Springtime in San Diego

We are on Spring Break this week! Which means my boys are doing a lot of reading and playing Legos and not getting dressed until after lunch. Today, however,  they are over at a neighbor's house for a few hours playing "Fun Land". The boys' friends created a theme park in their back yard and made little tickets to pass out to the neighbor kids. Apparently there will be games, prizes and rides! Sounds like fun, all created and maintained by kids under 10.  I'm insanely curious to see what they're doing, but at the same time I'm really enjoying the quiet time around the house. So, here's a blog post to fill the empty time while the kids are doing kid things!

Owen ran a 2 mile Run/Walk race over St. Patrick's Day weekend. I cajoled Paul to go with him. Actually, I just signed Paul up and told him he was running with Owen ;).  They had fun! Elliot and I followed them to the finish line, so by the end the whole family had participated. It was a gorgeous Spring morning in San Diego with the kind of gloomy overcast grey sky that blossoms to a sunny and cool afternoon. Perfect for a family outing down at the Bay...

Before the race

Elliot's race consisted of a lot of chasing of ducks and climbing of trees.

Everybody gets a medal!

Palm Springs Weekend

Back in February (yes, I'm still a month behind on my updates...) we spent a lovely President's Day weekend visiting with friends in Palm Springs. We stayed in a fancy-ish hotel and swam in the pool a lot which is pretty much all the boys needed to make it the most awesome weekend ever in their minds. To top it all off, though, we went and explored Joshua Tree National Park and then Palm Canyon. All my years living in Southern California and I'd never been there! All I can say is: Wow.

What a gorgeous place.

View over the Coachella Valley

Palm Canyon

Finding the springs

Elliot finds the perfect seat.

What happened in February?

Well, a lot happened in February! I don't know what it is but I know a lot of Aquarians in my inner circle of friends and family. The month starts with Paul's birthday on the 1st and then right into Elliot's birthday 10 days later. And in there are also birthdays for my Mom, Paul's Dad, friends... you can imagine that February flies by in a birthday daze!

Since, thankfully, the calendar continues to flip over to February every year, we did manage to celebrate another slew of birthdays last month. Have you heard the news? Elliot is 6!!!!!!!!

Before I tell you about the party, I will say that Owen and Elliot don't watch "TV" but I do let them stream movies and TV shows on Netflix if the need or the desire is great. So, in fact they do watch TV shows, but without commercial interruptions and at my approval. For the last while they have been engrossed in Mythbusters and Man Vs. Wild. Both shows that I feel are educational and entirely entertaining! Elliot loves Bear Grylls (the host of Man Vs. Wild) and fancies himself an adventurer, so we decided to throw him a party that reflected his love.

We invited his friends to our local park and spent the afternoon pretending to be in the deep wilderness. I had planned all these activities to keep the kids busy, but in the end the boys and girls ran around like maniacs foraging in the dirt, playing in the creek bed, climbing trees and having fun. Pretty much the perfect birthday for my 6 year old adventure boy. Every day is an adventure to him because he is so enthusiastic and energetic about everything!

Inside the Tree Fort

Roaming the "Forest"

Throwing Rocks in the "River"

Edible "Bug" Cake

And now he's 6. No longer a little baby or even a little boy, anxious to be a young man like his big brother but not afraid to throw his arms around me and say "I LOVE YOU, MOMMY!" with the most earnest and whole body commitment you can imagine. This kid has a lot to teach me about embracing life's excitement and remembering to PLAY! ( When I describe Elliot I find myself using a lot of capital letters and exclamation points, as you can see....).

We love him so much. Happy 6th Birthday, Elliot!

 

Timeline Family Tree

We've been working on this for Owen's 4th grade class for the past week. Thanks to all the family members who answered questions and assisted Owen with the research! It's very impressive and I look forward to getting it back from the teacher and laminating it for a more permanent display.

2013

Hello strangers.

I made a conscious decision to step away from the computer a little more over the last few months. What a feeling! I've read more books in the last 4 months than in the last 4 years, I think! I've been able to bake more, spend more time with the kids and Paul and shorten my "To Do" list measurably. I still feel overwhelmed sometimes by all the things that I feel must be accomplished each day, but by factoring in quality "Me" time (although I really dislike the greediness and selfishness of that phrase) I do feel more content with where I am in my family and home and work life here in the beginning of 2013.

