Tuesday, February 23, 2016

Week 8

Welcome back!  It's yet another Tuesday and the sun is shinning so it should be a good week.  Tennis matches for Justin have officially started so we'll be at the courts every MWF.  Yikes!  Swim for Tyler is much more relaxed with only one swim meet a week.  That's more my pace.  Too bad Justin hates swim.  Oh well, it's better he does his own thing anyway.  On a happier note Tyler got another college acceptance by e-mail Monday morning to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.  Yay!  My brother went there and it's a great school in a wonderful location--right near the beach which is perfect for my boy.  It's nice to finally have another offer but still waiting to hear from more Calif schools.

Now for last week's pictures:


Day 46- Monday, 2/15/16
Cheers to President's Day!  The 4-day weekend was so wonderful and I'm winding it down with a nice bottle of wine before heading back to crazy tomorrow ;0)





Day 47- Tuesday, 2/16/16
I'm seeing too many of these on my walks with the dog lately.  They should be more of a March thing.  We really need winter to last a bit longer but spring just can't wait here.  At least there is a storm due in tomorrow. 





Day 48- Wednesday, 2/17/16
The new season of Survivor started tonight and the older boys got home just in time to have dinner and then join the rest of us for the premier.  It's been a show we have watched as a family since Tyler was a baby. Look at him now!  Even Bella joined the fun.  Tonight's ear worm scene put us all on edge.  LOL! What a way to start.





Day 49- Thursday, 2/18/16
The last couple days have been filled with huge storm clouds and lots of heavy rain which is great.  It was even cold enough to dump more snow in the mountains.  We need as much as we can get!  Look at those rain clouds this evening as the sun sets behind our house.  At least it made for a nice walk-- warm with a light mist and some pretty colors in the sky.





Day 50- Friday, 2/19/16
John is out of town for some skiing with the guys--gotta catch that the fresh powder--so Brandon and I picked up Taco Bell for dinner just before the older two made it home from sports practice.  Then we watched the Goosebumps movie together which was fun on a cold and gloomy night.





Day 51- Saturday, 2/20/16
Justin!  He's my enviro kid--loves all things plant and animal.  Even after the wind and rain we still have blossoms on our tree out front and many other plants in full bloom.  My yard is coming alive and it's fun to watch.  Justin was happy to pose for me by the blossoming tree before heading to tennis practice this morning.  He also finally sent me these pictures from his farm to fork class.  They had a field trip last week to a sustainable farm with chickens and they also got to raise baby chicks in class for a couple weeks.  He's loves it and while his pictures aren't that great I love them because they are so him ;0)





Day 52- Sunday, 2/21/16
It's a quiet Sunday with mostly chores going on which is good for Brandon because he has this book to finish before tomorrow.  Thank goodness he's almost there.  It's the latest Diary of a Wimpy Kid book and it just so happened that the movies from the earlier books were playing on the Disney Channel after he finished.  He's seen the movies before but they mean so much more to him after actually reading the books.  It's great when they discover that!



That's it for now.  See you next week.

Tuesday, February 16, 2016

Week 7

Welcome back and happy Tuesday!  Apparently February for us is a dry month although I hear rumors of a storm moving in for Wed and Thur.  We'll see.  Sadly I think it will be a warm one which is not good for the mountains and our snow pack, but we'll take what we can get and pray for a March miracle.  This past weekend was super fun and a much needed break.  The boys and I had a 4-day weekend.  What a treat!  I could use a few more of those.  At least we made the most of it and now have spring break to look forward to.  March will be an interesting month!  Waiting, waiting, waiting on all those college decisions and applying like crazy for scholarships.  Senior year is no joke.

Here are last week's pictures:


Day 39- Monday, 2/8/16
Mondays are hard especially the Monday after the Super Bowl.  LOL!  Thank goodness for early evening naps.  Wish I could nap like that.  He and the pets are great at it.  Me and the kids not so much.





Day 40- Tuesday, 2/9/16
Tyler had a minimum day at school so we took advantage of the extra time and went to the passport doctor to get his typhoid vaccine and malaria pills for a Costa Rica and Niagara trip early summer.  Who knew there were special passport/travel doctors?  We actually learned a lot and it was good for him to hear it from a professional and not just from his mom!  One less thing to worry abut before June. Check!





Day 41- Wednesday, 2/10/16
Tennis is going well for Justin so far.  His coach was able to get us a good deal on some new shoes which came in today and he also got a new shirt.  Rusty is interested in that new shoe smell and totally photo bombed our picture ;0)





Day 42- Thursday, 2/11/16
More signs of spring out front.  My yard is in bloom but it's a bit early so I'm a little afraid this won't end well.  Time will tell.  I guess I should get some pruning done before it's too late.





Day 43- Friday, 2/12/16
The kids had no school today for the start of President's day weekend, and the pets needed their annual visit to the vet so we made a trip of it.  Two kid and two pets--a bit much but it all went well so can't complain.  Bella loves it there because it means treats for her, and look at her attentively watching the door gap to see when her friends will be back.  The cat on the other hand was happy to stay in his box and hide although he did get a bit curious at the end and popped his head out to take a peek.  Another thing done--check and check! 





Day 44- Saturday, 2/13/16
This was our Valentine's night to avoid the craziness tomorrow.  After a nice dinner on the river we spent the night celebrating in Old Sacramento and had a great time acting like we were young and crazy again.





