valentine's day 2015

this valentine's day this unique.

unlike past valentine's days, we weren't home.
we were in utah with the lovely utah gerbers.

though us adults celebrated the following week,
my very thoughtful s-i-l purchased valentine goodies for the kids before we arrived.
she put together cute little baggies and placed them strategically on the stairs so the
kids would see them as came running upstairs valentine morning.

oh how the kids loved this.

we spent the day together playing board games, me, trying to make a little progress
in my reading for bookclub and playing pickleball. we learned and played alot in
mexico during a few years ago and loved it.  apparently, it's all the rage in utah.
i understand why...it's a perfect physical game for a family of all ages - from young children
to grandparents...much easier to play than tennis. we played some pretty competitive games....
with a  few being super competitive.

the highlight of the day was having dinner made by the children. 
it was my sweet niece's maya's idea {of course} and she tasked the boys with things
to do and oversaw it all. we all enjoyed a delicious spaghetti and meatball dinner, which included
garlic bread, veggies and wine for us adults.  the kids were so proud of themselves,
and us of them.

it's a valentine's day that won't be forgotten.

our chefs: finn {12}, scout {8}, maya {12}, Isaac {10}

 

~ the following week, scout reminded me we were supposed to make
rice krispy treats for our first time ever.  i can't believe i've been a mom for 12 years
and i had never made these for my children.

scout loved helping...he stood on a stool at the stove stirring he butter
and marshmallows as they melted. i added the rice krispys and VOILA - we had a sugary
and sticky treat to enjoy all week. scout announced they were way better than the packaged
one he had at a friend's home.  i agreed. i'd rather not have one at all than eat a packaged one. =/

all you need is love....and heart-shaped pancakes

happy valentine's day!

i woke up to little boys asking for a 'special 'breakfast'.
weekends is the only time i make full breakfast,
because i simply don't have time before i go to work.

i pulled out my cookie cutters so they could have
heart shaped pancakes {finn also got alien shapes too},
and we all swapped valentine cards too.

they were all a bit mushy this year {the boys know what mom likes},
and scout's artwork was a very sweet surprise. artwork is becoming more
rare as the boys get older.

this pretty piece is hanging in the kitchen and will probably stay there for
some time. notice his lightning bolt 'S' in his name? he tells me that's the
way he writes it because he's a harry potter fan}. *grin*

i'd have loved to had a lazy valentine morning, but that wasn't in the cards.

scout had tryouts for our community's competitive soccer team!
we missed the first tryouts, as c and i weren't fully onboard with this as
it requires more practices and travelling on the weekends.
he's already signed up for our recreational soccer {what he's been playing for years},
but he insisted he wanted to try so i was on the field at 8am.

the santa anas blew had blown in, so it was usually warm.
still, the coach gave these 7/8 year old boys an INTENSE bootcamp
like practice. they must have ran over a mile overall and they did lots of
situps, pushups, planks, drills, etc. for 2 hours. two boys dropped out,
and the rest worked their booties off.

scout did fantastic, but being that he missed the first practice,
and has never played competitively, the chances of him making this
team are slim. there are just a few slots as most boys are returning players.
we'll see. if he's serious about competitive soccer, we will try again next year,
and get him playing more  in spring and summer soccer camps.

though my valentine's day wasn't overly romantic, casabalanca was
still lingering in my mind and c and i did enjoy a night out together. 
we usually avoid going out on the actual day, but this year the boys were
invited to a birthday party. how convenient for us and all the other parents.
free babysitting!

we went to the restaurant cape town, that serves south african cuisine.
the food was so interesting and the wine yummy too.  we let our server know we'd
be there for quite a while, so he gave us a corner table tucked away from everyone,
and we sat for 3 hours! we ate, drank, and talked about everything from the boys,
our endless house projects, to the upcoming art from the heart event at explorer, etc.
it was so nice to get time together like that.

that was how the boys and i spent v-day. 
i hope yours was lovely!!

