October 31, 2010

chicken little

in peeling through the Halloween photos, there are definitely plenty to share. 
but, thinking ambitiously, i would like to save a few for next Halloween, should i still be doing the savvyboy thing. :) 


but, there was one that struck me. 
look at the expression on anth's face, circa 2005.




and then compare it to one of the earlier fail photos...


fail photo friday - 4

...and people tell me they don't see the resemblance. 

October 30, 2010

Various Stages of Halloween Costume Rejection

there have been some costumes that i have ADORED over the last 5 years.
...my boys have not always shared the same sentiment.

this is anth trying on his 2007 costume.
it was not love at first sight. 
...so we tried the other costume i bought out of lack of decision making skills.
clearly, he felt the same about monkeys as he did about lions.
so, we went with the lion. 

benjamin had a similar reaction to his 2008 cow costume
 
...which quickly changed to apathy
and, eventually, acceptance as he shifted back into his daily routine.

October 29, 2010

Fail Photo Friday - Halloween

so, yesterday was officially be a nice, doting mom day. 
now it's friday. 
so here are some of the less successful shots from Halloween 2010. 

...these sent me on a mental stroll down memory lane of some of my favorite unfortunate halloween photos of years past. 
the ghosts of failed photos past, if you will. 
so, i'm thinking that, in honor of the holiday this weekend... 
(and, because this California girl who grew up trick-or-treating on October 31st and not whatever day the city of Columbus declared to be "trick-or-treat" night finds this new structure unsettling...)
...i will spend saturday and sunday night sharing some of my favorite old gems. 

benny adamantly declared Dots to be his favorite candy over the last two days.
i don't understand.
but, whatever.
now i don't have to eat the leftover candy and i can focus on the chocolate.
here, we were on our last residence hall of the night.
ben appears to have had one too many Dots. 

My Sweaty Boys was a close second to the blog's current title.
but it just seemed to send the wrong message. 

like all true superheroes, mine occasionally break into dance.

this would be mom's failed photo.
but my friends and i sure had fun handing out the candy while the boys were walking the neighborhood with daddy. 

October 28, 2010

my little heroes


today's post is neither funny nor ridiculous. 
just shamelessly sharing my boys' cuteness for halloween this year. 
...i mean, i have to be a legit mommy sometimes. :)


the boys trying on their costumes 

yep, i forgot to take the sticker off of anthony's head 
benny was SO proud of his inflatable wings.
which, thank you online vendor, came with a hole in them.
and lost their steam, as seen here, within about 30 seconds.
mom & dad were SO proud of their super glue & piece of trash bag patch job.
 

the boys went to Haunt the Halls on campus on Wednesday night.
benny stopped by my office first to snag some candy from my candy dish.
AKA, in keeping with life on campus, he pre-partied for the event.
benny's pumpkin is on the left. he asked for a "mad face."
anth requested something a tad more complex. 

tonight was Trick or Treat night in our neighborhood.
i merely include this to prove i eventually noticed, and removed, the sticker. 
love this kid.
to infinity.
and beyond.

October 26, 2010

choosing my battles. . .

someone, please remind me why i found myself in a debate tonight with anth over the fact that it is not Taylor SMITH, but Taylor SWIFT. 


as if: 
1. it matters,
2. i actually care,
3. this will somehow impact his success in life, or
4. i could identify more than one of her songs with confidence. 

October 25, 2010

leaf me alone

in keeping with my usual routine, i picked up anth from his room at daycare first today. 
as we were walking through the center toward ben's room, we passed the double doors that are the entrance point to one of the playgrounds. 
there was a pretty substantial pile of leaves on the inside of the doors. 
anthony looked at them, and commented, "geez. i guess it's a rather busted day."


in an effort to correct what i found to be a rather precious Winnie the Pooh reference, i said, 
"i think you mean a rather blustery day, hon." 


per usual, anthony paused long enough to give me his very clear "oh, mom" look.  
and retorted, "i know it's 'blustery,' mom. i just prefer 'busted' to describe this day." 


seeing as this is not part of the usual savarese house vernacular, i'm curious as to what 
situation prompted him to pick up this descriptor at school.

