my nephews and santa

i have so so much to catch up on but first things first,
i had to share this funny photo of my sweet nephews
with santa.  my s-i-l shared with me and i had to repost.

jayden {3} + jamison {9 months}

jamison

i love both of these photos,
but my favorite is the one of baby jamison wailing.
i'm guessing once his big brother wasn't by his side,
he took one look at the big man in red and it was all over.
{i think this is the cutest crying baby photo i've ever seen}

i so want to love on these little guys.
i haven't met the baby yet. 
hopefully in the new year.

christmas 2013

fortunately, not everyone was awakened at 5:30am by finn's piano playing.
aunt jen said she didn't even hear it.

though finn had been up since the crack of dawn,
the rest of us crawled out of bed just before 7am to
witness the chaos of christmas morning.

christopher put the camera on a tri-pod to record all
the craziness, and i had my camera in hand even though
my eyes were still half shut. 
{the mostly blurry photos are testament to my not being fully awake}

finn was thrilled with the space lego set and a battleship to
complement the aircraft carrier he and scout received last year. 
he also loved the harry potter boxed book set he received
along with a few other chapter books.

santa surprised scout with the lego chima sets he wanted
so he was thrilled.  he also received a dinosaur dig set,
lots of new chapter books, his favorite being the city of ember series
from his cousins in utah. {i'm actually suggesting this to my book group
when we get to the young adult genre}. they sound fantastic.

for the majority of the day, we sat around in our pjs,
{the little guys for the ENTIRE day}, but just before we skyped with loved ones,
i threw on a pair of jeans and the cute initial sweater that jen gave me as a gift.
she has a matching one with her intial too. they are super cute - so cute we
want to do a little photo shoot in them.  *grin*
some pictures of our christmas.

the center picture in the collage shows a box of harry potter bertie botts every flavor
bean which each boy received in their stocking from auntie jen. 

as they are both loving harry potter right now, jen was right on with this gift!
i had no idea these even existed.  the boys loved trying to get the adults to eat
the disgusting candies which included vomit and dirt flavored jelly beans.
{scout tricked me into eating the 'earwax' one promising me it was popcorn}. 
it was absolutely disgusting.

oh how i love christmas!

the nutcracker

while my boys were away playing in the snow,
i held down the fort at home and made one last
big effort to get our home ready for christmas.

but before all that began,
i spent friday night at the san diego civic theater
watching the nutcracker with my sister jen,
my friend cathi {from my breakfast bunch},
and her sweet 7 year old daughter lia.

it was lovely.
i don't know what i enjoyed more - the costumes, the dancing, the music.
all these years and i had never seen the nutcracker live before.  kind of sad. 
for many families, it's a tradition - the audience was packed with children and families.  
i vow to take the boys to see as children. 

i spent the rest of the weekend finishing up my christmas shopping,
wrapping presents, ordering our cards, and i even squeezed in these two
holiday 'chick flicks' - love actually and the holiday. i loved them both!
it was truly the perfect way to end a weekend sans my boys.

bring on christmas, this mom's ready.
{once she gets her boys home of course}

christmas wish list: 2013

before christmas comes and goes,
i want to be sure to record what was on the boys' 'wish list' this year.
looking back years from now, i want to remember what the boys enjoyed.

their lists were made about 3 months ago {literally},
and i put them away in a safe place, so safe i can no longer find them.
i remember theem well though as they only had 3 things on each of them:
various forms of lego sets,  specific books, and scout asked for card pack 2
from the 39 clues series. easy peasy.

one thing that was listed wasn't so easy.
ever since the curiosity landed on mars, finn has been consumed with
space, mars and rovers.  he spends hours drawing/designing, building and reading
anything that has to do with space, so i wasn't surprised he asked for this lego set.




















it has a pretty big sticker price, and since his father recently picked up another
lego mindstorm {used from craig's list}, i don't think santa will be bringing this
to the house this year.  still, he should have plenty of new things to build.

i was really looking forward to finn opening this harry potter boxed set
that is being sent to him as a gift, but after our roadtrip to tucson a few weeks ago,
he may not have any to read. {he's on book 4 already}.
i've never seen him so excited about reading fiction.

though i'm sure he will finish book 4 on his roadtrip to utah this weekend,
school is closed after tomorrow through new years so he won't be able to
check out anymore. just a few more days... 

