Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Chipstack

Cold season has started. For some reason, colds make my boys' lips dry out. I am addicted to lip balm year-round (I prefer Burt's Bees pomegranate lip balm) and I always have some with me. The boys only seem to need it during the fall and winter. I am not buying them anything fancy, since they tend to be rough on the stuff. Right now, they each have a tube they received at the Coopersville Christmas parade last year. It's a strange thing to get at a parade, but it saved me some money!

Sam, in particular, has been very fond of his chapstick. Only, he can't say it right. He calls it 'chipstack'. He (very loudly) asked for some 'chipstack' in church on Sunday. Brianna was sitting behind us and was highly amused by that.

Today, Sam discovered that he had not one, but TWO tubes of 'chipstack' in his dresser drawer. One was cherry flavored, one was unscented. He could hardly contain himself, he was so excited. He got out both and proceeded to carefully apply thick coats of both to his lips. I'm sure he will still be smooth and moisturized a week from now. At least he's not trying to eat the stuff.

Saturday, September 25, 2010

Daddy's little helpers

Bill is always complaining that he takes on too many projects. He informed me earlier this summer that once he was done in the basement, he was going to scale back on his projects. Well, then he decided he wanted to expand the lawn in the front yard AND put in another zone of sprinklers before fall started. This is a pretty physically intense job (I know because I tried pulling up some sod and made hardly any progress). Bill removes a section of weeds/sod, smooths it out, then digs the trench for the sprinkler hose, buries that, and attaches sprinkler heads along the way.

Sam could not have been more thrilled about Bill's decision to put in more sprinklers. Sam has spent hours outside with Bill this week. Most of the time, he is just standing there watching Bill work. And talking endlessly. Sam loves to talk. He gets that from his dad. (Stop laughing. Bill really does talk more than I do!!)

Here are Nolan and Sam watching Bill work. Each of them are holding a sprinkler, waiting for the moment Daddy needs it:

The circus

Last week Saturday, Bill and I took all three boys to the Ringling Brothers Circus. The circus comes every fall (on the circus train!), but we had never gone to see it. I priced out tickets and was discouraged to see that it was going to run us about $100 to see the circus. So, I decided to put it off for another year.

The next day, I saw that WOOD TV was giving away tickets via their EightWest TV program. I signed up on Facebook to win tickets, and I won! What was really exciting was that they gave me a five-pack of tickets, so even Nolan got to come along.

We got in our seats about 30 seconds before the show started. I had so much fun just watching the boys' faces. TJ took in the performance like a typical kid. His favorite part was watching the guy get shot out of the cannon. Nolan had a look of puzzlement and awe on his face. He loved it, but couldn't quite understand what was happening. Sam was fascinated for about 10 minutes, then spent the rest of the time studying the spot lights, trying to figure out the contraptions in the ceiling, watching what the circus performers were doing in the dark and behind the scenes...basically he was looking everywhere he wasn't intended to. Typical.

Here's a few pictures from the show. It was great, and the best part was it was FREE!!

Saturday, September 18, 2010

Cheerleaders

I used to worry that subcontractors who came to our house would be annoyed and frustrated by my overly curious and overly talkative boys. That has not been the case. The men thoroughly enjoy the boys for one reason: the boys are cheerleaders.

TJ takes every opportunity to creep downstairs and talk to whoever is down there: Dan, the drywall man, or Scot the painter. He is in awe of them and repeatedly tells them how nice everything looks or what a great job they are doing. Sam doesn't try to go downstairs, he just meets them as they come and go in the driveway. The other night, Scot was sitting in his truck (either eating or talking on the phone) and Sam was standing right next to the driver's door, talking Scot's ear off. I could hear Scot chuckling as Sam prattled on and on.

Later that evening, Scot headed up to the roof. Bill is NOT a fan of heights, and just couldn't bring himself to climb the roof to put the caulk and second coat of paint on the chimney. So (for a mere $30), Scot said he would do it. It was a pleasant evening, and I was outside with all 3 boys and one of the neighbor boys. As Scot climbed the ladder, all four boys stood in the front yard, watching breathlessly. The moment Scot put both feet on the roof, Sam yelled, "Good job, painter!" I could see Scot smiling. He then proceeded the climb the roof and disappeared from view. Four boys ran down the hill and around the side of the house to see what Scot was doing next. I could hear Sam cheering him on. I finally convinced Sam to call him Scot instead of 'Painter'.

The basement is now done, with the exception of the carpet for Bill's office. That will be installed the last week of September. Bill will spend the winter finishing the kitchenette and laying tile. Family room carpet won't come until the spring. My boys are going to be bored and lonely now that the workers are gone. But they love having the family room back and Bill and I are enjoying the peace and quiet upstairs.

He has a name

It took two full days, but Emily and Jeff finally settled on a name: Tobias Arthur Geiger. Tobias is Hebrew for "God is Good", which I love. Arthur was Emily's Dad's middle name, and is a wonderful way to honor a grandpa who passed away over 25 years ago.

