Cheyanne's Feelings

A few nights ago after Cheyanne and I finished brushing our teeth she hopped down off the toilet and quietly grabbed a tissue. I followed her out of the bathroom and watched her grab her blankie and climb up on the couch.
She then balled up the tissue and started doing this:

San Jose Improv - Jim Breuer

Every year Sal and a large group of his co-workers get together and go river rafting for a weekend. This is an annual trip that the company pays for. This year it just happened to land on his b-day weekend. Since he would be gone July 10, I decided to take him out for an early birthday/late Father's Day comedy show.

I invited Angelo (his cousin) and Angelica (cousin's girlfriend) to join us. Childless and on the hottest day of the year (104 in the shade) we met them at San Jose Improv. They actually don't do Improv shows that's just the name. We had excellent seats on the showroom floor. No big head people in our way and a great view of the stage. We ate dinner there and had a few drinks before the opening act. I forget his name but he was OK. The next guy Kris Tinkle was super vulgar, sort of funny and totally reminded me of my brother. Sal loved him.

Then it was time for the main event. The reason I bought the tickets was to see Jim Breuer. His act these days had a lot to do with family and kids and Sal and I laughed till our sides hurt. I have been to comedy shows before and they were funny of course, but not like this. I was crying, and about to pee my pants.

It was an awesome night and all 4 of us had a blast and plan on doing it again very soon!

The 4 of us

The crazies we brought with us

Not a big fan of this pic but its the only one we took together

Announcement

Today Nathan announced he would like to be called "Sting Ray Boy, not boring Nathan"

A Jelly Fish & Baby

By Nathan

Father's Day 09

We had a pretty typical Father's Day this year. I decided to make a yummy breakfast of eggs, hash browns, pancakes and turkey sausage. Around 7 I woke up the kids and they grabbed their homemade cards and brought them to a still sleeping Daddy. They all came to breakfast and we decided to act like tourists and drive up to Pier 39.

We went to the Aquarium of the Bay (we get 1/2 off admission with our Oakland Zoo membership) which was awesome. We saw some amazing jellyfish, walked through a long tunnel under the bay and got to pet a Bat Ray and baby Leopard Shark. The Bat Ray was very jello-like and the Leopard Shark was like sandpaper.

We of course had to go see the noisy Sea Lions. When we first got there Shy immediately said "P-U!". Nathan grabbed his nose and said "Something reawwwy stinks mommy. I can't breath!" They eventually got used to it and decided the Sea Lions were pretty cool. There were lots of baby Sea Lions and they were adorable!

An old Guillory family tradition (starting with my dad) is to walk through the Grotto and buy some crab. We did this too, and watched the "Robot Guy" dance while we all chowed down on crab. It was so fresh and delicious. While we were waiting for our crabs to be cracked up, one of the crab guys let Nathan hold a live crab. He of course loved that.

We also took a Bay Cruise which was 45 minutes on a boat around the bay. We went around Alcatraz, under the Golden Gate and near Sausalito. It was great and not too crowded. The morning in the city was beautiful and not windy. Once we got off the boat around noon it was really crowded and super windy. It was way past nap time so we decided it was a good time to head home. Cheyanne fell asleep in the stroller and Nathan was out as soon as we were on the freeway.

The dogs spent the day with my mom so when we stopped in San Mateo to pick them up, we decided to stop at Sal's mom's house and say hello. The kids played for awhile then it was really time to go home.

Sal said he had a blast and everyone pretty much got along today. He couldn't have asked for a better Father's Day. I'm just glad he knows how much we appreciate him and love him.

The Man of the hour


In the Giant Octopus tank

(they wouldn't let us take pics of it, but yes it was GIANT)

The biggest star fish ever!


Awesome Jelly Fish


This crab put on a little crab show for us





Bay Cruise

The Crab

Ta da!

Time to go

My Famous Husband

Today I googled my name to double check my blog doesn't come up in a search engine. After that I got curious and googled Sal's name also.

This is what came up (see page 4):
http://www.campbelltimes.com/images/camp%207%2007.pdf

The date is August 2007. He had NO idea that this was printed. He also had NO recollection of even taking a picture or being asked this question. It's pretty cool if you ask me.

Its also pretty cool that he was in the Paly Voice. Click here for the article.

Weekend Projects

When Daddy is home on the weekends the kids fight for his attention all day long. Nathan especially wants to help Daddy do anything around the house. If it involves tools that's even better. As soon as the tools come out, Nathan is all over them while Shy slowly leaves. She kinda backs away and makes her way quietly to the playroom to play with her dollies.

Nathan on the other hand studies Sal and watches his every move. He doesn't miss a beat. He is very observant and can imitate Daddy and how to use a particular tool after watching just once. I hope this learning enthusiasm carries over when he starts school.

Here's today's project -

This is what we do when the boys are working. We plant our behinds firmly in chairs.

Current Favorite Songs

As of today these are the kids favorite songs:

Cheyanne:
Jingle Bells
ABC's
One Jump Ahead - Aladdin
Part of Your World - Little Mermaid

Nathan:
Old McDonald
Prince Ali - Aladdin
A Whole New World - Aladdin
(as you can see, we watch WAAAY too much Aladdin)
All Summer Long - Kid Rock
Bleeding Love - Leona Lewis
(during the part where she goes "keep keep bleeding love" Nathan sings "keep keep crying - babies keep keep crying")

Dress Up

The kids were playing dress up today. Nathan was a fireman as usual and Cheyanne was wearing a cape and calling herself 'Super Why'.