scout still LOVES to read, so he had lots of books on his wish list.
he isn't reading HP likes his brother right now. after the first book,
he was digging around our home library and discovered the hobbit.
he devoured it last week and asked to continue with the lord of the
rings books, which he also found in our little library.

i'm trying to determine if they are appropriate. {he's only 6}
c thinks it's fine....that scout's imagination won't create anything as
scary or dark as hollywood creates. that's for sure, but still, i've been
soliciting advice from teachers, family members and friends who've read
the books just to get other opinions.

ideally i should read the book first or read with him,
but i wasn't a huge fan of the movies and i'd much rather read what
i'm supposed to read for my book group or one of the hundreds of books
on my list. if only there were more hours in a day! 

he's got the roadtrip tomorrow and will want to bring it so a decision has to
be made soon.  =/

well it's late and i still have to pack lunches for the boys, finish packing
their bags and snowgear and i really need to find a photo for our holiday card.
we're behind this year {again}, so it looks lke we will be doing a new year's card.
i'm taking off much of next week so i will have a nice window to get them done.

~ i'm enjoying all the sweet holiday cards that are coming in. it's such a treat every
year to see photos and read letters about what everyone has been doing. 
i just love holiday cards!

holiday head party

i don't think i've ever posted about the annual 'holiday head' party,
but i've meant to, especially now that it's in it's 15th year!

it all started back in 1997.
christopher and i had just moved to san diego from tucson
and reconnected with all the friends we had made the summer prior
when c was doing his internship here.

when christmas rolled around, the group had a party/gift exchange and
one of the guys gave a glass head with a bunch of pencils in it as a gift.
here 'tis and i can hardly believe pier one still has it in stores!

it was such an odd and random gift,
that someone in the group decided to adopt it for our annual holiday party.
at the end of our annual party, our names go inside the head {it's hollow},
and whomever's name gets drawn hosts next year's party.
it is and will forever be known as the holiday head party.

oh, and i can't forget to add that the recipient of the head
must display it in their home at all times until the next party.
as finn pointed out, it's just like the gerber cup
{which i've been known to hide sometimes}
c always find and pulls out to display proudly.

anyway, this past sunday night was the big party,
and because the host welcomed children this year,
and the boys are older, we decided to bring them along.

the gifts given and received were very thoughtful and it
reminded me how far we all go back and how well we all
know each other. we've shared alot through the years.
kate, our newest member of the group, and the girl i recently
ran the half marathon with, was my secret santa.
she surprised me with 4 tickets to the nutcracker!!

i've never seen it live, so i am SUPER excited.
the tickets are for this friday night and though i planned on
taking the boys, i remembered they will be gone.

c decided very recently he wanted to play in the snow with
the boys so he's taking a roadtrip to visit trevor and the family
in brianhead this weekend.

since i still have so much to do before the holidays
{i haven't even ordered our cards}, i decided to send the boys.
also, the nutcracker tickets can't be exchanged, and there was
no way i was missing it.  i just have to find new dates.
jen's committed to being one of my dates.

in the meantime, i've been trying to get ready for christmas.
thanks to amazon, i'm almost done shopping. the boys however,
are more than ready. 

they tell me every day how many more days until the BIG day.
this year, they haven't talked much about santa. i think it's because
finn has some serious doubts.  at 9 years old, i imagine that's normal,
and i wonder when a change will happen.  he wants so badly to believe.
{and i don't discourage it}

i just hope the magic of christmas for him lasts a little bit longer...

occasional morning ritual

finn worked on an project called 'outside the lens'
where he had to photograph things in his life that were important to him.
one of the photos he included in his project was of his morning ritual with
his dad.  if the boys get out the door a little bit early for school, they stop
by the neighborhood starbucks.

c assures me it's not every morning they go for a special drink but they do
go at least once a week.  {i have a hunch it's often more than once a week}

oh how I love my little chocolate lovin' boys.

eat.....drink....and be merry

last night was our company's holiday party
and eating, drinking and being merry was what
it was all about.

with the downturn in the economy,
we'd been staying 'in' the office having catered food
brought it, but word on the streets {in the hallways}
was employees wanted something different SO
my coworker, who is part of the 'events' committee'
planned something at this new casual burger joint eureka.

it was exactly what the employees needed.

to mix things up a bit, tina thought a photo booth would be fun
and was it ever. all the employees - young and old loved it.
here's a few fun photos of us girls being silly.

i wish i could share the one of my boss in a green wig but
i really like my job and want to keep it. *wink*

the little guys were at home with bibiana, last summer's sitter.
they hadn't seen her for months, so they were very excited.
from what i heard, they had 'almost' as good of a time as we did.

gosh, there's so much more to post about. 
it's been a great week.  i got to spend an afternoon with my dear
friend jen, my sis leslie and her hubby were in san diego visiting,
and christi, aka world's best nanny to our family,
had a baby GIRL - elsie.  she's so beautiful!!

so many exciting things  - i've been smiling all week.

