Avatar in IMAX 3D!

I thought for sure I would be totally bored by too much fighting sequences and be totally unimpressed by a story line that featured alien looking people, but much to my surprise, I LOVED the movie Avatar! My mom splurged and took Me, Cam, Auntie and Brian to see Avatar in IMAX 3D and it was AH-MA-ZING! I have never seen a movie at IMAX and it is like a whole new world opened up! I came home and tried to explain it to Karl, but it's just unexplainable. Our next date night will definitely be to an IMAX movie, he has to see what I'm talking about for himself!

One of the coolest things about the whole night was that Cam got to come along. It was a 3 hour and something minute movie that started at 4:45 on a Sunday night, so it was a treat to stay up so late. I got a ton of one on one time with Cam when he was little, before school it was always just him and I, much as it is now with Dillon. Now with school, events, friends over, and Dillon always around, time for just him and I to hang out is rare. Tonight was a lot of fun. He sat next to me in the 2nd row of the theatre so when he got a headache from being so close he laid his head on my shoulder and closed his eyes. It was nice to snuggle with my boy who always acts so grown up. He sat next to me at dinner and we kinda re-bonded. It was something we really needed, so thanks mom!

Why?

What is it about the 3-6 year old age that makes my kids not want to wear underwear? Cameron went through a phase where he would put up a huge fight every morning getting dressed because he didn't want to wear them. I would find them stuffed under the bathtub on a daily basis because he would take them off the first chance he got. I thought we were going to get off easy with Dillon because he and Cam couldn't be more different if they tried. No such luck.

Dillon has finally stopped putting up a fight in the morning getting dressed because he finally realized he won't win that battle. However, every time he goes to the bathroom, he takes them off and stuffs them either between the toilet and the wall or behind the toilet. What is it with these boys? I cannot understand why they would want to run around and play all day wearing jeans and nothing else? Why, oh why?

Ewwwwww

Dillon's newest way of eating almost anything...

I'm starting to feel old...

Today Cameron has one of his best friends over. Erwin lives two houses down and I just love him. He is the most polite, sweet, wonderful kid I could ask for as a friend to the boys. Today he was over and Karl had recorded one of his favorite childhood movies, "Red Dawn" which was made in 1984. Cameron and Erwin were on the couch watching because it was raining once again today and I told them, "This movie was made the same year I was born." Erwin looked at me and said, "Oh, you guys had color?" I feel so old now!

The Lime

The Boy's Current Interests...

Cameron has a new obsession. Watching Animal Planet's Man vs. Wild. The host named Bear Grylls gets dropped off in remote areas (think the Rocky Mountains, Alaska, etc.) and he shows viewers how to survive using what is around them. Meaning... he goes into an abandoned railroad tunnel, reaches into a pipe in complete darkness and pulls out a huge frog, or maybe it was a toad? Anyway, think HUGE. He whacks it on the wall, knocking it out, and then proceeds to bite it's head off! This guy eats the most disgusting things. I'm sorry, but even if I was stranded and starving to death, I would cook the dang frog. If I couldn't get a fire started to cook it, well, then I guess I would just die instead. Eww. Yuck.

 As  you can imagine, Dillon loves this show too. He talks about it all the time. In Safeway he told the sweet, adorable, innocent little boy behind us in line all about the show where they guy bit the frog's head off. The look from his mom was to be expected I guess.

Cameron is also really into building Legos again. He got a ton of Lego sets for Christmas this year and he's built all but the 2 hardest ones. He has the top 3 shelves of the bookcase in his room completely filled with the things he's made, mainly without a kit, just from his imagination. I love seeing him come in and show me the new submarine he built and it's really cool to hear his way of thinking as he explains why he put the turbo engine where he put it and all the details.

Dillon has such a short attention span lately that he doesn't have one main interest. If I had to pick the one thing he is most interested in right now, it would be doing homework. This kid just loves to learn. He knows 99% of his letters, can write a few of them as well as his name, and knows a lot of the sounds they make. He can sit for 20-25 minutes and do homework, that's way longer than he spends doing anything else that requires being still.

His favorite show right now is America's Funnies Home Videos. He can record shows to the DVR so needless to say, we have a few recorded that he watches over and over again. And then he invites (no, demands) that Karl, Cameron, or I join him and "watch this part, it's really funny. Come on... Come ON NOW!" He has this really loud fake laugh for each of the clips he deems the funniest.