October 24, 2010

missing the bigger picture

  • Scene: mid-afternoon. i'm in the kitchen doing dishes. 
  • Anth: (barreling around the corner from the family room) Mom! I need a new cup for my snack!!!!
  • Me: What happened to the cup you were using? 
  • Anth: Oh! I barfed in it!
  • (anth turns and starts to run back to the living room, where, presumably, the Savarese wait staff will deliver said cup. he stops suddenly, then pivots on the ball of his foot.)
  • Anth: So, i'm probably gonna need a new snack, too. 
  • (runs off again.)
  • *** yeah...probably. because MORE to eat is the next best step. 

October 23, 2010

"i kinda lub you."

- benny, leaning over and taking anth's hand during dinner last night. 
  it was very sweet. 
  kinda.

October 22, 2010

fail photo ratio - 9

i've started a folder on my computer of some of my favorite "fail photos" for future friday posts. 
which, of course, means that there are so many that i have a tough time choosing. 
iPhoto currently tells me that i have 14,640 photos sitting in it. 
(seriously)


there are approximately 400 that i love, like this: 


and 14, 240 that look a bit more like this: 




and this...


i know this, because i have a folder called "mommy's favorites."
it has less than 400 photos in it. 
that, my friends, is a less than 3% success rate. 


so for those of you who like the Fail Photo Fridays...no worries of me running out anytime soon. 

October 20, 2010

things i never knew i would say...

...for the last time, get that fork out of your nose.


---did you just bite his elbow? 


...i need two naked boys, pronto! (for bath time, friends, for bath time.)


...of course i'll help you put his head back on!


and, moments ago...


...did you get that floss out of the trash? 

October 19, 2010

there's pee-pee in my closet

tonight was an entertaining night for me.
as usual, this one requires a little bit of background information...


1. i love music.
2. i especially adore musical theatre. 
3. i am also easily music-impressionable. 
4. i.e., one has to simply mention a song title and it's in my head all day. 
5. really, all you have to do is mention a phrase that is a lyric in a song and it's over for me. 
6. this weekend, a colleague mentioned the musical Chess in a post on Facebook.
7. as a result, i was compelled to listen to it. repeatedly.
8. because of my schedule this week, this has mostly happened in the car with my boys. 
9. and, if i'm being honest, because the show was written in the 80's it sounds very...80's. 
10. so i tend to skip around to the songs that i really love. 
11. one of these is Heaven Help My Heart. 
12. which brings me to the string of events that this song put into play tonight...


as i was getting the boys ready for bath time, anth stated "hey, mom...i think that maybe it's not really best to love a stranger. i mean, sometimes they can be dangerous. and sneaky. strangers are sneaky."
as a concerned parent taking this statement out of context, i asked some questions to follow-up. 
i eventually realized that he was referring to lyrics toward the end of the song. 
(no idea what song i'm talking about? thought so. below is a treat of a version by Idina Menzel.) 


Idina Menzel - Heaven Help My Heart


we were discussing the merits of anthony's statement when benny, naked, dashed off into my closet. 
i chased him into said closet, and while in there, distracted myself by picking out an outfit for tomorrow. 
until i suddenly felt a warm sensation on my foot. 
where benny had peed. 
festive. 
so, twenty minutes later i have a clean foot and two clean boys and anthony asked me another question about the song. so i brought it up on my phone and the boys were listening to it. 
bless my sweet boys who are this willing to listen to mommy's musical whims
as they were watching the video, ben's brow became increasingly furrowed. 
he eventually looked up and me and sad, "mommy, dis person so sad."
i asked him why he thought she was so sad. 
to which my sweet boy responded in complete seriousness, "betause i pee-pee on your feet, mommy?"

all of this from a stray Facebook post...

October 17, 2010

gratitude

i just wanted to publicly thank my eldest child for, once AGAIN, suggesting that if i like the show Biggest Loser so much, I should probably go on it. 


mind you, i also watch SYTYCD, Top Chef and Project Runway. 


he has not suggested i try out for any of these shows. 

October 15, 2010

Fail Photo Friday - 8

my son is top-heavy. 
mostly in the head region. 
this is true of most wee ones. 
my little man just hasn't quite figured out how to make that work for him and keep the head more in the air than, say, bumping into the ground and whatnot. 

benny's teachers are wonderful, and whenever he bumps his head, they send a warning email regarding his new facial markings before we pick him up that day. 
we get these emails with some regularity. 

this week we received one, and as a fun side note, a picture that i found pretty much perfect was attached. 
they were cleaning their pumpkin in class that day. 

things of note in this picture: 
several children are cleaning the pumpkin.
the pumpkin is clean.
the children seem to be only reaching out and touching the pumpkin.
yet, upon closer inspection, all of the dirt has somehow been transferred to benny's face. 
that's my boy. 

