Health Nut

First, we finally got Schroeder into the Santa suit my friend Matt got him for Christmas!  I got one picture while he was still stunned and then one picture while he started to rabbit-kick it off.  It was on his body for all of 5 seconds - and he managed to get it off in with one kick with his back feet.  He was not a fan. But it was adorable.

Stunned.

Starting the back foot rabbit-kick removal

Wm has decided that he is now all about health and wellness.  No idea why.  But he got out my 2lb weights and "worked out" with them for an hour yesterday.  He then declined dessert after dinner because "sugar isn't healthy." When he went back to continue working out, I decided we needed to have a talk about moderation.  He then OKed a "small" bowl of ice cream and some resting time. When I woke up this morning, he was back at it.  Wm also decided that Steve needs to work out more with weights after he heard me telling him that he's at an age where he is losing muscle mass and needs to do some weight training (this is an ongoing battle with Steve, who likes to whine around about aches and pains that could be helped quite a bit with some resistance work!)  This has become Wm's personal mission.  He actually got Steve to lift some weights last night! (And not the 2lb-ers, either!) Steve gets more cardio than anyone, but hates weights. I told Wm he could be a personal trainer and now he's all into that idea.  But, he's the mean kind where he yells at you and tells you that you are flabby and out of shape.

Crocs

I have a giant box that Wm thinks is the perfect size for a Wm coffin.  So he likes to lay in it and pretend to be dead.  Totally normal stuff.

Wm also found fleece lined Crocs and will NOT take them off.  I got out of bed 10 minutes after he did, but he had already put them on and was running around the house.  Steve is horrified. You can see the offending footwear in his coffin picture above.  They were buy one get one free so we got him the next size up for when he outgrows these.  Wm LOVES him some Crocs.  Like...intensely loves Crocs. 

Also, this made me laugh quite a bit....

Wm: Why do you have to work on weekends sometimes, Daddy?

Steve: If we have a tournament, lots of people come and there's a lot of work to do!

Me: And Daddy is the Big Boss of tournaments so he has to be there to run the show.

Wm: Like you are the Big Boss of the family?

Me: Actually, Wm, families don't really have "bosses," it's more like-

Wm: Well, this family has a boss.  And it is Mommy.

Christmas

Wm has finally torn through his presents and we are all exhausted! Wm said it was the best Christmas of his life.  But he says that every year.  I think he forgets in the other 364 days of the year how awesome Christmas is! He was under strict instructions not to get out of bed before 6AM.  At 6:01, he was in our room.   And we were off...

Xmas breakfast: homemade old fashioned gingerbread!

FuzzyHair MacKenzie getting ready to open!

Rock/mineral mining with Mommy

Daddy discovers we are making a mess

Quartz FOUND! Mess MADE.  Mission: ACCOMPLISHED.

Playing Skylanders on the PS4

Growing crystals with Daddy (in apron and embarrassed)

Wm got 3 pairs of safety glasses this Xmas in various presents.  He is crushing it. Wm the Science Guy. After we opened at home, we went over to Mimi and Guy's for more presents and Christmas lunch! (The following pictures were taken from Steve's phone, so they are weird.)

Steve finally gets to open something!

Mimi supervising 

Guy opening and my hands explaining

Cross bow!  Jackpot!

Mimi likes her slippers!

Wm is very excited

Electric circuit toy - Wm's favorite! (New hat too!)

Wm is still full of energy.  He is getting fairly grumpy, however, which means he is secretly tired.  Time for me to binge watch old episodes of 30 Rock on Netflix while Wm plays with his new stuff and Steve snores on the couch! But first, Steve says we have to get Chinese food.  That is Steve's favorite Christmas tradition.  Egg rolls...here we come!

Christmas Eve

The Christmas festivities have begun!  Wm, of course, is on cloud nine.  Here is a sampling of what has gone down so far...

Wm built a kit from Uncle Drew & Aunt Jess.  Go Da Vinci!

Schroeder and I snuggled and watched a movie

Wm gets his stocking Xmas Eve

VERY excited about Lego Mini-Figure

More good stuff in there...

Sour Patch Kids!

