When does it happen?

I picked up Sam from school on Thursday afternoon, and his teacher told me that he had fallen on the playground.  He had a pretty good scrape on his side going all the way down his ribs.  We got into the car, and I asked him if he cried, and he said, "Yes."  Bless him.

And then I thought...when do little boys stop crying?  I remember somewhere around 4th grade, I never saw boys cry at school.  I'm sure they may have at home, or in private, but I just didn't see it at school like I had when I was younger.  Girls aren't as ashamed to cry in front of others at any point in their life...so when does my little boy begin to feel like he has to bottle everything up even when he's hurting?  I'm not looking forward to that day.  In the same way, I'm dreading potty-training Alex not only because it's just not fun, but also because it will be one more way that he's not my baby anymore.

I think about these kinds of things a lot, lately.  As much as I enjoy all that they do and learn, it's sad, too.

Alex currently isn't feeling the greatest.  We're dealing with a fever and a cruddy nose.  He hasn't been sleeping as well, so we've also had interrupted sleep.

Sambo had "Western Day" at school on Friday to celebrate the letter "W." We had to break out what little cowboy gear we have.  He doesn't have cowboy boots, so he rocked his gear with his tennis shoes.
 

There's a reason I didn't teach kindergarten...

Those people are saints.

Patience is one of the main things I pray for, and I'm being totally serious.  As a mother, my impatience and exasperation are probably my worst qualities.  Today was a personal test.

I was a driver for a field trip.

I used to think Sam was a wild-child, and he is when he's comfortable with friends and family.  He will push my limits ALL DAY LONG.  However, when he's around most other authority figures, he's an angel.  *BRAG ALERT*  I am often told by his teachers what a "sweet, smart, child" he is and that he is always on his best behavior, seldom has to be corrected, etc.  As another lady put it, "I guess he's so busy being good for everyone else that when he gets home, he's spent."

'Tis true.

But today...today I had four little boys in my car, including Sam.  It's maybe a 5 minute car ride to the museum. It went a little something like this:

"Hey, what's your name?  Are you Sam's mom? What do I call you?"
"You can call me Ms. Alli."
"I don't want to call you that.  My sister is Alli, and I don't like her."

Fair enough.

"Mom? Do you have a tissue?  E's nose is running."

I hand the child a napkin from the glove compartment.  He blows his nose, and tosses it back to me.  With, well, snot on it.  I tried to take it in stride, but...gross.

"Hey, is this a Mercedes?"
"Ha! No.  No, it isn't."
"That's what I'm going to drive when I grow up."

Wow.

Then Sam has to stir up the age-old Ole Miss/State debate by asking who they "cheered for."  Now, we (I) have tried to teach him that everyone doesn't go to the same school, and that's ok.  Do I really think that?  No.  :)  BUT, I don't want my kid making anyone feel bad, and I don't want anyone to make him feel bad.
So he launches in to why the bulldog is a better mascot than a rebel by telling the child that a "rebel is just an old man."

Can't imagine where he got that info.

They start their infantile argument, which I tried to cut off by asking, "Who's excited about the museum!?"

Child from the backseat:   "I am. Hey--I can burp my ABC's."
Me:  Let's not do that.
Child: "ABCDEFGHIJK..."

There were other comments that I'm not going to get into.  Comparatively, Sam looked pretty tame.

I have to admit, it was pretty funny.  Dear Lord, boys are gross.

We arrived, found their teacher, and she (thankfully) took over.  She is wonderful.  I seriously don't know how they deal with it.

But aren't they cute?

 

 

Lately...

It's funny.  I always feel like we're so busy, but I honestly couldn't tell you that much excitement is going on right now

January and February are full of birthdays--Mom's, MP's, and Joe's.  We've had A LOT of cake this month. If I have the willpower to give up sweets (or some variation) for lent, I'll lose at least 5 pounds.  At least.

"Spring" soccer has begun, but the temperatures haven't been very spring-like.  They should call it winter soccer as far as I'm concerned.  Sam has a good time, but I can't say that I have a good attitude about getting up for a game every Saturday.  It was rained out last weekend, and I nearly cried with happiness. Give me baseball any day of the week.

