Kim, Kourtney & Kentrosaurus

we recently returned from a lovely trip to San Clemente, California. 

we visited not only my parents, but my sister, Katie, as well. 

it was amazing and sunny and delicious and Disney. 

there are many great photos. 

that you will likely never see. 

because, if i'm being honest with myself, they have gone into my camera to live out their lives, never to be seen again. 

but. . . i did take a picture the other night. 

thankfully, it was on my phone. 

so it can escape with ease. 

the boys have always loved to be read to at night. 

sometimes, bernie and i have our lives just together enough that we have some quality time to devote to this. 

sometimes. 

on those other (majority) of days, a page or two from a book about some topic or another has to suffice. 

recently, we have been working our way through a book about dinosaurs. 

earlier this week, we were reading about the two groups of dinosaurs: 

saurischians:  saw-RIS-kee-ə

and ornithischians:  or-ni-thiss-kee-ə

i include the proper pronunciation because i clearly did not know it. 

anyway, i read this paragraph about the "saw-RISH-ee-ans" and the "0r-ni-THISH-ee-ans."

(whatever. if you knew how to pronounce these, bravo. i apparently failed Dinosaur Studies.)

at this point, ben looked up at me, and with the utmost sincerity asked, "what about the Kar-DASH-ee-ans?"

so, parents, and parents to be. 

pay attention in Dinosaur Studies. 

or you may have to  have a serious conversation with your 7-year-old about the fact that the Kardashian family are alive and well in the Cenozoic era. 

shove with love

tonight, bern and anth are headed to campus to watch the opening ceremonies for BuckeyeThon.
BuckeyeThon is OSU's 12-hour dance marathon, raising funds for the Pediatric Oncology Unit at Nationwide Children's Hospital.
much love and support to the students and staff dancing tonight, and to all those they dance to help.

right now, benny and i are having a low key evening.
benny is watching Dumbo and i am sitting next to him sneaking in a blog post.
of this gem that i heard as i walked down the upstairs hallway last night.
the boys were in their bathroom.
anth was brushing his teeth and ben was standing next to him, leaning his chin on the counter.
"no, anth. i was pushing you off the stairs gently."

surprisingly, anth didn't comment back.
because, clearly, the force of a push down the stairs is what truly matters.

while i was out

ahem.
yes.
i am totally blogging during the Super Bowl.
i fully admit that i am only in it for the commercials.
and snacks.
and the fact that it means the new show Smash will be premiering soon.
this really should not suprise you from a girl who openly shares her love of musical theatre and women's gymnastics.
anyway...

each night at bedtime, i "trace" ben's face.
this was something i remember my parents doing to me at bedtime as well. 
essentially, it means that i use my pointer finger to lightly make a circle around his face, then gently make my way around his eyes, nose, cheeks, mouth, ears, etc. 
i do this a few times until he is relaxed.

for a rather high-energy little nugget, ben very much enjoys this part of our nightly routine. 
he typically sleeps on side, but while it's time for tracing, he rolls over on his back to make all parts of his cute little face available. 


as i've mentioned, i was recently out at a conference for 5 days. 
i flew in too late to be a part of bedtime my first day back, but i was able to put the boys to bed the next night home. 
as i crawled in to tuck benny in after we both listened to anth read, ben leaned over and whispered in my ear, "mommy, i had to trace my own face while you were gone."
this tiny little sentence, and the mental image of my sweet little wild man quietly tracing his own face in the dark, made my heart melt. 
then, another whisper, "i love you more than lightbulbs and the earth."


um. 
kind of specific. 
but than you, benny. 
i think. 

mind boggling

so...bern and i recently fashioned a set of blank 3x5 cards into flash cards for anthony.
we use these some nights before bed.
per his request.
to help him "learn more about his numbers."

yes.
i am serious.

while working on flashcards recently, i started to explain that, in the case of some numbers, there are basic patterns that make it easy to quickly figure out the answer.
such as when adding 9 to a number, etc.

anth took in this information and we practiced a bit.
and he saw that the patterns were, in fact, consistent.

we were sitting in his bed together with our backs against his headboard.
anth, facing forward, reached out his hand and grabbed my knee.
"oh...mom. that just totally blew my mind!"

just imagine when he gets to F.O.I.L.

what we've got here is...

recently, bernie has suggested that i take a slightly more stern approach in disciplining the boys. 
this is not as dramatic is it might sound. 
bernie regularly employs the sit-on-the-stairs maneuver. 
i gravitate more toward the "take deep breaths" and "talk it out" tactics. 
less so toward the time-outs and go-to-your-rooms. 
this is largely because when i put ben on the stairs, he finds it hilarious to get up and walk away. 
and, if i'm being honest, that just results in the general declaration of "mommy is about to be really frustrated."
this is not a helpful tactic. 


