The Best Messes

Warning: Men should never be allowed to dress their children. I just have to start with this photo of my child. I left the house that morning wearing long sleeves and a sweater and my sweet baby in his little dinosaur pajamas. When I see him, out in public, a few hours later, this is what he is wearing. I wish the photo did it justice. The shorts I found on sale and bought for two summers from now, the shirt did not match at all and had Clorox stains running down the front from when Alden tried to "help" with the laundry.
Luckily, no one saw them. Here is why. I left the house very early for a mini-emergency which meant that Daddy did not have any forewarning he would be the "babysitter." Babysitting is what Alden calls it when Daddy stays home and I am not here. Now, Joey is a fabulous Dad and loves his boys. But he cannot stand to have to be locked up in the house alone with them. So, at 8:00 in the morning, he dresses them and randomly takes them to the mall, yet to open for two hours, where they play on the mechanical toys. Only, he never carries cash, so he just had them sit on the non-moving mechanical toys. He then proceeds to take them to Starbucks for iced tea before discovering Spencer had 102 fever.

Spencer pretending to ride the motorcycle, not moving, before we went to the doctor. This is the sickest child in the world. He always has something. I think that it was an ear infection this time. I say I can't remember because it falls somewhere with the stomach virus and hand, foot, and mouth that have surrounded the last three weeks.

Miraculously, Spencer was well for Halloween, but big brother was not. For the two out of three years Alden has been alive, he has missed actual Halloween. He and Daddy spent several hours at the after hours clinic at our Children's hospital with one sick guy and his sick puppy dog.

He was looking pitiful. On a side story, we had to call the poison control one time because Alden thought his vitamins were gummy bears and climbed onto the counter and up the cabinet to get the bottle. I wasn't sure how much he ate, but made a big deal out of it so it wouldn't happen again. He tells everyone, months later, that he had to go to the hospital (he didn't) because he ate too many vitamins and got sick. So, every time I say I have to go to the doctor he says, "What did you eat too much of?" I got sick this week and my mom came by after work until Joey could get home. I told Alden I was going to the doctor and he asks my mother, "What did Mommy have too much of? Does she have to go to the doctor because she had too much wine?" No, I didn't. Yes, he said it.

The whole time poor Daddy was also playing nurse and janitor at the hospital, Spencer and I were throwing a party at our house for all of our friends before Trick or Treating with pizza and cupcakes. When Alden did get home, did not want to come! That tells you how bad he felt. Sweet Daddy made him a special bed in his room and brought him up a tray and his portable DVD player. He thought that was just as good as Trick or Treating.

Good thing it wasn't the only Halloween event we shared this year. Of course, however, we had to have a little more drama. We went to our friends, the Joyners, annual costume party. I was planning on the boys wearing their costumes and Mom and Dad partnering up. I went to four costume shops, searched online and finally called Joey at work for last approval for Popeye and Olive Oil (I mean, I thought it was perfect in honor of his new Iron Tribe muscles). He totally chickens out the night of the party and refuses to wear it. So, I bring out play costumes and little retro boy clothes for Spencer. We run to the thrift store for Dad for a 1950's tie and I even braved the, gasp. Wal-Mart for Alden a vest and bow tie. Wal-Mart doesn't sale bow ties, so I ended up going up and down the mall and hour before the party. We get all dressed up as Beaver, Wally, Ward, and June-The whole Leave it to Beaver clan. The only problem is that I am not sure anyone got that but us.

We also go to go to a pumpkin carving at The Club. I have never dressed up to go to a pumpkin carving with an open bar, a flame table for S'More making, film viewings, and a full wait staff. But hey, it was great.

Alden had Mommy carve a Godzilla pumpkin. While I was distracted carving, there was a bit of an issue. They have a huge fountain on the terrace and all of the pumpkins were around the fountain. Probably a hundred or so. Alden was going around and taking the tops of the pumpkins and throwing them into the fountain. The staff said nothing, because they wouldn't, but they had three people with brooms trying to fish out pumpkin tops.

You can see the wheels turning in this picture.

Spencer with a wrist band. There will be many of these in his future and my guess is that it will not mean that he is going to the cookie bar.

