...+125...

Thursday night was a mandatory meeting at BMMS Academy...basically it's just a glorified check collection day.

For most people...parking is a CoMPLetE nightmare...300 families there at one time all trying to fit into one parking lot...

Sanford hooked us up :)

He parked in the auto shop up at the high school and we walked down the hill linking the two campuses.

We got down to the bottom and I noticed the gate was closed and locked.

I thought we were going to have to trudge back up the hill and join the melee in the parking lot...but Sanford just smiled and pulled out his keys...sometimes being the ASB advisor has lovely fringe benefits :)

We walked right in the back way and were in and out in 30 minutes...SWeeT!

Connor got to stay home alone and managed not to burn down the house or bleed on anything...he's growing up ;)

...+124...

Wednesday was BasEBaLL...

Connor's bat is on fire...he's drilling the ball every time he gets up! :)

He pitched again this game...it was not his best outing :(

...but he sure looks like a PLaYeR out there on the mound!

...+123...

Connor is having a GReAT week...it's STAR testing in the district...so no homework and minimum days Tuesday-Thursday.

He came home, wrote a page in his writing journal, and was free the rest of the day...he even lucked out and it's a no scouts week...so he ReaLLy was completely free :)

I thought for SURE there would be HOUrS spent on the computer since I told him he could have screen during the week as there was no homework...but after 90 minutes...he went outside...and in his defense...no one else was home from school before that :)

There was a LOT of "riot shield" adjustments

Here's the front...note the plexiglass viewer...Sanford made a special trip to Home Depot just to get that...

...and here's the back...

There was also a lot of Nerf gun tweaking going on...I wish I'd thought to take a picture of Connor, Trevor, and Jeremy all huddled around the guns with screw drivers and puzzled looks on their faces...I'm not sure exactly what was going on...but I know a "MOD" was in progress...

The boy has just a few guns...and I stopped buying them years ago...if he wants a new one, it's all him...so if he chooses to "modify" it...it's all on him...

It must have been successful because Connor slept with his guns Tuesday night :)

...and the entire front and back yard looked like it rained Nerf bullets...

...+122...

Monday night was the neighborhood women had a get together in honor of Marissa...not exactly a baby shower...she didn't want one...it's her fourth baby and there isn't really much she could possibly need at this point :)

It was really nice just to hang out in Lucy's backyard having cocktails and snacks and catching up on the gossip.

To be honest, I had completely forgotten about it until Lucy reminded me at 5:00...so I went inside and pulled a dozen cupcakes out of the freezer and set out looking for a frosting recipe.

I ended up making Nutella Cloud Frosting...from a recipe I found online...linked right there so I NeVeR lose it because it is AMaZinG!!!!!!!

I will DeFinieLY make this frosting again...and again...and again...  :)

...+121...

Sunday morning everyone woke up completely recovered from the nasty 12 hour bug and we went down to Chula Vista to visit Banana.

We stopped at Champagne bakery first to bring some treats...Grandma has quite a sweet tooth :)

...and the bakery has quite a selection :)

We recently found out that Grandma has breast cancer.  It's a small lump and hopefully it was caught early enough.

She has a Dr. appointment on Monday to find out what her treatment plan is, so we wanted to go down and cheer her up...not that she needed much of that.  She was her usual chipper self...asking Connor about his video game, puttering around in the yard, sweeping the patio...her hip replacement has done wonders for her and she is back to being spry and mobile...I really hope this cancer is just another bump in the road and is behind her quickly.

...+120...

Saturday morning...the quick moving cootie got me...

Connor however, woke up raring to go and wanted to play BaLL...he ate a banana...then some french toast and everything stayed down, so the boys headed off to the game leaving me here

Connor was a total hitting machine at the game...SoLID hits...drove in 5 runs...got a game ball...and I missed it because I was

I was pretty nice to Connor on Friday once I realized he actually was ill...petting him, bringing him drinks and ice and wet wash cloths to wipe him down...but as I was laying in bed on Saturday, I felt so CoMPLeteLY miserable, it made me wish I'd been nicer to him...because he certainly deserved EXtrEME pampering if he felt as bad as I did!!

