A Novella (Part 3. And I'm Spent.)

(If you're just joining us, please scroll down to start with Part 1 of my novella. I'd hate to blow the ending in this suspenseful plot.)

Chapter 6: Big E Struggles with Summer Vacation
Elliott's been having a lot of trouble with the idea that he's NOT going to school four days a week, all summer. He loves preschool. And, he LOVES the bus. And his bus drivers. The fact that they give out all kinds of sugary treats factors in, but only slightly.


In spite of my ridiculous work hours, I decided I had to take a break and go into Elliott's school on his last day. They had a bubble extravaganza! Here's one friend bracing for something incredible from E's bubble wand. This is particularly funny if you've ever seen Elliott try to blow bubbles. He manages one tiny bubble with way too much force and lots and lots of spit.


This year, Elliott developed quite a little crush on his girlfriend Lily:



There's only one very big problem: She graduated. The class is made up of three- and four-year-olds, but Elliott didn't understand until graduation day that the love of this month will be heading to kindergarten next year. (E, who will turn four on 6/22, has another year of preschool ahead.)

I'm sure we can count on Patrick to offer a sympathetic ear/scream all summer long.

Chapter 7: Adventures in Growing

As Elliott continues to question if he'll be four or five on his birthday next week, we try to review how both boys are growing and growing every day.

A recent exchange about growing and returning to school went like this:

Me: Your friends won't believe how much you grew over the summer!

E: Yeah!!!

Me: Will you say, "It's me, Elliott, and I'm a giant!"?

E: No, I'll say, "It's me, Elliott, and I'm a grown-up!!!"

Yipes. That happened fast.

Anyway, growing boys need growing food. One day I got a genius idea to tell them they were both giants who ate broccoli trees. They had a lot of fun with this idea.

See? See how he's a GIANT next to this full-grown tree???

I may have mentioned it before, but growing Patrick also LOVES shoes. (Do all kids do this?!?) He'll put his feet in anyone's shoes, but it's really funny when he tries to do it with Pete's size 12 clodhoppers. In addition to them being 27 times the size of Patrick's feet, they're heav-y. Big shoes to fill:

Yeah, he ends up on the floor a lot, somehow confused that he fell.

Chapter 8: Did I Mention We Have Two Dogs?
With joint-baths, we have a new tradition in our house. The boys get soooooo excited to get wrapped up in the doggy towels, so they can (obviously) pretend they're dogs. Pete will walk unsuspectingly into the room, and the boys will dive into their barking/yelling/giggling routine. Appropriately, Pete looks shocked and runs out the door. The boys LOVE IT.

My job is to stand there, laugh and try to get photos of the fiasco.

Someday I'll get wise to the whole video-postings-to-blogs idea, but for now, you'll have to rely on my play-by-play. It is uh-dorable.

Chapter 9: Phew! I'm Exhausted!

This Scully Space novella was brought to you by the letter A:

(A is for apple, get it?)

Anyway, I end with this to tell you we've finally planned a trip out east to both visit my family aaaaaaaaaaand take the boys to Sesame Place!!! The last week of July will include two days at "Sesame Street," as Elliott calls it. Most days, Patrick (who, by the way, still calls himself "Tatrick." One day, when I said, "Can you say 'Puh, Puh, Puh, Patrick'?" he replied dutifully, "Puh, Puh, Puh, Tatrick!") Anyway, he wakes up and asks for thee very same Elmo book time after time after time. To lessen this overload, Elliott wakes up asking if we'll be going to Sesame Street TODAY, thinking he has waited LONG ENOUGH.

Ahhhh, anticipation with toddlers...!

A Novella (Part 2)

Chapter 4: Nice Neighbors

Aren't we lucky to have next door neighbors we like, who also just happen to have two kids nearly the same age as ours? They make dragging the Diego table outdoors worth it!



There's Payton, the girly girl:



And Brooke, who regularly eats sand and is mighty proud of it:



One of the cutest things I'd seen in a while happened last week when Neighbor Shawn started mowing. Elliott looked at him, got an idea and made a beeline for his bubble mower. Patrick caught on soon after. It was A RACE! The boys watched Shawn's every move and turn, but they got serious and starting sprinting around the yard. Shawn was mostly oblivious to the whole thing, which only made the boys' seriousness funnier. Here they are, shortly after self-declaring victory:



There is a downside to these neighbors. When we go over there, Patrick walks around in everyone else's little pink ballet slippers while he pushes the pink bubble mower...




