things i ♥ thursdays

i ♥ nose kisses from scoutie
this is his preferred type of kiss right now.
when i go for his cheek or lips,
he quickly says 'nose' kisses mommy.
we share LOTS of 'em these days.
 i love any kind of love i get from scoutie.


i ♥ exercise balls
mine had been tucked away up high in storage since just after scoutie was born
because of lack of space at the beach house.
now that we are in a bigger home, i have a place to store it.
to make it usable again (i.e. clean), i tossed in the shower,
and now i am enjoying stretching on it every night.
i had almost forgotten how wonderful it feels!

i was just telling my honey that my daily stretches remind me of being pregnant.
i did backbends every day when i was preggers with the boys.
when i did these, one could actually see the complete shape of the baby inside.
christopher thought it was so cool, but it terrified my mom.
she thought it might 'hurt' the baby. *sigh*
to make her feel better, i asked the doc about it and of course he said it was fine.
i wish i would have had someone take a photo because i never quite
got the view everyone else did *grin*
lovin' the exercise ball again - oh how i've missed you!

i ♥ halloween
it's one of my favorite holidays (next to christmas).
i guess i'm just a big ol' kid at heart because i love dressing in costume.
since becoming a mommy, i get to experience childhood all over again through
the boys and it's pure enjoyment!  

halloween is just around the corner now and with the recent move,
i've been so busy trying to get the home organized, i've put off the costumes.
i can't do it any longer because the costumes (like last year)
require a little work - some sewing and/or heavy use of a glue gun. Ugh!
i don't want to give the costumes away but i will say i came across them
a few years ago on martha stewart kids and fell in love.  i remembered them
and asked the boys if they liked them and would wear them and they both said YES.
i'm still surprised finn agreed as these costumes have nothing to do with science and
technology. *grin*

stay tuned....



 i ♥ this baby shower invitation that my friend jessica designed for my s-i-l heather.
it coordinates with her adorable pottery barn themed 'ellie the elephant' nursery.
since i couldn't be at the shower to celebrate with the parents-to-be, i wanted to do
something for it and since i have such a talented 'go to gal' as a friend, i enlisted her help.
she did an AMAZING job and most importantly, the mom-to-be loved the invite.
i sure wish i could be at the shower this weekend but i'd rather wait for baby boy
to arrive and make the trip this winter.  i'm waiting patiently...
wishing my little brother and heather a *wonderful* shower on sunday.
they will be in my thoughts!

no other love

there's no other love like the love for a brother. 
there's no other love like the love from a brother. 
~astrid alauda

this photo was taken a few weeks ago by a woman who's just starting
her own photography business, bubba-loo.  this particular photo makes
me smile because it really represents the boys' relationship - a little
rough around the edges but full of love.

so looking forward to seeing the rest of the photos!

i love you stinky face

this is the title of a children's book that caught my eye last week.
it was on sale for just $4 so i picked it up and flipped through it.
i LOVED it and tossed it in my cart, anxious to get home
to read it to the boys before bedtime.

the title alone spiked the boys' curiosity and they were motivated that
night to quick get through all their pre-bedtime rituals without having to be reminded
just so i could read them this story. 

i won't give the book away, but it starts out with a mom telling her boy she loves him.
the child had a question for her. his asks "mama, what if i were a big, scary ape.
would you still love me then?"

she replies "if you were a big, scary ape, i would make your birthday
cake out of bananas, and i would tell you, i love you, my big, scary ape."

the childs asks his mother more questions to test her love for him.
they were all unpleasant things, including being a smelly skunk named 'stinky face'.
the mama's answers are creative and always reassure her little boy of her unconditional love.

we all love this book and it's one i now recommend to all my mommy friends,
especially those with little boys. this book is truly a little treasure.
i'm so happy i found it.

invention room

to invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk.
thomas a. edison

the playroom has been renamed the 'invention room' by the boys
and this is the first room we semi-pulled together as we try to get organized
in our temporary home.

the wall system is nothing special (IKEA) but it's working out wonderfully.
the boys practically live in this room when they are home and i love it because
it keeps the toys from taking over our home!  i'm a bit type A,
which means i like to be organized.

the trofast system helps with this. 
each bin holds a specific type of toy - knex, snap-circuits, legos, airplanes,
cars, crayons and markers (washable of course).
there's even a bin for paper/coloring books and stickers! 
it's so easy to organize, scoutie can do it and help his little friends do the same.

if you ask the boys, this room is the BEST thing about moving,
this room and the swimming pool.

so here it is, the 'invention room'. 
the hideous vertical blinds will go and i will be painting or
putting up wall decals at a minimum to jazz it up a bit.
one thing at a time...

and yes, this room is always this clean *grin*

one hundred sixteen

this is scout's favorite number right now.
he knows it's big and whenever he refers to ANYTHING big,
he uses the number 116 to describe it - age, height, weight, etc.
i'm not sure where it came from and what the fascination is with it,
but it's his number right now and he uses it often.

when telling me about his new preschool teacher, miss jessica,
he said she's big - like 116.  when a big jet flew over, he
described it as being fast - like 116. when he requested more oreos,
he asked for 116, and it goes on and on.