tonight, bernie is at a counselor fly-in event for First Year Experience. 
i am at home with the smallest savaresi. 
and, in the middle of the bathtime/brushing of teeth routine, anth did something squirrelly. 
nothing outrageous, but something i wanted him to think about. 
so, i took his hand, walked him over to his room, and asked him to sit on his bed. 
i squatted down to look in his eyes and told him that he wasn't in trouble, but that i wanted him to think about why he did what he did while i helped benny brush his teeth. 
and that i wanted a report when i came back. 
he just nodded. 


i went back to the bathroom and "checked" benny's work. 
by "check," i mean that i followed up his 2-minute round of chewing on his toothbrush with a method that actually brushes his teeth. 


after this, i went back to anthony's room. 
i asked anthony what he had thought about. 
he tilted his head sideways toward the bathroom. 
i asked if he had thought about what happened in the bathroom. 
he nodded. 
i asked if he had thought about why he had made the choice that he did. 
he nodded again. 
i asked him to tell me. 
he shook his head. 
i took a deep breath. 
then i told him i needed him to tell me what he had thought about. 
he nudged his head toward the bathroom again. 
more. 
deep.
breaths.
i told him that i really needed him to just talk to me. 
at this point he tilted his head back and gurgled, "but, i can't!"
and started giggling. 
as a pool of toothpaste and water sloshed out of his mouth. 


time out #1?
"A" for effort.
"F" for logistics.

bunnies on the brain...

tonight, anth and i were lying on the floor next to benny's crib at bedtime. 
yes, this has become a part of the routine that i have accepted. 
judge as you will. 


anth, being a logical child, has been focused on the logistics of being the easter bunny. 
he used this time together to ask the following...
is he the size of a real bunny?
or is he huge like the ones in the mall? 
does he look like a real bunny or the "dress up" bunnies? 
does he have helpers?
is he magical? 
how does he carry all of that? 
etc...


for the most part, bern and i let him know that because we were such good kids, and listened to our parents who told us we had to go to bed, we don't know. 
you see, we were angels. 
and went to bed early. 
and fell asleep right away. 
and did not get up and go poking about. 
hence, we have never actually seen the Easter Bunny. 
anth accepted this at face value. 
and went to bed. 


he then became concerned that we needed to "leave something for the bunny." 
he hopped out of bed and dashed downstairs.

he drew a quick picture and note for the bunny and grabbed a bowl. 
he then asked us to "leave him some salad." 
which we have done. 
(we hope the Easter Bunny enjoys a Romaine Blend.)
anth then went back to bed. 


i went up to check on him a few minutes ago. 
he is quietly lying in bed awake. 
i asked him what he was doing. 
he said he was going through the first floor of the house "in his brain," picturing all the places a bunny might hide something. 
(at least he's being productive up there.)


i think i mentioned previously that we took anth to see HOP on his birthday.
(meh.)
on my way out, anth shared one last thought. 
"hey, mom. wouldn't it be really cool if daddy was the real easter bunny? then we could be his helpers."


wouldn't it, anth? 
;)

curses!

this little gem was observed by Bernie...
and, for the most part, this post was written by my lovely hubby.
with some "additions" on my part.
because he is just too nice to be sassy about the boys...

heading into bedtime, bern asked anth to go ahead into the bathroom and brush his teeth, telling him that he would be right there.

we typically let the boys do the initial work, and then come in for some recovery.
and by recovery, i mean to actually brush their teeth.
because, were it up to ben, he would just stand there and quietly eat the toothpaste, happy as a clam.

as bern was changing into his "pajamas" in the next room, he heard anth let out a disapproving “ugh…”
this was quickly followed by a vehement, “curse you tooth brush!”

bern got up to see what was wrong.
anth was standing at the sink, staring at his toothbrush.
he was giving it the universally recognized look for "you are a dissapointment to me."

of course, bern asked anth what was wrong.
anth: “I can’t believe my tooth brush. It just stopped working”

note:
anth uses an electric tooth brush and it had stopped spinning.
likely because the batteries died.
apparently we have spoiled him far too long with a mechanized tooth brush…
so much so that he has no idea that he could “manually” scrub his teeth and get the same result.

proud mommy moment #2

on Monday night we had gone upstairs to start our usual bedtime routine.

i received a call and left the boys playing in anth's room for a few minutes to take it.

when i came back, i heard them in benny's room.

this is what i found.

apparently, they started their version (sans jammies and tooth-brushing) of bedtime without me.

some things are just too good not to share.

this book is one of benny's new favorites, compliments of the ever-thoughtful Yvette. :)

quickly approaching the top of the hill

like most women, i started to go grey at 19. 
oh.
wait...


unlike most women, i started to go grey at 19. 
this was sort of a non-issue at the time, as i recall dying my hair for the first time, a la hydrogen peroxide, in junior high. 
it was a super classy look. 
during high school i colored my hair a number of shades from cherry to black with forest green highlights. 
yep. 
you read that correctly. 
i then made the stellar move of starting college with black hair and white, purple and electric blue extensions i had put in during a trip to London. 


