super boys

at the art for from the heart event a month ago or so,
there were SUPER cute centerpieces in the middle
of each of the round tables.

and what were the SUPER centerpieces you might ask?

they were photos of the SUPER explorer elementary
children in superhero capes and masks.
{for parents, there's nothing cutter than our kiddos}

of course this was a fundraiser so the photos were
for sale and of course we bought these.

finn oliver {age 9} - faster than a speeding bullet

scout {age 5}- he said he had laser eyes

the entire event was themed around explorer's
SUPER kids and SUPER staff. there were life-sized
superheros to pose with, games, raffles and lots of food.
some of the adults even wore super hero costumes.
the event was tons of fun!
i'm anxious to hear how much the event raised.

my girlfriend jen is in the midst of planning a
superhero birthday party for her little guy and
she sent me a this photo a few weeks ago.
this will be the invite picture - SO cute!
{she is a talented photographer)

keith bennett

i hope you had a great weekend!  

c was in sacramento for an architecture thing
{he helps write exam questions for future CA architects}.

while daddy was away, the boys and i stayed busy with a 1st birthday party, 

a long bike ride, fort building, warrior training, and a camp out {in my bed}.  

always a treat for them...a tougher sleep for me.   

getting our groove on

i almost forgot to post how i celebrated my 40 something a few weeks ago!
we celebrated 'old school 80s' style by going rollerskating.
remember these?

you probably do if you were a pre-teen or teenager in the 80s.
if you were like me, you spent many weekends being dropped
off at your local skating rink and sporting these tan boots with
orange wheels. *grin*  they are STILL around.

ever since i went rollerskating with the lil guys a few months ago,
i told myself i'd grab a few girlfriends and do this for my birthday.
i feel pretty lucky to have such cool {and brave} friends who agreed.

to make the evening even more fun, a few of us, including me,
dressed in 80s clothes!  we spent the night skating {or falling},
eating greasy food, playing 80s trivia and catching up. christine took
home the prize for best costume and juliet and maia took the prize for
having the most 80s knowledge. these girls made me proud!

i brought my monster SLR camera along, but only took 2 pictures
and those were pretty blurry. {it was really dark in the rink}.
the girl behind the snack bar was kind enough to snap this one.

fun times and lots of memories.
{some of these ladies reminded me they celebrated with me at this
very rink about 7years ago}.

the girls

me and jen {lil sis}

a good day for lemonade

for the past two years,
finn has been asking to have a lemonade stand.
so when the boys mentioned it again last friday night,
i said "let's do it!"

scout, a self-proclaimed artist, made the sign out of 11"x17" paper
and i picked up 2 dozen of fresh baked chocolate chip cookies from
the bakery and store-bought country time lemonade.
{no time to make fresh squeezed, but maybe next time}

in two hours the boys raked in $41. wow!!
they benefited from an estate sale that was just around the corner.
without it, i'd doubt they'd make half that in our quiet neighborhood.

not only did the boys have the time of their lives,
they learned so much from the day - how to handle food
{never touch the rim cups or the cookies with your fingers or hands},
how to make change, and some basic customer services skills.

~ and the profits?  i told the boys they could have $5 to buy something
from the ice cream truck or whatever and finn said "no, we are going to put it
ALL in our piggy banks". scout followed with "we need to mom because college
is expensive". {they don't have to tell me that}. *grin*

chicago

come on babe,
why don't we paint the town,
and all that jazz...
- all that jazz, from the musical chicago

i can't get this song from chicago out of my head today.

my sis, jen took me to see the musical here yesterday for my birthday!!

it was so entertaining.

the venue, like ljph, was small so every seat was excellent.
not only was the venue wonderful, but the actors, choreography
and dancers were uber talented. watching them made me want to
start taking swing dance and jazz classes again. SERIOUSLY.

i'm pretty sure i was tapping my feet the entire production which
may have been annoying jen {but if so, she never let on} *grin*

and there's more.
a friend of jen's, that she has known since her high school,
was IN the production - SO cool. he played the character amos,
roxy hart's husband.

if you are familiar with even the movie, you might remember the
song cellaphane, a solo sung by amos.  that was jen's friend.
he rocked it!  {and we stuck around to tell him this after the show}.
it was FUN afternoon at the theater.
i'll remember it for years to come.  thx j. xo