it's a sweet reminder that he's still my little boy, not quite grown up.
when he references 116, i might use it back to him and ask for
116 hugs and kisses.  he tells me that's too many but i can have 3
(because his other favorite number is his age).

oh i sure love this 3 year old!

paddle on: 2010 paddle for clean water

sunday morning was Surfrider's annual Paddle for Clean Water event.
it kind of snuck up on me this year.

with the move it was the last thing i was thinking about it.
we are literally living out of boxes and should have chosen to stay home
to try to get organized, but the paddle was something we couldn't miss.
it's a tradition we started about 11 years ago.
i knew i'd regret it if we didn't go. 

i had planned on paddling this year but scoutie got sick the night before,
and though we attended the event,
i stayed on shore with my little guy who ended up falling asleep on the sand.

he managed to sleep while i cheered on the hundreds of paddlers who made their
way around the ocean beach pier, one of the longest piers on the west coast - 1,971 feet long!

i especially cheered for my boys - christopher and finn! 
YES, my firstborn was out there again this year.
his first paddle was at age 4 when he rode with dad and this year he did as well.
until he is old enough to paddle out on his own,
he rides on the front of big blue, what we've named daddy's longboard.

this year, they didn't quite make it around. 
when they were about halfway down the pier,
finn was shaking like a leaf and begged c to go to shore.

he wasn't afraid at all, he was just freezing!! 
the sun hadn't broken through the clouds yet and the ocean was cold.
the ocean water has been cold all summer - not making it past 60 degrees.  *brrr*
c didn't want to ruin what is generally a really fun event for finn so he brought him in.

i should note that finn was wearing a 'farmer john' spring suit (sleeveless),
and has no extra layer on him to keep him warm.  h
e was a tropper for getting out there and making it as far as he did.
we are so proud of him and promised him we'd buy him a full wetsuit soon.

some photo highlights of our cloudy morning at this year's event:

things i ♥ thursdays

i ♥ finding surprises in the mail and this month i received a few.
one is a special homemade card from my sis which is so
fabulous i have it hanging up at my cube at work.
the second surprise came from grandma barby to the boys.
she sent these adorable robot water bottles that are the perfect size.
they are small enough for the boys to hold easily and they fit perfectly
into their lunchboxes. so thoughtful and practical -the best kind of gift!

i ♥ the crystal pier cottages
they aren't fancy but they are charming and sit directly over the ocean in pacific beach.
to me, these cottages represent everything i love about southern california living.
they are unassuming, cute, comfortable and seem to say 'relax' you are on vacation. 
i almost booked c and i a room last year for our anniversary but i couldn't justify the cost.
someday we will stay here for a little getaway - just the two of us. 
i can picture it - we'd sneak away to the beach and enjoy a sunset surf session,
enjoy a simple seafood dinner overlooking the water and then fall asleep to the sound
of waves crashing against the pillars of the pier underneath us.
ahhhh - that would be the perfect evening.

i ♥ tough laws 
earlier today i read that governor schwarzenegger
signed california's chelsea's law and i am feeling very hopeful.
as a parent, i can't think of any crime more heinous than hurting
a child, so when a law passes that actually has some teeth to
it, and helps protect our children, i get excited.

though i didn't know chelsea king, i do feel a small connection to
her story because i literally found myself running behind her and
her high school cross country teammates on two occassions at our
local mission bay park. i remember thinking she was beautiful.
she was petite, a graceful runner, and her hair was a gorgeous strawberry blonde.
i'll never forget the evening her face popped up on the nightly news
announcing she never returned home after a routine run just blocks from her home.
my hope is this new law, named after her, will help prevent future senseless deaths.


i ♥ this print by fashion illustrator rene gruau.
and ordered it a week ago after having my eye on it for months.
i couldn't justify getting it since we didn't have any wall space at the cottage,
but now we do (700 sf more), so i caved.  i'm glad i did.
it fits perfectly with our style and christopher even loves it which is rare.
i love when something just works! 
looking forward to framing and hanging this pretty piture.

finn's first kiss

is not a kiss the very autograph of love?
~henry finck

yesterday was a BIG day for finn.
he came home from school extremely excited
and anxious to share some news. here's the conversation that
took place as soon as we greeted each other:

finn: mom, you know my girlfriend elizabeth right?
me: of course i do.
finn: well today she KISSED me!
me:  wow - that is so exciting buddy! where did she kiss you?
finn: my cheek. (he was grinning from ear to ear).
me:  aw, that was so sweet of elizabeth.  was it in private or in front of all your classmates?
finn: in class, but not everyone was watching.
me:  (giving him a BIG squeeze). first kisses are so exciting!
christopher:  elizabeth thinks you are special just like mom and dad do.
hopefully mom will remember to record this special day.
me: of course!

scout overheard the conversation and had to chime in.

scout: i don't want a girlfriend.
finn: well scout, you want a baby someday right?
scout: yeah.
finn: then you *have* to have a girlfriend, because you have to
marry her and then you can have a baby.
scout: oh. well i don't want that.
finn: your just little right now. when you are bigger you'll understand.
scout: (walked away, no longer interested in the conversation)

me: (laughing outloud)

it's these little conversations that take place all the time that make
these ages so much fun.  what a happy day for finn oliver.

(i must remember to ask c to snap a photo of the two of them together to drop into this post.)