...+68...

Pasta, Pasta, Pasta 2

That's the name of the class I took Wednesday night.

Mom, JoAnn, Lucy and I learned how to make ravioli and tortellini.

I LoVED these...they are SuPeR adorbs and crazy easy to make...every time I'd seen someone do it on TV or online, they folded it so fast it looked like MaGIC  :)  ...but slowed down and demonstrated repeatedly for us slow folks...it's not nearly so tricky!!  

I will DeFiniTeLY be making these at home...I don't even need any special tools...just a round cookie cutter and I already have just a few of those :)

These ravioli were made in a metal mold...again...CraZY easy and these have the benefit of being really fast.  You make a whole trayful...10 or 12...at once...unlike those cute little tortellini which are individually cut, filled, wet, folded, and turned...

I'll be looking online today for ravioli molds :)

Joy, the teacher, broke us up into 5 groups to make the different fillings and sauces that we tried last night.  There were two different fillings...butternut squash and a traditional ricotta/spinach...and three sauces...butter&sage, red sauce and pink sauce.  I was in the group making the pink sauce, so of course I took a picture of that one when I set it on the table but I forgot to go back and get pictures of the rest :(

They were all delicious and beautiful...and QUiCK!!  I really enjoyed the butternut squash ravioli with the butter&sage sauce...but Sanford would never go for that as dinner...I think I could squeeze it by as a side dish for him, but that's the best I could hope for.  Luckily, he's at the CADA conference tonight, so Connor and I are going to have the yummy butternut squash pasta for dinner...I'm just telling the boy it's sweet potatoes...he LoVES anything sweet potato and hates anything called "squash" just on principal :)  But I know he'll love these!

Sanford is presenting for the first time at CADA (the ASB directors conference) on Thursday.  I know he'll do great, but he had a little bit of butterflies going on this morning.  It was cute. I can't wait until he gets home this evening to hear all about how it went.  I guess I could go watch it now, since he told me he posted his presentation on YouTube...but I'd rather hear it from the horses....mouth  :)

...+67...

Last night's Boy Scout meeting was the Court of Honor ceremony.

It was very inspirational.  Connor left all pumped up and ready to buckle down and advance...it was the first time I'd ever heard him talk about wanting to be an Eagle Scout.  I told Sanford later that it was like going to watch Top Gun for the first time and leaving the theater wanting to be a fighter pilot :)  ...Even I left the ceremony wanting to Eagle!

Connor's last duty as Patrol Leader for the Cobra Patrol was to read the Bendiction for the ceremony.  He did a great job.

Connor earned a Klondike Derby badge and 3 Merit Badges which he was honored for last night.

                                      

He earned the Dentistry, Railroading, and Welding Merit Badges  :)

One of the mom's who's son earned Eagle is AmAZinGLy talented!!!! She made adorable cupcakes and the most INCREDIBLE cake!!!!  The eagle on the top of the stand is a cake she made...individual fondant feathers, great eyes, just gorgeous detailing all around!  It was obvious she was PrOUD of her son! :)

It was a great meeting.  I'm so grateful that we went.  I loved how it encouraged and inspired Connor.

...+66...

It's that time again...BooK RePoRTs are due next week...

This time the assignment was to read a biography.  Connor chose...

I read it too...I always read his book report books...it makes it much easier to help with the report.  It was really interesting.  I knew the basics of his life, but some of the details were interesting...and oooohhh BoY did that man LoVE his mama...that can't be a BaD thing for Connor to read about right??   ;)

I'm a little disappointed because this report is just a speech and no diorama...sigh...I LoVE that part! :) and interestingly enough...Connor ALWAYS gets an A+ on his...imagine that :)

Connor consistently  RoCKS speeches...so this will be a breeze once we get it written...and since we're starting a full week BeForE it's due this time...instead of 2 days before...there will be minimal stress and yelling YaY! :)

...+65...

Dad was in town this weekend to visit Banana...that's what Connor calls my Grandma...he heard someone call her Nana when he was little and assumed they were saying BAnana...and it just stuck for our family  :)  

We were planning on going down to visit on Friday or Saturday...but since I was a cootie, we were uninvited :)

By Sunday morning I had been on meds for 48 hours so we headed down...

Connor LoVES to visit Banana's house...he gets treated like a prince and always leaves in a sugar coma with cash in his pocket...this visit was no different...except the cash was supplied by Grandpa Ed instead of Banana...

