hyatt

Yesterday morning I left for another conference. While it was helpful and I learned a lot, I missed my family. But I must confess that spending the night at the Hyatt Regency Newport Beach wasn't exactly terrible! Here are some pics I texted to Chris while I was there. I realized after I went back through these that they were mostly of food. ;)

I had a per-diam for each meal, which allowed me to splurge and get room service (a first ever!) I felt quite spoiled. :) Dinner was accompanied by some King of Queens reruns. Cable is always a treat at a hotel.

 Again, not the worst place in the world to stay!

As you know, every single night I have a Skinny Cow for dessert. This was a nice substitute.

 This morning I didn't have to be at my session until 9:15. Starbucks and my favorite magazine (Allrecipes.com) was a nice start to the morning.

 A few weeks ago Chris had a craving for Claim Jumper cheesecake. I decided to surprise him with a piece on my way home.

I didn't text this to Chris since he saw it in person, but I just had to post this. Kendall wrote me a note the night before...

 the next morning...

Sidenote: We've been reading devotions lately about giving things to God. I had shared that sometimes I get nervous about meetings at work. She must have thought my conference would be anxiety inducing. :)

what a week

Today was a very low key day, which was much needed. This last week was one of the hardest I've had in a long time. Work is hard. I'm bringing home a lot. The kids don't notice, but I have felt much less "present" (such a trendy word, but it fits best). I'm not sleeping great. I had two really stressful IEP's in one day.

Chris has been wonderful, but I have felt badly because the amount of tears I've shed this week probably set a record.

So that was my week...but it ended better than it started and the weekend started out on a perfect note... with a great night's sleep. So here are a few things we've been up to:

*Our library held a baking contest today. Kendall decided to make Gingerbread Men Cake Pops. We started the process Thursday night by forming our pops.

This afternoon was the big contest. While she didn't win a prize, we were so proud of our little baker!

*I'm really enjoying, This is Us. 

*Chris designed some really cool shirts for his Crossfit gym.

*On Thursday Kendall wasn't feeling the best. I ended up going to pick her up early and surprised Cam by getting him as well. I got them a Redbox movie on the way home. It was sooo nice to have an afternoon off.

birthday

*The past couple of weeks have a been a little hard (hmm..maybe a lot hard) as far as the working mom thing. I've needed to bring work home more and have had cases that are difficult and stressful. Yesterday I got back from a two day training in L.A. It was a fascinating training (we were trained in an assessment to diagnose Autism), but I found myself a lot more homesick than I normally would be.

This is my teammate, Barbara. She is a Speech Pathologist and together we assess all the incoming pre-school kids. We were excited here because our hotel had free refreshments/drinks in the evening. I rarely if ever drink. The calories  + money are never worth it to me. If I'm gonna spend $8, give me a piece of cake. :) 

*I wasn't able to go to Cam's belt testing since I was gone, so Chris sent me a video. How awesome is my little guy doing his breaking technique?

Watch Cam!

*Today was Chris' birthday. We made him a special breakfast and then he went golfing. While he was gone, Kendall made him a special cake. I had already made his favorite (German Chocolate), but she insisted on making her own.

*Tonight Chris chose The Cheesecake Factory for his birthday dinner.

The kids love it because there is a great outdoor area where they can run around.

weekend

We spent the last weekend up north and had such a fun time. I had really, really been looking forward to it. :) Here are some snapshots:

The kids always look forward to going to the Hillcrest pumpkin patch each year. 

We celebrated Chris' birthday a little early.

Chris' mom always sends me to get a pedicure when we are up there. It felt sooo good and was one of the most relaxing hours of the weekend.

Second to the pedicure for relaxing were the three Hallmark movies I was able to watch!

Bike ride!

We had super yummy food. Only at grandma's would Kendall's dessert be composed of a sugar cookie topped with whipped cream, candy corn, and chocolate candies. :)

nothing too exciting

Cam keeps asking me if I've blogged and I keep telling him that I don't have much to report. Life is pretty humdrum lately. :)

*Let's see...Chris was very excited/anxious for last night's Giants game. In the past we've had, "World Series" parties with the kids. We buy appetizer type food and we all sit in the living room during the game. Chris typically is the only one truly following the game, but it's still a big deal and always a special night. Since last night might have been the end of the season for the Giants (had they lost), we decided to do our party.

Kendall helping with the chicken nuggets.

*Last week the kids/Chris made me dinner. It was so sweet. The piggies even made an appearance, complete with bows in their fur.

*Tomorrow we leave for a weekend at my in laws. As is usual with trips, I freeze our crackers and cereal while we are gone. :)

That's about it! Happy almost weekend!

our day

Last night:

Cam: Mom, what are we doing that's fun tomorrow? Can we hike Mecca?
Me: Um...I don't think so. We just did Baldy and I kind of just want to relax and not have to be anywhere in the morning.
Cam: But what will we do that's fun?
Me: I don't know.
Cam: But if we don't do something...well...I might get bored.
Me: Yep.
Cam: And if I get bored, you might make me do homework.
Me: Cam, I would make you do one of your journals tomorrow no matter what we did.
Cam: Okay...

Our day did end up being VERY low key...which was exactly the way I wanted it. Did Cam get bored? At times. But I think we did enough. :)

1. Piggy walk to the donut shop and Stater's.

2. Library to get some books. I packed a snack. My kids LOVE Nature Valley Granola Bars. LOVE.

3. 99 Cent store. I let them each pick out two Halloween decorations for our house.

While I do have several Christmas decorations, I am terrible when it comes to decorating for any other holiday or season. For instance, my Halloween decorations consist of two, falling apart witch signs that a friend made for us a long time ago.I have several friends who have decorations for fall, spring, etc. I really need to be more festive. :(

 So there used to be three witches which each read, "My" "Little" "Pretties". You can see what's left (the one on the right is missing the nose)

p.s. I snagged a picture this afternoon because I thought it was just too funny. Chris was watching golf on TV and the Giants on his phone. Poor guy was just too torn to pick only one. :)

big bear

*I'm the designated "birthday girl" at work. Basically I plan the days in which we all go out to lunch to celebrate the various birthdays in our department. I also bake a cake that day for the birthday person. This past week I wanted to try something fall'ish. It was a big hit and I think what sets this recipe apart is the cream cheese/cinnamon glaze. Sooo good!

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Pound Cake

*On Monday I had to go to an all day conference. While the conference wasn't the most thrilling, I have to say the highlight was the drive there. I love that I work five minutes from home, but sometimes it's nice to be in the car for a while. I just get to zone out, listen to Dr. Laura, and treat myself to Starbucks. Drink of choice: Skinny Hazelnut Soy Latte...EXTRA hot. :)

*I forgot to include this pic on my last post. I think it's a sweet picture. I love that hiking is such a special activity that my dad and Cameron get to share. :)

*Went to Costco last weekend. Who would want a bear this big in their house???

*Finally went to the dentist on Tuesday for the first part of my deep cleaning. I've been putting it off for too long. I'm so glad they numbed me because I could tell they went DEEP! 

*Really interested in checking out the Amanda Knox documentary that is coming out on Netflix.

*It's FRIDAY!!!