second grader in the house

christopher, scout, i dropped finn off this morning without much fanfare.
it's funny how every year gets easier for us all. it's a reminder that there is
a natural progression to things - that the letting go doesn't happen overnight,
but a little bit at a time, over many years.

finn gave us goodbye hugs and ran off to say hello to his friends while i introduced
myself to his teacher, diana glover.  she is wonderful lady and a lover of science.
she seems to be a perfect fit for finn.

before i left, i snapped a photo of finn with his best buddy joshua,
and joshua snapped a photo of us. just one photo - very unusual for me.
i must get him standing out in front of his school later this week.

i sure love our sweet second grader!

me and my second grader
if you look closely, you can see his two front teeth are in (just in time)

one down and one more to go.  scoutie starts back next tuesday, 9/6.

until then, he is having lots of fun with grandma. 

i've been thinking about how my mom is at the time in her life that she can up
and fly to california in a week's notice to help out.  we are so fortunate and
we don't take this blessing for granted...not even a teensy bit.



back to school

i don't know about other moms out there,
but this mom is SO ready for school to be back in session.

i won't miss the extra traffic it will bring
as i commute with all the ucsd students in the mornings and afternoons,
but i am looking forward to routine again.

this summer has been all over the place. 
finn and scout both have said they are ready to go back too. 

to get a little time with the boys before they head back to school,
i took last friday off work and took grandma and the boys to the
stephen birch aquarium.  it had been a while since the boys and i had been,
and grandma had never seen it. it was fabulous and i was lucky to have free passes
that i had won at explorer's fundraiser earlier in the year.

the rest of the weekend was just as fun!
on saturday, finn spent 5 hours at his friend's birthday party.
i give kudos to the slomba family for encouraging parents to drop off their kids.
that's a long time to manage almost a dozen 7 and 8 year old boys.

this morning, finn and i went to target and bought a few items that
his new 2nd grade teacher has asked students to bring to class.
as for school clothes?
that wasn't even mentioned leading up to school.
the boys don't care about clothes (not yet at least).
they'd live in their board shorts and go without a shirt if i let them.

they have plenty of clothes to start the school year
so i really didn't buy much.
i did pick up a cute tee for scoutie that says Preschool is Cool,
and i ordered a handful of surf tees for finn on amazon only because
he's outgrown several of his shirts. that was it - easy and affordable.

the only one left at home after tomorrow is scoutie.
he heads back to school after labor day and will be with grandma all week.
i think he is looking forward to having finn in school this week.
we think they've had a little too much together time over the last few weeks.

oh, i almost forgot.
i went to my coworker's wedding on saturday night.
it was held at the harbor house downtown.
it was such an amazing night - good people, food and music.
(i was dancing till after midnight. i can't even remember how long
it's been since i've done that!)  i just love weddings...everything about them.
here is the lovely juliet and her hubby.
i just love how he is looking at her.

their first dance (bill + juliet)

my boys are back

my three arrived home saturday night
and i received the BIGGEST hugs of my life at the airport. 
oh it felt so good to be missed!!
(especially after finn and scout told me earlier they didn't want to come home yet).

they were having so much fun and weren't ready.
i let them know their mommy sure was ready to see them!

though it was nice to have a few hours to myself every evening last week,
it's wonderful to have my boys back home.



christopher, finn (7) and scout (3 1/2)
image: bubba-loo photography



summer sitter

before summer comes to an end, i wanted to post a photo of the
young woman the boys shared most of their summer days with.
meet renae:


after a long day at the zoo























c and i were looking for a gal who was active and could keep up with our boys
and this gal lived up to our expectations. when we learned she is the only girl in
a family of 4 kids, we knew she'd be just fine with finn and scout.  
renae spent her days shuttling the boys to and from swim lessons, the beach, sea world,
parks, and museums (most often the train museum and the science center at balboa park).

one day she took the boys to meet her previous science professor and to see a working lab
on the point loma nazarene university, the school she just graduated from.
i'll never forget coming home from work to hear finn tell me "i saw a REAL lab".
(that extra effort renae made to share and inspire my boys meant the world to me).

the boys will no longer be asking us if today is a 'renae day',
and renae will no longer be running around with two little boys.
as the boys start back to school/pre-k, she will be entering this pharmacy school .

while the boys have been away, it occured to me we would have a 2 week gap w/out childcare.
i got to work immediately looking for help, never imagining it would be hard to find someone.
i eventually got the first week covered (thanks to maddy), but with the all the san diego high school
and college kids back in school 8/29, i couldn't find someone for the last week of august for scoutie.
he doesn't go back until after labor day.  i started to feel a little bit of a panic set in.
what to do??