~ the stress creeped in today as i realized christmas is just 12 days away
and i haven't really started shopping!  amazon prime = my lifesaver 

where i'm from: finn

as i was filing away some of the boys' schoolwork from last year,
i came across this written by finn:

finn gerber, age 8, 3rd grade



 

and there were two more lines on the back that I forgot to scan. they read:

 

- I am from the small, floating plankton and the colassal

squid eating giant sperm whales.

 

- I am from me!  

 

 

where finn gets this stuff, who knows.

sometimes he is a complete anomaly to me,

so i love getting a little peek into his mind.

 

i don't know much about scorching grounds

and freezing space, but i do know i'm the lucky lady

who gets to parent this beautiful boy,

who fills me with awe and wonderment.

 

several times i week, i stop and think how lucky

i am to not just raise finn, but to know him.

of all the places he is from,

i hope he knows he is from a mother who

loves him more than words can ever express.

 

~ i have a couple of draft posts that i started over the break

that i really need to finish.  a few days after thanksgiving,

i hosted a baby shower for a long-time friend and coworker.

 

then the week got crazy.  deadlines have been keeping me in

the office much longer than i'd like and it's been frustrating.

i was heartbroken when i couldn't take the boys to their annual

physical last week...3rd year in a row christopher has taken them.

when i start to get sad and feel guilty about it, i remind myself to be

grateful that one of us has flexibility in our days.  it's also good for the
boys to see and understand that dads are every bit as capable as moms.
the boys will be better fathers someday for having a father in this role.  

 

christmas traditions: 2013

since becoming a mom, traditions have become rather important to me.
i didn't want the year to pass without recording a few of our family's
christmas traditions.

baking sugar cookies together for santa {and ourselves} is one of them.
we don't make cookies from scratch, we simply buy the betty crocker mix,
add the few ingredients and roll them out.

the fun for the boys is using our many christmas cookie cutters
i've gathered over the years and then covering the cut-out shapes
with as many sprinkles as the possibly can.  
we eat some right as they come out of the oven,
put some in the cookie jar and leave a few on a plate for santa.

another tradition is building a gingerbread house.
i picked one up from trader joe's this year and finn
did a great job decorating it. 
{scoutie preferred eating over building it}

my favorite of all our christmas traditions is the special ornament.
every year, the boys get an ornament that represents something
that was important to them during the year.

since the wizard of oz was the first large chapter book scout read
completely outloud last school year {in kindergarten},
i gave him the tin man, his favorite character in the book.

finn was given a mars rover toy.
i couldn't find a traditional ornament for him and since he studied
mars and the curiosity rover in particular this past year, i had to get it.
c devised a clever way to hang it and finn was beyond thrilled with it.
i made sure to write the year on the bottom of each ornament.

i found myself smiling at our christmas tree every time i walked by it.
the silver and blue ornaments are pretty, but it's the boys' special ornaments
{the ones they make and the ones i've given} that are so meaningful.
they represent the boys, their childhood and their uniqueness.

we spent christmas eve together and this year we
had auntie jen back with us. {last year she was in florida}.
we had our traditional meal of chili and cornbread,
and the boys had a blast tracking santa through nordasanta .

we discovered this a year ago and since then,
christmas eve is more exciting than ever before.
it's seriously the coolest thing!!
where was this when i was a kid?

when santa was just over the cape of south africa,
we got the boys away from the television and into their
new christmas jammies {another tradition},
so we could watch home alone 2.

before the boys went to bed,
finn's note warned us we would be awoken christmas morning
with him playing christmas music on the piano.
he didn't warn us that it would be 5:30am!!  *sigh*

finn's post-it note, 2013





when i heard him the next morning,

i convinced him to go back to his bedroom for an hour

we could all sleep for one more hour.

he said he was "too excited to go back to sleep",

but when i allowed him to go on the computer for an hour,

it gave us all an extra hour of much needed sleep.