And, of course, Christmas cookie making!

Wm is currently playing the Lego Superheroes game for the PS4 he got in his stocking.  He is a happy boy!!  Schroeder makes a great audience.  

And Mimi and Guy are coming for dinner tonight!  Wm can't even stand the fun.

Suck it, Nerds!

Wm actually got up with me this morning and did exercises! Steve, meanwhile…did not.  BUT, Steve got amazing news last week!  He is getting a very sizable bonus for being awesome at work.  I decided he deserved a PS4 for Christmas so I went on the hunt.  But they were NOWHERE (literally every place on the planet is sold out).  Using my wiles and nerd allure, I managed to get someone at GameStop to tell me exactly when their next delivery was coming and showed up and snagged one.  Since it cost one million dollars, Steve got an email from our credit card company saying that someone had spent millions of dollars at GameStop - so I figured why make him wait until Christmas?  Needless to say, Steve was VERY HAPPY about the PS4.

Farewell XBox, we hardly knew ye

Wm has found a love of computer programming.  They did a quick unit on it at school and showed the kids a little game they can play that teaches them the basics of programming.  Wm LOVES it and spends all his time on the computer working on it now.  He just programs a tiny snail to move across the screen in a pattern, but he finds it endlessly entertaining.  It's hilarious, though - he's exactly like my students: he will work on his code forever, then click to start it, but there will be an error someplace so it doesn't run right and he has a giant fit.  The other thing that annoys him is that Schroeder wants to lay on the keyboard while he's working.  Wm screams, "NO, CAT! Go away!!!!"  But Schroeder is not deterred and this goes on the ENTIRE time Wm is typing away.

Kitty mid-yawn!

Morning People

The difference between the young and old...

THE OLD

Me: I have decided we are all going to wake up an hour earlier and exercise  together! Even on the weekends! It's supposed to improve your sleep, make your body healthier, and make you happier during the day!

Steve: HAHAHAHAHA! No. 

Me: Yep!

Steve: Do not wake me up. 

Me: We start tomorrow!

Steve: If you wake me up, it will have a very negative impact on our marital relationship. 

Me: You suck. 

Steve: Just DO NOT WAKE ME UP. Don't even make noise when you get up or I will kill you. 

Me: You ruin all my fun plans!

Steve: Yep. 

THE YOUNG

Me: I have decided we are all going to wake up an hour earlier and exercise  together! Even on the weekends! It's supposed to improve your sleep, make your body healthier, and make you happier during the day!

Wm: GREAT IDEA!!!!

Soccer Buddy

Steve finally has a Soccer Buddy!!!



And Wm is completely insane.  He calls this his "Funny Person Show" and it went on continually for 40 minutes yesterday afternoon.  Then he had the unmitigated gall to not fall asleep forever at bedtime so I was trapped upstairs (because he has kid panic attacks if he thinks he's upstairs alone where he says he can't breathe and he thinks he's dying - so I have to stay up there in my room and pretend I'm going to sleep until he actually falls asleep and I can sneak back downstairs).  WHERE DOES THE ENERGY COME FROM?!?  Poster child for ADHD.

Funny Willie

Wm: Daddy, do you want another piece of pizza?
Steve: I do.  But then I'd pay for it later.
Wm: Don't worry, Mommy can pay for it.

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Me: What smells? Did the cat fart or is that one of you?
Steve: It's not me!
Wm: It's not me!
Me: Well, something is foul.
Wm: I know what you smell like.
Me: Hm. What?
Wm: Awesomeness.

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Me: Did someone move the remote?
Steve: Not I, said the deaf mute.
Wm: Not I, said the deaf newt.

Tooth Fairy

Wm has grown his two front teeth in, but just lost one next door.  Now that he knows the Tooth Fairy isn't real, the tooth fell out and he immediately goes, "GIMME THE MONEY YOU OWE ME."

Toothless…again.

My neighbors called my cell at 8:04AM to tell me the house alarm was going off.  Steve raced home to investigate and discovered Schroeder had somehow set off the motion detector (it's not supposed to detect things under 40 lbs). The neighbors were not pleased to be awoken by a screaming siren before 8AM.  I feel awful.  I was afraid Schroeder had knocked over the Christmas tree - which he likes to climb - and that is what set it off.  But Steve said everything was in order.  He was not pleased with The Cat.  But, seriously, how can you stay mad at this?

