Year in Review

I don't think I've ever done one of these before.  Granted, my blogging is spotty at best, but I'm going to give it a try.  Some of the pictures within the months are out of order, but I think the happenings for the month are still easily conveyed!

January

Evan started playing basketball for OLPH.  He was the point guard and leader for his team, eventually earning MVP at the end of the season.  I LOVE watching my boys play sports!

My baby and me taking silly pictures.

February

Surprise birthday party in class and lots of fun gifts in my office for my 39th birthday!

March

Academic Decathlon competition.  We did really well this year!

I got creative for a pot luck for Eric's work.  This doesn't happen very often.

Evan and his best friend, Isaiah, run a mud race.

Hudson's party trick that drives his teachers crazy...tucking his ear into his ear hole!

April

Eric and I celebrated our 11th anniversary, Evan got sick, Hudson lost a tooth, soccer continued to rule our life, and Eric went with Evan on his 4th grade field trip to San Francisco.

Evan at Mission Delores.

Evan sick on our anniversary.

Argentina soccer turns into Pumas.

Hudson lost a tooth...also on our anniversary.

May

We had a successful 8th grade trip to the Ronald Reagan Museum and Disneyland.  Love our new purple shirts!

Probably one of my most favorite school days of the year.  Teachers prepare a theme lunch for each other.  Check it OUT!

Annual 8th grade trip to the water park.  It was rough lounging on a beach chair all day!

My 8th grade class presented me with these beautiful flowers at the farewell ceremony.

June

Eric's sister Cynthia passed away in May, and her funeral was the weekend after school finished.  We drove to Las Vegas to attend the funeral and then enjoy a few days relaxing.  At the Hard Rock Cafe for dinner on our first night in town.

We got a new dog named Buddy.

Summer School took a field trip to the bowling alley.

My mom treated the kids (and us) to a Parent's Night Out cooking class.  The kids love to cook at Young Chefs Academy.

Eric and I enjoyed time as adults at ApCal.

I got my gorgeous new personalized planner.  I have used it all year.

Birthday party with soccer friends.  Great group of kids.

July

We are not really beach people, but we promised the kids a beach day this summer.  They lasted a few hours before wanting to leave!  Ha!  Still, it was a fun and gorgeous day!

I went through another exercise phase.  Need to make it stick.

Soccer tournament in Turlock.  We took 2nd place in a Penalty Kick ending!

We go ice skating to escape the heat.

Fourth of July at the Andrade house.  Boys loved having a pool to swim in!

August

First day of 2nd and 5th grades.

First place at the Rocklin Soccer Tournament!

New uniform requirement...wearing ties to Mass!  Looking good!

I'm not the cutesy decorating teacher, but I spent a few hours making a welcoming door design for my classroom!

We went to Vegas for an adult vacation with friends!  Saw La Rev.  Was an amazing show!

September

Hudson's 7th birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese.

Did a little fall decorating.  Made me happy.

October

Hudson was an alien for Halloween.  I was the Queen of Hearts to go along with the 8th grade theme of Alice in Wonderland.

Eric and I worked the concession stands at Fresno State Football games for a Pumas fundraiser.  Those stands are no joke!  Hard work!

We watched a lot of flag football.  Evan's team did well.

November

We found our Christmas Tree!

We visited Dad in Hanford over Thanksgiving.  You can't go to Hanford and not get ice cream from Superior Dairy!

I went to a flower class with Aniesha.

Another soccer tournament.  Another chance for this one to be the tag along little brother.  His time for tournaments will come.  Then we'll really be crazy!

December

Christmas is here!

I drink coffee now!  It only took 39 years!  I even got a new Keurig. It is pretty!

It's been a fun, crazy, busy, and blessed year.  I look back on all the things we were able to accomplish, the growth we all experienced, and the fun we had.  We are able to do so many fun and special things.  Most of all, I hope that we are creating memories for our kids that will last into their adulthood.  Here's to a wonderful 2014 and high hopes for 2015!

Christmas Caught on my Cell Phone

Christmas this year was slightly different.  It started out normal, but ended with me puking.  Yuck.

 As we do every Christmas Eve, we drove to my mom's house in Chowchilla to spend the day with mom, my sister, and her family.  We snack on crackers, cheese, meats, weenies, and meatballs all day.  We went to church at 5 for the annual Christmas Eve service.

 My boys opened their new Christmas pajamas before we left home, so they had nice soft new ones to get into once we got home from church.  Logan and Hunter were visiting with their dad for a bit, so we had some time to kill before opening presents.

 I was happy that their pajamas looked "Christmasy" this year.  They always get new pj's, but I usually don't think about it until all the festive looking ones are gone or too expensive.  This year, thanks to Amazon Prime, we did 99% of our shopping online.

 We were looking back at old pictures yesterday, and it is hard to believe that this is Evan's 11th Christmas!  Every parent says this, but how on earth did my kiddos get so big?!

 The big boys are back!  Time to open presents!

 My mom's house looks so festive and pretty.  Aiden was pretty funny opening his gifts.  Oh to be three!

 I bought Tiff weenie dog pj's for her birthday, and went ahead and bought myself a pair also!  These things are sooooo soft and comfortable.  I figured it would be fun to match on Christmas Eve!  I've really grown to appreciate soft and comfortable pajamas over the past few years.

This is the only shot I have of Christmas Day.  I got sick in the middle of the night.  I woke up at 12:30 with the nastiest feeling in my stomach.  I fought it all night long, but knew things were bad. At 5:30 in the morning, I got up and violently threw up.

Eric called his family and said we wouldn't be coming down to Bakersfield for Christmas Day.  I felt so bad, but I was in no condition to go anywhere.  I managed to open gifts, watch the kids for a few minutes, and then I went back to bed for the entire day.  I had a nasty stomach and a 101 fever.  It finally broke late in the afternoon, but I felt awful all day.

I got a lot of great gifts this year, but one of my favorites is the RED Keurig!  It is so pretty!  It's like a piece of art on my counter.  I didn't even know it was red until the day after Christmas.  Too sick on Christmas Day.  Eric got it set up and he and the boys went through a box of hot chocolate k-cups!  I think they like the Keurig as well!

I also got a purse, two necklaces, more pajamas, a Pumas sweatshirt, bubble bath, a wax warmer, and so much more.  It was a blessed Christmas.