Week 52

It's Tuesday but it feels more like a Monday.  I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. We had a really nice Christmas week spending good quality time with family and friends. I'm grateful to have another week off so we can finish the year together having even more fun.

Here is a look at how our Christmas week went:

Day 354- Monday, 12/19/16

Scout found a good spot to hang out near my Christmas plate and winking Santa mug.  It wouldn't be the holidays without them.  Sadly we had a busy morning with a super long doctor's appointment and errands to run, but we ended on a yummy note.  I taught the boys how to make Christmas Chex mix which of course was a huge hit and greatly enjoyed throughout the week.

Day 355- Tuesday, 12/20/16

It's time for the boys to work together wrapping gifts.  Their wrapping skills have come a long way.  I'm impressed and glad they all know how to do this.  Even Bella wanted to help, but she started to sulk once I told her to stay out of the presents.  She thinks all things in gift bags are for her to open.

Day 356- Wednesday, 12/21/16

Unfortunately I could not avoid a trip to the mall this week, but we made sure to get there early and get out as quickly as possible.  Justin joined me and we treated ourselves to some Cinnabon to help make the trip worth it.  Funny thing is that was the only line we actually had to stand in.  Once we got home the younger two worked on decorating a ginger bread house.  It's so nice I don't even have to help at all anymore.  They did well and it turned out great.  It puts a smile on my face every time I see it on the table and it smells good too.

Day 357- Thursday, 12/22/16

Today was a full baking day.  We made sugar cookies, peanut butter blossoms, buckeyes, fudge and chocolate chip shortbread snowball cookies.  The boys helped here and there and worked nicely together decorating the sugar cookies.  Of course their favorite job today was quality control tasting samples to make sure they turned out ok ;0)

Day 358- Friday, 12/23/16

John is now officially on vacation with us so we took some time this morning to all see the latest Star Wars movie together.  It was a great day to be inside too because it poured rain and was windy most the day.  The skies did clear and the sun came out just in time for the boys to deliver cookie plates to some neighbors.  It's something they both look forward to every year, and it warms my heart that they enjoy it so much.

Day 359- Saturday, 12/24/16

Happy Christmas Eve!  We made our traditional homemade pizza pies for dinner, cruised around the neighborhood looking at lights, and then let the boys open one gift before sending them to bed.

Day 360- Sunday, 12/25/16

Merry Christmas!  This morning we had a special eggnog french toast breakfast, opened gifts, enjoyed time together and then in the afternoon we headed to the Wong family home for dinner and holiday cheer.  What a great day we all had!

Wait!  Time for one more--

December's Family Photo

It's a traditional one on Christmas morning just before opening gifts.  I'm so happy to have another monthly family photo with Tyler in it.  We only missed him one month this year.  Sadly next year we won't be so lucky.

That's it for this week.  I'll catch you again in the new year.  Bring on 2017!

Week 51

Welcome back and happy Tuesday!  It's Christmas week and I'm still not ready yet.  I am super close to getting there but also stressing about what still needs to be done.  At least I'm off this week so hopefully I bang it all out quickly and just enjoy the rest of my holiday with the family.  The kids are all out of school now too so we are feeling happy and excited for some good family fun.

Take a look at how we spent last week:

Day 347- Monday, 12/12/16

One of Brandon's favorite parts of the day during this time of year is blowing out the advent candles after dinner.  Two weeks down and two to go.

Day 348- Tuesday, 12/13/16

I have a work Christmas party tomorrow.  The department is providing lunch and we're supposed to bring dessert so I'm baking some brownies to take because they are quick and simple.

Day 349- Wednesday, 12/14/16

My Survivor fans are watching the finale together tonight.  Tyler missed most the season while away at school but caught up over Thanksgiving break and now gets to see how it all ends.  He's a crazy LA kid wearing shorts while it's freezing here in West Sac.

Day 350- Thursday, 12/15/16

Rain, rain, rain!  The rain was super heavy and non-stop today.  I even had my wipers on the fastest high speed driving Brandon home from school and he was laughing because he'd never seen them move like that before.  It's been awhile and the river is looking full and there is snow in the mountains.  We may kick this drought yet.

Day 351- Friday, 12/16/16

After yesterday we are all happy to see the sun shine bright today.  The sun may be out but it's still really cold.  It's nice to see though.  It looks inviting and lifts the spirits even in the cold.

Day 352- Saturday, 12/17/16

Tick-tock--running out of time!  I spent the majority of the day sorting through ordered gifts and wrapping presents to put under the tree.  Most of these are from my parents and sister who send money for me to buy for the family.  Next week we'll have the boys wrap their brother gifts and gifts from them to us.  It's so nice to see what a difference a few wrapped presents makes to the the look of a tree.

Day 353- Sunday, 12/18/16

Cheers to the holidays.  We had Mexican for dinner so we enjoyed some Margaritas to go with that.

