no sleep. time to scrap

The camping one isn't crooked, I just couldn't get it straight! Billy went to Fairyland in Oakland and had a great time on the slides and running around. He really liked the stories you start with the key you buy at the front.

I finished Season 3 of Friday night lights last night, SO GOOD! I was only watching one at a time to drag it out, I didn't want to end. Lucky for me they signed a contract through 2011!

I love this kid

Today when Aaron was talking to Billy he said, "Hey, there's Fred!" and Aaron said "Freddy? He's over here." (Billy's pet worm is named Freddy) Billy says, "No, my friend Fred. He's playing with my trains." It seems he has found himself an imaginary friend!

First the funny, I asked him about Fred later in the day and he told me all about him. It seems Fred is Billy's evil alter-ego! He says poo-poo and pee-pee at Noni and Pop2's house. He trows his spaghetti on his mommys head. He throws his spaghetti in the fan. He kicks his toys over. He only eats junk food. He eats popsicles when no one sees him. There was so much more I wish I had recorded it, he told me all about him, longer then 5 minutes.

Now the sad part, he wants to go to school, I feel like I'm doing him a disservice, with no money coming in we just can't do it and I know in the long run he won't be damaged or anything but he talks about school and friends all the time now. So, even if I ChaCha'ed my A off and used all that money for school what if we have to move in a month or 3 weeks. How can I put him in the preschool I want to that is the co-op when I am under Dr's orders not to lift more then 5 pounds. Frustrating, to say the least. The best we can do is take him to the park, and no joke when we go to the park he is on the hunt for someone to play with. I think he needs the structure that school offers with everything so topsy-turvey at home.

On supernanny tonight she was "appalled' that the 3 1/2 year old slept with his parents. Oops! Anyway, I told Aaron who was listening at the time that with everything going on at home if he gets that extra comfort at night where he knows, we take a bath, we read books, we sing our good night song, we talk about our day, we cuddle together to go to sleep and that's his consistancy, what the hell. Obviously, this is my train of concience post and everything will be fine and he'll be fine and we'll be fine. Forever and ever. Amen!

San Mateo Park* and our Auntie Mil

We went back to San Mateo water park because it said it would be open this weekend, it was soooo cold and the water wasn't on AGAIN! Billy didn't mind luckily and we had a good time despite the fact that we drove 25 minutes out of our way again but that's the breaks!



We had underwear action again, he wore them for 2 hours, no accidents again but still not going on the potty. He had to poop and he ran in and told Aaron to put him in a diaper QUICK! Then after he pooped he went and sat on the toilet to "try". Small steps I guess.


After the park we went to Auntie Mil's house so Aaron could help clean out the garage and separate the treasures from the trash. Now Cynthia will help her go through the stuff in her own time. Billy loves Aunt Mil's, he loves Wilkie and Prosper, he loves Cynthia and her jellybeans and Mike and Ikes, and he loves her backyard with lots of hiding places and places to dig and "work".

We had a busy busy weekend and my neck paid the price! Tomorrow, we are going to find the Sunol train they are doing something for Memorial Day and we don't have the $75.00 to go but we want to see it go by!

Picture heavy, content light

I'm so tired but my neck is killing me, I'm pretty sure it's stress over the job stuff, but none the less this is my second night of minimal sleep. I'm biting my tongue again like I did after I had Billy, that is definitely my high stress sign.

So anyway, we went to this water park in San Mateo and what do ya know, do to budget cuts, no water. Luckily there was this cool climbing structure and Billy is pretty easygoing. The bay and slews and stuff are all right there to so we had fun exploring.

We had to wait for a call from unemployment, which hopefully even if we get denied it won't matter. So we didn't get out the door until noon. Billy didn't take a nap after 2 hours of running then off to the mall to pick up some pants for Aarons interview and lots of walking again because the are auctioning off tree houses, like the coolest tree houses you've ever seen and we wanted to see them all. If I would have known I would have brought my camera, they were that cool.

I guess this isn't really light on content, one more thing, Billy told me last night when the sun goes away he's going to a candy store like in Sacramento and he gets to choose whatever he wants. That sounds like Billy's fantasy but it was funny anyway. At 9:13 we sang our good night song, read 3 books and at 9:18 I was out the door and Billy was fast asleep. Think someone had a long day?