~ and i remembered to continue the new tradition of writing all the boys a letter,
and without me reminding mr. gerber, he wrote too. {love when that happens} 

here's looking at you kid

if you are over 30, you are probably familiar with this
line from one of hollywood's most romantic films ever made.

yes, it's from the beloved 1942 film, casablanca,
spoken by rick {humphrey bogart} to ilsa {ingrid bergman}.

christopher and i sat down on the eve of valentine's day
and watched it together, something we hadn't done in several
years {probably since scout joined our family}. 

it's one of our favorites...ok, it's one of my old time favorites,
but it's one he actually watches without a fuss.

i thought about why this one movie gets so much attention.
maybe it's the beautiful black and white cinematography and
that it combines unrequited romance with sacrificing one's self
for a higher cause....two themes that resonate with so many people.

whatever the reason, it was the perfect way to begin valentine's weekend.

sharing love

happy valentine's day lovelies!

i'm up before the sun today so i get to krispy kreme early
to pick up these sweets for all my sweet coworkers.

my podmate and i have been planning this for weeks.
we have a slight obsession with kk donuts but we try to wait for special
occasions to  justify eating them.

so this morning, i'm off to pick up 2 dozens,
and will be sure to grab the complimentary valentine's that
offer a free donut {for my little loves}.  i'll be sure to take
them here one morning this weekend while we let c sleep in.

wishing you all a fabulous friday and valentine's day!!

xoxo

boy approved valentines

i received emails from both the boys' teacher's a few weeks ago
informing parents their classes would be having a small v-day party.

when i mentioned to the boys, scout was excited and said he wanted
his valentine cards to be "cool".  finn's reponse was "my teacher said
valentine's were optional", his way of saying he didn't really care.

one evening i jumped on the internet and googled boy valentines
and a few minutes later, i found these!




via



via

 

 

 

i've never been a fan of storebought kid's valentines,

but i don't have the talent or alot of time to try my

hand at creating something as cool as these.

 

i am SO grateful talented designers share free downloadable
printables for moms like me who are looking for something

a little more unique and special.  these represented my two
so well.

 

i showed the images to the boys and they really liked them,
even my big 10 year old. {i had a feeling he would}

 

since the boys don't have school tomorrow or monday

{teacher work day and president's day},
their party was today so i sent them off to school with
2 dozen cards. they were both excited to hand them out

to their friends. scout mentioned the GIRLS in his class

probably wouldn't like them. 

{as the saying goes, you can't please everyone}.

~ c and i celebrated valentine's day early like last year.

we find it easier than fighting crowds and we prefer not having to order 

from pre-fixed menus.  last night {with help from auntie jen}, we snuck

off to dinner and then to see this play. it's by the pulitzer prize winning playwright,
ayad akhtar.  i cried, laughed, and left the theater emotionally exhausted.

tomorrow night, we're doing something really special...loving on our

friend's sweet baby boy jackson while they go to an opera. we're excited!
we watched him a few months back, and have been missing him.

little lego love

i came across this adorable image the other day and smiled.
it reminded me of scoutie and his love of legos and star wars.
so creative and so cute

via

i hope you enjoyed your day with your valentine(s)!

valentine's day

the only true gift is portion of yourself. 
- ralph waldo emerson

i love this quote and try to remember it when i'm giving gifts for loved ones.
it can be a complete hallmark/jewelers holiday if we fall into the advertiser's traps,  
but for me, it's always been a day devoted to showing love to the people in our lives. 

as a working mom, i don't have the luxury of sitting at home all day crafting elaborate 
gifts or preparing 3-course meals for my family, but what I do try to do little meaningful
things that don't take lots of time or money. 

to make this valentine's special,  i woke early and arranged 3 place settings for each
of the boys at the kitchen counter. along with their cards and small gift,
they got heart shaped pancakes {thanks to krustez and heart shaped cookie cutters}
and fresh strawberries, and heart shaped brownies and sandwiches in their lunchboxes.  

scoutie insisted on a homemade card for him this year and since he has a
thing for FOXES right now, i knew i had to try and make this when i found it online.   
it wasn't hard at all {whew} and scoutie loved it!  

the boys created personalized mug for c {and auntie j}

 alittle something for my biggest valentine

finn's class valentine

finn thought his valentines were "so cool".
i liked that they were super simple.
i pulled the silhouette of the fighter jet off the internet, 
and dropped in the text {auntie heather came up with PLANE cool} 

after work i did something very untraditional.
i offered to babysit for our dear friend's almost one year old daughter
so they could run out and grab a bite at a neighborhood cafe.

i remember how many friends would offer to babysit for c and i
when we were new parents, but many didn't follow up.
maybe they were waiting for us to ask them?
like most first time parents, we never asked them.
{2nd and 3rd time parents don't hesitate}*grin*

i was thrilled my friends took me up on the offer and finn and i watched
marty and bonnie's baby girl lillian for a few hours.
finn was so helpful - he has thing for babies - LOVES them!

we made it home just a few minutes after finn's 8pm bedtime,
which gave me the whole night with c. *wink*