Sleepy and cuddly kitten

Steve turns 37 this weekend.  THIRTY-SEVEN.  No idea how that happened.  His eye is all weird and painful like something is in it, he has some sort of Mount Everest hiker chapped lip thing happening, and his nose is clogged…so he is grumpy.  I told him he's probably allergic to the cat! The alarm was the icing on Steve's birthday cake of sorrows.  I asked him if he wants me to do something special for him tonight to start his birthday weekend off right and he was all, "no."  I told him I bought orange honey glazed bacon at Lucky's and that perked him up.  Pancakes and bacon for dinner!  Happy Birthday, Steve! (Steve and Wm are also watching The Hobbit, which Steve loves.  So he has that to look forward to!)

Popular

I'm very popular with man and beast...

And Schroeder does NOT like to be ignored.

Me: Haha - look Wm!  Schroeder is giving himself a bath and if I run my fingernails gentley through his freshly groomed fur it drives him bonkers!

Wm: Lemme see.

Me: Watch!  HA!   See?  He gets it all perfect, then I put trails in it and it bugs him and he has to fix it.

Wm: So what you're saying is that you enjoy annoying kittens?

Me: Well, when you put it that way...it doesn't sound very good.

Wm: MmmHmmm.

Schroeder is sick and had to go to the vet today.  He has to take cat antibiotics and he DOES NOT like that.  At all.  Getting them down his evil gullet is quite the experience.  And this goes on for 8 days....

Too Much Kitten

There no such thing as too much kitten....

Wm is enthralled

Naptime

Later, Schroeder decided to nap on top of Steve

Schroeder does not like to be away from his people.  He follows us around the house, weaving in between our legs, and meow-yells at us when we return from being out of the house and then tries to climb up us, purring all the while.  In fact, Schroeder purrs constantly - even while attacking Wm's stuffed animal in a psychotic frenzy of feline rage.  Turn up your volume and you can hear Schroeder the Motor going:

Wm is back on the iPad.  There is only so long anything in the world can keep him away.  He loves when the kitten comes in and sleeps with him at night.  And playing with him.  Wm came and woke me up this morning not tell me he was hungry, but to tell me Schroeder seemed hungry and I had to get up and feed him.

We got a bunch of snow yesterday and Wm went out and went sledding down our back hill while I shoveled the sidewalk and driveway.  It's a winter wonderland!  It feels more like Christmas is coming now!

Big Bro Willie

Steve and I are SO GLAD we got a kitten for Wm. We have never seen Wm like this.  He is so in love with Schroeder it's crazy.  He says Schroeder is "a genius cat" and that he loves him "8 times more than the iPad."  In fact, Wm hasn't even touched the iPad since Schroeder came home.  Which is a new record!

Schroeder being cute

Wm has a snow day today - PERFECT timing!! So I called off work and we are spending the day playing with the new kitten. Right now, there's just ice out there, but they are saying 4-8 inches is going to fall starting in a couple hours.  So we'll be snuggled up with The King of Purrs. Schroeder fell asleep on Wm's lap shortly after this and Wm was in HOG HEAVEN.  Wm said, "you like to take naps with your big brother, right Schroeder?"  So cute.

Best Buds

Here is the picture we took at the Humane Society while we were waiting to finalize his adoption.  Wm is gleeful.

How adorable is Wm playing with Schroeder?

Welcome Schroeder!

Well, "Fester" turned out to be not too nice.  He was a gorgeous cat...but just not the one for us.  Right after Wm met him, he knew.  So we played with some other kittens and did the rounds.  Then, right before we left, we played with one last kitten.  Schroeder.  And Wm was in love.  Schroeder is very sweet and purrs CONSTANTLY.  He loves to be petted and will purr and rub against anyone nearby.  He is also super playful (a Wm requirement).  Wm decided he didn't look like a Tater FuzzButt McFuzzy - he looked like a Shroeder.  So Schroeder it stays.  Wm said Schroeder is better than every other present he has ever gotten all combined.  I have never seen Wm so excited about anything.  We are working on being slow and gentle since Wm's fast, twitchy movements tend to freak The Schroed out a bit.  This may be a good lesson for Wm!!  It is really cute to see Wm working so hard to be sweet and gentle and so in love with his new pet!