We're going to try the water park again tomorrow then off to Aunt Mils, so a busy day planned again tomorrow, I just wish I felt up to doing anything, it's hard to force yourself to do stuff.

Woo Woo

Trains trains trains and then a few more trains thrown in for good measure! We had lots of fun playing today and a good thing about the age of 3 is no tantrums when the train derails!

A good thing about Aaron loosing his job is when we went out tonight (12 dollars for all 3 of us including drinks WOOT WOOT) was that going out was so much fun. When it's common, no big deal but we had so much fun eating pizza and watching the express trains go by on Castro St. Billy and I were almost giddy!

We watched the Wrestler last night and it was really good, I couldn't watch the end I was worried they were going to show him die, so Aaron gave me a blow by blow but was making up names to the wrestling moves, so instead of this super-tragic movie we were cracking up. Good times!

Scraping and Parking and the lovely Ella

A fun one, I did last night, I love this photo from last winter, so sweet.


The spinner at Cuesta Park that Billy loves, Aaron said when he gets off we could take a video to put on Youtube like the dentist kid (if we were cruel and rude peeps, which we are not of course).




And now to the lovely and sweet Ella, a few days ago we went to Cuesta Park to have a picnic and play and while we were there we met the nicest little girl named Ella and her dad Ralph, they live across the street from the park and are there a lot. Billy was instantly crazy about her and she about him. I thought she was 4 but she's 3 years and 3 months old, she is taller and more coordinated then Billy (hard to believe) she plays on the 4-5 year old T-ball team and is the best hitter (but the worst waiter for her turner and doesn't like to catch). So we said we'd be back and see them soon and we went back tonight. After 2 days of talking about Ella's "coily" hair and her jumping and falling and them being stuntmen, this is what Billy did when he saw her. I believe he has a little bit of Aaron DNA in him (hahahaha)! When we got home he told me he was 'embarrassed' what a funny little boy.





So after 5 minutes of hiding in the corner and she had given up, I told Billy she was running to the slide and he was off like a shot. They got to play for about an hour and had the best time. So, we'll see them there again soon I hope.



And the cutest picture of the week goes to non other then our sweet boy!

Treats

Yummy! Billy's favorite treat! We read books and ate frozen yogurt before bed and had BRAIN FREEZE! shivershivershiver.......What fun!

We did lots of art projects today too. This was one of them, Billy is coloring in small spaces now, very cool to see a little fine motor development happening!

And a little creativity as well, that yellow on her arm was a cast! How clever!

We went to the video store and he picked out 2 movies one is Mickey Saves Christmas (yay) the other is Hot Wheels Saves the World (boo), luckily he's too young so it's boring to him and he watched about a nanosecond of it but wanted to leave it on while we were coloring and painting. I'll take a picture of the beautiful painting tomorrow Max and Ruby are so covered you can't even see them but he loved doing it so it;s cool.

2 parks, no photos

So I leave you with Wrestlemania IVIIVI! Billys new favorite activity is doing a drop landing where he manages to elbow you as well as kick you in the side with both feet, he is mastering it quite well and while increadably painful, it is pretty interesting to watch!



And what happens when I forget to bring my camera to the fun places we go? You guessed it pictures in the tub or sleeping. Today, tub.

Feeling hot hot hot!

Conversation with Billy at 3 1/2
Billy: I like your glasses, they're cute.
Mommy: Thanks, you're sweet.
Billy: Did you get them at Target?

Funny funny boy already loves Target!

Its been hot as heck here and by here I mean the apt. it was 93 inside the house at 3:30. We have the portable air conditioner in the bedroom that kept the room at like 76 but Billy didn't want to stay in the little room, why, I don't know.




We did "an aperiment" to see what was light enough for the fan to blow and what was too heavy. It was hot, I couldn't come up with anything better to do. I think it is supposed to be cooler tomorrow, I HOPE it will be cooler tomorrow!

...and back to our regularly scheduled program

Our happy boy is back. Thank god! I couldn't live with two grumps in the house for much longer! I took a much needed R&R day for my neck when Aaron wasn't at the storage unit or showing the Bronco to some guy (who didn't buy it, drat!)

This morning when Aaron was out running errands Billy accidentally bumped my arm and it spilled HOT coffee all over my pj bottoms. I jumped out of them and Billy ran in the other room only to come out with a new pair of pj bottoms. He said "Here mommy, these are fresh, that means they are cool and feel nice they are nice and fresh just for you." He is my little tenderhearted boy.

