more than coffee

if you've been married for any amount of time,
you know that the honeymoon phase doesn't last.
sometimes those little habits/personality traits we adored so much
somehow become annoying.  it's true...just ask any oldyweds.
it happens to the best of couples.

BUT

that doesn't mean we throw in the towel.
it just means we have to focus on those wonderful qualities
that made us decide to spend the rest of our life with that person.
it means not focusing on the things that drive us nuts
{for me, a poorly made bed makes my hair stand on end}

so what is all this have to do with coffee?

well i love coffee and i love my hubby and
i was thinking about all the things he does to help
keep our household running so well.

SO

earlier this week, i left this card in the driver seat of his car,
along with a cold starbucks bottled mocha frappuccino
{his 2nd favorite drink next to a blended mocha frap}.

inside i wrote and that's ALOT!
{he knows how much i love my coffee}

he loved receiving it, and i loved giving it.

it got me thinking that it's not grand getaways that keeps marriages strong,
it's all those little things in between - the day-to-day stuff like
making time to talk, date nights, a hug after a long day of work, sweet texts,
remembering to pick up each other's drycleaning or favorite treat, etc.

i put so much energy into the little boys,
i sometimes forget about my big boy.

i need to better.
i will do better.
because i love being married,
and i love my husband.

{even more than coffee}

first day of school: 2012

we officially have a kindergartener and a 3rd grader in the house!

the boys started back to school on monday and the transition for scoutie

couldn't have gone better{and i didn't do too bad either}. i was so excited

at drop off, knowing he couldn't have been more ready.

it was on my drive to work that my eyes got a little watery as i realized that

his preschool days are over and that my baby was officially a gradeschooler.
 

finn was dropped off first and he practically shooed us out of the room,

as he caught up with his friends and started an assignment that was on his desk.

scoutie stuck close to our legs as he greeted his new teachers, mrs. lim and miss casey,

but then grabbed a book and sat at the carpet at the prompting of his teachers.
we left him like this, engaged in a book.
{with a little nod reminder from c, i didn't hover and stay too long}

i planted a kiss on his cheek, gave him a squeeze and was on my way.

finn {8} and scoutie {5}, 1st day of school

 

because of the chaos of parents dropping off their kids, 

it was near impossible to get a good photograph inside so i'll wait until next to get

a photo of the boys and their sweet teachers.

here's to a GREAT school year!

so long summer

since the boys go back to school tomorrow,
summer as we know it officially ends.

since the boys were knee high,
their san diego summers have a few constants.
these are: summer sitters, water, sand and POPSICLES.
{and during heatwaves, we all have more than our share}

the boys love rocket pops, but these were prettier to post.

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and i realized i hadn't posted a picture of anna, the boys's 2012 summer sitter.
she was born in russia so the boys got their first exposure to the russian language.
{they told me it sounded "so cool" when she talked to her parents on the phone}.

finn {8}, anna k., and scout {5}

she adored the boys and shed a few tears when she said goodbye to them last week.
we assured her we would all see her again as we will be calling her when we go on
'date nights' throughout the year!

~ as i was setting out the boy's school clothes tonight, this conversation took place.
scout: i'm scared about starting kindergarten and going to a new school
{and before I could get a word out to comfort scoutie}
finn: don't worry scoutie, i'm popular at the school. i can show you everything!

now finn didn't mean that in some arrogant way at all.  he was just being matter of fact.
he knows the point loma campus like the back of his hand, and not just explorer elementary.
but the 2 high schools and the 2 middle schools as well. his daddy has been dragging him all
over the campus' since before he could walk. the staff knows him well.
we are fortunate to have the situation we have, so very fortunate.

