fifty-nine:365

Jayden went to his "Great to be 8" fireside tonight and is so excited about getting baptized! They even presented him a special white towel for the occasion. FYI: for you planners out there, Jayden's baptism is scheduled for Saturday, August 7th at 12:30.

fifty-eight:365

We are now the proud owners of 3 "Quiet Cool" whole house fans. Thanks to our great friend Carl who spent his entire Saturday installing them for us. Sorry Chantal for stealing him away from you for the entire day (I don't think we realized it took so long!) Ironically, it's been raining all day and there is no need to cool down the house..but come summer, we'll be ready!

*I never realized how massive our attic was until today..so much wasted space.

fifty-seven:365

February and we've killed our 1st snake of the year! It was quite the commotion on the cul de sac. Jim was the hero and with shovel in hand, beheaded this baby rattler. The bizarre thing, it continued to wiggle around an hour after it's death and the mouth would still open and close.

fifty-six:365

Today Skyler's class had an interactive history lesson: A Walk through the American Revolution. Skyler played John Adams, our 2nd U.S. President and signer of the Declaration of Independence. It was an incredible program..how many of you knew that George Washington was a REDHEAD? That was news to me.

Push play to see John Adams in action!

fifty-five:365

On Wednesday, we took our Webelos down the street to the new LDS church building being built. Seeing as this will be the building they attend, we thought it would be neat for them to see it in the construction phase. Plus, it was a perfect culminating activity for their engineer badge. I think they got the biggest kick out of the outhouses..but what do you expect from 10 year old boys!

fifty-four:365

This picture truly does not begin to explain what I embarked on today! (so I added 2 more above!)

I had heard someone say that vinegar & water made a great grout cleaner, so I decided to try it out. I put it in a spray bottle and used a stiff bristled brush. Without much effort, the colors began to change. I was beyond disgusted!

We have lived in our home for 1 1/2 years..I have always kept a clean floor and always assumed our grout was a grayish color..umm...I was so wrong. Apparently it's cream and I've been living in filth. (even when the professionals cleaned our floors it stayed gray)

Word of advice: don't waste your money on floor steam cleaners (I have 2 and they've obviously done nothing for my grout), just buy a gallon of distilled vinegar, maybe some knee pads, and get to work! tedious...yes, but it gave me such gratification when it was done!

fifty-three:365

This is not your mother's "fanny pack"! In fact, it's not a fanny pack at all..it's a hip leather belt purse, aka: bum bag! Just big enough to fit my camera, id, cash, keys, and lip gloss without the hassle of a purse..a perfect accessory for Disneyland! (the boys didn't have school today so we headed off to disneyland for the day..it was a gorgeous, not very crowded day!)

I had to add a pictures of the flowers..they smelled heavenly and were just so springy and beautiful.

fifty-two:365

A little Valentines gift I picked out and had shipped to me! I finally took it out of the box today after sitting by my front door for a week. I'm almost afraid to cook with them because they're so pretty! (it's been 8 1/2 years since I've had new pots & pans)

fifty-one:365

Today was my friend Chantals' birthday so a few of us girls got together and had a nice lunch at CPK with NO KIDS!

fifty:365

It was one of those nights that felt sooooo good not to have any plans! Jim has been in survey all week and needed to just rest his brain. So I got us some chinese food and a couple movies (of which we watched none) and we just chilled on the couch!

forty-nine:365

Tonight was the big 100th Birthday "Blue & Gold" dinner for cub scouts. It is tradition that the boys decorate a cake. In years past, I have let Skyler have input, but no direct contact with the cake. This year, his last year as a cub scout, I gave up all control! THIS WAS NOT EASY FOR ME! But time did not permit me stress or worry about it. I let Skyler do it all himself..do I dare tell you which one it is? It's the 100!

forty-eight:365

Really..I don't think it could have been a more beautiful day! 80 degrees, blue sky, sun shining, perfect!

(not the clearest picture, taken from my phone in the taco bell drive-thru)

forty-seven:365

It's been a long time since I've pushed Skyler in a cart at Target! He is the next victim of this nasty flu bug. I got the call from school to come get him right in the middle of doing some errands.. that I really needed to get done, so he had to come with me (he didn't want to stay home with the cleaners). I got him a bag just in case. He was polite enough to wait till about 5 minutes out of the store, as we were driving home, in my freshly washed (this morning) car! So if you see a target bag on Butterfield stage in the gutter..I apologize! I'm not a litterer, but I couldn't take the smell and had to ditch it quickly!

forty-six:365

Not quite the desired result I was looking for! (but they still tasted good)

forty-five:365 {happy valentines day}

Most of my valentines' was spent bowing to the porcelain thrown!! I was able to make it downstairs for about 5 minutes to see what my dear, sweet husband had done for me. How is it that he always seems to get the rotten end of the deal (no pun intended)!

