Art de Jour

Sam wanted to paint yesterday.  So I busted out the finger paints and a big ol' piece of paper, stripped him down to his diaper, and let him go at it.  Immediately, Alex wanted to paint as well.  Good good.  With the paint all being washable, I didn't think too much of it when I left the room for 2 minutes to talk to Travis.

Yeah.  That small yet tremendously stupid decision lead to me washing the walls...and the floor...and the table...and the bench.  All while Travis took Sam's high chair outside and turned the hose on it.  Turns out Alex thought it would be a grand idea to give Sam a couple PILES of paint and a brush.  Good thinkin' little man.

Here is what Sam looked like and Alex wasn't much different:

Cousins

These two are two peas in a sassy little pod.  Alex loves Abby so much, but man it took a marathon of Rock Paper Scissors battles for her to convince him to sit for a picture.

My Protector

While sitting on the futon, looking up the stairs, "Mom.  I can totally watch for danger with these."

Payment

We replaced our deck this weekend, and while it's not quite done, we did most of clean up yesterday.  Alex was a huge help so we decided to get chocolate shakes on the way home from dropping off a very full trailer of old deck boards.  Sam was along for the ride, so Alex ended up having to share his shake.  Don't feel too bad for him though, a much larger one than normal was purchased knowing Sam would steal a bunch.

Alex did an excellent job sharing, and Sam didn't do too badly, but definitely needed a bit more reasoning and coaxing to give it back to Alex each time.  Once we got home, Alex declared he didn't want anymore and Sam could have the rest.  This picture was snapped right after Sam informed me, "I need moooooore."

One or the Other

I would love to say this is a perfect representation of my relationship with Alex:

But in reality, this is much more accurate:

Ketchup.

Sam has discovered ketchup.  I had been intentionally keeping it off of his plate since it's basically tomato flavored sugar, but I had to take a phone call Tusday evening after I handed a plate with french fries and ketchup to Alex.  I stupidly asked Alex to share his fries with Sam and took the call.  Dumb dumb dumb Mama.  I came back in the room to find Sam with ketchup on his face, behind his ear, and in his hair.  When I asked Alex what happened, he giggled, "He just kept doing it!"

Then last night.  We were making homemade pizzas, but they were going to take longer than Sam's little belly could wait.  So I cut up some peppers and a hot dog for him.  And when I opened the refrigerator to put the peppers away, he spotted the ketchup.  And that spotting sparked a chorus of "ketchup? french fries? ketchup? french fries?" until I finally gave in and made some.

The fries were done and cooled enough for delicate Mr. Sam right at the same time the pizza was ready to be cut.  So I gave him his highly sought after ketchup and fries, and turned back to the stove.  And by the time I was done cutting the pizza, I turned back around to see him with a handful of ketchup delicately applying it to his face and neck like a high end moisturizer.  Being the responsible parent I am, I immediately reached for my phone to take a picture.

The lighting wasn't quite right to be able to see the whole ketchup mask, but by the time I got the camera to open on my phone, he had dipped his finger to start a second application:

Fancy

Sam has been very into "fix Mama hair" lately.  And when he's completed his masterpiece, he sits back and says, "Pretty." or "faaaaaaaaaaaancy."  He and I have different opinions of what is pretty and what is not.

Too Much

This kid is ridiculously cute.  And that cuteness is only amplified by the fact that he now calls ducks, "quackies."  I can't take it.

I need to keep this picture at the ready so I can gaze at it while I take deep breaths and try to remember that 2 doesn't last forever.

Another Menards Adventure

Taking these two to Menards, as I have said in the past, is a crap shoot.  Last night, was quite literally a crap shoot as Sam pooped as soon as we got there, but we were really smart parents and didn't bring a diaper bag.  Smelly trip to Menards for the Juliueseseseseses.

Anywho, Alex was in a great mood and even donned his work boots for the occasion.  Sam was a little touch and go; perhaps due to the doo doo in his diaper.  But all was good once Alex found the hula hoops and decided he wanted to become an expert.

I am proud to announce, after a bunch of practice, he was able to get about 10 solid rotations.  He has also found that it is possible to get some good rotations with minimal effort when he spins it around his neck.

This is a work in progress.  Please say a few words for everything breakable in my living room.

Hello Darkness My Old Friend

Welp, she's back in my life.  That wretched woman that makes me swear and sweat and be sore all over.  Yep.  The She Devil herself:  Jillian Michaels.

I started the 30 Day Shred again.  I just finished day 2.  I hate her all over again.  My thighs feel like they are made of jalapeño jelly, and it hurts to cross my arms.  Good stuff top to bottom.  I know I posted a half marathon training schedule not too long ago, but for some reason I am having an incredibly hard time digging up the motivation to run.  Which is odd for me and I don't like it one bit.  So maybe the 30 Day Shred is self punishment for not feeling the running love?  Maybe.  I haven't a clue.  But what I do know is that this body of mine is not acceptable to this brain of mine and somethin's gotta give.  So if that means I have to be angry with Jillian for a while, so be it.  I'm pretty sure she's alright with it.

The last two days, I made sure to work out while Alex was a summer school so I didn't have anyone giving me a reason not to get it done.  But then that means I show up all work out nasty to pick him up.  This wouldn't be a problem if that child would come out to the car, but he doesn't.  He waits until he sees me walking to the door before he busts outta there.  Today, he came running out, grabbed my hand, looked at my shirt, and said, "Whoa.  Super sweaty huh?"  Yes, Captain Obvious, I am super sweaty.  Or as I think we should start calling it, my shirt is covered in Fat Melting Marks.