The cross I must bear...

This is a picture of Bill (and my poor parents) unloading an organ that Bill purchased off Craiglist last week. For those of you keeping track, this is the THIRD organ in our possession. Ask me how happy I was about that purchase!

To his credit, Bill just wanted this organ for parts. It has been dismantled. Some parts will be added to his big pipe organ, some went into the garbage, and some of the wood will be crafted into other items later. He even re-used the organ bench. It's currently the basement entertainment center.

Not surprisingly, both TJ and Sam were really excited to see more organ parts come into the house. I did not take that as a good sign. I seem to be surrounded by miniature Bills.

I did warn Bill that if he tried to bring a fourth organ into the house, there would be plenty of room for it, as his wife would have moved out....

Cheerleaders

As you all know, I find my boys to be very amusing. Lately, they've been cheering themselves and others on with compliments. They just don't always make sense.

Sunday morning, Bill dressed Sam. Sam walks up to me and says, "Look at me. I'm pretty."

Sunday afternoon, we were watching Brianna and Nate open wedding gifts. Sam was observing the rest of us complimenting various items as they were opened. So when Brianna picked up a new gift and removed the first layer of wrapping, Sam says, "Oh! It's beautiful! What is it?" We all laughed. What he was looking at was a layer of tissue paper. None of us knew what it was at that point!

TJ's job at the gift opening was to put the opened gifts and gift bags in a pile by the television. He did a great job encouraging himself. He'd push a gift over to its designate spot and quietly say "Ta da!"

In Sunday School, TJ has to memorize some Bible verses. TJ is very good at memorization and had his Psalm memorized by the second day. "My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth." He insists on practicing it everyday, just to make sure he doesn't forget it. Thus, Sam has learned the verse. I heard him playing in the garage last night, repeating over and over "...the maker of heaven and earth."

I had to email TJ's teacher with a question about a fundraiser he is doing. I also thought I'd check and see how TJ is adjusting to kindergarten. She assured me he's doing just fine. She said yesterday he kept helping the little girls by pushing their chairs in. She said he's quite the gentleman. He's not very athletic...guess he's going to be a ladies' man instead!

The cupcake kid

My niece Maggie had her first birthday last week. They had a small celebration at home...the big Van Dop party is this weekend. Aunt Kristi was kind enough to send leftover monkey cupcakes to my three boys. TJ and Sam ate theirs without too much of a mess. This, however, is the progression of Nolan and his cupcake mess:



He was so cute, I just let him go at it. It did take a LONG time to get all of the chocolate off of him, and his high chair, and the floor...

Theme Songs

Bill mentioned tonight that I have given each of my boys a theme song. Until he said that, I hadn't thought about it. I have always used silly songs as a way to distract my boys, particularly during diaper changes. I never thought about the fact that they each had their own.

TJ's song was "The Chocolate Factory" (a.k.a. "Good Morning George") from the Veggie Tales movie "Rack, Shack, and Benny." He used to laugh hysterically when I'd sing it to him. I wanted to post a link to the song, but apparently, it's a really obscure Veggie Tales song. If you Google it, you can come up with the lyrics. Or, I would be happy to sing it to you!

Sam's song is the theme song to Bonanza. I never put any words in, I just 'sang' the music to him. Copy this link into your browser...it's the opening to the TV show.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjdRgBAY278

Nolan's song is "Rawhide". Only, I've changed the lyrics. Why sing "Rollin', rollin', rollin'", when you can sing "Nolan, Nolan, Nolan"....
http://www.televisiontunes.com/Rawhide.html

Yep, I'm weird. But my kids love it!

How a mother quenches her thirst

On Tuesday, Bill received a job offer. It was something we thought might be coming, but it was still a big relief to have it happen. We decided to take the boys out for ice cream to celebrate.

We got to Dairy Queen and helped the boys place their orders (small vanilla sundaes with sprinkles for Sam, and chocolate and sprinkles for TJ). Bill and I ordered our ice cream, then as an afterthought, I requested a glass of ice water. Ice cream makes me thirsty.

We sat down at a booth, and the boys dug right in. No, wait. They didn't touch their ice cream. They started obsessing over my ice water. TJ grabbed it almost immediately and started slurping away. I was thinking about the bad cold he has had, and decided I would get myself a fresh straw. Nolan was observing TJ while I fed Nolan from my sundae. TJ finally pushed the water back at me, and Nolan grabbed it (yes, my kids can move faster than their mother most days). Nolan had a grand old time with the water. He'd suck water up, and then let chocolately water from his mouth go back down the straw. At that exact moment, I realized I wasn't the least bit thirsty, and you couldn't pay me enough money to drink that water. Between the germs and the chocolate, that water was beyond disgusting.

And that is how this mother quenches her thirst!

The last wedding

Brianna and Nate were married yesterday. All five of us Van Dops are now married. In a way, that's a little sad, because family weddings are fun. Yesterday was no exception.

My boys were only at the wedding for pictures and the ceremony (this was by my choice. As the maid of honor, I didn't have much time for them, and didn't want someone else to be stuck running around after them at the reception). After the ceremony, they had special permission to ring the church bell with Bill. And man! Did they ever ring it! It was very loud outside...I'm sure all the neighbors were wondering what in the world was going on. They must've rung it for several minutes straight. They rang it too hard and wound up flipping the bell, which meant Jerry the custodian had to climb up in the tower and correct it. Oh, well. It was the highlight of their day.

It was a beautiful day, with a beautiful bride and lots of laughs.


