That's Disgusting!

We are at Applebee's for dinner tonight. We told Nolan he could pick where we ate out since it is his birthday tomorrow. 

They seated us near the bar, right below a TV that happened to be on the Fox Sports Network. The boys weren't paying much attention to it until they showed a round of boxing. Nolan was horrified. "That's disgusting!" he yelled (always nice to have children yelling that phrase in a restaurant!)

I looked up at the TV and asked him if it bothered him that the guys are were sweaty and punching each other. "Neither! You can see their nipples! Gross!"

Yep. That's my almost seven-year-old. Here he is, 'boxing', fully clothed!

That was weird

Shortly before we left for church this morning, I asked Bill if he had seen Copper's rope toy. She has to be in her kennel while we are gone and I usually toss a toy in there with her. But I couldn't find the rope toy anywhere. 

While I was still talking, Copper walked in the kitchen, set the rope toy at my feet and walked away. Bill and I stood there in amazed silence, which was broken by Sam. 

"Well. That was weird."

Vacation Memories

These are funny things that my kids said while at Disney last month. I just kept procrastinating writing the blog post!

Wise words from Nolan on our drive down: "It's better to stop at a McDonald's than a rest stop when you have to go to the bathroom. It's more likely that your mom will buy you cookies then." In my defense, I only bought cookies once. 

Sam spent an awful lot of time reading a road atlas and kept sharing tidbits of information with us. At one point, he was jabbering on about "Ark Kansas". Bill corrected his pronunciation and Sam was convinced Bill was joking. "Are you kidding me? ArkanSAW? Where'd they come up with that??"

We checked into our hotel in Chattanooga pretty late the night we left. Sam's mind was still working away though.  He came out of the bathroom and announced that they had good toilets at the hotel because they are 'the same toilets we have at our house!' 

Bill went right in the bathroom and looked. He said Sam was right. I have no idea what brand toilets we have!

The next morning, we went down for the free breakfast. The dining room had the usual small tables scattered anout, but they also had a very large island in the center of the room with over a dozen bar stools surrounding it. There was a high school girls' volleyball team in town for a competition. Most of the team and some of their parents were sitting on the bar stools. Sam and Nolan climbed right up there with them and started filling them in on our life story. I tried to get them to come sit with me, but they had a pretty captive audience so I gave up. I finished my food and went to get a coffee refill. One of the adults in the room came over to me and said, "Your children have remarkable vocabularies."

Don't I know it!

One of the rides at Epcot that probably isn't too popular with kids is called "Living with the Land". It's a boat ride that takes you through the some indoor greenhouses and explains how Disney World is finding new and earth-friendly ways to grow their own food while conserving energy. My kids love this ride. We went on it twice. As we were floating past some lettuce that Disney was growing out of soil, Nolam said, "Hey look! A lettuce convention!"

The lady sitting behind us laughed so hard I thought she was going to choke.

Another day, Nolan had to go to the bathroom. I said I would tell Dad so that he could take him in the bathroom. Nolan said, "Why don't you just take me in the customized bathroom?" I had to think about that one for a minute. Then it dawned on me. Customized bathroom = companion bathroom! 

Medical crisis

Last weekend, Nolan came down with a bad cold. It started with a barking cough on Friday. By Saturday night, he was running a fever and vomiting (really sorry about your recliner and carpet, Mom!). By Tuesday, he was doing well enough that I sent him back to school. He's still been coughing but not as much. 

Yesterday was Friday again. Nolan seemed fine all day but completely fell apart overnight. I lost track of how many times he got up. He's normally the type who falls asleep as soon as his head hits the pillow and he sleeps soundly all night long. So this was truly out of character. He seemed miserable. His ear hurt. Next time he got me up, it was his throat. Next time, he thought he was going to vomit. 

I called his doctor at 8:30. The office has a few Saturday appointments available if you are sick and I managed to snag one. I had to wake up Nolan to get him to his 10:30 appointment. He cried most of the way there. He fell asleep on the examining table while we waited for the doctor. His amusing personality was no where to be seen. 

The boys see the female doctor at the practice but it wasn't her Saturday to work, so we met her partner. He was very kind and patient with Nolan, who was having a tough time following directions and answering questions. The doctor was asking Nolan about his cough and his ears then he reached down to massage Nolan's stomach. 

At this, he finally got a reaction out of Nolan, who gasped loudly and sat up straight. Both the doctor and I were concerned with his reaction. Dr Shearer asked if Nolan's stomach hurt. Nolan's response? "Dude, no! Your hands are freezing!"

The doctor got a good laugh out of that and said he had gotten a glimpse of what my Nolan is normally like. 

Turns out Nolan has a double ear infection, which totally explains his misery. I'm hoping he is feeling better tomorrow. 

And for inquiring minds, my nearly 7-year-old tips the scales at 44.5 pounds and a little over 45 inches tall. He is such a peanut. 

Share your knowledge

This afternoon, Nolan was reluctantly cutting out some hearts for a school project (he hates cutting). To distract himself, he kept chattering away at me while he talked. 

"Mom, do you know any facts that I don't know?"

I thought about it and said yes, I probably knew a few things he didn't. 

He immediately said, "Tell them to me."

Well that stumped me. I figured he wouldn't care about human genetics or why lungs work the way they do, and I certainly wasn't going to discuss the birds and the bees, so I finally said, "The square root of 16 is 4."

Nolan stared at me and asked me to say that again. He then carefully repeated it. Long pause. Then, "I have NO idea what you're talking about, Mom."

Guess he isn't quite ready to have all the facts. 

A permanent toddler?

I love my dog.  Really, I do. I love taking her for walks and having her snuggle with me at night and I love having someone to talk to during the day (the cats aren't awake much and they usually look pretty disdainful when I try to talk to them). 

But sometimes Copper makes me want to tear my hair out. One afternoon last week, I was working and she kept chasing the cats. I finally gathered up a bunch of her toys, tossed them in the office and shut her in there with me. She settled down on the other side of my desk and started chewing away. I figured she was working on one of her bones. 

I finished working and walked around the desk to tell her it was time to get the boys. I was greeted by small black fuzzies all over the floor. I bent to pick one up and realized it was shredded plastic. It was only then that I noticed the dog had chewed completely through the cord of my adding machine. Thankfully it wasn't plugged in at the time. 

I figured that was a fluke and that I must've tossed her toys too close to the cord and she simply grabbed the wrong item. But the next day she chewed the cord of Bill's beloved sound machine. He was livid but managed to repair that mess with electrical tape. He says someday Copper will chew on something that is still plugged in and that will be the end of our 'dog problems'.

He was joking. I think. 

My dog

Copper is truly my dog. I didn't really mean for that to happen, it just did. She likes Bill and the boys, and she never gets tired of trying to convince the cats to play with her, but if I am home, she is right by my side about 98% of the time. I trip over her at least once a day.

The first two nights we had her, Copper slept in her dog bed right next to our bed. I couldn't bear to put her in her kennel at night. I knew she had spent the first year of her life in a shelter and then spent several weeks in a chaotic rescue. I wanted her to feel loved and safe after what she had been through. So I put her bed right next to ours. 

That worked great for two nights. On the third night, she jumped up on the bed and snuggled down next to me. And that's where she has been ever since. She doesn't just sleep next to me, she is pressed firmly against me. She's like a water bottle that never cools off. And since I am often freezing, I really don't mind. I don't mind her snoring either. 

Now I am wondering. Do people still use hot water bottles?