i'll post out our christmas day shortly.  

roadtrip to tucson

the little guys and i took a roadtrip to tucson, arizona this past weekend.
i pulled the boys out of school on friday so we could enjoy an xtra long weekend
with my girlfriend connie and her girls.

i had made the same roadtrip nearly every weekend the summer of 1996.
christopher was doing an internship at an architectural firm here in san diego,
and since i had good job in tucson, i stayed back.  i visited him often in the
city we now call our home. 

my sisters, leslie and stacey, flew out from florida to keep me company,
and have some adventures themselves. i'd drove my old saab, samantha,
over that mountain pass to san diego most every weekend {and without a cell phone}.
so this wasn't my first roadtrip to tucson at all,  but it had been a while.

anyway, i love roadtrips and this one was easy.
the boys were excited to begin their first harry potter book: the sorcerer's stone,
i had been holding off on the series until they were a little older, and it was time.
since reading for hours in a car can be hard for finn, i chose to download
audiobooks 1 and 2.

they LOVED it!

they sat in the back of the prius and i didn't hear a peep
from either of them the entire 7 hour drive.  well, there was an
occasional giggle and finn mentioned he had to go to the
restroom once, but beyond that, they were immersed.
me too as i was listening to my own book.   

 

when we stopped to fill the gas tank and have lunch,
the boys talked over each other as they fought to tell me
what was going on in the story.  finn said several times that he
"felt like he was part of harry's world, and actually at hogwarts
{the wizard school} with him".  i smiled and said something to
the effect of that's what great writers do.  

though we had hoped to go to kartcher caverns the day we arrived,
we didn't make it. with rain was coming down the entire drive,
we missed the appointment we made {appts. are required}. 
i promised the boys we'd go on our next trip. 
{and that walk the university of arizona campus too}
        
since we all needed to get our bodies moving after the long drive,
i ended up taking the kids to a giant warehouse full of trampolines. 
the kids loved it and got lots of exercise. {me included}

also, with the help of connie's oldest daughter, us moms were able to
go out for breakfast and then later a movie. we saw hunger games 2.
it was so entertaining, but the books of course were so much richer.
now the wait for the 3rd movie starts....

connie, julie and me

the trip was much too short and i only wish we could have stayed one more day,
but i had to get back to work on monday. the little guys were in no rush as they
have the entire week off for thanksgiving.

c called me at work today to tell me they were at the beach surfing
with their classmates and then they enjoyed a fish taco.  ahhh.  so jealous!
he assured me they would both get some piano practicing in.
how much is still undetermined.  *grumble*

just 1 more day of work and then c and i can officially
begin our 4 day thanksgiving weekend!  it can't come fast enough.

mini gerber reunion: nov 2013

gosh, i'm not sure where to start.
there were lots of gerbers in town and our
days were filled with so many different activities.

trevor and his sweet family stayed in our home which was a treat.
though adults don't change much year to year, children sure do.
since there's far too much to capture in words,
i'll just share some photos of of our time together.

cousins: belmont park fun

 











sailing in mission bay




grandkids and grandparents

 

thanksgiving 2013

{i wrote this post on thanksgiving evening and just posting.}

i hope you enjoyed your gobble gobble day!

the boys and i were tempted to spend thanksgiving in the
home of friends this year, but in the end chose to have a lovely
lazy day together as a family...something we always need more of.

last thanksgiving, we had just been given the keys to our new {old} home,
and and were in the middle of demoing walls and floors, literally.
it was chaotic, but i did manage to whip up a small meal
that we shared with the handymen who were working in our home.
it was a beautiful sunny day and we ate outside by the pool.
last year's turkey day was untraditional in every sense of the word.

this year, i was hoping for a little more of a traditional day.
for me, that starts with going for an early morning run -
it always makes me feel better and i feel less guilty overeating
{as i always do}.

the turkey however, was cooked in an untraditional way.
i'd been reading that 'brining' has revolutionized turkey cooking
and how it guarantees a more flavorful and juicier bird.
since my birds can always be juicier, i had to try it.
i followed this simple recipe.

the recipe was SUPER easy, and the fresh herbs i used
{rosemary, sage and thyme}, made the house smell so good.
the crazy thing about this recipe was it didn't include how to cook the turkey.
it just showed how to 'brine' it.  since i don't cook many turkeys,
i jumped on the internet to do some reserach and then ended up calling the cooks
i know for advice. mom didn't pick up, so i called my s-i-l who is a good cook.
she gave me some pointers, and by 2:30pm, we had this tasty bird to enjoy.