Kitten!

We put the little tree up in Wm's room - his favorite thing!

And, in Big News, Steve and I have been plotting an extra special Christmas present for Wm this year!!  He LOVES cats and has been asking for a kitten for ages (his first word was "kitty!") He has found the show "Too Cute" on Netflix and watches an episode called "Kittens! Kittens! Kittens!" and sighs all over the place.  So, today, I went to my doctor and asked if there's anything I can do with my allergies to make Wm's kitten dreams come true.  And...awesome news: there is!!  I have an Allergy Action Plan to accommodate a kitten!  (She said, really, if I get it when it's a tiny kitten, never let it in my bedroom, and sweep frequently I will probably just get used to it as it grows up and is more full o' allergens.) At first, we thought we'd surprise Wm with the kitten after getting it.  Then we thought that Wm going and playing with a bunch of kittens and picking out his own extra special kitten would probably be even better!  So we dropped the bomb today that his Big Present is a kitten and Wm is SO EXCITED.  He has been trolling the Humane Society webpage ever since and has picked out multiple kittens he is interested in.  Wm found a favorite, whose name at the Humane Society is "Fester" - Wm goes, "can I give it a new name?"  I told him he sure can - it's just a baby and that's what they call it at the Humane Society, but he'll need to give it its official forever name.  He has already picked out its name: FuzzButt McFuzzy.

Christmas Preparedness

We put up the Christmas tree yesterday evening! We got a brand new tree on supersale last year after Christmas.  Sadly, the stand was broken.  Steve managed to make it stand up semi-straight.  He claims he is going to contact them Monday.  This evening we'll put up the little Christmas tree in Wm's room. Wm loves that tree and always insists that one present be put under it each year.

Tiny Santa looking for ornaments

Steve fixing the tree

I decided the kitchen was too dark and I wanted to brighten it up.  Steve said the color was fine, he didn't want to paint, he wouldn't help at all and wanted nothing at all to do the project.  So I went to Lowe's by myself, picked out the color (pumpkin!) by myself, bought the paint and supplies, came home and started painting. Within....maybe 5....minutes guess who was there to supervise?  Then, within 15 minutes, guess who decided I wasn't doing it the "right" way and took over completely?  YEP.

He claims it's because I can't reach certain areas.  So I told him to let me know when those areas were done and I would finish.  Never heard from him again.  When I went it to see what the heck was happening, he just goes, "why are you staring at me weirdly?" I said I was there to take over and then I was just ignored again.  

In other news, my new FitBit DIED today.  Randomly sitting in my pocket.  Very annoyed. I figure I'm just too powerful for it.  It can't clock how awesome I am.  I think it's telling me to sit on the couch and eat more bacon.  

Divorce

Car ride conversation...
Wm: Bob's parents are divorced.  He stays half the time with his mom and half the time with his dad.
Me: Is he sad about it or does he like changing houses?
Wm: He never really talks about it.  If you and Daddy got a divorce I would cry for the rest of my life. But I know that would never happen.
Me: That's right, bud.  You never have to worry about that.  Ever.
Wm: I know.  That's what I just said.  How do you get divorced, anyway?  Do you just say, "I divorce you," then go buy a new house?
Me: No, it's a bit more complicated than that. You have to go to court and talk to a judge who makes it official.
Wm: OH.  Wow. Do you have to do that if you are not married?
Me: No, if you're just dating, you can just say, "we are breaking up," and that's it.  I was dating another boy when I met Daddy, but I broke up with him right after I met Daddy because I knew Daddy was the man I was going to marry as soon as I met him.
Wm: You dated another boy?
Me: Yep.
Wm: Hm.  Was he nice?
Me: Yeah, really nice.
Wm: Not as nice as Daddy.
Me: No, Daddy is the nicest.  That's why I married him.
Wm: I bet Daddy is a MILLION times nicer.
Me: Let's not get carried away.