God made us sisters, our hearts made us friends...


This morning, I wanted the boys to wear their wedding outfits one last time. Both TJ and Sam were wearing outfits my co-workers lent them. TJ was not pleased, and informed Bill, "I am not wearing a tie! Ties are only for weddings!" Bill wears a tie almost every week. Where'd TJ get that idea, anyway? Anyway, I promised that he wouldn't have to wear that specific tie again, and I told him I really wanted to take one more picture of him, so he acquiesced. Aren't they cute?

September 8--First Day of School

TJ started kindergarten today, September 8. I also started school on September 8 (28 years ago!). If you are wondering how I remember that, it's because I started school on my 5th birthday. Yep, I hit the big 33 today. I told my mom about the coincidence with the dates, and she wondered if I was sending a birthday treat with TJ. Huh? I think she was confused. She thinks she was too:-)

Anyway, other than the bus coming early (which messed up a couple photo ops I wanted to do), everything went fine. TJ had a blast. He loves his teacher, Mrs. Marsh. Although, he keeps calling her Mrs. Gladstone. We don't know any Gladstones, so I don't know where he got that name! She sent home a small plastic frog with all of the kids, as his class is called "Frogs in the Marsh". Cute, huh?

Here is TJ and Mrs. Marsh at kindergarten orientation last week, followed by some pictures from today. Finally, there is a picture of me on my first day of school, September 8, 1981. I'm gagging down a glass of Tang (I hate Tang!) and Eric is pestering me, as big brothers do.

Walking 101 by Nolan

Step One: Spot Mommy across the kitchen and begin carefully walking toward her.


Step Two: Stay focused! Laughing, crying, or getting excited can cause loss of balance!


Step Three: Eyes on the Prize.


Step Four: Reach goal (Mommy) and burst into tears so that she understands you are in desperate need of some goldfish crackers.


He's walking more everyday! I can't wait until he stops crawling. I won't miss the hand prints all over my wood floor.

Quick funny story from today: I went to Kohl's last night after the boys were in bed and bought TJ a new pair of tennis shoes. While he and Sam were eating breakfast this morning, I got the box out so TJ could take a look at them. I pulled out one shoe and set it on the counter. Both TJ and Sam were oohing and ahhing over the shoe (they are both easy to please with new clothing items). I pulled out the second shoe and set it next to the first. Sam shrieks, "Look, TJ! Mama bought you TWO SHOES!"

Ice Cream!

We don't have ice cream very often. Maybe it's because I don't eat much dairy. At any rate, I rarely think to offer it to the boys, and they rarely ask. TJ was on a Popsicle kick this summer, so he asked for those instead of ice cream cones.

But last week, he wanted ice cream. We gave it to all 3 boys in sugar cones. TJ did the best with his. Nolan kept turning his upside down to study the bottom of the cone, and then would get frustrated that his ice cream fell out every time. Sam somehow lost his grip on his and dropped it on the floor, smashing what was left of the cone to bits. It was a mess, but it was fun. I'm glad we don't do it more often, though!

I love Nolan's little ice cream mustache. He looks like Inspector Clouseau from the Pink Panther.

Simple Machines

After dinner, TJ and Nolan were downstairs playing with Daddy. I was washing dishes. Sam was outside sabotaging sprinklers (did you know if you put a toy lawn mower over a sprinkler head it can't water the lawn?). TJ decided he needed my attention. He was talking to me as he came upstairs, but as the kitchen sink was running, I couldn't quite catch what he was saying.

"Mom, I need a p...".
"What, honey?"
"I need a p..."
"I still didn't hear you. What do you need?"
"A p..."
"Maybe I don't know that word, TJ. Can you describe what you need?"

So, now he's exasperated. "MOM, I need a pulley. A pulley! You know, a simple machine!!!"

Oh. What!? Then I remembered...we learned about simple machines on an episode of "Sid the Science Kid." Cute show, and TJ forgets nothing. I explained that I didn't have a pulley, so he fished around in the kitchen for awhile, looking for materials to make a pulley (doesn't he sound just like his dad?). Finally, he took the pad of paper I make my grocery list on, carefully wrote his name on the top, and drew a very good likeness of a pulley. "Here, Mom. This is what I need. Go get it at the store."

Should I laugh? Or should I be very, very afraid?

TJ's words of wisdom

Last night, I was folding laundry and TJ walked in. I handed him one of Bill's socks and asked him to throw it away. Naturally, TJ wanted to know why, so I showed him a hole and explained that socks wear out after awhile.

Shortly after that, Bill came to me and said that TJ informed him that "something terrible has happened." Bill asked what that might be, and TJ said, "Well, we had to throw away one of your socks. Now, you need to ask for more socks for Christmas." Bill was amused. Maybe he shouldn't laugh. He hates getting socks and underwear for Christmas, so of course, I always fill a box with both, and present them to him as a joke. But I think he may need more socks before Christmas. He's awfully hard on them.

Today, I took TJ and Sam to the grocery store. I normally avoid that, as I get tired of listening to, "Mom, can we have that?" "Mom will you buy that?" "Mom, it's ON SALE! That means we can buy it!" Anyway, I had the boys in one of those extended shopping carts. They were both sitting on the bench in front of the regular cart. That sucker was a beast to push and turn. It didn't help that one of the wheels kept getting stuck. Towards the end of our trip, I commented that I really didn't like the cart. TJ's response? "Yeah, Grandma does a much better job than you."

And that would be another reason to not take them shopping. My poor ego.