I am anxious for pictures and wonder how long it will be before I get to meet Tobias. Steve says it's okay to call him Tag, but not Toby, so take note!

Thursday, September 16, 2010

My new nephew

I have a new nephew. Emily and Jeff had a baby boy this morning, around 9:45 Oregon time. He weighed 7 pounds, 11 ounces and was 20 inches long. However, they are still debating between two names, so I cannot tell you what my new nephew's name is...yet.

I just received the following email from my father-in-law, and thought it was worth saving:

To my children,

No news on the what the Geiger child will be called. For now Cindy and I are referring to him as Number 6 or What's his Name. As a wise Grandma Geiger said : "You've know this child was coming for 9 months. What do you mean you haven't named him?" Or.....as Uncle Ryan said, "What the h... is up with that?

My thought is that they need to see his college transcripts first. By that time he will be known simply as Geiger...not all bad, very few people are famous enough to be known by one name...or he will be known only by 123-45-6789 or whatever Uncle Sam dishes out to him for a Social Security number. There was a rock group in the '60's called Question Mark and the Mysteriuns. The Mysteriuns would of course be his parents.

Whatever the name, it would be nice to know by Christmas so that your kids don't fight over the left over presents under the tree.

We will keep you informed as news becomes available. If a name does not appear, please be good uncles and aunts and apologize to the guy on our behalf at the reading of the will, since he would obviously be omitted for lack of a moniker.

Love,
Dad or Steve or whatever you call me.

Life according to TJ

Yesterday I picked TJ up from the bus (Wednesdays are the one and only day I get to do that). He climbed in the van and very seriously informed me that a girl cried the whole bus ride home. I asked what was wrong with her and TJ said, "Well, she got dumped. Do you know what dumped means?"

I told no, I didn't. He continues to look very serious and said, "Well, it means.........um.....see.....you know, I don't know what it means."

Good. You are only six. It's ridiculous that this is even a topic of conversation among elementary school kids.

Last week, I made enchiladas. TJ usually hates them, but this time, he inhaled his entire enchilada. But that is a tough word for him. Several times during the meal he said, "This is really good. What's it called again?" When his plate was clean he said, "Mom, can I have another chihuahua?" Bill and I both lost it.

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Marble update

It took seven whole days, but Nolan finally produced a marble this morning! I have never been more relieved to see a foreign object in a poopie diaper in my entire life!

All 3 boys insisted on giving the diaper and marble a visual inspection. They were a little surprised at my decision to throw the marble away, but no one argued with me. I have my limits, you know.

Saturday, September 11, 2010

Magnetix

TJ loves his Magnetix set. He builds some really creative things with the magnetic sticks and silver marbles. He has designed several different vehicles and numerous different buildings. Bill and I have determined he needs more for either his birthday or Christmas so that his creations can continue to grow.

However, because he is a boy, the Magnetix pieces are not always used properly. The silver marbles in particular seem to be tempting. A few weeks back, TJ was playing some sort of basketball game with Nolan and was throwing the silver marbles down Nolan's shirt. I thought I had retrieved them all from down Nolan's shirt, but an hour or so later, I discovered one in Nolan's diaper. Oops!

We have also had trouble with Nolan thinking it is funny to put marbles in his mouth. More than once, Bill and I have scolded him and put the Magnetix away for awhile to help Nolan remember that putting marbles in your mouth is a big no-no. Last week Sunday, Nolan forgot. He was playing in the stairwell with Sam (one of their favorite places to play, for some reason), when both Bill and I heard Nolan make a brief gagging sound and then he started to cry. Bill went over to him and Nolan pointed in his mouth and said, "all gone". Sam confirmed our fears. Nolan put a marble in his mouth and promptly swallowed it. Bill googled our dilemma and discovered marble swallowing is a fairly common problem. We decided not to panic. Nolan was in no distress or pain, and we figured it would pass in a few days. Well, unless we missed it, it hasn't passed and it has now been 6 days. It looks like I am going to have to call the doctor on Monday and see if they think an x-ray is necessary. What could that marble possibly be doing in there??

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Oh Sam!

For dinner Monday, Bill grilled hamburgers. We grill at least once a week during the summer, so the boys are used to the Weber being in the driveway.

When I was putting the boys in bed that night, Sam informed me that he had burned himself on the grill. He pointed at an invisible spot on his left arm. I sympathized over the hidden burn, and reminded him not to go near the grill when it was hot.

By yesterday afternoon, the non-existent burn was a large, blistering burn on his left forearm. He also has a smaller burn on his right arm. What did he do? Try to hug the grill? I asked Bill if he saw Sam near the grill, but he hadn't. Sam didn't inform Daddy of his burns until Tuesday morning.

