Life is not an emergency

I read that quote yesterday on some blog post somewhere and it was like an anvil hitting me on the head. My normal pace is to rush, rush, rush all the time and although that makes me feel like I'm getting a lot done, it also makes me feel, well, rushed.

Life is not an emergency.

I'm going to adopt this is as my mantra over the next few months.

I will remind myself of this more than once over the coming holiday season, I'm sure. And I'll just have to stop and remember how many pictures I've taken over the years of Owen and Elliot climbing trees at that beautiful, exploring, non-emergency pace of childhood.

Maybe I will climb a tree today.

Halloween Pictures

We had a lovely Halloween trick or treating in the old/new neighborhood. Did I mention that we moved to a house around the corner? We still get all the wonderful neighborhood pluses of great neighbors and a really welcoming area, but now we have more than one bathroom! (Along with a lot of other nice pluses that come with a bigger house, like a dining room.....)

After much deliberation ( literally changing his mind several times a DAY leading up to Halloween) I force Elliot to finally decide what his costume would be. Master Yoda is the result. I hand drew the mask and glued it to cardboard and then taped it onto some kid's sunglasses without the lenses in, so he could see through it. Very low budget and kind of cool. Also, that cloak I whipped up on my sewing machine in about 10 minutes. We are not talking quality here, but luckily when you are 4 years old quality comes pretty low on the totem pole of must have items.

Then, we had Captain Hook. Owen has been reading the Peter and the Starcatchers series (it's a prequel/backstory to Peter Pan) and he loves the adventures. Also, Paul has loved reading them at night to the boys because they are written with lots of fun characters and adventures, and believe me Paul really gets into the voices of these pirates. Really awesome serial reading. And fun to listen to as I'm washing dishes or cleaning up from dinner...

Regarding this costume, though, this is probably the most angelic and sweet faced Captain Hook ever. We took so long deciding on Elliot's costume that a few days before Halloween I realized I didn't have anything for Owen except a borrowed hat from a costume designer friend of ours. Luckily, off the rack this costume came complete with hook and leggings that look like boots -- and voila! everyone was satisified.

A little before shot at our new front door.

And, the requisite pumpkin carving party a few nights earlier.....

I hope your Halloween was fun too!

Anyone still there?

Well, I could go on and on about how busy I've been over the last 2 months, but probably everyone noticed that because there has been absolutely no blog activity on my part here. But, boy, do I have a lot to share with you. School, work, home, life. Everything is busy and fun and good, but sitting in front of the computer has not been a priority for me lately. Sorry about that.

Is anyone still out there waiting for updates? I promise to spend a little time here over the next week so you all can see the fun Halloween we had and hear some Getz family anecdotes.... Just bear with me while I find the time...

Back to School

Is summer really over? Wow. We tried to cram all the fun summer things we could do into that last week of August. Beach, bowling, DIY (Do-It-Yourself) Projects for the house, puzzles and games.

My camera wasn't always on hand this summer, but I did manage to get a few pictures of our family bowling day:

And yet, time kept on ticking and today rolled around at last: First day of School!

Here's Owen at his new school:

And here's Elliot at his new school:

I have no pictures of my first day of school, but let me tell you that a long walk on the bay in the drizzling rain while listening to MY music on my Ipod and then returning home to a quiet house for uninterrupted work and chore time and shower time until lunch was quite possibly the most enjoyable morning I've had in, oh, about 8 years. So that's what a quiet house sounds like!

Elliot is going to a Montessori school for 1/2 day preschool, so I pick him up a little after noon. But seriously, after 8 years of being home with the boys and only having random babysitters and occasional mornings off, this 3 + hours a day to myself is going to take some getting used to!

Home.

We are in our new home. The home where hope to grow and live and love and learn for the rest of our lives.

Every day we make it more our own. We empty a few more boxes, slather more paint over the patches, we hang a few more pictures and drill a few more holes for drapery rods.

Somehow, when we first saw the vacant house that fateful day a little more than a month ago, we knew that it was our new home. We walked in and felt a lifetime of growing boys could happen here. A lifetime of watching sunsets over the ocean. A lifetime of twinkling harbor lights in the evening and sunny afternoons on the patio. A lifetime of nectarines, peaches and plums from our mini-orchard in the backyard. A lifetime of laundry, pancake breakfasts, piano practicing, and family meals. And a lifetime of growing older and enjoying each moment as it happens.

We have such commitment and love for this home already and we've only been here 10 days...

Here's to 10,000 more.

