If anyone can make me laugh... it's Noah

no matter how bad life has become, Noah still makes us laugh. Here are a few examples of things he has said over the last few weeks.


1. Noah and I have a plate of cookies we were taking to leave on a neighbors doorstep. As I was in a hurry I told him to just throw on a pair of shoes that he wouldn't have to tie. He walks out of his room in his huge snow shoes. As we're walking out to the car I'm explaining to him how when we pull up to the house, he'll get out and take the cookies to the door. Once he sets them down, he'll ring the door bell and then run as fast as he can back to the truck. Noah, without even pausing, says, "Mom, how in the hell am I supposed to run in these boots?"

(seeing how he had served quite the sentence for calling his friend 'duck head', which i thought he had said, 'dick head', i felt i would let this one slide.)



2. A few weeks ago Aaron was in D.C. starting his new job and I was here with the kids trying to sell the house. Keeping it realtor ready with my two kids is not an easy task. I'm afraid I got a little crazy trying to keep it constantly clean. After a realtor tour I had many comments that the back yard needed to be raked up. It doesn't look like much work, but it's really quite the project. we have scrub oaks and the roots create all these little shoots that can't be pulled, but have to be individually cut. so, besides raking, there are thousands of shoots that have to be cut to get rid of the ghetto look. After 4 hours of working out there I realized there was no way I was going to get it done in time for a showing, so I called my sister-in-law and asked her if I could hire my nephews to come and help. At one point, me being me, I started to cry on the phone - with Aaron being gone and me tyring to keep the children alive and the house clean, i was feeling a bit overwhelmed. When I got off the phone, Noah came around the corner, gave me a big hug and says with the most sincere I'm-here-for-you voice, "Mom, I need to finish watching my show and then I'm going to play the wii, and then I'll need some dinner and then I'll watch one more show and then (he takes a big breath and gives me the sweetest smile) I'm going to clear my schedule and help you rake."


3- The other night it was way past Noah's bed time and he is doing everything he can to stay up later. One more trip to the bathroom, one more drink of water, one more confession of going to think time at school, on and on and on. We're starting to lose our patience and have told Noah to get to bed or else. He thinks for a moment and walks over to aaron.

Noah: (puts his head on Aaron's shoulder) Dad, will you please come and tell me a story about one of the prophets of old before i go to sleep?

Aaron: No. I've already told you it's time to go to bed and I need to work on the computer tonight. i'll tell you stories tomorrow.

Noah: Dad, Don't you think that sharing the gospel with your son is more important than working on the computer?

(that's noah's new thing lately - "mom, don't you think playing with your son is more important than doing dishes?" "mom, don't you think it's more important to cuddle your son in the morning than making him clean his room before school?"
he's quite the manipulator for so young)


4- To preface this next conversation, it's best to bring everyone up to speed. Three weeks ago Aaron was offered a new job in D.C. which we were very excited about. Aaron flew out and I stayed behind to sell the house. On his eighth day of the job, Aaron was told that the company had decided he wasn't the guy they wanted and let him go. This, obviously, has been quite a devastating shock to us. His old job had already filled his position and he was now across the country without his family and no employment. They offered him no severance package, which has left us in a bit of a bind. Unfortunately, we had just shipped Aaron's car there, so I flew out and we drove the car back together as we made a game plan for the next coming months as Aaron begins job hunting.
I was going to post about this when it happened a couple of weeks ago, but my first draft was way too depressing, my second draft was a tad bit too angry for a family-friendly blog, so I'm going to have to wait until I can look back and laugh at all this madness before I can dedicate any specific post.
Anyway - last night we were driving home from seeing grandpa and Noah started asking why we couldn't go out to dinner and how it had been SOOO LONG since we'd been out to eat. We tried to explain that while daddy was getting a new job we were going to be really careful with money and not eat out a lot. Noah didn't quite understand.

Noah: so, we don't get to go out to eat tonight.

Aaron: No, not tonight.

Noah: When do we get to go out?

Me: Not for awhile, babe. When daddy gets a new job we'll go out somewhere fun to celebrate.

Noah: so... we can't go out to eat until then???

Aaron: that's right.

Noah: well (so matter-of-factly) why doesn't dad just get a job at Quiznos?

(aaron and i just look at each other)

Aaron: um, that's not exactly what i was planning.

Noah: then how about MetLife or Texaco?

(we realize that Noah is just naming off stores we're passing on the road)

Aaron: Noah, I'm looking for jobs that I can do specific things with. I promise, I'll find a job soon.

Noah: And we can't go out to eat until then and you can't buy me toys or take me to fun places?

Aaron: (tyring to stay patient) Noah, until i have a job we're not spending money if we don't have to.

Noah: (with such horror in his voice) ARE WE POOR???

(it took us a few seconds to respond because we were trying no to laugh at the utter horror and exasperation in his voice)

Me: No, we're not poor, we're just being careful with are money.

Noah: poor people don't have money and they can't go out. so, we're poor - aren't we?

Aaron: Instead of saying poor, lets just say we're being financially careful.

Noah: seriously, does that mean we're poor?

Me: (now i'm just trying to end the conversation before we start laughing and really upset him) yes, noah, we're poor.

Noah: I knew it! I knew we were poor!

Aaron's worried that not being in the car with us, this conversation may seem sad and depressing. You have to understand, that how it came about, Noah's ideas of employment and his tone of voice at the end was so funny. It's the first time Aaron and I have really laughed since getting home. Maybe we really are losing it. I figure it's better to laugh than cry.