My Pirate Nephews

My nephews are pretty incredible. I love to brag about them and tell Vander and Huddy stories. They just turned 4 and 2 and have such sweet spirits and such sweet faces.

Yes, I'm that girl who is constantly telling kid stories. And they're not even mine. But they are priceless. Their logic and their actions are so comical. I never knew kids could be so entertaining. And I learn so much from them and laugh so much with them.

They are the main men in my life right now and though I'm usually exhausted after playing with them, it's worth all the laughter and joy they bring me. Here's why they've been making laugh lately:

1) Hudson will occasionally open his eyes SUPER wide.

2) When Vander doesn't have a weapon, he'll yell, "I'm one-armed! I'm one-armed" He means "unarmed." Heidi and Dan purposely don't correct him. He also recently said we were going to "inside-outside" for dinner (aka In-N-Out) and asked me to play "coconuts and ladders" with him. (chutes and ladders)

3) Hudson loves to wear my shoes and go through my purse. His parents are not concerned. Yet. But the other day I had to explain to Dan why his son had foundation smeared all over his cheeks and lip gloss in his hair. He also loves to find my girl products and then run when I try to steal them back. Wonderfully awkward.

4) At their pirate party, Huddy stuffed his face with at least 6 cupcakes. At least he was willing to share his frosting with me. His usual response when one asks for some of his food is, 'No way, Jose."

5) Vander is a bit obsessed with weapons right now and loves "attacking." In a recent battle, he paused mid-battle to ask, "Katie, do you come at me in the name of the Lord?"

"Huh?" I looked to Heidi. She explained that he loves the David and Goliath story and often comes at people in the name of the Lord.

6) Huddy was eating something when we were all playing tag out front. But we didn't have any food outside. So I opened his mouth and fished around and pulled out some gum. Then I noticed the wad of chewed gum on the sidewalk that had clearly just had 2 year old nails scraping through it. He turned "ABC gum " into "ABCBASALOTG gum" (already been chewed by a stranger and left on the ground). Nasty.

7) I taught Vander the expression, "Hey good-lookin, whatcha got cookin?" He was super excited to try it out and ran to his dad and said, "Hey good-lookin, what's in the oven?" He thought he had nailed it because Heidi and I were laughing so hard.

8) Heidi sent me this video while I was teaching. I've since watched it about 47 times. At the very end you can't really understand Hud but he is trying to pray so he folds his hands and says, "Let's pray..."

9) Vander has some interesting problem-solving skills. Luckily, only Heidi overheard this conversation:

Vander: "Katie, do you have boobies?"

Me: "Yep. All girls do."

Vander: "Then why don't you feed Logan his dinner?"

Me: "Ummmmm....Heidi????"

Speaking of Logan, I love that lil' babe as well. He just doesn't say ridiculous things yet. He is 9 weeks and, like both of his brothers before him, giant for his age. He has no idea just how good he has it yet. His brothers both LOVE to kiss him and snuggle him. It's quite adorable.

10) Vander was talking to Heidi about who he will marry one day. He said he would like to marry Teri but Heidi explained that she is marrying Trent. His response:

"I could wrestle Trent."

Well played Vander.

11) Vander's thoughts on God and heaven are full of wonder and innocence. The other day we watched a balloon floating away and he said in a very matter-of-fact tone, "Welp, there must be a birthday party in heaven."

Then when we were watering the plants, he grew concerned that we couldn't reach some of the plants with the hose so I explained that they drink from the rain that God brings. I saw the wheels turning in his head and he replied, "Oh. So God waters the plants on Sundays and Jose waters them on Wednesdays." Something like that, Vander.

When I've had a long day spent dealing with ornery, jaded teenagers, I go hang out with these boys. They remind me of the wonder in the world. They remind me of the innocence, of the hope, of the joy in the world. And they remind me to laugh.