Holy Gas Prices!!!!

I know that we are all complaining about gas prices, but seriously this is UNREAL!!!! I paid $70.00 today for my little BMW X3......are you kidding me!!!???? Brett just got home and told me that the frickin' pump stopped for him at $100 today!!!! He was too irritated to reinsert the card to continue pumping and see how much it would have been!

So $200 down the tubes today! This has got to stop!!

Separation Anxiety Part 2.....

Well, today was the first day back to school since the first separation anxiety episode. It started before we even left the house today but not too intense. He started saying that 'Rebecca' (not really her name) was a mean girl and said that she says mean things and that is why he does not want to go to school.

With a little bribing and convincing him to share his cool space book at school, we got in the car and the ride to school was fine. We got out of the car and he started to whine.....I ignored it. We get into the office for health check and he told the director about 'Rebecca' and he is getting more upset. The director went into the class to take care of the situation as I tried to get him into the class. He cried and did not want me to leave. 'Rebecca' came up and said she wanted to be Braeden's best friend today. He was OK with that but still not OK with me leaving. Long story short, he calmed down.....but I better have a smoothie in hand when I get there!

A phone call to the school 45 minutes later reassured me he was fine! I am sure he will be back on track soon.....just as soon as it is time to get out for Summer! UGH!!

Kids Space Museum Cont.

OK, so here are the rest of the Kids Space Museum pictures!

The above picture was outside at a play area that was for kids 4 and under only. It was really cool and not too crowded like the inside!

The rest of the pictures are in a room for kids 4 and under only. It was pretty fun, except for the lady who liked to cut in line and didn't think it was necessary for her son to share!

Caiden is throwing a ball to Braeden as he slides down the slide.

It was a fun day but we cut our stay a little short to make it back to Claremont in time for swimming lessons.

Kids Space Museum

Last Thursday we joined the 2005 Playgroup of our MOMS Club at the Kids Space Museum in Pasadena. It was fun but a little crowded inside due to class field trips. Nonetheless, the kids had fun checking out the different exhibits. I do have to admit though that I thought it would be more 'outer space' related and Braeden is really into that right now, but there was none of that.

Here are some pictures from our trip. I will have to post the rest later since Blogger is being lame at the moment!

'Tough Guy' driving the jeep!

Building with wood.....taking after his Daddy and his Papa!

Painting! He LOVES art and hung out at this station for quite awhile.

This earthquake exhibit was out of order but he still enjoyed playing with it.

Digging for fossils!

We both got a little overwhelmed inside with all the elementary students running around so we headed outside to ride the tricycles on the cool track!

More to follow on this trip later. I hope that you all had a great Memorial Day weekend and that your week is off to a great start!!

Memorial Day 2008

This is such an odd Memorial Day for us. We usually are outback, drinking some beers, soaking up the sun and getting ready to BBQ. Not today! This cold weather has put a damper on those plans!! Not to say we are not having a good day, it is just different.....

Braeden actually slept in a little this morning, allowing Mommy and Daddy to get a good nights sleep. Most of the day has consisted of games, short shows, and chores around the house. Braeden even helped Daddy mow the lawn. :)

Brett bought Braeden a bike a couple of months ago and Braeden thought it was cool....for oh, about 5 minutes! Today he actually asked Brett to ride it!! He was actually peddling too. I mean, there is still practice to be had, but he is making much improvement. Here are some pictures:




If you notice, he is either looking at the camera or at his feet....our next order of business with the bike is to get him to look where he is going!!!

Despite the funky weather, I hope that you all are having a fabulous day and enjoying some quality family time!

Cousin Sam's Wedding

Last Saturday (May 17, 2008) my cousin Sam got married in Riverside. It was a pretty wedding and a lot of fun. Here are some pictures below. Sorry, I am being lazy today, so the pictures are in no particular order. :)

The First Dance-Sam and Kim

Braeden and my cousin's son, Brody cuttin' a rug!

Here is Braeden 'whistling' as the wedding party is being announced at the reception. Papa taught him how to do this!

I know it looks like it, but I promise the beer in the corner is NOT his!!

My cousin Veronica and her oldest son Blake dancing. Blake is SUCH a sweetheart!!

Parents of the Groom.....Uncle Ronnie and Aunt Terri

I don't know who these random people are!! J/K!! My beautiful cousin Tahnee and her very sweet boyfriend Michael @ the reception.

My Pops and I

My Pops and I dancing to 'Our Song'.....Butterfly Kisses

Tahnee and I in the church

Braeden and Daddy waiting for the wedding to start. Braeden did a great job for the most part in the church.

Separation Anxiety

I have been fortunate enough to have never have experienced the whole 'Separation Anxiety' part of parenting, until this week. Well, last week I guess now that I think back.

