Hawt.

Thankfully Travis and I got a lot done in the basement last night, and I am very close to having a workout space again.  I desparately need to get back in shape, lose some weight, feel better about myself.

Case in point:  This is what I looked like all day at the office today.

Nothing says, "I've given up" quite like hair that is simultaneously frizzy and greasy, combined with a faded grey sweatshirt.  Add in a little smudged mascara and you, my friend, are ready to sell some HVAC!

Picture Time!

Alex got ahold of my phone and wanted to take a picture of himself with me and Sam.  Sam was cool with it at first, then questioning, then terrified, and then just done.

Right in the Feels

At bedtime last night, Aiden curled up on Alex's bed and Alex immediately contorted his body around her.  He looked up at me and the following coversation happened:

Alex:  Mom?  I want Aiden to live forever.
Me:  Me too buddy.
Alex:  But she's not going to is she?  She's going to die.  And then we won't have a dog.
-At this point his chin has started to quiver and tears were welling in his eyes.
Me:  Yes, honey, she will die.  But we can maybe get a new dog then...?
-Now he's full on crying and I'm barely holding it together.
Alex:  But I don't want a new dog!  I just want Aiden.  I want her to live forever.

And as my heart was breaking into tiny shards of sadness, I told him that we love her very much but she won't live forever, so we should focus on being happy with her while she's still here.  He agreed and just snuggled in closer to Aiden.

Our household is going to completely fall apart when this dog dies.  Travis and I are so attatched to her it's crazy, and then you throw the love of a 5 year old boy on top of that?  Holy buckets.

Winter Blues?

Part of Alex's homework this weekend included drawing something that represented each of the four seasons.  First up, spring!  "Flowers and plants grow in the spring.  I'm gonna draw some flowers."  And for summer, "Lots more flowers."  Fall? "Leaves start to fall, so here's a tree and that squiggly line is a leaf falling off of it."  And last but not least, winter...

Me:  And what happens during winter?
Alex:  Plants die.  I'm gonna draw that.
Me:  And maybe you could draw a snowman too?
Alex:  No.  I just wanna draw dead flowers.

Winter will be over soon hopefully.

Making His Point

A couple nights ago, I was putting Alex to bed when I remembered I needed to set the alarm on my phone.  So I took my phone out of my pocket and turned it on.  Alex immediately recognized the glow of the hand held game machine that my phone has become, and asked if he could do something.  I declined as it was bed time, 4 minutes until he was to be asleep in fact.  He instantly launched into a lengthy justification of why he should be granted access.  And with each sentence, his disdain for my stupidity was showing more and more.  He was getting all worked up, but it was still slightly amusing listening to reason after reason of why he should be allowed to use my phone.  "Mom...it's gonna be super fast."  "No."  "Mom, seriously, I'm not even gonna play a game, I'm just gonna upgrade my truck."  "No."  "Mom, please, just listen, this is gonna be super fast and I'll be done."  "No."

I let him go on for a bit because like I said, it was slightly amusing, and, let's be real, I need to get my giggles whenever the opportunity arises.  He finally reached his breaking point of dealing with my apparent ignorance and punctuated his final argument with a "DUH!"

....

My face promptly changed from a look of amusement to a look of "What's that now?"  Alex paused, gasped while looking terrified, and buried himself under his blankets like a turtle.  I let things sit quietly for a couple beats and I heard a small, "...Sorry Mom" from my little blanket reptile.  I accepted his apology and indicated that perhaps he got a little carried away.

Scientific Method

Alex was cutting up some paper for some craft project he imagined.  I asked him to keep an eye on Sam for a second while I went to the bathroom.  Sam was in his Jumperoo thingy, so he didn't really need any supervision, but possibly would need a small token of "yes buddy, I see you" type of attention.

I was gone for 32 seconds max.  I came back to Alex standing next to the Jumperoo with his hands behind his back and a smile.  The smile was slightly off.  He seemed to be proud of himself but terrified.  And then I realized the smile was an attempt to make me think something was funny.  Attempted and failed.

He cut the little stuffed banana off the Jumperoo.  Why?  Because he "wanted to see what would happen if the string was cut."  Ummm...what.  Pretty sure you're aware of what happens when you cut something with a scissors.  I have an entire roll of wrapping paper that proves you know precisely what happens.

Sweet Relief

Sound the celebration bells!!  Sam slept through the night last night!  I'm sure I'm putting all sorts of bad juju on it by saying it out loud, but whatever.  This is a reason for celebration.  Join me in a wide eyed and bushy tailed dance of joy!

All of the Lights

We were at a birthday party at a friend's house on Saturday evening.  And the dad in that family is an electrician who brilliantly installed (mostly) hidden lighting under their kitchen cabinets.  Guess who found them and reeeeeeeally liked them?

Couple two three things:
1.  He wasn't hot or sick or whatever, his cheeks just get incredibly red when his teeth are moving around.
2.  That boys cavles/cankles/feet.
3.  Very VERY funny episode of Modern Family is on in the background.

Exceptional

The mascot for the high school in our district is a Silver Eagle.  And Alex's school mascot?  The Eaglets.  Cracks me up.  His school's "mission" is for every student to exhibit safe, respectful, and responsible behavior.  Every month each teacher gets to pick two or three students from their class as that month's Exceptional Eaglets.  I cannot believe I am about to say this, but Alex was one of the Exceptional Eaglets this month.  OUR Alex.  The one that caused his teacher to email or call me on close to a daily basis.  The one that was on a behavior modification plan that required him to check in with his teacher 9 times a day.  That Alex.

I honestly imagine it must have been a surreal, and possibly proud, feeling when his teacher wrote this about Alex Julius, and stuck it to the wall in the cafeteria with the other Exceptional Eaglets this month:

I am so proud of him.  And when I told him I am proud of him and how hard he's worked to behave well at school, he said, "Fanks Mom.  I'm proud of myself."  Maybe a bit of hubris there, but he works hard at making better choices, and I'm ok with him being proud of succeeding.

That picture though.  Damn.  It reminds me of the "bitter beer face" from Keystone commercials.

Free!

Free for the taking!  A baby named Sam!  You can return him when he learns how to keep his fool ass asleep throughout the night.

Good gravy I am tired.  This boy has woken up pretty close to once an hour every hour for the past three nights.  No more wakey wakey.

Go Bucky!

Fine.  If they're gonna be cute about it, I'll forgive them for not taking me.

Alex was super excited to watch the Badgers live.  And even more so when he realized he got to watch the cheerleaders and dance squad during time outs instead of suffering through commercials on TV.