Foot nails

Nolan continues to make me laugh. Last night at the dinner table, we got into a discussion on height. One of the boys (I think it was Sam) commented that Bill must've been a lot shorter when he and I first met. We laughed and that started a discussion on how tall Bill and I were and when we stopped growing. Nolan, wise and sage, calmly said, "People keep growing until they are the right height. Then they stop."

You cannot argue with that logic. 

After supper, Nolan took a leisurely bath. When he was done, he came in my room, hair all sticking up and skin looking a bit wrinkled. He said, "Mom, I need you to cut my foot nails."

It's been 24 hours since he said that and I am still laughing. He was right though. His 'foot nails' definitely needed to be trimmed. 

Deep thoughts with Nolan

Nolan does his deep thinking on Sunday mornings. He has asked or commented all of the following last Sunday morning and this morning. 

"What's sin?"

(while reading the announcements on the screen at the front of the sanctuary) "It's a good thing they tell you to turn your cell phone off. You shouldn't be on your phone during worship."

"What are the other 7 planets for?"

"Why aren't babies born with clothes on?" (Bill had a great answer for that. He told Nolan that God makes the babies and people make the clothes)

"Everyone has someone who is hard to love."

**And finally, this morning we were singing 'The First Noel'. As usual, Nolan was standing next to me, following along in the hymn book with his finger. I can't possibly sing unless he helps, you know. I leaned down and whispered to him that he if had been a girl, I was going to name him Noelle. Nolan looked shocked. He said, "What do you mean? Don't the moms and dads get to pick what the babies are going to be?" 

I guess he thought we ordered three boys. 

Oh....Christmas tree...

Christmas 2000. That was the year we discovered Christmas trees and pets don't mix. Cadence and Aria loved to remove ornaments from the tree and hide them behind the piano. Bill and I learned over the next few years to keep the fragile ornaments up high and to pinch ornament hooks as tightly as we could on the lower branches. That helped some, but I would still find treasures each time we moved the piano. 

Fast forward to 2008. By now, we had figured out that the best place for the tree was behind closed doors, so we put the tree in the Florida room and kept the doors shut, thus keeping the tree safe from cats and children alike. 

Christmas 2011. Tree in Florida room falls over, lands on stone floor. Huge mess, broken ornaments, upset children and Mom. Tree is relocated to living room where Katie uses certain ornaments as 'batting' practice. Get it??

Christmas 2014. Tree is assembled in the living room. Fragile ornaments up high, non-fragile, non-sentimental ornaments down low. We were worried about the cats and Copper messing with the tree. 

But they have left it alone. Instead, Copper ate my tree skirt. 

I'm not happy, but I'm not devastated either. I got it on the clearance rack adte Christmas a few years ago. I've learned not to invest too much in decor. A pet or child will just ruin it eventually anyway. 

Tie Guy

Nolan loves to dress up for church. I'm not being sarcastic, he really does love it. He is a huge fan of ties. His brothers prefer polo shirts or sweaters, but Nolan wants to rock a tie. 

This morning, I laid out a dress shirt and a sweater vest, along with his precious blue tie. Bill said Nolan came down the stairs, struggling with his apparel and asking for help with his tie. 

Bill saw him and almost lost it. Nolan had put on the sweater vest first, then the dress shirt, and was trying to clip his tie on top. Bill gently explained that Nolan had gotten the order wrong and that the shirt needed to go on before the vest. 

Nolan wasn't happy with this. "But Dad! Then no one will see my tie!"

Here he is, correctly attired. He took a look at this picture and was pleased to see that his tie is still noticeable. 

Keeping it surreal

Some days, Bill and I feel like our lives aren't real. It's like we are stuck in some sort of slapstick sitcom. 

Sunday morning, there was no Sunday school, so the boys all stayed with us for the entire service. About halfway through the sermon, Nolan decided he was dying of thirst. DYING, I say. I really want him to learn to sit and be patient, so I was trying to distract him. I kept giving him a 'look'. He eventually leaned close and said, "Mom, what is wrong with your eyes?"

At dinner that night, everyone was eating when TJ suddenly blurted out, "Llamas are nature's greatest warriors."

What?

Tonight at dinner, Sam spilled his milk. It hit the crack in the center of the table (where the leaf goes in) and rained down underneath...and all over Copper, who was in the midst of patrolling for crumbs. Her fur is crunchy now. But since it was coconut milk, I bet her skin is moisturized. 

Does anyone want to give my dog a bath?

Inexplicable

Tomorrow is TJ's 11th birthday. Eleven. How is that possible?  It seems just like yesterday that he was running around the house with a yard stick (his favorite toy) and chattering on about the 'tees' (trees). 

TJ is having a pool party at an area high school on Sunday. He loves to swim and this was actually the most affordable party option I came up with. I told him yesterday that I was going to order a cake made out of two dozen cupcakes to feed the kids at the party. TJ requested that I get cupcakes that were white inside. He informed me he doesn't like chocolate cake. This was news to me, but I promised there would be no chocolate.

Tonight, Nolan had therapy and TJ and Sam had their first practice for the Christmas program at church. I was with Nolan and Bill had the other two. I asked him to stop by the grocery store on the way home so TJ could pick out a dessert for his birthday dinner tomorrow. That's right. I didn't bake. I haven't had the time, the energy, or the desire. 

I got home from therapy and was very surprised to see TJ picked out this cake:

Sure looks like a lot of chocolate for a kid who doesn't want a chocolate cake! Bill said he was surprised too. You know why TJ wanted this specific cake? He thought the name on the label was hysterical. 

TJ saw me looking at the cake and said, "Isn't that a funny name for a cake? But I sure hope there isn't chocolate cake under the frosting!"

Oh, my Dear. That's pretty much the point of Death by Chocolate!

Happy birthday, TJ!

Not a puppy!

Would someone please tell Copper that she is not a puppy? She puts everything in her mouth! Just last night, she got in trouble twice. 

I was sitting on the floor, doing my nails. I set down a wrapped chocolate Tootsie Roll Pop. Copper was in her bed just behind me. I thought she was chewing on her Nyla bone. I reached for my lollipop and it was gone. I turned toward the dog and was shocked to see she had unwrapped it and was happily gnawing on it. I snatched it away before she could determine how many licks it takes to get to the center. I was quite sad about throwing it away. It was the only Tootsie Roll Pop I found in the boys' Halloween candy.

I was applying some new Jamberry nail wraps and was using a nice new emery board. I finished applying the last wrap and reached for the emery board one last time. And it was gone. Once again, I turned toward Copper and found her gnawing on it. Seriously?! Was she trying to file her teeth? Wouldn't that be a painful sensation? Like fingernails on a chalkboard! 

I guess this story has a happy ending. She didn't actually ingest either item and my nails are super cute.