S'mores

As some of y'all know I participate in Freecycle. (Mark's eyes roll now. He finds the whole thing amusing...)

Freecycle: One unloads their crap on you in return for some other third party's crap.

Wonderful idea!

Today I picked up a load of boys clothes sizes 5 to 12. I always figure Alex can pick what he'd like and then we Freecycle the rest. Among the heap of clothing, I noticed 2 navy t-shirts that had obviously never been worn. TREASURE!

Size: 10-12 (would fit a boy ranging in age 9 - 12)
It said: "I'm Grandma's LITTLE S'MORE"
With a picture of a toddler faced s'more on it.

Those poor boys. Their grandma is so out of touch! I felt a pang of sympathy for them. Then the next thing I knew, Alex found the t-shirts:

"YES! SCORE! Look Andrew, there are two of these shirts! We'll be able to wear them together! And they have yummy s'mores on them. Maybe Mommy will let us make them. And put faces on them to MATCH our shirts."

They quickly stripped off their ordinary dirt bike and Superman t-shirts to exchange them for walking nerd advertisements. At least, they do this together.

Preschool Name Game

Yesterday, Andy's preschool teacher called. She said she had two Andrew D.'s in 3 year old preschool. Did Andy want to go by a nickname like I don't know his nickname, Andy?

One would think the answer would be yes. But, alas, no. Andy only answers to 'Andy' if I call him that. He wanted to go by Andrew. So I told the teacher, I'd talk to him about it and get back to her today. She was going to go ahead with Andrew D_____ and Andrew D____ as their classroom names.

After picking up Alex from school, I told him the story. I figured he'd identify with the story and perhaps find it amusing. At the end, he said, "Mommy, you guys are making it WAY too hard. Just call Andrew, 'Andrew James'."

Brilliant! I was practically bouncing out of my seat at how obvious this solution was! For the official record, ALEX HAS INHERITED THE GENIUS GENE!

Later Mark's grandparents called and a certain Great-Grandpa Jim was very pleased with Alex's solution.

First Day of Second Grade

Dressed for Lakeview Academy -- Alex is sporting his trademark white polo, kakhi shorts, ankle socks, and white sneakers.

Creek fun

Ryan is with Daddy, Sean is with Papa Pat.

Andrew felt unsteady out there.

Ryan had a ice cream bar upon our return.

Playing at Grandma's & Grandpa's house

Ryan's preparing to "jump" off the porch, while Seany is checking to make sure I'm coming along.

Assured I'm following, Sean follows Ryan down the path.

How many babies does it take to tackle one seven year old?

Can we do it?

Yes, Alex is down!

The Wedding I also wrote about so long ago...

Alex loved the cake!

His beautiful teacher and Alex.

Some of his classmates, the lovely bride, and Alex.

Those boots I wrote about long ago...

"Howdy!" Sean just HAD to try out this ensemble.

Seany.

Andrew in his boots and hat walks around saying "Howdy partner."

Andrew and Alex -- Fidora wearing cow-folk.

Alex got his cowboy on.

The Funny Dresser

Andrew chose these clothing items all by himself -- very proud -- he's worn this several times since -- yellow tshirt, red sweat pants, brown & orange socks, and yellow Sponge Bob shoes.

Ryan wanted Andrew's help with shoes -- just for a moment.

Then he wanted my help as Sean had already gotten finished.

Sean was quite happy about being first!

Building a Toddler Bed

Mark had so much help, he couldn't figure out what to do with it all! Sean is standing on the box, Ryan behind him. Alex and Andy have toddler bed rails in hand.

Testing out Ry Guy's new bed are Ryan in the back, Sean and Andy in the front.

Posing on the finished product -- Alex, Ryan, Andy, and Seany.

Seany checks out the improvements made to his crib -- no more crib now its a day bed.

Boots

Alex was invited to attend the wedding reception of his first grade teacher. Its Friday night. So he and I will attend without the accompaniment of his brothers -- who will hang at home with Daddy.