Cousin Camp

This has been the busiest summer on record. Swim lessons, cousin camp, piano lessons, museum trips, travel, reading contests and so much more. Oh, and by the way, we are in escrow on a new house and could possibly be moving in the next two weeks. SURPRISE! More on that later, I promise.

Anyway, the rest of the summer looks like it will be even busier than the first part, so I figured I'd better get some photos up here. I'll start with what my Dad affectionately termed "Cousin Camp". Thanks Dzia Dzia for the name! I didn't actually sign Owen and Elliot up for any summer camps thinking that real life would be just as instructional. Which is true, of course. Although I do regret not having ANY time to myself to think. But, it's summer -- who need to think, right? But I digress. The first non-camp we had was definitely a Cousin Camp, where we spent quality time getting to know our cousins.

First, Evan and Bethany were here for a nice long visit and Owen and Elliot got to join the sweet girls Clara and Jane in some happy play dates:

Then, I took my boys up to meet their newest little cousin Aidan. We spent a nice long weekend up in remote Washington hanging out with this bundle of energy:

As camps go, these were truly terrific. I declare Cousin Camp success!

Eight Years.

A certain somebody turned 8 years old yesterday. Unbelievable.

Really unbelievable. Sometimes I look at Owen and still see the little baby who I held and rocked to sleep for the first few years of his life.... Sometimes I look at him and see the jawline and the posture of the man he will become. Always, always I see this: a thoughtful, smart, sweet, eager, earnest and energetic boy who is just as content sprawled reading a book all day ( like today) or splashing wildly around in the pool, or playing tag with the neighborhood friends, or cracking puns and silly jokes that only another 8-year old would really laugh at. I'm so proud of him and I'm full of hope and anticipation for all the exciting things in store for him in the coming years...

Happy birthday, Owen!

Painful and new

I've been a lazy and belated blog poster these days, so I was just going to bullet point the exciting changes going on over here, and then the metaphor I was inarticulately imagining became a REAL thing literally right on my front step...

Those of you who have been to my house know there are steps leading up to a little walkway in front of my door. Well, we have been keeping an eye on some cocoons we saw dangling from the top step. The other day we saw the new butterflies sunning themselves as their wings dried... the old chrysalis was already dried up like paper and the bright red blood from the birth was drying in a pool under the new lives. Vivid, violent and very potent.

What the caterpillar calls the end, the rest of the world calls a butterfly (a paraphrase of something attributed to Lao Tzu).

We've been wrapped in a cocoon ourselves here recently, but some exciting new events are signals of our growing and changing. Right now we see potential and excitement on the horizon, but next fall every single one of us in this household will be adjusting to a new schedule. I'm preparing for an adjustment period that may be a little rocky by keeping our summer very low-key.

First, Elliot "graduated" pre-school Co-op and he'll start a Montessori preschool next fall. He is so excited to follow in Owen's footsteps and to be going to class every day. He (and I) are ready for it...

This means that I taught my last Co-op too! Although I'm glad not to be burdened with the logistics of keeping the schedule and lesson plans and organizing the moms -- I was a little sad on that last day realizing when I turned over the key to the next Mom in charge that I've been teaching my rotations of the co-op for 5 years, and have been organizing it for the past 2. It's simultaneously a big burden lifted and a sad realization that toddler-hood is officially past us.

Owen completed 2nd grade at his local school with a lot of praise and accolades from his teacher. He had such a great year and is truly one of those kids that loves school. Which is good, because after much heart searching and discussion, Paul and I enrolled Owen in a different school for next fall that we feel will really allow his education to take flight. It was a huge decision to take him out of our local school and enroll him elsewhere.... but we are all excited about the possibilities of his new program and class. Owen toured the new school and met his new teacher for 3rd grade and is already excited about learning the multiplication tables over the summer so he can be ready. That kid.......

Here he is before school on his last day...

Next fall we will be trying to adjust to a new start time for school (7:40AM, goodness!) and for a new carpool regime ( both boys off to school and neither of them within walking distance).

This summer, though, is open for play.

A Typical Monday

After a rough start before school encompassing: squabbling, injuries (both real and imagined), tears, time outs and a rushed heave-ho to get out the door in time for school --even though we are all up at 6:45 am and 2 hours should really be enough time to get ready -- we finally got our day turned around.

The rest of the day went something like this:

Legos. Legos. Legos:

Home Made Playdough (color: Lincoln Green):

Lunch.

Castle:

Errands.

Pick up Owen from school.

Homework.

