solar eclipse

I had no idea how to take pictures of the solar eclipse we had on Sunday because the sun was so darn bright but I wanted to try.  Bud found his welding hood in the garage and we were able to look at the eclipse with it so I decided to try and take pictures through it.  They have a green tint from the welding hood but I was just happy to be able to get some pictures through it.  I also took a few of just the sun, hopefully not damaging my lens or camera, and they have a reflection of the eclipse that I thought turned out pretty cool.

A few nights later, Venus was out right by the moon and the night seemed very peaceful.  I tried a no flash picture and ended up with this cool effect (last picture).

grab your kleenex and your baby....

I found this video and I wasn't sure that I wanted to watch it because I just don't like watching or hearing about sad things, especially child related.  I decided to go ahead and watch it and I'm glad I did.  This mother is incredibly strong and I don't know that I could have been as courageous as she is if I were in her situation.  It's a great reminder for Mother's Day that all the days when Brett frustrates me and makes me crazy, that things could be so much worse.  I have a happy, healthy little boy who loves us unconditionally--for now, let's wait 'til the teenage years and see that change--and I need to treasure every single moment because life is too short to be upset that he put handfuls of dirt in the dog water....for the third time that day.  Or that he squished the whole bundle of bananas trying to get one free.  Even when he cracks a DVD trying to get it out of the case to put in and watch, we get so frustrated because he knows not to touch them.  But really, its just a DVD and its replaceable.  He isn't. 


A Mother's Inspiring Video 

Happy Mother's Day !!!!!

happy third birthday, brett !

Brett turned three on 4/28 and we had a Toy Story 3 themed party with just family and a few close friends.  I managed to forget to take a picture of all the yummy food that we had but it was a three foot long sub sandwich from Stater Bro's with half ham and half turkey, potato salad, dips and chips, ambrosia salad (yummm) and other snacky goodies, followed by green alien cupcakes that my sister-in-law made.  Everyone arrived before Brett had woken up from his nap, which is the way we planned it, and he was very excited to walk downstairs and find everyone here--minus my dad who was at home with an awful head cold and cough.  :[  Bud and I bought him the three pack collection of all three Toy Story movies so we can finally clear up some space on our DVR and he can watch them upstairs in our bedroom now.  I also found him a cool Tonka trash truck on amazon.com because he is obsessed with trash trucks a.k.a. che-trucks !  :]   

It was so hot that day that I ended up changing out of the cute dress I started in and my curly hair sort of melted to a mess.  :-/  Brett's Toy Story iron on for his shirt didn't turn out very well and his Buzz Light year balloon popped about 10 minutes into the party when it got sucked into a ceiling fan, but all in all, it was a great party.

hello, super moon

Saturday night there was a super moon out and I had to try and get some good shots.  I have a very nice camera but have yet to actually look through the manual for directions on how to use all the settings after two and a half years of owning it.  Normally, I just get a round bright circle when I attempt to take a picture of the moon so I googled "how to take a picture of the moon" and found a website with some helpful tips.  I couldn't figure out how to change the shutter speed but did manage to change the other settings it suggested--problem is, I have to change them back !  I thought it would reset when I shut off the camera....  nope.  Anyway, I am pretty proud of the pictures I got of the moon before sunset and after !  I didn't change any settings until the night shot so I wonder how much better the sunset shot could have been.  Also, a tripod was a must for the night shot so I was very excited to find the one we rarely used with our camcorder and my camera fit perfectly on it !

