dying eggs

it's spring break for the boys and they've been
with c for the past week and will be for the upcoming week as well.

he set up playdates for both boys in the mornings,
and they spent their afternoons at the beach.
c was determined to get both the boys up on surfboards.
{he was successful}

last friday, scoutie had a playdate at his buddy logan's home.
his mom sent me this sweet photo of thee boys dying eggs.

scout loves art projects so he was all for dying eggs again the next day.
finn told me he'd rather continue building his lego mindstorm 'color sorter'
{i'll have to get a clip on video and post soon}. it's pretty cool.
he joined us for a little while and then went back to work/play.

easter dessert

i must be hungry this morning because all i can think about is food.

{the coffee and banana i had this morning isn't cutting it}

i was poking around martha's website, mostly because it's all eye candy,

and came across the photo and recipe for a lemon-ginger bundt cake.

i love lemon and bundt cakes are easy to make and pretty too

{especially when they are put on a pedestal} .

i might attempt to bake this over the weekend

or most likely, i will buy a box mix and tweak it a bit. 

i am so looking forward to this weekend! 

not only because it's easter and i get to dye eggs with the boys,

and watch them hunt eggs, but i plan on spending lots of time outside.

the weather has been gorgeous and i've been stuck

in the office while the boys have been playing all week.

they are on spring break this week {and next} and c has
been taking them to the beach every day. *sigh*

now that both boys have full wetsuits,
they've been in the water more and practicing surfing.
c is in heaven. he's been waiting for the boys to get
to this point for a long time.

have a wonderful easter weekend!!

xo 

daring greatly

this was my month to host book club.
this means that in february, i selected 3 books
and presented to the group for voting.

the book, Daring Greatly - How the Courage to be Vulnerable 
Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent and Lead
was selected.





it wasn't my first choice but a few chapters into it,
i was really glad this was chosen.

it's full or research about vulnerability as well as the author's
personal stories which make it an easy and fun read.
she discusses how the courage to be truly seen is not only beneficial
to our relationships but crucial to our happiness and health
because we all hardwired for connection.

after reading the book, i could hardly wait to meet up with the girls.
finally on monday night we met here for dinner and discussed.
not one of us was left untouched.

one of the ladies mentioned if any of us had seen the author's ted talk.
none had yet. tonight i sat down and listened to it.

it's interesting, profound and even funny at times.
if you can squeeze time out of your day to listen,
i promise it will be 20 minutes well spent.

she challenges us all to Dare Greatly through 'wholehearted living'.
this means:

• Let ourselves be seen - deeply seen
• Love with our whole hearts
• Practice gratitude and joy
  {and remember}
• I am enough

fun turning five

i feel like such a bad auntie.
my nephew turned 5 last week,
and it was completely off my radar. ugh.
{i really need to pull out our family b-day list and
make sure i get everyone into my calendar}.

my sister sent several photos of her little guy aidan
celebrating at the t-rex cafe located in downtown disney.
wow!  what a cool place for little boys who love dinosaurs.

here's my sweet nephew.
from that grin, i can tell he was in heaven.

happy #5 aidan!

happy first day of spring

i love springtime!

the weather gets warmer,
new fruits and veggies come in season,
and the days are longer which means more time outdoors
with the family in the evening after work.

it also means jacarandas will be blooming all over
san diego over the next few months.

i had never seen one until i moved to california and
as soon as i saw them my jaw dropped.
they are stunning with their big purple blossoms!

blossoms up close

someday when we start working on the landscaping of our
new 'old' home, i'd love to plant a jacaranda!

