A View of Lisa's World

Back to school...

I'm not even going to talk about my lack of blogging...suffice to say, my Dad is good, life is good...I haven't blogged...the end.

Now... Todd started 3rd grade on August 24th and while it was not a huge milestone, by any means, I've felt bummed out that I didn't document it anywhere. I have blogged every first day of school since the beginning...Pre-School for the first time, Pre-School the year he busted his lip open before 10am, Kindergarten, First Grade and Second Grade.

So I have to blog about Third Grade. After all, he will only (God willing) have a first day of 3rd grade once!

Tucked away in the way too many personal photographs that I take but do nothing with, were the traditional first day of school photos that I did manage to take that morning.

I didn't get any photos of him walking to school, because he is way too cool to have his Mom busting out the camera at the school path. I look at these photos and can hardly believe how grown up he is. We all know that he has seemed "grown up" since he was a peanut...and in many ways he is still a peanut...but he really is changing so much. I knew this, but going back through the blog archives to find the other "first day of school" photos really brought it home for me. Made me realize how important documenting everything really is...made me wince a little bit because I miss that 3 year old, and that 5 year old...made me smile too. Reminded me I should write about how much I adore this 8.5 year old...how much fun he is and honestly,that I just think he is freaking amazing. 

So here he is on the first day of 3rd grade. I'm so mad at myself that I didn't get his shoes in the photos, because Lord knows my boy loves his shoes and they are a very particular part of any ensemble...but still, I love that he picked out his shirt, love that he is wearing his watch, and that he "gooped" his own hair...and that he was excited and ready to get to school.

About a week after this we went to "back to school night" and I am very excited about Todd's teacher this year. I think it is going to be a great year for him. I was also thrilled to see little pieces of him in the classroom...and which things he is choosing to share. I loved that I could whip out my iphone and grab some shots around the classroom...I find myself using my phone to grab photos so often and I love it. For example, they were able to decorate their names for their desk and I thought the fact that Todd put "jiu jitsu rocks" on his nameplate was awesome.

 

I also loved that he wants to improve his penmanship...because that is a Mommy pet peeve...and that his silver medal from Jiu Jitsu back in April (which I also missed blogging about...ugh) is so important to him.

 

One of my favorite things was this little number...now I know why he asked me if I thought it was ok to use "dude" as an adjective...since I use "dude" for so many many things, I said yes...clearly he went with it...

And finally...the greatest thing...his Summer Memory. He was so excited for us to see it because he worked very hard on it, and on his penmanship. Love it. Once I got past his intitial dissapointment that he didn't have any big trips to foreign lands to report on, or anything "really amazing" to report on. He decided to settle on a random day with Matt. He considered other options like the Giants game etc. but he felt like he had "more details" to share about this particular day. I literally guffawed outloud when I read the sentence about the funeral.

I love that in the end it was a simple little morning with Matt that meant the most to him...love it more than I can find words to say. Love that it is yet another reminder to me to document and remember the little things my little family is up to without giving a crap about any of the crap that keeps me from writing it all down here.

And now, speaking of school, it is my favorite part of the day...the part where school gets out, and I get to go wait for this beautiful boy to come bounding down the path...

Easter

Easter is not a big holiday around here. We enjoy a little egg coloring, the bunny brings some goods. We talk a little bit about Jesus and Heaven and Gratitude and we hang out with the parople we love most. I know it is probably blasphemy, but my favorite part is the coloring eggs. It is our one little family tradition...the three of us making a mess and randomly colored eggs. I these photos of stained fingers that are no longer pudgy and small...goofy smiles that have gaps from teeth falling out instead of coming in. I love that we have this time and hope that even though Easter is a pretty mellow holiday and my boy is more big than small, that we can keep this one little tradition for many years to come.

 

Yay Giants...thanks for the memories!

I shared a bit about my history with the Giants a few days ago and tonight they did it. They won the series!!!! I realize this is just a sporting event, but words can't really describe how cool it was to watch them win tonight...and to share it with Todd & Matt.

As Wilson pitched to the final batter, Todd climbed up on my lap. I said, "lets be hugging when the Giants win the Series!" He sat with his arms around my neck, his breath smelling like Tater Tots from our "ball game" hot dog dinner and when that last strike was pitched he squeezed so tight that I thought I might pass out, but I didn't really mind. Then the three of us jumped around and clapped and hooted and hollered like crazy people.

A few minutes later I sat back down and just put my hands over my mouth saying "wow". Todd was running around taking off his shirt and throwing it at the TV and high five-ing me and Matt and saying " I can't believe it!" At one point he turned and asked why I was suddenly quiet and I realized that I was really really emotional...not just because this crazy team that I, like so many others have been completely captivated by finally realized their dreams, but because I got to share it with my family (and because one of the biggest Giants fans I ever knew wasn't here to share it with) but mostly because I was just overwhelmingly happy for the team and for all of us that they took on this crazy ride with them.

