Ok, Last Retro Camera App Post

In nature:


In chocolate:

Fresh

Our neighbors gave us a great floral arrangement for Christmas. I pieced out the plants and now have four new plants. Please don't tell them they only have a couple of months to live with me as their mom. Maybe this year will be a different story?

Out on the patio to soak up some filtered sun and natural rain fall:


Blake dressed himself so he could play baseball in the backyard. It is so fun to play outside when there is a break in the rain:


I love this retro camera app, but the blurry pictures drive me crazy. You all have to endure a week of this and then hopefully, it will be out of my system.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year. And so it starts. Staying up late has left me too tired to think about all the great things I could/will/should/won't accomplish over the next year. We did nothing today except brew beer from a kit and make homemade granola. Before you start thinking that granola is my first step towards living a healthier lifestyle, just know that the idea was sparked by jealousy. My friend made us some wonderful holiday granola that I couldn't eat it because it had nuts. I am sure that granola was 10 times better than the batch I made, but I guess I will never know since Andrew gobbled it up.

Step One: Cut up dried fruit. I cut up a few dried apricots and added 1/4 cup raisins.


Step 2: Mix in 3 cups oats, 3 Tab sunflower seed oil, 3 Tab maple syrup.


Step 3: Spread on baking sheet. Bake in a 250° oven for one hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Let cool. Store in air tight container for up to one week.


Enjoy. This was all that was left after we all tried some in small bowls over yogurt.

Year's End

The last day of the year is here. I love this day because anything goes in the way of change and I really believe that it all can happen. I will: stop eating so much sugar, learn another language, go on more date nights with my husband, etc.. Real life may tweak with my time management, but for now I can enjoy the optimism.

My children getting clean, fresh starts:

Hikes

We explored the Cupertino Hills yesterday. The rest of the world is filled with winter snow, but our Bay Area climate just adds green (and brown silt from all the rains). It was good to get some fresh, damp air on our faces.

Quiet:


Loud creek plus one, excited yelling child:


Nature's mirrors:

Winding Down

Christmas Eve memories before the rains.

Sandy and Paul's neighbor:


Oh, how I love strolling down country lanes:


Posing for daddy. I love how Reade looks like a tree gnome:


So much for being happy with what I have. I made Andrew and the boys go on a mini hike today in a San Mateo neighborhood. I love that there are hiking trails at the end of the neighborhoods near 92 and 280. We both decided the neighborhood wasn't completely worth the additional commute time. Too bad. Tomorrow, Andrew is going to show me around the hills of Cupertino because he loves to bike through the area and we can always dream that someone in a two million dollar house wants to rent it out to us for $2000/month (ha!).

Merry Christmas

We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. We ate, drank, and opened gifts with great family around. Some people pooped out in the middle of opening gifts:


Smiles were abundant on all of the faces:


Aunt Shirley kept the spirit of Christmas alive with her Nativity Pageant:


We then gathered in the living room of Sandy & Paul's new house to open a second round of gifts for us:


Today is a day of rest for us, but other people get to keep on partying: