Summer fun with old friends

This summer we got to spend some time with old friends. The Heymans were here from France and the Ricketts came down from Northern CA. Photo op! Hard to believe these kiddos were once little together...

Happy 8.5 Andrew!

So we thought we would try a half birthday for our Christmas Eve boy. So in July we had a rock climbing party! This was the second party Andrew has had at Solid Rock Gym - he is really enjoying indoor rock climbing! (we have climbed at the Air Show and Forest Home and REI... where ever we can find a wall!)

Here are the highlights...

Early summer fun

So, now that our Christmas tree is up, it must be time for a summer flashback...

Andrew gets out of school in mid June. Here he is at the end of second grade with friend Blake.


Zach and his friend Olivia went to Critter Camp - a day camp at a local animal shelter. They had a great time together!

And of course we went to the San Diego County Fair. The boys loved the sweet corn...


And the roller coasters...

We are fine

So things are calming down here. Doug went back home this afternoon and it is dirty outside and smokey, but undamaged. We will stay one more night at our friend's place and go home in the morning.

So far we have only heard from people whose homes are safe - but a large portion of our church community live in one of the burned neighborhoods. We are having a special prayer and gathering service on Thursday night and should get more of an update then.

So far, so good for our immediate family and friends ... keep praying as 500,000 people were evacuated and about 1000 homes burned throughout the county.

Fires

We are all fine - but many in San Diego are not. So far 250,000 people have been evacuated and thousands of acres have burned. Because the Santa Ana winds are still so strong, they have given a very wide range of evacuation areas. My parents and sister were given the mandatory evacuation order this morning and had time to pack up the cars. Our home in Encinitas was not yet in danger of fire, but the smoke was thick, making it hard to breathe. We started packing up this morning too.

So it's almost 5 pm and we are all here at my parents office in Carmel Valley, which is just outside the evacuation area. We have supplies (air beds, some food, books and games for the boys) to stay here overnight if need be. I'll post an update later.

Please pray.

Chance of rain.... .01%

So, it never really rained. It showered pretty well for about .... 5 minutes. We had long enough to boil the water for hot chocolate, but by the time we were drinking it, the sun had reappeared. Oh well...

It seems strange to complain about perpetual sunshine, but there is something to be said for variety.

So instead of a chill in the air or cool rain announcing the coming of fall, we have the arrival of Starbucks pumpkin spice lattes.

The stinky trees will bloom soon

So it must be fall again. Our stinky tree has buds on it - soon it will bloom with the fall fragrance of stinky pumpkins or buttered potatoes.

"But, Christine, it's only May in the world of Petersons Online," you say.

Yes, it is true. Online, we are stuck in the past. A summer recap should be coming soon.

In real life we are heading towards October! Third grade is going well for Andrew (who has vowed to ride his bike to school for all 180 days). Zach is upstairs at preschool in Room D and loving it. Our wonderful Renee is back from France for a while, so we get to see her regularly, and Doug and I are in the groove with work.

Today it is supposed to rain. San Diego news is plastered with "Storm Watch!!" reports but we'll see how few inches we actually get. The boys and I are actually looking forward to a quiet afternoon, with Legos and games. There might be some hot chocolate involved as well. I am hoping we can do some reading.

At the moment it is clear and sunny - not a cloud in the sky.

What was that?

"Why don't you go read your book, Mom?" I wasn't sure I had heard that correctly... but I did.

And after Doug watched a little tv and I read a chapter or two, we entered the kitchen to find the table set and dinner ready. Dad had helped with the Dream Dinner main course, but Andrew made a salad (with dressing on the side), prepared peas and grapes, served drinks, and delegated the table setting to Zach. And they even remembered the napkins.

It was amazing! Totally unsolicited - and no ulterior motives. I am still smiling...

(He wouldn't let me take a picture. But he didn't say I couldn't blog about it!)

The Family Tree

The boys and I went to a family reunion in Santa Paula, CA. My great-great grandfather settled there and planted a Morton Bay Fig tree in 1879 on his fourth daughter's birthday. (My great grandmother was daughter number five.) Here is the tree today:


We have pictures of me and my sister at this tree when we were little, so it is neat to have these pictures of the next generation:



GG was there too - the only living grand daughter of the tree planter (Ebeneezer Hugil Orne).