Nobody told me there'd be days like these...

This is just a little sample of the joyous boy I had on my hands today, and look folks he has MARSH MELLOWS in his little hands, MARSH MELLOWS I say! I don't know what was wrong, he woke up from his nap in the worst mood I have ever seen him in. I'm talking two full on almost throw up inducing tantrums. one lasting over 45 minutes. Aaron took the trash out in the middle of one and could here it from the dumpster (not the recyclables) the dumpster at the front of the building. OMG! Bedtime could not come early enough for me today and honestly I can't think of a day I have ever felt like that. Deep breathes......


I did this while Billy was sleeping, again using pictures i printed so long ago I can't remember printing them. I don't love it but it's done and put away, good deal. The Office was freakin' hilarious and awesome tonight. I didn't erase it so I can watch it again!

Who knew blogging could be guilt inspiring enough...

to have me sneak quietly out so not to wake the boys up, in my pajamas and bare feet, to go to the car parked on the street, sneak back in still trying to not wake up the above mentioned boys (especially Aaron because then I would have to explain to him why waking him up to take this picture was a must) and stealthily capture this amazing shot!

It doesn't have to be perfect, heck according to this photo you don't even have to see his face, but I am still on track. Billy, you will never ever not one time in your life say, "Parents, why did you not document my childhood? I would have liked to have a few pictures of myself to show my children who I was as a child. You have done me a grave disservice, it's as though I did not even exist."

PS I am also getting worried that that same 40 year old man will be commenting, "Underwear, who needs them anyway, they are so over rated. These new Cars patterned diapers are very hip and I never have to leave an important meeting to use the restroom. My review this quarter even commented on how committed I am to my work, never wandering off to take one of those annoying 'potty breaks'."

What no picture today?

Bad bad mommy! The camera is in the car and I am feeling pretty bad I may have to force myself to run downstairs and take a sleeping picture. I promised myself I was going to take a picture every day of Billy this year (starting in April) and I have every day since, so I guess it's off to the car I go. I wanted to get a picture of Billy and Auntie Mil today but Wilkie and Prosper were too big of a draw to him. He kissed her hello and goodbye and stalked Cynthia for jellybeans who's just about the nicest lady ever (and she has a BIG laugh like me so I love talking to her)

She went out to run some errands while we were there to visit Mil and I said (in my sweet voice) "oh, you're taking Billy with you right, here's the keys to our car, don't worry he'll show you how to buckle the seat." She laughed so hard then I got to laughing and Billy was going crazy in the mix. Even my sad ol' husband couldn't help laughing. What a nice day we had, next time I'm going to sit with my camera on my lap.

Lets Play Dress-Up

Every time I have turned around the last couple of days Billy has had some funny costume or something that he has turned into a costume. Is this a 3 year old thing I don't remember from preschool? It is a fun little treat to never know who you're going to run into when you walk into a room! My favorite so far is the Spider Halloween bag turned into Spider hat. He said he needed Aaron's glasses to be able to shine the light in his eyes without it hurting them. We have put together a couple of really nice future interview outfits for Aaron's future interviews and he wanted to wear a tie too. Call companies call!

Our very nice neighbor Anne, who works at Stanford, said she is going to keep her eyes open for job openings and took his resume in case something comes up at work, I guess a lot of men are getting their doctorates right now and their wives are leaving with them therefore leaving open positions available.

Oh, by the way, it sucks to have a 6 year old look in through your screen door and tell you your house is really messy.

Help Yourself

I gave myself a little challenge to use these pictures I printed so long ago I don't remember. Overall I think it turned out OK, the teeny tiny journaling says, "Your first show of independence, you wanted it, you got it. The pictures are from June of '07.

Making cake and little piggies

The before and after pictures of Aaron and Billy making cake for an afternoon project. You'll never believe it, Billy loves vanilla cake and chocolate frosting, unbelievable, I know!


Yesterday Billy and I made "mud glorious mud" (a Billy quote) A.K.A. homemade play dough. It calls for
1 cup of flour
1 package of chocolate pudding
1/2 cup of salt
1/2 cup of hot water

Then you kneed for 5 minutes

It smells really good, like chocolate pudding, and Aaron thought we were making something edible, so Billy calls out, "Daddy, come try our mud, glorious, mud, it's ready."

