day 249- Sunday, 9/6/15
This was the perfect lazy Sunday.  It was so nice to get a late start, cook a good brunch, and slowly plug through laundry as we caught up on TV shows and movies from the past.  The only reason I left the house today was to take the dog for a walk.  I need more days like this and the best part was we still had another day at home to look forward to before heading back to the grind.  Every weekend should be a 3-day weekend.  I'm all for that!



That's it for this week!  See you for the next one :0)