BIG day tomorrow- first day of school. we're all so excited!

fashion friday: ca love tee

school is just around the corner for my little men.
on monday i'll be arriving to work later than normal because i will be
dropping  off two very excited little guys school.
finn is thrilled and scoutie says he is "a little nervous, but more excited"

i know alot of my mommy friends are spending this weekend shopping,
but because i tend to pick up things all summer long and tuck them away,
i didn't have much to buy in terms of school clothes.

still every year, i like to purchase 2/3 unique tees for the boys
{something i can't find at old navy, gap or target}
 and where does one go for unique tees?  etsy is my choice!

 i think i typed in california tees, and this popped up in my search.

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it was love at first site!

despite the cost {more than i typically would pay},
i couldn't resist ordering one for both boys in different colors.
i showed to finn and asked if he liked and his response was
"it's cool, but i'd rather have an atom or a science tee".
little does he know, but i'm already on the hunt for one on etsy.

so that's it for fashion friday - very cute tees from the a lady named
kimberly.  her etsy store's name is i married mr rogers. {how cute is that}.
here's a snippet of what what she said about the tees:

handcut and machine sewn by a nerdy u.s. history teacher who
shamelessly promotes geography and history!

doesn't she sound adorable?
i like her style and if she lived closer,
i'd want to grab coffee with her and be her friend.

so that's it for fashion friday.
happy weekend to you!

~ the boys and i are heading to the hilton tonight to see a dive-in movie.
i promised them one before the summer was over. {just in time right}!

surfboards galore

c sometimes calls me a 'pack rat' and because i'm
sentimental, i do keep stuff, but because i'm slightly type a,
my stuff is organized.  i've convinced myself i'm not a pack rat because
i can find things when i go looking {well most of the time anyway}.

the garage is where he keeps alot of his stuff - you know GUY stuff
like tools, sporting equipment, car stuff and all his surfboards.

who really needs 9 surfboards??
{he tells me he does because they are all for different surf conditions}.

until he can part with a few beloved surfboards,
i will insist i am not a pack rat.
{i confess, one of those nine boards is mine. i call her wahine}

~ happy news:
renae, the boys' sitter from last summer {2011} texted me to tell me she is engaged!
she followed up with some really sweet photos of the proposal. click here to see 'em.
her fiance marc {whom we all met last summer and adore} was so thoughtful and romantic.
and she thought they were going on their usual hike at torrey pines. little did she know...

summer sweets: cute cupcakes

summer is almost over for the boys {one week left}
and these cute cupcakes are the cutest i've seen in a long time.
i really want to make them before they go back.

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the boys would have fun decorating these and even
more fun eating them but gosh, i hope it cools down.
we're still having unusually warm weather and
the thought of being near a hot oven doesn't sound fun.

i need to visit weather.com and see what's in the forecast.
my fingers will be crossed we get some relief soon.

on another topic, we couldn't do our family funday on sunday because
c needed to work all day to prepare for the opening of another school,
high tech middle north county. {hope to post about later and include pixs}.
this one is another GREEN school that boasts photovoltaics on the roof.
pretty cool stuff.

while he was busy directing crews on sunday,
i hung with my little men for most of the day.
we stayed in target for almost 3 hours shopping, browsing,
enjoying their air-conditioning, and yeah, spending too much.
later scoutie and i even took a nap.
it was heaven! {i really should do that more often}

fashion friday: pony tails

i love pony tails.
they sometimes get a bad rep for being a lazy way to get our hair out of our face,
and i admit, i'm guilty of this.

but

pony tails can be a quick and simple up-do and look great with any outfit.
it just takes a few extra minutes to make it look intentional.
a beach day, to work, a girl's night out or a date night, they truly are versatile.
take a look:

lovely aren't they? so what are you waiting for. 
don't be shy ladies, pull that hair of yours UP!
it's the look right now and they really can look amazing.