And before I know it Aaron takes a big ol' whoppin' bite and he yells, "OH, MY GOD THAT'S AWFUL! What did you do wrong." I was laughing so hard I was holding myself up with the counter. Billy was going wild licking it and yelling, "THAT'S TERRIBLE! THAT'S AWFUL" I even had a little bite because Billy wanted us ALL to join in the fun. Really it turned out to be some much needed relief from the tension in the house, the only sad part is that I didn't get any pictures of this crazy incident.

You don't really think I'd call my besties little piggies did you? No way! I just loved this shot of Billy's feet, it makes me think how fast time goes and before I know it he'll be bringing home stinky PE and sports socks and shoes and I'll wonder where did THIS litttle guy go? And last but not least, little Mr. Smarty Pants was TRACING for the first time, daddy showed him you follow the dots and it was like a whole new world opened up to him, so exciting to watch. I got a lot of pictures of him tracing in his activity book but this was my favorite, I love the concentration and the look of determination he has on his face.

And on a totally unrelated note, I am watching Friday Night Lights the movie and Coach Taylor's wife and Buddy Garrity are the same actors. There was a shot of a fan in the crowd and he plays Landry in the show, I know, boring to anyone but me who is so crazy over this TV show. I am about 30 pages away from finishing the book too. So now at least Aaron knows if I'm watching something in our room it will either be Friday Night Lights OR The Office. I can't wait for season 3 to come out, luckily it was bought through Amazon a couple of months before our current situation, it will be like Christmas!

I had to cancel my kit clubs, not a big deal in the scheme of things, because, you know, unfortunately I can't feed Billy scrapbook paper, embellishments and chipboard alphabets but I was a little sad, I felt bad because I'm sure the kit clubs are hurting now too. Aaron says that's why I'd never make a good Blackjack dealer, I'd feel bad for the guy who lost his money and give it back. Oh well, things will get better soon. I told Aaron, just think of all the places you have ever wanted to live in California and look for jobs there, the sky's the limit, right? I went on the computer tonight and in just a quick half hour search found 15 jobs he is more than qualified for. We need to get him a nice "interview outfit" sooner then later and keep our fingers crossed.

Billy, future interior designer

Besides a mailman, garbage man, forklift driver, big rig driver and singing mechanic. A busy busy man he will be.

He specifically asked for a golden and black polka dot train, where those colors came from I'm not sure but I am really pleasantly surprised with how cute it turned out. If we ever have a house to decorate I'll have to ask Billy's input. On the other hand he had me hang a "poster" by the light switch in our room that is the coloring page that people submit to the Thomas magazine, so he's kind of hit or miss. I guess you take your chances with a three year old!

I had to go back and add the above mentioned "art" mainly because it's 1:30 and I am so tired but not sleepy and I thought this would be funny to look back on. The fact that I am the only one who reads this blog and I do it to make myself laugh has a lot to do with it too. If I had a readership of 1000's I highly doubt I'd be posting my Thomas ripped out of a magazine photo but it's all in good fun and I do want to remember the little things. I wish I'd taken the time to write every day since Billy was born, there's so much that slips through, that at the time you think, "Oh, I'll remember that" or "How could I forget how funny he was or that he said this or that."

Now no stealing my ideas Sunset, I have the market cornered on magazine pages held up by packing tape and don't you forget it! I should get myself a watermark for my photos.

Happy Mothers Day to Me

Look what was waiting for me this morning! Aaron and Billy are quite the Artiste's! Love this so much it's going to be hung along the Billy wall!

Happy Mothers Day

The only mothers day gift I finished, life got in the way I guess. I'm halfway done with my mom's gift but it won't be ready by tomorrow morning for sure (let alone mailed and delivered!) The lovely surface behind the page is my paint splattered Goodwill purchase table that I love! I had fun making this one, it came together in my head and then like I had envisioned it, nice!, I love it when that happens. The paper reminded me of Gram and I think she will like all the cute details on it. The ribbon was from Aunt Jeanne when she gave me all the vintage trim and buttons and stuff, I love how it is fringed at the end and matched the rose and Gram's sweater almost perfectly.

I have been strongly hinted at that I will be receiving my very own scrapbooking page from my two guys, I am waiting with much anticipation! Aaron even said he had a lot of fun doing it. Maybe I have a new scrap friend! He wanted to know if I noticed if any of my cool paper was missing (I haven't) but I can't wait to see.