Grandma is recovering very nicely and seems to be doing well...hopefully she'll be back to her old self...painting, cleaning, and cooking in no time!  :)

...+64...

I went to Costco on Saturday (spreading my pink eye cooties all along the way I'm sure...)

It was the first time in months that the fruit looked yummy...so I bought a ton!

I came home and made myself a giant fruit salad...which the boy spied and promptly called his own...

 I couldn't blame him though...how could you resist that?!?!?!


With the boys being gone most of the week, I did NO cooking...I must have been going through some kind of withdrawal because I offered to cook on a Saturday night...which is the ONLY time Sanford is responsible for dinner....so, of course, we always go out :)

I got a completely wild hair and decided to make chicken (and fake chiken) pot pies...

...Bowls of ingredients, homemade pie crust, individual ramekins so everyone could have just what they liked...WHAT was I thinking?!?!?!?!?

They turned out AdoRaBLe...almost too cute to eat :)

...+63...

Friday was a mixed bag....on the plus side...the stars all aligned and all the daycare kids stayed home and I had a SuRpRisE day off...

...on the negative side...at least one of them stayed home because they had pink eye and he was nice enough to share it with me...

So I spent the morning at Urgent Care checking out how the new insurance works...sigh...

...+62...

More fun from the skiers...

Check out the snow on the roof of the car...that's all from overnight...

Looks like a pro :)

Connor was willing to move off the bunny slopes and try a blue square...Sanford was thrilled because in his mind that means next ski trip can be to Mammoth instead of Big Bear :)

...+61...

I put up some super quick St. Paddy's Day decorations...all Internet printables...

...Seriously... the World Wide Web + Photo Paper ...it's a GooD thing!! :)

I only had two boys yesterday so we went on a field trip down to the Model Railroad Museum in Balboa Park.

It had been windy and rainy the night before and the ground was covered with the petals from tons of flowering trees...it's as close as we're going to get to snow on the ground in San Diego...

The boys had a great time in the museum...but not as much fun outside...52 is CoLD when you have thin native San Diegan blood!

The skiers sent home a few pictures...

...they had real snow up in Big Bear their first night there...not flower petal snow.  The railing picture was taken first thing in the morning out their front door.  The bottom right picture is a view from the inside of the Rav4...don't see that often here.

Sanford and Connor are having a great time and I'm sure we'll have more pictures tomorrow :)

...+60...

The boys left a little earlier than originally planned for their ski trip.

The radio said the mountains would be a rough drive in the afternoon and the forecast went from a 10% chance of snow at 3:00 to a 90% chance of snow at 4:00...better to be safely up there before it all started coming down.

The boys arrived with no drama and immediately went tubing.

Connor looks like he might be having a good time.  :)

After a few hours of tubing, they did what Sanford was most looking forward to...they went to
                       

for

Gotta LoVE a man with high expectations and gourmet taste! :)

I worked and then enjoyed a quiet evening at home...

There's nothing like a hot soak  in a clean bathroom that's going to have no pee on the floor for 3 whole days...sigh...it's VeRY ReLaXinG!! :)

...+59...

We had a super lazy day.

Sleeping in.
Omelets for breakfast.
Packing for the boys ski trip.

Everything was just on a slower speed than usual.

I could ToTaLLy get used to 4 day weekends!! :)

I made pizza for dinner...that was about as energetic as I was getting.

We went over and borrowed my mom's car for the boys to drive up to Big Bear.

It has 4 wheel drive and since it was supposed to snow 3-6 inches on Tuesday and Wednesday while the boys were there, we decided it was better to be prepared than stuck!  Thanks MoM! :)

...+58...

Sanford had to go in to work on Sunday...His Boomilever girls were competing...

Seriously...CuTeST shirts EvER!!!! :)

I made grilled ham and cheese for lunch since I felt bad that he had to go in on a Sunday...sometimes it's good to be the king.

...+57...

Connor had baseball practice Saturday and came home with this

He's played ball for 6 or 7 years and has never had a jersey with his name on it...I LoVE it!

Can't WAIT for the season to start! :)

...+56...

I played hooky on Friday and went to an Introduction to Firearms class with my friend Cindy.

Had the BeST time!

It was a gorgeous day and the guys running the class were very knowledgeable and helpful.

Here's "DeaDeYe Cindy" :)

I totally get it...hearing the shot hit the steel or seeing the holes you make in the target really is a kick!  

I wouldn't want a gun in my house...but if anyone asked me if I wanted to go shooting with them, I would drop everything and jump in the car!   It's very stress relieving!! :)

...+55...