On the plus side...I lost 4 pounds...

...+119...

Friday morning, Connor was moving even slower than usual while getting ready for school...I found myself getting quite grumpy and snippy with him.  He said he didn't feel well...that his stomach hurt...but he's eaten his breakfast and I KNEW he had 3 tests that day...so I told him if he insisted on saying he was sick and staying home, he'd DaRN WeLL better act sick or I was grounding him that weekend...probably NoT one of my more stellar moments as a parent :/

so....the boy counted...and he threw up 13 times...

ObVs...he didn't get grounded :)

...+118...

Thursday night was book club at Meredith's house.  She chose Memoirs of a Geisha.  Such a GreAT book!!

I made Sake truffles and White Chocolate Chai truffles to share :)

I even decorated some boxes to bring them in.

I couldn't get on board the sake wagon, but the geisha in the book also drank beer...which seemed a much more likely thing to get consumed to me...so I went that route...  I bought Meredith the kind she drinks as a hostess gift...and made a tag...geisha with beer in picture...

...and bought Japanese beer (and made a tag) for us to drink during book club :)

I absolutely AdoRe this picture of the geisha with the beer bottles...it just CRaCKS me up!!

...+117...

Baseball was on Wednesday this week...the weekday games start at 4:30 and Connor generally is just rolling in the door at 4:00 which makes things a little hurried and stressful.

I generally have drinks and snacks laid out and ready to go as well as uniforms set out on the bed...

I tend to lay out Sanford's shirt and hat along with Connor's gear because I need somewhere to nap people and I can't take up both bedrooms.

The dressing itself is usually quick and painless except for those socks...they are like 12 feet long and tight fitting...trying to squeeze them onto sweaty feet is not a pleasant task!  ...another of those things they don't tell you about in the parent handbook!!

I do love how both of their hats look sitting together like this...I'm so grateful that Sanford thinks it's important to spend this time with Connor and be a big part of his Little League experience...it's more of that idyllic suburban childhood I always hoped my kid would have :)

...+116...

You can see for yourself just how THriLLeD Connor is to be returning his bass on Tuesday morning!

Living the dream!

...+115...

There are some days when life is smooth and easy and then there was Monday....sigh...

Connor has decided that he doesn't need to write down his homework at school in his Raider Reminder...which the school provided for him SPECIFICALLY for that purpose...so every night, I pull out my phone, go onto Learning Point, and pull up his homework for the evening.

Now, Connor is an incredibly bright boy, I think so, his dad thinks so, we had him tested and they said so, his teachers all say so...but the boy is NOT self-motivated...he's at an age where just squeaking by is enough for him.

I try to check his homework every night...but sometimes I slack...and I haven't actually spot checked the answers to his math homework in a few weeks.  Unfortunately at 7:45 on Monday evening...I decided to do just that...as well as ask to physically SEE the rest of his homework...

If the ensuing 2 hours was recorded and shown as BirTH ConTRoL to high school students, we could COMPLETELY eliminate teen pregnancy!

It was without a doubt the worst homework evening in the history of school.

I hope nothing ever comes close again!

On a positive note, the homework all got finished and I hope that Connor understands some of it a little better...and I, oddly enough, remained completely calm the entire time...such a FLuKE!! I knew Middle School was going to be a challenge...but I thought it would be challenging for the 11 year old NOT the 42 year old! ;)

...+114...

Sunday was a late start day as both Sanford and I tried to get over our post-dance fatigue.

I got to leave early so I shouldn't complain, but he was at school until almost 1am...and he got to school Saturday morning at 7:45....that's a LoooooNG day on your feet! :(

We skipped breakfast altogether and I just made an early lunch by the time we got up and moving...SLaCKeRS!

Right before I went to pick up Connor from camping, I spray painted our old bistro set a cheery red.

I LoVE it!!!

Obvs, I need to paint that sad looking umbrella stand too...but the table and chairs look completely adorable now!

...+113...

Connor went Boy Scout camping up in Laguna for the weekend and Sanford was busy at MCHS with Blacklight dance prep so I decided it was a good day to put in the garden.