~  jessica biel is the woman with the 'messy pony' in this last photo.
this lady is SO gorgeous, she could be dripping wet and still look fantastic right?
{i think she's my new girl crush}. i'm sure there are alot of guys out there who
were crushed when they learned she's engaged. *grin*

if you are a fan like me, i'll let you in on a little secret.
she stars in a romantic comedy that will be out in december {yes, 4 months away}.
it's called playing for keeps and looks like the perfect date movie.
c's committed to being my date.

this bunch ♥s the beatles

it's 11pm and i really need to get to bed,
but i'm a little wound up.

i've been cleaning for the past 2 hours because the owner of the condo we are
renting is in town {from europe} and wants to walk through her home tomorrow morning.

it's as clean as i could get it in 2 hours.

{i got home at 9pm tonight - after a full day of work, soccer and school supply shopping}
the home is tidy and i can see the floor of the invention room which is kind of a big deal. 

while the owner is here,  the boys and anna will be gone.

i've left movie passes out for anna so she can take the boys to the theater
tomorrow morning so they won't be in the way. 
they will be watching ice age, eating popcorn and loving the air conditioning.


the beatles blackbird song is in my mind tonight
because they boys have been requesting it before bed the last few nights.
i introduced it to them after i saw the beatles love show in vegas
because i thought they'd enjoy it.  momma knows.  they loved it!

and all this beatles talk reminds me of my sweet friend maia.
she is the biggest beatles fan i know.  she celebrated a birthday a few weekends ago,
and i brought the peanuts to the family friendly celebration.

they wore their adorable beatles tees in honor of the birthday girl.
{someday i hope to take the boys to see the beatles love show }



having a heat wave

the past weekend has been downright HOT here in san diego!
how hot? well at the beaches it hit 84 degrees
{that's a good 10 degrees warmer than normal}
inland i think it got just over 100 degrees.

san diego's weather is moderate - the average temperature is 72 degrees.
but every few years, we have these heatwaves that cause us to whine.
part of it is we are simply not used to the heat,
but i think an even bigger part is many homes don't have air conditioning,
so when mercury rises, it's really uncomfortable.

the last real heat wave i remember was in the summer of 2007.
i remember it well because i was pregnant with scoutie and
was already uncomfortable so the heat made it worse. 
my doctor encouraged me not to work right up to the day {like i did with finn},
so i took 2 weeks off before my due date. 
i literally lived in my bikini  and sat in finn's pool shaded with an umbrella.

finn was 3 years old then, and on the days he wasn't in preschool,
he sat there in the pool with me or played in his sandbox
{which also had an umbrella over it}. he even napped outside on a sheet while i read.
those were my last 2 weeks of peace and quiet before #2 arrived.

anyway, i digress.  this past week/weekend was just as HOT!
i spent half the day saturday indoors a salon and shopping,
but sunday the boys insisted we go to la jolla cove because that
is the activity scoutie pulled out of our Sunday Fun jar.

i think every tourist in town must have had the same idea
because there were hundreds of people squeezed into that little cove.
still, it was nice to be at the water and to watch the boys explore the caves.
this is something they've done before, but scoutie was too young to remember.


we also enjoyed watching the sea lions who share the cove with us humans.
every so often we'd hear the lifeguard yelling through their megaphone
for someone to "stay back" when they were getting too close to them.
finn's comment, "it's probably a teenager" {and it usually was}.

scout's beach ritual - getting buried!

beach boys, scout {5} + finn {8}

the caves at low tide

from the cave, c + scout swam to this rock {finn went earlier}

so that's how the boys and i stayed cool this past weekend.