While they were running around like crazies I asked them to stop and take a picture.....when I did, Nathan put his hand around Shy and said "Lets get married".

I think he was trying to kiss her but she thought it was too hilarious

(I blame that on The Little Mermaid)

Pocahontas

We can FINALLY braid Cheyanne's hair!! Yes they are teeny tiny but they are braids!!

I love it and to top it off she loves it too. You have a better chance of winning the lotto than I do of agreeing with Cheyanne. She loves to be called "little Indian Princess".

Dusty the Cat

I recently had a conversation with a woman at the gym about cats. She has 2 purebred Maine Coons. Dusty came up in conversation and I told her he is almost 20lbs so she asked about some of his features thinking he may be part Maine Coon.

When I got home from the gym I did a little research on cat breeds because now I was curious about Mr. Dust. Turns out he is NOT a Maine Coon and he most resembles a RagaMufffin. Cute :)
He is most likely a mix since we got him at the SPCA but he's definitely got a lot of RagaMuffin in him, personality wise and looks.

With the SPCA you can't really tell what kind of kitten you are picking out. You pick the one you think is cutest and has the most 'spunk' and take them home. All I can say is thank god he did turn out like a Cornish Rex.

Modesty is obviously not a trait of the RagaMuffin

The Dustmeister

A Picture Kid Funny

Sal was drawing a picture of a random person with Cheyanne. Starting with the head and working their way down. . . .

Sal: Ok, what comes next?
Shy: I don't know!
Sal: What do you need to walk?
Shy: Your underwear! You can't walk with your pee-pee hanging out!

Cheyanne's Insults

Nowadays when Shy gets mad at you, she likes to make sure you REALLY feel bad and insult you.

For example:

I was on the phone a few days ago and Cheyanne wanted me to get up and look for her choomi.
Shy: Moooooommmmy! I need my choomi!
Me: I can't get it right now, you'll have to look by yourself or wait a minute.
Shy: (mad face) Mommy, you're a boy!


Today while driving home from Nathan's swimming lesson. Nathan was tired/hungry and really grumpy.
Cheyanne: Nathan, can I see your goggles?
Nathan: NO! They're mine!
Cheyanne: (following a LOUD shriek) Nathan, you are NOT my sister anymore! (more shrieking)

The Self Appointed Baby

A woman named Janet from my gym that has 3 girls recently gave me/Cheyanne a huge box of girl clothes. Included in the box was a little wooden doll bed and a doll carrier. Shy loves them and plays with them all the time.

Last night she had left the doll carrier in the living room when she went to bed. Sal and I read the kids a bedtime story and said goodnight then came out to the living room to find this:

I added the pink blankie for the photo op

W-E-E-N-I-E

Stubborn

If you know Cheyanne at all, you know she is as stubborn as a bull. I'd like to say she gets it from Sal's side, but who knows......

A little over 2 weeks ago Shy got the tiniest scrape on her arm. It was literally nothing. She of course dramatized it and acted as if she needed her arm amputated. I put a bandaid on the owie to quiet her down and now she refuses - absolutely refuses to take it off.

Its been OVER 2 weeks and this bandaid is looking gross and hanging by a thread. I mean hanging, it flaps around whenever she moves her arm. How this is not annoying, I have no idea.

I have tried everything to get her to take it off. Begged, pleaded, bribed, made ultimatums etc. Nothing. Zip. Nada. She will take if off when she is damn well ready.

A Rite Of Passage

I've heard one rite of passage for a mom, is one massive poop/puke episode.
While we've had many (almost too many to count in the meager 3 1/2 years I've been a mom) - I have never had one quite like today.

I put the kids down for a nap (Nathan, Shy, Simon and Ej). Simon and Ej are always very quiet and cause NO trouble during nap time. Can't say the same for my monsters. It took Nathan about 20 minutes to settle down. Finally things got quiet and I was on the computer when I hear Cheyanne giggling. I got up, fully ready to lay down the law and start yelling the same things I always do: this is nap time not play time - go to sleep - now you lost your snack after nap etc. When I opened the door to their room I was hit with a smell like no other and see Cheyanne on her back trying to get a pull up on.

The girl changed her own diaper. . . .

There was poop on her hands. There was poop on her shirt. There was poop on her bed. And there was poop on the floor (there was however, NO poop on her *ahem* back side).

There was a trail of at least 20 wipes from her bed to the diaper pail and every single one had poop on it.

She did manage to get the diaper in the diaper pail, along with another dozen or so poop wipes.

The reason she was laughing in the first place was because she fell when trying to get the pull-up on.

Cheyanne's Tights

Me: "Shy its cold today. Lets wear tights under our skirt"

Shy: (loudly) "NO! They are too buggy."

Me: "Too buggy?"

Shy: "Yes. They are too buggy for me."

Lillies

For those who don't know, Lilly pollen STAINS!

Nathan's Portraits

Today Nathan was doodling. He asked me what he should draw, so I said draw Me and Daddy.

That's our faces in the upper left hand corner.
Apparently our bodies look like amoebas to him.

This is a self portrait of Nathan.