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 ;)

the summer rundown

we are in full school mode now. but here is a summer rundown of what we did (for those who are still out there ;)

 

we sure went to the pool A LOT this summer. at least once a week if not more!

 i swooned over this chair and really wanted it but passed....outta my price range :(

 took a trip back home to SF in july. brandon has been wanting to go fishin' for a long time and we finally did. it was windy & cold. we didn't catch anything but the boys had fun.

 our main purpose for the SF trip--------to meet this little guy, evan, my brand spankin' new nephew! he weighed in at a whopping 11 pounds 14.5 oz!!! he was about 11 days old when i took this picture. he's such a cutie! thanks to my sis & BIL for letting us come to meet him and to stay with them so soon after his birth!

 the boys were super excited to hold baby evan! brandon even got to feed him!

 we got to have some time at the playground with big sis, jadeyn. she is super smart & super adorable!

 one treat i discovered while in SF was this flavor of it's-it. i was so happy to have found it at 1 grocery store back here in SoCal!

 back home & back to reality.....4 new tires for my car. we had some more maintenance done and it was costly!!

 added to our list of "improvements" this summer were getting these puppies out. brandon had severe over crowding in his mouth and after a ortho consult, they suggested brandon have 4 teeth extracted. OUCH! i was not looking forward to it thinking i'd have a very cranky kid after but he did extremely well---both times. they pull 2 teeth a visit. i am so proud of brandon for going though this. we were told after the 4 teeth gets pulled out, it'll make the teeth erupting out over the existing ones fall back into place and you know what---it has and his teeth are looking a lot better!

more pool time

 adding to the improvements this summer was replacing our tile. i cannot believe we ever had this! we had to be out of the house all day while they demoed & blasted out the tile so what do you do all day w/ 2 boys?

 have a picnic. and go to the library. and the bookstore. and drive around.

 caught some work in progress. the boys though it was hilarious having the toilet sitting outside in our backyard!

 looks SO much better than tile don't you think? and it changes the whole look of our house.

 random pics

 bryan is still afraid to take swim lessons but miss jessica noticed that bryan would just sit around while brandon had his lessons so she convinced bryan to come dressed in his trunks the following week and she said she'd take him in the water. bless her for taking him on her break time. she tried to make it fun but he still does not want to learn.

 the OC fair is a must for brandon every summer.

 super giant turkey leg and corn dog

 clowning around

 one of my favorite meals

 went into a store and bryan's eyes lit up and said, "what is this?" it's a rotary phone my dear boy....

 my plate would be the one on the left...

 and more pool time

 i convinced bryan to go on a big boy roller coaster with me. he was nervous waiting in line but he was brave--didn't back out. i could tell during the ride, he was silent and scared but after the ride ended, he said, "let's go again!" big bro brandon chickened out...

 summer treat and someone grew a goatee!

thanks for sticking around! hope to be back on track soon!

back to school clipboard

hi all! our summer is coming to an end but we've sure been busy! getting ready for back to school and made a quick back-to-school project.
this a a dollar store clipboard covered with lawn fawn's newest paper line, "dewey decimal" with mod podge. (LOVE that stuff!) this paper is so fun!
the above is the front side. there is a piece on the clipboard that can be hung as a decorative piece in the classroom for important notes.
the bottom picture shows the backside with bryan's kindergarten teacher's name. he's going to have the same teacher brandon had :) i wanted the name on the backside so when she totes this clipboard around or when she's jotting down her notes, her name is visible on the outside




thanks for looking! hoping to get back to blogging but i must say, i enjoyed my summer with the boys!

summer!

well, summer has officially begun for us! brandon's last day of school was 6/15. the 1st fun thing we did to kick start our summer was to go cherry picking! i thought it would be fun for the boys. it was hot & hard work pickin' cherries in 90* heat! but we aren't complaining eating sweet, fresh cherries!

 these are some teacher gifts i put together for brandon's 2 teachers. inside the tote was a beach towel, red vines, lays potato chips, a reusable cup filled with a small tube of sunscreen, a pack of face wipes & a bottle of fun glitter nail polish. all things for the teachers to enjoy after a long school year! i also made some jars of sugar scrub for some of the school support staff. but i was in such a rush the last few days before school ended that i forgot to take a picture.

 these were passed out to brandon's classmates. the printable can be found here. inside the bags were a water squirter and a variety of candy. check out angela's site for lots more free printables!

brandon's 2 teachers

what a busy month june was for us. my sister came down along w/ my BIL, jadeyn and my mom. isn't she the cuteset? love how she hops onto the scooter w/ her bowl of bread and even stepping into brybry's brobee shoes!

 little miss diva at the playground! i love this picture of her!

my coworker asked me to make her some graduation cards and this is what i came up with. i didn't want to make the traditional 'graduation cap". i wanted something pretty & fun.

 my niece just graduated high school. i cannot believe i have known her since she was born. she has surely gown into a bright and smart young lady.

 the kids are ALL growing up too fast! thanks for stopping by...i know it's been a while. enjoying lots of family time.