Not right

I snapped these photos after bath time because they looked so darn cute.












In the time it took me to put my phone away, they proceeded to take off their robes, stick their naked bottoms in my face and taunt " ha ha, ha, ha". Boys are icky.


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Mall treats

The last few trips to the mall we started a little ritual, visiting See's. You see, they give free samples so the boys think it's awesome to get a piece of chocolate. And of course, the adults wind up getting a small bag of sweets to eat behind closed doors away from little eyes.

Well we must have done this one too many times because they now recognize the black and white store front as SPECIAL TREAT STORE!!

Since it was so close to Father's Day, I indulged in a little treat for the boys and a box of Daddy's favorites. For the record, no one but Daddy has had a treat since the box got home!





Patiently waiting in line


What to have, what to have.....


I love this place!


A rare photo of me in the blog

Management

The boys were fascinated by Daddy loading the car with groceries. Notice Scrumpy is suggesting where all the items should go. If only he had independent thought......




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Worse than College Applications

No one told me that getting your kid into the RIGHT pre-school was going to be more stressful than my college applications.  I had no idea how desperation and sleepness nights were going to taunt me.  After talking with Becca, she encouraged me to find a Pre-K program for Scrumpy.  I told Becca I wanted her to get a teaching credential so he would never have to leave her, but alas, that fell on deaf ears.

So began the search for the right pre-school.  Patrick and I interviewed, were interviewed, did tours, read reviews on several schools until we came across Livermore PlaySchool.  At the tour, both patrick and I had that same tingle we experienced when we first met Becca.  The challenge was, this school only had one opening and Scrumpy still needed to complete his interview. On Monday, I was told another student was interviewing on Thursday.  It is amazing how quickly you can move meetings around when you are planning to be out of the office on Tuesday!

As we went in for our three hour observation/interview, I think I was more stressed than he.  The night before, I kept setting the expectations with him that if he was a good boy at the school, we would go get chicken, french fries and ice cream for lunch.

Well, he was amazing!  Even though I thought he was being non-social, only hanging out on my lap at the beginning, he quickly warmed up to the songs and playacting.  He even asked to participate, which is apparently never observed!  The interview went well, I gave them my deposit the first chance I got, and tried to get Scrumpy to lunch.  He proceeded to tantrum because he wanted to stay.  Not even ice cream consoled him as he spent the rest of the afternoon asking to go back to school. 

I guess Becca is right, he is ready.  Its just really hard on a mommy to see your baby move onto the next phase of life. I am excited though because I think he will continue to soak up information, learn, and continue to try and outsmart his parents.  Thank goodness we are still one step ahead of him...for now.

Participating in Song



Skirting the edge of cicle time



Reuniting with old classmates



He told me to leave him alone because he was busy



Recess



Treat for acing his interview

Kids do the darndest things

I struggle between being grossed out by this or laughing at the silliness of it. At Gramma's house, there is a mancala set that Scrumpy loves!

He takes it out every time he visits. This last visit, he was so proud of himself for discovering a new purpose for the marbles.

I don't know if this is :

A. An example of his fine motor skills
B. An example of his inventive mind
C. Just a gross example ... Period.

What do you think?













Or maybe I'm just grossed out by how white his feet are!

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My Boy

I have always loved a good book. I remember taking a flashlight in the car so I could read when it got dark. Ask anyone who has shared a hotel room with me and they will tell you in the middle of the night, if I can't sleep, I will often go into the bathroom, close the door, and read so as not to disturb anyone. I always carry a book with me just in case I get stuck in line somewhere.

When I was in school, you would often find me asleep with a book or two or three in bed with me. It's like they were stuffed animals.

At night, when I put my three year old to bed, I read him a book he has chosen from his shelf. Lately, he tells me he wants to hold onto the book as I say good night to him. The other night, I looked in his bed and found him sleeping with two of his current favorites. I had no idea this type of behavior was hereditary, or that I would find it so endearing.


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Lost innocence

Daniel: Where's my flashlight? (aka rinky dink 2 inch flashlight won at the St Patrick's Day festival)

Patrick: I had to take to the flashlight store because it was broken.

Daniel: Did you throw it away?



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Slave labor

Grandma has a lemorange tree in the backyard. Almost 30 years ago my parents planted a lemon, a lime, and and orange tree in close proximity to one another. I think there was some crazy cross pollination and now the only tree left bears a fruit that has the skin of a lemon, the flesh of an orange, and the tartness of a lime.

Well Gramma loves it when her trees are overflowing with fruit and loves it even more when she can squeeze her own fresh juice, no matter how tart the juice is!

Now it's even better because she has a willing accomplice who not only loves picking the fruit but using the 50 lb juicer. And since he doesn't drink any of the juice, it's all profit for her!

Anyone up for some freshly squeezed lemorange juice?







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KISS fan in the making

So how scary is it that this came naturally to him.  I don't know what is funnier:

a. That he is head banging to KISS (yes, that is a KISS song) and doesn't know what head banging is
b. That brother is screeching in the background, either in an attempt to sing along or as an adoring fan
c. That eventually brother is shhhing him to be quiet.

Just another typical evening in the Crossett household.....

Born to Ride

We hit another milestone this year.  This year Santa brought Scrumpy a Toy Story 3 bike.  He was so excited, he wanted to start pedaling right then and there in the living room.  Thank goodness we were able to dissuade him from continued ruining of the hardwood floors!

Alas, the bike we initially purchased was too small as such was the helmet.  We had to upgrade from toddler materials to 5 year old equipment, so now with hot wheels helmet in tow (did not have a Toy Story 3 helmet for 5+), we begin the next phase of development, moving from 4 wheels to 2!

You said what?

We were in Safeway tonight when I overheard Scrumpy saying what sounded like " trees". It took me a minute or so before I realized he was not saying "tree" but "Therese".

I asked him " What did you say?" and he looked at me and said, " Where is Patrick?".

Now I have heard him say Patrick and various forms of Patrick for some time now but have never heard him call me by name. I was stunned.

I told him "DADDY is at home with Baby". And proceeded to push the cart, thinking to myself that I am now entering into a new dynamic with my child. Heaven help me and heaven help him if he thinks he will ever address me with anything other than "Mama".


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Every soup but Mama's

So my kids are playing me.  I swear to it.  A perfect example, soup. Gramma makes Gramma soup.  This is a true Filipino-American dish that starts off with a Campbell's base and is doctored accordingly, inspired by a Filipino comfort food that even I look for when feeling under the weather.  I have watched my mother make this soup, and have replicated it to the letter, and still they will not eat it.  Scrumpy tells me its not Gramma's soup. They will only eat it if she makes it.  Sometimes, they aren't at Gramma's house, the soup just arrives and so they don't have visual confirmation that it is Gramma's and not an imposter, but somehow, they can tell when I have tried to fool them into thinking they have the real deal at home.

Just recently Becca told me they love soup.  They enjoy eating it all up and this is Campbell's. I cannot tell you how many times Patrick and I have tried to get them to eat Campbell's and have failed.  My kids are playing me.  I hate the feeling of conspiracy, especially when it is occurring in my own home!