*thought I might have had food poisoning, but Ryder started throwing up at about 6:30 tonight. Remember my Tuesday post when I said we probably picked up something worse in the Dr.'s waiting room..this was one instance I didn't want to be right, but I think I am!

forty-four:365

Some friends put together a little birthday party for Jennifer tonight at BJ's. It was a fun night..until about 10:30 when I started feeling a little queasy! I tried just going to bed, but was awaken a short while after with fierce vomiting. Mind you, I never throw up! I can probably count, on 2 hands now, the times I have. It was a miserable miserable night, mostly because I had eaten so dang much at dinner and it wasn't fun having it all come back up!! Won't be eating at BJ's anytime soon!

forty-three:365

I've always loved putting together valentines for the boys, however, the school system has successfully removed all the fun from this occasion..bah humbug!! In California there is a strict ban on bringing any type of treats into the classroom and they were particularly strict with valentines. So everyone got a boring pencil. I did make chocolate dipped fortune cookies for Ryder's teacher and my visiting teachers and Ryder's class got some fun treats.

forty-two:365

Today was Colonial Day for the 5th graders! I got a picture with the wig but Skyler quickly stuffed it in his backpack once he got to school. He was the only one in his class in the red coat so of course he got the typically, "the red coat is coming.." comments! For as much as he fought me with this entire costume, I think he secretly loved it. (thanks chessa for loaning me this great costume)

forty-one:365

Do these faces not say it all? I love it when I plan activities that these guys love! I've had this same group for almost 2 years, so they're a tough crowd to please!

forty:365

Had my tax appt. this morning..wasn't thrilled with the results, but at least we get something back! Then had to sit in the Dr. office with Ryder for 2 hours just to be seen for 5 minutes and get a prescription for an ear infection..I'm sure we picked up something far worse sitting in that waiting room. The best part of my day: putting on my new rainboots!

thirty-nine:365

I came home from my weekend away to sick kids! Jayden had earaches all weekend, Ryder had a bad cold, and Skyler, who is my healthiest kid, has finally succumbed to illness. He has body aches, a fever, and bad congestion/cough/sore throat. He was the only one who didn't get the swine flu in our family. He hasn't been sick at all this winter, until now. In fact, he had his first absence from school, this school year, today..which he wasn't happy about at all! (at least now he'll stop giving me grief for taking him out of school one day in March before spring break to go to D.C. and New York! You've got to applaud his enthusiasm for perfect attendance!)

thirty-eight:365

Is it over already? It feels like it just started! We had an amazing 3 days in our little cabin laughing, eating, scrapping, and making new friendships. I think this needs to be an annual trip..anyone else on board?

thirty-seven:365

We made one little stop into downtown Julian for lunch..it was pouring rain, of which I didn't take any pictures! The remainder of the trip we stayed cozy indoors and celebrated!

thirty-six:365

Myself and 9 other girls headed off to Julian for a scrapbook/birthday weekend at the Candy Apple Inn (which was quite the set-up). It was East meets West. It was Cassie's birthday so she had a few friends from Oceanside and some friends from Temecula! It was a great group of girls and we made the most out of every minute. I've never been surrounded by more JUNK FOOD! We had enough food to last a week. Notice the stocked fridge..I partook of none of it! Propel and hot cocoa for me.

thirty-five:365

It's not every day you hear your son wanting to hurry up on his homework so he can get to his "stitching"!! The entire 5th grade is stitching the 13 colonies. He is actually loving it, in fact, he had a friend over today for a play date and they stitched! {He gets that from his Grandma Watkins.}

thirty-four:365 {happy birthday mom!}

I'm the Wednesday folder mom in Skyler's class. Every Wednesday I file homework/tests/papers into each student's file and then in their folder to take home. Pretty simple and that's the way I like it!

thirty-three:365

It took all my strength, but I went to Enrichment tonight and learned about journaling..a subject I'm quite familiar with and love.

thirty-two:365

Believe it or not, I've become a little gym obsessed. This is where I start every week off! Monday morning ZUMBA class! It's like going to a dance club at 9:30 a.m. love it, especially because it doesn't feel like exercise!