Offended

Steve: [lame joke] Just kidding.
Wm: I find that offensive.
Steve: What?
Wm: When people say "just kidding."
Steve: Uhhhh...what?
Wm: Just KIDding.  Are they saying kids are liars?
Steve: I never thought of it that way.
Wm: Yeahhhhhh.

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Me: Tomorrow is stuffed animal day at school - pick out one out!
Wm: I want to take Señor Caliente!
Me: His mustache is falling off.  And he's kinda racist.
Wm: Well, sew it back on.
Me: I don't sew.  Ask your dad.  He sews.
Wm: HAHA!!  Daddy sews?!
Me: WHY IS THAT FUNNY?
Wm: Only old ladies sew.
Me: Totally not true.
Wm: Daddy is the old lady of the house.
Me: Well, that's actually fairly true.

Chez Cory

I feel very domestic this weekend!  I have spent the entire time in the kitchen.  First, Wm and I made sugar cookies and frosted them.

Testing the merchandise 

Cutest Cookie Baker

Then, Steve requested shepherd's pie for dinner, but I'd never made it.  It was a bit labor intensive, but it turned out GREAT.  Then, I went back into the kitchen and made a chocolate pudding cake for dessert. This morning, I woke up and made a Big Breakfast of bacon, eggs, ciabatta bread, and grapefruit.  Sadly, doing dishes is Steve's job.  So...have fun, Steve!  The kitchen is DESTROYED. We will be going out to lunch.

Steve came with Wm and I on our exercise walk yesterday and he was the biggest whiner of all time.  We had to cut it short and I don't think Steve stopped bitching the entire time.  Wm and I decided not to invite Daddy on our exercise walks again.  Clearly, he isn't in the kind of shape required to handle our fitness level.  Also, I get my free FitBit this week!!!  I am SO EXCITED!!!!  Thank you, Ohio State, for giving me my freeeeeee FitBit!!!  I wish it was a Buckeye FitBit, but, sadly, it's just a regular one. Go Bucks! (Note: I probably shouldn't be nearly this excited since I earned it by disclosing a bunch of health information to OSU they will probably use to deny me health coverage one day.  But for now...FREE FITBIT!!!!)

Fun times

Steve wins at everything.  Occasionally he will throw me a bone, but mostly, he wins at everything.  For the first time in 17 years, I am dominating him.  At MoviePop.  A stupid phone app that tests your movie knowledge.  And I have PWNED Steve at this thing.  He is mine.  You'd think he wouldn't care since this is my first big win at something in 17 years and it's a stupid thing anyway.  But he is SO GRUMPY about losing and has been moping around about it all evening.  It just makes the win all the sweeter.

When we got back from the grocery store this morning, Wm was carrying in a 5lb bag of potatoes.  I go, "are you OK with that, man?" and he goes, "yeah, it's only one eighth of my total weight."  I was like, "Wait - what? Is that right?" And he goes, "Just about.  1/8 of 40 is 5 and I am just over 40lbs. So this bag is about 1/8 of my weight." I go, "Did you learn that at school or did you just pull it out of your butt?" Wm laughed so he wheezed and goes, "out of my BUTT!!!"  So - that is a fun new phrase I have introduced to him.  And...he is a genius.

The fam was lazing in bed this morning and Wm and Steve started wrestling, like they do.  Things got crazy and started to infringe on my side of the bed.  So I go, "Be careful!!!  I am delicate!" And Steve snorts and goes, "Delicate like a badger."

Public Employees

To all my other government employee peeps!!  (Since Steve spends 99% of his time whining around about how I do nothing at work all day, it seems extra appropriate to do this post from work - I'm on my lunch break, people!)

Toothless

I had my evil tooth pulled today.  Good times.  Steve and I both left work at lunch and he had the happy task of accompanying me.  He was amazed at how fast it was.  Once they take you back there, yanking the tooth is a snap.  I got the old laughing gas treatment, so I was high as a kite.  I'm not really in any pain, but I am STARVING and they told me no chewing today so I am forced to eat applesauce and jello.  Tomorrow, I eat an entire pig.  I will eat bacon wrapped bacon with bacon fat chaser.  And chocolate.  Wrapped in bacon.  Nestled in chocolate.

