thanksgiving 2012

i hope you had a wonderful day surrounded by people you love and lots of yummy food!

since we are smack dab in the middle of trying to get our new {old} home ready for
move in (6 days away), our thanksgiving was less traditional than most years.

c and 2 of his crew members were working all day,
and i thought it would be a nice gesture to bring food over to everyone since they'd
be famished working so hard and i needed someone to help us eat a 10 lb turkey.
my sister was given this turkey by her boss and she passed along to me so
it woudn't go to waste. {she celebrated the day with a breakfast brunch}.

the morning of, c was at the jobsite by 7am and i was at our neighborhood vons
picking up sides and a few pies.  i got a pumpkin pie {c's favorite} and an apple pie
and vanilla ice cream in case they wanted their pie a la mode. {like me}

c brought the kid's picnic table over in the stationwagon so i'd have a place
to set the food since i wasn't ready to give up our dining room table yet.
we still need it for a week.

i brought over camping/beach chairs and a few chaise lounges so we all sat
outside by the pool for our thanksgiving meal.  yes, our new home has a
kidney shaped pool which was a big selling point for us. the boys will live in it
in the summer months.

our thanksgiving day spread wasn't fancy, but it was yummy and the kid table functioned fine.

it was a beautiful day - about 75 degrees!
c tried to convince the boys to jump in the pool so he could send a photo
to grandpa and grandma g who live in minnesota.
grandpa tells us it's cold there already.  yikes!

the boys didn't go in - no matter how many times they were dared.
the pool temperature was too cold even for them
{we hope to get a solar heater before summer.}

here's finn enjoying a drumstick.
scout won't eat turkey so finn ate enough for both of them.

i wish i would have asked the contractors to snap a photo of the family but they were busy
eating and all i had was my iphone which is how i snapped these.

every year we go around and say what we are thankful for, but since we were
spending it with people we didn't know well, we decided to forgo it at that time
and later shared.


below is just a tiny list of what the boys and i are thankful for this year:

christopher: friends and family who support me unconditionally {and pumpkin pie}

angela: good health, my boys, dear friends, the arts (music, books and theater),
and being able to enjoy our first thanksgiving at our new home.

finn: our new home, family and school so i can get an education.
{i'm not joking this exactly what my child said}

scout: my family, our new house and dessert!


~ i was REALLY nervous about cooking the turkey.
i hadn't cooked a turkey in years and i wanted this one to be edible.
i called my mom and she recommended using a reynolds oven bag for a
guaranteed moist turkey.  now, i swear by the reynolds bag method.
the turkey was perfect - so juicy it almost fell of the bone!

i've been so busy i haven't had time to post.  the house is SERIOUSLY a full time job.
mostly because we are doing alot of the work ourselves and only hiring out when we need to.
i wish i could just take 2 week off but i can't and christopher has already taken about 2 weeks
off so we hit it hard this past weekend.  it's coming along...slooowly but surely.

sing out

i came across this poster in this etsy shoppe yesterday.
i just love love love it!  why?

because this song inspires my children.
it's from a song called sing out by cat stevens.
it is their school's theme song, and finn has been singing
it since kindergarten.  now scout is learning it.

the entire student body gets together every 2 or 3 months in
an big area and they call this meeting 'the gathering'.
they hear special announcements and they sing this song.
they LOVE this song. {you can barely hear the music}

it's a song about empowerment, being independent and
loving yourself.  i can't think of a better song for young kids.
i love the original by cat stevens, but i love this folky version
i found on youtube even more.

i've been pulling it up almost nightly and singing it with the boys,
{scoutie almost has it memorized now}.

if you have a minute, pull it up and listen.
you'll know why it's such a special song to us
and why explorer chose it as their school song.

at the jobsite

while c and i spend our weekends scraping layers of linoleum off floors
and popcorn from ceilings off our new {old} home,
the boys have had to entertain themselves alot.

we brought their bikes to the jobsite and gave them
boundaries and let them explore the neighborhood.
because finn is older and has always been a great
rule-follower, we've given him a pretty long leash these days.
{he's earned it...and keeps scout close and safe}

when the boys aren't riding their bikes,
they are running around in the backyard and playing in
their HQ {headquarters} which is currently a tree base on the hill,
but will someday be a clubhouse their dad will make for them.

first thing first, we've got to finish house projects.

even with these diversions, they have been getting a bit
tired of hanging out at the jobsite, so this past sunday,
their auntie jen took them to see wreck-it-ralph and
then to sea world for a few hours.

they rode the water roller coaster, journey to atlantis and
played in SNOW.  apparently sea world of san diego
is making snow and kids in the park get to sled down a small hill.
that's certainly something they don't do every day in socal.

jen shared these sweet photos with me during the day:

jen literally had the boys from 10am to almost 10pm -
a very very long day. we are so grateful for her help.
she went above and beyond.

not having little people asking for food, our phones or if we
could go home allowed c and i to get alot accomplished -
so much that we didn't have to push back the ikea kitchen
installers again. the kitchen was installed today...most of it.

there's still so much to do, we had to push our
move-in date to friday, november 30th.
we hope by the time we move in, we will no longer
be referring to our new home as "the jobsite".