...by the time i graduated and was living on the boardwalk in Newport Beach with four English and Theatre majors (a year worthy of it's own blog), working at Verizon Wireless and figuring out "what was next," i had a noticeable amount of grey. 
enough that i recall my roommate Joy(OUS!) being jealous that her two greys did not stand out well in her blonde curls. 
being a creative writer, it would have made her look more the part. 


*sidenote...this same roommate (and dear friend/generally amazing person) has since moved on to instruct creative writing in the college setting and do some of her own...here are three of my favorites that she has up on Apple Valley Review...in case you want to read some legit writing while you're here. :) 


pageant queen
the spirit of houston county

love they neighbor

anyway...
flash forward a decade and some change later, and they grey has multiplied at a rate comparable to, say, bunnies. 
and because i don't find it terribly troubling, i tend to slack off a bit on keeping up with my roots.
i assume anyone taller than me knows this. 
i had not thought much about it working in the other direction as well.


last night, the boys and i were sitting on the couch watching a Smithsonian Channel documentary on Kuru. 
(yes, this is how we chose to spend our first Saturday night as a fam sans homework.)
(and yes, hooray, our service is working again! a post to come on that fun...)
Anth was sitting on my left, munching on a pre-bedtime snack of banana. 
Benny was on Bern's lap to my right, and had just managed to stick his foot in the banana he was eating. 


yes, you also read that correctly. 


at about that moment, an ad came on for Silver Singles. 
it is, apparently, an online dating community for "mature" singles. 
aka, those who identify as 50+ in age. 
i made a comment to the effect of this being an interesting service. 
then anth, mouth full of banana, chimed in to say, "yeah, mom will need to get that soon." 
bern and i both looked at him and he pointed at the part in my hair. 
bern, cracking up, leaned across me to offer anth a high-5. 
which is open to a variety of interpretations. 
while hilarious, he has also just indirectly condoned mommy joining the "mature" online dating community. 


i think i'll pass. 

my little multi-tasker

sometimes at bedtime, anth and i read books.
sometimes i read.
sometimes he reads.

but, sometimes, we choose just to "chat a bit."
this generally involves hanging out on our bellies, or lying on our backs and staring at the ceiling.
these chats include things that happened at school, or what we want for our birthday, or why boys grow adam's apples, etc.

the other day we were there on our backs, chatting about the merits of BeyBlade v Ninjago toys for anth's birthday, and i noticed that his speech was slowing a bit.
i glanced over and saw that he was talking with his eyes closed.
so, silly me, i asked him if he was too tired to chat and if he was ready to go to sleep.

"mom. i can close my eyes and  talk at the same time. i mean, you're the one who keeps saying i'm pretty talented."

i'm fairly certain this wasn't the skill set i was identifying, but two points for self-confidence.

krystyne's definition of "wholesome"

i use the word "wholesome" all the time.
sometimes in reference to things that are, in fact, wholesome.
aka, in my mind they are good for the heart and soul, touching, endearing, etc...
and sometimes i use it in reference to things that are nowhere near that definition.
sarcasm is a tool i employ with some regularity.

tonight i am using it in the more sincere, heartwarming, sense.

in the last few months, benny has started asking us to "lay down with him" at night after we tuck him in.
so much so that i actually have placed a pillow on the floor next to his bed.
(judge all you want. i think it's sweet. for now.)

sometimes, anth comes in and joins us for the 3-5 minutes i spend on the floor.
on a few occasions when i was exceptionally tired, i may or may not have accidentally fallen asleep in this spot until bernie came to retrieve me.
oops.

but, in this case, i caught someone else in the act.

and this, my friends, is what "wholesome" looks like in person.

get it right, mom

i've had a pretty good head cold recently.
anth is a highly empathetic kid, so while being tucked in, he reached up and circled my eyes with his fingers and said he hoped i would feel better.

it reminded me that my parents used to do what they called "tracing my face" at bedtime.
if current behavior is an indicator of my past behavior, my husband could verify that i tend to verbally process at the end of each day.
reflecting on this fact, my parents were probably just (lovingly) trying to get me to shut my trap.
haha.
sorry, mom and pops.