Come Build Hope

Doug and I got to go to Mexico for a house build over Memorial Day Weekend. Over 300 people from church built 21 houses. Our team built for a single mom and three kids. Amor Ministries chooses the families with help from local pastors and pours the foundation. When the volunteers arrive, the materials and directions are there and it is up to us to build the 2 room house! Some of the sites were challenging...

Here is the site we built on (yes, it was that close to the existing building, which made the stucco step pretty interesting...)

The teams are organized by small groups. We have a lot of kids in our group so the childcare was hard for some families. Besides Doug and I there were two other dads who came. We were combined with my sister's small group and also had some new friends join us. There were 19 of us on our team, including some high schoolers. We had two experienced foremen and they did a great job of keeping us on task!


So by Monday lunch-time we finished the house! It was a really big job - we were tired and dirty, ready to go home. The over night camping was uncomfortable and we were all way out of our comfort zones. But this family really needed the help. It was also hard because we can't ever really do enough. There are still so many things they and their neighbors need. But it was still an amazing weekend. Here is our family:


We are already planning to go again next year. Andrew really wants to go too, but he will have to wait until 4th grade. (He and Zach stayed with Nana and Papa for the weekend.)

Of course Doug had his camera with us - below is the video that he produced about the trip. The end features Ericka (our mom) and Fred, our translator (he is one of our small group members).

Meerkat!

Andrew's class put on a musical near the end of the year:

The performers were asked to choose their own character - any animal from the African savanna. They were to perform in costume of course. Does my child choose a tiger or lion or other reasonably simple animal? No, he and his friend Julia want to be meerkats...

So, after research, planning, shopping, sewing, ripping and sewing again, we actually produced two furry meerkats!

Catching up

Wow, I am way behind. Since I last posted, we have had a meerkat in residence, gone to the Cubs game, built a home in Mexico, hosted a fancy dinner party and visited our family tree (literally).

And this is the last week of school! Summer already! Ours will be fast - two months. Zach is at "Critter Camp" this week with Olivia and Andrew has started swim lessons. Zach will take swim lessons and Andrew will have his turn at an animal themed day camp. We will go rock climbing to celebrate Andrew's half birthday in a few weeks and spend a week at Sports Jam (VBS) where Doug will be teaching Ultimate Frisbee. We are also looking forward to a house full of Petersons in San Diego, a hotel full of Esterlines in Yosemite and a campground full of Larsons in Oregon. And I hope there are some beach days and lazy days of eating Popsicles and swinging on the swing or tossing the baseball too.

Happy Summer!

family

We went to a Padres game a few weeks ago. The Padres beat the Giants and we had a great time sitting at the beach (the bleacher section with a sandy area against the right field fence). We plan to go again when the Cubs are in town. Go Cubs!!

Zachary's ABCs

Zachary - singing star

Andrew - baseball star

Pirates on the high seas

The boys had some money from birthdays, allowance and extra chores, so they decided to spend it on matching pirate ships! They tried to sail in the bathtub (with them in too, of course) but everything and everyone didn't quite fit. It was too cold to actually go in the wading pool/ocean, but the ships sailed quite well. Argghh, me heartys!!

Photo a day?

Okay, so that didn't work for very long. But a photo a day for two weeks is better than nothing, right? So , now back to the whenever I get a chance schedule!

March 13, 2007

I think we need to take the boys to the beach, so they can use the boogie boards correctly...

March 12, 2007

Well, here is my exciting view. When the trees have no leaves, I can see the ocean (about 2 inches worth, but it still counts!) Not bad, having an office with a window and a door - no cubicle life for me!

March 11, 2007

A quiet Sunday morning with a crossword and a word search...

March 10, 2007

Today we went to a great restaurant by the beach for lunch. The boys had pancakes larger than their plates! Doug and I had salmon tacos and a great grilled burger. Very yummy! And then dessert at VGs bakery ... clearly a favorite place.

March 8 and 9, 2007 (retro)

Okay, so I am not very good at this photo a day thing - we have lots of retro photos! I will try to be better next week. So this retro photo counts for Thursday and Friday....

This photo cracks me up - so Doug. Every now and then he puts the couch cushions on the floor and takes pictures of himself "flying" and jumping around. Really, I had a lot of photos to choose from, from several different sessions. He always makes me laugh. And of course, Z and A love it too!

