Little sister?

In case you haven't noticed, a lot of our unusual conversations are started by Nolan lately.  A couple weeks ago, he opened a very large can of worms.  I was busy doing something in the kitchen and he walked in and said, "Mom?  Can I have a little sister?"

I thought he was kidding.  But he was very serious.  Apparently, he's wanted one for awhile, but I haven't brought one home.  Auntie Boo, Aunt Kristi, Aunt Mandy, and Aunt Emily have all produced little girls since Nolan was born, but he is still waiting for his little sister.  I laughed and told him that he needed to check with everyone else to see how they felt.

Sam came in the room just moments later, and Nolan quizzed him.  Sam lit up.  Yep, he wants a little sister too.  I was sure that TJ would be the one to shoot the fantasy down, but when he walked in a little while later and heard the discussion, he got excited.  I was totally surprised. How is it that no one has ever told me that they wanted a little sister??  I told all three boys that they would have to take this up with their father.

That night, when Bill got home, the boys told him they wanted a little sister.  Bill's reaction?  He looked at me (somewhat accusingly).  I laughed and told him that I had nothing to do with the conversation.  Bill spent quite some time after that trying to explain to the boys why our family is perfect, just the way it is.

Honestly, I have gone back and forth on this many times over the years.  I can't physically have another child, but part of me still wonders if I was supposed to have a little girl.  Bill keeps saying he likes the stage where we are at (solid foods, no sippy cups, everyone is potty trained and in school), and most of the time I agree with him.  It's just that little part of me that wonders if we are still supposed to adopt.  The rest of me is exhausted and keeps telling the little part of me to be quiet and go to sleep.

D-I-V-O-R-C-E

We had a rather strange conversation at the dinner table the other night.  Nolan started it with a question.  "What's a divorce?"

Bill and I tried to diplomatically explain why divorce sometimes happens.  And that a divorce means that a judge has said two people are no longer married.  Nolan nodded and then asked us, "Have you ever been divorced?"

Bill said, "Um.  We are both still here" at the same time I said, "Not that I'm aware of".  But Nolan's question launched quite the discussion.  TJ commented that Mom would move back to Grand Rapids, since that's where she works.  He and Nolan then decided they were moving back to Grand Rapids with me.  Sam announced he wasn't going anywhere and he was going to live with Dad.  TJ commented that he and Nolan would miss seeing Sam around the halls at school, since he and Nolan would be back in Coopersville while Sam stayed at Kent Lake.

I then informed my two 'custodial' children that if a divorce ever happened, that Mom would be very poor, because Dad makes most of the money in our family.  I told them we'd have to live in Grandma's basement and that Papa probably wouldn't be too thrilled about that.  Bill followed this up by telling Sam he could probably afford to keep the house, but that he wouldn't have much money for groceries so they'd be forced to eat beans and rice for dinner every night.

In the end, TJ, Sam, and Nolan concluded that it would probably be best if Mom and Dad stayed married.  Okay.  I'm glad we all agree on that.  I kinda like our nuclear family, just the way it is, quirks and all.

December Randomness

Christmas is rapidly approaching.  It's not coming quickly enough for the boys, it's coming too quickly for me (no where near done wrapping, not quite done shopping).  The boys have decorated every inch of the house, including lighting up their bunk beds.  And we have two trees--'Sam's' tree is in the family room (lovingly and expertly decorated by a second grader and his little brother) and the large tree is in the living room.

We have been quite pleasantly surprised by the level of decorating we have seen in the neighborhood.  Nearly every house has some Christmas lights up outside the house.  We lit up a wreath that Bill hung on the garage, and we also lit the front walk and some garland on the porch supports.  Bill promised Sam that when we get some bushes planted next year, we will light those up at well.

Our neighborhood is laid out in a large loop.  We are at the front of the loop, but lately, the boys have wanted to drive the full loop before we return home in the evenings.  They want to look at everyone's lights.  The first time we did it, TJ commented, "I am so proud of our neighborhood."  I thought his appreciation was sweet.

On a totally different subject, Nolan has been invited to a birthday party this weekend.  His friend and classmate, Anthony, is turning six.  Nolan is thrilled that he is included in the party.  I'm more than happy to let him go, but now I have to figure out what this child might like for a gift.  Nolan is no help.  I asked him and he said, "Get him a bouncy ball!"  You know...the little rubber bouncy balls that cost about 50 cents and immediately get lost or break something.  I told Nolan he would be a cheap date.

Epic

TJ has been begging us to take them to see the new Disney movie, "Frozen".  I had no problem doing this, since he hadn't once asked for a birthday party.  We finally had a free Saturday afternoon this past weekend, so we went to our local theater (it has only one screen and is extremely reasonably priced).  We settled in to the very back row, because they have tables for the chairs in the back row.  No popcorn or pop spills for us!

Bill was sitting next to Sam.  As the lights dimmed, Bill turned to Sam and asked him rather seriously, "Are you buckled in?"  Sam looked puzzled, and Bill said, "Well, isn't this like one of those rides at Disney?"  Sam rolled his eyes and said, "No, Dad. Seat belts are just for the epic movies."

The movie was quite good.  TJ seemed to love the music in particular.  When we got home, he asked permission to buy one of the songs from iTunes.  TJ got an iTunes gift card for his birthday, so he was financing the purchase, but we have his iPod set up so that only Bill or I can download things on to it (safety feature and peace of mind).  I put the song on it for him, but I really should have talked him into buying the whole album.  I REALLY should have.  After listening to the same song over and over, for a couple hours straight, I wanted to rip my ears off.  Ugh!

Risky business

So we now live in a two-story. My office is upstairs, so this means I am trekking up and down the stairs probably a dozen times a day. After awhile, you start to zone out while you march up and down the stairs. 

That's dangerous for two reasons. If I have one of my dizzy spells, I could lose my balance and fall down the stairs. Two, it's dangerous because of Willoughby. He loves the stairs and thinks they are a fabulous way to get attention. When he sees me heading up or down, he will run just ahead of me and then stop on a step.  I am fairly certain he isn't trying to kill me or commit suicide. Judging by his purr and his best 'you know you love me' look, he wants attention. I never mind giving him attention. He doesn't sit on my keyboard the way Katie does while I'm working. But boy, I wish I could reason with him and explain why it's not a good idea to stop on the stairs. 

Dental dreams

At some point late Thursday night (or early Friday morning), I awoke to Sam shaking my arm.  He wanted me to know he had a very loose tooth.  I had been sound asleep and was having trouble making sense of why he would be wiggling his tooth in the middle of the night.  Sam informed me that the tooth wasn't quite ready to come out yet, but that his mouth was filled with blood.  I told Sam to go rinse his mouth with cold water.  Sam went in the bathroom, but the sink didn't turn on.  After a long moment, he quietly came back out of the bathroom.  He very sheepishly told me that his tooth wasn't loose after all and he had made a mistake.

At this point, I am thinking he had just acted out the most vivid dream ever.  He crawled into bed next to me and went right to sleep. 

Other than being amused (and thinking this story would make a great blog post), I didn't think too much of his loose/non-loose tooth all day Friday.  Perhaps I should have.  Because just before 5 a.m. Saturday morning, there was Sam, shaking my arm again.  This time, he sounded more coherent.  "Mom, my tooth IS loose after all!  Here it is!"  Once again, I'm half awake and completely confused and a child is popping out a tooth and pressing it in my hand.  I was so surprised, I dropped the tooth.