Yesterday (Tuesday) was one of the best days of Sam's life. He started preschool. He was so excited. TJ got on the bus for his first day of first grade at 7:50 a.m. Immediately after that, Sam started asking when we would be leaving for preschool. Poor Sam. Preschool doesn't start until 9:30. He kept putting his backpack on and asking me what time it was. Sam has a watch, which he recently started wearing fairly regularly. TJ also has a watch and is figuring out how to tell time. Sam's understanding of the time is coming more slowly, but he seemed to understand what I was saying when I described what 9:00 looked like (that's when we were leaving to go pick up Grandma so she could see where Sam had to be dropped off and picked up). Sam listened closely, then started fussing with his watch. He somehow pulled the little dial on his watch and managed to change the time. After a moment he muttered, "There. Now it's 9:00". I held back laughter and gently explained that we can't make time go faster by adjusting clocks.

When we arrived at preschool, Sam met the teacher aide for the first time. He was already absorbed in looking at some projects that were laid out, and muttered "Sam" when she asked him what his name was. She asked him to tell her his name one more time. Sam looked up and spelled out very clearly "S. A. M." I laughed. He wasn't being rude. He was just letting her know how he spells his name.

When he got home from my mom's tonight, Sam informed me that he had to go potty. I asked him to hang up his coat, then come down to the bathroom. A minute later, Sam wandered into my bedroom. I asked him if he was ready to go potty, and he said, "No. I think I will spin for awhile first." He then began spinning in circles.

OK. That lasted for about five minutes. Then Sam decided he was ready to go potty.

Saturday, September 4, 2010

Can you hear me now?

Earlier this week, Sam decided he no longer needed to wear Pull-ups to bed at night. He is now wearing underwear around the clock!! We do still have the occasional incident where he needs to poop and waits just a minute too long to tell us, but we're working on that. Overall, I am thrilled with his progress.

Since he is wearing underwear to bed, Sam has to be able to wake himself up at night if he needs to go potty. He has been doing this since the very first day he used the potty. Odd, but I'll take it. My only beef is that Sam's whispering skills are lacking. And he's had to go potty in the middle of the night several times in the past week. It is a bit hard on my heart to be in a deep sleep and suddenly have this child talking at full volume. "Mama! I need to go potty! Did you know that I have a lot of bug bites? Are you going to help me go potty?" Sure Sam. Just as soon as I peel my terrified self off of the ceiling.

What's most amusing (or annoying?) is that Sam really does not need my help. He can get on and off the potty by himself. The only thing he has a bit of trouble with is pulling up his pants. Being the perfectionist that he is (who'd he get that from, anyway??), he won't tolerate his waistband being folded over or his underwear being bunched up. So Mommy drags herself out of bed to prevent these tragedies from occurring.

On Thursday, I took the boys in to the chiropractor for our regular visit (we go once every 3 weeks). My boys love Dr. Waswick and usually fight over who gets to go first. Sam was up first this time. Dr. Waswick adjusted Sam's neck and Sam started laughing. He told Dr. Waswick, "When you cracked my neck, I burped."

Dr. Waswick looked amazed and said, "I wondered what that was!" Then he and Sam both started laughing again. I'm glad we have a chiropractor who appreciates my wacky boys.

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

"I stuck!"

Monday night, TJ and Sam went down the street to play with a friend. That allowed me to get a few things accomplished while Nolan watched an Elmo DVD. While I was changing the sheets on our bed, Nolan wandered down to see what I was up to. He stood at the end of the bed chattering away while I tucked in the blanket. Suddenly, Nolan said, "Mama. I stuck." I looked down at him and saw he had put one leg between the slats of my foot board. He then tried to put his foot all the way down to the ground and got his chubby little leg wedged tightly. To make matters worse, his foot was completely underneath the bed frame. I knelt down and tried to pull his leg out, but I needed to pull his leg and turn it at the same time. I couldn't get it to budge. I tried several times while Nolan yelled in protest.

I finally realized I could not get Nolan out without some help. Bill was in the basement, putting up the trim in the family room. I started shouting his name, but he couldn't hear me. I was yelling as loudly as I possibly could, but he wasn't coming. I was starting to feel a tiny bit panicky. Due to his awkward position, Nolan was relying on me to help him support his weight. I finally convinced him to hold on to the slats tight and I ran to the top of the stairs and yelled for Bill one more time. This time he heard me and came running up the stairs. He was able to help me, but he had to lift both the mattress and the box spring before I was finally able to get Nolan free. I was very relieved and wondered what I would have done if Bill had not been home.

Nolan was remarkably unscathed by the whole ordeal. In fact, the little turkey seemed to find it funny afterwards. For the rest of the evening, he kept walking past me and saying in a little sing-song voice, "Bill! I stuck!" Then he'd grin at me and say, "Do it again, Mama?"

Story #2:
Last week, Sam and Nolan were jumping on the couch, which is a big no-no. As I was telling them to get down before someone fell and got hurt, Nolan fell off the side of the couch. And got hurt. He had a big rug burn on the back of his right forearm. I would say it was an inch and a half wide, and three or four inches long. It was ugly. It is finally starting to heal. This morning I was looking at it and telling Nolan how happy I was that his owie was getting better.

Nolan looked up me very matter-of-factly and said, "Another owie comin' soon."