Easter..

We had a great, although busy Easter.  Between 4 egg hunts, (out of control) and regular Easter activities, it was a busy week.  Alex had a hunt at school, Sam had one at a schoolmate's house,  they both attended one at church, and we had a neighborhood hunt in our front yard.

Easter Vigil

Attempt at a family pic before Easter Vigil.  It's pretty much impossible to get everyone to look right in a picture these days.  Especially Sam--he automatically makes a "na-na-na-na-boo-boo" face, which drives me insane.

Easter morning.  Bedhead.  

THRILLED that the Easter Bunny brought him a bubble gun  Best $4 ever spent. 

Looking in his treehouse for his special egg.  

Didn't bother to put on both shoes to hunt for eggs.  One will do. 

Church Easter Egg hunt.  Fairly decent pic of us.  

This is before Alex discovered the glory that is "jebby beans."  He's a big fan.  

Lastly, the kid was fascinated by the Easter Bunny.  He just kept walking around him trying to figure it out.  I'm pretty sure he photobombed every other kid's picture.  I'm sure their parents were pleased.  

See? 

Y'all...

Last Friday.  It was a doozy.  

The plan was to pick up Sam from school and take him to get his Easter sandals.  (It's an activity every almost-6-year-old boy looks forward to.) In order to make things a little more palatable, I promised him that if he was good, we would run into Beagle Bagel afterwards, and he could pick out a treat.  

Oh, I forgot to mention...since the shoe store is about a mile from our house, I failed to BRING THE DIAPER bag.  We got into the store, and unfortunately, there was a wait.  As we stood there, I began to smell something.  And it wasn't good.  

I realized that we had to get in and out of there as soon as possible.  When it was Sam's turn, I think we tried on shoes and paid for them as fast as is humanly possible.  

I snatched Alex up and began to leave, but Sam reminded me of my promise for a treat.  Surely at 1:30 there won't be a crowd at Beagle Bagel, right?  

Wrong.  

There was a huge line.  We went to the end and I put Alex on my hip.  And that's when I felt it.  My shirt was wet.  And it smelled.  And there was more wet "stuff"  leaking down Alex's leg.  

I grabbed Sam, told him we had to leave, and practically ran out the door.  Poor Sam didn't get his promised treat, so he started crying,  Alex was laughing, and I felt like crying because I was so grossed out and humiliated.  

Fun times indeed.

Special School Days and Holidays...

Sam's school had a Mother Goose Parade a few weeks ago, and each child was supposed to dress up as a nursery rhyme character.  There are plenty of options for little girls (surprise, surprise)  but the boy options are a little limited.  We decided to go with Little Boy Blue.  This is what Sam was supposed to look like as he marched in:

And this is what he actually looked like:

For some reason, he decided he was going to be gangsta-style Little Boy Blue, so he turned his hat around backwards.  Geez.

A few other Little Boy Blues and an Old McDonald.

Alex had his first trip to the children's museum.  Sam helped him spell his name.  

And we made our annual trip downtown to see the St. Patrick's Day parade.  

This year, we didn't help Sam at all.  He caught all of his beads by himself, and he made quite a haul.  We stood with our neighbors and their children, so Sam had a great time.  

Alex missed his nap that day, but he made the best of it.  He enjoyed all the action with the exception of the motorcycles.  The sounds those made terrified him.  I had to hold him in my arms while he buried his face into my shoulder.  Bless him.  

Caught them all by himself. 

Sam and Alex's relationship continues to grow, and it's a lot of fun to watch.  When they're not driving each other nuts, they play pretty well together.  Sam was "reading" Alex a book.  I'm not really sure why I put that in quotation marks because the kid is almost reading.  

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?