i called grandma and once again, she came to our rescue!!
she arrives on monday for 2 weeks.
we are all excited!

it will be so nice to have her and she's looking forward to relaxing
and spending time with her west coast daughters and grandkids. 
after her time here in san diego, she heads north to oakland to spend
a few days with leslie and her sweet little guys.

before the boys come back (sat pm),
i am squeezing in one last day of quiet and r&r for me.
tomorrow i will be poolside here with some girlfriends.
i'm crossing my fingers there will be sunshine!

while the boys are away

i'm surviving my time without my 3.
i think my subconscious was missing scoutie after saying goodnight
to him on the phone because i woke up in the middle of the night
thinking he was calling to me. 

from our brief conversations over the last few days,
it sounds as if they are having the time of their lives.
finn and scout mentioned a dance contest they participated in?
i didn't get more details but finn said when he gets home to san diego,
he would "show me his moves". *grin*

to keep myself busy this week, i've been hitting the gym or running
every evening after work (except last night).  i worked late,
caught up with my sweet sis on the phone, and spent the rest of the evening
eating and cancelling out everything i had been doing at the gym all week.

i met my book club girls at bud's louisiana cafe and eating is a big part of our
meetings.  i had my first crawfish etoufee dish. it was delicious.
we talked for hours and even squeezed in conversation about this book. 

on my drive to the restaurant, i was saying hello to scoutie on the phone and
he announced he was standing around a campfire with family, eating a SMORE!
it made me think of the last time we made smores together and i snapped this photo.

~ i can't tell you how hard it is NOT to be there in minnesota with family right now.
(not because i think c isn't capable to watch the boys - he's every bit and maybe more capable than me).
i just really wanted to be there, enjoying all the fun the gerber clan.

family has always been important to me, and right now the boys are
making memories that will last a lifetime. though i won't have the memories to share with them,
they will always remember the summer they spent at the cabin in upstate minnesota.  
i can hardly wait to see photos from their trip!

high tech high tour

last friday i left work a few hours early to join a group of san diego architects
to participate in a lecture and tour of the high tech high chula vista campus.
the tour was lead by my architect!

c been leading tours of this high school for over a year and a half now,but i had
never gone on one (i feel like such a bad wife because of this). i've wanted to go,
it is just difficult for me to get away from work during the day.

because of the recent national architectural award it received, it's been getting a fair share
of publicity, so when the san diego aia chapter got wind of it, they contacted christopher. 

it's rare i get to watch christopher in action among his colleagues and peers,
so it was particularly enjoyable for me. he invited the architect and the general contractor
to be there so entire team was there to really share the experience of how the project
came to life.

i learned alot from the tours - about materials, construction, and c even touched on the
philosophy of high tech high, and the project-based learning model they follow.

i like the high school, but i especially love the k-8 school which opens in a few weeks.
i have a feeling this school will win some awards of it's own in the future.
here's a rendering of the school. i will post a photo once the project is complete.

i drove home with a cheesy grin on my face.
so happy to finally see these projects (which have been c's babies over the past few years)
and so happy to have a husband who truly loves what he does.


*************************************

my 3 flew to minnesota today for the week.
i came home to a quiet home...so different than most nights.
i know i will enjoy having the next several evenings all to myself,
but it will take a day or two for me to get used to this empty house.
i'll still miss 'em but they are where they need to be
and this mom will be just fine.  *wink*

c sent me this photo of the boys as they began their trip.
i wish i could see the look on their faces.

finn and scout in the cockpit of a Southwest airplane

sweet and silly monsters

smack dab in the middle of my work day yesterday,
i received two pictures that made me SMILE from ear to ear.
the first was of the bennett boys,
sent by their mother and my dear friend, jen.



keith and his baby brother george

minutes later i received another adorable photo of the petersen boys,
my sweet nephews wearing their monster tees.  so cute!

soren and ander

i sent these shirts off a week or two ago (snail mail)
and had almost forgotten about them until those photos
arrived.  i'm so happy they were a hit with the boys.

i really appreciate the photos their mommies shared with me.
seeing them makes me miss them all so much.
which reminds me, i should call via skype soon.
i'm long overdue.

super at 70

i just found a draft that i meant to post on or close to my mother's birthday last month.
with scoutie's silly monster party that very day (also christopher's bday), i was a teensy bit distracted.
i just found it and figured it's never too late.  if you are 40+, or even approaching your 40s,
you're going to appreciate this. 