~ oh, c and i just signed up for the annual bootcamp challenge.
i'm pretty excited about it, and tried running sat am but it was too darn hot
i turned around after mile 2 and came home soaked with sweat.

the race is a few weeks away yet {sept. 29th} so i have some time,
but as of now, i'm not remotely ready. 

fashion friday: modern lounger

happy friday folks!

i almost didn't post today,
but as i was peeking through christopher's latest dwell magazine after work,
i came across this photo advertisement for the dedon chair.

omg - i so love it.  it's like a little hive - so quirkly and fun,
and WAY out of my price range.  still, it's fun to dream.
{even if i could afford it, i'd need a backyard}



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~ on the subject of backyards, here's the scoop on the house hunting:
c and i have been looking for the past 6 months and in this time,
we only found one home we both loved and could afford

it was a mid-century home - clean lines, tons of glass, 4/2, 1,700 SF.
really exactly what we were looking for.  i fell hard, and was sorely
disappointed when i learned our offer went in one day too late.
the owner accepted an offer the day before ours - just one day
after it put on the market. *sigh*

we've put offers on other homes and were outbid, but in retrospect,
it was a good thing the other homes didn't work out. they weren't right.

so after lots of discussion, we've decided to just sit tight for another year and rent.
we'll continue to save so we have more to put down since banks now require 20% down.
{alot of money given the costs of cali home prices}. this will open up more to us.

fun with franka

last night i met my girlfriend franka and her kiddos at the mission bay hilton
for a few hours before she headed home to the los angeles area.
she had been here for a mini vacation over the last few days.

i hadn't spent time with her since our desert trip a few years ago,
and we were long overdue.  she was just pregnant then and now she's a
proud momma to a sweet curl-haired little girl named rylee.
{who slept the entire time we were together} *sniff*

as the boys ran around the pool acting like hoodlums,
franka and i sipped a margarita and caught up with each other.
if the boys weren't with us, we would have sat there talking all night,
since that wasn't our reality, we did what we could and committed
to meeting up this fall.

after drinks and pizza by the pool, we headed to the sand to make SMORES.
it was a wonderful evening all around. the boys got along great, had too
much sugar and slept well that night.

i came home relaxed and rejuvenated -
so happy we've stayed close through all these year.
and it's been a long time {we met in the mid 1990s}

i came home and told c my girlfriends feed my soul,
and they really do.  i learned early in my marriage,
hubbies don't {and shouldn't} take the place of girlfriends.
they each have a special place in my heart.

missing franka already...

scout (5), finn (8), ryan (5) and reese (6)

franka and me

shappards are growing

just as i was dropping finn off at soccer practice
{and about to go for a lil' run}, my phone buzzed
to let me know i received an email.

i peeked and the subject of the email said,
the shappards are growing and this photo was attached.

how adorable is this announcement?!
in the photo is my brother, my nephew jayden, and my s-i-l, heather.
i ended up sharing it with all the soccer moms,
whom i rarely know {but will know after well after soccer season}.
everyone got a kick out of it and we are all curious if those numerical elements
on the fence were done in photoshop OR if they are vinyl/felt stuck to the fence?
so very cute!

with 7 BOY cousins between the gerbers and shappards {all 8 and under},
this auntie is ready for a niece.  my order is in again.
i have to patiently wait until october to find out the sex.

my family will also grow by one more this weekend,
as my sister stacey is getting married, and a will gain a new b-i-l.
i've yet to meet him, but hopefully someday soon.
exciting and happy times!!

girlfriends

i hope you had a wonderful weekend.
and squeezed in some time for a little rest and relaxation.
{and maybe some olympic watching too}

i spent saturday morning with my girlfriends and their children
{including sophie, charlotte's furry child whom we all adore}.
though sophie isn't growing, the kids are getting SO big.
it's a reminder of just how quickly time goes.
miss maya will be taller than me in another year or two i'm sure.

the first time i met her mother cathi, it was over breakfast at our first book club.
she was pregnant with her now 8 year old maya.
six months later, i was pregnant with finn.
now shannon, the youngest of us all, is a mom to a sweet baby boy, sidney.