 

it was work for me to cook a full meal for the boys and to get
everything on the table warm.  i must remember to thank my mother
for all those years of baking turkeys and those wonderful meals she
prepared for our family {and guests} year after year.
it's no wonder she's done with it.

i imagine i will feel the same someday.
by the time the boys are in their 30s, i will expect them to starting hosting.
it will be time, a changing of the guards so to speak.  still, that leaves me with
about 20 more years of cooking turkeys. *sigh*

and as tradition goes, we went around the table and shared what we were
thankful for this year:

Christopher: the love and support of my friends and famly and for the
opportunity to write the next chapter.
Angela: my sweet boys, my health and the freedom this country allows me.
Finn: heat source, organic molecules, the big bang, and my family.
Scout: my mom, dad, finn, my house, school, nature and books.

finn's response was so...finn.
he can't get enough science these days. 

we snacked on pumpkin pie and chocolate the rest of the day and snuggled
up on the couch to watch our first holiday movie of the season.
the boys chose miracle on 34th street.  it's such a sweet movie,
and really got all of us in the christmas spirit. 
{i think i like this newer version just as much as the original}.

i'm looking foward to this holiday season so much!

silver strand half marathon 2013

for the first time in a long time,
i was up BEFORE the boys on sunday morning.

at 5:45am i was out the door on my way to the
silver strand half in coronado with my girlfriend kate.
we stumbled across these other characters before the race.
here we are looking so relaxed.


jen, mandi, tina, me and kate

 



by 10am, were had all run 13.1 miles,
and as much as i'd like to say it was just a walk in the park,
it wasn't.  i was SO happy to be done! 

here we are proudly posing with our new medals.
two second later, we were off to buy a giant salted pretzel.

my friend kate had a fantastic run.
she finished in under 2 hours!
{something i haven't done since pre-kids}
my time was just under 2:30...my slowest ever. *sigh*

just 2 years ago, i could run a half and feel fine,
with just a little tightness the next day.

during this run, my knees started hurting just before mile 10.
i refused to stop running so i suffered the last 3.1 miles
with inflammation in my right knee.

i couldn't stop wondering how older people can run half and even
full marathons?  are they superhuman or do they just get cortizone shots
where they hurt before and not a feel a thing.  maybe that's the secret.

anyway, it felt great to check off another half,
but i think i'm going to stick to 10k races {6.2 miles} in the future.
i don't want a hip or knee replacement down the road.

my coworker is already looking ahead for her next race.
she asked if i was interested in running the rock n roll half  2 person relay.
{one does 6.1 miles and the other does 7 miles}.
mmmm, now that's more doable. 

i'm considerin'....

lunch box love

happy friday folks!

all the lunchbox laughs i've been slipping into the boys lunches the
last year or so ran dry so a few months back i jumped on my go to resource,
amazon and found these happy notes!

they come in bright colors and kind of resemble oversized post-it notes.
they are also perforated so they can be torn out easily and the because
they have an adhesive strip, they can stick most anywhere.
they range from little notes like 'have a great day' to
'do something nice for someone today'.  just positive thoughts.

i LOVE giving the boys things like this and they love receiving.
when i miss a day or two, scout always lets me know it.

a nice surprise was finding that some of these notes are geared
toward adults which means i've ripped out those and left as
surprises for c in various places....on the screen of this laptop,
the mirror and even his car dash.

as the boys get older and cookie cutter shaped sandwiches lose their appeal,
handwritten notes, jokes and inspiration notes never seem to.
so that's my post for this friday.

i look forward to recording festivities from the last week.
every night has been filled with family stuff, work events,
and our anniversary {#22}!

c and i didn't get to celebrate much the night of, so tonight we are sneaking
away for a little romantic retreat . where we are going? i have no idea.
{c said it's a surprise}. auntie jen is helping to make this happen. {danka auntie j}

baby girl on the way

christi harris

 

 

i'm getting very excited...
christi's baby girl {elsie} will be here soon.
the boys and i hope to get out to oregon to meet her this spring/summer!

