Slowly but surely

Well, since my job went part time, I got another part time job to fill in the gaps a bit for awhile, and it's meant scheduling nightmares for all. I get to spend more daylight hours with the boys, but I miss 5 bedtimes per week, which I was reluctant to give up. Bedtimes are the best part of the day - Brent and I would snuggle on my bed and watch TV for 30 minutes or so. Then we would file into his room for nightly coloring and books and stories and cuddle time.

But things have been going really well actually. He gave me a hard time the first few days, but now he likes bedtimes just as much with Mike. They have their own way of coloring, and they skip the TV time, but he's happy, and that's all that matters. He claims to still like me the "best-est", so what more could I ask for?

Saturday night was Family Indoor Camping Night, as a reward for how good they've been. I got home about 7:30 since work was slow, and we did painting, and played Wii games, and watched movies until they passed out around 10:30. Brent was on one half of the L-shaped sofa, and Alex on the other. In the middle you could make out a fluffy furball that was keeping post throughout the night. His contented purring kept me awake for awhile, but I couldn't blame him. It was a wonderful evening.

My waitressing has me nursing sore feet some nights, and last night was one of the worst. I couldn't sleep worth anything with them twitching and throbbing. At 6:45, about an hour before my alarm was to go off, and a full 4 hours since I had managed to fall asleep, I feel a tapping on my back.

"Hi Mommy", he whispered.
"Hi baby..."
"Is it morning-time yet?"
"Not quite, go back to bed and I'll wake you in a bit, okay?"
"Okay!!!", as he skips off to his room. See that word "skip". Not a good sign.

- 3 minutes later, just as I fell back asleep -

"Mommy? I love you!" he says sweetly.
"I love you too"
"I have to go pee pee"

And though he can go on his own, I predict on the basis of 100% past experience that there is to be no more sleeping this morning. We head to the couch and snuggle up to watch cartoons for a few minutes. If he sensed that I wasn't paying enough attention, he would elbow me or pretend to fall off the couch so I would catch him.

He crawled up, knelt on my chest and planted a kiss on my cheek.

"I blew you a kiss last night when you were at work!!!" he said excitedly, bony knees pressing into my ribs.
"I know! I got it! Did you get mine?"
"Uh huh...I did!!! We both did it!!"
"Cool....hey, do you want to just watch cartoons for 10 minutes so mommy can take a nap"
"Ummm. No. I don't think so. Jenny the teenage robot is coming on! You have to watch it!!"
"But what if I just 'listen' to it? With my eyes closed?"
"Ummm. No. We have to watch it together."
"Oh. I thought as much."
"Yes...it's my favorite, and you're my favoritest mommy."

Grrrrr....he's always bringing out the big guns. It's okay. Who needs sleep when Jenny the Robot is off for another exciting adventure. I just wish I had her energy :)

Art Projects

The last couple days have been so beautiful that it's brought out our creative side.

I really don't like getting my hands dirty....

I do win....

It was so beautiful this weekend. Two 70 degree days planted into February are always a welcome addition. And having Grampa in from Colorado just made it even better.

After a long day of driving and playing yesterday, I was watching Brent finish up his snack before bed. He was doing nothing special - eating jello as slowly as possible to avoid bedtime and focusing on whatever strange cartoon was on. I just propped up on my elbow and stared at him for a few moments. His eyes shifted to me and he asked "What are you looking at?".

"Just you," I said. "Just thinking that I love you".
"I love you most-er!" he said
"Well but I love you the super most-est!" I countered.
"No, I love you super duper duper most-est" he said enthusiastically.

That was a hard one. I thought about it a moment, and then said "Well... I love you as only a mommy can love such a wonderful big boy".

He looked at me, paused, and then just said, "Ok... you win". And I do.

Against the Rules

I allowed for one snow. I even took pictures and let the boys play in it. It was nice. It was pretty. It was gone. And what do I find this morning? Another fresh inch on my car. Not. Happy.

Also, for the last two days Brent has gotten up early. And I've gotten to bed late. For me, not a good combo. So we drudge out to the couch and lay under my big tiger pattern blanket. Yesterday I spent the better part of an hour fussing at him whenever he spoke or moved - trying to order him back to sleep. This morning I gave in a bit (and felt guilty) and just let him watch tv while I tried to get a little more rest. Around 7:30 he went over to the window and just gasped. "SNOW!!!!!!" Yeah. I know.

Last night he regaled me with knock knock jokes. Make sure you put any drinks down for a minute -- these are side splitters!

"Knock Knock mommy"
"Who's there?"
"Monkey"
"Monkey who?"
"MONKEY POO POO BUTT!!!!!" (collapsing into a fit of giggles)

"Knock Knock mommy"
"Who's there?"
"Tiger"
"Tiger who?"
"TIGER STINKY POO POO BUTT!!!!!" (collapsing into a fit of giggles)

I could share more - but there's a hidden theme in there somewhere and it might get redundant for you. Mike asked him if he was going to be good and sleep in for mommy in the morning. "Yes," Brent replied emphatically. "I'm not going to give her a hard time anymore". Pssh. As if!