We go to MOPS at a local church 2 times a month and the kids are with the MOPETTES while the Mom's do their thing. Braeden has loved this from day one and it was never an issue. Last Thursday Braeden said he didn't want to go. He says this about everything, that is just him. But then when we get to where he 'didn't want to go,' he loves it! Plus, we had missed the last couple of meetings so I was thinking it was just off schedule...schedule is big for him!

Well, he cried a little at MOPS and I was shocked and felt bad. Long story short, he calmed down and had a good time. They did say that he was a little more sensitive than usual, and I have noticed this at home as well.

Last Saturday was Mommy Day @ his Preschool. We went, we had fun, end of story. Or not! On Monday when I took him to school he said that he wanted me to stay like on Saturday. I explained to him that Saturday was a special day and now we were back to our regular schedule and he would be at school with his friends. After asking me to stay for '2 more minutes' and getting just a little sad, I left and all was well.

Today I take him and he is excited as always, running to see his friends and get started on his art. Then when I went to leave he asked for '2more minutes' with me. I said sure, since it worked on Monday. Well, not so much today! He just got consistently more upset and cried and said he wanted to go home with me. Of course this hurt me but I did my best to calm him down and so did his teacher Mrs. Allen. When nothing was working, we (Mrs. Allen) and I knew it was just time for me to go. It broke my heart into pieces to not look back when I heard him screaming for me!

My dear friend Lisa is always late (love ya!) getting her daughter Kaitlyn to school (she goes to the same school as Braeden). So I called her and she checked on him when she got to the school and he was fine, which made me feel somewhat better. I know he is in good hands and is learning so much. It just still hurts!

OK, I am done whining! I just had to get it off of my chest!

Mother's Day

Mother's Day was a little different at the Wicker's than usual, but it was still a good time! Brett and Braeden let Mommy sleep in and get out of bed after 8a.m. That is LATE in this house!

I came downstairs to the boys cooking me breakfast and beautiful yellow tulips (my favorite) waiting for me! I also had a sweet card and some awesome perfume from them.

Most of the day was spent lounging around the house and bbqing later that night. Brett took care of everything that day from Braeden to the dishes. It was great!! Do I really have to wait a whole year for another day like that!?!?!?

Happy 40th Birthday John

I am a little behind on documenting all of our festivities! Not last weekend, but the weekend before we had a 40th surprise birthday party to go to for my Uncle (my Godson's Dad).

The party was at night and in Oak Hills, so Braeden's awesome Auntie Joni stayed home with him and played and made cookies so Mommy and Daddy could go have a good time.

We rode 'up the hill' with my parents and had a great time! John was VERY surprised and had NO idea! It was nice to see people who I have not seen in years and used to always see when I was younger.

Greg and John having a great time out back!

Greg, Me, John....good times!

When are you going to be a teacher?

This is a question that I have been getting on a regular basis these days! Well, the answer is never.

Why? Well, I got into the program, started doing what I needed to do and even started tutoring to get some experience and my foot in the door. Honestly, I just do not care for it. I feel that we have too many teachers in this world that do the 'job' strictly for it's schedule and convenience to be home with their children. Yes, that was a perk when I originally looked into becoming a teacher, but I would never allow that to be the only reason.

I look at my dear friend Joni. She is MEANT to be a teacher and gives her all in doing so. I just did not see that in me when it came to teaching. When I do something I give it my all and I was not doing that with the credential program. I have come to accept that I am more business minded and I am living all the teaching up to wonderful people like Joni!

Cal Poly Tractor and Car Show

On Saturday we picked Daddy up from work and headed over to Cal Poly for the annual Tractor and Car show. It was a lot of fun! The morning started out cold and then it got really warm! We ran into some friends, Laurie and Ellie, Inez and Sydney, and of course some Mom's from my Mom's group that we knew would be there!

There were about a dozen parked tractors that the kids were able to climb on and pretend to drive.

Our attempt of a family photo....thanks Laurie!

Daddy & Braeden playing on the tractor.

Braeden posing with the mascots before taking a bounce in the bounce house.

Next we waited in line to take a tractor ride! They started out with one tractor and that was taking forever, then they added another which helped, but it wasn't until they added the third one did the line really start to move! Above Braeden is playing with lady bugs, which is what he did for a good 20 minutes while we were waiting in line.

Kaitlyn and Braeden playing while waiting for the tractor ride.


We finally got our turn! We were the first ones to get on the third tractor which was a newer one with A/C and a radio!


Here we are getting off the tractor. Brett wanted to ride with Braeden but he choose me! :)


Kaitlyn and Blake taking their turn on the tractor.

He got to ride a horse too!


What is better than ending the day with a snow cone with Kaitlyn??