~ we arrived back in san diego just as scoutie's soccer game started.
i had c filling in for me on the field {coaching}, since i didn't think i'd make it,
but since i was in white jeans, i sat back and watched my little lightning bugs play.
i got to see scout score 2 goals too and maybe his biggest grin ever.

heartbreak in boston

i was at work when i learned of the boston bombings,
and though i typically don't post about things in the news,
i just can't seem to get this tragic event out of my head.

maybe it's because i love to run,
and if i lived in boston, i might have been running this race.
or if not, it's very likely i'd be a spectator, standing near the finish
line cheering on the runners with the boys.

it could have been one of my children who was killed,
just like beautiful 8 year old boy, martin richard.

my heart goes out to this little boy's family and all
the victims of this horrible tragedy.

scout's first short story

my five year old is writing and illustrating his first book -
well it's actually a series of short {very short} adventure stories.
and i wanted to be sure to remember it since he's worked so
hard on it and is so proud of it.

here is one page from it.

can you read what he wrote about - Pirates!
i will interpret {i'm getting better with child #2}.
it reads: one day i went on a pirate ship. then i went overboard. 
the parrot picked me up and put me back on the ship.

i love his creativity.
i also was confused why this kid who can read 4th and 5th grade level
chapter books almost effortlessly, couldn't spell these simple words.
i spoke with his sweet teacher mis lim about it a few months ago,
and she said this was perfectly normal.  spelling comes 'after' reading.

i thought about it a bit more and it's so true.
i wonder why i didn't see it at first...maybe my expectations were too high?
i'm also not a teacher. {i don't work with children daily on reading and writing}
so as my kindergartner learns to write, his mother learned something too.

i hope you had a wonderful weekend.
as always, they go by too fast.
even taking friday off and having a 3-day weekend,
mine was too short...aren't they all!

i am looking forward to is a little playtime this week.
i'm having a little post birthday celebration here tonight
with a few girlfriends. i'm really looking forward to it!!

lovely lemonade cake

my birthday has come and gone already.
{gosh they really do seem to come faster the older i get}

i came across this lovely in an older issue of
bhg a few weeks ago and ripped out the recipe.

via

2 days before my birthday, i dug it out so i could make it.
{my opportunities for making a pink cake are rare}
i had no dreams of it looking like the picture above,

and good thing, because it didn't.

it was kind of of cute and it tasted good so that counts for somethin'.
since i didn't need a large cake, i made a petite cake using my 4" round pans.
with the leftover mix, i made a few 'girly' cupcakes as scout called them.

i was hoping to take my actual b-day off work, but a deadline came up.
i wasn't too thrilled about it, but the sweet cards the boys left out
on the kitchen counter before work made me smile.

when i arrived at work, i found all types of goodies on my desk from
my coworkers and my sister jen. the girls spoiled me with lots of sweets,
and bath stuff, and they always pick the BEST cards
{i LOVED the embellishments}

jen even baked cupcakes covered in sprinkles!!






by 4pm, i was almost in a sugar-induced coma,
so it was good c picked up thai food from my favorite
neighborhood restaurant that evening. i needed real food!

the boys and i had a small celebration at home,
which brought a few more surprises.
one being my favorite musical of all time.
i also received something that will get used all summer long
{thanks to the bennett family}

my birthday has mostly been a reminder for me to reflect.
and most importantly for me to remember how grateful i am.

and my birthday wish?  it's no secret this year.
i wish to celebrate many many more birthdays.

ready for routine

i can't believe the weekend is over!

it's back to school for the boys after being on spring break for the past 2 weeks.
they had a great time with c, but they are ready to go back.
even more, c and i are ready for them to go back.
our lives run much smoother when we have routine.

i had grand plans of taking a few days off from work to be with them,
but a deadline came up and i was only able to take off last friday. *sniff*

since i only had one day, i made it count.

while c interviewed for a potential job {fingers crossed},
the boys and i went on a 5 mile bike ride on mission bay,
saw the movie croods and then spent a few hours in barnes and nobles
so finn could use the giftcard he received for his birthday.
he ended up bringing this technology book home. {so finn!}

on saturday, we had a furry friend with us all afternoon.
charlotte let us have sophie for the afternoon {just so we could get our fix}
we all had fun with her.  she's so easy...if only all dogs were like her.

last, my breakfast bunch got together and this time all the boys
of the group were there {all meaning my 2 and shannon's little guy sid},
we will be celebrating his birthday in 2 weeks. 