Wm has gotten me hooked on this stupid farm game on my phone.  I can't stop playing it.  I have now left Steve and Wm far, far behind me and have become King of Hay Day.  Steve and Wm don't even have any sheep yet!!  Meanwhile, I am building a weaving loom.  Cause I am Level 17.  Eat you hearts out. As I was putting Wm to bed last night, we were chatting about the game and he hugged me and goes, "I am so happy to finally have something to talk to you about! You should play more video games."

Biggest time suck in history

Workers

After walking down the ravine, Wm wanted to see what was at the top of the bridge we always walk under.  So, we decided to go investigate.  I knew they were doing some construction on the sidewalks along the street, but figured it was a weekend, so they weren't working.  But as we walked, they were there doing some heavy duty work with machines and the like. It was kind of dicey getting by and so I told Wm I was sorry that I didn't take different route, but I didn't expect them to be hard at work on a weekend.  Wm goes, "I would never want to be a worker - that looks HARD." (A "worker" is what Wm calls construction workers or anyone that comes to the house to do any sort of work on it.) So I told him he'll definitely need to go to college and he goes, "OH, I AM GOING TO COLLEGE."  Then looked at me like I was an idiot and goes, "I am going to be a chemist and an inventor."  So I told him that sounds like Chemical Engineering to me!  And he was all, "Yes.  YES.  I will be a Chemical Engineer.  NOT a worker."  I told him being a worker seems like it could be a pretty cool gig - you get to be outside, you get to build something meaningful with your own two hands, etc.  But Wm goes, "Mommy, you know I am an indoor person.  I want an office and a computer."  Cracked me up.  The rest of the walk, he told me about all the "potions" he plans to invent.

Also, I found this old picture of me and Steve behind a zillion other pictures as I put Wm's new school picture in a frame.  Here are the things, in order, that made me laugh: Steve's hair, Drew's creepy hand coming in for the attack, how freakin' pale I am:

Mankind

I have won at mothering.  Wm and I were taking an "exercise walk" (Wm actually loves to go on walks with me and we race and have speed walk competitions - he always beats me) and we were talking about something and I said, "it would destroy all of mankind!" Wm stopped and goes, "Why is it 'mankind'?  Why is it not 'womankind' or 'personkind'?"  Yes, folks...I have won.  I am raising the best son ever.  His future wife better appreciate all my hard work.  I explained that that expression came about in a time when men were "the bosses" - but it's not like that anymore.  I told him about how Daddy would have been "the head of the household" and he could have bossed us around, beaten us, or done whatever he wanted to either of us since his word would have been law.  Then I said, "and when you grew up, you would have been boss of your family that way." And Wm says, "I would NEVER act like that.  Even in old times." Then he paused and goes, "kids are still not equal."  So we talked about how Mommy and Daddy set limits because we love him and want him to be a happy, healthy kid.  I told him we hope that when he grows up, he will be a happy, healthy adult even when we're not around to teach and protect him and that's what we're trying to do when we tell him his screen time is up or to eat his carrots.  So he'll know not to play iPad for 24 hours straight or eat nothing but white bread and potato chips.  I told him he sees how Daddy and I try to make good choices and it's because of what we learned as kids.  That seemed to appease him, but not completely.  His little brain is always workin'.

Wm is currently outside jumping into huge piles of leaves that I spent all morning raking up for him.  Steve has mowed and fixed up the yard for winter and it looks amazing!  Although...I'm not sure I'm ready for winter.

Best & Worst

It was the best of times…it was the worst of times.

The worst: I found out that my very last molar on the left side has died for some reason and is now infected.  I guess that just happens sometimes.  Or so they say.  So I have to have it pulled.  This occurs next week and I plan to be drugged out of my mind. But, it's one step closer toward my Master Plan - which is to have all my molars pulled and enjoy the freedom of fake teeth.  No dentist is willing to pull my "healthy teeth" (if I even have any), so I have to slowly wait for them to fall out.  This is #3!

