Without further ado

I give you ... Robo-Elliott and Patrick, Ph.D.! (Also known as: "Thug Life E" and "The Mad Scientist Who Turned His Brother into a Robot.")

If you're curious, Patrick looks like he's about to burst into tears because I was begging them to PAUSE for a photo, and Elliott was having NONE of it. "We only have two hours, Mom! NO TIME!!!"

We borrowed a little girl's dress-up doctor coat (thanks, Laughmans!) and made it Mad Scientist-y. He had an ID ("Patrick, Ph.D., Mad Scientist"), Pete's old lab safety goggles, a ruler and about 12 pens. He helped decorate the bucket--can you tell??--but the real pièce de résistance was that 1970s blond police detective wig I put on sideways:

Elliott's costume was a recycling wonder! We saved assorted lids, containers, yogurt tops and more for this shiny number! An old box, a little foil, some duct tape and voila! We only had to buy some dryer venting (insanely hard to cut, by the way) for his arms and an empty paint can (did you know you could buy those???) for his loot:

As a control freak who, by my very genetics, likes to take Halloween costumes pretty seriously, my biggest accomplishment was letting the boys help. Elliott made that sign on his back that read, "Robot 'It's Alive'." When I affixed it, I couldn't help but add, "Made by Patrick (who used to have an older brother)."

Here, polite neighborhood children crowd the door while Paddy explains to this nice old lady how trick-or-treat works. "Just slip the candy through the ever-so-slightly open door, and no one gets hurt."

Elliott practiced talking in his robot voice for at least a week, but fully refused to pull it out while in costume. (Makes total sense, buddy. Stick to your convictions!) As punishment, he couldn't reach his candy-picking hand to his bucket-holding hand (HA!), so he kept having to ask for help. Still, hiding in someone's landscaping, I *nearly* caught him smiling once!

I was surprised how quickly they were ready to be done! I thought a 4- and 6-year-old would be in it for the long haul, but they called it quits after not even an hour. Back home, Elliott was thrilled to bits to start sorting. Kit-Kats first--11 in all! Wahoo!  

Patrick, on the other hand, couldn't understand how you could possibly make a pile of candy you DON'T LIKE. Quietly, gingerly, he opened his allotted pieces with care. "I'd never put YOU in the give-away pile!"

Another one in the books! Happy Halloween 2011!

I love these faces

These boys... So clearly brothers and yet soooOOoo different!



First up, Elliott--

He recently turned academia on its head with his first science fair entry, "Are all M&M bags the same?" The display, questions and free candy handouts went swimmingly, but that's not why I'm blogging.

Yesterday, we were riding in the car when Elliott--our serious, analytical child, who likes things just SO--drew my attention to a MAJOR problem: the bottom of his pant legs had gotten wet from our short, snowy, post-school walk.

He's probably used to me begging/urging him to stay calm/not freak out/get bent out of shape over something so inconsequential. I swear, I could see his brain recalculating his approach to avoid my eye roll... Then, casually, he looked at me and said, "Clean-up on aisle pants." (HA!)

I remember how excited we were when a personality started to emerge from the little lumps we call newborns. But a sense of humor?? And a dry delivery?!? Love it!

Now, Patrick--

Paddy has had his share of "I-don't-know-why-I'm-this-upset-but-did-I-mention-I'm-THREE?" moments, but for the most part, he's a pretty easy, laid-back kid. (No complaints there!)

Now, my story. Around 2 a.m. this fine day, I woke to the unmistakable sounds of Someone's Out of Bed. I got up and opened the boys' bedroom door to find Patrick standing, a little surprised, a little like he wanted to cry, in the doorway, blue blanket in-hand.

I asked him what he was doing, and with stiff lips, he muttered something unintelligible. When I questioned him further, I realized exactly what had happened: his first bed-wetting accident.

What's amazing to me is: he never cried. He was tired, but awake enough to talk quietly as I stripped him down and cleaned his shivering body in the bathroom. He even went along with it when I suggested he wear cozy PJs that did NOT depict Disney Pixar's World of Cars. (Amazing!)

Then suddenly, wide-eyed, he asked where his blue blankey was. I tried to tell him it was wet, but he couldn't believe it. He jogged back to his room, and we sat on the floor together to assess the situation. I figured he'd grab the blanket, regardless of its condition, and--come ON, he's three and just woke from a dead sleep in a puddle!--a fight would be futile. Instead, he felt the satin edges until he got to a wet spot. With a quick, calm huff, he looked up at me and reported, "Pee pee."

With that, he went right back to bed with some horribly inferior, understudy blanket and no fight! (Incredible.)

Snowmen Are Like Fingerprints... (no two are *exactly* the same!)

The boys watched with glee as their favorite animated bunnies built a perfect snow princess (complete with jewelry and accessories... I WISH I could find a photo of the finished product!!) in 15 cartoon seconds.

I tried to tell them not every snowman had to be a princess, but they were eager to build their own. So far this winter, Elliott and Patrick have had a hand in bringing two snowfriends into this world.

Now, we haven't been blasted by snow storms like so many of our East coast family and friends, but we've had a decent amount. Unfortunately for the boys, it's also been insanely cold. There were several days when their suggestions for sledding and snowman-building were summarily shot down.

Finally this week, the temperature inched up near freezing, and we decided it was warm enough to head out for a little while. The boys worked on forming the snowman's body while I snapped a couple of dead branches and gathered some essential snowman gear. Elliott, Creative Wizard that he is, named this little fella "Snowman."

Pretty cute, right? He's got Hershey's Kiss eyes! :) And the legs were all Elliott. He pretty much insisted.

Snowman here probably reminds you a lot of the first attempt the boys made in Erie earlier this winter... If you can't picture it, I'll set the scene for you:

After a successful sledding trip, the bundled-up boys remain poised for more snow play in their grandparents' front yard. Dad and Grandpa loosely supervise. Loosely. The boys remember they had seen Max and Ruby smoothly roll three small snowballs into the perfect computer-drawn snow princess, so they get to work building their own No-Fail Snowman.

As it starts to take shape, Patrick's requests for jewelry and other accoutrements fall on deaf ears. Elliott, however, is unwavering in his carrot demand. ANY respectable snowman HAS to have a carrot!

Or many.

Grandpa dutifully retrieves cut carrot sticks from the fridge.

The boys, well..., worked with what they had:

What's the matter? Having trouble seeing it?

Here, Patrick realizes he doesn't have to just wonder if those facial features are as crunchy as they look:

Just look at that. Pride in a job well done! Mission accomplished! Max and Ruby's snow princess recreation? D-U-N. And a healthy snack? Off the list, too!