So, while Sam is cheerfully rinsing out his mouth in my bathroom I was combing through the carpet at 5 a.m., searching for his tooth.  I eventually found it.  Sam informed me that he woke up because his tooth felt funny.  He wiggled it and realized it was about to come out.  Of course, his mother couldn't miss out on this joyous occasion, so he came to get me.

I convinced him that 5 a.m. was not the best time to be discussing such things.  I also told him that I was pretty sure he had missed the tooth fairy.  He completely agreed with me on that one.  Everyone knows the tooth fairy comes in the middle of the night, and we were past that.

I put his tooth on his dresser for his brothers to admire in the morning.  Then I crawled back into bed, still trying to figure out the last two nights.  I've never heard of a kid waking up in the middle of the night to pull out a tooth.  But I've never had a kid quite like Sam, either.

No More Nines!

Yesterday was TJ's tenth birthday.  If you are wondering how that is possible, join the club.  Time is flying by.  Although when I think about life pre-TJ, that seems like ages and ages ago.

At any rate, Nolan had a concern about his brother's birthday.  Nolan asked me if I had bought TJ some new clothes for his birthday.  I said yes, just the shirt that TJ had opened.  (TJ was allowed to open one gift before school, so I had him open a shirt, his boring gift.  He was not impressed.  He told me it was as if I had given him no gift at all.  Drama queen).  Nolan was shocked.  "That's it?  Just one shirt??  What is he supposed to do??"

I didn't understand Nolan's panic.  So Nolan clarified.  "TJ is ten now!  He can't wear his nine clothes anymore!  And you only bought him one shirt?!"

I tried explaining to Nolan that TJ hadn't grown over night.  Nolan was clearly doubtful that I knew what I was talking about.  Apparently, parents are supposed to understand that kids need new wardrobes when they have birthdays.

When TJ got home from school, he opened up his real gift--an iPod Touch and a case for it. TJ couldn't stop hugging me.  Then he said he understood why we didn't give him that gift in the morning.  He wouldn't have wanted to go to school.

So delicious

We had a visitor tonight. We invited Bill's co-worker, Linda, over for dinner. Linda has been a big help to Bill over the years and has been a wealth of information for us since we moved to the east side of the state. She always has some sort of treat for the boys, and they adore her. 

During dinner, it was hard for the adults to carry on a conversation because the boys kept thinking of things they HAD to tell Miss Linda. At one point, Sam was talking her ear off when Nolan had a question for me. 

"Mom? Can you give me another word for delicious?"

I was a little surprised, as this question came out of nowhere. But honestly, nothing these boys say should surprise me anymore. 

I tried to turn on my mental thesaurus. "Yummy" was my first suggestion, but Nolan shook his head. Apparently that wasn't the word he was searching for. The next word I came up with was "delectable". Nolan immediately smiled and said, "Delectable. Yep, that's the word I needed."

Linda was suitably impressed with Nolan and his vocabulary. But don't worry. He isn't growing up too fast. After a tour of the house, we sat down in the living room to chat. Mr. Delectable crawled in my lap and fell asleep. 

Jaywalk All-Stars

Bill and I always thought the people that Jay Leno interviewed were some of the dumbest people around. They get some of the simplest people around. 

Well, we discovered today that we are contenders for the show. We were taking about the boys' names and how TJ shares his name with a president (Theodore Roosevelt). Sam asked how many presidents had the name Samuel. 

We told him two. Samuel Adams and Samuel 'Stonewall' Jackson. 

A few minutes later, I was still mulling this over and to my horror, realized we had given Sam the name of a beer and an actor. There are no presidents named Samuel. How embarrassing. 

Homework

Of the three boys, TJ has the least homework this year.  But when he does have homework, it's tough stuff.  Today he had a test on government.  And I don't mean, "How many states are there?", I mean "Describe the three branches of government" and "Explain checks and balances".  It's good stuff for him to know, but I'm positive this was not 4th grade material when I was in school.

At any rate, getting him to study was like pulling teeth.  I was still trying to beat some knowledge into his head as he got on the bus.

Tonight, he didn't want to go to bed.  He had spent part of the evening researching Mount St. Helens on the Internet.  Then he wanted to discuss neutron stars.  Neither of THESE items were homework.  They were just things he was interested in.  Unfortunately for him, I highly doubt he's going to be tested on either one in the near future.

I threatened to trim back his iPad time if he gets a bad grade on his government test.  He looked horrified.  Maybe I can scare him into studying the correct material?

Amazing discovery

Nolan was rather cuddly today. I think the time change was harder on him than he wanted to admit. At one point around lunchtime, he was snuggled next to me when he suddenly got a very thoughtful look on his face.  

"Mom? Do girls fart?" 

I laughed and pretended to ponder this for a moment. Then I said yes, they do. 

Nolan looked absolutely shocked. "Seriously?!"  That was all he could manage. 

Later this afternoon, I was grocery shopping and Bill was getting the grill ready to make some steaks. Nolan wandered up to him and said, "Dad? I really could go for some bacon right now."

He is 100% guy. 

Idiot-proofing the appliances

The builder of our new home provided our new stove, microwave, and dishwasher. We were responsible for purchasing the refrigerator. We liked the fridge we had at our last house, a stainless steel, French door style, with no water dispenser in the door. (We especially liked the price of the models without the dispenser. Pricey little convenience!) So when we started looking for a new fridge, we wanted something similar. 

What we found was the same style, but slightly larger (always a good thing with three growing boys!) No dispenser in the door, but it does have a small dispenser just inside, which is really nice. It has an ice maker, which the boys will not leave alone. Those kids eat ice like most kids eat junk food. As my mom would say, "You're going to break your teeth!"

The fridge was delivered one day before we had possession of the house. Bill said the Best Buy guys essentially stuck it in its place, plugged it in, and left. So the next day, I opened the fridge and discovered everything was still covered in tape and cellophane (which was now nicely chilled). I spent about ten minutes carefully removing all of the packaging. 

After about five minutes, the fridge started chiming at me. Bill heard the noise and came to investigate. We both laughed when we realized the fridge had an alarm that sounded if the door was left open for too long. I thought it was a fairly silly feature. You know, just another way to jack up the price. 

So, our new fridge doesn't close as easily as our old fridge. With the old fridge, I knew exactly how hard to flick my wrist to get the door to slam shut. I've been using the same technique here, and have discovered that the door doesn't shut all the way. You really do have to physically push it shut. 

On at least half a dozen occasions, I have been startled while preparing a meal by the sound of the fridge chiming. I sheepishly shut it before anyone comments. 

Last week, TJ beat me to it. He was walking through the kitchen when the fridge started its merry little tune. He pushed the door shut and shot me a look. "Sure is nice that this fridge reminds you to shut the door, huh, Mom?"

Oh hush. I feel like the fridge is tattling on me. 

There's still hope...

My boys...
Make messes they don't clean up.
They fight--a lot.
They find bodily functions (such as burping and farting) hysterical.
They enjoy talking about the aforementioned bodily functions.
They complain about every healthy thing I make.
They only want to eat junk food.
They expect me to constantly entertain them, especially if one of their brothers is using the iPad.  That must make it all Mom's fault that they are bored.
They see me sleeping and think it must mean I want to be awakened.