They may make me crazy when they're together, but individually, I think they're pretty amazing.

Cam's First Playdate Of The New Year

Hmm... at Cameron's age, do we even still call them "playdates" it seems a little young. Maybe "Man Meetups" : P Anyway...

Cameron was having a playdate last Wed. with his friends Vicente and Yohannes. His other friend, I'll call him "T", asked if Cameron would have a playdate with him. I hesitantly said "Sure, let me talk to your mom." Now here's a quick background on this kid's mom: Her son and Cameron have been friends and in the same class for both second and third grade (which is this year) I pick up and drop off Cam every day. The kids play on the playground after school all the time. I have never spoken a single word to this woman. She doesn't look me in the eyes, and has never, ever even smiled at me. Wierd, but let me go on...

Back to Wednesday... T talks to her and she comes over and tells me that her son would like to have a playdate with my son. Cool, no problem, a free few hours for me, right? Nope. She invites her son to my house this weekend. Awwwkward... I think, Alright this can work. The kids get really antsy on the weekends and they could use a playdate. Err... Man Meetup. We set the date for today, Sunday from 1-4.  

It didn't start off too well. T arrives and got totally flustered when I told him that he didn't have to take his shoes off in our house. If he wanted to, fine, but he didn't have to. Within 5 minutes of getting here the kid says "I want to play the playstation" Now, if you know our house at all, you know that the kids can't seem to play video games without fighting, so the Wii and Playstation are in Karl's safe more than out by the tv. I think, 'What could it hurt, let them play'. Let's just put it this way: T is an only child, he doesn't get sharing. Oh yea, and he is contantly saying "What the hell?" Once again, I'm just too nice and I let it slide.

It's raining outside by now so Karl goes down and rents the new movie Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. I make popcorn. I tell the kids to please keep the popcorn on the table. T tells me that at his house, his mom lets him eat wherever he wants. He sits on the couch between Cam and Dillon (Who were originally sitting next to each other before they were shoved apart) so that he can be closest tot he popcorn. He got more popcorn on the floor than in his mouth. At least Jack will be happy.

Now Cameron has been preparing for this playdate by getting everything together to catch beetles. Little plastic containers, the best spots, etc.  As we shuffle Jack into our bedroom and lock him up because T is terrified of him (Everytime he saw him, he plugged his ears) the kids go outside. Our backyard is like a playground. However, T doesn't like the huge trampoline in our backyard. T doesn't want to play on the giant playstructure outside. T doesn't like our chickens. And most of all: T is quite distressed that Cameron has left a pile of dog poop in the backyard. I told Cameron to go pick it up and this kid looks me in the eye and says "At my house, that's my mom's job, and our dog poops in the same spot so our backyard isn't as nasty as yours." Thanks kid.

The day didn't get any worse, but it didn't get much better. T didn't want to take turns playing the Wii, he would not step outside for even a minute (I don't really think he would have played outside anyway, he doesn't look like that type of kid), he told Karl to his face "I don't feel like building Legos, I'm not that bored yet". We brought out the Creepy Crawlers machine where you make little plastic bugs and he totally freaked out because he doesn't like bugs. Ugh. They aren't real kid. He didn't want to play with the bearded dragon because he "doesn't like to mess with nature"

4 hours felt like 4 months today. I have never, ever been so happy for 4 o'clock to arrive!! If Cameron would have had fun, it would have been worth it. But he looked totally miserable and told me he didn't want to do that again anytime soon. Bummer...

At Long Last, A Haircut...

Dillon decided today he didn't want to grow his hair long anymore, he wanted it short like daddies. Okie Dokie, Flowbee Time it is!

Before:

After:

We're Never Going to Stevens Creek Reservoir Again...

