Happy Idiot Driving Day & the Busy Birthday Weekend!

The summer is almost over and we had a busy busy weekend! Before I go into the details, I have to relate a funny Henry story. On Thursday, on the way to swimming, with Henry in the back seat, I was cut off in traffic a few times. I said in exasperation, "Must be idiot driving day!"

Then on Friday, my sister took a long lunch and we went to look at flooring. Both the boys were in the car. I was stopped at a stop sign and it was my turn to go. Not one but two cars went right through the stop sign. "Must still be idiot driving day,"I said. Then we were in the store. The boys were pretty good - no running around or knocking things over. As we were leaving, the lady behind the counter thanked us and said, "Have a nice day!" Henry with one foot out the door stuck his hand up in a cheerful wave and yelled, "Happy Idiot Driving Day!. I shuffled him out the door during mid-sentence so it was worse because they probably just heard, "Happy Idiot..." Charlotte was laughing till she was almost crying in the car. I was mortified at first but, then I realized how funny it was. I should have known Henry would pick up on it. Poor kid thought it was actually Idiot Driving Day! I really must watch what I say...

On Friday we joined Lilly, Mary & Cindy at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalkand we sawSly & The Family Stone Experience! They were fun. The kids had a great time dancing to the music.

On Saturday, Sam turned two! He got this great Disney ride along bubble machine from Grandma and Grandad (it was in the big big box). We didn't want bubbles in the house, so we didn't put the bubbles in. But, Sam loved it all the same.

After presents, we had cake with Thomas The Tank Engine on it. Sam was so cute trying to blow the candles. He loved his cake. It was chocolate with chocolate fudge filling. Yum!

On Sunday, we went to see Thomas at Roaring Camp. Sammy had a wonderful time. He kept pointing at Thomas and saying, "Thomas" as we waited for the ride. We got to sit in the car right behind the famous Blue Tank Engine.

The boys also got Thomas tatoos and face painting. Sam actually sat still most of the time while his face was getting painted. I'm kinda dreading bath night because there will be tears when the Thomas Tatoo comes off! There was also a bouncy house, which was an obvious highlight of the whole trip - the boys went on 3 times! They also had a Thomas made out of Legos which the boys loved climbing on. Sam kept saying, "Lego Thomas, Lego Thomas..."

We also took pictures with Sir Topham Hat and in front of Thomas. Unfortunately, Sam is not a ham (like his brother)so it took a lot of yelling to get him to even look at the camera. Our little guy does smile all the time, honestly.

Fever.

So, Sam woke up with a fever this morning. He was warm last night but, not so warm that I wanted to wake him and put medicine down him. But, this morning he was warmer. So Matt and I gave him some Motrin. We are supposed to meet Lilly in the park but, I'm inclined to cancel. I really don't want him to be sick on his birthday, Saturday. Especially since we are seeing Thomas the Tank Engine on Sunday.

Even though, they aren't supposed to be bad, fevers always worry me. I know fevers are a symptom and that they don't necessarily hurt the child, but I'm still not crazy about them. When Henry is sick, he's so different. He's so quiet and listless and sleepy. He's a good patient though. He knows to just go to sleep and let his immune system do the fight. Sam's a bit more restless. He's got those fever eyes right now. Poor thing. I don't like my kids being sick. It makes me feel helpless...

What could it be?

Got this Large package from Amazon.com yesterday. It's addressed to "Master Sam Covington". As you can see, Sam already enjoys just sitting on the big box. He doesn't have any real clue that it's for him. Although, he now knows when I ask him,"How old are you going to be?" He says, "two!" So cute. I'm a little anxious what could be in there. Mum called on Sunday and told us to expect a package for little S's b-day. She chuckled slyly and said something about us not being "too happy" with it...hmm...

"You might wake up the sky"

We Survived Camping! Barely. Thanks to yours truly -- the whole trip would have been a wash. You see, after we set up camp on Sunday, the original plan was for me to go out and get pizza because Matt would be too tired to do anything else. The campsite is only about 10 minutes away from Target and Roundtable Pizza and about 12 minutes away from home. As expected, there were a few things that we needed and or forgot to take with us so, I was to go home get some things, go to Target buy some things, then go to Roundtable and get dinner. When I got to Target, I managed to lock my keys in the car! This lead an errand that was supposed to last 1/2 an hour tops into a 2 hour ordeal!! Matt was at the campsite with the kids. It was cold there and they had no food (the cooler was in the car). All I have to say is, thank God for cell phones and the fact that Matt was in the Boy Scouts (or it's U.K. equivalent.)