I planted 3 kinds of tomatoes, 3 kinds of peppers...including a purple one :)  ...cucumbers,

multiple kinds of squash...one of them is called CaLBaciTaS...and it produces (hopefully) little round zucchini like  fruits...I  planted butternut squash, pumpkins, and watermelon...

several strawberry plants and some radishes.

I love when the garden goes in...it's just so hopeful!  Now...I need to remember to water and pray for no nasty chewy buggies...and in 45-60 days...we'll begin to harvest tasty things! :)

...+112...

On Friday , I baked up the dough from the class.

I should have taken a picture before it even baked because it was pretty as a ball of dough just sitting on a cookie sheet.

It was even more beautiful after baking...it honestly looked like something from Boudins :)

It's funny how sometimes cooking is just a chore and other times what you make can seem worthy of a photo spread.

I was ridiculously proud of myself for making this...and I gave the second loaf to a neighbor like it was a precious gift...makes you realize how spoiled we've become as a society when baking a loaf of bread seems like a rare skill.

...+111...

Wednesday night I took an Introduction to bread making class through the Poway Adult school.  It was taught by the same person who taught the pasta classes...so I knew I was going to bring home something delicious! :)

In class we made and baked a foccacia...it was crazy good!  We also mad the dough for rosemary bread...but that needed to sit for a day or two.  I was feeling all baker-y so I looked online and found a recipe for Hawaiian Sweet Bread.

It seemed easy enough...except that I had to boil and mash potatoes for it...but I was feeling all Sally Homemaker, so why not?!?!?

The dough looked great in the mixer...but I might have added the flour straight from the freezer and bad things happened....it didn't rise the way it was supposed to.  ;(

I still fed it while it was still warn to a few people and it was really tasty...but once it cooled, it turned into a hockey puck...sigh...IMpatience is NOT a virtue!

...+110...

The project in the front yard progresses...sloooooowly...and I continue to be only an observer....

I am realizing that I don't do well in a spectator roll when DIY is involved.  I have many thoughts and opinions, I'm sure I could do it better and faster myself, and I am amazingly impatient at how long it's taking. On the plus side, I am doing quite well at keeping those thoughts to myself.

There haven't been any nasty notes from the HOA or complaints from the neighbors, so I'm going to continue with my scientific method and let the men proceed as they like. 

You have to admit that being on week 2 of this unsightly hole, trench, and black tarp is a little ghetto....grass looks really green though!

Meanwhile...in more attractive parts of the yard...here's what's in BLooM :)

 I took a closer shot of the ranunculus just because it was so PeRFeCT!

Now...if I can just remember to water, we'll be in good shape! :)

...+109...

Our family was scheduled to have snack on Saturday and I was going to make personalized baseball cookies.  Connor decided to go camping with the Boy Scouts this weekend instead, so we switched off with another family.

Since we'll now have snack on a weekday, and I'm not sure how the week is going to go...I just packaged up snacks to make life easier...especially since I have a cooking class the night we have snack and Sanford is going to be in charge :/

This is the kind of stuff that makes me LoVE the Internet!  It took 20 minutes to download, resize, print, and punch out both of these graphics...CRaZY easy...

.

...which is important when you're churning out 15 of something...for a bunch of 9-11 year olds who only care about getting food in their bellies and NOT about the packaging...no matter how CuTe it is :)

..+108...

On Monday, Connor brought home the bass from school.

Sanford hates when this happens and I can't imagine that the other members of the car pool like it too much either.

Connor claims that they are beginning practice logs and that he will need to bring the MoNStrOsiTY home every day.  I thought Sanford's head was going to pop off.  It doesn't exactly thrill me either since I'm still paying for the violin he HaD to have to practice...which is just collecting dust in his room.  Connor decided all on his own at the beginning of the school year to switch instruments...sigh...

The really scary part is that as HuGE as this thing is, it's not even a full sized one!

I do love listening to him practice though...I loved when he'd play the violin every day...after he got through the hideous cat being skinned alive stage...  ;)

He did such a great job on the violin.  Considering how little actual hands on training they received each week, Connor played beautifully by mid-February of last year.  He sounds pretty good on the bass too, but there are a lot fewer notes to play and so it's hard to recognize what song he's playing.  I do like how it's so deep that it vibrates your innards when he plays though. :)  and his auntie assures him that chicks find bass players HoT...I'm not sure how she thinks that helps, but I'm hoping she has good intentions...