I'm really just so damn grateful. This has been so much fun to be a part of. The excitement has been in the air, everywhere you go people are wearing orange and black and I've loved every minute of it. Today an old guy I've seen at Starbucks a million times but never really looked at, high fived me because we were both wearing Giants sweatshirts...in Target Todd told two ladies walking by "GO Giants" because they were wearing their gear. This has been repeated so much around the area that you can just feel it in the air. So so cool.

And this team is just so freaking cool. Over 179 games the guys on this team have all given me examples I could share with my son about hard work, perserverance, teamwork, talent, humility, guts, attitude, the appropriate times to drop an F-Bomb, diversity, sportsmanship, class and in the end freaking dominance.

After he calmed down Todd said "Wow, Mom...I will remember this night forever! and we were hugging when they won!!" 

It hit me that someday Todd can tell the story of the year that he was almost 8 years old. The Year the San Francisco Giants first won the World Series!! How he went to one special game with his Noni over the Summer and how (one month ago today to be exact) he went to a game with Matt and I (and Noni again) in the amazing seats that his Uncle Dan gave us, where he got 2 game balls touched by Aubrey Huff and where we could have watched them clinch the National League West from just 3 rows back.

He will remember this team of "misfits" that no one outside of the Bay Area has given any credit to, the team that no one but us really thought could win. He will remember a team with a different superstar every night...guys that he knows by name, Andres, Cody, Freddy, Aubrey, Buster, Timmy, Pablo, Uuuuribe, Pat the Bat, Willie and Edgar and so many more. He will remember our favorite number #33 that lost one job and still managed to contribute and check his ego at the door. He'll remember Kruk and Kuyp and details that I know I don't even realize have sunken into his little consciousness.

Hopefully he will remember wrapping his arms around my neck and watching that final out. I know that I will never forget it.

 

Happy New Year!!

I can see why you might think I'm confused in thinking that it the new year on August 25, I mean, my freaking blog header still says June so why wouldn't it appear that I'm confused on my dates? But make no mistake, a new year started today.

Yep..school started today...and though I haven't documented our Summer very well here, it was a good one.I love spending time with Todd, but getting my routine back is pretty dang exciting for me. I am excited for all that this "new year" will bring.

The first new year this January launched the "year of me". I started working out and in miracles of all miracles, I'm still working out....and even more shocking, I actually like it...dare I say love. I've found muscles in places where I'd forgotten muscles could be and gotten in touch with a side of myself that I seriously thought was gone forever.  I think that the emotional changes for me are the most remarkable, though there are definitely physical changes too. It is all at once sort of uneventful and overwhelmingly different. Kind of crazy. I really need to come back to a whole post on just this subject soon, but it requires some thought and more brain power than I have at the moment.

Meanwhile, this new year means the new house look (which is still in a crazy state of flux), new work responsibilities, new food plans and continuing to take the "year of me" to the next level.

It also means I have a second grader. A boy that I couldn't be prouder of. Who moved to the "big kid" side of the school and who has added fashion to the long list of things he has his own opinions about. As always he handled the first day with confidence and a casual saunter. Man I love this kid.

Fun in the sun?

Well this could have been fun in the sun, because there actually was sun this afternoon. Lots of it! But by the time the slip and slide party got going with Todd and his friend it was almost 8 at night and the sun had been replaced by fog. But, have no fear...the kids wore wetsuits! 

Todd was lucky to be given his friend's old suit and he was so excited to have a wetsuit that he didn't even mind that much that it says "Roxy girl" all over it. She was a more experienced slider than Todd and was pretty good at striking a pose at the end of her run!

 

Todd just jumped up and hooted and hollered....which led to blurry photos that I loved anyway.

So much fun on a foggy night. Reminded me to let go a little more often. It was a totally impromptu thing and ended up getting started a little later than I had thought originally. As they walked in the door I thought "it is too late", "it is too cold", "the fog came in"  blah blah blah...but they were so cute and wanted to do it so badly. So I gave up being the stick in the mud mom for a change.

And they were fine...and they had blast. 

And I even blogged about it the same day it happened....miracles all around!

Nature Walk

The other day my mom gave Todd her old camera. It is a great little camera and looks much more like a DSLR than a regular little digi camera. He was so excited, he has pretty much slept with it since he got it. He told me how happy he was that now he didn't have to wait to ask Santa for his very own REAL camera.

This boy of mine has actually shown an interest in photography for a while and he has always liked telling me what he thought would make a good photo. So on Weds. after basketball camp he and I grabbed our cameras and went on a little nature walk.

I can not tell you how much fun we had, just he and I finding cool things and pointing them out to each other. That evening we did the editing together too, he requested editing that made things more "old fashioned" and "brighter" and some he wanted "deeper." He would tell me when to stop on each adjustment and he was quite pleased with his results.

This is one of my very faves:

He was also the designer of his watermark!

Now the best part for me of this nature walk, besides being out on a beautiful day with my beautiful boy, was taking photos of my boy taking photos. He had all of the moves and approached each photo with such seriousness (big surprise). He couldn't believe that we saw a real monster truck tire.

and he thought the caution cone looked "cool in those weeds"...