~we've had a whirlwind weekend - full of family.
as grandpa john referred to his sons, we had #s 2,3 and 5 all together.
the only family left now is chad {#3} and his family.

we had their sweet daughter chloe with us last night
while mom and dad attended an event with the navy.
it was wonderful!

i hope to post more on our reunion and share photos.
might be next week. 

the gerbers gather on the west coast

we've been anticipating this weekend for a long time now!

many of the gerbers have started to gather here in san diego this week
for some fun in the sun and lots of family time.

grandpa john and sheila arrived from minnesota on tuesday, 
heidi and greg from phoenix on wednesday, and trevor and his
family arrived from utah last night.  tomorrow, chad and his family
will arrive from california's central valley. 

c and i allowed the boys to stay home from school today,
so they could spend an extra day having fun with their cousins.
the last text i received was from my b-i-l saying they are in coronado.

driving over the beautiful bridge to get there is always fun for the boys,
so i'm putting this picture in as a placeholder.
{when they share a photo of their day's adventures, i'll replace}.

when i was checking in with my b-i-l,
he was in the midst of pedaling 4 kids {his 2 and my 2, in a surrey!
{after a morning run and this, he definitely got his workout in for the day}.

while the out of town guests spend their day enjoying the sunshine,
christopher and i will be working  and wishing we were with them,
but we look forward to a weekend full of fun.

~ almost forgot to mention that c and i saw this musical a few days ago.
i didn't know what to expect going into it and it surpassed my expectations.
the musical is based on the real life story of conjoined twins, violet and daisy hilton,
who were exploited in a 'Sideshow' for many years until they left that life and
became famous vaudeville performers.  it was fasinating.
you can read more about them here.

the women that played the sisters were nothing short of amazing!
they have such talent.  a few of their duets were so touching they left the audience,
including me, in tears. we were all reminded that these two unusual girls still had
hopes and dreams of finding love and happiness like everyone.

halloween 2013

october 31st finally arrived!

the boys were so excited and had been waiting anxiously
for the day they could trick or treat.  scout didn't wait to
wear his costume before then though. he strutted around
the house in his aviators looking utterly cool.

the days of me picking or even suggesting a costume is over. 
no more cute lobsters, penguins, chickens, owls or skunks.
the boys want 'cool' {at least it's not scary yet}.

since they LOVE top gun,
specifically the ice man and maverick and the air combat scenes,
they chose to be fighter pilots.

finn already had a flight suit that he wore for his 9th bday party,
so i ordered one from scout online and a cute little dress for me.
scout wore his grocery shopping and around the house and
was quick to show anyone who commented on his uniform
that he was wearing dog tags too.

the costumes were so fitting and so easy. {no sewing or gluing required}
we had a fun night and as always, we have waytoo much candy around the house.
i brought most of what was leftover to the office for my coworkers.

fighter pilots maverick and ice man

 

field trip with finn

today i joined finn and his 4th grade class
for a full day at the wild animal park.

it was a treat to drop scout off at his class.
he quickly did his morning chores and then
it was 'free time'.  he grabbed sea of monsters,
the 2nd book in the percy jackson series,
and seemed to forget i was there. *grin*

from there, finn pushed me along to his class where
we enjoyed bagels and juice with his friends and other
parents who were volunteering.  afterwards, parents were
given the list of kids we were responsible for.

since i drove the prius,
i was assigned 3 boys and unfortunately one was sick
and couldn't make it so i just took finn and his buddy luka.
{easy peasy}

 



 

a quick summary of my photo collage:

{top}: my passengers: finn and luka, me and finn, giraffes
{middle}: the 4 kids for the day: finn, charlie, olivia and annie

{bottom} elizabeth and finn, finn and teacher, ms. jones, and finn taking notes

we had a fun day learning and exploring and this mom was exhausted by day's end.
{scoutie reminded me on our drive home that the next field trip would be with him}
yes, it will be i assured him.
 



moulin rouge movie night

the greatest thing you'll ever learn is
just to love and be loved in return.