But don't despair!  There is still hope!  Yesterday I was cleaning (I'm always cleaning something), and I noticed it was very peaceful in the family room.  I found Sam reading to Nolan.  Sam was reading with lots of expression (and pronouncing all the words correctly!) and Nolan was completely engrossed.  I think they worked their way through at least four books.  It was a proud Mom moment.

Lesson Learned

If your five-year-old doesn't eat more than a bite or two of his Little Debbie at snack time, repeatedly tells you he doesn't feel so good, wants to hug you instead of sit at the dinner table, and starts crying when you convince him to take a bite of his rice, he's probably sick. If you still don't believe me, make him take a second bite of rice. Then grab his plate and hold it under his chin while he tosses his cookies. 

I've got a little boy with a tummy bug. I wasn't feeling so great myself today, so I didn't pick up on his cues this afternoon. After cleaning up the mess at dinner, we snuggled down to watch Backyardigans together. Eventually, I realized I was the only one still watching. 

I hope we both feel better tomorrow. I hope no one else gets sick. 

Unappropriate words

This morning, after Nolan got dressed, I realized the pants he was wearing were too short.  That's the problem with changing seasons.  I keep finding more things that don't fit the boys correctly.  I asked Nolan to change his pants and he gave me his most exasperated look.  He had already gotten dressed once, and I was going to make him do it again?!  So I went to help him change.

As I helped him step into a larger pair of pants, Nolan said to me (in a rather confidential tone), "Yesterday, at school, a kid said a bad word."  I sighed, and told him that yes, sometimes people say bad words.  He just needs to remember that those words are not okay words in our family and we don't say them here.  Nolan nodded very seriously.  Then he asked me if I wanted to hear the word.  I shook my head and said I didn't need to know.

Nolan, however, was determined to tell me.  "Underwear!  The boy said 'underwear'!  And we don't talk about underwear.  That's unappropriate." (yes, that is the word he used)

I managed to hold the laughter in while I agreed with Nolan that underwear isn't something we should discuss in school.

I went downstairs and relayed this information to Bill.  His serious reaction also made me laugh.  "Well, he's right.  They shouldn't be discussing that." 

I give up.  At least we aren't dealing with actual foul language yet!

No big deal

Bill and I frequently refer to TJ as our Drama Queen. He reacts so quickly and so emotionally to things. Sometimes it's good and genuine and sometimes it is very tiresome. 

Unless he feels embarrassed or chastised, Sam is the opposite. He's very calm and laid-back. Sometimes he is TOO calm and laid-back. 

Case in point: early one morning while we were still living in the hotel, Bill was in the shower and I was in the kitchenette area, putting on my makeup. Sam came out of the bedroom, walked over to me, and wrapped his arms around me. Seems like no big deal, but I was alarmed. Sam never willingly gets up before 7:00, and it was only 6:30. In addition, he was so quiet. I held him at arm's length and asked him if he needed his inhaler. He nodded. He was in the middle of a pretty serious asthma attack. I was so glad his inhaler was right there. 

A few days later, we were eating dinner and Sam walked over to Bill. He didn't say anything so Bill finally asked him why he wasn't sitting down. Sam gasped out, "No big deal. I'm just choking."  He was, but thankfully he managed to work it lose while he was standing near his dad. 

This morning, around 2:30 am, Sam came into our bedroom. He was coughing. He told me he had a little tickle in his throat and wondered if he could have some water. I told him that he could have some water...after he we did his rescue inhaler. That 'little tickle' was another decent asthma attack. 

In a way, it's nice that he can stay calm in situations where most people would panic. In another way, it makes me nervous. You have to observe Sam closely. Very closely. Mr. Calm and Collected could be in serious danger and bystanders would never know. 

Older than dirt

This evening, I was working on painting Nolan's room. The boys seem to think I need constant company while I am painting and at least one of them is always nearby. Tonight it was TJ. He took a shower early, got in his pajamas, then came in Nolan's room to observe. I'm just tackling the room in sections. After dinner is the only time I have for painting and I have to wrap it up by 8:30 so Nolan can sleep. So all of Nolan's furniture is still in his room. I just have it pushed away from the wall I'm working on that evening. 

In order to stay out of my way, TJ plunked himself down in Nolan's white rocking chair. That rocking chair was originally mine. I received it for my second birthday, which makes the chair 35 years old. It has held up nicely. It still plays music when you rock on it. The only thing that has changed is we removed the old vinyl Holly Hobby cushion a couple years ago and gave Nolan a more masculine cushion. 

TJ gently rocked in the chair and then commented, "This chair just keeps getting older and older."

I snickered and said, "Yeah, because your mom is older than dirt, right?"

TJ immediately said, "No!", and then a minute later added, "Well, not ALL dirt."

Gee. Thanks. I guess I should be grateful he hasn't put me in a home yet. 

He's no Bob Vila!

I bought TJ and Sam new bedding when we moved. TJ had owned his blue comforter since he moved out of the crib and it was fading. By default, Sam got new stuff too. I went with a navy blue bedding that has a few thin white stripes on it. They also each have a throw pillow that's white, with a navy blue stripe and a deep red stripe running diagonally across them. It's a very nautical look. 

I decided I wanted to dress up their room a bit, so I asked Bill to put in white wainscoting and paint the walls above that a gray-blue. TJ is anxious for this project to be done, as he thinks all the white walls in our house are very boring (and I completely agree). 

TJ, however, can never remember the term 'wainscoting'. Multiple times, he has asked Bill when he is going to put up the 'shandeling'. That isn't even a word!

Tonight took the cake, though. We were sitting at the dinner table, discussing what needed to be done tonight. TJ looked up from his chicken and said, "Hey, Dad. You gonna finish putting up my scaffolding tonight?"

Here's the start of the 'scaffolding'. It needs to be painted white. It is the ONLY thing I want to paint white. Everything else needs color!!

Updates

I know, I know.  It's been a long time since I've posted anything.  Please be assured that you haven't missed too much.  My free time has been spent packing, then unpacking, re-organizing, painting walls, assisting with homework...you name it.  Nothing too lively or outrageous.

We are in the new house.  I absolutely love the house.  The only thing wrong with it is that it is about 120 miles further east than I'd like it.  But I'm learning to adjust.

The boys love the house and they love their neighborhood.  It seems like they meet new kids every day.  Bill was watching them play the other day.  He said they reminded him of a small, happy mob.  The mob was at our house for about a half hour, then moved on to the next house.  A little while later, they moved on to a different house.

The adults in the neighborhood are all very friendly.  I've gotten to know some of the moms pretty well, just from standing at the bus stop and chatting.  The boys have been invited to a Halloween party at one of the neighbors, who happens to be one of Nolan's dearest friends and is also in his kindergarten class.

The boys do still miss Grand Rapids, their relatives, and especially their grandparents.  My mom was out here the first weekend we were in the house.  She stayed for two days.  Her primary responsibility was keeping the boys out of my hair.  She also helped with unpacking, made a few meals, and gave me somebody to talk to, besides myself.  The boys were very sad when she had to go home.

But TJ informed me that he is doing his best to convince her to move out to New Hudson.  He told me that he kept telling her how nice the neighborhood is, and how there are still a few lots for sale.  He seemed pretty smug.  Apparently, he thinks it's just a matter of time before she caves and moves by us.

I hate to tell him, but the odds aren't in his favor.  80% of my mom's kids live in the greater Grand Rapids area.  And over 75% of her grandchildren live there.  The best we can do is convince her to visit, and to bring Toby the wonder pup along so he doesn't miss her too much.

