New Blog

I have created a blog for Steve! Well, mostly to showcase Steve's crabbiness about what I'm cooking. Teaser: the first post is about his farts. Wm will also appear - but the focus will be on what we're eating, and Steve specifically. That way I can transition all the food stuff over there for people who don't want to read about it on here. So this blog remains all about Wm's exploits!

But if you want to find out what Steve is complaining about today - CLICK HERE!

Fun Times!

Steve went back to work today. But The Adventures of Cory and Wm continue!! We had a great "all family holiday break." I am a Craig's List Master and found a buffet for the dining room on there. Steve is thrilled to have a coffee station and I am happy to have more storage and "counter-like"space. 

We had to fold down the entire back seat to fit it in the car, so we had to call in an emergency assist from Mimi, who came and hung out with Wm while we went to get it. And it was solid and HEAVY, so it took all 3 of us to get it in the house! I, too, am enjoying Mimi's retirement! 

Then, today, Mimi and her friend Lois took their grandkids on an adventure!! Mimi came and picked up Wm at 8:30am this morning and whisked him off to Cincinnati to go see an awesome Lego exhibit! 

Before they left, I managed to slide another healthy food into Wm - unbeknownst to him! I made him a "chocolate milkshake" for breakfast and he was like, "I am allowed to have this...FOR BREAKFAST?" [insert evil laugh here] It was almond milk, peanut butter, a frozen banana, chia seeds, and cocoa powder. I told him the chia seeds were tiny chocolate chip bits and he bought it! He never even suspected there was an actual fruit in there. And so my diabolical plan to trick Wm into eating foods continues...

After his milkshake, off Wm went!

Been there.

Wm keeping an eye on Sidney

Lego dinosaur!

And while Wm was gone, I got so much accomplished! I popped in to work for an hour and finished up a quick project that needed doing and was like a black cloud hanging over vacation, took a jog around the nature path out there, then went to Target for supplies and came home and organized our "pantry."

I <3 organizing!

I chatted on the phone with a friend for over an hour, uninterrupted by demands for snacks! And right after I finished my own snack and Netflix show, Wm and Mimi arrived home! 

Lastly, don't feel sorry for Steve, who had to return to work. He returned to find out he got a big annual bonus this year!! Yay Steve! He has definitely earned it!! (But the amount of taxes they take out are enough to make me vote for Trump. HA!) And an old friend of his stopped in to his office to visit him today and he was really happy to see him and catch up. So it was a great day for everyone!

Christmas 2015

Wm said this was the best Christmas ever! On Christmas Eve, it started with some Glow Bars for breakfast. Wm actually loves them - which surprised me since they are pretty much various seeds (hemp, sunflower, chia, sesame) and oats held together with a bit of honey and peanut butter. We did sprinkle some chocolate chips on top, so that led to this happy camper:

Then, we went back into the kitchen and made sugar cookies with frosting and sprinkles. I managed to scrounge up food coloring made from vegetable dye at Whole Foods so they were chemical free! There isn't much you can't do with a beet!

Then we headed over to Mimi and Guy's for a delicious Christmas Eve dinner. 

Wm is an odd kid - he falls right to sleep on Christmas Eve and wakes up at his usual time. When I was a kid, I was up half the night with anticipation and then sat in my bed, wide awake, from about 4:30am until I figured I could wrangle everyone out of bed without getting beaten to death. In fact, Wm didn't even wake us up on Christmas morning. I heard him rustling around in his room and had to call out to him and ask if he was awake and wanted to open presents. Of course he did! So down we went...

Stocking and fat cat 

What could it be?

Happy face! Nailed it.

Pop's turn!

Later in the day, The Grandparents came over for even more presents and Christmas dinner!

Present-palooza!

The Grandmas!

Mimi and Guy!

Wm woke up this morning and immediately got to work on his lego set. He has been building all his things, Lego and otherwise. We got him these remote control cars that can battle, and he loves them...but they are SO LOUD. I am already regretting this. Steve has been helping him build all kinds of things and is his battle partner. He also forced me to play endless Harry Potter Trivial Pursuit last night. I'm hoping he has some friends around today because we are exhausted!

The Force & Pancakes

Steve wanted to take Wm to see Star Wars this weekend, so we came up with a great plan for the whole fam! Steve and Wm went to see Star Wars while Suzanne and I went to see Sisters. We all had lunch together beforehand, so it was a great solution! Wm really liked Star Wars and said it was better than he thought it would be! And I thought Sisters was pretty funny...in case anyone cares.

After the Brunch of Sadness last weekend, I woke up on Sunday and made my own homemade vegan pancakes. And they were Steve approved! Wm said they were the best pancakes he's ever had - even better than "regular" pancakes! (I used the same recipe we've used for years, but subbed soy milk and a flax "egg" and they turned out perfectly!)

YUM!

Cruelty-free pancakes!

Responsible

We are barely halfway through the school year and Wm has won Character Club for the second time!! This month's character trait was Responsible. Wm, along with a 4th grade girl, was chosen by his teaching team as best representing that characteristic! (I'm still not sure there wasn't a clerical error or something!) His name was on the morning announcements, he gets to wear a big button that says, "RESPONSIBLE," and he gets to have a special lunch with the principal. I sent him to school in a cute Christmas sweater that day and he got his grade on a big Reading assignment he has been working on. Apparently, his sweater was a BIG hit and he was the only kid to get a 100% on the Reading assignment - on top of getting Character Club, Wm came home floating on Cloud 9!! And now he's officially on winter break! He goes to Holiday Clubhouse Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday - then I am off with him the rest of break (until Jan 4). I'm actually off Wednesday too, but Steve and I are dumping him at Clubhouse to go off and PARRRRRTAY! Wm loves Clubhouse, so it's no hardship for him.