Today we bought the gift and a nice white button down Gap-ish shirt. He wanted a tie -- we looked everywhere, all we could fine were unsuitable Mormon themed ones with remarks like "Choose to Serve" and "Choose the Right" all over them. Don't they were normal colored, patterned ties? Anyhow, the shirt will look dandy on its own.

Then we struggled to find suitable shoes. We found many that looked good, but if he needed a size 2, they'd have a 1.5 or 2.5; if he needed a 2.5, they'd have a 2 or a 3. VERY FRUSTRATING! Finally at "Wally-world", he saw cowboy boots. Black cowboy boots. Black cowboy boots, in sizes 1.5, 2, 2.5 and even 3. Surely one pair would fit. And indeed they did. He's wanted such boots since he has been about 3 years old. Despite all this I found my self saying, "I'm not sure cowboy boots are really the best thing to wear to a wedding."

"Well, her fiance is a cowboy. Remember the picture. And they're going to move to Texas."

At $16.73 these boots cost about 6 bucks more then we normally spend on boy shoes. I called Mark for his opinion. Mark said something like, "Alex is 7 years old, if he wanted to wear cowboy boots to his 1st grade teacher's wedding reception, let him. She always remember him."

Bouncing on his cowboy heels, hands clutched at his chest, Alex waited with bated breath for the verdict. He was so happy about his boots, when Mark got home for work, Alex said, "Thanks for letting me get the cowboy boots, Daddy."

Andy's Story

Andy is very fond of stories about a 3 year old LITTLE boy with brown hair and brown eyes. Usually these are told at times when he needs to calm down -- nap time, bed time, just general quiet time.

One morning during breakfast, Andy tells the following story to Alex.

"Once upon a Ttt-ime. (PAUSE) There was a BIG boy with brown hair and brown eyes. He was not 3 years old, because he was bigger. It was breakfast. B End." (He always says B End instead of The End.)

To which, Alex responds, "That's it. That's the whole story."

Andy responds, "Yep." Luckily he missed all hints at sarcasm.

The Stuntman and his Sidekick Clothingman

Sean and Ryan learned a new trick on Wednesday. They learned how to climb out of their cribs.

I wasn't totally impressed by Sean as he can climb straight up the counter, the backside of a couch, etc. The little monkey can climb anything. Ryan on the other hand, is not as adept at managing the vertical obstacles that one normally finds in a home and thus found myself excessively proud of his new ability to escape his crib.

As you know, the chairs are put on top of the table or countertop to prevent additional climbing. No laundry baskets are left around, the couch cushions are often on the floor being used to give the twix additional height.

On Thursday, naptime, I put the twix in their cribs, thinking hopefully they'll stay put and cry while I make lunch for Alex and Andy. After lunch, I'll come back up and remind them its nap time.

Just as I hit the bottom stair, I hear a crash. I go back upstairs and find Sean pinned from the waist down under the chest of drawers. Ryan wanting to be helpful but unsure of exactly what to do, is moving clothing out from around Sean's face and chest. I pull the chest off him and he won't get up, but kicks his legs up.

After a frantic call to Mark and the doctor's office. Everyone agrees 911 isn't necessary and he can just be checked out by said doctor. The doctor informs me that Sean has once again escaped amazingly with only minor injures -- not even a bruise on him, just some aches.

So Saturday, Mark made up the used toddler bed I bought online for Ryan, converted Sean's crib to the toddler day bed, and moved the two remaining pieces of furniture, the chest and dresser out of their room and into our closet.

Their room now resembles a colorful prison cell with nothing but a couple stuffed animals lying on the floor and their two mini beds. At least I needn't continue to fret that they'll kill themselves at nap or bed time.

And for those ready to suggest bolting/bracketing the furniture to the walls, that will be in the next house. As we're trying to sell this place, it would be a horror to have to patch and repaint all those holes.