That's i.t See you next week after Christmas and just before the new year!  Have a blessed holiday everyone.

Week 50

Welcome back and happy Tuesday!  It's been super cold and wet here lately, but we are getting a few breaks between systems which is nice.  There has also been a lot of morning fog which makes for an interesting commute.  Winter is most certainly here and Christmas is around the corner.  Nope--still not ready but getting closer.

Here are last week's pictures:

Day 340- Monday, 12/5/16

Scout, our elf, found some Santa Hat Kisses to share with the boys and we finally dug out our Christmas count down gadget to help us keep track of the days left--fewer that I would like!

Day 341- Tuesday, 12/6/16

After school today we focused on getting ornaments put on the tree.  Each of the younger boys added there own ornaments and we're saving Tyler's for him to add when he returns later this week.

Day 342- Wednesday, 12/7/16

There was so much rain today and I had to run between buildings all day at work which was no fun in this weather.  Thank goodness for winter boots, warm sweaters, and hooded rain jackets.

Day 343- Thursday, 12/8/16

This cat has been pretty feisty lately.  He's loving the tree and all the other decorations to mess around with and of course both the pets are happy for the fire on these cold rainy nights.

Day 344- Friday, 12/9/16

He's back!  Tyler flew in around 7:30 tonight and of course the first order of business once he got home was food.  I kind of expected him to have eaten already, but he didn't have time at the airport. Now with my boy safely home and it being Friday it's time for me to relax with a festive drink and celebrate my full house at the start of the holiday season.

Day 345- Saturday, 12/10/16

On these wet and dark winter days the lighting in my house is less than optimal for pictures, but I do like how the poor lighting created this silhouette shot of Tyler as he worked on decorating the tree with his ornaments.  Now it's officially done and looks great!  Later John and I went to dinner and a movie.  It was a strange movie too--so many unanswered questions.  I'm not sure if I liked it or not, but dinner was good and it's always fun to get out with my guy.

Day 346- Sunday, 12/11/16

In between loads of laundry I banged out Christmas cards chaecking one more thing checked off my to-do list.  John was also busy outside finishing up those lights he started last week and this time had better success.  The lights work and look great.  This completes our holiday decorating and it feels good to be done so we can now enjoy the beauty of it all. 

That's it!  Thanks for stopping by and hope to see you next week.

Week 49

Welcome back and happy Tuesday! This past week seemed pretty boring compared to the week before but things started to pick up again over the weekend.  It's time to decorate for Christmas and get into that festive spirit.  I love seeing the boys get excited over it especially Brandon who is still young enough to feel the magic.  We're slowly getting things put out and my goal is to have it all done by the end of the week so Tyler comes home to a fully decorated house.  He'll be home again Friday!  Good luck to him with finals.  He already has 2 done and one more to go at the end of the week.

Here are last week's pictures:

Day 333- Monday, 11/28/16

Brrr! It is cold out and the best way to warm up is with hot drinks.  I had a few of these this week.  Also the holiday boxes have been brought down out of the attic so I've slowly started to decorate.  The pumpkins are packed away and the Christmas trees are coming out.  This white-washed wooden tree with silver glitter is new to my collection this year and I love it.

Day 334- Tuesday, 11/29/16

Yep--still cold so we had soup and sandwiches for dinner.  We even had leftover ham to add to the grilled cheese which was a big hit with Justin.  He loves ham and ham with melted cheese is all the better--toasty warm and oh so good!

Day 335- Wednesday, 11/30/16

Brandon is loving his new phone and he's been good with it.  He's careful not to be on it too much although I'm sure that will change soon enough.  Tonight we all watched Survivor and popped some popcorn.  Before I knew it I had 2 new best friends.  LOL! Total beggars.

Day 336- Thursday, 12/1/16

Happy December!  I still can't believe we are here already and I'm still not ready.  Brandon is ready though and happy to open the first window on his advent calendar.  He's super excited about the Christmas countdown.

Day 337- Friday, 12/2/16

Since it's December now that means our elf Scout is back.  We'll see what kind of fun or trouble he brings this year.

Day 338- Saturday, 12/3/16

John's has been busy all day working on getting the lights up to decorate the outside of our house.  We switched to LED this year and he started today but has had problems with the new system so it's still a work in progress.  Think of Clark in Christmas Vacation.  LOL! No worries though--he'll get there.  Meanwhile Brandon nailed it at basketball evaluation day.  We'll hear in a couple weeks what team he'll play on this winter.  See his chapped and red lips?  That's thanks to some nasty winds we had yesterday.  Mine don't look much better.

Day 339- Sunday, 12/4/16

Today we picked out our tree loaded it up in Tyler's truck and took it home :0) The trimming will have to come later--not enough hours in a day.

That's it for now.  Check back next week for more seasonal fun.