...+10...

Just a few misc  pictures from Christmas clean up...

Connor made this cool Christmas tree in science class...it was beautiful in person..

This is all that I had to sweep up from taking out the tree...this is the first year we bought a Noble fir and it was AweSoMe!!  The branches were sturdier to hold the ornaments better, it smelled wonderful, and even though someone forgot to water it for the last 10 days, it lost almost no needles!

It only took about 90 minutes to take down the tree and get everything in the living room back to normal...Sanford slept through it all...

My gingerbread house was looking a little worse for the wear :)

It lost a lot of shingles, the topiary were all demolished, and the front path was pried up...I was surprised there wasn't more damage done.  I don't think the boys thought I was really serious when I told them they could eat it.  I think they were afraid that they were going to pry off a chunk of roof and I was going to freak out.  Hopefully next year they will eat more!

This was the shot out our front window at 4:30.  Both boys were sleeping and I turned on the fireplace and sat down to read...I had to take a quick pic just because it was so pretty...in a suburban way :)  just something else to be grateful for...

...+9...

Here are a few photos of  Connor's room...we didn't buy anything new, just rearranged what he had...

Here is a view of his bookshelves...with a serious culling of the hoopla that had been on them...I'll try to remember to take another picture of them in 2 weeks so we can memorialize what they ReaLLy look like on a daily basis...

His bed has moved to the opposite corner.

I thought it was pretty funny that when I tried to take a picture that had the license plate frames in it...this is what I got...the reflectiveness (is that a word??) of the plates made them look like they were glowing and everything else in the photo turned out dark...

Connor has a license plate from every state he's been to....well...that's the plan...but I'm lagging on Oregon and Utah...He visited both of those states on the road trip he and Sanford took last summer.  Any one have a spare? :)

Here's the bench that started the whole thing...It's from my granddad...I've had it since I was little.  Sanford and I had it at the foot of our bed for a long time and have recently replaced it with a super cool antique church pew...thanks Dad and Janet :)  Connor asked if he could have the bench in his room.  We had to do some rearranging to make it work...he wants to paint it too...I'm just waiting to hear the verdict on his final color choice...I've heard red, brown, and blue...I'm personally hoping for red...I've already painted the bench at least 5 times...so one more coat can't hurt

Here he is pretending to be asleep :)

Sanford was sick today....note the pathetic look and huge pile of kleenex sitting next to him...I know this looks suspiciously like the lounging photos...but honest...this one is SicK...you'd be able to tell by the hacking and whining if there were sound on the blog :)

At one point I was actually a little worried about him.  His fever was still 101.5 AFTER Advil...he had the chills and couldn't get warm...even after a shower and dryer-warmed towel and clothes.  We doubled up on meds and gave him some of the Sudafed which has acetaminophen in it and that seemed to do the trick...plus it knocked him out for an hour...hopefully he'll be feeling well enough tomorrow to help put all the Christmas decorations away...but somehow I'm betting his illness lingers just until the last box is put back into the rafters...

Carvajal...that's French for SLacKeR.

...+8...

Connor had a wild hair and poked me with it and we spent the morning rearranging his room...EVERY piece of furniture got moved...it's still not photo worthy...more a disaster zone!

He had a doctor's appointment and on the way home we stopped at

We bought an assortment of GooDieS just because...

Connor's friend Connor came over and the two of them played for a few hours.  They were busy alternating between saving the universe and showing off their AmAZinG dance moves...Listening to them from downstairs was a pretty amusing diversion :)

When we took the other Connor home, the two of them weaseled a deal and our Connor ended up staying and spending the night...no clothes, no pillow...not even a toothbrush.  Just more proof that 11 year old boys are GroSS!  Connor's dad had a pack of spare toothbrushes...so I'm hoping at least a little brushing happened...but I wouldn't bet the farm on it...

Sanford and I went and picked up my Explorer from the shop and then went to the Hole in the Wall for dinner

The decor may leave something to be desired...but the Margaritas are large and the food is TaSTY!

Sanford LoVES the Enchiladas Suizas....I'm pretty sure that's what he'd choose as his last meal on Earth.