so, i told anth to close his eyes, and "traced" my fingers around his face, cheeks, ears. etc.
when i got to his eyes, i looped around them, and said, "and then they would trace around my eyes, in the shape of an 8."

anth, eyes still closed and clearly somewhat relaxed, gently corrected me.
"no, mom. that's like an infinity because it's sideways. 8's go up and down."

silly me.
how dare i be anecdotally inaccurate.

my little coffee mate

i pretty much love coffee. 
and yet, i've mentioned before, i'm not ALL that amazing at making it. 
at least in a small batch for myself. 
keurig may just be the answer. 
in the meantime, the last coffee i bought was Macadamia Nut flavored. 
i usually go for good ol' plain coffee, but i felt a little...nutty?...that day. 
anth thinks that this coffee smells horrific. 


now, each night i try to make sure to pick out clothes for the next day, pack snacks & sippies for the little kids, make lunches for the big kids, and get my coffee ready to i can just press the button in the morning. 
anth is aware of this evening drill. 
and, has decided to use it to his advantage. 
he has recently started to offer to "help" me with this process...as a bedtime-avoidance tactic. 
his help generally consists of him pulling up a chair and standing there talking about Legos while i do the rest of the work. 
because i consider all of this to be memory-making, i allow his version of help. 
(though, to his credit, when we are making desserts or dinner, he is a legitimate part of the baking/cooking process.)


the other night, while standing on his chair, he veered off of the usual topic of legos and started suggesting cookies at every interval. 
for their snacks in the car. 
for mom and dad's lunch. 
for himself in that moment. 
helpful. 


when i went to get my coffee ready for the morning, stopped talking about cookies and leaned in really close to study what i as doing. 
as i scooped the ground coffee into the filter, he leaned back in sudden horror and literally gasped, " mommy, no WONDER it smells so gross! it's made of DIRT!!!!"

living with old people

anth likes to listen to the radio as he falls asleep.
we typically set his radio for either 30 or 60 minutes...with no real rhyme or reason.

the other day bern tucked him in, set his radio and came downstairs.
we were trying to catch up on the episodes of Community tucked away in our DVR when we heard anth padding his way down the stairs.

i went up to get him tucked back in to bed.
i went to reprogram his radio.
anth, sweat as a pea, "mom, i think you should put it on a little longer. i'm not old like you. i can't fall asleep in, like, one minute."

i forget that 30-something looks geriatric to a 5-year-0ld.
anth reminds me.
often.

guess how much i love you

as often seems to be the case, this little snippet was provided by bedtime.

anth and i had been through the full bathtime/toothbrush/story/chat routine and i was officially tucking him in and giving him a kiss goodnight on the forehead.

me: good night sweet boy. i love you best.
anth: no, i love you best.
me: i love you more.
anth: no, i love you more!

(yes, we do sound like teenagers in puppy love trying to end a phone conversation.) 

me: how do you know you love me more than i love you? you're not in my brain. you couldn't know what i'm thinking.
anth: well, i'm not in your brain. but i was in your stomach. (apparently he thinks i ingested him, haha)....(anth pauses to think...) and you were never in my stomach, so i guess i know the most.

...some logic is too cute to argue.

the littlest ghostwriter

•  Scene: putting anth to bed last night. (typically, we either read to him for a bit or let him work on reading to us.) i had let him stay up later than usual to watch last wednesday's episode of The Sing-Off with me so we would be caught up for tonight. (upcoming post regarding the sing-off...) because it was late, we agreed i would just tell him a story of my own. all of this transpired with us lying on our sides facing one another for story-time.
• Me: Once upon a time, there was a boy named Anth, and...
• Anth: (shakes head) No, mom. not a story about me. 
• Me: Okay...once upon a time there was a girl named krystyne...
• Anth: (rolls eyes) NO, mom. not a story about you and daddy.
• Me: Haha. okay...once upon a time there was a prince who lived in a far-away castle...
• Anth: (look of complete disgust) Ugh! no mom, i don't want the story to be a fantasy story.
• Me: Ummm...okay...once upon a...
• Anth: I want it to be about a toy factory!!!
• Me: Perfect! A long time ago, there was a....
• Anth: But i DON'T want it to be about Santa's toy factory and all those elves...
• Me: Definitely not. okay, a story about a random toy factory....once upon...
• Anth: (bolts up in bed) I know! Make it about a Matchbox toy factory! (lays back down.)
• Me: Sounds great! What happens in the factory?
• Anth: (throws up his arm in exasperation) I don't know, mom! YOU'RE the one telling the story!!!!
• (clearly.)