I managed to track down my sisters, who were 1/2 an hour away in Gilroy. They picked me up, we went back to the house, picked up the spare key that Charlotte had, and I finished getting food and went back to camp. The boys hadn't killed each other, but, it was getting close. Matt managed to make fire without the firestarter (one of the things I was supposed to get) and Sam managed to bite Henry just once (out of boredom and fighting over the gameboy.) Yes, Sam bit Henry. It was a nip on the finger. Oh, the terrible twos. Matt was actually quite patient with the whole situation. But, he won't let me forget this. Believe me. Slap that Scarlet "S" on me! S for stupid.

The rest of the trip went pretty smoothly. I just wish it was warmer. It's that darn Marine Layer! It's the middle of July but, it was still too cold. Being near the beach didn't help either. The thing is I (the native Californian) was really the only one who had trouble with this. The boys truly enjoyed themselves despite the chill. Sam was in his element. He was at least 2 shades darker from the dirt, but he loved it. He and Henry just ran around and played among the trees and on the beach.

Henry got to stay up with his dad and bond by the fire. Matt told me that he had the flashlight and was shining it up into the trees when Henry said, "Don't shine it up there, you might wake up the sky." It was nice to getaway, even if it was just for a few days.

Now it's back to the daily grind. Not to mention Laundry. All the endless laundry...

Need Noise?

Here's a scrapbook page, I just finished. I scrapbook almost every day. It's a real addiction for me.

Almost Friday. Things have been humming along. The weather is really nice. Henry's been swimming. He's really getting along there. Sam is talking more and more. He's definately going through those terrible twos though. We are planning on going on our first camping trip on Sunday to Sunset State Beach. I have to make up lists. We'll probably start packing on Saturday. Check in time is 2p.m. on Sunday. Wish us luck!

Took the kids to Jose Ave Park yesterday. We had a good time. There was this nice young woman from Barrios Unidos who offered free lunches to the kids. Apparently for the summer, they can have a free luch every Weds. in the park. Mary and I were impressed. Usually, there is a parent group there, who never acknowledges us or introduces themselves.

Seen any good DVDs lately?? I Finally got a chance to see The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou and House of Flying Daggers. I liked them both but, also not as much as some other Wes Anderson or Yimou Zhang movies. For both of them, I felt the pacing was a bit off. But, I liked them. Thank goodness for Netflix! You pay one monthly price for rental and you keep the movie as long as you want. Seriously no extra fees, no "restocking" charges that Blockbuster try and sneak by you...

Aside from the camping this weekend, we will probably take the kids to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Sam loves the squirrels on the preview. We watched a special on MTV about the movie and Sam wanted me to rewind the part with the squirrels over and over again (we have a DVR on our sattelite). Apparently, Tim Burton hired real trained squirrels and the chocolate river was made of a kind of base used for baked beans. Tasty.

Oh before I forget, I wanted to let everyone know that if you have the t.v. channel Noggin you might catch a glimpse of our friends Eric and Christina's kids Alaric and Gwyndolyn in a music video on rotation there. It's for a song called Farm Animal Friends by a group called "Gwendolyn and The Goodtime Gang". Alaric is in chaps, blue denim and a Clint Eastwood cowboy hat and Gwyndolyn is in a maroon cowgirl dress complete with pigtails. The song is pretty catchy. Although, I never imagined our Eric (Mr. Bloody Valentine) telling us to watch a band with the words "Goodtime Gang" in the title. :) I understand the whole proud parent thing though. If my kids were in a video for something like Kelpo and the Seaweed gang I'd be all over it too! Have a good weekend! Janet out.

Sad.

This is horrible. Sad. At least 40 dead. Hundreds injured. I remember a long time ago, way before 9/11, being in London and thinking about why there were no garbage cans in the "Tube" and realizing it was because of terrorists. My heart goes out to those in London and the U.K. right now...

Those who do, Teach.

Nostalgia Alert!! Actually the quote at the title isn't for Bev (who we saw yesterday), it's for our dear friend Brandon. Here's a picture of him 10 years (!) ago when he was still "The Cisco Kid."

I'm happy to report that our Brandon, who has been working hard getting his teaching credentials, has found a job teaching! He'll be working for Mary B. Lewis Elementary. It's a year round school and he'll be teaching 6th grade. Yes, I said 6th grade. He'll be teaching antzy 11 and 12 year old tweens. The Hillary Duff set. God speed Cisco Kid, God speeed.