Which brings me to my public service announcement.  We have a lovely guest room with a queen-sized bed and a full bath, just waiting for guests.  We keep the bedroom door closed so it's completely cat hair-free.  There's a small kitchenette and a seating area with a TV for our guests.  Let me know when you want to come visit!  If you're lucky, I might not even ask you to paint!

Mr Stingy

For my birthday last week, I told Bill not to get me much. We have to spend money on lots of blinds and window coverings and we need to buy ceiling fans for the bedrooms. But I also did mention to him that I was going to need a new watch at some point. The band on my silver watch had seen better days and was starting to corrode (but you can still clearly see the 'Made in China' etching on the band...)

On my birthday, all four of my boys presented me with a new silver watch. It is a nice watch, not too lavish and very practical for a mom. I like it. 

Sam sat down next to me and observed me putting the watch on for the first time. He was frowning. "Did you know Dad spent SEVENTY dollars on that watch? I can't believe it! Nobody should spend seventy dollars on a watch!"

I found his outrage to be highly amusing. But I also gently tried to point out that you shouldn't discuss how much people spend in gifts. "Why? Cuz he spent too much on it?"

Just a few minutes ago, I was attempting to tidy up a corner of the living area in our hotel suite and I came across a plastic bag. I stuck my hand in it and pulled out the receipt for the watch. I looked at it and started laughing. Bill hadn't spent $70 on it!

I said something to Bill and he rolled his eyes. "Of course not! It was on sale!"

Sam's advice

We are sitting in the main level of the hotel, enjoying our daily afternoon snack (they call it a 'manager's reception'). Sam is busy munching on his bag of popcorn. Out of the blue, he turns to me and sternly shakes his finger. 

"Mom, never EVER try to turn away from an ice berg. It's best to run straight into it."

I knew the rest of you would appreciate this potentially life-saving advice. You're welcome. 

Roughing it

Once again, I apologize for the lack of blogging lately. I just haven't had time. Now that we are out of the house and living temporarily in the Embassy Suites, perhaps I will have more time. 

The move out wasn't fun. We got a lot accomplished with the movers on Thursday, but we filled the truck and had to leave a lot of odds and ends behind. Bill and I figured we could get the rest on Friday with the van, the trailer our brother-in-law John lent us, and the Cruze. 

Of course, we grossly underestimated how much stuff we have. We spent 8.5 hours cleaning and packing up on Friday. We skipped lunch and didn't have dinner until 8 pm. We wound up dumping two trailer loads in my parents' garage just to get the rest out of the house. And I wasn't happy with the way we left the music room or the garage. But we just were out of time and energy. 

Bill has already promised that when the movers come to help us move into the new house that he will arrange for them to make two trips, so there will be much less work for us to do. Good. Otherwise I may threaten to live in the hotel forever. 

Our hotel room is a bit cluttered, but since there is a living room and a large bedroom, we aren't completely tripping over each other. I wondered how Sam would handle this. The child spends every free moment outside during the summer, and he's stuck inside here. 

Fortunately for him, the hotel is built around an interior courtyard and has tons of live plants and water. He is having fun just exploring everything. If only he could find some sprinklers!

Sam's ginormous mother

First thing this morning, Sam had his annual visit with the allergist. He hasn't had a breathing episode in months, so I anticipated this to be a quick appointment. Sam did his breathing test and then the doctor asked him to sit on the examining table. Sam climbed up and laid down so he could see out the window. 

I was sitting in a chair next to the table and I rested my arm along the pillow, just above Sam's head while I talked with the doctor. After awhile, Sam grew tired of looking out the window so he turned his head to face me. He started carefully studying my arm, which was right next to his head. 

"What's this?" he asked me and he gently pinched my triceps. I told him it was my triceps muscle. Then I flexed my arm and pointed out my bicep. Sam flexed his own arm and studied the muscles. Then he looked at mine. Then he squeezed my triceps again. Then he slapped it to see if it would jiggle. 

"Why is yours so much bigger than mine? Seriously. It's ginormous."

I can heartily assure you he wasn't complimenting my spectacular physique. He also wasn't intentionally being mean or cruel. But he definitely succeeded in giving the doctor a laugh.

You'll have to excuse me now. I'm going to go lift weights. 

Sprinklers!

Initially, when we decided to build again, Bill told me (quite decisively) that he was NOT putting the sprinkler system in the new lawn. He was going to hire someone. 

Fast forward half a year. Funds are running low, and frankly, Bill can't quite squash the urge to tinker. So he informed me that he would put the sprinklers in after all (I would tell you how shocked I was, but, well, I've met him before). Then, Bill told Sam he could help put in the sprinkler system. Sam is so excited he can't stand it.

Yesterday, we were at the new house, dropping off the light fixtures to be installed. Sam asked permission to walk up and down the road and spent the entire time scoping out the neighbor's sprinklers.

This afternoon, Sam was bored. And thinking. He asked me when we could start buying sprinklers for the new yard. I told him to ask his father. Bill needed to go to the hardware store anyway, so he told Sam they could go look at sprinklers. 

Of course, Bill and Sam didn't just look. They bought some. As they were heading to the check-out, Sam informed Bill he was the best dad ever. 

But Sam's day kept improving. Bill asked him to hook up one of the new sprinklers to the hose, 'just to make sure it worked.' Sam then brought the sprinkler over to my mom's, to show her how it works. 

This will keep him happy for the foreseeable future. I love that kid!

Lack of posts

I do apologize for my lack of posts. This summer has been phenomenally busy. And whenever I have a spare moment, I'm packing or purging. I usually do my blog posts at bedtime. Instead, I've been so tired, I've been falling asleep in front of the television. 

I may blog more in September, when we are all sharing one hotel room for a month. I think it's a test of how far my sanity can be pushed. 

Whoa, Grandma!

We had dinner with Bill's mom tonight. Over the course of the meal, Ellen said something about her work. Sam looked up from his plate in surprise and said, "Grandma, you work??" 

The adults laughed and Ellen informed Sam that she has worked at the same place for 25 years. Sam looked impressed. Nolan got in on the conversation then. 

"Grandma, how old ARE you? I need to know!"

Ellen laughed again and told Nolan she was the same age as Papa (my dad). Sam immediately told Nolan that meant Grandma was 62. I have no idea how Sam remembered that. 

TJ got in on the amusement at the end of the meal. He complimented Ellen on a pie she had made. "Grandma, that was the best pie I ever ate. I think it was the only pie I've ever had."

Sam, cat whisperer

Sam continues to amaze me with our cats. Yesterday, he simply crooked his finger in their direction and they went to him. At least once a day, I see him lying on the floor, talking quietly to the cats. It's funny and sweet at the same time. 

The month of September is going to be rough. The house won't be done when we move out of our current home on August 29, so Bill's work is putting us up in a hotel on the east side of the state until the house is done. The cats most likely will not be with us. I'm hoping we wind up in a place (like Extended Stay) that takes pets. It's just one less thing to worry about. And one more thing that will provide some normalcy for the boys. 

Problem solver

Tonight, Sam wanted to know what Katie weighed. He just came home from 10 days at Cran-Hill last night, so Katie was happy to see him and was willing to put up with his experiment. Sam is her favorite boy. 