{i see why so many move to cookie cutter homes in the burbs.
it's so easy compared to fixers. fixers take so much work and patience...
not as easy as it was in our little diamond street cottage when we had a
smaller home to fix up and one kiddo}. whew!!

i can hear the bells

the knot

for those who miss the bells reference, it's from the musical hairspray,
and seems appropriate as both leslie i share of love of music and musicals.

you read correctly.
my sister leslie is getting married in 6 weeks!
i have no idea what type of cake she is wanting or how she is decorating but these
little wooden toppers that can be customized to look like the bride and groom are very
popular and adorable.

anyway,  i was just getting used to her being engaged,
when she shared that she and her fiance rob decided they wanted to
start the new year as husband and wife.

it's a happy happy time, and also a little bit nutty.
c and i are up to our eyeballs with house demo/renovation work
{move in is monday, 11/26}. it may not have floors or a kitchen
but it will have our furniture.

i digress.  i will be jumping on a plane to orlando just after christmas
to celebrate with rob and leslie and the rest of the family.
unfortunately, due to the airline ticket prices skyrocketing during the holidays,
i'll be going solo...without my three.  sure wish they could join me because
the rest of the family will be there.

i will however be home to ring in the new year.
{that was very important to me...this year more than ever}

our journey

this past sunday c and i had an anniversary - 22 years!
when i've been still, i've been reflecting on our  journey together -
on all the things we've done together before children
and what our life is like now as parents to two sweet boys.

our journey over the years has taken us to so many places,
and the ride hasn't always been smooth, but it's been an adventure
and one i wouldn't trade for anything. i love the life we've created together.

ok, enough sappy stuff.

so how did we spend our anniversary day?
we spent the day scraping popcorn from ceilings and demo-ing various
things in the new {old} home.  it was all very romantic.

we decided to celebrate this past tuesday night.
we got a sitter and had a nice dinner at jai.
from there, we walked to the ljpl and saw a musical.
it was called yoshimi battles the pink robots - and was a collaboration
between the director and the lead singer from the band, the flaming lips.
the entire musical is music from the same titled album.

it was wonderful!!  i haven't seen anything quite like that show.
the lighting and set design had me eyes bugging out of my head,
and the music was pretty cool too. i'm now a fan of the flaming lips.
{two ladies in my bookclub will be happy to hear it - they are HUGE fans}.

~ tonight jen and finn went to see it.  they got a sweet deal and a free ticket
{using a gift card}.  i was SO excited for them to see it,
and look forward to hearing their feedback.  jen discovered the flaming lips
during her college days and should enjoy the music.  finn will enjoy the uber
cool ROBOTS in it.  that kid still has robot fever... it hasn't faded since his 5th bday.

bootcamp challenge 2012

with the trip to az and the demo/renovation work at the new house,
i had forgotten all about the bootcamp challenge c and i ran last month
until he shared this photo of me yesterday.

a professional photog was at the race and snapped this.
it sums up what us racers have to endure...marines yelling at the
top of their lungs. i guess it motivates some, but c and i find it
kind of amusing. {we're sure they are hoarse the next day}

red and super sweaty after our run! 

the highlight for the boys was sitting in the humvee
{not watching their parents climb walls and go through fox holes}
where's the love?

~ the results: c and i both placed 9th in our age division.
c's time was excellent but mine was, um not so great
compared to previous years.  my 9th place is a little misleading.

my girlfriend cece however, placed 2nd in her age division
{36-39 years old). she's a serious competitor!

a new {old} home

it's official, the gerber family are homeowners once again!

with the tougher requirements to own a home these days,
i wanted to be sure everything was finalized before i posted.
now i can officially share our very exciting news.

a little about the home: it's built mid-century {early 1960s}
and it's in east pacific beach, a community we love.
we are no longer within walking distance to the beach anymore,
but it's only an 8 minute drive away by car and a bike can still get
us there but gears are needed {or preferred} since there's a very large
hill one must get over.  i need to get gears for all of our beach cruisers.