...+107...

Connor had a birthday party to go to on Sunday afternoon and I convinced Sanford that a late lunch would be nice and one at Hacienda de Vega would be even better :)

He was a total sport and agreed to go even though he was missing several televised sporting events and there are no screens at the restaurant (hmmm....another PLUS!!)

We were seated and this is what is in the center of the patio...

We both thoroughly enjoyed lunch...I had Veggie rolled tacos this time that were YuMmY!!! Sanford liked his lunch too and said that we could definitely add de Vega to our restaurant rotation :)  Woo-Hoo!!

After lunch we strolled around and took a few more pictures of the grounds.

There are all kinds of small group seating areas, casitas, and fire pits in the back...it's absolutely the kind of place that would be a BLaST to go to with the book club girls...I need to find a book with a Spanish or Mexican angle to make that happen! :)

Later that afternoon when Connor got home, the boys went out back to practice pitching while I made dinner.

This picture makes me smile...I love the effort Connor is expending and the wild motion of his hair! Generally, Sanford has Connor throw 40 pitches. Usually, all is quiet and uneventful.  This time,  I was in the kitchen and had to go out to check on them once when I heard the ball thunk LOUDLY into Sanford's glove...Sanford was yelping and shaking his hand even though he was wearing a catcher's mitt...apparently the boy throws HARD when he wants to!

...+106...

So...not surprisingly...Saturday morning we were at the ball field.

I love that we have so many 9:00 games...it's a little chilly but there's no real fear of sunburn or sweating.

The Little League oath ceremony is another thing I adore about baseball...Sanford of course was over in the dugout rewriting wise acre words to the time honored tradition...ReaLLy?!?!?!

This picture cracks me up because it almost looks like Connor is sneaking up behind Sanford to crack him with he bat...well...maybe it doesn't really look like that and I'm just superimposing subconscious desires onto the photo... hmmmmmm  :)

...+105...

So for Jo-Ellen's surprise BirthDay party, the plan was

-Manis/Pedis
-Dinner with her peeps at Hacienda de Vega
-Poway Fun Bowl for mechanical BuLL riding


Everything went very well and I definitely have a new FaV restaurant...HoLY SnaP!!

Hacienda de Vega is AmAZinG!!!

It's a restaurant in Escondido that looks vaguely charming from the front but in no way prepares you for how GoRGeouS the setting actually is!  I LoVED it! AND they have a big vegetarian section!  My dinner was DeLiSH, the chips were tasty, the green salsa is ThE BEsT...We will absolutely be going back...at every possible opportunity!!

For the record...I DiD get on the BuLL...but only to pose for a photo...the BuLL operator was on vacation and no one else was qualified to run a machine as complicated as a legless bull in a blow up pit with GiaNT horns...guess I lucked out! :)

...+104...

I spent most of Thursday making cookies for a friend's surprise birthday party scheduled for Friday.

I found out that I LoVE my margarita/martini cutter...super quick and easy to decorate and they turn out AdoRBs...and that shoes are a LoT more complicated than they look...sigh...

I also came to the conclusion that DiscO DuST is NOT for the feint of heart...I will be cleaning up miniscule particles of sparkle from cracks and crevices for the next 5 years!!  It does look AwESoMe on the cookies though! :)

Here's a closer picture of the PiNK heels...they crack me up.

...and a picture of the cookie that looks like a cake I decorated...I'm thinking it's a bridge too far with the polka dots and glitter and 7 colors on one cookie...it is InCreDiBLy obnoxious! :)

I sure hope she likes them because they were a squidge labor intensive :/

...+103...

Every few months, I look at Connor's room and just can't take it any more.

The shelves are cluttered and overflowing.

The drawers are jammed with unfolded, wadded up clothing.

The closet bars are loaded with pants falling off the hangers and everything is inside out....

and we won't even begin to discuss what under the bed looks like...suffice it to say that SEveRaL science experiments were going on...thankfully safely enclosed in Ziploc...