Steve got a new phone this morning, so we will see his face again in a couple weeks. And Schroeder had to go to the vet for a rabies booster (and had a thermometer stuck up his cat butt and his nails clipped), so he'll also go into hiding. He came home puffed up and scraggly, but a heap of wet food and a good brushing put him to rights and he's still loitering about normally - but the vet said the shot may make him groggy.

Steve asked Wm if he knew who was "the father of modern football," and Wm goes, "Michael Jordan?" Haha!

Concert

I wrote a whole big post and the internet deleted it, so now I'm doing a very short recap.

Wm wrote an awesome story. Here is my favorite line:
"She remembered dragon scales are impenetrable. 'Aim for its eyes!' she screamed."

 

Wm had his Strings concert last night. He looked very dapper!

 

He said he wasn't nervous at all once he got himself ready!

 

He did AWESOMELY and we are so proud of him. Steve, Guy, and I went and watched him rock it:

Sad Brunch

Despite the fact that it's a couple weeks before Christmas and we were running around in short sleeves yesterday (Endtimes are upon us!), life goes on. Wm continues to work on his various accents:

And we went out for brunch this morning. According to Yelp, a highly rated vegetarian restaurant was literally 2 blocks for our house. They had vegan pancakes, so we decided to walk up this morning. Wm LOVED the pancakes. He had a delightful brunch. But Steve and I did NOT like our food. So we had a very sad brunch. Wm was just thrilled with life and pancakes and the restaurant (he was very impressed with their art and ambiance and the whole experience) - so he insisted that I take a number of pictures of him enjoying his brunch:

Wm loving the pancakes

Wm loving the restaurant

Wm just chillin' happily

And now we are off to buy his black pants for his Strings concert on Wednesday. He is very nervous!! I told him that when he's playing with everyone else, people won't hear if he makes a mistake - the trick is to just keep smiling.  He has a tendency to make upset faces when he makes a mistake, but the world will never know if he doesn't!! He seemed appeased, but is still pretty nervous. They are playing two musical selections: Jingle Bells and Hoe-Down. Very fancy!

Typical Mom

Wm: *Jenny* says she is a boy inside and plays with us at recess.
Me: Oh, really?
Wm: Yep. There are actually two transgender kids in my grade.
Me: Where did you learn about transgender people?
Wm: I know it's people who feel like they were born into the wrong body. There are 2 girls who say they feel like boys on the inside in my grade.
Me: Is everyone cool with that?
Wm: Of course. Why wouldn't they be?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wm: Where is my game?
Steve: I don't know.
Wm: I KNOW. Typical Mom...
Me: Hey! What?
Wm: You recycled the game I invented!
Me: Did not! AH-HA! It's on the table. BOOM.
Wm: Well, you recycle all my things.
Steve: Yeah...typical Mom!
Me: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

We also got a letter today that Wm may have been exposed to chicken pox at school two weeks ago. Ya don't say....

Pox Update

Wm is doing much better! He is planning to return to school tomorrow. His pox are almost gone (he's still pretty mucus-y, though), but he is feeling great and has his energy back. This is how he's spent much of the last few days:

Book, soft and hooded robe, and snuggled with pillows

He did venture out to go see a play with Mimi! They both looked very dapper:

They saw Peter and the Starcatcher. It ended with a fire alarm and evacuation! Mimi and Wm called it a night after that!

Pre-evacuation 

In other news...nothing is happening. I have been trapped with Captain Quarantine, so I am super bored. I have been reading and watching a boatload of Netflix. At first, I was living the dream. Now I'm just bored. Steve is off galavanting at work and going to play soccer. Jealous. I taught Wm how to play rummy, so we've been doing a lot of that. Wm is actually better than Steve! We had a family rummy night and I, of course, DOMINATED - but Wm trounced Steve! He was delighted. 

We woke up to crazy fog the other morning. This is the view from Wm's room. It's extra creepy with all the winter leaf-less spindle trees!

Very horror movie-esque!

And, lastly, because I thought it was super awesome - my friend Mel gave me a "bluebird of happiness" to take to the dentist with me when I had my implant fixed and when I go to have my crown fixed in the next couple week. Love it!

The Pox!

Wm has the chicken pox. Despite being vaccinated (twice). Uncool, vaccine...UNCOOL. And suddenly Jenny McCarthy isn't so stupid. Well, maybe I won't go that far!

Wm  has had a headache and a stuffy nose for the past couple days. He was also itching a "spider bite" on his shoulder like mad. Well, yesterday, he came down for school looking like hell. I thought his cold had intensified and kept him home from school. His stomach was upset, his head hurt, and he was super congested. As he itched his bite, I wondered if he had the chicken pox, but took his temp and it was normal, so I dismissed it. But then, yesterday evening, when he got out of the shower, I saw his torso. Covered in pox. Pox-tastic. So Steve and I looked it up and apparently it's relatively common for kids who have received the vaccine to still get the chicken pox (but they say it's less severe).  He felt MUCH better this morning, and never had a fever. So we almost just figured he had a weird rash and a cold. But we decided to call the doctor anyway - because who wants a weird rash?? And, it's a good thing we did because the kid has The Pox!

He is now happily quarantined until his pox scab over and heal up. He is feeling about 85% better today, so now this is mostly just a chicken pox vacation for him. He said the pox don't even itch. Steve and I have tag-teamed taking off half days and I'm up for any time he needs next week. I'm waiting for a call from the school nurse to find out what the school policy is on when he can return. Thank god I have a zillion hours of sick time!