Easter Surprise

Well, we had a little Easter surprise yesterday. A 7.2 earthquake from Baja California. We went on a family walk in the afternoon and we were just standing on the sidewalk when it hit us. It sort of felt like my legs were giving out. Connor was riding his razor and didn't even notice. A few neighbors came outside. Mike was in the middle of the street and I was standing next to Aubrey. She was on her bike. We've felt much stronger quakes but it definitely gets the blood pumping for sure.

Seriously, what happened?

Well, actually I'm quite surprised how easy it was to drop off of the blogging planet for a while. Three months just flew by! We've been busy with the same old hussle and bussle of daily life. I've gotten back into reading and cardmaking. And I admit to going through a phase of playing several BBC miniseries shows on my Netflix queue. (Bleak House, North & South, Wives & Daughters and a few of the Jane Austen classics to name a few.) Still keeping with quilt group, book club and card exchange group and volunteering at the school. The boys have started Little League and it's been busy keeping up with their schedules. Aaron and I are still going strong with Webelos. Aaron just placed third in the Pinewood Derby this month. We were thrilled for him. He missed second place by .02. Crazy how close it was. We've had some fun visits from friends, the McCurdy's and the Christensen's. And my mom came out to visit us over my birthday. She stayed for the weekend and we had a great time! Here's a few highlights from January and February.

Connor has become an accomplished bicycle rider.

Yet another phase...breadmaking. Mike still wants me to be in this phase.

I kind of got burned out but I'll be making more again soon.

These are the cards from our January exchange. Mine is the pink cupcake card. I haven't taken a picture of our March cards. I'll get on it.

We've had many a bird land on our backyard fence. This one has by far been the biggest that I've caught on camera. (It's some sort of falcon or hawk.)

We've also admired plenty of doves, hummingbirds, and more.

Aubrey and Mike buddies with Darth Vader at the Lego shop in Downtown Disney.

Some friends of ours came down to spend a few days at Disneyland during their winter break and we came up to meet them for dinner. It was a short but very sweet visit!

Ella, Andy, Big Aaron, Little Aaron, Connor, Aubrey (so cooperative) and Mike.

Michelle and Jen

Joe Cool. I totally caught Connor in this pose one afternoon after school.

Hanging with the cousins at the Wild Animal Park during our school break in Feb.

Connor posing with yet another Flat Stanley.

I guess that's what we get for moving around so much. ;)

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Gibbs Family Holiday Highlights...

A visit to Legoland to see the tall Christmas tree made of legos.

Olivia and Aubrey rolling out cookie dough. Frosting and eating all the so good sugar cookies. ;)Enjoying our first read and sing Christmas program at home with family.Connor, Aubrey, and I singing "Baby in a Manger."Rudy reading "The Little Shepherd" by Don Black.

Christmas morning excitementAaron, Connor, and Aubrey puttin' on their awesome hats and shirts from Grandma.Our little princess loving her princess dress-up.

The San Diego Civic Youth Ballet's "The Nutcracker"

I took the boys to go see The Nutcracker on Saturday. We got there just in time and really enjoyed the show. About halfway through the first act, Connor leaned over to me and asked when they were going to start talking. We almost left at the intermission because I thought they did both acts. Clara and the Prince were waving goodbye to the Sugar Plum Fairy at the end of the first part and I thought, well, this must be a short version or something. It wasn't until I was about 20 yards from the theater that I realized no one else was leaving. So we went back and saw the rest of the show. I know...duh, on my part. Well, the second act had lots of neat dances so I'm glad we didn't miss it. I'm looking forward to taking Aubrey next year.

Six days until Christmas...are you calm or stressed?

I feel a mixture of both. I'm calm because I feel at peace with the things that I've done (shopping & trips to the post office) and haven't done (christmas cards) and also because yesterday was the last day of school for the kids and I love not having to be on a schedule. I'm a little stressed because I still have lots of wrapping to do and I haven't finished mom's present and the deadline is today so I'd better get working!

Advice needed: What do you do if one of your kids caught sight of a stocking stuffer?

Look who's riding his bike!

Last year, we took off Connor's training wheels and he rode his bike along North Summit Avenue with some assistance from Mike. Little did we know that it would take a year to get him to try out his bike again. His razor has been his favorite mode of transportation especially on our street which is very steep. A couple weeks ago, a friend and I loaded up the kids and the bikes and Connor's razor and went to the church parking lot to let the kids ride around. I told Mike about it and the following Saturday, he took the boys again but this time instead of the razor, he took Connor's bike. I got a call from Connor a short while later saying that he rode his bike all by himself. So we decided to go again to the church parking lot as a family and ride bikes. Connor was anxious to show me what he could do. He was so proud of himself. It was great!