Seriously. Never. I've just rolled out of bed and I'm sitting at the table enjoying a delicious breakfast made by my wonderful husband and Jack walks over to Karl at the table. Karl pets him on his neck and says "Oh no, Jack has something on his neck." It was a tick! A tick I tell you! Holy Moly I freaked, those things creep me out like there is no tomorrow! After the whole family searched for tweezers for 10 minutes, Karl got down to business. The kids watched in facination (Cam even videotaped it!) as Karl pulled the tick out. I managed to stay perfectly calm ("Hey Honey, if I had a tick anywhere I would know already right?") while the tick came out and was disposed of. But then- 5 minutes later, ANOTHER ONE!!! He had another, bigger tick by his mouth. I think Karl saw the panic in my eyes. He brushed him head to toe and then bathed him in flea and tick shampoo.  I think we'll take walks a little closer to home from now on...

Is there anybody out there?

If you're reading this, become a follower! There's a little section on the left side of the blog called "followers" you can sign in there with a whole bunch of different accounts (google, yahoo, aim, etc...) but if you don't have one of those and you don't want to make one, post a comment somewhere... I like to know who I'm talking to, and then I can stop bugging everyone I don't think are reading yet... Thank You!

Oh Cameron...

Me: " Cam, what kind of watch is your favorite? The kind that tells you the numbers for the time or the one that looks like a clock?"

Cam: "Oh yea mom, like someone's really gonna walk around with a clock in their pocket."

Um... Ok then....

Dillon's first day of Preschool!

Mom met up with Karl and  I at 9:00 this morning and we dropped Dillon off. It was nothing like past preschool experiences! This time he was ready! He took off his shoes, stowed them in the shoe caddy, and walked off into the play area. We took pictures and he pretty much went on his way playing and investigating all that was to be found. He could not have cared less if we were there or not. We kept saying "Bye Dillon" "We're leaving now" I guess we were waiting for him to change his mind and freak out, but he was happy to stay!

 I went off to my Grandma, Oma's house for our Monday get together with Auntie D. and my mom where we sat and talked for a lot longer than normal over vegetable sandwiches. Then, I got to sit down and go through the big bags of amazing yarn she had gotten from a friend's sister. It was so peaceful!! Karl got to stay home and watch Overhaulin'... until he went to go get Dillon at 11:30.  When I got home around noon, Dillon told me all about his friend:
 "Dillon, did you make a lot of friends today?"
"Yep."
 "How many?"
 "All of them."
 "Oh yea? What are their names?"
 "I dunno, what?"
 I'm not sure all that he did today, but I know when Karl picked him up he was 'being a lion' and roaring and chasing the kids around. I sure thought he had a great time and would be itchin' to go back, but when I asked him if he wanted to go back another day he said no. He said the teacher yelled at him because he was trying to take a truck up the mountain slide, and he cried. Don't know how much of that is true, but knowing Dillon, all the teacher would have to do is look at him and sternly tell him not to do something and he would burst into tears. Oh well. Once he says he wants to go back, I'll be happy to take him!

He literally skipped all the way to the door...

And then stopped to pose for a few seconds...

And then played "counting ladybugs" with teacher Marcella.

Best.Game.Ever.

Providing my family with hours of excitement...

A whole lotta random bits...

 If you've got a short attention span, you're in luck! I have a few little things to blog about, but none on their own qualify for their own space!


First off,
My little boy wants to go to Preschool!!! If you remember, last year at Prospect High School, he attended school from Feb.-May 2 days a week and cried and cried EVERY morning at drop off. It sucked. Flash forward a year later, and he has been talking about it a bit. I decided instead of putting it out there like it was something he didn't have to be scared of, to just pretend last year didn't happen and only tell him about all the cool things he would enjoy. Every time we did a project at home, I told him he would do tons like it at preschool. Every time we were at the playground and there were no kids his age, I told him he would meet tons at preschool. You get the idea. Well, tonight I found out it must have worked!! He told me "When it's light out and not dark anymore, I'm going to preschool." Then he climbed up the cabinet in the utility room and got himself a snack and a bag, put the snack into the bag, and told me it was for school tomorrow. Whoa, he was seriously excited! Even though his regular preschool doesn't start until February, I thought about the drop in childcare place around the corner that offers a preschool program (It's actually where Cam went) called KidsPark. They have a M-F drop off program where he can go any day he/I want, preschool runs from 9-11 and you pay by the hour. He wanted to call one of his most favorite people, Grandma Marion, and ask her if she would come with us at drop off.  It's all he's talked about all night!! Wish me luck that he's as excited tomorrow and goes and has a great time!