it's taken over a year and a half to find a home that we could agree on.
c wanted to live west of interstate 5 which narrowed our search tremendously.
i wanted a home with at 1,800 sf and with a minimum of 3 bedrooms and 2 baths
for a family with growing boys. 

this home meets both our requirements
but
like so many homes in san diego's older neighborhoods, it's a fixer.

while i was away on my business trip,
escrow closed and c picked up the keys to our new home.
he began demo work began immediately.
i stopped by the house the evening i flew and found the home like this:

removing a wall between dining and living room to open it up

i admit, i had a little anxiety.
although dated, the home had been move in ready when he got the key.
my experience with job sites is pretty minimal,
so seeing past all the debris, hanging wires and torn out
ceilings was a little difficult for me.

c on the otherhand, didn't bat an eye.
and reassured me all would be fine,
that this was normal and part of the process.

the next day, the debris was cleared away and the kitchen
completely removed and it looked so much better.
i can actually picture the spaces now and moving around in them.

there are still hundreds of things on the list,
but we are on our way, taking one project at a time,
and with luck, hope to be moved in by thanksgiving.
{even if it's a jobsite}

we can't be more excited about this home!
it's been a long time coming.

laugh out loud

once in a blue moon,
the timing is perfect and i'll have my camera out of the
camera bag, the battery charged and close by.

a few weeks ago was once of these times.

scoutie was laughing hysterically over something finn was saying,
and i grabbed my camera and captured the moment.

nothing makes me happier than hearing my boys laughing.
i sure love this silly boy.

a new president

i'm back home after a very long 4  days in phoenix, az.

i was attending the HC design conference with a slew of my colleagues.

i had a wonderful time and learned alot, but it was exhausting.
my days started at 7am and i'd roll into my hotel room at 11pm every night.

i was all ready to come home the evening of the election, but the sd airport
was fogged in. our pilot circled the airport for a while {hoping the fog would clear},
and when it didn't turned the plane around and went back to phoenix.
i stayed another night. *sigh*

since i spent the majority of tuesday pm in the air, looking for a hotel and
re-booking my flight home, i missed watching the election,
except for the glance or two i got of the tv at the airport.

i woke up wednesday morning to find a complimentary usa today at my door
and barack obama on the cover smiling from ear to ear.  it made me smile too.

the boys followed the race from home and before they went to bed,
finn and scoutie gave me the update over the phone and also shared they
got to 'pretend' vote at school that day.

scoutie told me he voted for obama because we were an obama family. *grin*
yesterday when i came home and was going through his past week's schoolwork,
he showed me this:

he was so proud of it.
i tucked it away with a copy of yesterday's paper and put in his keepsake bin.
before we went to bed, finn said "mom, if malia was a few years older,
she could have voted for her dad."

he was referring to president obama's daughter.
finn was in kindergarten when she and her younger sister, sasha,
moved into the white house. the girls were 6 and 9 then.
he seemed very interested in the young residents then and even
told me the day their family got a puppy. the girls are 11 and 14 now,
and when malia's father finishes his 2nd term as president,
she'll be of voting age but won't be able to vote for her dad since
his time will be over.

i dug up a photo of the obama family celebrating 4 years ago.
look how young sasha was. poor girl looks frightened.

and here they are yesterday, all smiles and so much more grown up.






i'm an optimist and am excited about the next four years.
{in 2016, my hope is to see a strong woman candidate on the ballot}.

halloween 2012

i can't believe halloween has come and gone!

i feel like we just put up the cobwebs and tombstones
and it's time to take down?  geez.

this year i didn't have a chance to be remotely creative with
costumes since the boys insisted on being star wars characters.
i don't sew at all, so i picked up generic store bought costumes.

since i love dressing at halloween,
i bought a princess leia costume and borrowed a pair of tall white knee
boots from a girlfriend who wore the same costume a few years ago.

here we are before we went out for the evening.

glow-in-the-dark pjs from cousin isaac

after trick or treating around one block,
scout and his friend logan were done for the evening.
scout join christopher and handed out candy.
{he loved this and was very good letting each
trick or treater know they could take 4 pieces}

finn, on the otherhand was determined to go to visit every home
in our complex, so auntie jen and i followed after him for another hour.
{my go go-like boots were not the best walking shoes}

the boys have enough candy to last until next halloween.
i hope you had lots of spooky fun!

~ i'm off to phoenix tomorrow to attend a conference for a few days.
i'm excited to hang out with my colleagues from across the
country and to see my girlfriend connie who is driving up
from tucson one evening.