Well, can you blame me? It’s Costco cake and we have the leftovers in our refrigerator, staring at me. So there ya have it.

I don’t feel so bad about this slight indiscretion because I did go to the gym today. And I simply canceled out all of my efforts. So I’m even, right?

I’ll just throw in this cake-centric post that I can now RUN A MILE!

I’m so darn jazzed about that. I finally, after a year of building up to this moment, ran six laps straight on Sunday. Did it again this morning. I was beginning to think it was never going to happen for me. I know I wasn’t quite pushing myself hard enough, and I had some stops/starts with the gym due to vacations and sickness, but I never realized it would be so difficult to reach what I thought was a fairly simple goal.

So, BOO-YAH!

Scott thinks I’m crazy, but I really do think my little iPod helped me. I’m focusing on the music and I’m not spending the time obsessing about my thoughts. It’s freeing.

I’m also really enjoying the weight programs that my personal trainer has been setting me up with. I’m going to have to reduce the frequency of our meetings soon, but Terri truly rocks. The new routine is actually kind of fun. My arms and butt can attest to that. It also feels wonderful to be able to notch higher weights as I go along. I’m feeling stronger and more confident about my body these days. So eating a piece of cake (well, several if you count the ones I’ve consumed since Saturday) isn’t as frightening a prospect as it used to be.

Even in the snow!

Devin turns four next week. I shudder slightly. He was two last time noticed. But that’s my constant refrain, so I’ll move along.

Scott had the brilliant idea of getting him a bike. With training wheels! And, yes, the kid was thrilled. Of course, it is March in Michigan. A March following on the heels of a hellishly cold and snowy February. What kid his age can wait for the snow to melt? He asked every day if he could ride it. Last night was the first time the sidewalks were mostly clear so we took the opportunity…and off he went!

Because I sat with my kid for a good 15 minutes the other day taking these crazy shots. We were both laughing so hard. I had tears in my eyes and he was giddy with the hilarity of it all. Laughter = perfect moment.

We all know that love doesn’t only happen on Valentine’s Day. It comes in those little everyday moments that often take you by surprise.

I mean, who would expect, while sitting on the sidelines of a Junior Hoopsters basketball class, that an almost-4-year-old would split from the group in the midst of the hubbub and run over to plant a kiss on your cheek before quickly rejoining the pack?

I had tears in my eyes for a minute.

Sometimes he simply takes my breath away.

Well, he actually dictated it to Scott.

It’s an apology for the naughtiness, which caused him to miss his class Valentine’s Day party (also one of his classmate’s birthday celebrations).

He handed it to me when I came in the door yesterday after he’d had to leave day care. Scott told me it wasn’t his idea at all. It was pure Devin. He even told us he wants to make hearts for Jodie and Amanda, his teachers.

Beneath the turmoiled emotions of his 3-year-old self beats a sweet and gentle heart. I think I’ll put this one in the “keeper” box.

For Valentine’s Day, I got a call from day care saying that Devin was causing so much trouble today that we needed to come pick him up.

Now there’s some love for ya!

I don’t know what’s going on with our kiddo lately, but he’s struggling a bit at school. Things have been going pretty well here at home, though. Not perfectly, of course, because he IS a kid. A 3-year-old kid.

So he missed the Valentine’s Day party. And now we have to strategize with his teachers about how to resolve some of this and get him back on track in the listening department.

But as I told him tonight, “Even when you have a bad day, sweetie, I still love you.”

And I do.

Some days there is just so much going on at our house and it seems like it’s a hassle to get it all done. (Well, maybe I should say EVERY day!) After the whole work/school thing ends, there come the tasks of making dinner, cleaning up, feeding the pets, walking the dog, shoveling (a lot these days!), doing laundry, taking baths, etc.

Scott and I normally have to trade off. If you do this, I’ll do that. It works fairly well. One of us sticks with the kid while the other does an errand or a chore. But sometimes I forget that Devin can actually participate in some of these activities. For example, he likes to help feed the pets. And he’s good at fishing laundry out of the dryer or sweeping along with us.

The other night I was feeling tired and wondering how I was going to find time to walk the dog and get some other stuff done before giving Devin a bath. Then it occurred to me: why not take him along? Sure, it was raining and slightly unpleasant outside, but what 3-year-old doesn’t yearn for the opportunity to jump in some puddles? So we donned boots and jackets and leashes and headed out.

I initially thought just a walk of a few blocks. The dog had other plans. The park, of course. That just didn’t seam feasible, though. It’s only about six blocks from our house, but the rain was falling on several inches of slushy snow that most people hadn’t bothered to shovel from their sidewalks. The boy decided to take sides with Juliette. “Let’s go to the dog park, Momma!” I huffed a bit about it since he often walks to the park and then wants to be carried home. “I can’t carry you tonight, Devin. You’re too heavy and I’ve got the dog to hold onto.”

“I can walk myself, Momma!”

Decision made. We tromped slushily through the rain and snow to the park, unleashed the hound, and tried to tramp our way through the semi-deep snow. Snow, we discovered, that was the perfect consistency for rolling massive snowballs. We each started pushing our respective mounds of snow when I got the bright idea of pushing one to the hill and seeing what would happen.

When Dev saw how large mine was, he abandoned his own and helped me push with all our might. Because it was a seriously heavy lump of snow, weighed down by lots and lots of liquid. We barely reached the hill. I was grunting, he was grunting. I almost fell over the top of it. He lost a mitten for a minute (which spurred a fit of giggles). Then we rearranged ourselves and gave it one more huge shove.

And off it went!

For 10 seconds. Before splitting into two giant halves. Uh-oh. Well, it was an experiment. One that left big “mountains” we could climb on.

