back to school: 2014

it's that time again and the gerber household is all smiles
because the boys are Back In School! 

though they had a full and fabulously fun summer,
they were ready to go back to school. 
we were ready for them to go back too.

we officially have a 2nd and 5th grader in the house!

i wasn't able to take the boys to school the first day,
but i was able to snap a photo before they jumped into c's car.

though scout would have preferred to be wearing camo
to match his new camo lunchbox, he understood that mom
preferred he wear a collared shirt for the first day of school since
first days are a little more special than the other school days.

finn announced that 5th graders basically 'rule the school'
and i laughed out loud.  i think in some ways they kinda do.
they are definitely the big kids now.

here's to a great school year!

~ i was able to take the boys to school this morning which was really nice!
as i walked by the cute kindergarteners classrooms, i thought of all the sweet kiddos
we know that are starting school this year - my nephew ander, niece chloe, spencer's
sister phoebe and my dear friend's connie's daughter, paige. whew! 
it's such an exciting time for them and their families.
{i thought, don't blink parents, they'll be 5th graders tomorrow}

best buddies

scout's and his best buddy spencer, finally got the play date
they have been wanting since school ended last year.

these two little guys met last year and they became fast friends.
scout talked about spencer all the time. through all his sharing,
we quickly learned these two share so much in common....a passion
for reading, soccer and the piano.

spencer's family have been in europe for the past 7 weeks and scout
has missed him terribly!  the boys emailed each other weekly and have
been anxious to get together. finally, just one day before the school starts
up, we did it. {we learned last week the boys will be in the same class too}.

spencer is part of the family that did the home swap.
a family from spain enjoyed their home in san diego and
their family enjoyed their home in spain {even their car}.
the remainder of their trip was spent in france.

they did what most families only dream of doing.
they saved and planned and turned their dream into a reality!
i should note spencer's parents are fortunate to have jobs that allow this
type of adventure. his father owns his own business and his mom is a middle
school teacher with summer's off. it was perfect.

oh i almost forgot. in the top left photo above, scout is holding a glass dolphin
he received as a belated b-day gift from spencer.  spencer shared he "bought it
with his own money in murano, italy".  he knows the dolphin is one of scout's
favorite animals and was all smiles as he gave a gift he knew his little buddy
would love. the glass dolphin now sits on scout's desk in his bedroom.

~ the boys are back in school tomorrow - yay!!  we are all so ready.
they've got their clothes set out and I've got their new lunch boxes packed.
scout had his camo shorts and tee set out to wear, and quickly agreed to
my 'suggested outfit'.  he simply said "ok. i'll wear it another day this week"

at least he's wearing underwear now.

jackson: having fun turning one

the boys and i are home after a most wonderful vacation.
northern california's landscape was everything i had hoped it would be,
and it was a treat to see my sister and meet my new niece.
{our time together was not nearly long enough}

until i get through the photos, i thought i would post this
sweet photo of jackson enjoying his first taste of sugar.
he made a huge mess...which made for adorable photos.

we had such a fun day celebrating.

~ i have a confession to make regarding this little boy.
when i first held him as a newborn, i literally felt like
i had travelled back in time to 2004 when finn was a newborn.
those memories and emotions flooded me as i sat there holding him.
i shared this with c and he looked very concerned and said "ang,
we talked about this. you can watch him anytime".

i chuckled at him because it wasn't my intention at all to convince him
to expand our family...we decided years back we would be a family of four
{with a possible furry addition someday}. i was simply sharing how surreal
it was holding jackson. i have held lots of babies since my boys were born,
but i've never once experienced strong feelings like i do with him..

i thought about it later and decided it is has to be jackson's resemblance to
finn at that age - the fair skin, blue eyes, the teeny bit of blonde hair, and his petite
frame that brought that surge of emotions on. even now, a year later, every time i
hold him, i still get that nostalgic feeling and smile.

meeting my niece aria

as the boys road tripped up the coast to meet me in berkeley,
i flew to oakland to meet up with my sis leslie, and my new niece aria.
oh what a treat it was!

she's so sweet so happy.
her bright smile literally lights up the room!

here she is:

 





 

 

her big gummy grin makes me smile every time.

~ i had big plans for doing a photoshoot of this sweet baby girl,
but the timing didn't work well.  *sniff*
 

i plan on trying again this winter when she visits at Christmas! .
my guess is she might even have a few teeth by then. i can hardly wait. 

until then, i'll be thinking of this sweet baby girl and her big gummy grin.  

 





crazy for camping

the boys are on the road already and are so excited that
that phrase "bouncing off the walls" seems perfect to describe
them over the last few days.

they've been 'preparing' themselves all week for their camping trip.
with a little help from dad, they set up a pop-up tent in the backyard,
pulled cushions off the outdoor couch for some cushion, and have been
sleeping in it the past 5 nights. they are ready!

i snapped this photo one night without the boys knowing. 
they were quietly reading by the light from their headlamp.

childhood and tent camping....the two just seem to go hand in hand.



