I'm not really a resolution maker when it comes to the New Year, but I always find time to clarify my intentions. This year looks like this:

2013 Intentions
1. Read.
2. Get outside.
3. Nourish existing friendships by scheduling social time.
4. Invite friends over for dinner.

So far this has been very satisfying. It seems odd to have to write on a list "Schedule time with friends" but those of you with young kids know that you have to schedule it or it somehow NEVER happens. Right?

Of course, the down side is I have done no blog posting since November of last year and of course there is much to tell about  Life with Owen and Elliot.

Here's hoping the new balance I'm striving for in my home and work life can include some photos and anecdotes about our busy days.

Thank you all for sticking with me!

-Lisel

Post-Thanksgiving

 

We had such a lovely Thanksgiving feast ( which we managed to take no pictures of, unfortunately).

 

There was feasting and conversing and visiting and more feasting. The next day we decided to go for a hike to work off some turkey, and managed to pick the spot everyone else in San Diego decided to work off their turkey in as well. It was so crowded! We managed to shoo people out of the way to snap this family picture before giving up and hiking back down the mountain. On the one hand, I was heartened to see that many people deliberately not participating in the dreaded mall-crush of Black Friday. But I longed for(still long for) a secluded stroll in forest pines. And yes, I realize how lucky we are to be in 70 degree sunny weather the day after Thanksgiving!

 

 

At any rate, later that weekend we also snapped these pictures. Although they are rejects from the annual impromptu amateur Christmas card photo shoot we do every year, I like them enough to share them all with you. 

And now we head into December. I love this time of year as we all circle around our loved ones and mindfully reflect on gratitude and family and the passing of seasons.

Halloween!

Well, last chance to post Halloween pictures before Thanksgiving is upon us, that is.... Better late than never!

One of my favorite things about this Halloween was the casual, creative nature of it. Both Owen and Elliot had clear ideas of who they wanted to be for the big night and we collected, crafted and created the most slipshod, ragged, imperfect costumes one can imagine. To them, though, it was perfection. Everyone was thrilled with the outcome.


Jamie Hyneman ( one of the Mythbusters)



Poseidon in his throne

We attended a pre-Halloween party the weekend before at our neighbors house -- where Owen dunked himself in the apple bobbing bucket....

Because it wasn't on THE NIGHT, there was ample opportunity to get pictures. Good thing I did, because the night of trick or treating was a mad-cap dash from house to house. Who has time for stopping to get pictures when there is candy to be collected! We roved the neighborhood with a band of friends, parents strolling casually behind while the kids ran pell-mell from house to house. It was so nice just strolling and chatting with all our good neighbors. Halloween is always such a fun, friendly night. 
 
On THE NIGHT, the costume was forgotten (itchy wig, sheet toga trailing in the wind), so most people saw this when they answered the door:

 In Elliot's eyes, though, he was the most amazing Poseidon the world has ever seen.

Owen and Elliot

Did I tell you that Owen ran for student council at school?

There were other posters (and candidates) with more flash and color -- posters with ribbons and gewgaws and glitter -- but the time and care Owen took with his simple pencil design perfectly captures who Owen is. He carefully labored over the lettering with measuring implements, and then designed a beautiful camera/film strip "frame" for his photo. And then created his own font for the office he was hoping to win. Historian. I love his precise, creative lettering! Then he wrote a speech that he delivered in front of the school with panache ( and a little comedy routine). I was so proud of his hard work and his dedication! He didn't win the office, but he won the admiration and appreciation of many with his efforts. Next year, perhaps?

Meanwhile, Elliot has been really enjoying Kindergarten.... he's made explosive and exponential jumps in his reading and writing. And, as always, he's been finding joy and delight in EVERYTHING. How can you resist smiling at this energy?

Everyone is healthy and happy here! We are looking forward to our Thanksgiving celebrations with more excitement than usual since Paul installed our lovely new gas fireplace.

The weather's getting cooler (even in San Diego!) and evenings like this are becoming more and more frequent:

Happy November everyone!