Sam picked Katie up and lugged her in to my bathroom. He climbed on the scale. Together, they weigh 63 pounds. He set Katie down and weighed himself. 54 pounds. He then subtracted his weight from the first number to figure out what the car weighs. Is this rocket science? Of course not. But (at not quite 7 years old) he figured it out all by himself. Bill was very proud and gave Sam a big high five. 

And Sam informed me that when he grows up, his truck will have a trailer hitch on it. Well, duh. :-)

The joy of camping

This is our annual week at Cran-Hill Ranch. All three of our boys have now reached the delightful age where they don't require constant supervision. Nolan tends to stay close to the trailer and TJ and Sam must let me know where they are going to be (plus, they each have a two-way radio, which is quite helpful). And of course, they are not allowed on the beach unless an adult is with them. But other than that, they have a pretty loose schedule. And I love it. 

Sam is in his glory. He told me that Sunday (the day we headed up here) is his favorite day of the year. He was so excited he was literally skipping. All week, he has kept himself busy. I bought him a pond net and he has been fishing out tadpoles and other specimens from the pond to show me. He's been on nature walks. He's gotten absolutely filthy (no joke, I had to scrub him down several times before he was the right skin color again) by playing in the sand dunes. Bill is teaching him to ride a two-wheeler. Multiple people have arrived with trailers and Sam has gotten to watch them set up. The barn store has sherbet and lactose-free soft serve ice cream for him to choose from. He gets to pull Auntie Boo's wagon around and pretend it's his trailer. 

 

He has been smiling almost non-stop. I love watching him have a great time. 

Wimps

Proving that black-out blinds are for wimps, here is Nolan, sound asleep at Papa and Grandma's house in Grand Haven yesterday. He apparently felt it was too bright in the bedroom, so he fell asleep with both hands pressed firmly over his eyes. 

He no longer takes daily naps, but yesterday's nap was important since he stayed up late and watched the fireworks. 

Strangeness goes beyond the humans

I admit it. We Barons are a strange lot. But I like it that way. Normal is boring. 

Our cats are quirky too. Willoughby has earned the nickname 'Mr. Jitters'. Everything makes him nervous. I am his favorite person, but he still gets panicky if I pick him up. 

Katie loves to be brushed. Good thing, because she is a big gray fluffball. Willoughby has finer fur and doesn't shed nearly as much. But with the arrival of warmer weather, he is shedding a bit and I knew I had to introduce the cat brush to him. Initially he was terrified of it. It took many short brushing sessions before he finally decided the cat brush was a good thing. 

Our next problem? The scary black stuff that comes off of the brush and goes in the garbage. To humans, it looks like excess fur. To Willoughby, it must be alive! It could be dangerous! It must be subdued!

He pulls the wads of fur out of the garbage and attacks them. I find damp clumps of fur scattered about. Thanks, Buddy. 

TJ's lesson learned

One evening two weeks ago, I went out with my mom and sister to take my mom for her first pedicure. Shortly after I left, TJ asked Bill if he could go swimming. Bill said no, because the air temperature was only in the low 70s, and the pool was about 15 degrees colder than that. Just too cold for swimming. 

That answer made TJ angry. He decided to get even with Bill by turning off Bill's stereo. So he walked over to it and flipped the volume knob. But he spun it the wrong way. Instead of turning it all the way down, he rapidly turned it up. And it's an old speaker. Bill's mom gave the set to him and he loves them. Well, something inside the speaker broke. End of music. Bill was furious with TJ and sent him to his room for the rest of the evening. We always know when TJ is genuinely sorry about something. He didn't argue at all. He slunk off to his room and stayed there. 

Last week was Father's Day. TJ gave Bill and illustrated book of memories. Favorite place he's gone with Bill, favorite thing to play with Bill, etc. The page that had both Bill and I laughing was the page about the best advice he ever got from his dad. This picture confirmed that TJ had learned his lesson. 

And Bill thinks he can fix the speaker. 

Isn't it ironic?

One of the biggest reasons why Bill and I love the Keweenaw is that it's so peaceful. So quiet. So undisturbed. We truly feel like we can 'get away from it all' up here. 

Each morning, we awake to the sound of birds singing, the wind rustling in the trees, and the occasional car going by. Our children make far more noise than anything you'd hear outside. No interstates or big cities for miles and miles. 

This morning, promptly at 7 am, we were awakened by the sound of jackhammers. And trucks. And construction workers. The roads in Laurium are in very bad shape, and they finally came up with the money to repair them. And they started this week on the very road we are 'living' on. Figures.

We can't hold it against the town, though. It was more than obvious that their roads needed attention. The townspeople seem thrilled. So we will just put up with it for another day. 

Sam has been enthralled with the project. He's been spending quite a bit of time sitting in the front yard and observing. Last night, he and I watched some workers smash up part of the road and haul it away. Once they left, Sam ran over and got his own piece. He wants to bring part of Tamarack Street home with us. Oh, goody. 

Nolan's new underwear

Nolan has outgrown his toddler underwear so I packed a new package for him to open while we were up north. He was pretty excited about the underwear, since he so often gets hand-me-downs when it comes to clothing. He always enjoys when I purchase something specifically for him. So we opened the package this morning and he carefully chose the pair he wanted to wear first (he selected a camo print). 

A few minutes later, Nolan came to me, wearing only the new underwear. I asked him if they fit all right. He nodded, but looked concerned. He informed me his new underwear had a hole in them already. I laughed and showed him the neat trick of how boys can go to the bathroom without having to pull their pants down.

Nolan was extremely impressed. He tried it out for himself (cuz sometimes Moms don't know what they are talking about) and then he just lit up. "That was really nice of them!" (the underwear people). "I need to go tell TJ and Sam!!"

Would you like to buy a mine?

So yesterday we toured the Quincy Mine. During the above-ground portion of the tour, Sam was calm and attentive to the tour guide. But he was also quite firm in his decision not to go underground. We rode the cog train down the steep hill, where they had a covered metal wagon waiting for us. I took Sam's hand and said, "Let's just give it a shot", and he willingly boarded the wagon! He was absolutely fine the entire time we were in the mine. He didn't even panic when the guide blew out the candle so we could experience total darkness (Nolan, on the other hand, just about had a hernia, he was so scared by that!). 

After we rode the train back up the hill, we wandered around the grounds a little more. Later in the day, we went to Copper World (hands down our favorite store in the Keweenaw). I let each of the boys pick out a trinket. TJ got a necklace made with a small copper eagle. Nolan got a stuffed frog. Sam got a hunk of copper, just like you'd find in the mines. It was all he wanted. He told me he will take very good care of it forever. 

This morning, he informed me that he is going to buy a mine when he grows up. He went from being terrified of mines to being absolutely fascinated by them.  

Here are a few pictures from yesterday, and one today of the boys at Jacob's Falls. 

Sam

We are on our annual getaway up in Laurium. On our way up, we made a sudden stop so Sam could get out of the car. He thought he was going to throw up. He and I stood in some weeds along the highway while he had a panic attack. I was completely baffled. He has been doing so well lately. I had no idea what was troubling him. TJ has been rather emotional the past few days, as school has ended and he's been dealing with saying good bye to his friends and his school. I wondered if perhaps that was bothering Sam, too?

This morning, Sam was giving Bill a hard time and just being grumpy and mean. Then he came and found me and started talking. I finally figured it out. Sam knew we planned to visit the Quincy Mine. He is afraid. He was terrified of our tour of the Delaware Mine last year and it caught us by surprise at the time. Afterwards, he kept talking about it and seemed to enjoy the memories, so I thought he'd be okay with trying another mine. 