October 14, 2010

Spooky

why yes, that was me in the Target restroom tonight, cupping my son's ears in the women's restroom so that he could get up the courage to use the loud, and hence terribly frightening, hand dryer. 


while he screamed, "are they dry enough yet!?!?" 


thanks for asking. 

October 12, 2010

"daddy, come hewe! i need you to get yo damn cracko fo yo'sewf!"

- this was, in fact, benny lovingly offering to share one of his graham crackers with his father. as in, i need you to come get your graham cracker for yourself. clearly. 


...consonants are tricky.  

October 8, 2010

fail photo friday - 7

this picture is so wrong...
...that it's just kind of right.
(6.6.2009) 

Happy Friday!!!

October 7, 2010

"cooties"

background: bernie and i have both been sick this week.
setting: driving the boys to drop them off at daycare yesterday. 
earlier that morning: ben informed his grandma that he was "buzz" today when she went in to get him from his crib. 

benny: hey eby'body, where's daddy?
me: he's at home sleeping, honey. he's sick. 
benny: ohhh....
me, jokingly: you were supposed to protect us from the cooties, "buzz."
benny: (quiet for a bit, then)...i was s'posed to pwotect you fum duh booties, mommy?

i, personally, enjoy trying to visualize the image he had in his head those few seconds before asking this clarifying question. 

October 5, 2010

despondent

i've realized that i shared a photo of my new haircut on the traditional "fail photo friday" post. 
unintentionally. 
(freudian, much?)
brilliant work, self. 


the photo i was going to use last week is this little gem...


anth's pre-school teachers, Kathy and James, sent home  a portfolio of photos and classwork from his two years with them. 
inside it are many little treasures that will be making their way to this site in the future. 
for now, here is one of my favorite photos. 
it is of anth and his longtime friend, Ziya.  
in the album, it is titled "mother hubbard."
one can presume that it is a live demonstration of the nursery rhyme. 


one can also get the sense that Ziya is, in fact, role-playing...
...and that anth, perhaps, is not. 

October 4, 2010

excuse me?

FYI...


if you happen to be sitting. 
or lying down....
and benny sidles up next to you. 
and perhaps shimmies his tush a bit. 
and then looks up at you with an impish grin. 
and says, "i can feel yo' faht!"


1. please do not be confused
2. or distubured
3. or disgusted. 


he is simply trying to "steal your spot." 
...just a heads up, really. 

October 2, 2010

"i don't really understand why you would give your hair away for someone to make 'twigs' out of it, but i guess that's nice of you anyway."

- anth, regarding mom's new hair.

from the front
(with a lovely shot of the spa we haven't dared open in 4 years. 
and benny. barefoot. perhaps dancing?)

from the side
(with a disaster shot of my parents' temporary abode in the basement)

me and fellow curly girl, kelly
(who suggested i call this photo "the long and the short of it." genius.)

{ok, that's it, the blog will be back to the usual focus on the boys after this little journey in self-indulgence. promise!}

October 1, 2010

honesty. . .

i did it. i allowed a stranger to hack off my hair today. for most grown women, this is not a big deal. but with naturally curly hair, i have vivid memories of my bangs drying to within a millimeter of existence in the car-ride home from a haircut in fifth grade. more recently...and by recent i mean in 2003...i left with a haircut that dried into three distinct layers. picture a rudimentary sketch of a christmas tree. attached to my head. 


so...i was a try-not-to-vomit mess today the two hours before i went to the salon. my parents and i went to Panera before my 1:30 appointment. where my mother decided to share the story of the time she took me to get my hair cut when i was three, wearing all blue, and the gentleman mistook me for a boy and i left looking the part. fabulous. so helpful. 
so, i went into the salon, the stylist hacked off the ponytail for Locks of Love, gave me a bob, and straightened my hair for fun. 

Before...






After...



grandma went with me today to pick up the boys. the little men have never seen me with short hair. nor straight. upon entering anth's classroom, he looked at me, and immediately said, "oh, mom. you'll never look the same again." 

thanks. 

we then picked up benny and managed to get to the parking lot and strap them all into the car. as we were pulling away, anth, unprompted, asked, "have you guys told dad about this yet?" my mom informed him that she had already sent him a photo. anth pondered this for a moment, and then offered up, "well, he may not like the style. but he'll still love YOU."

pause...

"maybe."