*****************************

today is my mom's 70th birthday.
i love celebrating decade birthdays and i sure wish i could
be with her to celebrate this one. i'm celebrating this very
special woman from afar today and i wish her another decade
of health and happiness.

back in the april 2011 issue of real simple,
i came across an article written by five experts who had
studied - and lived- long enough to know that gouda and
pinot noir aren't the only things that improve with age. 

today, as my mother enters a new decade,
i pulled up the article and had to share.

so here's what the experts say are 5 great things about getting older 

1. You'll be happier
turns out, most grumpy people used to be grumpy young people.  aging doesn't turn a cheerful person into a grouch.  to the contrary, research has shown that as we age, we become more emotionally stable and content.

2. Decisions will come more easily
scientists use to think that we lose a significant number of our brain cells as we age, but more sophisticated scans have debunked this theory.  we now know that we hit our cognitive peak between the ages of 40 and 68. through the years, our brains build up connections and recognize patterns - meaning we're better problem-solvers and can more quickly get the gist of an arguments.

3.  The fashion police will be off your back
go ahead and wear five finger running shoes or orthopedic sandles. no longer must you prance around in painful heels. you no longer care about impressing anyone.  one of the greatest contributions to longevity is moving - fast, on flat feet.

4. You'll know who you area sense of urgency comes with aging. when I was younger, i was tenative about many things, but now i know my own voice, and most important, i have the confidence to use it.

5.  You'll have time on your hands
if you've been driving yourself for years - working, raising a family, or both - it's an adjustment to have spare time once your job has slowed down and the kids have flown the coop. the good thing about getting older is that you've seen it all, lived it all, felt it all - and now you can take a moment to share what you've learned.

i hope you enjoyed these as much as i did. 

celebrating summer

sex is good, but not as good as fresh, sweet corn.
- garrison keillor

i love summertime rituals and eating corn on the cob
smothered with butter and salt is one of mine.

sweet corn is a staple in our home this time of the year.
the boys and i just devour it.  i can eat 3 large cobs
without blinking and scout isn't too far behind me now,
though he prefers his without butter or salt.

my love of corn goes back to my childhood in florida.
my parents would go to the zellwood corn festival every year
and come back with a few bushels for the family.
with a house full of kids, it went fast, so it made sense for
them to buy in bulk. (this was pre-costco)

tonight i prepared chicken, asparagus and you guessed it
corn on the cob for dinner. this is the first time in
months that finn has been able to eat his corn ON the cob. 
we've been taking it off for him while he's been waiting for
his front teeth to grow in.  they are a good 3/4 of the way in.
i agreed with his comment "it's more FuN to eat it ON the cob".

as i sit here writing about summer and my love of sweet corn,
i can't help but think summer is almost over. 
'renae days' will come to an end this friday (the boys will miss her),
and then the boys are off to minnesota for a week.
when they return, they'll have just a week before school starts
the first day is august 29th!  

finn received a letter in the mail from his new 2nd grade teacher yesterday.
her name is diana glover.  neither finn nor i have met her, but c knows her,
and assured us she's wonderful.  finn also learned his buddy joshua will be in his class
so he is looking forward to going back.

i came across this picture of finn and his k-1 teacher, diane hawke.
i don't think i've ever posted a photo of her and i wanted to be sure i had
her saved in my blog/journal before we move on to 2nd grade.

this woman has been a big part of finn's life the past two years.

i snapped the photo at explorer's exhibition night -
a highly anticipated event that takes place a week before the school year wraps up. 

families are invited to classroom(s) to see what their child has been working on all year.  

finn's largest project was writing and illustrating a 'How To' manual.

any guesses on what his manual was all about?
it was titled How To Program Lego Mindstorms. 

he dedicated his book to scoutie.



can you read it?  





finn sat and read this entire technical manual to scout
(it was slightly above his comprehension level, but he did comment on the finn's illustrations)



feeling inspired

on saturday i went to an adult tennis clinic at barnes and got my
bootie kicked by a bunch of older adults - some much older.

many of them played in high school and/or college,
but several had taken it up up the game after their kids left home or
got more serious after they retired. playing with them left me inspired for two reasons:

1) they were doing something that they loved
and
2) staying active kept them feeling good

these men and woman had so much energy.
i told myself, i want to be just like them when i'm their age!