Capitola Mall

Got to hook up with our friend Beverly on Tuesday. We met up at the Capitola Mall for lunch. Of course, this is the one time I don't go to the Mall with the backpack full of extra clothes for the boys. And of course, Sam gets too excited, overstuffs his face and promptly throws-up his lunch in the food court. Did I mention that Bev is 4 1/2 months pregnant? Luckily, she is also a first grade teacher, so despite the fact that I'm sure watching Sam toss his cookies made her lose her appetite, she was a really trooper about it. In fact, she was incredibly helpful. She got napkins and watched after Henry while I gave Sam an impromptu bath in the Mall bathroom sink. She's going to be a great mom. I'm really glad for her and her husband Wes.

And don't worry about our wee Sam. I found some extra clothes in the car. He and Henry played a little more and when we got home, he actually ate the rest of his lunch that I managed to salvage and bring home.

Action is the star.

We had a fairly good weekend here. Matts company, Allume just got bought by a company called Smith Micro. You can read about it here: Smith Micro acquires Allume.

Matt is optimistic about it, which is good. Of course, since he's director of Product Management and he's in charge of the most profitable product, the acquisition meant some real PR work on his part. So, long story short, he was not at Family Swim on Friday. I know he really wanted to be there. There will be other FS days though, so it was no real loss. Anyway, Henry and I got in the pool together on Friday (my sisters watched Sammy) and he and I had some quality bonding time. It was fun.

For the rest of the weekend Matt and I managed to get out and catch a couple of the latest movies out right now. Friday night we got to see Batman Begins. We both thought it was really good. Matt thought it was the best of all the Batman movies but, that he couldn't stop seeing Christian Bale as the little kid from Empire of the Sun. With me, seeing all that hunky muscle, there no way I was getting him mixed up with a little boy. :)

The second movie we saw was on Saturday afternoon, War of The Worlds. We both liked it but, my sister and I had a real problem with the ending. Although, I wouldn't necessarily agree with Roger Eberts Review. He was being a bit too harsh on the aliens and the whole darn invasion. Matt thinks he's "politically motivated" - with all the recent Cruise hoopla going on, it makes me wonder...I'm curious to know what others think about this. So if you've seen the movie let me know.

As for Fourth of July we joined the rest of our pyromaniac neighbors and proceeded to litter the street with Fireworks. Our fireworks were small compared to some of our neighbors who obviously didn't get their fireworks from the local school or the Youth Soccer League. Some of the fireworks rivaled the shows people pay for! What a spectacle. Henry ran around and yelled the whole time. He and Liam, one of our neighbor's kids threw those little balled up explosive things that pop when they hit the ground. While Sammy and Callum (Liam's little brother) just stared stunned. Every once in a while Sam would say "cool" but, for the most part he just stared.

All in all we had a good weekend. It's going to be a short but, busy week. See you later.

Reading.

I'm proud of myself! I just added to this blog a spot on the sidebar where you can see what we are reading. Because this blog is free, it doesn't have much in terms of fancy plug ins. I want my blog to look like the ones in typepad so I basically copied and pasted HTML stuff from another blog. This is not hard but, time consuming. I'm sure there's an easier way and if you know I'd love for you to tell me. Well, I think it's looks pretty good.

Anyway, you can check out what we're reading right now. If you know us, you can pretty much guess who is reading what on that list. Laters. :)

TGIF

"Thank God it's Friday." This term doesn't really mean much to me because I'm not working full time or rather because I am working full time. It all depends on your definition of "work". I think other Stay at Homes understand what I mean. I used to work from 8:00 - 4:30 and then look forward to the weekend at home. But, when you are at home all the time, there really isn't a sort of end to the week.

When Matt comes home on Friday he expects to be able to take things easy. He's worked hard all week. Me, I have spurts. Because I'm at home, I can "work" at cleaning, laundry, the kids, etc. and then occasionally veg in front of the t.v. or read or blog. My relaxation is in bits not in consecutive days.

Actually, as a mom, everything is in spurts - eating in spurts, talking in spurts, cleaning up the spurts... Being a mom is not easy. When I go back to work, I'm not sure how I'm going to cope with all this. (Because the mommy duties continue, as any working Mom can attest to too.)

Anyway, because it's going to be a 3 day weekend (for most), hopefully Matt will be home early. Today is the last day of Session 1 for Henry's swimming. Today is Family Swim day so the parents and rest of the family can hop in the pool too. Hopefully, Matt will be able to come and we can all splash around a bit this afternoon. Anyway, have a great weekend!