Legos. Legos. Legos. Did I mention Legos?

Dinner.

Doesn't sound like much when you list it like that. Why am I always so exhausted?

May

A little heat spell prompted this backyard vision the other day after school:

We have also been riding scooters, making masks, sketching, playing fort in the back yard and generally enjoying the spectacular early summer afternoons of May.

Busy-ness is always there. I seem to always have a list of things to do, and the bathroom never quite gets cleaned the way I would like. And sometimes I open the kitchen drawers and am shocked by the dirt crumbs in there. Really, I didn't invite them in! How have I not noticed them accumulating?

But, spring has come and all we want to do is be outside with the windows wide open. Those dirt crumbs wil have to wait (presumably for when the kids are off to college.....). So if you happen to stop by, my apologies for the messy house, but we'll be out in the fort reading Huckleberry Finn...

Hello Spring Break!

I've taken a brief respite from the blog lately simply because I have not found any time to update anything. I've been in rehearsals and working quite a lot while the boys have been having extended playdates with friends, grandparents and babysitters. In the few moments I had at home, we were busy doing things which gave me precious little time to reflect and document the doing.

Today, however, is the first day of Spring Break. Owen is off school for the week, I'm finished with my rehearsals (now that my show is open and running) and the week is off to a wonderful start. So far, the morning chores are done, Owen is reading a chapter book to Elliot, the sun is shining on our newly planted garden and we are all still in our pajamas. This feels quite decadent for 9:30 in the morning!

This past week we put in a concerted effort to plant our garden. Elliot and I did most of the work since Owen was still in school, but we are all quite excited to see what will succeed this year. I planted quite a few things that I'm pretty confident about, and we also planted some other things just to see what would happen. Here's the list: Carrots, radishes, sweet peas, broccoli, kale, chives, chamomile, sunflowers, corn, tomatoes, yellow peppers, celery, beets and edamame. we also have the wonderful herbs that have been thriving since last summer: parsley, sage, oregano, thyme, rosemary.

We got a couple shots of the garden so far:

Here's Elliot showing us how high he wants those corn stalks to grow (did I mention we planted some things "just for fun"?):

Wish us luck!

4

Well, it happened. Elliot turned 4 on Friday. It's is always so surprising to remember the emotions and excitement of 4 years ago and realize that these past 4 years have gone by in the blink of an eye. We spent the day doing what Elliot loves best which means we went to the zoo! Normally we go just for an hour or so and see a couple of things, but this time I decided to follow the birthday boy's lead. We took the bus tour, we rode the Skyfari, we saw the polar bears and the giraffes and we had lunch while the peacocks roamed around the table. We spent most of the day there.....

Then we went home and made pizza and decorated the cake. it was a nice, quiet day all about Elliot with no big extravaganza party to plan. Nana spent the day with us, and Grandma and Grandpa joined us for dinner and cake. It was lovely! And Elliot was supremely proud to turn 4.

Then, on Saturday, we went to Medieval Times. Now, this is a little hard to picture if you haven't spent any time with Elliot lately... but he is obsessed with knights, castles, Robin Hood, jousting, and pretty much anything having to do with the Medieval era. It kind of started last fall when we spent time learning all about Robin Hood, and that naturally segued into getting book after book about medieval castles from the library, and then Elliot received a play castle and knights for Christmas and he's been obsessed ever since. So, naturally, we figured this would be the perfect way to spend his birthday. Boy, were we right. We ate like kings, watched impressive swordfighting and jousting, saw the Royal Falconer training his falcon and spent the evening being entertained medieval style. I'm pretty sure Elliot will remember this birthday forever....

We are so lucky to have this young Knight of the Realm in our family. We love you, Elliot!

Recovering

*WARNING* this post may be disgusting....

This has got to be the sickest winter yet. In December we all caught some creeping crud that took over a month to leave our chests, complete with racking rasping coughs and unending purchases of Kleenex. But we finally got over it.

Then last Friday Elliot started puking. By Sunday night I was hunched over the toilet bowl, and Owen was vomiting all over the living room. Later that night, Paul caught the thing (no surprise after caring for three sickies and cleaning up after us for hours). On Monday we were all wasted and spent the day in bed alternately sleeping and watching movies and trying to re-hydrate. You should have seen this sorry family.... We had pulled Owen's top bunk mattress onto the floor so he could easily get to the bathroom, so the boys' room had me and Elliot curled up in the bottom bunk, Owen curled up on the floor and Paul curled up on the couch while we all drifted in and out of sleep ALL DAY LONG.