Now fairly drenched, we lassoed the dog and trudged back through the park to the sidewalk. That’s when I heard it, “Momma, I’m too tired to walk.”

See, I know my kid. I also knew that there was no way in heck I could carry him home, as I mentioned before. He’s about 40 pounds now…more when he’s soggy. Ugh.

So I took hold of his hand, to which he replied, “I like holding hands with you, Momma,” (cue the “Awwww!), and came up with a brilliant and effective distraction.

“Do you want me to tell you a story, Devin?”

“Yeah! The three pigs!”

So I told him the story of the three little pigs as we made our way through the slush. And I didn’t hear another peep about not being able to walk.

Those moments. When we’re together like that. I love them so. Walking along with his little hand in mine, his adorable voice shouting, “Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin!” I’d walk in the rain and slush with him every day if I could.

I joined a Flickr group dedicated to parents taking photos of themselves with their kids. Weekly. Ay-yi-yi! Me and my projects. We’ll see how cooperative the Devster is for this one. The last one didn’t involve a particular subject. I think this will be fun and also grace us with some wonderful photos throughout the year. This one is an outtake. I went with his hiding-behind-the-remote pose instead.

I have some guilt today, though. I’ve been grumpy since waking up. We had to rush around to get Devin ready so I could drive through a snowstorm to get him to the dentist for an 8:00 AM appointment. Made it safely, then had to return to awful traffic to drive to daycare. He was fussing the whole way, asking me to take him home instead because he didn’t want to go to school. Then he argued with me several times during errands tonight. Add to that his new obsession with saying “Momma!” every two seconds and I just wasn’t in a congenial mood tonight.

The Momma thing is sweet. It really is. To have your kid want to share every moment with you has a way of making you feel special. But it’s to the point where I can’t do anything without him wanting my complete attention. So depsite the sweetness of it all, it feels draining too. And I’ve taken a tone with him a few times. Sigh. I love him to pieces. But I guess any human, even a tiny, adorable, funny one, can drive a person nuts from time to time.

Yes, that is a smile. It’s the one you get when you ask Devin to smile for the camera. We’ve dubbed it “scrunchy face” and he’s quite a talent in that department.

Dev got a remote-control car for his second Christmas. Designed for the littlest kids with a simple remote and durable plastic. He broke it several days later when friends came for a visit and he didn’t want to share his toy. His solution to not sharing was to take the remote and throw it (very hard) to the floor.

Scott tried fixing it, but had no luck. I stuck the car up in my closet, thinking maybe we could come up with something. Didn’t, of course. And I bought him a more advanced remote-control dump truck last year.

Today, when we were puttering around in my room, he spied the car at the top of the closet. The car that had been there for nearly two years. The car he’d never noticed during that entire time.

So out it came. Without the remote. And he was very happy to push it around without the assistance of the batteries. Then he asked me about the remote and suggested that maybe we could fix it. I explained that Daddy had already tried.

“Well, we can use the one from my dump truck,” he said.

“I’m not sure that would work, honey,” I replied with skepticism.

“I’m going to try it!”

Off he ran to the toy box, extracted the remote, and ran back. He pointed it at the car and off it went. “Ah-ha!” he yelled.

I was sufficiently put in my place.

And here are two more ornaments for your viewing pleasure!

From Kris in Rhode Island…

From Rhonda in Florida (a big hit with my Florida Gator husband and animal-loving kid)…

My nose? His cheeks? Cracking me up!

I loved today.

Especially when you compare it to my yesterday. Which sucked.

Dev has been very challenging lately and my mood on Saturday didn’t help matters. The medication is definitely helping me in a lot of ways, but the depression doesn’t go away entirely. I have to learn how to handle my negativity and frustration. It’s a learning process, a difficult one, to change 40 years of that type of thinking.

Combine all of that with a husband who had a ton of work to do over the weekend and a couple (us!) that hasn’t had an evening to themselves in months, and this household was a hotbed of tempers and tension yesterday. I was in tears.

This morning, though, the waterworks were over and the optimism returned. It seemed like there was a renewed commitment from all three of us to make this day better. Starting with me making raspberry-buttermilk pancakes — the first time I’ve made a batch in forever. That was followed by a successful trip to the grocery store with the little guy and a cooperative turn at the video store, where he nicely picked out two selections and waited patiently for me to make mine.

Then he…took. a. nap. A miracle!

I had a healthy snack and went to the gym, where I ran nearly two miles, breezed through my weight routine (stopping once to stare in astonishment when I noticed how big my triceps were getting), and took a nice hot shower.

After dinner (sloppy joes), Devin wanted to go outside and slosh around in the slush with his new Spiderman snow boots. (Which, by the way, I hate. Why are there characters on everything in the stores? Why?) He was thrilled to amble down the sidewalk with me, both of us bundled up in our coats, hats and mittens, our waterproof boots kicking the rainy-snowy-icy stuff into the air as we walked.

As we walked, I even came to appreciate his new boots, chosen by him and loved by him. Every step he took was accompanied by flashing red lights, reflected in the puddles and on the glaze atop the snow. His glowing gait meshed so perfectly with the holiday decorations all around us. The streets were quiet except for a few shoveling neighbors, and he and I chatted quietly about the snow, the lights, and other fun topics. I almost felt the tears coming again, this time from happiness.

So, yes, a day can make a huge difference.

And now, some more ornaments to share.

From Leah in Massachusetts…

This little guy, crafted by Diyosa in California, arrived a little worse for wear, but I’ll fix him up.

This one’s from Jen in Pennsylvania and is a “piece” of the photo directly below it.