- toulouse-lautrec, moulin rouge

oh how we enjoyed this fantastical, over-the-top,
slightly irreverent musical friday night!

i rushed home after work last friday to find christopher
setting up audio and the big screen.  i helped with the last step -
lowering the poles into the shaft which we have staked and left into
the ground to make set up easy.  then, i made sure my audio/technical guy
fill a plate of whatever he wanted to eat before us ladies dug in.

the girls gathered in the kitchen to mingle and
stuff ourselves with yummy food and drink.
just one glass of wine for me as i had a big run the next am.
at 8pm we grabbed blankets and headed outdoors to watch the movie.
{the little guys were having their own movie night watching this}

we swooned over ewan mcgregor's character, christian,
the penniless poet/writer who falls for a cabaret performer satine,
played by nicole kidman.

here's a secret, if you enjoy the music, the soundtrack
is even better.  it contains the complete score in all it's glory.
{i've been listening to it for past 3 days}

the little guys can't get over that ewan mcgregor,
only known to them as obi-wan from star wars, can SING.
he's a talented man.

i almost had some unexpected guests.
as a courtesy, i always inform our neighbors of any parties/movies nights.
somehow i had forgotten to inform our sweet mormon neighbors next door,
so i sent finn over to let them know mom was having a movie
night and that it would be over by 10pm.

finn returned announcing "dave and doris probably can't come
because they have some stuff going on".  what???
apparently, i wasn't clear enough with my instructions.
{he wasn't supposed to INVITE them}
i was glad to hear they were busy. whew!
i don't think they'd have been fans of the movie.

it was a really enjoyable night.
i kept thinking how much my sister leslie would have loved it.
someday i hope we live closer and can enjoy theater and plays together.

i should get to bed as i have a long and active day ahead of me.
tomorrow i'm taking off work to drive and help chaperone finn's
4th grade class.  we're heading to the san diego safari park all day!

the volunteers are almost always the stay at home moms,
{they do so so much...i am truly grateful},
but every year i make sure a take a day and volunteer for one outing
with each of the boys' classes. 

it's not always easy,
but it's so important to me.
when i overheard finn tell scout that the first field trip
i went on with him was to the butterfly farm when he was in kinder.
i realized then, it's pretty important to the boys too.
they DO remember....
 

underwear saga

a boy's will is the wind's will.
- henry wadsworth longfellow

 

this quote sums up boy's so well.

especially our scout.

he is strongwilled.

he still refuses to wear underwear most days.

when the school season started, i pushed it.

 

i bought him days of the week monster underwear

and he liked the idea of them at first, looking for the

correct day ever morning.  

then the novelty wore off.

then i thought, is it a battle worth fighting?

does he really need to wear underwear?

in the end, i decided it's not a battle worth fighting.

christopher has no objections, and i shouldn't either.  

it's probably a phase like many things,

and there are more important things to enforce

{like homework and practicing piano}

our strong-willed boy lost his 3rd tooth yesterday

and said he feels much more "grown up". 

~ it's been a full week!  somehow, i made it to two 6am bootcamp classes,

enjoyed an evening with a neighbor and new friends, chatted with my

sweet s-i-l last night and tonight, i'm hosting my first girl's movie night!

{at the new home}  we're watching baz luhrmann's moulin rouge. 

as a courtesy, i've alerted the neighbors and promised to be done by 10pm.

in preparation for tonight, i've been listening to the soundtrack the last few days.

i love the music! 

 

 

a bday brunch and a bunch o' stuff

i've missed posting about a few events,
like auntie jen's birthday celebration!
the boys and i took jen to the patio for brunch,
a newer restaurant right here in the neighborhood.

it was yummy and we all ate alot,
including our share of BACON.
{it's almost dangerous that it's so trendy right now}
i've eaten a bit more than i should.

coffee lovin' sisters, 2013


 

there are so many more little things that go on in day to day life.
i can't capture them all but i try to focus on highlights in this blog.  
i'm just not always timely.

i hope to post on these past events in the next week:
- the annual paddle for clean water event
- finn's first adventure rock climbing
- a beach photo shoot with auntie jen and the boys
- christi's baby shower in orange county this past weekend 

a baby shower was also held for my sister stacey back in florida.
{sure wish we lived closer so i could have celebrated with her}

i was just thinking how lucky to have a blog as a journaling tool.
it's made it so easy to record, and though it's a form of social media,
it's the only one i don't feel guilty about spending time on.
i even turned of the 'comment' feature a few years back because i didn't
want it to become like facebook {i.e. for an audience}

i simply wanted a journal,
a place to for me to stop, be mindful and
to record the important things in my life and in the life of my family.
it's time well spent.

not only do i enjoy going back and reading old posts,
the little guys often ask me to pull up my life with boys so they can read.
they get a kick reading about their 'younger' selves,
their accomplishments, birthdays celebrations, family trips,
and their favorite, their birthday tributes.