~ with this new season and the changes it brings,
there's also some changes happening for our family.
c's job at hth is coming to an end as they are done growing.
we always knew it wasn't a forever job, but he has enjoyed
an 8 year ride with them.  we will miss the convenience of having
him working right there on campus.

lil 'green machines: 2013 st. patty's run

i hope you had a wonderful st. patty's day!

in keeping with our mom/son tradition,
we ran the annual st. patty's run on mission bay.
this year was extra special since scoutie joined us.

he doesn't remember, but he was actually part of it 3 years ago.
i pushed him in a jogger and finn ran along side of us.
scout was 2 and finn was five...the same age scout is now.
{scoutie liked knowing this little fact}

the race started at 7:45am...early for me after being out
late at the art for the heart event.
i was also feeling a little icky {allergies i think}.
anywho, we made it just in time.

when we saw the finish line ahead,
finn challenged us to run "as fast as we could."
the boys sprinted and received cheers as they crossed the line.
they just loved this.

christopher surprised us at the finish line and snapped these photos
{danka mr. gerber}

scoutie was SO excited to run his first race!.
before we started, finn warned him about starting off too fast
and leaving some "fuel in his tank so he could finish".

he understood the concept,
and reported how he was doing every 5 minutes or so.
he would say "my tank is 99% full, now it's 95%,  and so on.
at the end of the race we learned his tank was 75% full.

he wore his medal proudly
and asked if he could do it again next year.
ABSOLUTELY i said!
this is one of our family traditions.

~ i look forward to running the 4 mile race with the boys in a few years.
{for now, we just do the 2 miler}. 

superheros

explorer elementary is in the thick of preparing for
their annual fundraiser, art for the heart which will take place tomorrow night!

this year's theme is superheros and to encourage excitement for the event,
students and teachers were asked to come dressed up as superheros a few
times over the past few weeks.

scout was thrilled!
he got to pull out his cape, mask and bullet deflecting cuffs.
finn however responded with "i think i'm a little too old for this mom".
{finn was one of the unusual preschoolers and kindergartners who
never was into superheros...of any kind}. he preferred 'real' things.

i encouraged him to support his school and surpringly, he agreed.
here are my two super sweeties as they were leaving for school this morning.

i'm excited about tomorrow night's event.
c is too. he was asked to make a game that will
help raffle off the bottles of wine the school collected
over the past several months.

over the last 3 nights, he has been building a little
city made out of foamcore for guests to race
hex bugs. it's hard to explain in writing so i'll
try to snap a photo of a bit of video tomorrow pm.
it's pretty cool.

~ st. patty's day is just around the corner which
means it's time for our annual st. patty's day run.
this year scout is joining us and he's pretty darn excited.
race numbers arrived in the mail yesterday and finn
assured him he would get a medal when he crosses the
finish line. {i must remember to bring my camera}

tennis time

i feel so behind on my posting.

so much is happening and though i want to capture it all,

i simply can't.  i have to pick and chose what to record
and make time to do it.

the arrival of my new nephew is the most exciting news!
i've only seen photos of the little guy, but i can tell he's a sweetie pie.
if only i just hop on a plane to florida to hold him.
it's special occasions like these that make it difficult living so far
from my siblings.

while my sister-in-law and new nephew were heading home 

from the hospital this past weekend, the boys and i headed to the desert.

c's christmas wish this year was for the entire family to attend

the bnp tennis tournament so he found tickets in his stocking on christmas day.
months later, he was finally able to enjoy his gift.

this year, we stayed at the indian wells resort again
{no surprise upgrade to a suite this time like in 2011- darn}
still, it was comfortable enough. they had a nice breakfast buffet in the mornings
and offered a shuttle to and from the stadium which made it super easy.
the highlight for c and i both was seeing mr. roger federer!

as anticipated, the boys got restless at various points in the day.
since c's the true tennis lover, i took them out of the stands and ran them
{children are like dogs....they NEED to run}.*grin*

we got lucky because it just happened to be 'military appreciation day' on friday.
this meant there were museums to tour that had anything and everything relating to ww2. 

{which the boys LOVED}, and even jeeps and light armored vehicles for kids to play in.

finn spent a few hours climbing in and outside of the vehicles,
and questioning the men in uniform to death about every piece of equipment in them.
by hour 2, he knew it all and the guys were allowing him to give tours to guests.
it was a win/win for all.  {finn loved it and the military guys got a break}

after my tour, i found a cozy spot close to the trucks to sit so i could finish sarah's key.
this isn't even this month's book selection {shhhh}.
i brought that one but i couldn't put this one down.
i started it on the 2 hr drive there and completed it on my drive home!

i'd say it's the best historical fiction novel i've read since the help.