He and I talked it over and we are still going to go to the mine. He can do the tour above ground and ride the cog train. He and I can skip the underground portion of the tour if he wants. I'm hoping he will be able to enjoy the rest of the tour if he knows he can opt out of the 'scary' part. 

Sam perked up considerably after our chat. His day got even better when he discovered numerous box fans in the bedroom closets. He carefully arranged them throughout the second story of the house we rent. I woke up from an afternoon nap and laughed when I discovered four box fans and two ceiling fans running. The old Sam was back. 

We took the boys on a drive this afternoon and stumbled across McLain State Park, which we had never heard of before. The boys had a great time throwing rocks in Lake Superior and Sam collected several 'lucky sticks' to bring back with us. 

End of the school year

TJ and Sam finish school this week Friday. They aren't as excited about this as they have been in past years. TJ in particular, seems rather melancholy. This isn't just the last day of school. This is the end of his time at Coopersville Area Public Schools. TJ has been taking in every experience. I know he is truly going to miss it. I also know he will be just fine at South Lyon. He's outgoing and friendly. He makes new friends easily. 

Sam hasn't been quite as emotional about this. But he does talk often about his good friend Hank. He and Hank have been best buds since the first week of kindergarten. Sam isn't as social as TJ. I do hope he is able to make another good friend or two quickly. 

I really dislike change. And I don't like to see my kids sad. I just hope and pray this is a smooth transition for all three of them. For me, too!

A fleeting moment of pride

We were on the east side of the state this weekend, checking out the progress on the house, going to the Detroit Zoo, and beginning the process of looking for a new church.

Yesterday's prospect was First Presbyterian Church in Brighton. The younger two boys are accustomed to going to Children's Church halfway through the service, so we knew it might be a challenge to keep all three quiet and still for the entire hour. My goal was to not be publicly embarrassed. 

Much to our shock, all three boys did great! TJ read quietly, Nolan was fairly good as long as he was in my lap, and Sam in particular seemed to be soaking in the service. It was Trinity Sunday and during the sermon, the minister out a picture of the Trinity up on the screen. He spent a long time talking about how they were sitting, what they were holding, the significance of their clothes...it was quite interesting. Then the minister pointed out that the three of them were sitting at a table and that there was room for a fourth. That fourth person is you, he said. Picture it. At this moment, Sam leaned over and told Bill he was picturing himself in heaven with God. Bill was thrilled. Not only was Sam behaving, he was listening!!

After the service, we were warmly greeted by a number of people. One woman came up to me and said she was impressed with how well-behaved my children were. I had to fight the urge to turn around and see if she was talking to someone behind me. 

Today, Nolan was complaining to me that Christmas isn't coming fast enough. I said, 'Who needs Christmas? We have the whole summer ahead of us! We leave for vacation (our week in the Upper Peninsula) next week!

Nolan looked at me impatiently and said, "I don't want adventure! I want presents!"

Yep. Proud moment officially over. 

Nolan-isms

Our Internet has been down most of the day, which makes it a bit tough for Bill to work from home. So, we played hooky for awhile this morning. Bill, Nolan, and I ran a few errands and enjoyed a sweet treat from Wealthy Street Bakery. On our way there, it started to rain. Our backseat driver instructed his father to "turn the windshield on!"

One of our stops was to the bank. Nolan was given a nice purple lollipop. He wasn't just eating it, he was experimenting with it. He kept saying, "Look, Mom! I put my teeth prints on it!" 

Nolan has had an intense fear of mosquitoes this spring. This is particularly unfortunate because there are TONS of them right now. They literally swarm you if you step outside. Nolan has been refusing to play outside and has been getting me up in the middle of the night to put ointment on his bites. Bill made a homemade mosquito trap (it involves yeast and an empty two-liter bottle) and put it in the garage to see if we could lower the mosquito population. Thus far, the trap hasn't caught a single bug. So Nolan's terror continues. He burst into tears when we got home from our errands. He was afraid to get out of the car and go in the house. 

It's shaping up to be a long spring...

Elbows

The other day, Nolan informed me that I had 'big elbows'. Oh great. I had never once been self-conscious about my elbows. Now I'm going to be wondering if other people think they look big too. Ha!

Mother's Day Part 2

Sam also gave me some hand-made gifts for Mother's Day. The first item was a giant paper hug...two hands stretched out, with the saying "I love you this muth".

The second item was a necklace. If you looked at this and said, "Hmmm. It looks like someone painted one of those adhesive hole reinforcers, added some glitter, and stuck it to a washer", well, you'd be exactly right. But Sam's mom wore it to church on Sunday anyway. Sam was thrilled. The look on his face was another gift to me!

Happy Mother's Day to Me

Yesterday was Mother's Day. My 'official' gift was a gorgeous arrangement of roses and lilies, along with a gift card to put toward new bedding for our new bedroom. 

But the boys are now old enough to contribute to Mother's Day. And their contributions are sweet, yet highly amusing. Case in point: my cookbook from TJ, which includes the following warning on the cover, 'You better use this thing'. 

Also highly amusing was the poem TJ wrote for me, in which he confided that I was 'sweat as a apple' and I make him 'happy as a bare'. I try. I really do. 

Final score

We have a final score in the competition of Katie vs the corn plant. 

Katie 1, Corn Plant 0

As you can see by the picture below, only the bean plant is still growing. The corn is that brown thing lying on the dirt. I guess Katie bit the top off one too many times.

TJ was rather disgusted with Katie over this. 

Tuesday Tidbits

Last night, Sam informed me that if I was a flower, he doesn't think I would have bloomed yet.

I don't have the foggiest idea how I'm supposed to interpret that.

TJ has a planting project he brought home from school.  He planted a bean plant and a corn plant (at least, that was what he told us he planted).  The bean plant has grown like crazy.  We've had to transplant it to a larger container since it outgrew its Dixie cup and it's still not warm enough to plant outside.  The corn plant, on the other hand, has had a tough go.  One of the cats thinks it tastes good.  It grows a few inches, and the cat bites off the growth.  We move it to a safe location (the Florida Room) and it grows again.  Someone (TJ) leaves the doors open to the Florida Room.  Corn plant gets chomped again.

For some reason, the thing hasn't given up and died...yet.  Yesterday, no one was home all day and the doors to the Florida Room were once again left open (once again, pretty sure TJ did it).  TJ walked in the house last night and started yelling that he had caught Katie 'right-handed'!  He could see her chewing on the plant!

I asked him if he meant 'red-handed'.  He doesn't really see the difference.  Hahaha!

The joys and trials of warm weather

It appears that spring has finally arrived. It took an extra bit of patience on all of our parts this year. But the past few days have been wonderful. Sam was immediately back outside playing with the water bottles and the hose. Driving down the street after work, I could see Sam playing in the yard. Joy was radiating off of him, which just made me so happy. I got out of the car and he greeted me with, "It's just gorgeous out today, isn't it?"

TJ commented to me that he thought today was going to be a long day. Mondays often are. But today, he was so busy playing and doing homework that the day flew right by. At bedtime, he was excited to see that I had laid out lighter-weight pajamas (short sleeves but still long pants). He excitedly got ready for bed.

But once he was in bed, he asked me if I knew what the main problem with short sleeves was. I (of course) didn't know, so he enlightened me. He said it really stinks when you sneeze into your arm and you don't have a shirt to wipe your nose off with. Then snot just gets all over the crook of your arm.