Secondly,
My husband has decided to change things up a bit and gave himself a mohawk. Yes, you heard me right, and here's my proof! All I can say is that the kids and I are having a seriously hard time taking him seriously!

Third, today my niece Denali came over and played with the kids for a bit. They had so much time and they all got along really, really well! They jumped on the trampoline for (what felt like) hours, they ran around the backyard, played with trains, watched Tinkerbell, and basically ransacked Dillon's closet of it's guts. But they had a really good time!!


My husband also let me sleep in AGAIN today! And I got to wake up to breakfast AGAIN!!! I am seriously spoiled! This morning was hash browns, bacon, cinnamon rolls, coffee, and OJ. Yum Yum! Thank you Honey!!


Last but not least, I have a pretty adorable video to share. Dillon may be 3.5 but he is still a little naive... He still belives that Karl can not only put an object into his ear and take it back out again, but he also believes that any object that has gone missing can be found in there too.


GRRR I can't seem to upload the video, I'll try again in the morning!

Day out at Stevens Creek Reservoir

This week's Saturday morning was awesome. Karl got up early with the kids, let me sleep, and then made us an awesome breakfast. I was woken up with 15 minutes to take a shower, and then joined them at the table. He had made hash browns, bacon, and pancakes! He didn't forget the OJ or coffee either! It was sooo yummy!!

Even though we had a great start to our day, a few hours after breakfast the youngins were getting restless.  After putting our heads together we decided todays destination would be the Stevens Creek Reservoir!

It was a little foggy, but not too cold. The kids packed up their fishing poles and even the dog was smiling!

Our first stop was at the run off ditch, which of course Karl and the kids were begging me to let them jump down and "play" in. I can be as adventurous as the next person, but when the signs say "Warning: Do not Tresspass" I tend to stay away.

Stop and pose for a picture 5 minutes into our excursion... Cameron looks a litle sarcastic, ya think?

After our brief photo op, the boys got down to business doing what they love most, fishing!

Cameron's line got stuck a few minutes into fishing, either it got snagged and the Kastmaster broke off, or a huge fish tried to take the bait and took the whole Kastmaster off instead... I don't know which is true, but I know which tale Cameron's spouting... Dillon was nice enough to share his poll with Cameron, and after a few more minutes of fishing, we were off to take a walk.

We had so many photo opportunities! It was beautiful there!

Cameron was wonderful and took a picture of Karl and I...

One of my boys together. Suprisingly, neither one would walk out on the tree limb behind them to take a picture... Maybe because I asked?

Karl, Cam, and Jack trekked on ahead a bit...

Jack...

How could I almost forget to put this pic up?!? Dillon kept running up ahead in the beginning and it was stressing Jack out (he tries to keep his 'pack' together) so Karl told Dillon, "Don't run ahead too far Buddy, there are Mountain Lions and Coyotes up here, so stay close." Dillon immediately stopped and came back by us. Then he found the biggest club/stick around and carried it around describing in detail (over and over again by the way) how this was his "Yote stick" and he was going to kill/hurt/hit the "yote" with stick when it came around. He said he wasn't scared... but he never ran up ahead again :)

We had so much fun! We were there for over 3 and a half hours! Both Dillon and Jack slept the whole way home!

Fed Up

Dear Cameron,

If you make a farting noise for the express purpose of ticking off your brother

-OR-

If you tell your brother you're going to fart on his bed just to see him scream

-OR-

You actually do fart on said little brother JUST to make him mad...

I will make YOU mad by putting you to bed a half hour earlier PER OFFENSE!!
Enough is enough!!

Family 2009

Here's the top pictures (I think) from 2009... We did so many fun things, it was hard to just pick a few. Enjoy!

Dillon 2009

Dillon and his preschool girlfriend Emma.

On our cruise, Dillon was quite a ham at the table.

The first time he wrote his name! We were at Oma's and I was on the computer. He was sitting next to me asking "What starts with my name? Then what's next" I told him each letter and when he was done he handed me this! I had no idea he could do that!


Opa would be so proud!

Cameron 2009

My all time favorite of Cameron from our cruise to Catalina Island. Someday I'll blow it up and frame it and put it in his room. It's so colorful and he looks so old! :(

This one's from around Christmas time this year, his eyes look so beautiful! Err... Handsome

The kids had so much fun horseback riding for the first time! Cameron took to it like a pro, and by the end he was riding all by himself! Kathy let him lead Concho wherever he wanted. He was on cloud nine!