For Valentine's Day,  there was no pun...just a prize :)

I tried to make a pink pancake in the center of a regular pancake as a special breakfast...

EpIC FaiL...but a little squirty cream fixed it right up...

Sanford and I decided no presents for VaLenTineS DaY...but he surprised me with a trip to...

yup...you guessed it...

You didn't actually think we were going anywhere did you?!?!?  That's just the picture on the wall I could see from our booth.

The boys order the same thing here 95% of the time...Sanford gets two Island fish, chips and salsa, and a coke...Connor gets the Jr. Wave with cheese...those two are nothing if not predictable...

OK...so this photo just cracks me up...

I look like I have MunCHKiN feet compared to those two!!  I'm the shortest too....HoW did THAT happen?!?!?

***Please note~  HoliDaY soCKs and GoLD shoes CoMBo DisCLaiMeR......I put them on in the morning because I knew the kids would like it...I forgot that  I looked like a What Not To Wear candidate until we got to the restaurant and by then it was to late :)  Thank Heavens the Fashion Police weren't there last night!***

I made dessert for Connor last night...since he hasn't had enough sugar lately...A chocolate sundae with Neapolitan Ice Cream, whipped cream,  and a heart shaped sugar cookie on top...the boy LoVEs that I used to work in an ice cream parlour!

It was a nice low key Valentine's Day.  The best part was Connor had minimal homework and it was the start of a 4 day weekend for me! Woo-Hoo!! :)

....+54....

Day 13 of my PuNnY VaLenTinE...

I have definitely enjoyed this more than the boys did...I think I may do it again next year though...but I don't see how I'll be able to come up with 14 new puns :)

Here's one of my FaV cookies from this week's mad baking...the boys both liked it too...makes me realize once again how talented the ladies who have cookie blogs are...perfect outlines...uniform dots size, no crazy, painfully sharp points on their dots...sigh...they rock...I merely impress 11 year olds...

a few more...I love the shape of this cookie cutter!  I bought it in 2 sizes.  It totally reminds me of a card die cut shape :)

Sanford's snack last night...PeaNuT BuTTeR SwiRLeD BrOWnieS covered in candy melts and decorated...with a glass of milk

I made two of these for Sanford to take in to his secretaries for VaLenTine'S daY...brownie cake pop, covered oreos, and chocolate and regular sugar cookies...seems like there's something for everyone :)

...+53...

OK...so I know this goes in the box with...the $50's don't all fit in your wallet and you're diamond tiara is too tight...BUT......

We pay GooD money to live in the Paradise...so when i wake up to THIS...

...it's worth whining about :)  

That is FRoST...ICE...FroZeN WaTeR...on my grass!  and Sanford left the cars out because the boys still have the trains down and there was ICE on his car!!! ReaLLY?!?!?!?  FreeZinG??? HeRe??? 

No thank you!  Go away Mr. Jack Frost...you do NOT live here...

Alright...enough sniveling about frost when people are buried under 6' of snow in other places...  :)

Here's the day's PuNnY VaLenTinE...

Needless to say...Connor LoVeD it!!   I put Sanford's in his lunchbox since he never checks his mailbox.

The boys went out to practice pitching before dinner...

Sanford made Connor a pitching mound to practice from and faithfully lugs the monstrosity....ummm, I mean contraption...no..no..AcTuaLLy it's the...BriLLianTLy ConSTrUCtED piece of EQuiPmEnT...out from the backyard whenever they practice...  :)

I made the coolest cookie boxes yesterday for Connor to give to his teachers...they were SuPeR easy and turned out so professional looking in their packaging  :)  I am such a SuCKeR for CuTe packaging!  

I think it's funny that Connor still enjoys bringing his teachers treats from home...I'm not sure how much longer it will be before this kind of thing embarrasses him and he tells me to stop...but I'm going to stay on the ~SuCK UP to ThOsE TeaCHeRS~ bandwagon as looooong as possible!!!

Side note...I think I've become just a squidge addicted to the Collage Making App I found...it's so AmAZingLy handy...and one collage picture uploads to the blog muuuuuuuuch faster that 27 individual pics :)  ...plus they look so cute...kinda funny that a free App could bring me so much happiness...man...I need to get out more!

...+52...

PuNnY VaLenTinE...day 11

the boys both got these :) goofy MiNeCraFteRs!!

My fav neighbor asked me to make a prize for her daughter's teacher for Valentine's Day and she wanted to give her nuts...so I made this :)