The best: I went to the Mr. Engineer pageant and it was HILARIOUS.  I laughed so hard my incisions hurt.  One of my students was competing - and he actually won the title of "Mr. Brains" (there is also "Mr. Brawn" and "Mr. Beauty" - and, of course, the coveted title of "Mr. Engineer"). The talent portion was definitely the absolute best.  But, the choreographed opening number was awesome. I managed to record a chunk of it (though I missed the best bit to Wrecking Ball):

And here is the Mr. Engineer gang:

Engineers are hilarious.  Mostly unintentionally, but sometimes on purpose! They are super fun to work with!!  If nothing else, they love to have fun with it (one contestant used his Q and A portion to figure out how much wood a woodchuck could chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood - answer: 60,000 cubic meters of wood). 

In fun Wm happenings, I was laying with him in his bed trying to get him to wake up and get dressed for school and he says super politely, "if you could excuse me, please." I go, "Of course!  What a gentleman!" And Wm says, "yeah, I need you to move so I can get a tissue; I have the giantest booger you could ever possibly imagine in my nose."  

Master

I am off work today for Veteran's Day, but Wm has school.  So I got to stay home with him this morning and walk him up.  As we were walking, we had a great conversation...
Me: What are the three things you need to remember today?
Wm: Don't toss pencils around.
Me: YES.  That is dangerous.  No more pencil tossing.
Wm: Remember The Neighbor after school.
Me: Good.  Don't forget her again - she was scared.
Wm: I don't know the third thing.
Me: Keep your hands to yourself.
Wm: I have already mastered that.

Wm just finished reading Charlotte's Web.  He was VERY upset that [SPOILER ALERT] Charlotte died at the end.  He goes, "She can't die!  Her name is in THE TITLE!!!!"  I told him the movie was on Netflix and we could watch that.  Once we did, I go, "which was better the movie or the book?" Everyone in the world knows the book is ALWAYS better than the movie, but Wm goes, "The movie. There was no reading - I just got to sit there."  Sigh.

Fall

I went out for my first exercise walkfest post-surgery yesterday.  It was a GLORIOUS fall day: sunny; warmish, but crisp; all the leaves changing.  It felt SO GOOD to get back outside and move my body, I was having the time of life.  As I turned a corner in the ravine, it was so pretty with all the leaves changing!  Of course, a picture can never really show all the colors as vibrantly as they are in real life, but I couldn't resist...

Poor Steve has now been felled by The Cold.  He was supposed to go to some bar and watch a soccer game with all his weird soccer cronies today and he says he's too sick to go.  THAT is when you know poor Steve is feeling truly awful.  (I heard him singing to himself yesterday in the basement "I feeeeel like crrrraaaaap!") I went out to lunch with Suzanne yesterday and had them pack up some of the AMAZING cinnamon buns they bring to the table to take home to Steve. I even took a picture of them, texted it to him, and told him I was bringing him a treat.  Aaaaand, then I forgot them.  Left them sitting on the table.  Worst wife ever.  To make it up to him, I have chocolate chip pecan banana bread baking away in the oven right now.

Broken promise 

Wm walked home from school by himself all week.  Halfway through the week, the little girl across the street wanted in.  So they were supposed to meet and walk home together.  Wm walked in the house, peppy as can be on the first day; but I looked outside and saw the little girl was all upset.  I asked Wm why she was so upset and he goes, "no idea."  I was like, "she seems really upset, man - was she OK on the walk?" And he goes, "she wouldn't talk to me, so I don't know - we walked home silently."  I asked why she was silent and he said, "because I forgot about her."  SO, apparently, Wm forgot that he was meeting her, started to leave, she saw him, panicked, had to run to catch up with him, and then walked home silently upset by this whole mess.  Meanwhile, Wm didn't give a shit.  Not one shit was given.  I wanted to go across the street and tell her that is the story of my life:

1. Be upset/annoyed by something The Boys do

2. Give them the angry silent treatment

3. Have them completely ignore my silent treatment

4. Intensify silent treatment by adding huffing around/glaring

5. Continue to be ignored

6. Give up 

7. They win, as always

8. Repeat cycle