Alex is all over the place.  Truly a mess.  Two of his favorite things are being outside and singing. Not necessarily at the same time.  His set list includes:

"Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star"
"ABC"
"Jingle Bells"
"Skitta Marinky Dinky Dink" (I have no idea how to spell that.)
"Itsy Bitsy Spider"

He's quite the little soloist.  Every time I try to record him, he stops singing.  It's really frustrating.

Have I mentioned that when he wakes up, his hair sticks up everywhere?  And I mean everywhere.

I don't remember what I had done, but he was NOT happy with me this day.  Even if it was his 100th day of school.

He insists on sleeping with approximately 9 million stuffed animals. 

And he can mow down a doughnut in no time.  

Valentine monster

I love how his shirt turned out. 

Big fan of bubbles.

Sam was bundled up like an Eskimo last week, but this week I can send him to school in shorts.  

Oh, Mississippi. You're so fickle. 

Groucho Sam

Anthony and our neighbor took the kids to New Orleans last weekend to see the aquarium and insectarium..  It's a good thing I didn't go because I don't "do" spiders.  They had beautiful weather, and the kids loved it.  It was a great day trip for them.  It was great day for me because Anthony brought back 3 pralines.  And I ate all of them.  At one time.  I'm not kidding.  

Yep.  We're not really busy, but we're still busy. Ya know?

2014...

My New Year's resolution for 2014 is to try my best to keep up with this blog.  It's so easy to forget to update it, and as my mother reminds me, I'm not doing a great job recording sweet little Alex.  It's certainly not for lack of love, that's for sure.

We had a wonderful Christmas, and our boys were spoiled.  Santa was very good to them, and Santa may as well have made additional stops at MP and Joe's and my parents.  The kids essentially got 3 different Christmases.  It was an embarrassment of riches.  I suppose that's what happens when you're the only grandchildren.

Sweet Alex turned two December 29th.  My heart hurts to even think about it.  He is such a sweet baby, and I want him to stay that way.  He and Sam are so different--Sam was such a solemn little thing for so long.  (That has changed drastically.)  He was quiet and observant.  Alex, on the other hand, is everywhere all the time.  If I am not looking, he will climb on top of the coffee table, count to three, and then launch himself onto the couch in a full-on belly flop.  He is still very much a mama's boy, but when he feels safe and secure, there is not stopping him.  He also loves to throw tantrums and will throw himself to the floor if you take away something he desperately wants.  It's not pretty.

And if you come to our house, be careful what you say because he is going to repeat it word for word. Foul language included.

Sam's Thanksgiving party at school.  May not have been my smartest move.  It was hard to pay attention to Sam while wrangling a 2-year-old. 

Our Christmas card.  I'm still upset about this.  I ordered our cards on December 9th.  I paid for expedited shipping.  I had to call the company several times when the cards were late.  They finally told me that the cards wouldn't be here in time for Christmas, to which I responded, "Well, that doesn't do me much good."  They offered to send me an extra hundred cards and refund my money.  I got my package the week after Christmas.  I now have almost 200 cards sitting at my house that never got sent.  Not cool.  

Church Christmas pageant.  Cheezits kept Alex quiet until our shepherd walked in.  At that point, Alex yelled, "I see Sambo!  There's Sambo!"

Christmas morning

Alex still sucks his thumb.  And he always does it like this--the whole hand covers his face.  

My parents gave the boys one of these horses.  It's a wonder that they haven't already torn it up.  

Alex's birthday

Sam "helped" Alex blow out his candles. 

Sweet boys

Dancing machine...

My little man LOVES to dance.  I think it's hysterical, but my humor threshold is pretty low.  The problem is, he stops dancing the second that he sees you pull out a camera.  It's almost as if he's embarrassed.  He usually shouts "Dance! Dance!" and then hops up and starts bouncing around.  I started listening to Christmas music this week, and it seems that he likes Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas Is You."  He's also busted a move to some Luke Bryan and The Lumineers.  He's not very discerning.

If you want to judge me for my early Christmas music, feel free.  I'm not apologizing.  :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtdgntdSemw&feature=youtu.be

I hope he keeps dancing.  I've always said that no matter how bad a dancer a guy may be, a girl would much rather he dance badly with her than sit at a table all night long.  The Shermans love to cut a rug.