Their school doesn't really celebrate Halloween, but they had special events in October. To celebrate "P" week, he had pajamas, pillow, and popcorn day.

Helen and Alden on at the "P" celebration.

They also had a whole week to celebrate community helpers. They met doctors, vets, dentists, policemen, and firemen. They dressed up on the last day and got to have a parade around the church.

Spencer had an absolute blast with the whole concept of Halloween. He totally got the Trick or Treat thing and would just walk up to the doors. Two things he did not understand: One, you can't actually go into the people's houses. Two, you aren't supposed to put every single piece of candy in their bowl into your pumpkin. It was pretty cute. He walked the whole way holding his candy bag and my hand and thought he was big stuff.

The next day, I even caught him hiding under the dining room table eating some of his loot. God love him, he picked the healthy pretzels.

And a banana. I have started calling him Monkey. Mainly, because he is a climber, lives off of "nannas," and is loves sock monkeys. However, the other reason is that he is Monkey See, Monkey Do. I tell him everyday that copying his brother will only lead to trouble, but he just doesn't listen. He wants to do everything he does.

I went upstairs to change out the laundry one day. I heard Spencer laughing at Alden which can never be good. When I got downstairs, the bathroom door was closed. That is an entire can of fish food pellets for the koi, an entire bottle of dog shampoo, all the soap from the soap dispenser, my guest hand towel, and the cord to the weed eater. Spencer is standing on the toilet and Alden is in the bathtub with all of this:

One shoe, diapers, the potty seat, and the empty shampoo bottles. It took me four times of mopping, plus Joey mopping, and literally picking up the fish pellets out of the cracks by hand. The good news is that they knew they were in so much trouble that they sat on the sofa for the entire hour silently and watched TV while I cleaned. It didn't end there that day. At lunch, I went to the bathroom only to return to find an entire bottle of ketchup on Spencer's head, hands, plate, and floor. Spencer is screaming and the dog is licking everything. "Don't worry, Mommy," says Alden, "Spencer just needed more ketchup on his chicken." That night, I walked the four paces to the hamper to turn around to Spencer pouring sunscreen in his ear. B-O-Y-S! I realized that day I no longer have babies. I have boys.

Yet another idea of big brother's. Every single pillow and blanket in the house went into the pile. This is why we probably shouldn't have nice furniture.

Little Brother just going along. He saw me with the camera when they got caught and all he said was, "Cheese!"

Then of course there is the game called "Let the Dog out of her Crate and Climb In." All kinds of things end up in the crate. Guess what Spencer said when I walked in the room. "Cheese!"

This is the two-fold Monkey See, Monkey Do. We were cleaning out the garage and Alden wanted to put on his Spiderman helmet. So, Spencer wanted to put on his helmet. Then, Spencer would not take it off! He wore it for four hours and cried when I tried to take it off to get on his clothes and go to lunch. The neighbors saw us out in the yard and asked if there was something wrong with his head. We have this table in the family room with two drawers that pull out for toy storage. Alden sat in one, so guess who had to sit in the other.

I finally went and bought him a new hat so that we could go out in public without the bike helmet.

Of course, the sad part is when Spencer can't do what brother is doing. He wanted to play soccer so bad and would run into the game every time. We would stop him and he would say, "Please.Play ball with brother. Please play ball." Broke.My.Heart.

Soccer season has ended for the three year olds. Alden was thrilled to get a trophy and a cupcake. That made those early Saturday mornings all worth it to him.

The bottom line is that they are just being boys. They love adventure and discovering new things and for some reason feel like the constantly have to tackle people and household pets and furnishings. The truth is that most of it is really funny. It is pretty funny when the conspire to get into trouble; hilarious when Alden takes Spencer by the hand to bring him to me to tattle; sweet when Alden defends Spencer when he actually gets disciplined; and precious when they forget to fight for a minute and play catch or build a fort together. I love brothers, and I am so blessed that I get to watch them grow up together. This thanksgiving, I will be thankful for my torn pillows, the pen on the wall, the craft paint on the dining room table, the broken air vents, and the jumped on mattresses. I am thankful for my little messes.