Look at all those craters on our beautiful moon !!!  I need to figure out how to zoom in on a photo and save it zoomed in.  It looks so awesome zoomed in on my camera screen and on the computer, especially.  :]  I hope to have an even better lense some day so I can get even closer !

mommy boo boo #6,794

I put Brett in his bedroom for an unofficial time out while I was on the phone because he uses that time to go around the house and do everything he knows he shouldn't.  He knows that when mommy is on the phone, he will just get the mouthed "stop it !" or "don't touch !" and of course, the finger point with a stern look on my face that he knows means "don't you dare !!!"  Well, I totally forgot I had left the wipes and vaseline on his dresser.  After a few minutes, I heard the I'm-not-behaving laugh and my heart dropped.  I knew what he was doing.  I found him up on his dresser with a huge grin on his face and vaseline globs on the wall.  My mouth has dropped open by this time and I'm speechless--which is unusual for me.  I step in some and realize it's on the carpet, too.  It can't get any worse, right ?  Wrong.  He had some in his mouth--which he has never done before--and was spitting chunks of vaseline at me and laughing while doing so.  I realize it was totally my fault because I can't hold an almost three-year-old at fault, but that doesn't seem to help me feel better about the situation.  Off he goes into a hot shower to get it off his face, hands and arms while I shed a few tears of frustration.  Then I pull it together and start cleaning up the mess.  Wiping the vaseline with my finger back into the container wasn't so bad but then trying to wash my hands after that proved to be a little more challenging.  I tried vinegar and corn starch but they didn't seem to help at all so I decided to try using my trusty Lysol tough grease spray.  It took a few old wash cloths but I managed to get it all off the wall, carpet and even the two spots on the ceiling.  When I went back into the bathroom to get him out of the shower, he says "sorry momma....." in the most pathetic voice he can muster.  Hard to be as upset after that !  Toddlers sure are frustrating at times when you know that they know what is off limits and what isn't, but none of that seems to matter.  Thank goodness for nap time !  As soon as he is down for a nap, I get to retrace all my steps and clean the vaseline finger prints off of door handles, light switches, sinks and faucets.  Why do these things happen on days when daddy is not home ?  I'm starting to think he plans it somehow.  ;]

do the....potty dance !

We are on day three of operation potty training and so far, so good !  The first day, we didn't start the underwear until after his nap and he had two accidents before bed.  Yesterday, he had two accidents in the morning and only one after his nap.  Today, no accidents so far !!!  He loves the praise that he gets after he has gone potty in his little toilet.  One of us goes in with him and after he has peed, he runs downstairs to excitedly tell the other one "come on !" and then we run back upstairs to look.  He runs into the bathroom and then points at it with a big grin on his face and the three of us jump up and down, clapping and yelling "yay Bubba !!!"  I thought for sure he would need some sort of reward after each time, but so far, he seems to be motivated by the loud praise he immediately gets after a successful potty.  I need to get him another pack or two of his big boy undies because I'm sure we are no where near done with the accidents.  He still wears a diaper at nap time and bed time because he hasn't really shown us he can hold it for long, but that's a-okay with me !  Less diapers a day means saving money and less hassle with diapers, wipes and vaseline after each change.  I'm so proud of my little boy who all of a sudden decided it was okay--and maybe even kind of fun--to go potty in his toilet !  For the longest time, he would not go peepee at all in any toilet and I was getting very frustrated with that.  I don't know what changed but I'm sure not complaining !! :]

He was having fun making faces at me after he had already gone and wanted to keep sitting on the potty.

And my favorite one.....

Wish us luck ! :]

relief

I got my hair cut last week and love it !  Went in to the appointment with three inches off in mind and ended up having her cut four.  At first, I thought "oh crap... what did I do...." but when I flat ironed it a few days later, I felt really good about it.  It feels completely healthy again and I can use half the shampoo and conditioner--not to mention it cuts down my blow drying and style time in half as well !  Maybe I will actually start doing my hair more often again.  Maybe.  I can't wait to see how it looks curled but I am a little nervous that it may have me end up looking like Shirley Temple.  It's happened in the distant past and seriously wasn't a good look for me !  I also dyed it to cover up the gray hair that is coming in at a rapid rate but all it did was make them look more like tiny blonde highlights everywhere.  Hey, whatever works, right ?