super sunday

the boys and i spent this past sunday evening with our friend paul, his 135 lb.
great dane 'gigi', and the hoskins family.
aleyda and aaron have a son, daniel, so it was perfect setup for our us.
the boys played and ran around for hours outside wearing gigi and themselves out.
the adults had a chance to just enjoy the evening catching up.

and the food, OMG. it was fab!
paul provided some appetizers, marinated tri tip and fresh corn on the cob,
aleyda made homemade mac and cheese, and we brought a boston creme pie (c's favorite).

it wasn't homemade, but it was baked fresh from our neighborhood von's.
i considered trying to bake, but since i've never made one, i didn't want to risk it.
(i want to be invited back to paul's place again}.

i must remember to tell my brother and sister-in-law about the meat.
it came from cardiff seaside market and it's supposed to be one of the best
 places to purchase meat in san diego.

you see, my bro and s-i-l recently moved here from minnesota and apparently
are having the darndest time finding good meat (unlike they did in mn).
shelly said the reason there are so many vegetarians in cali is the meat here is tasteless. *laugh*
this could be true for all i know.

c and i would be the last people to give advice on meat. we eat some, but could live without it.
paul and aledya however, are true carnivores and can vouch for good meat.
this was good stuff even to their pickiest of pallettes,
so shell, if you are reading, check out this market and let me know what you think.

hopefully you'll agree there's more than just good vegetables and weather in southern california. *wink*

one of my favorite things to touch

i've been playing the piano a bit more over the past month and i'm enjoying it -
i'd almost forgotten how much i love to play. it takes my mind completely off
of everything and i just get absorbed into the music.
it's almost as if i'm in my own private world.

i've decided that as soon as i get my credit card paid off (very soon),
i'm going to start taking piano lessons again.
i'm not sure what studio or for how long, but i'm going to give it a go.
i've thought about it for years and i've put it off long enough.
i fear i am going to lose everything i've learned and i don't want that to happen.
my hope is an instructor can at least help me get to the level i used to be?

in the meantime, i've picked up sheet music for the song tennessee from the movie pearl harbor.
it's a beautiful song and i'm a long way from playing it well, but i'm working on it.
maybe this will be my first piece i can have my piano teacher work with me on?
the song is from my favorite composer, hans zimmer.

i could listen to it all day long....

helicopter parenting

have you heard of the term?
it's seems to be getting alot of press lately.
overparenting is a term that has gotten alot of press over the past few years.
it has other names - helicopter parenting, smothering mothering, alpha parenting,etc.

no matter what it's called,
it's got researchers, educators and psychologists concerned about our kids.

my first thought was,
do i fall into this category?
i know parent who do, but i don't think c and could be classified this way.

i didn't even buy one of those cover for the grocery cart to protect the boys from germs
when they were babies (a wipe was enough for me and sometimes i didn't even do that). 

so why is helicopter parenting so bad for our kids?
it sends a message that they are incapable of success on their own.

so i'm making a point to let the boys have even longer leashes these days.
and to let them fall and fail more.  as painful as it might be, they'll be better off for it.

if you want to hear more, check out this article from the newyorker.

celebrating life

the more you praise and celebrate life, the more there is in life to celebrate.
- oprah winfrey


 



today is a very special day.

i am celebrating the lives of three wonderful people who were born on july 10th.
they are: my mom - dottie, my sister - valerie, and my hubby- christopher. i
t's a day i could never forget.

i always thought it was really cool that my mom's first child (valerie) was born on her birthday.
what a beautiful gift to her that year. how could that ever be topped?

i wish i could be with the girls to give them both BIG hugs. s
ince i can't, i will share with them a few reasons why they are so special.

mom - endless amounts of patience puts her right up there with mother teresa.
truly she is a a gift from heaven and i'm have been lucky to call her mom and to have her in my life.
i hope all the kindness she shows to others comes back to her 100 times.

valerie - kind and selfless are the two words that come to mind when i think of her.
i can't remember a time when she wasn't good to me - from the days we were kids and sharing a
bedroom to my teenage years when she allowed me to live in her home (even when she was a 1st time mom. now we are adults and she continues to love me and my boys from afar. i couldn't ask for a sweeter sister.

christopher - my confidant, my partner, my lover, the father to my children and my best friend.
what can i say, i am a lucky i get to share my life with him. today he will get his birthday wish - a sunset surf session with his wife! YES i will brave the cold california water for my love. maybe we'll even catch a wave together like we used to do. *wink*

 happy birthday to you all, and here's to many many more....

our house rules

if we truly love our children, we'll develop our courage to discipline them.
without discipline they are like monkeys, at the best like savages.
-unknown


 

every parent wants good children.
children that are respectful, patient, kind, gracious, use please and thank you, etc.

c and i are not exceptions.
we figured the earlier we start the better.

we started disciplining with simple timeouts,
(1 minute for each year) when finn was a toddler.
discipling him was easy then and distraction worked wonders.

as he grew, he began challenging us in ways he hadn't before.
we've had to modify our disciplining techniques and i'm sure we
will be doing this again and again as he grows until he goes off to college.

