Tradition

We headed out for our annual Christmas Light drive last night with a steaming cup of Starbucks. The kids enjoyed hot chocolate and Shawn and I enjoyed a Peppermint Mocha. This house won the How Much Can You Really Put in Your Yard award. It was somewhere in Ridgerock.

This is the house we visit on Camby in Antioch. It's incredibly tacky and brilliantly lit up. The perfect place to stop with the kids since Shanondale no longer has the Christmas spirit. One addition to the house here and across the court, was they both were collecting items for the Antioch Food Bank and Toys for Tots. 'Tis the Season for Giving!

I don't remember this house on Camby from the past, but it was lit up with lights that danced to the music and had a moving train going around the trees.

And these are the people who stopped right in front of our car to stand in front of us, while we took pictures. If you happen to know them, tell them they are rude. We even had the window open and were laughing at the whole situation. They were so oblivious to us!

And this is Mason who quickly became bored on our search for the bright and the tacky throughout the city of Antioch. Guess that hot cocoa put him right to sleep! Who am I kidding, it was the sitting still in one spot for longer than 15 minutes that did it!

A Visit with Santa 2009

A trip to see Santa is always a family affair. In addition to Jaxon and Mason, my neice and nephew Corey and Katelyn, as well as my sister Michelle, my dad and Debbie joined in on the fun!

Holiday Lights

Visiting Gilroy Gardens in December has now become one of our holiday traditions. This year it was especially cold and we had to force ourselves to stay until the new fireworks show at the end of the night. Brrrr baby it was chilly!

Monterey

Climbing the rocks is our favorite thing to do!

This little guy kept getting washed up onto the rocks by the waves. He actually climbed out and walked on the rocks right in front of us.

My guys!

Christmas on Fisherman's Wharf

Week in Review

Last weekend we went bowling, drank diet coke, and put up the Christmas tree. As you can see, drinking the last of our diet cokes was the highlight for the boys. And Jaxon made the Honor Roll!!!

Black Friday...

Jacob Black that is. Ahhh went to see New Moon again. Such a Twi-Hard. I can't get enough of this stuff. Oh well, I guess there can be worse things.

Happy Thanksgiving

Our day started out with our traditional Pie Breakfast. This year we had Coconut Cream and Peach pies. The peach was the best! We celebrated Thanksgiving at my sister's house today. We had so much fun playing with Caiden and eating lots of yummy food.

Thankful

I am thankful for family, friends, our health, and a job that I love. But above all, I am thankful to have such an amazing husband and two boys that light up my world. I love you guys! Happy Thanksgiving!

Halloween at School

The rockin' Team 2 dressed up as Starbucks baristas and the boys were mighty scary vampires! A fun time was had by all!

Boredom Leads to Creativity

I came home to find two happy boys who had used their creativity, a post, a shoelace, a soccer ball, and some duct tape to make their own fun. "Mom, Mom, come see our new tether ball court out back" were the words that greeted my on Thursday night. They were so proud! The kept going outside after dark to make sure it was still up. And it was the first thing they asked about when they woke up in the morning. I swear, we do buy them real toys! Ha Ha!

Chef Culcasi

Jaxon is always wanting to make things, including dinner! So he dragged out the Rachel Ray cookbook for kids and made dinner with daddy...you notice I didn't say with mommy! It was delicious!

Photo Shoot at the Capitol

My mom has been trying to get us to take family pictures for years and it has never seemed to work out. But this year we did it! We worked with Amy, who was the photographer at Holly's wedding. We all dressed in white and denim, per Mom and Geoff's orders, and headed to Sacramento. I can't wait to see how they turned out!

Boo!

Halloween decorations are up... let the season begin!

Delta Force

Mason is still having fun playing soccer, although if you ask him he'd say he's rather play basketball. Ha ha! This morning his team did an awesome job and won their game 2-0! Jaxon's team didn't do so well, but he did score the only goal for their team. Go Jaxon!!!

After School Fun

Both of the boys enjoy staying after school while I get my work done. I actually get much more work done when Shawn comes to pick them up, but it is nice to be around them as much as I can at school. On this day they were getting along great and playing a game on the classroom computer.

Little Buddy

It was Backwards Day at school yesterday. My 2nd grade class and Jaxon's 4th grade class are buddies and we were working together on a Fall Art Project. This is Jaxon's little buddy Ryan. Don't they look like brothers!

Little Science Guy

One of the things I love about Jaxon is his love for science and invention. This morning he comes to me and says he wants to make a flashlight using a light bulb, wires and a battery. He found it in one of his books. Go for it!