So as I emptied the shorts drawers and began sorting sizes and whittling down, I looked at the piles and laughed...

I'm thinking SOMEONE  is a fan of plaid shorts....bwahahahahaha!

I hadn't realized that the poor boy owns basically nothing BUT plaid! Since he has 18 pairs of shorts, I obviously won't be replenishing his stock any time soon, but when that time comes, I will make a concerted effort to choose solid! :)

...+102...

There are many things I love about baseball season.

I love that for us it's a family event...Sanford coaches and is at almost every practice and game...I'm there yelling and screaming...it's a sure fire way to see at least one grandpa every week...and usually it's both of them...I love how we all want to root for the boy :)

I love the other parents and the socializing.

I love parking my folding chair along the fence and just enjoying being outside in such a beautiful city.

I love that Connor loves us being there.

I love cheering for him and buying junk food from the snack bar....except that beef jerky he loves....sweet JesuS...that has got to be OuTLaWeD...ReaLLy!!!  GaG!!

I love how it is one of the few instances where the way I envisioned something is how it really is.  The whole little league experience is the way I always thought parenting would be...the entire family at the game, bonding, happy, it is so amazingly suburban and nearly timeless...

BUT...

...you knew that was coming right?!?!?!?!?

THIS...

was EMptY Tuesday morning...

I did NOT stage this picture...the sock was really hanging out of the basket like that and it looks like a Tide commercial...

~Can your detergent get out set in filth?
Grime?  
General middle-school gnarliness??~

I truly despise the caliber of scuzziness and quantity of dirty clothing produced by this sport.

...sigh...

I also hate when we have practice and games on week nights and have to juggle sports, dinner, chores, homework, and sometimes scouts all on the same night...while I am an ExCeLLenT multitasker...11 year old boys are NOT known for that skill...and this week we have back to back practice and game during the week...sigh...say a prayer I don't strangle anyone with their own DiSGuSTinG tube sock!!

Last night as we were struggling with homework and I was contemplating various ways to dispose of a body...I questioned the sanity of team sports during the school year.

Hence the big list of things I love about Little League...I'm psyching myself up to go tackle those socks!

Now I just need to find my hazmat suit....

...+101...

I went in as Connor was getting dressed on Monday morning to remind him that it was April FooL's Day.  I told him to remember that if someone said something mean or silly he should check to see if they were joking first.  Then I asked him if he wanted to get Daddy later :)

He said he DiD want to get Dad and he had an idea.  Oh...and not only did he want to get Dad...he wanted to take his idea to school too...

He had to explain it to me 3 times before I got it...

because  BroWN   E ReaLLy does sound like BroWniE :)

I laughed out loud when I got it and ran upstairs to cut out some E's and print up some tags.

We put the E's into ziploc bags and stapled on the ApriL FooLs! :) tag and he was good to go.

When he came home he told me not only did he get his friends....he got Mr. Frost, his English teach AND Mr. Magno, the principal.

It is such a shame the boy is so ShY :)

 The boy may be a wise guy...but he is NOT dumb...he asked if we could please make ReaL brownies to take in to the adults he had FooLeD :)  I thought it was a fine idea and baked some cookies too...since the kitchen was already a mess.

I packed them up and put another  BRoWN  E on the bag...just to be funny.

Sanford came home with quite the wild hair and he and Connor worked on it for quite a while.

Here's Connor playing real life MineCraFt...

Sanford hates the way the weed-wacker chews up the paint along the bottom of the fence and has decided a planter bed would solve the problem...so he bought a new pick (pick axe if you ask Connor) and laid out the edging and started digging.

I am NoT getting sucked in to this one and am curious how it will turn out...and how LoNG it will take...

The grass that was dug out on Monday is currently spread ALLLLLL over the lawn...Sanford's claim is that it will dry out that way and be easier to dispose of...Connor has BoTH baseball practice AND scouts on Tuesday...so I'm betting it's all still laying there until at least Wednesday afternoon...and they only dug out about 25% Monday...YuP...I'm thinking this one is waaaaaaay more work than the boys realize :)