Luckily, Paul was the last to get sick so he was still well enough to clean up some messes and managed to drag the run out to the backyard and hose it down. And, since Elliot was the canary in the coal mine of the whole affair I had stocked up on bananas, applesauce, crackers and electrolyte drinks before Sunday. But still. It was truly awful.

We are finally a little better. But I think I've learned a few things.

1. Never try to identify food that has been regurgitated.
2. Sometimes the area rug is not worth saving.
3. In the future, at the first sign of stomach flu, wrap everything in plastic and make the kids carry bowls with them EVERYWHERE.
4. Thank goodness for Netlfix streaming movies...
5. Especially when you're sick, cuddling with your kids makes everyone feel better.

Good lessons, but hopefully we don't have any more "teaching" moments like this any time soon.

Now, I think we'll try to get out of the house and enjoy the sun today.

All about shoes.

I'm not exactly sure how or when, but my little baby is growing up. After that last post, Grandma commented on how tall Elliot has grown and it made me look at him with new eyes. Suddenly, his pants were all too short and his shoes didn't fit. When did that happen? How can it be that I see him every day -- every minute of every day -- and I don't notice when he is literally bursting out of his clothes?

Elliot is turning 4 next week, and he has never had his own shoes. I had saved bins and bins of Owen's clothes and Elliot has been slowly making his way through all the hand me downs. But something else happened in the last year, too. Owen's hand me downs are no longer hospitable for other wearers. Suddenly when Owen grows out of his things, they are dilapidated and torn and stained beyond repair. And the shoes never last even for Owen to grow out of them it seems. So the hand me down supply is sadly dwindling. Today I pulled out the last clothing bin and found that Elliot totally and completely fits into all the pants. Yay! But the shoes were in a sorry state and I confess to being a little ashamed I didn't notice Elliot has been too big for those shoes for some time.

So, I took Elliot shoe shopping today. Just him and me. For the first time, Elliot got his foot measured and got to pick his very own brand new pair of shoes. I assure you that the very first pair he liked was the most splendid running shoe I have ever seen. He has yet to take them off, and may never (except for bath time). He loves them. I love them. THEY ARE SIZE 12!!!!!!!!

He literally bounced and ran all over the store in them, and now I fear that buying him good fitting running shoes is going to force me to run more too since he is MUCH faster now that his shoes fit.

If you don't believe me, come over and play with him for a day and see if you don't lose few pounds!

Well, I had some big ideas this week that never seemed to make their way onto the page. All I can seem to muster these days on this blog is a weekly photo summary. Although honestly, I like the picture posts because it's a good reminder of all the fun and adventure we're having. I know I'm missing the details and the day to day stories... some day (sooner than later I fear) I will look back on all these toddler/boy days and will struggle in vain to recall the little details.

Today I want to remember just as it was. We started with our Sunday morning bakery visit and a deep study of the comics page.

Then, after a quick packing of warmer jackets and hats and gloves, we drove up to Palomar Mountain, leaving our sunny San Diego weather behind. As we approached from the distance we saw the top of the mountain shrouded in clouds, and driving to the top we found ourselves literally driving up into the cloud bank. We enjoyed a lovely lunch at the vegetarian cafe on the mountain top, sharing our seats with bikers, cyclists and novice astronomers... then we made our way to the Palomar Observatory for a humbling and truly awe-inspiring insight into our (tiny, infinitesimal, microscopic) place in the universe.

After spending some time in the cold, cloudy heights we drove back down the mountain. A little over an hour later we were sprawled on our living room carpet playing a board game and eating popcorn while a light winter drizzle pattered on our roof top.

Then our late afternoon and evening went something like this: Games, practicing the piano, dinner, playing the guitar, more games, racing toy cars in the living room, and Robin Hood stories at bedtime... I'm fairly certain that every single one of us just had the best day ever.

Beach and Science

What a week we had last week!


Monday was a day off school for Martin Luther King Day, so we spent a lovely afternoon doing what we do best here in Southern California: going to the beach....


Then, Thursday was the big event: Owen's Science Fair at his school. Owen has chosen his own project every year so far: in Kindergarten he learned how to "Make your Own Paper" out of recycled newspaper, in First Grade he "Graphed the Growth of a Seedling", and this year he was exceptionally proud of his idea "Aeronautics: How Flight Works". The night was crowded with friends and family coming to see all the cool projects from all the creative elementary kids. And Owen had that quiet, self-satisfied look on his face that he gets when he's really proud of something. Way to go, kid!