The critter magnet

We have a new ( well new to us anyway) kitchen that lives on our deck. Brayden loves to put anything he deems valuable in there. Telephones, snacks, drinks, toys, car keys. You get the picture. Lately the snacks and drinks have attracted some unwanted attention by the critters in the neighborhood. Opossums especially. So for now I am cleaning up two kitchens constantly.

Yesterday we had some fun down at Cardiff Reef before going out to breakfast.

Everything is a telephone these days. Even rocks.

And lastly- I always post well try to post my projects but have yet to post any of Tony's. He just finished a false beam ceiling for a client in Leucadia. It looks amazing.

Enjoy your Sunday!

February so far....

Bath time with Grandma
Smelling the flowers.... Yes this is the classic Brayden expression letting everyone know he is smelling something. Very dramatic and very funny considering he is actually sniffing out. Sort of like blowing his nose but not really.

A family breakfast favorite peanut butter toast.

First visit to the zoo with both Grandmas.

Celebrating Valentines Day with special treat discovered in his Valentines bag. Al Dente the puppet now also resides with us.

This month has been quite crazy actually. Thank goodness we had Tony's mom Wendy here to help us out. We are still getting settled into our new place and we are suddenly and gratefully overwhelmed with work. It has been refinance mania at my work. I have been working crazy and odd hours and Tony has been keeping very busy with his work. It was not all work and no play though. Over these past few weeks we have managed to take a trip to the zoo, several trips to the park and beach, Storey time at the Library, catching up with cousins, lots of fun dinners and lots and lots of viewings of Brayden's one and only DVD of choice "What's the name of that Song" a Sesame Street must have. Brayden had a blast having his Grandma here showering him with love and attention for two whole weeks. More pictures to follow soon.

Christmas Round 2

Hopefully everyone is enjoying this beautiful weather. Here we are in the middle of winter wearing t-shirts in shorts. How lucky can we be? Earlier this week walked down and met Tony for lunch at Pelly's. We can walk there from our new house which is nice. Not quite the same as our daily walks to Beacons or Pannikin but it will do just fine for now. Ponto is just a bit longer of a stroll but minutes away too. Enjoying a cheese stick.
Looking older everyday and not quite as bald. All he needs is a lunch pail and he looks ready for school.

New outfit and silly dancing bear toy form Grandpa Jacks that makes lots of noise. We had an unexpected windfall of Christmas gifts from them over the weekend. It was very nice and generous. Included was a beautiful stain-glass seahorse which Ann made for us. Picture to follow soon.

Brayden helping unpack the wineglasses and other breakable fine glass wear. What a helper.

A new year

Hello and happy 2009. WE have been busy moving into a new place while all trying to recover from this nasty lingering cold. We are finally moved in, not unpacked but moved in. It was no fun moving during Christmas and moving all of our stuff. With Tony's tool & surfboard collection, my fabric collection and zillions of craft gear, a furniture business and baby, we had a lot of crap. We like out our new place. Lots of little people for Brayden to play with and a cute neighborhood. We have a nice landlord who actually lowered our rent because he liked us and wants us to stay and as an added bonus he will be a great referral source for my mortgage business. We are very lucky. Tony and I both hate renting but with the price he is charging us and our month of moving we are very unmotivated to house hunt. We still managed to squeeze in lots of celebrating and family fun this year. I did not put my advent calendar I slaved over last year to use or my 25 days of Christmas activities that accompanies it. Brayden will be able to enjoy it much more next year anyway. Brayden Christmas day playing in the rain at Grandpa & Grandma's
Mr. mobile in his Santa jammies Christmas morning.

Interfering with cousin Alexandra's song at a family gathering up in San Clemente.

A brief visit with Santa at Quail Gardens. Can't say that I blame him. He was pretty creepy.

A new horsey from Grandpa Jacks. Complete with chaps and everything.

An introduction to VG's

What first birthday would be complete without a cake from VG's. Since Tony and I proved we are not cupcake designers nor frosting makers at his birthday party we thought we better leave it to the professionals for a mini celebration on his actual birthday. They had super cute turkey cupcakes for sale that day and could not resist.

Happy birthday to you.....Modest but loving all of the fanfare even after a couple of minutes.

Finally getting down to business.
The post party scrub down. 6 hands we needed to hose him down. I never realized how greasy and shiny VG's frosting is. Lard????? I hope not.
A successful attempt at converting to the sippy cup. Must be the big boy shoes.

Happy Birthday Brayden

We had lots of fun with Grandma Wendy and Mark this week. It is still hard to believe tomorrow my baby will be turning 1. He started taking his first steps this week and progressed to walking from room to room. Playing at the park in Leucadia with Grandma Wendy.
Playing with new birthday presents.

Learning to open packages with some asistance. Thanks Aunt Donna.

Celebrating with friends.

Here he is just a few days old.
Happy birthday Brayden-We love you!!

Halloween Fun

We had lots of fun last night walking around "Pumpkin Alley" downtown Encinitas last night. We got to see lots of friends and eat lots of candy. It was a great night.

Preview of chicken costume.

Pre- party mac-n-cheese dinner at our spooky table.

Fueling up for the big festivites. Tony and I went as chicken farmers. Braydens costume was not suitable for the 70 degree plus weather. The chicken body came off mid trick or treat. The pants did not last long after that.



A fun photo from lat weeks spooktactular at Sea World. No surprise the costumes were shed quickly. Pictured is Lily ( who was briefly a giraffe), Evan who manged stayed in cowboy flair, and Brayden ( who was briefly an owl)