We talked about different angles to take photos from and he thought that was pretty cool to try too.

and he knows what he likes. We walked along and I pointed out some pretty flowers and he told me that he thought the "one red leaf that looks like it doesn't belong is more interesting"

He also found this red leaf...

I love this photo. I love how he got close up...and how he noticed that there were a "lot of different shaped leaves in one place" and how he liked the "curl" on the edge. It was so amazing for me to see what he saw.

I wanted to take a close up of one of these blooms and Todd thought that they looked cooler all together. I think this was the moment when he actually said to me "you take your photos and I'll take mine!"

So we did...
I think we were both right.

He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the fence with moss on it...I helped him compose from an angle that didn't show that it was a public bathroom fence and then I put the kibosh on going into said bathrooms to look for "anything interesting" to photograph.

Every tree we saw was cooler than the next...

and I still love this bridge to pieces...

And Todd was dying to get a photo of a bird...I was not too keen on sticking around while these cat sized ravens zoomed around and then called each other to do Lord knows what, but he did manage to snap one quick one before bubble wrap mommy made him change locations.

and finally, we had to do this...

We were out for about 45 minutes total, but it felt like such a special little getaway. The best part was that he thought it was special too. He kept hugging me and telling me how happy he was...and then he wanted to know if we could do it again...and if we could do it "forever, just the two of us". 

Heck yeah buddy...heck yeah!

just don't call it modeling...

A while ago I did a shoot with an aspiring male model who is also one of Todd's jiu jitsu instructors. (I just realized that I haven't posted any of those yet...got to do something about that soon.)  Anyway, Todd thought it was pretty cool and asked if he could do some modeling too. Then as we tried to arrange it, he went back and forth between whether or not he wanted to do it. I've photographed this kid enough to know that if he isn't in the mood, it isn't worth it. So we've gone back and forth a few times over the last few days...he was ready when I wasn't. I wanted to go but he didn't. etc.

So today we finally headed out and we had so much fun together..but on the way he said "hey Mom, I think I would feel better if we didn't call this modeling, lets just say that you need to take some pictures for your website ok?..I think that is more me-ish!"

There will be many more shots from today posted soon...and on my walls...and on my facelift of a website once I figure it out. But for now I'm just pretty happy to have had this non modeling photo shoot with my cute boy.

for crying out loud...

I'm lagging again.

I started a post about Todd finishing 1st grade I don't know how many times...it is saved as a draft with a note that says I started it 6 days ago. 6 days?? What the heck is up with that? It really shouldn't take me 6 days to create a blog post...especially when I'm going to dump the draft and start over anyway. Ugh.

This is the photo I wanted to share of the big soon to be second grader. I don't think it shows how much he changed this year, but change he did. First grade wasn't the easiest year for him. The school work part was easy, but the behavior not so much, plus it was just a rough go with his teacher etc. The last month or so he has been amazing.  Matt and I keep talking about what a great phase he's in, and Todd himself told me the other day that he is glad that he "changed his ways" and decided to "go down the good road"! It has been pretty great around here lately and he is excited to have a fun Summer.

At the moment he is having quite the good time in his room that is finally clean. At one point he was working on some organizing and yelled out from the room, "I'm never going to make it Mom. I might as well just plan on sitting on a street corner and asking for money!" I'm not quite sure where he got that one, but I'm glad he realizes the influence a clean room has over his future, maybe I can use that to my advantage one of these days.

The most awesome thing he said today though is that he thought I was "the coolest Mom...you know? like chill and cool." And I wasn't even buying him anything or letting him get away with anything. Sigh.

Friday

Another week gone...man they just keep going by faster and faster. This particular week my husband was off of work, which was great...and annoying, but mostly great. The annoying part is only because I have high and mostly unrealistic expectations every time he's home for a week. For example, I was really hoping to have a clean and organized garage right about now...but alas, I do not.

It is ok though...we've had some fun...and most of all Todd and Daddy have had lots of fun time together. Case in point...

 
They tossed some extra items in my cart at Target and then came home and had a duel. Todd did not know what a duel was...but Daddy explained it. 

We stand back to back...

then we each take 5 steps and turn around and fire...ready? one, two...

three...

then a little voice said..."HEY!! I thought you said FIVE!!"

and Daddy was busted.

But revenge was sweet...

Game Day

It is baseball season around here. Last week was actually opening day, but in my apparent blog hiatus I never posted any photos. Today was game 2 and it was a gorgeous morning. It was a pretty darn good game too.

Todd got his first RBI...even though he didn't know what that meant until after the game. He rotated between a few positions and is starting to get the hang of where to go when....he needs to work a bit more on how to chew that mouthful of gum and still pay attention to the game though.

He spent an inning playing catcher...and when he plays catcher I can't really stop taking photos. He is so cute in the gear...plus it brings back memories, since I wore similar gear for many years.

 

He looks pretty good huh? He got a little advice from my old coach too...and look at his cute dad.

 

Speaking of Matt, he had scoreboard duty.

All in all, it was a great morning..and I think Todd had a pretty good time, although I think his favorite part is still the snack bar.