Chapter 5: But We Have Our Own Backyard, Too--with Swiiiiiiiiiiings!
Patrick is nuts. There. I said it.


He and his brother are OBSESSED with swinging. (Thank goondness we planned ahead and built this playset a few summers ago!!!) We have two regular swings and one "baby swing," so you can see how THREE swings often create a problem with TWO kids. (What's the matter? You can't? Each one only wants what his brother has, silly!)


We thought Elliott would take pride in being off the growth charts (not really... I don't think...), but he still BEGS to squeeze into the baby swing.

I think I say this a lot, but this is one of my favs of Big E:

"I do all my own stunts" T-shirt + raspberry popsicle = street cred. (Doesn't Patrick look like he just finished a bar room brawl or fell off the side of a building or something???)

It's fun playing with different angles and things, but sometimes snapping-without-looking is the best way to capture the true Insanity of the Scullys. Exhibit A:

When they actually give the swings a rest, Patrick and Elliott LOVE to water the flowers, "do fireworks" (Elliott thinks the water rushing out of the hose looks like fireworks for the grass) and play (if only for a few moments) in the kiddie pool. Patrick loves to pour water, including pool water down the straw of his ice-water cup:

On the other hand, Elliott has decided he doesn't like to get his swim trunks wet. Hmmmmmm. He'll pry them off and be stark naked until I can run and get dry clothes again. Here he is advertising sunscreen:

A Novella (Part 1 of--I don't know--a Bunch?)

My mother-in-law once told me I should write a book. I think this blog post will qualify. I'll go ahead and self-publish.

Chapter 1: A Long Blogger Absence
It's easy to tell when I'm insanely busy (or just insane) because I neglect ole Scully Space more than usual.
The other day (after a string of several on not-enough sleep), I made coffee. Ten cups. Thank GOD for coffee! The only problem was that I forgot the filter, so it was a direct deposit of 10 cups of coffee and all the grounds into every crevice of the maker and surrounding counter. Seriously unfair punishment on top of kids who refuse to sleep in when I've been up working until the wee hours.

Anyway, I don't usually delve into non-kid topics, but I just completed the summer issue of my magazine, the ANCHORA. I (and I speak for my homegirl Megan when I say this) am pretty proud of this one. Fifty-two pages of content and design that's almost entirely up to me. It's daunting sometimes, but I really enjoy the challenge. If you're so inclined, check it out online: http://digital.watkinsprinting.com/publication?i=18217

Chapter 2: A Memorable Mom's Day

I'm blessed. I got all kinds of pretty flowers, and I had all kinds of fun with the sunflowers. Behold:

They're hams, right???

I wouldn't eat much other than scrambled eggs and canned soup if it wasn't for Pete, but he also does desserts! The boys in my life made me a Mother's Day cake. (Or... Elliott impeded Pete's progress in actually completing a cake, while Patrick fiddled with the gas flow.)

We're all about hand-washing, hairnets and, uhh, nose-picking. Is that a weird combo?

(No, really. It was an awesome cake with homemade Bailey's chocolate frosting!)

Chapter 3: Patrick Puts Another Notch in His Belt

(And by this, I clearly mean "Patrick Turned Two!") Hear ye! Hear ye! I am twoooooo!

As is now my custom, I missed Patrick's actual birthday (5/16). I was at an annual editors' conference, and while I didn't get any kind of "Mother of the Year" recognition, I did get to collect one serious first-place award:

Our kids really may grow up never knowing their real birth dates..., but for now, it sure seems like a good idea to fib a little and celebrate as soon as we can. This year, the big guy LOVED blowing out the candles!!!

See the delight? See the drool?

Are they trick candles?? Are they??? Can I do it again?!?


Patrick is the kid who pronounces "Chuck E. Cheese" Chocolate Cheese. He also counts in Spanish like this: oh no, dos, tres, chocolate, ... So, yeah, Pete pulled out another one of his now-famous chocolate cakes and cupcakes for the big #2!!!


Just LOOK at the refinement!


Elliott was able to snag just one or two cupcakes (even though he continued to ask for chocolate cupcakes 8-10 times per hour for the next week or so).

Paddy's a quiet reflector, so he paused to comprehend 24 whole months.

Then, he nearly ripped his ears off, trying to pry that dang party hat off his head. (Who can THINK with that elastic??) Luckily, we had presents from loving grandparents to distract him:


But, like any kid, he delighted a little too much in the wrapping and packaging...