...hang on...

...I just asked him and yup...I was correct.  Nice to know that I won't be cooking :)

...+7...

Sanford had to go in to work this morning for an optional ASB work day.  Connor and I took the Explorer down to Robby's to have them fix the non-stop squeaking :(  

Funny how my truck needs to go into the shop EvErY December...it's my Merry Christmas from Ford.

When we got home Sanford wanted to go to the car show...

Connor went off on his own and got lost 5,612 times...there are 5,611 texts on my phone asking where we are and random pictures showing me where he was when he sent the text...GooF BaLL!

Connor had to get in EVERY car and try it out.

I only saw Sanford sit in two cars...The Mustang GT convertible and a Mercedes convertible...when he was sitting in the Mercedes, Connor came up and looked at me and said "Hey Mom...isn't this the car we tried to give Dad?"  It was very difficult not to laugh because he was absolutely correct! 

I actually gasped out loud and may have drooled just a little bit when I saw the GuLLWinG...I must not have been the only one in LoVE with it since it made the front page of the UT the next day!

We walked over to Spaghetti factory for dinner and came home and watched Where the Wild Things Are...don't think we'll be watching that again...EVER...

These two pictures are up in the collage but they cracked me up enough that I had to post them separately too...

The hamsters were just hysterical and Connor was happy to smile in pictures instead of working on that crazy possessed look he's been trying to perfect lately...I guess I should check with Sanford and see if the boy and the rodent are throwing up gang signs   :)

...this picture is funny and frightening at the same time...he's in a giant vehicle acting like he's going to run me over..the sheer GLeE in his eye makes me worry about what things are going to be like in 5 years...that's how long it is until he can get a learner's permit...HoLy SnaP...how is that possible?!?!?!

...+6...

In an effort to let everyone thoroughly enjoy our StAY-cation...I've decided to just let the boys stew in their own filth if it doesn't bother them...I figure I'll just drive the back hoe through and fumigate after they go back to school...

Here they are in their natural habitat...surrounded by junk food wrappers and playing video games...it's just like how you'd find them in the wild.

...and here's Connor practicing his possessed face.  I'm not sure why that's a favorite of his lately...but I certainly hope it's a short phase.

Here's a peek at what they are looking at.  It was Connor's gift TO Sanford.  Nice how they got each other video games to avoid the fact that I refuse to buy any more games since I see the $50 discs laying on the floor and it makes my head PoP off!

Grammie got in on the action too this year.  She bought Connor the Need for Speed game...SC gave Connor the Just Dance game and Connor gave his dad Batman Legos...I'm sure it's enough to keep them busy through most of break...at least the Just Dance game gets Connor's tushie out of the gaming chair and moving around :)

...+5...

Christmas Day started at about 7:15.  I told Connor it had to be light outside before he could get up...so I felt lucky that we got to sleep in an extra hour.  :)

Here's a shot of the loaded stocking and the only presents under the tree are for us...I guess I didn't do very well with my goal of buying fewer gifts...

I must not have been paying enough attention when I grabbed socks on my way out...

Is mixing holidays like this a party foul?  Frankie looks happy to be out and enjoying a little Christmas cheer.

This is my present from the boys...gee...I WoNdeR what could possibly be in it....I'm going out on a limb and guessing the new pots and pans I asked for...

                                    




Think Connor is enjoying Christmas??  I LoVE that Timmy Turner smile!

YiKeS!!  We may have over done it just a bit with the gifts again this year...so much for leaving a small carbon footprint...

Look how cute these guys look in their matching jammies!  I can't stand it...and please note that Sanford's hair is perfect...Connor and I look like wild people and Sanford  has the Carvajal Wall O'Hair already going on at 0 dark thirty...killing me! :)

We went with Bruce and Kathy to Ruth's Chris for dinner.  I made our reservations for 4:45 so we could watch the sunset.  We had a great table and the view was just beautiful!  I wish I'd remembered to take a picture of Connor with his Grandpa.

We came home after dinner and Connor played a little Just Dance 4 and then we watched the Grinch with Jim Carrey.  