~ it's only been 24 hours, but i miss the boys already.
i will be seeing them very soon, but first, sista time with leslie and i finally
get to meet my new niece aria. i can hardly wait to love on this baby girl!!

afterwards, i'll rendezvous with my 3 and CAMP! 
{with no toddler in my tent and an pillowtop air mattresses, i am pretty
sure this camping trip will be better that the last one}

a boy with a book

when the boys were younger,
they wouldn't mind running errands with me.
i dragged them everywhere - the grocery store,
target, michaels, the dry cleaners, post office, etc.

as they grew, they started detesting shopping...of any kind.
{the toy store barely interests them} *sigh*
they want to be outdoors playing or building...anything
but shopping.  they are typical boys. 

now i try to run my errands during my lunch hour or in the
evenings after they go to bed, or even at 6am before they wake up
so i can maximize my time with them.

still on occasion, i'll need to pick up something when they are with me.
i promise to be 'quick' and scout will roll his eyes, say ok, and grab a
book and jump into the cart.

he doesn't mind it at all that he's not a toddler or preschooler. 
he tells me he "prefers it because he can focus and not worry about losing me."
{or me losing him}.  it's happened.  he had his head in a book while trailing
behind me and he went straight while i turned.

at age 7, he can still {just barely}squeeze into the toddler seat in the
front of the cart too but he prefers the larger, more roomier compartment. 



scout, age 7

so what's on scout's reading list this summer?

the lemony snicket series is at the very top of his list.
he's currently on book 8 of 13 and asked us to take him to the
library before he gets on the road so he can get books 9-13.
he plans on doing "lots of reading in the car".
{of course i thought}

 

 

let their be light

just when our home was starting to get comfortable for me,
we are back to a construction site...it's not like when we first moved in,
but it's raw once again.  this is currently our living room:  

we now have plywood up where we used to have drywall. 
a huge beam had to be installed to hold the roof/home as we
installed two 10' sliding doors.     







 

though christopher warned me that it will look worse before it looks better,
i still got a little anxiety when i came home to find the entire back half of our home missing!
though i've worked for architects and engineers most of my adult life, i'm not on jobsites much
so it's not an every day thing for me.
 

c assures me the worst is over. the thin layer of dust that was covering everything is gone,
and the stucco guys will be back to finish the texture coat around every exterior window and
these doors this week. the interior work will start on friday and go through next week. 
 

despite all the dust, noise and inconvenience from this construction work,
these new doors bring in even more light which we truly love. they also allow people to flow
more easily between indoors and outdoors and that's key since we live outdoors most of the year.
my hope is when we come back from our ca roadtrip next weekend, our living room won't look
like a construction site anymore.

~ we attended sweet baby jackson's first birthday/house warming party yesterday.

the 'mostly adult' party was tons of fun and before the party started, jackson's dad gave us
all a tour of their 'construction site'.

as i walked through their home, i kept thinking they have hundreds more projects than
the gerber family.  it gave me a different perspective. our mid century home requires lots
of work, but a 1920s home requires much more {all new electrical, hvac, etc}.
it's a lot for anyone, much less parents who both have full time jobs, a dog and a one year old.

whew - I get dizzy just thinking about it. 

 

my maya

while uncle trevor was swimming at the la jolla cove
{he's in training for a half marathon here san diego next spring},
my sweet niece maya and i pranced around paradise point hotel.
she was my model for an hour as i played photographer.

as parents had warned me, the thousands of photos that we take
of our children when they are small wanes.  the novelty simply
wears off and their milestones decrease, and most often with boys,
they start to moan and run when you get near them with the camera. 

it was a real treat to be with maya because she enjoys it.
she is a trooper when i ask her to stand here, there, turn, walk,
look into the camera, away from the camera, do a 3/4 turn, smile, etc.
she did it all with a smile and even a skip in her step.

she even suggested a patterned umbrella for a fun prop.
{afterwards, we visited a neighborhood coffee shop to view
look through the photos and have a healthy treat.
here's my maya girl.

miss maya gerber, age 10

~ i've had these photos since last week, but wanted to be sure maya
received the cd with the images before i posted.  we've already planned
our next shoot - in minnesota this october when we are there for a family
wedding. yay!

SUMMER - it's passing so fast and all the emails from explorer about
hot lunch, special programs, after care, etc. are flooding my inbox and
reminding me summer is almost over. *sigh* 

i've squeezed in some fun, but the boys are having the most fun. 
they alternate between playdates/surfing with dad and summer camps.
{no need to hire a this summer with the flexibility c has in his job}.

c has the phone numbers of all of the boys' friend's parents in his cell
{and they his}, for all the beach dates and playdate planning.
just don't ask them how many times they eat at taco surf a week.
if you do, just don't tell me their response. =/
cooking is not something he likes to do....ever.