Another favorite from our cruise, this time we were outside Papas & Beer in Ensenada. Too funny!

Ugh

Dillon and Jack (the dog) are out in the backyard playing while I did a quick pick-up around the house. They're out they're for say, 15 minutes? Dillon comes walking in, Jack by his side. As they walk past me, I get a huge whiff of dusgusting dog poop. My eyes go first to Dillon's feet. They're bare. So it's not on his shoes... "Yuck" I said. "Something smells disgusting in here."

"Well, I didn't wipe poop on Jack's back, so I don't know..." says you know who.

Oh joy, that's just great. Yuck, Yuck, Double Yuck.

A little bit of bragging...

I just have so much to brag about, and no where to do it! I figured since this blog isn't really read by too many people, it's kinda like a journal post to myself. I just want to be able to look back and remember all these details!

Dillon:
He's been able to ride a 2 wheeler since October 2009. We never put training wheels on his bike and he took to it right off the bat at Oma's on Monday morning. Grandma Marion and I took turns holding on to the back of his seat, and then he told us we could let go. Once we did, he just took off. Now he is standing up and peddling, going fast, doing brake skids, he's just incredible!

He has been completely potty trained during the day since 2 months before he turned 2 (so, 22 months old) He was also completely night trained a month or so after that (See! I'm already forgetting all the little details I didn't write down because "I would never forget that") We are so lucky to have had a kid that didn't like to be dirty and took to potty training so easily. We had a tough time with Cameron, he was Dillon's age before we made progress of any kind. There are so many parents struggling with this right now, we are soooo lucky.

He dresses and undresses himself completely. Socks, Shoes, Undies, Shirt, Buttons his jeans, everything.

He goes to the bathroom completely on his own. All we need to do is listen for "Mom? I'm done" and then come and wipe him. Not bad. I'll take it over wiping his buns and changing his diaper any day.

He unbuckles and buckles himself into his carseat. It has a 5 point harness too, so this isn't all that easy to do!

He is a computer whiz. He can take out a CD, put it in his computer, find the icon, get it started, he has already beat the Jump Start Preschool world game with all the levels! He can work the volume, navigate all his favorite website games (PBSkids.org, NickJR.com, Playhousedisney.com) He can do almost anything on there. I think he will be good with computers when he grows up.

As for Cameron, I don't have a ton of milestones since he's 9 and we're kinda past the getting dressed/walking/talking milestones BUT I do want to brag that he is my math whiz! I love reading and I'm pretty good at spelling, but anything past multiplication and division and my head starts to swim. Not Cam!! His school divides each 2nd/3rd grade class by testing all the students and placing them in reading and math classes that suit what level they're at. He love, love, loves his math teacher, Mrs. Lavelle. She is so sweet! Anyway, he came home the other day just as thrilled as can be. He said that the class came across a division problem and even the teacher didn't understand how to do it correctly. But Cameron did!! He told his teacher he could do it and she said "Ok class, for this problem Mr. Schmidt will be your teacher" and she sat down at his desk and he got to teach it to the class!! I am so proud!!

He is also doing really well in reading. Most of you probably know that this was a big struggle for him and this school year he has read and finished at least 5 books!! This is coming from last year when he had never finished a book before! He stays up late at night with his little book light (Thanks Grandma Marion!!) and reads.

Last but not least, one of my favorite things about Cameron has always been his adaptability. You can take him anywhere, any time and he will fit in and have fun. The first day of football, off making tons of friends. First day of school, no worries. He is able to go into any situation, and just fit in. I never realized how lucky we were until we had Dillon, who is MUCH more cautious and doesn't want to leave my side in a new situation. He is doing much better, but I am still reminded how lucky we are with Cam.

Thank you for letting me brag!! I am always so worried about hurting other people's feelings by saying what the kids can do, I have no one to share all this with!

Whoa!! We Just had an EARTHQUAKE!!! Dillon and I are sitting on the couch, he's watching a movie and I'm on the computer (obviously) and there was an earthquake!! Not huge, but scared the beezusus outta me!! Dillon was totally oblivious! Hahaha! They just said 4.6 magnitude. Not bad!