if playing with these seniors wasn't inspiring enough,
i watched two guys in wheelchairs play after my lesson.
one was named devin, whom i had met a few months ago when
i was picking up finn from a tennis camp.

he had struck up a conversation with me about finn.
apparently finn came right up to him, introduced himself and started asking
questions about his wheelchair, his accident, and how he was able to play tennis.

before i could say "i'm sorry", he continued saying how nice it was that he wasn't uncomfortable
around him. he said so many kids (and adults) are.  hearing him speak this outloud reminded me that
kids aren't born to be fearful or embarrassed of anything. they learn it from someone or somewhere.
if only we could just hold on to that...pocket that fearlessness forever. 

after my group lesson, i sat for an hour and watched devin and his buddy play a match.
these guys, who were 30ish, were such great athletes.  i was in awe of them!
they were able to get to the ball to return a shot so quickly and their strokes were gorgeous.
(even with 2 functioning legs, i would never want to go up against these guys on the court).
i learned the only thing different in wheelchair tennis is the players get 2 bounces instead of one.
that's it - everything else is the same.

i left the courts feeling strong - physically and emotionally,
but most of all, i left feeling inspired by those athletes in the wheelchairs.
they reminded of the strength of the human body and the human spirit.
it's a beautiful thing.

~ i'm keeping my eyes open for the next wheelchair tennis tournament.
i plan on taking the entire family. it will be good for all of us to see that level of dedication.

 i should also note that devin looks a bit like jake gyllenhall (one of my favorite actors).
even my hubby knows i have a slight crush.

more smores please!!

midweek evenings are generally pretty uneventful at the gerber house,
but tonight was a little more fun. after dinner, finn, scoutie and i picked up maddy
and headed to the hilton hotel for their weekly  'Smores Night' on the bay.

a few weeks ago, i learned the hilton has weekly events for guests all summer long.
because we are members, we get to participate in them (such a fun perk).
i took my friend connie and her girls a few weeks ago (pixs here),
and wanted to share the experience with maddy.  i knew she would love it.
their dive-in movie is next on our list.. i promised finn i'd take him before summer ends.

we all got our fill of marshmellows, graham crackers and chocolate tonight.
the boys burned off their energy and calories in the pool afterwards,
while maddy and i chose to grab a lounge chair and catch up with each other's lives.

she's had a busy summer - fresh back from a medical camp at ucla for high school
students interested in pursuing a medical career and she's a just a few weeks away
now from becoming a senior.  i can hardly believe it.  what an exciting year she has
ahead of her - lots of decisions to make.  here are some fun photos of tonight.

what's for dinner

it's 'taco tuesday' mom, you have to make tacos!
finn oliver, age 7

image: google

i have a confession to make.
thinking about what to make for dinner every night stresses me out.

i've never been a cook, and now that i have children, i have to cook.
if only c liked to cook or i could afford to hire someone to do it for us...
it's not that i'm a horrible at it, it's just i don't enjoy the process.
instead of embracing this part of being a mom, it feels like a chore -
just one more thing to check off my daily 'to do' list.

coming up with easy and nutrious meals isn't easy for me,
but one night a week is a no-brainer.
months ago, i made tacos on a tuesday night
and since then taco tuesdays has become a weekly dinner tradition.

though scoutie refuses to eat ground beef,
finn loves the seasoned beef, and c and i tolerate it.
none of us are big meat lovers.  
with all the veggie toppings i put out on the table (including shredded carrots),
i tell myself tacos are a relatively healthy meal.

i've found that if i set aside some time every weekend for meal planning,
it makes grocery shopping and my weekday evenings less stressful

SO

yesterday, i spent a good hour going through recipe books and pages i've ripped
out of various magazines and planned our meals for every night this week
(minus friday because we'll eat the food served at the outdoor concert).

tonight's meal was chicken with an apricot/honey glaze served with a spinach and strawberry salad.
scoutie wasn't a fan of the chicken, but he did have two 'polite bites' for me and finished off the salad. 
i'll keep trying and with a little luck, i'm hoping there will be at least one new dish he will eat this week.


*******************************

on another note, remember this post discussing our desperate need for new bedding?
well, i compromised with c and agreed on the striped DKNY weekender bedding.
i'm so glad i did because seeing it actually makes me HaPpY when i walk into our bedroom.
(a far change from how i used to feel. the old bedding was that bad)
the design works really well for our decor - simple and the colors are fresh and modern. 
as for those orange curtains that were hanging in our bedroom, those had to come down.
hanging in their place are new sage colored linen curtains from ikea.