anyone still out there?

 hello to anyone still out there....my last post was september 2012!! yes, it's been THAT long. and after tonight, i remembered why i hate blogging. or blogger in general. pictures takes SO LONG to upload. anyone else have that issue? maybe i upload too many??? 75% of the pictures i uploaded actually ended up here....the other 25%---- who knows! but you know what? i loved not blogging. let's catch up, shall we?
i've been enjoying the boys. right before the school year, i stopped working. but i'm not sure if anyone calls my 2 days of working previously, work. i made that choice because brybry started kindergarten in september 2012. he goes from 8-11:23am. then brandon goes from 8:15-2:29. not much time in between. i also wanted to be there for the boys for homework and other activities. i took on being the room mom for bryan's class. it's been fun planning their class parties and adding crafts in the mix :)
brandon's a big 3rd grader now!

 the boys also played soccer in the fall. the picture below is bryan in action. he really improved from last year. we got lucky and had the same great coach from last season. he has a great family. i stepped up and was co-soccer mom.

 he played hard annnnnnd, sometimes....played rock, paper, scissors with his team mate DURING the game! LOL

 here is brandon. he played well this season also. he mostly enjoyed socializing out there.

 bryan getting an award during the 1st award ceremony of the school year.

 luckily, the boys wanted to wear the same exact costume as the year before so it's a win-win for me. no need to shop for new ones and saved some money! brandon (as ash from pokemon) with his 3rd grade teacher (she was a zebra).

 bryan was pikachu (from pokemon). they aren't allowed to wear masks so it just looks like he's wearing a yellow suit.

 we were lucky to get the same kinder teacher that brandon had. bryan adores her.

 a picture from their fall feast. bryan in his pilgrim wear.

 and brandon at his fall feast.

 so brandon told me he was "too old" to take pictures with santa this past year. i was sad to hear this but i didn't force him. bryan happily said he still wanted to take pictures with santa.

we had our 1st annual holiday boutique at school. i sold some of my cards and handmade gifts. after giving 10% back to the school, i ended up making a little over $200 and had a few custom orders too. it was fun. i shared a table with a mom friend. she handmakes jewelry. we had a good time hanging out most of the day at school.

here are pictures i took of some of the cards. i was working right down to the wire and failed to get pictures of the clipboards. those puppies did real well! i didn't sell everything but most everything :)

thanks so much for letting me share old pictures from last year! i will try to blog a little more crafty pics soon! and i have to say thank you for checking in on me ;)

thanks for helping us grow

a picture of brandon & bryan on the last day of schooli got the fun job of making a gift card holder for brandon's kinder teacher for her end of the year present from the entire class. the gift cards sit in a pocket in the back of each flower backed by a popsicle stick or a sterile tongue depressor stuck into floral foam. i covered the ugly green foam with purple-ish/gray sea glass. added some happy bees too!i had brandon write his teacher a note to give her on the last day. i love these apple cards! used them last year for his preschool teachers too!his writing has gotten so much better from the beginning of the school year!this set of butterfly cards were given to his principal

and i included some mini anytime notecards

thanks for stopping by today. happy father's day!

brandon's 1st day in kinder

this was taken the day of kinder orientation. i cannot believe my oldest kiddo is in school. as eddie put it, he told brandon to enjoy your next 13 years of school. sitting at his desk. i am sure he will get talked to a lot by the teacher. i mean, look at what he's doing here.......
the back where all kids will hang their backpacks. his backpack is bigger than he is. it covers his whole little butt.

his supply list: 1 ream of paper, 1 box sandwich sz bags, 1 box gallon sz bags, 5 boxes of 24 ct crayola crayons, hand sanitizer/wipes, box of tissue, pocket folders w/ prongs, 12 glue sticks (NOT disappearing purple), scissors, 5 sharpened #2 pencils, and double sided tape. his gear: he HAD to have bakugan! backpack, the shoes and thermos. i was going to get him "generic" gear but i remembered how i felt when i was little and wanted nothing generic (but got generic anyways). how was i to deny brandon. i didn't want him to feel sad seeing all his friends with character backpacks & all. 1st day of school breakfast of champions: lucky charms! walking to school so proud----he looks like such a big boy in his school uniform
picture with dad

standing in line in the morning we've had lots of fires in SoCal lately and freakishly, i heard on the news, all the smoke is creating some weird things in the atmosphere and is causing rain. and it rained as the kids were waiting to enter the classroom. brandon is running for cover!

parents were asked to leave and here he is giving bryan a hug.
all the backpacks. there's another similar backpack as brandon's. slightly different so i hope he doesn't come home with the wrong one......... all the parents' donated supplies waiting in line to get picked up he had a good 1st day of school his 1st project. click larger if you want to read what it says and check out brandon's self protrait. i like how he colored his buzz cut!