And now you know!

Well...

This evening at dinner time, Sam informed Bill and I that his brain is organized like a schema.

It was one of those statements where after he says it, both Bill and I sat in silence, wondering if we truly just heard what we thought we heard.

We did. My six-year-old knows the word schema. He was was very pleased with himself. Bill was both proud and amused. I think I'm proud, yet a little worried.

In case you are curious, here is the definition of schema (courtesy of Wikipedia):
In psychology and cognitive science, a schema (plural schemata or schemas), describes an organized pattern of thought or behavior. It can also be described as a mental structure of preconceived ideas, a framework representing some aspect of the world, or a system of organizing and perceiving new information.

Family Matters

On Sunday, the boys got a new cousin.  Bill's step-brother Ryan and his wife Jamie, had their first.  My boys were excited to hear about Carter and enjoyed looking at the pictures that Bill's dad and Ryan sent over.  He is a very cute baby.

TJ, however, can't remember his name.  He was watching me pack up a baby gift to ship to Carter in Oregon and he seemed to be lost in thought.  He finally said, "What's my new cousin's name?"  I said, "Carter Daniel."  TJ responded with, "Oh yeah.  With 18 cousins, it's really getting hard to remember everybody."  I smiled and nodded, but awhile later got to thinking.  And counting.  And counting again.  I was only coming up with 15 cousins.  I went to TJ and asked him where he came up with 18 cousins.  He said, "Well, that's what Dad told me."  Bill looked sheepish.  He apparently counted our own three children in that total.

After dinner, Bill told TJ that he was going to call his mother.  He asked TJ if he knew which grandmother was Bill's mom.  TJ nodded and said, "Grandma Ellen."  Then he commented, "You know, it does get confusing sometimes, because I have a bonus grandma.  I'm pretty lucky with that."  Yes, you are!

But he doesn't have it all figured out.  Bill was entertaining the boys with stories of his childhood the other day and he said something about Aunt Mandy.  TJ looked completely stumped.  He asked why in the world Aunt Mandy was at Dad's house.

Some day it will all make sense.  Some day, we all might agree on how many cousins, nieces, and nephews there are....

Angry Birds

Nolan really, really loves Angry Birds. He has stuffed ones, big ones, little ones...my house is overrun with them. The lucky little boy had not one, but two Angry birds birthday cakes. He got a new shirt, a puzzle, sunglasses, and a sleeping bag all in line with his obsession.

Here are some pictures for you to enjoy. I love the sleeping bag picture. He told me to take the picture when he was sleeping. He then closed his eyes and told me he was asleep. Ha!

Good guy vs. Bad guy

TJ and I got our hair cut tonight right after work. We got home just as Bill was putting dinner on the table (I made up the meatloaf yesterday, he baked it and made scalloped potatoes and biscuits). Because he was the one who was in the kitchen, he had music playing (I usually have the news on). I wasn't crazy about his choice of music, but I kept my mouth shut since he had been kind enough to make dinner.

But the music kept getting stranger. I finally stopped eating and just stared at Bill. He was busy talking, but he was also smiling because he knew exactly what I was thinking. Eventually I made a comment about the music. Immediately, TJ shot out of his chair, ran over to Bill's iPad, and changed the station on Bill's Pandora app. Bill protested and asked why TJ always takes my side.

TJ didn't even hesitate. He said, "Cuz Mom is the good guy!" We all burst out laughing. I immediately pictured the old Spy vs Spy from Mad Magazine. In case you were wondering, the white spy is the good spy. Cuz I said so.

Frog in your throat?

Nolan had something in his throat tonight after dinner. He kept clearing his throat, but he still was having trouble and sounded funny. He finally got frustrated and exclaimed to Bill, "I sound like a jerk!"

We have some more details on Nolan's MRI. There is an abnormality in his brain. His doctor called it a 'partial migrational abnormality'. He explained to me that in a developing baby, the nerves start out in a clump and spread out as development progresses. In Nolan's case, some of the nerves didn't do quite what they were supposed to do, or go where they were supposed to go. The problem is in his corpus callosum. The physical results have been Nolan's stiffness, leg pain, and low stamina, along with his speech problems. Now we need to do some neuropsychological tests to see if Nolan's cognitive development was affected. Dr. Rush thinks Nolan is bright, but that he might process things more slowly than other kids. He said Nolan's nerves might be more likely to take the back roads and side streets, while other kids' nerves use the freeway. He wants to see exactly how Nolan processes things, so that his future teachers don't think of him as slow or dumb.

Because this happened to Nolan during his development, it falls under the umbrella of cerebral palsy. It isn't CP in the classical sense, but for 'labeling' purposes, Nolan has CP. This is important when it comes to getting him assistance in school and hopefully, getting us some financial assistance with his physical therapy. He really needs therapy twice a week, but I've only been sending him once a week, due to the expense. Someone is supposed to be calling me to walk me through the process of applying for Children's Special Services.

If there is a bright side, it's that this is not degenerative. Nolan isn't getting worse. But on the down side, we can't fix this. We can only help him learn to cope.

And he doesn't sound like a jerk. :-)

Mr. Adorable

Nolan turns five years old tomorrow. It baffles me how fast these years are flying by.

This morning, Nolan sneezed hard. A minute later, he walked up to Bill and said, "I need to wash my hands because I 'Bless You'd' on them."

Tonight, he was cuddling on my nap as we prayed and shared a good-night kiss. I commented that this was the last night I would be tucking my four-year-old in bed. He smiled at me sweetly and said, "Yes, but I'll still be your little boy."

Oh I love that child!!!

Doubting Thomas

For the Maundy Thursday service this year, Coopersville Reformed had the Living Last Supper for the service. Bill had been recruited to be one of the disciples. He agreed, but only if he could play Saint Thomas.

For the past six weeks, Bill has been growing out his beard (the guys were aiming for authenticity!) and going to weekly rehearsals at church. The boys knew that Daddy was going to be in a play, but I knew they didn't understand how different he would look and act.

Last night was the service. It ran about 75 minutes, so the kids were very tired and antsy by the end of the service. But, they were fascinated by the play. Bill did great! And he looked so different! Nolan cracked me up. He really wasn't convinced that man was his father. He had to consider carefully before he gave Daddy his good night kiss.

During the play, Sam asked me how babies are born ('no, seriously, how do they come out?'), he asked me if I would be sad if he got shot, and he farted loudly during a prayer. I wished the pew would swallow me up.

Here's Bill and the boys and the one picture I have of the 'painting'. Bill, unfortunately, is hiding behind one of the guys who are seated. You can see Bill's finger to the right of Jesus' head.

The Innocence (Guilt) of Children

Last weekend, I was at an overnight scrapbooking event. I am always given some goodies at these events (candy, post-it notes, pencils, etc.) and when I returned home, I was unpacking said items. I set the pad of post-it notes on the counter and started to prepare dinner. Fatal mistake. I turned around a couple of minutes later when Nolan triumphantly said, "Look Mom! I made lots of pads of paper for you!" Yep. He had peeled apart the entire pad and stuck the sticky notes all over the floor. Thanks, Sweetie.