~ and the LOVE LETTERS.
i wrote them and gave to all of my boys,
and i received one from c too.
{it looks like we have a new family tradition}
my letter is the best valentine gift i've ever received from c
because it was truly a piece of him. 

i hope you shared a little bit of yourself with those you love too.
xo

cute valentines

valentine's day came and went too quickly this year,
but to remember the day, i wanted to be sure to take a
minute to post and to share photos of the boys' cute valentines.

scoutie's weren't homemade this year.
i was pressed for time,and when i came across
unique and adorable cards from merri merri i couldn't resist.

and since candy is a requirement when giving valentines these days,
we included red lollipops with each of these for his classmates.
 he reported back that this friend said they were "awesome".

finn handed out submarines valentine's we made together
{ok he traced, i cut}
each one included a cellaphane bag with gummi sharks.
we used the sub on a bday card that aunt anissa sent finn for inspiration.
they were super cute but cutting out snorkels was super time consuming.

because of this, only select people
{teacher, cousins and auntie jen}
got a submarine valentine with a SNORKEL.
all of his classmates received cards like this one.

my thoughtful friend aleyda knows how much i adore homemade cards,
and forwarded a picture of a v-day her kindergartener received that
she said "stood out" from all the others.  she wasn't kidding.
how clever is this mp3 player from family fun.
i'm definitely bookmarking this for future.

~ as for my valentine's day, it was quiet and spent with the family.
i made it home from work just in time to watch
the movie we bought a zoo with the boys{and aunt jen}. 

it was such a fun, feel-good family movie!
it had something for every age group
{minus the couple of curse words}
and i must mentioned the little girl 'rosie' in it.
she is precious. {i told c i wanted her}

last but not least, here's MY precious little guy,
posing with the valentine card he made for c and me
yes, i'm saving forever.

scout, age 4

happy heart day

oh i just LOVE this holiday
{even if it is a hallmark holiday}

it's not because i'm an extreme romantic,
or because i get fancy presents.
i just appreciate a day designed
for telling our loved ones how we feel.
{it's also a reminder for me to do it more every day}

in our home, we don't typically exchange gifts,
but we always exchange cards,
and we all seem to love homemade cards.
{those given to us by the boys seem to be our favorites these days}

i didn't upload a photo of the boys' v-day cards they took to school today,
i was up late cutting out submarine shaped valentine's for finn's class,
and making special valentine lunches for them {heart shaped sandwiches} like this:

image: lessthanperfectlifeofbliss 

they were SO cute. i should have made myself one.
i also put heart stickers on everything from their granola bars to their yogurts.
{c questioned if the boys would appreciate this but i told myself they would}. *grin* 


i hope you had a very special valentine's day.

xo

cute valentine cards

i run into this dilemna every valentine's day.
either buy the store bought cards from target or make our cards.
i'm not a fan of those storebought cards at all,
so the personal homemade or semi-homemade cards always win out.

this year, finn requested science OR robot valentine cards ,
but he quickly narrowed it down to robots since he didn't get to
do robots last year. (the robot obsession is still in full swing)

we headed to michaels which is just around the corner from us now.
i found packs of 12" die-cut robots.
a 12" valentine is pretty large, but they were oh so cute! i couldn't resist.
though we only needed 2 dozen, i picked up an extra dozen since i had the 40% off coupon.
i figured the additional package could be used for future projects or even as birthday cards.

once i was home, coloring and/or decorating 24 robots seemed daunting
for me and for a boy who doesn't typically get excited about things unless they have a
motor or a moving part. (scoutie on the otherhand would have enjoyed coloring them all)

i rummaged through the garage and found a new can of red spray paint which i used
to spray a dozen robots before i ran out.  at this point, finn suggested giving the girls
in his class the red robots and spraying the other ones gray for the boys.

c was heading to his favorite store for something or other, so he picked up a can for us.

next came the cute hearts. we put a sparkly red heart on each gray robot for a little 'pop' of
color, and white foam hearts on the red robots. next, finn addressed them to each child in his class.
the back of the robots, we put I Like You A BOT!  (super cute)

and here are the final robots valentine cards:  

scoutie was next.
his love of FROGS continues so i wasn't surprised when he requested
them as valentine cards for his class. trains came in a close second.
michael's unfortunately didn't have any die-cut frogs,
so i went online and found this cute template.

it looked easy enough, but after printing and cutting out just two,
i realized how much work was involved - LOTS of cutting!
aunt jen came to our rescue and offered to cut them all.
when she returned them to me, they were separated out in tidy
ziplock bags which  made it easy for me to assemble.
(thank you so much j)

after scoutie announced the glueing was "too messy",
i was able to work alone and make better time. 
since jen took a big chunk of work off my plate,
i was able to throw in an extra something fun.