Day 45- Sunday, 2/14/16
Happy Valentine's Day!  Justin and I made a special dessert for the family and John and I exchanged chocolates.  I got these beautiful roses and a nice diamond bracelet too.  You can see it just peeking out of the sleeve of my sweater.  My sweetheart knows just how to spoil me.



Ok--That's it!  Hope to see you back next week.


Tuesday, February 9, 2016

Week 6

Hello and welcome back!  It's Tuesday again.  Last week was super long and busy as you will see.  I'm hoping for a slower week this week but with the kids in school and sports that never seems to happen. What happened to winter?  It is only February after all.  It's been unusually warm and most of the week this week will be in the mid 70's!  I do hope we get more rain and snow before things really move towards spring.  It's been a great winter so far and it's way too early to end.

At any rate, here's a look at last week's pictures:


Day 32- Monday, 2/1/16
And just like that February starts.  Brandon has minimum days all week and the high-school kids don't so we'll get some good one-on-one time together each afternoon.





Day 33- Tuesday, 2/2/16
It's turning out to be a warm week.  The mornings are still cold and a little damp but by afternoon the sun shines bright and heats things up.  Rusty is taking advantage of the warmer weather by bathing in the sun rays.





Day 34- Wednesday, 2/3/16
Brandon had his school conference today and is doing great in the 6th grade so while we ran errands at Target afterwards, he was rewarded with an ICEE.  It was especially good and refreshing on this warm spring day.  Shortly after, I dropped him at home with Tyler and headed out for snack-bar duty which was fun but made for a really long day.





Day 35- Thursday, 2/4/16
This afternoon I made 3 batches of brownies to take to a Booster's meeting and Tyler came home just in time to help me clean up.  Lucky boy.  Look at Bella--she wants some so bad but no chocolate for her.  Poor thing!





Day 36- Friday, 2/5/16
Justin is my little botanist.  He's enjoying his new Farm-to-Fork class where he gets to spend time in the school garden at least 3 times a week.  He sent me a picture of this "Christmas tree" cauliflower earlier in the week, and then at home today was fascinated by one of our store bought onions that had been sitting awhile and began to sprout. LOL! We should probably do something about that.





Day 37- Saturday, 2/6/16
Pop-tarts!  They are Brandon's go-to snack and he's become really good at toasting them perfectly so they don't burn.  He's also into wearing t-shirts with wolves on them.  He has at least 3 or 4 in his closet and you can bet on weekends he'll be wearing one of them enjoying his freedom from the school uniform.







Day 38- Sunday, 2/7/16
It's Super Bowl 50 held in the Bay Area this year which was kind of exciting. Not that we could go, but we knew people that went.  Instead we watched the game at the Cepeda house and had a good time there with good food and drinks.




That's all folks.  Thanks for stopping by and see you next week.


Tuesday, February 2, 2016

Week 5

Welcome back and happy February!  We are 1/12 of the way through the new year.  I think I blinked and January flew by.  This year is going to be insane that way.  Last week was pretty mellow.  Some of us were still fighting sickness so we tried to keep it chill.  Don't get me wrong, there was still plenty going on but certain things just had to slide for the betterment of the peeps.

Take a look at last week:



Day 25- Monday, 1/25/16
We ditched the rain for the fog.  This is the view out my 5th floor lab window at 10am--pretty much just a white wall. Thankfully it clears for the afternoon and the sun comes out.  The X-Files are back!  John and I used to watch this show regularly back in the day.  Today was the second episode but I had to record it because I was stuck in a 3 hr Booster Board meeting while it aired.





Day 26- Tuesday, 1/26/16
The kids crack me up with this dog.  Each has their own "Bella time" ritual with her after they get home from school.  Luckily they all get home at different times so it's staggered and she's not bombarded with crazy boys, although, I don't think she would mind either way.  As long as she gets attention and food she is good.





Day 27- Wednesday, 1/27/16
I spied a some blooming flowers on a bush or two out front.  I do love winter but it's also nice to see signs of spring every now and then that tell me it won't last forever. It was a beautiful day and evening. I was out at the high school for open house after dinner and enjoyed the calm, warm weather.  Fear not- it won't last.  The next system starts to move in tomorrow.






Day 28- Thursday, 1/28/16
Yep- today is cold and dreary.  I had to break out a sweater, the cat needed to cuddle for warmth, and the blue skies are now grey.   It's still winter for sure which is fine because we need more rain and snow.





Day 29- Friday, 1/29/16
It rained good and hard and was cold out so when we got home from school we turned on the fire to help us dry off and warm up.  As you can see Brandon is having his after-school "Bella time." :0)  My head cold and cough which I thought I had kicked took a turn for the worse last night. Thank goodness it's Friday so I can hunker down and rest up in my cozy home.






Day 30- Saturday, 1/30/16
We thought we'd get more rain today but it was mostly just threatening thunder clouds.  Justin had tennis this morning and then after we hit the store to restock the pantry.  As usual he got stuck and mesmerized by the donuts in the bread aisle.





Day 31- Sunday, 1/31/16
This is a typical Sunday dinner especially on a cold and windy day.  My boys love their wings and their ice-cream especially ice-cream with brownies.  Yum!




That's it for January!  Check back next week to see how February kicks off.