c is a fan of the television show supernanny.
he doesn't watch it every night but if he's not watching a tennis match or something on KPBS,
he will often tune in.

he thinks jo frost (the nanny) is amazing, and since he's a big believer in routine and discipline,
he suggested we adopt ''house rules' because the supernanny advises this of all the parents she visits.
finn is a big rule follower and at the perfect age for this. he's still receptive and eager to please us most of the time. 

last month, we sat down together at the kitchen table as a family and wrote our house rules.
christopher cut out a simple house from construction paper and these are what we came up:

1. listen and do as your told

2. no hurting one another

3. no whining

4. be kind with your words

5. use please and thank you

finn and scout are still young so we figured five rules were plenty for now.
it's only been a little over a month now, but these rules are helping!

welcome chloe

another gerber baby was born today. my sister-in-law anissa and her husband chad welcomed chloe madison to the world at 2:58am this morning. she was 6 lbs, 10 ounces and 19.25". mom is tired but she is doing well.

we can't wait to meet this sweet little girl. congratulations!!

i ate a bug

EWWWW!!
yes, it happened.
i was running on the boardwalk tonight at sunset and as i ran by a lighted area,
i was breathing heavy as i was at the end of my run.

i felt a tickle in my throat and saw a few moth-like little bugs flying around and i knew what happened! *ugh*. i tried to cough it up but it was too late. there was nothing i could do.
(c teased me saying that's my protein boost for the day)

this isn't the first time i accidentally ate a bug.
during our college days in tucson, we owned a little scooter and during the summer months,
we never wore helmets (not safe i know but it was so darn hot there). i remember riding it home from spanish class one day and a similar incident occured.

that's two bugs now - i hope i've reached my lifetime quota!!

two today

today is scoutie's 2nd birthday!!

it's hard to believe my little blue-eyed, olive-skinned, chubby cheeked boy is two already.
it doesn't seem possible, but it's true.
i'm embarrassed to say, i FORGOT his birthday this morning.

you see, he and i are usually the first ones to wake everyday,
and this morning was no different.
we spent a little time together as i got ready for work,
he played in his room and had a string cheese snack.

i said goodbye and planted a kiss on his cheek and he said "bye mom",
blew me a kiss and went back to reading his books.
this has been our morning routine for awhile now.
no tears, no drama.

around 8am i saw in my calendar that TODAY was july 6th, my baby's birthday!

i called home to tell christopher what i had done.
he reassured me saying don't worry about it,
it's not like he will ever remember.
this is true and i instantly reminded myself to stop being so ridiculous.

with company in town all weekend, and a busy work week ahead, i simply forgot.
it happens sometimes.  because we aren't celebrating his birthday for another 2 weeks,
it just wasn't on my radar screen.

i came home this afternoon to scout greeting me at the door.
he said "hello mom" and him giving me a big hug and kiss.
it was almost as if he was telling me not to worry about this morning,
that the morning hug and kiss i gave him was all he needed - then and now.

i scooped him up, planted 20 kisses all over his little face and
sang happy birthday to my little toddler.

here's a short video i took tonight.

 

 

i'll be sure to post pictures of the actual celebration that is just around the corner.

it will be a traditional backyard party, but having auntie leslie and her boys with us
will be anything but typical. this will be our first time meeting scout's newest cousin 'ander'.
we are very excited and are counting down the days!

fun on the 4th

i love holidays and to me, the fanfare isn't really important, it's simply about family - spending quality time with my loved ones. fortunately, this 4th, the boys and i were able to enjoy lots of family time. now, i'm sitting and wishing it wasn't over already. trevor, shannon and the kids drove from utah and we can't thank them for making that trek. we've driven it a few times and we know it's NOT easy, so thank you from the bottom of our hearts. with the utah gerbs in town, and with jay and his family now living in san diego, the weekend was full of family and fun activities. this included a neighborhood parade (non-motorized), lots of tennis between the brothers, a few good runs for shannon and i, a beach/surf day, pool day, time with cousin 'maddy' and auntie jen, bocce ball and badminton, a little baking by the kids, a backyard bbq and a competitive game of pictionary. i look forward to next year's 4th and hopefully being able to share with extended family. who knows, maybe we'll even see the fireworks if the kids can make it that late! *wink*

more bed talk

several have asked about the bunkbed search for the boys so i thought i'd share an update.

after surfing the web for a week, christopher decided that since the beds he loves are too expensive.
to get something remotely cool, he would just make a bed for the boys.
i wasn't surprised in the least. that's my man.

one evening after work he sketched up a few simple designs using inexpensive and various pieces.
he showed to me for approval and i said 'go for it' just don't let it take more than 2 weekends.
he started last weekend and is making great progress.
finn has been right by his side to help in whatever way he can.

instead of pushing him away, c encourages him to be right there.
he engages him so it's not only educational, but fun too.

finn gets such a sense of accomplishment when he helps his dad.
scoutie is always close by wanting too, wanting to do what big brother is doing.

my boys are quite the threesome these days.
someday the tables will be turned and the boys will be the ones helping us out in our old age. 
teach him well christopher, teach him well. *wink*

here's a short video of finn explaining how he's helping dad build this bunkbed.