i came up with the idea of wrapping small boxes of raisins
with white paper, and writing 'flies' on on the front of each
and then taping to the front of the frog.
it was a small detail, but it went a long way. 
not only cute but healthy too.
a perfect little treat for 3 year olds.

scoutie put his finishing touch on each frog -
a red or pink foam heart sticker for the lips.
he was so proud of himself.
the back of the cards read: HOP-py Valentine's Day!

and last my little lovebugs.

i dressed them in red 'initial tees' i purchased from piccadilly circus designs through etsy.
scoutie even had on red converse tennies to match.
c teased me and reminded me i have BOYS (like i could somehow forget),
and i reminded him i have to have some fun
since i don't have girls to dress. *wink*

  

this little guy has my heart



happy valentine's day

i'm up early making blueberry muffins before we all head out this morning.
the muffins are sitting in a red heart-shaped ceramic dish here on the table
and the cold milk it out and ready for the boys. 

if it was a weekday i might have attempted heart pancakes and strawberry
milk, but on a work day, this is about all i can do. 

the boys' valentine cards are finally complete and in red bags on the kitchen
counter ready to be handed out to their classmates.
they are SO cute! 

i can hardly wait to post and share.
(will be tomorrow as i have yet to download them).
if you know the boys, you can probably guess what their cards are.

i had to share these pretty donuts.

image: krispy kreme

i bought these for my coworkers last friday and saved
two for finn and scoutie.  they are suckers for sprinkles! 
i was going to save until this morning, but i couldn't resist
giving to the boys yesterday.

i hope you enjoy something sweet today too!

~ finney is off to legoland today with this class.
he is so excited!

valentine's day 2010

my day did not start off with sleeping in or breakfast in bed.
that would have been nice, but i've had that before and can hopefully have that again some time.

instead, i was up at dawn to run the san dieguito half marathon with my long-time friends jeff and marti.
it's the only half in san diego i hadn't run, so i signed up months ago so i could check it off my list.
(couldn't convince c to run it with me though) *grin*.

my goal was to finish around 2:15, however after the mile 3 hill,
i knew that i wasn't physically going to be able to keep the pace for another 10 miles to accomplish that.
 i've never been a good hill runner, and having been sick for the last 2+ weeks
(i'm taking my last pill of penicillan tonight), i just lacked the strength and stamina.

with some coaxing, i convinced jeff to run ahead, and i ran most of the race alone.
the course was scenic and took us through the heart of beautiful rancho santa fe,
but the hills were grueling and there were lots of them.

i often forget about the terrain we have here in san diego - mostly because i live and train right
here at the beach where it's flat. whew!! somehow i managed to finish just under 2.5 hours.
my girlfriend marti finished a minute before me and jeff finished just under 2 hours. *cheer*
we were all exhausted but so glad we spent our v-day morning doing something we enjoy!
we celebrated with high fives and big stinky, sweaty hugs. *grin*

i came home to an empty and delicious smelling house. 
c had baked cinnamin muffins for breakfast and left a note saying  he was at the beach
with the boys and would be back for lunch. it was sunny and 73 degrees - a perfect beach day!

i was starving and inhaled two muffins and drank lots of water before settling into the hottest bath
i could possibly draw. the boys came charging into the home not more than 10 minutes into my soak,
so that was the end of that. it was nice while it lasted.

we all enjoyed lunch and exchanged our very simple valentine's day cards/gifts.
scoutie went down for a nap afterwards, christopher took a tennis lesson at the hilton,
and finn and i rested on the couch and watched a movie.
later i snuck off to get a pedicure as my toes desperately needed some love and dark polish.
remember the bruised toe?  well it's still bruised.

oh and i must share the v-day rockets that we (I) made for finn's kindergarten class.
i got the idea here and they turned out absolutely adorable.

i spent 3 hours on them from start to finish and honestly,
it was a bit too much!  finn tried to help but he was a little young for this project.
he did become an expert at putting the hershey kiss tips on. 

in the future, i will be sure to select a v-day craft/card that is more age appropriate
so the BOYS can do the majority of the work. a lesson learned.

here they are - all 25 of them (22 kids and 3 teachers):

the rocket to his special girl

i hope your valentine's day was spent doing something you love 

and/or being with the ones you love. 

Xs and Os

where there is love there is life.

- gandhi

sending hugs and kisses your way!