And today, he and Andrew are working on a stop motion movie with Legos. The story boards are currently in development, but one of the ideas included the Mars Rover and some aliens... We'll see if they can incorporate the footage they have of Hot Wheels flying off of various jumps, coming down the stairs, going over furniture...

March 7, 2007

Today Zach and I had a great playdate with Olivia and her mom (and baby sister Noelle).


And here they are in Jan 2004 (Zach is about 1, Olivia 10.5 months).

March 6, 2007 (retro)

This is the kitchen of our last house. We re-did the whole thing, even cutting an opening in the wall near the front door. We chose dark green corian counters and this really warm color of cherry cabinets. It took forever to figure out what cabinets or drawers we wanted where, but it was worth it.

This photo is from around March 2003; that is little Zach in the carrier on the floor and Andrew at the desk. Though it was small, I really miss that kitchen! Someday, we plan to renovate our current kitchen.

March 5, 2007 (retro)

Mondays I work all day (while Doug is off and has the kids). Maybe next week, you'll get to see my exciting office. But for now it means a "classic" photo from March 2001. One of my favorites...

This is Doug and Andrew at a college friend's wedding (that is the bride and groom on the left). Aren't they handsome? Love those smiles!

March 4, 2007

Sunday afternoon at the park! It had been windy for a few days, so we got out the kites. This rainbow kite is the best one - it will go up and stay up in not very much wind. The airplane kite and new lizard one were a little more temper mental, but it was still fun. (the photo is of practicing and realizing that there are too many cars on our street for safe kite flying. That's when we loaded up the car for the park)


We also brought the baseball gear for a little practice. But the most fun was a rousing game of pickle with the Mazzas! Great exercise!

March 3, 2007

Opening Day of the baseball season! Andrew is on the Lugnuts team, with his friend Anthony. The Lugnuts are a minor league team out of Lansing Michigan. (anyone know why the mascot is actually a bolt? At least it is better then the Biscuits - another minor league team with a logo of an actual buttermilk biscuit!)

It's the Rookie Division - batting off of the pitching machine, and trying all different positions. On this day, Andrew got to play "pitcher" and saw lots of action! He made two outs and got a single!

There was also an opening day ceremony, team pictures, and Islands lunch. It was a fun day at the ballpark!

March 2, 2007

Morning - lunches to make, breakfast to have, out the door by 7:45 am. Zach is helpful! Notice the mix and match pjs - that is the current sleeping fashion!

March 1, 2007 (retro)

Okay, not really 2007 - how about April 1999?

Was Andrew ever that little? He is about 4 months old here. The blanket was made by our friend Becky and is still very special. Look at that face... :-) And now that baby is almost up to my shoulder. He will be tall, like his Dad!

Photo a day - March 2007

I am starting a new blog project - a photo a day. No other parameters - just a photo a day, of whatever is around me. That means there will be lots of photos of the kids...

And of course, as a busy working mom, with not a lot of time for hobbies...I missed March 1. So, I decided to use older, "classic" or "retro" photos to fill in the blanks. And I will not post each day - I hope to post about a week at a time.

So welcome to a glimpse of today and a walk down memory lane!

Zach's birthday cupcake

Zach turned 4 years old in January! Here is some of the celebration:

It's not Macy's...

Doug and the boys took the train downtown to visit the Midway - our local aircraft carrier museum. We visit often as they open new areas of the ship. This time, they also got to see the Holiday Bowl Big Balloon Parade. It isn't as big as the Macy's Parade, but you don't need a hat and gloves! Andrew didn't even wear a jacket.

A good view from the deck of the Midway:

Christmas celebrations

Christmas 2006!
Highlights: cinnamon pull apart bread
a gingerbread train
Zach's trash truck "I've always wanted one!"
Andrew's Lego Star Destroyer
Christine's MacBook
Doug's digital camera
fun with Nana, Papa and Aunt Jeannette






The best part was a quick trip to Santa Clara to see family. GG was down from Oregon, so we had four generations together.

Gingerbread

One of our Christmas traditions is Gingerbread houses. Here is the house from 2004:





In 2005 we made a train instead of a house. Aunt Jeannette came over to help.




And this year, we were invited to a Gingerbread House party! Each of them got to make their own, complete with mailbox and chimney. Next year, it may be skyscrapers!

Andrew turns 8

So Andrew turned 8 years old on Christmas Eve. We celebrated with breakfast at McDonald's, then back to Aunt Jeannette's house for presents and cupcakes.