One of the most common questions I get asked related to our schooling is what do I do with Caleb while Maddie and I are completing her schoolwork? Well, as much as possible I have him enter in on his own level. Not every activity works, but many do, and this is a great example of one. Caleb had his own beans (no letters), a muffin tin, and a spoon. 
Pouring, scooping, picking, sorting--that kept him busy for some time!
At our last house, I had the perfect place for it: the basement landing. Out of the way but I still got to see it, remember, and enjoy it, and it didn't have to match any of my decor. When we moved a few years ago, I could not figure out where I should put my moosehead...until one day when I was in our modestly roomy half-bath staring at the big empty wall. Perfect!
I love to roast vegetables in the fall and winter. Two of my favorite ways are with olive oil & balsamic vinegar and olive oil & honey & thyme. I had a wide variety of vegetables available, as I'm trying out a local organic delivery service which had given me a few unusual items. I threw a lot of variety into the baking dish--purple & yellow & orange carrots, sweet potatoes, russet & yukon potatoes, fennel (oh, how I love fennel!), beets, brussel sprouts and red pearl onions. All those different colors, textures and flavors--what a savory dish on a cold winter's night!
He'd had his brother and dad come over to help him complete some projects around the home like caulking our bathroom tub (it was in DIRE need of a re-caulking job!), re-painting some dirty doors and trim, installing a new faucet/showerhead system (exterior and some interior piping replacement) in our bathroom, re-caulking the kids' bathtub and hanging a shower curtain for them. Thank you, Gair and Tom, for helping!!!
Yes, after many paint chips, paint swabs, two colors I 'decided on' then changed my mind, and one wrong paint job (too light), Braden took the paint back to get a little more tint in it and painted the mantel again, and now it looks lovely!
I love moss, and these moss-covered rocks were just beautiful!
Maddie strikes a pose.
Cody couldn't get enough of watching the pelicans down below--he was so excited. I think he would have leapt with joy over the edge had he not been on a leash!
We SAID we wanted to take Maddie to see the seals, but our real motive was the gelato in La Jolla, and I don't think she minded.
We had an easy flight out. Maddie only slept for the last 15 minutes of our flight, even though by that time it was 11pm our time.
Do you know I went through all my photos and I do not have any of me holding Devin! I was making sure I got all kinds of photos of Maddie with Devin, and I guess I just kind of forgot about myself. Jess, do you have one?
Martha Stewart, you failed me! I pulled this recipe out of her cookbook (that has yet to fail me) and boy was it a dud. The cake was lumpy, the filling was lumpy (too much cornstarch!) and the icing was lumpy. The whole thing was ugly, too. Sheesh!
However, Paula Deen came through for me on the birthday dinner. My favorite seafood nachos!! They are awesome! So while Jess's birthday cake stunk, she did get a few good meals out of me. And I didn't feel tooooo bad since I saved her sanity by helping her get Devin on a sleeping schedule. He was sleeping longer at night and taking better naps during the day by time we left. Hooray!
Caleb is Mr. Hands-On Action. As soon as a gift is unwrapped, he has to play with it. So, as soon as he opened this cute puzzle from Aunt Xenia & Uncle Ali, he had to work it.
My dad continued with his annual tradition of buying Caleb a Hess truck. For the first time ever, it was not a truck but a race car with a smaller racer that fits inside the hood. And of course, Caleb was playing with them right away. See the 'zzzhhoom!' on his lips?
The kids brought my dad a gift to open, but he was in the middle of telling us all a story. To appease them and buy a little time, he started to slowly open the gift. However, the kids were too eager, and soon they were opening it for him while he finished talking. They wanted to see WHAT it was!
We were glad we chose to celebrate Christmas with my family even though it was late. I guess when you're used to celebrating with both families, you just can't skip it! 
One of Caleb's Christmas gifts from Bubbie and Poppop were 2 oversized dry-erase books. During Maddie's school time, I've often set him up with one book for his 'school time' (which right now is really just 'anything-that-will-occupy-him-within-my-eyesight time'). Well, he loves these books, which are full of shapes, pictures to color or finish drawing and words. He started tracing the words one day. I was shocked at how well he did!
The kids got to help with the food prep. 
Caleb searching for the last few pieces of grated cheese still in the bowl.
Caleb rolled out the pastry crust for the baked brie while Mom & Maddie worked on the walnut filling.
La normally makes the baked brie, but she was feeling a bit sick. I told her Maddie had taken over her job...
...that is, until the baked brie was served. It was accidentally placed in the pan upside down and kind of fell apart. It still tasted good, but, La, I think you need to take charge of that again next year! 
No, that's not mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. That's Braden blowing warm air on Caleb's face after the tragic event. "(sob sob) Daddy, bwow on my faaa-aace!"
And so it continued while Daddy and Maddie went back up the hill for another sled ride.
Here come Daddy and Maddie!
I hadn't been sledding in years--I forgot how fast you can really go!
First thing in the morning, we found him standing outside his room at the railing that overlooks down into our dining room, silent and staring down. We like to have fun with our kids. 
He jumped right on and started playing.
After playing on his drums for a bit he asked me, "Are dese REAL g'dwums?"
The drums have since journeyed to the basement where they now live, receiving near daily visits from Caleb. Our boy has been drumming constantly for about a year and a half now. I just don't think it's going to end anytime too soon.
We had a low key week at home after Christmas. I made yummy cinnamon rolls one night that we ate while we watched a movie together. We reorganized the kids' toys to make room for their new ones, purged the old and broken ones. We spent some time with Braden's family. I finally bought a new vacuum,yay! Braden completed a few home projects. I got to have lunch with my friend Rebecca. The kids got to play wii games. Braden and I saw the new version of Dicken's Christmas Carol. We did have one awful museum trip where Braden spent a solid hour & a half looking for parking, at which point he then picked us up from the art museum, all of us starving, and the afternoon continued on deteriorating (the details of which we'd rather forget). But all in all, it was a slow and much needed restful vacation. As Maddie said this morning, in her pert way as only she can, "Daddy has to go to work today. It is SO sad." At least it's just one day of work today, then Sunday (feels less like a work day), then Monday with Braden off again. I feel like this will kind of ease us back into regular life. 
