A day in the life of Baron...

It is SO hard to get the boys to get ready for bed. It takes Sam a minimum of a half hour. Tonight was even worse. It was after 10:30 before he finally was in bed. Bill told him he's going to have to start getting ready at 8:30 tomorrow so that he is done by 9:30. 

Sam's love affair with rocks continues. He has been so anxious to find an agate but thus far, has come up empty on our various trips to the lakeshore. Finally, on Tuesday, he had success. He found an agate at the playground, of all places. 

Sam informed me he was going to clean his agate every day. He happened to have two toothbrushes up here. He asked if he could use one to clean his rock. I said that was fine, but he needed to move the toothbrush away from the others, so he wouldn't forget and use it on his teeth. Well, that lasted for about a day. He 'forgot', put it back in the holder, and yes, brushed his teeth with the agate brush tonight. Laugh? Or strangle him? I cannot decide. 

And the pup is still up to her antics. Nolan found one of Copper's bones in a box of toys and we gave it back to her. Copper decided not to eat it, but to hide it again. 

Do you see it in the corner of Bill's tool box? And see that 'casual' look on her face? Silly dog. 

The dog fits right in

So...Copper is just as weird as the boys. 

Last night, I walked in the bathroom and found her with her head in the basket of dirty laundry, crying as though her heart had been broken.

Turns out, earlier in the evening when I gave her a dental bone for a treat, she didn't eat it. She hid it. In the dirty laundry. And then realized her neck wasn't long enough for her to be able to fish it back out. 

Oy. I dug through the mountain of dirty tee shirts and shorts until I found the bone. She was so happy to have it back. But I still can't guarantee she ate it. She may have just moved it to a clever new spot. Like in the litter box or behind the toilet. 

Complimentary and observant

Life. Has. Been. Crazy. Lately. Bill and I are constantly exhausted and feel like we are barely keeping up. People keep asking me if I'm enjoying the new house. Honestly? No. Not yet. It's beautiful and I love it, but I haven't had a chance to enjoy it. Hopefully soon!

As the move got closer, Bill and I were spending more and more time at the house. TJ and Sam came with us occasionally. So they got to meet some of the contractors. Nolan preferred to stay at my mom's. So the other night, when Scot the painter was in and out of the house (finishing up odds and ends), Nolan was sitting at the dinner table, puzzled. 

Scot popped in the kitchen to say something to Bill, then left the room. Nolan whispered to me, "Mom, who is that guy?" 

We explained that it was Scot, the best painter in the world. Nolan nodded and said, "He has a very well-trimmed mustache."

That boy is going to keep me on my toes forever. 

Sprinklers

Sam will be 10 years old next month. He has steadfastly held on to his fascination with sprinklers that began when he was a toddler. He's quite excited because the sprinklers are being installed at the new house now. 

Whenever Sam goes in to a hardware store, he wants Bill to buy him a sprinkler. Not an ordinary sprinkler, one that is part of a sprinkler system. At the present time, there are two Rain Bird sprinklers sitting on an end table in my mom's living room. I have no idea what Sam intends to do with them.  

Sam has been watching various instructional videos and has done enough research to know which brands are the better brands. He and Bill were discussing what Bill had planned for the yard and how many sprinklers would be on each zone. Sam then launched into a detailed description of the sprinklers at our old home on Canterbury. He knew exactly how many sprinklers were on each zone, where they were located in the yard, and what type/style each one was. We haven't lived there in three years! How in the world does he remember all this?

I really want to get him involved in the robotics program at school next year. I want to make sure he's using his powers for good. 

Katie's big adventure

Katie the cat was sitting in the open window of the upstairs guest bedroom on Friday afternoon, while TJ played on the computer in that room. Katie isn't crazy about being upstairs during the day, but she loves an open window, so she was content. But then the screen somehow got loose and fell. Katie fell right out too. TJ jumped up and looked out to see Katie sitting on the rocks about 12 feet down. He told her not to move and he ran down the hall and out the door as quickly as he could. But a dog barked and Katie panicked. Just like that, she was gone. 

I arrived home a little while later and saw TJ, Sam, and my mom searching through the woods in her back yard. I joined the search. Then I drove over to 24th Avenue and walked along the front yards there, shaking a bag of Pounce treats and calling Katie's name. She's a strange cat and often comes when called. But this was like looking for a needle in a haystack. A small, gray, scared cat in a fairly rural area? I had no idea how we would ever find her. 

Eventually I headed back home to check in and put on more appropriate footwear. TJ was inside by this time, but I thought he was unusually quiet. Katie is HIS cat and the biggest reason I didn't want to stop looking for her was because of TJ. Copper was worried too. She definitely knew something was wrong. She wanted to come out with me, so I put her on her leash and told her to find Katie. We went out and Copper just wanted to stay in the backyard. I was trying to remind her of our important mission when TJ came out the slider door to see if we'd had any luck. He gasped. Katie was hiding, right by the slider, waiting for someone to pick her up and get her inside. She hadn't been there long, as my mom had searched that area when Katie first got out. 

Katie is happy to be home and doesn't seem injured by her tumble. TJ was relieved beyond words. He had to take some ibuprofen. He had given himself quite a headache, worrying about his cat. 

He said she isn't allowed to sit in the open windows any more. 

Wishing for a normal argument

Yesterday on the way to the chiropractor, TJ and Sam got into a heated discussion as to whether dry ice (which at first, they were calling 'hot ice', so I really had no idea what they were talking about) was really really cold or really really hot. 

Later they were bickering over when the galaxy was going to explode and when the Big Dipper was going to shift its constellation. 

Please. Can't we argue over who gets the last cookie or who gets the remote control? 

Future perfect husband

Tuesday night, we arrived home from a long weekend at our Laurium house. We probably won't be back there until June, so I made every effort to leave the house clean and packed up. 

But it appears I forgot something. Wednesday morning I was putting on my makeup and I reached for my mascara. It wasn't in its correct spot. I checked my travel bag. No mascara. I have no idea how I did it, but it appears I left it up north.

I looked through my stash of extra makeup. No mascara. Bill was in the next room and I called over to him to grab his keys. He asked what was up, and I told him I forgot my mascara in Laurium and he needed to go get it for me. 

He laughed and said he'd pass on that opportunity. Nolan was standing there, listening to our exchange, and he got very offended. 

"Dad! You need to go right now!"

Bill laughed again and told Nolan it was a 20-hour round trip. Nolan was still indignant. "So? Mom asked you to get it! You need to go!"

So Nolan doesn't quite understand our humor all the time. I assured him that I was joking and I could get a new mascara from the store. 

But to Nolan's future wife: you're welcome. I hope you appreciate how thoughtful and caring he is. But don't get any big ideas. I won't let him grow up and get married until he is at least 30.