scout (5), finn (9) and sidney (almost 1)

rocket boys

quentin: what do you want to know about rockets?

homer: everything!
- october sky

october sky is a movie that is treasured in our family! 

we've probably watched it 25x...maybe even more.

i don't know if i can think of a better movie for families that
is as real, engaging and inspirational. 

it in a nutshell, the rocket boys, inspired by their teacher and
lead by homer hickman {jake gyllenhal is phenomenal in this role} spend weeks 
building their rockets, scrounging material and testing their science by trial and error.  this part is probably my two little guys' favorite part

eventually, these friends successfully launch their own rocket which allows
them to compete in the school science fair. they win and they go on from there.

it's beautiful on so many levels, but i think the most endearing thing about it
to me is the relationship between the characters - the father and son, the
friendship between the boys, and the love and support homer gets from his teacher, miss riley.
  

i don't want to say more but this is a movie worth not only seeing,
but it's worth having it in your family.  it would also make a great gift too.

my three loved it so much, it inspired christopher to build a rocket launcher
a few years ago. they built the machine and made many soda pop rockets of
all sizes. i've probably posted about over the years, {but can't remember}.

anyway, they pull out the machine and their bin or rockets every few weeks.
two weeks ago, they pulled them out again for a playdate with daniel.
it was a hit! here are our rocket boys. 

~ i should note this movie is rated PG for mild language, 
mild violence and alcohol use. despite this, i think it's suitable 
for almost everyone in the family with some parental explanation. 

easter 2013: the beach

the day couldn't have been nicer.
it was sunny and in the high 70s and the beach was calling us.

we were desperate for the boys to burn off all the sugar they
had eaten, and i was craving sun on my skin and sand in my toes.

we spent all afternoon at law street here in pacific beach.
finn surfed the entire time...not coming out of the water once.
it took me a while but i finally caught him riding a wave, but I did.
he was SO happy and i was SO happy for him!
{this was my first time seeing him surfing}.

scoutie wasn't in as long because he got cold.
he can't quite paddle into waves yet {c pushes his board into them},
so his 'engine' isn't working quite as hard as finns which makes him
get cold faster.  to stay warm, he runs around chasing seagulls and
whatever else he can do to entertain himself.
{i was kickin' myself for not bringing one of his magic treehouse books}

scout isn't a fan of having his photo taken so when i get lucky and can
sneak a photo of him, candid and uninhibited, it's a wonderful thing!
only then can i capture him in all his carefree cuteness.
{i snapped this when he was chasing a bird that had landed behind me}

when i wasn't standing in 65 degree water cheering on my little surfer boys,
i was sitting on a towel in the sand soaking up the sunshine. this was my view.
it was truly a little piece of heaven.

since we don't belong to a church,
i thought it was important to take a few minutes later in the afternoon
to explain to the boys why easter sunday is such a special holiday in the christian faith.
i did this as simply as i could - starting with good friday {jesus' crucifixion} and
moved to easter sunday {jesus' resurrection}.

i didn't go into much detail, but finn sat and listened intently.
when i was done he said "that's a pretty interesting story" and left it at that.
i did too. the goal was for him to get a basic understanding of easter,
and that it symbolizes much more than easter baskets and egg hunting.

mission accomplished.

easter 2013: the hunt

i hope you and yours had a wonderful easter!

i was up before the crack of dawn doing what moms do
to make their children's holidays special. the boys were up
at the crack of dawn {literally} ready to hunt eggs.

you'd have thought it was christmas seeing how excited they were.

i made sure christopher was halfway awake before i
let the boys loose, but not before grabbing my camera.

i had two 'empty' baskets standing by for the boys to use for their hunt.
this year i took video with my phone and only snapped one photo
of the indoor hunt. the easter bunny hid creatively this year,
almost too well {one egg is unaccounted for}

later that morning, auntie jen came over and surprised us with some
goodies and super sweet cards. she helped scoutie plant some herbs in
the little clay pot he received from the easter bunny.
{he loves to grow things}

a few hours later, we headed to the hilton mission bay for an outdoor hunt

  

 

scoutie loved the fact that he was bigger this year and really
able to get to get to the eggs faster than years before.
he assured me that if toddlers or preschoolers were going after
the same egg, he would "let them get it because they were little".

so this was our easter morning.
all this fun took place before 11am,
the rest of the day was spent at the beach.
{tomorrow's post}