it's been a wonderful 8 years with these ladies.
we've shared so much - you name it, we've shared it.
we're thick as thieves and we'll be friends when it's time for us to send our kids off to college.
as finn tells me, it's a long ways away mom.
{do i dare tell him it comes in the blink of an eye...for parents that is}

here's a sweet picture i snapped of our fab five

from left: lia (6), maya (8), sidney (3.5 months) finn (8) + scout (5)

as for our family fun day,
we jumped on the trolley sunday and took it west to san diego state's campus!
if the boys had their way, we would have taken the south train to the border,
walked across to mexico, and had chips and guacamole at a restaurant somewhere

c and i didn't want to be gone all day, so we opted for a destination here in the san diego.
when we reminded the boys we were taking the trolley east and it would go through a tunnel,
they quickly forgot mexico.

we had no set plans.
we jumped off at the campus and walked around a bit since none of us were familiar with it.
and noticed a few incoming freshman with their parents.  they were so cute and looked so young.
it was a great opportunity to talk a little bit about college with finn.

he matter of factly said he wasn't sure exactly what he wanted to study,
but "it's between robotics or engineering of some type".
{i'm recording this because i can't wait to look back to in 12 years}.

we spent a few hours walking around the campus, eating lunch out and
then riding the trolley home.  scout, fell asleep on our way home. 
i hope he can make it through a full day of kindergarten without needing a nap. 
it's just 3 weeks away...

fashion friday: beach home

i love casual living and beach homes with wood floors,
light or white walls and fun bursts of color throughout make me smile.
so when i came across this photo in a garnet hill catalog,
i fell hard and just had to post {who says fashion has to be clothes?} *smile*
just look at the metal hanger on the wall with the fish and waves incorporated into it,
and the duvet set has old-fashioned bathing suits printed on it.

cute yes?!

i'm so looking forward to the weekend ahead.

{i bet you are too}

i have a big run planned early tomorrow morning,

a mom's meet up at the park afterwards, usual errand running,

skyping with grandparents, and a family activity planned for sunday.

over the last year,

we started to get away from our family day together, 

and we are bringing them back again. 

to make them special and to give us something to look forward to,

each of us wrote down a bunch of activities we wanted to do together,

and put the strips of paper into a glass jar that sits out on our kitchen counter.  

{i think i got this idea from my own family as a child}

on friday nights, we take turns pulling one out.

last weekend scout pulled out pillow fight.

you'd think they pulled out Disneyland from the jar.

they were SO excited and let me just say, i was worn out after it.

i met my match when finn + scoutie teamed up to take mom on.

tonight finney pulled out, take the trolley or coaster somewhere.

where...is yet to be determined but the journey, not the destination,

is what the boys are looking forward to.

a very happy weekend to you!

xo

hangin' with the hoskins

this past weekend, i spent much needed time with my dear friend aleyda.
with our busy lives, it's challenging to find a day that works in our calendars,
but when we find one, we're always rewarded with all the good things friendship brings.
my two loved playing with her son daniel.
they spent time in their invention room,
ate a few chocolate chip cookies,
and swam while us mommas caught up with each other
and made plans for our next mom's night out. {so important}
we're going to see this movie.
we are SO excited. 

here are our little water bugs.
daniel recently made a swim team and he swim's beautifully.
his mom and i agreed, we'd never challenge him to a race in the water.
we'd be sure to lose. {watch out ryan lochte}

~ i can't believe how fast summer is flying by.
for finn, the school year can't come fast enough.
he would be happy with summer vacation being a week long.
anna, our summer sitter is doing her best to keep the boys busy,
{and has been good at limiting tech time to no more than 30-45 min. a day}.
finn is looking forward to another camp at the science museum next week,
but more than anything, he'd love to be back in school.

scout on the otherhand, seems to love summer,
especially because he no longer has to nap.
{at 5, we allow the boys to drop it}.
it was easy to keep up because naps have always been part
of their daily daycare routine.  working mom's love it.
still, on occasion, if scout has had an extra active morning,
you might find him asleep on the couch or the stairs in late afternoon.

oh, and the boys are reading alot these days.
finn has discovered 39 clues,
and scout is still enjoying the magic treehouse books.