Also last weekend, I was standing at the end of the front hallway, talking with Bill as he sat in the living room. I glanced toward the fireplace and noticed that our family photo, which sits on the mantle, looked strange. A piece of the frame seemed to be missing. I walked closer and saw that yes, a small piece on the side of the frame was gone. Then, to my horror, I saw one of my Willow Tree Angels had lost her entire side. It was broken off and lying next to her. And there was a gouge in the wall from her metal wings. It looked as though she had been hit by something with such force that she broke while she damaged the wall.

I was still taking all of this in when Sam walked up behind me and said, "I didn't do it". Now, I had made no accusations. Obviously, I figured a child was responsible but I hadn't even had a chance to form a complete sentence. I was still standing there in dismay. Both Bill and I looked to Sam and Bill said, "What didn't you do?" Sam gave us a very detailed response about how he didn't throw a certain object across the room and accidentally hit the items on the mantel, causing the damage.

Clearly, we had our culprit. He was subjected to a discussion on owning up to your mistakes and being willing to apologize.

The Willow Tree angel has been repaired. Bill glued her for me, since I can't be trusted with super glue (I usually glue my fingers together).

Mr. Geometry

Sam is apparently a big fan of geometry. He just rattled off this list for me.

Three equal sides = Triangle
Four equal sides = Square
Five equal sides = Pentagon
Six equal sides = Hexagon
Seven equal sides = Heptagon
Eight equal sides = Octagon
Nine equal sides = Nonagon
Ten equal sides = Decagon
Eleven equal sides = Hendecagon
Twelve equal sides = Dodecagon

I was shocked and impressed. Bill was smug.

Random thought for the day

I bought a box of those new "Cool Touch" tissues by Kleenex.  I thought they sounded nice and soothing.  And I had a coupon.

I used one for the first time the other day.  My initial thought was that one of my children had used the Kleenex, then stuffed it back in the box, rather than throwing it away.  It was an unpleasant sensation and an unpleasant thought.  You betcha I scrubbed my hands after throwing the Kleenex out.

I used a second Kleenex this morning and had the same thought.  Apparently, what the Kleenex people describe as as 'cooling and soothing', I describe as 'feeling pre-snotted and kinda creepy'.

I think I will stick with traditional Kleenex from now on.

T. Baron, Auto Expert

The news was on tonight after dinner, and the sports report on today's NASCAR race caught TJ's eye.  He loves to watch recaps of the day's crashes.  He got very excited about today's crash and was trying to describe it to me while I washed dishes.

"The cover for the motor flew up on this car!"  I interrupted him and asked if he meant to use the word 'hood'.  TJ was in awe.  He wondered how I knew SO MUCH about cars.  Um yeah.  I'm not exactly an expert.  I know if I need an oil change, I take the car to a mechanic.  I know when the needle approaches "E", that I put more gas in the tank.  I know if I get a flat tire, I call Roadside Assistance.  That is the extent of my knowledge.  But I DO know the word 'hood'.

Bill tried telling TJ that I was a closet gear head, but TJ figured out that we were teasing him.

TJ's English Lesson

TJ and Sam both have weekly spelling tests. I'm a stickler for words being spelled properly, so we take these tests seriously. The boys practice their spelling every night.

TJ has 20 words to learn each week, while Sam has 10. Some weeks are harder for TJ than others. Last night, Bill helped TJ with his list, then gave me an update. "The only word TJ has trouble with is 'obeyed'. The irony of that statement cracked me up. I laughed and after a minute, Bill started laughing too. My strong-willed, not-always-obedient child didn't find it as amusing.

Today, a new pope was chosen. We've been following this on the news, and TJ understands how unusual it is that Pope Benedict retired, rather than remaining pope until his death. But TJ completely understands. He says being Pope is a hard job, and he commented tonight that 'now that he's done 'poping', Pope Benedict will be praying for the new Pope Francis.'

I bet you didn't know that poping was a verb. I didn't, either!

Middle names

Sam asked me the other day what Bill's 'real' name was. I asked him if he could tell me. He thought about it for a minute, then said 'Bill William Baron'. I thought that was cute and then reminded him how nicknames work and then told him that Daddy's middle name was Owen. I could see that Sam was surprised to hear that Daddy has the same name as cousin Owen. I decided to explain about family names some other time.

Then I told Sam that my 'real' name is Elizabeth Marietta. He found this funny, for some reason. I didn't mind. It is quite a mouthful.

Then I asked him if he knew what his middle name was. He thought for a minute and then said, "Uel?" Now it was my turn to laugh. Get it? Sam Uel Baron?

Never fear!

When I picked up the boys from my mom's after work on Thursday, Sam excitedly showed me a handful of small brown things. It was what he said that cracked me up.

"Don't worry, Mom! This isn't poop. These are baby pine cones."

He is currently saving them on his desk in his room. He wants to plant them when spring comes.

Counting down

Nolan can hardly wait to turn five. He started counting down the days on March 1st. I assumed my mom had helped him figure out how many days were left, but she did not. That little turkey figured out how many days from March 1 (31 days until his birthday at that point) and has carefully been counting down since then. Every morning he gets up and announces how many days are left.

What's funny is that he doesn't seem to want much. He told me he wants a new tee shirt (but that I could pick out what it looks like), a couple Angry Birds, and that's about it. He's just excited to hit this big milestone.

I'm not nearly as excited. He is my baby. And he's growing up so fast. I just want to slow time down.

Theme songs

When I was a kid, I was sure that one of my dad's primary goals in life was to embarrass me.

Now it's my turn. I love to sign pointless songs. When one of the kids is pouting, I sing the 'Nobody likes me, everybody hates me, guess I'll go eat worms...'

If it's morning and I'm trying to get them to wake up, I'll sing 'Good Morning, George' from the Veggie Tales. I've been doing that song since TJ was a baby. I even found the song on iTunes. When I turn it on, the kids can't help but sing along.

When things are quiet, I'll break out with Winnie the Pooh's 'I'm just a little black rain cloud'.

But my all-time favorite is the theme song to 'Bonanza'. It has nothing to do with the TV show. I don't think I've ever watched a full episode. I just love the music. All of my children and most likely, all of my nieces and nephews have taken horsey rides on my leg while I sang the Bonanza song. The other day, I discovered it was on YouTube. There's the instrumental version (which I prefer) and a version by Lorne Greene where he is singing a lot of lyrics. Too challenging for me! So now I can turn on the music and 'sing' along while I gather up laundry. TJ never knows whether to laugh or look disgusted.

My kids may think I'm nuts, but it makes me happy to sing. Especially when I'm trying to motivate them or cheer them up. And I can tell you, it's not nearly as embarrassing as having your dad pull over to the side of the road to retrieve one empty pop can and then doing a victory dance while confused motorists drive by. Trust me. I lived through that.

Nolan Baron, Negotiator

Tonight after dinner, I was down in the bedroom, folding clothes. Bill was cleaning up the kitchen. Nolan did a great job eating his dinner (we've had some trials and tribulations lately) and was cheerfully bringing his plate over to his dad. He requested jelly beans for his dessert. Bill said, "Okay, how many do you think you deserve?" Nolan promptly answered, "Mama said five." Now, Mama said no such thing, but Sunday night I let him have five as he was so anxious to try all the different colors.

Tonight, Bill said that five was too many. Nolan thought for a minute and said, "Two?" Bill laughed and offered him three which Nolan happily accepted. I was enjoying this exchange. I'm still trying to decide if Nolan is the worst negotiator ever, or the best. After all, he got his dad to go up on the offer instead of down.

Shoot. Now I want some jelly beans.