since we were gone most of the weekend,
no work was done on the home or the treehouse,
but we did make it home in time time to attend lillian schmid's first birthday party
and scout's first soccer game of the season!

sadly, i didn't get to see it him play!
i was coaching our 'B' team and scoutie is on our 'A' team.
the kids are divided up by ability levels and i had the beginners.
next week i'll be sure to see him play. i'm excited.

a new nephew

my brother todd, his wife heather and their son jayden,
welcomed in their new family member!
meet jamison carl shappard.

stats:
born at 9:51 am march 6, 2013
8 lbs 4 ounces, 20"

today is a very happy day.
congratulations to the new parents!

gerbers go unplugged

i read this article in sunset magazine last week
and it left a huge impression on me.

i thought this san franciscan family was a bit extreme in their approach
about technology, but i do understand their concerns.

technology is supposed to make our lives easier and connect us more,
but there is strong research that shows we are often less productive and less connected.
cell phones encourage us to check our email and texts more than we need to,
and distract us from the task we are doing and from the people we are with.

so after reading that article,
i thought why not do a little experiment and spend an entire day away from technology.
it's not possible during the week, but i certainly could try it on a weekend day.

i shared my idea with c and encouraged him to do it with me for an entire day.
he had no problem with it.  unlike me, he puts his phone away sometimes for the
entire weekend.  he also doesn't play video games, computer or console,
so that wasn't an issue. {we both agree we don't ever want them}.
we often watch movies on weekends so that would be the challenge.

i did get a little resistance from the little guys who were hoping to go on our
old phones to harvest their crops in their smurf game they play.

this past sunday, we completely UNPLUGGED for the day,
and spent the entire day working on the treehouse.
we decided it's home would be in the northeast
corner of the backyard in an old pine tree.  c had to cut out several branches
in order to make room for a platform.

while christopher sawed and hammered, the boys were his assistants and
gophers, bringing him tools and refreshments while i kept a clean jobsite.
i spent hours cutting smaller branches off of larger branches and putting them
into trash cans for hauling away.

the treehouse is far from being done...it needs a floor and walls,
but the framing is almost complete.  the boys are so excited!

i made a big dinner that evening because we all worked up a good appetite.
as i sat at the table looking at the boys i couldn't think of a better way we
could have spent the day.

we were all together,
working and focused on a fun project.
surprisingly, i didn't miss technology at all.

i took this photo from the our backyard slope which is behind the pool.
the tree doesn't look high from this vantage point, but from the ladder side,
it's a good 10' up. the rope ladder will probably go on the backside so it's
only a 4-5' climb up.

a view front the front

to me, the coolest thing about this treehouse
is it will have a dumbwaiter!! {was c's idea}

i told the boys i would send snacks and lunches up to them when
they are playing or camping out in it, and finn and scout said it could
also be used for secret notes and codes for fellow spy agents. of course!

~ as for the new {old} house, there are still a million projects to do,
but c is making this treehouse the priority for now so it's ready
by summer.

fashion friday: red carpet gowns

this was the first year in maybe forever that i sat and watched the ENTIRE oscar ceremony.

i felt horribly guilty sitting there for almost 4 hours but i told told myself i deserved a little downtime

and since my firstborn curled up beside me on the couch, i felt a little less guilty because we got some cuddle time.

here are some of the gorgeous gowns from the evening: 

the lovely naomi watts {the impossible}

anne hathaway, les miserables 

jessica chastain {zero dark thirty}

jennifer lawrence {silver linings playbook}

amanda seyfriend {les miserables}

my favorite hollywood couple, jen & ben

although my butt was numb for sitting so long,

it was thoroughly worth it!

mostly because i got to see hugh jackman perform suddenly

from les miserables, and the main cast members perform a song together.

i LOVED it!!  adele's performance, as always, was amazing too. 

scoutie was playing chess with c and jumped out of his chair and
came to the living room when he heard the les mis music.  
he's grown to enjoy the songs too since i play them so much.

i was thrilled anne hathaway took home an oscar for best supporting

actress in her role as fontine in les miserable, and we all enjoyed seeing
christopher plummer on stage. finn could hardly believe he was the
dark-haired captain von trapp from the sound of music,
{one of our family's favorite musicals}