{i think those might be mom's favorite posts too}

it's friday...



i LOVE fridays,
i guess i'm not the only one as there's even a song with the title.

{gosh i love that song by the cure....it reminds me of my youth}

anyway, so how are you spending your friday folks?
i'm working but after work, i'm meeting a girlfriend for a 7/8 mile run

{we are in training for this half in a few weeks}

 

afterwards, i'll probably stuff myself with food,
pour myself a glass of wine that will last me all night,

read to the boys {or be read to} before they go down,
then i'll snuggle up on the couch with c and watch revolution.

i won't claim this as 'my show' but i watch it with him
and am semi entertained throughout.

 

however you spend your friday,

enjoy it.

 

life is beautiful

etsy

i took a parenting class a few weeks ago at explorer
{was the best hour and a half spent that week}.
one of the points that resonated with me was to
slow down and take time to connect with our kids.

like many busy moms,
i sometimes get stuck in autopilot,
and forget to stop and give the boys
{all of them} my undivided attention.

since taking the class,
i've made a conscious effort to really try do this and i've
noticed the difference it has made.

i took the time to listen to finn share his latest interest

and theories on colonizing mars, and since scout just started
piano lessons and wanted an audience, i pulled up a chair as
he practiced and i just sat there and watched/listened.
he loved it and i did too.

life really is beautiful.
{i just need to remember to slow down and take it all in}

~ i'm looking forward to a date with c tonight!

bringing back outdoor movie nights

 "i can't wait until tonight mom.  i've missed movie nights so much"
- finn gerber

i think our entire family shared finn's sentiments.

we've all missed movie nights...even scoutie who was just a toddler
when we held them regularly in the backyard of our little beach cottage.

finally, after 10 months of being in the new {old} home,
we had our first outdoor movie night this past weekend.

thanks to our buddy nic, we now have a new {20'} screen
that we can project onto.  it worked beautifully!  

in the old days {as scout likes to say},
we had a much smaller screen and would squeeze
ourselves together so everyone could see it.

with this large screen, i don't think there's a bad seat in the backyard.
c set it up on the sloping hill which made it tall enough that the little ones
could get up and refill their popcorn and goodies bags throughout the movie
without blocking the picture. 

to keep it intimate and more personal, we invited a select few:
auntie jen {of course}, some of our favorite families and friends,
and a few furry friends were there too. we munched on popcorn and
candy and sipped hot chocolate/coffee while watching october sky.

it was enjoyed by all.
it's the movie that never fails to meet expectations.
even after watching it a dozen times, i still get chills
and i still cry. {i just can't help myself...it's that powerful to me}.

~ next summer, we hope to have the pool heated and have
'dive in' movies so those who want to watch in the water can.

root for the home team

the boys and i rooted for our home team,
the san diego padres one evening last week!

we gathered with c's colleagues and gobbled
down peanuts, popcorn and crackerjacks.
scoutie took off his baseball glove for a few minutes to eat,
but left it on for the rest of the game hoping to catch a fly ball.

because it was a school night,
we couldn't stay the entire game.
we headed home after the 6th inning and that's
when the highlight of the night happened for scout.
{besides being allowed to share a fanta with finn}

as we walked by the bullpen, one of the arizona diamondback
pitchers were warming up and noticed the boys. from behind the
fence, he slowly walked towards them with baseballs in each hand.
i urged the boys to go to the fence to meet him. 

they did and sure enough, the guy motioned to c that he was going
to toss the balls over the fence. c caught them and gave to the boys.  

c and i thanked the pitcher and the boys followed with their thank yous.
scout was all smiles and exclaimed he had a 'official' baseball.
finn just looked at it for a few minutes and quietly said baseball isn't my passion.

i chuckled to myself and i reminded finn that though baseball isn't
HIS passion, it IS the passion of the pitcher who so generously tossed the
baseballs to them. just like finn enjoys sharing {talking} for hours about
science/robotics, the baseball player wanted to share his love of the game
in the only way he could at the time...by tossing baseballs to 2 young boys. 

finn understood my point and promised "if a player ever throws me a ball,
i'll be sure to smile bigger mom".  t

our boys are so very different, and we love 'em for it.

all taken with my iphone
{i still struggle to stay still}

i checked online the next day and our padres ended up winning!
they beating the diamondbacks 12-2. woot woot

welcome to the weekend!