I asked Connor what his best gift was and he said his pool table.  As an afterthought when I was shopping at Kohl's, I picked up a tabletop pool table for him.  He talks about playing pool in the game room at Middle School all the time and I thought he might enjoy it.  It's funny that a $20 toy was his favorite...especially when it wasn't even on his list! :)

Merry Christmas!

...+4...

Christmas Eve started out with more lounging...no picture this time ;)

I finished up the wrapping and did a little shopping.  I found a San Diego Then & Now book at Costco that I really liked and ended up going back to buy two more...one for Ricky, one for Uncle Bill, and one for Bruce.

We then went over to my mom's for a non-traditional pizza dinner and were supposed to go look at Christmas lights at Christmas Card lane.  The boys opted out of the lights since we had just been (in my birthday LIMO)  the week before...plus it was 50 degrees and as native San Diegans...we're all WiMpS!!




Here we are in front of Grammie and Granddad's tree.

Grammie and Grandad did the whole box in a box in a box thing to make Connor really work for his gift.

I think he thought the end result was worth it! ;)

Connor, Grammie, and Grandad...Connor is almost as tall as Grammie.

Here is Connor playing with baby cousin Maggie...She was happy and laughing the whole night.

We went home and Connor had to play his new video game...Need for Speed~Most Wanted... immediately .  He played on the big TV and Sanford and I watched White Christmas downstairs.

After the movie, I made overnight Eggnog French Toast casserole so that breakfast in the morning would be easy.  I used the Two Peas and their Pod recipe that I've been recommending to everyone...it's delicious and crazy easy!  I think it may be our new family tradition since we all really like it.

I sent Connor to bed at 10:00 so SC could come fill the stockings.

It was yet another relaxing and enjoyable day...the kind that makes you wish you would win the lottery so that every day could be spent the same way.

...+3...

...didn't take long to fall behind blogging...but I've been taking the pictures :) 

These pictures date from 12/23/12

our time off continues with more lounging...

the boys left the house today to go shopping for my gifts and wrapped them before they even came into the house ;)

we watched a Christmas movie we hadn't seen before with popcorn and cookies.

...+2...

it was a quiet day...lots of lounging....

and a little crafting....

I decorated a couple of recycled pop top pinto bean cans.  I opened them with my Pampered Chef can opener on the bottom so that the pop top stayed functional...then I cleaned them out, decorated them, and stuck gift cards inside.  I then re-glued the bottoms back on so that the recipient has to pop the top to get their gift :)

I was invited to decorate GinGerBrEAd houses at Kathy's house....she is one of my daycare moms.

This is my  house...it's the first house I've ever built :)

...and it comes complete with a yard, candy topiary, a sled, and a candy coal fire pit with chocolate benches.

There was a crazy amount of candy to choose from and all of the houses were baked by Kathy...holy SMOKES...a ton of work for her!  I am so glad she invited me.  It was a fun experience and really made me want to think about doing it myself and making it an annual tradition for our family or maybe neighbors...it's kind of a girlie thing though...I can't really envision Sanford and Connor being all that into it...unless I convince them it's like candy MinECRafT :)

...+ 1 ...

The world didn't end yesterday...Woo-Hoo  ;)  

I guess that Jello pudding offering to the Mayan gods ReaLLy worked!

So every day from now on is a ...{plus}...

ok...it's just a convenient excuse to start a 365 blog before Christmas and squeeze those fun holiday pictures in...seems kind of like a cheat...but I'm going with it!

The goal is to post at least one picture daily...sometimes with words and sometimes without...as time and circumstance allow.

today's

At 5:00 today as I packed off the last day care child, I began the longest section of time off I've had since I gave birth to Connor...11 days in a row.  To begin things right, we went out to dinner...when we got home, the boys went upstairs to play video games and I started a fire, turned on the tree, and laid on the couch with a new book (Cleopatra) and a cup of English Toffee coffee...it was AwEsOmE!!  Cozy and perfect...no stress...

Kitty Mack was also a big fan of the relaxing evening.  He camped out on my lap as I was reading and when I got up to go to bed, he sprawled out on the floor...I think he was hoping I'd leave the fireplace on for him :)