Necklaces

16 November 2008, Sunday

I made pancakes and sausage for dinner and then we talked to grandma and grandpa Jackson on the computer. The kids and I had a "clean up" race. They cleaned up the loft, their bedrooms, the library, and the family room (what they had cluttered during the day) and I cleaned up the dishes. They won, but just barely. Jana helped keep them on task, but Samuel surprised both of us by straightening up the entire downstairs, without help. Then he went upstairs and helped Dallin clean their room. Dallin made and "animal slide" invention. Kind of like a zip-line for his stuffed animals between the front door and the balcony. Jana let him keep it up for another day or so.

17 November 2008, Monday

Kaylie is so sweet to Nathan. When he starts fussing, she comes up to him and says, "Calm down." "It's okay, baby." and other motherly phrases.

The other night, we had our babysitter, Emma, over to watch the kids while Jana and I went on a date. The kids were all at the counter eating dinner when she arrived. Emma smiled at the kids and Sam screamed and put his head in his hands. He started yelling, "I don't want to look." We finally got him calmed down and he said, "I don't like when people have necklaces on their teeth." Emma has braces.

And its out! SketchUp 7!

I don't usually talk about myself much here, except in reaction to something my kids do, but I've had a big week so you get to hear a little about me. As most of you know, I've been working at Google for the last year and a half. I work on SketchUp, a 3D modeling tool written for designers, not CAD jockeys (no offense to CAD jockeys, ahem). SketchUp is by far my favorite Google product. @Last software, the original creators of SketchUp, was acquired by Google about a year before I got here. Fortunately, we have been able to keep the same passionate development team together (except for a few additions, like your truly). I really love working with these guys.

Today, it has finally gone public that we are releasing SketchUp 7. You can even see a video with me in it on that page, though I can't really recommend my acting. I work on the 2D presentation tool called LayOut. I helped develop the new curve tool, the editable paths, the move rotate and scale manipulators, and the in-place group edit. It has been a great year and I'm really proud of what we've come up with.

So that's it for this week. It has been a crazy few months. I think we're all looking forward to Christmas break!

The Fishing Trip

3 November 2008, Monday

Jana had parent teacher coference with Sam's teacher. She said he is doing great academically. She said he can be pretty intense at times. That's our Sammy!

Tonight, Jana taught a family home evening lesson on self-discipline. Sam was SO good tonight. He sat still on the couch, listened, raised his hand to comment, and was very very well behaved. Both he and Dallin still need the little treat (tonight it was three Skittles) to focus on during the lesson to keep them under control. They don't get it until the lesson is over, but it is out in the open where they can see it, and more importantly, where I can eat it if they get crazy. I know it is just a bribe but it is worth it in my mind.

5 November 2008, Wednesday

Jana put Kaylie down to bed today and told here that she loves her "infinity squared!" Kaylie replied "I love you... rectangle!" Jana was puzzled for a couple of minutes and then she figured it out. Something to do with the "squared."

6 November 2008, Thursday

Jana took Sam, Kaylie, and Nathan shopping and survived. Sam kept asking "Am I being good, Mom?" The kids were so good, Jana bought them each a doughnut. Kaylie didn't like hers and she decided to give it to Dallin. I was surprised. I'm usually her favorite food disposal.

8 November 2008, Saturday

Our neighbor and I took the boys fishing this morning. We bundled up and drove up to Estes Park to fish at Lake Estes. It was pretty windy and cold. We stayed for about an hour. The kids got a dose of reality when our neighbor cut up the worms to put on their hooks. He caught a fish and let each of them reel it in. He finally released it, but caught another bigger one and kept it. We went on to another place to try and get out of the wind. The boys had fun playing on the rocks and I got some more practice casting. It was really my first time fishing is years and years.

When we got home, I asked our neighbor if we could watch him clean the fish. I had never seen it done before and thought it might be nice for the kids to see where meat comes from. It was too gruesome and I should have left the kids at home. Dallin really freaked out and told our neighbor that he shouldn't do that. He said, "How would you like it if a fish pulled out your guts?" We tried to explain that people eat meat, and in order for us to get it, an animal has to die. I think it was a good lesson, but probably premature. I hope Dallin doesn't decide to become a vegetarian.

Jana took Kaylie and Nathan with her shopping today. They went to Bed Bath and Beyond for some curtains and then Jana told Kaylie that they were heading over to Michael's. When they got there, Kaylie asked for Uncle Miles. She asked a couple more times and Jana finally figured out that Kaylie had thought Jana said they were going to "Miles."

Jana got a lot of complements for Kaylie and Nathan at the store. There was a mother and daughter that came over to talk to all three of them and they couldn't stop oohing and ahhing over Nathan and thought Kaylie was adorable.

9 November 2008, Sunday

Kaylie keeps asking to go to "Grandma's airport." We think she says this because she has gone with me to pick her up at the airport and she thinks Grandma lives there. Jana tells her "She's not at the airport." Then Kaylie asks, "She went to Grandpa's house? But I love her at my house."

Halloween Pictures

I've been pretty lousy at keeping a journal the last two weeks. I guess having a new baby is just making me tired. However, we have been taking pictures. Here are some pictures from pumpkin carving and halloween night.

Here are the the kids and me carving pumpkins. Dallin carved his own pumpkin this year. Kaylie drew her own face this year. It was about the size of a quarter, and I enlarged it on her pumpkin. Sam drew his pumpkin face, including the ears and mustache. Dallin drew and carved his own face. I'm not exactly sure what all the holes are, but he couldn't be outdone by Sam's mustache and ears. Cute Jana and Nathan. Jana helped me clean out pumpkins this year. It was very nice. Nathan in his ghost onesie. Here are the kids on Halloween night. Sam was a knight, Dallin was Spiderman, and Kaylie was a ladybug.

The Pumpkin Patch

15 October 2008, Wednesday

Kaylie wanted Mommy a lot today. She is still very nice to the baby and loves to touch his blanket and his hat and just to look at him, but she wants a little more attention from Mom.

18 October 2008, Saturday

We went to the pumpkin patch to get pumpkins for jack-o-lanterns. The pumpkin patch seemed very nice. They had rides and bounce castles but it turned out that all of these things cost a lot of money. Grandma bought all of us some cotton candy and funnel cake. Then we went to buy some pumpkins.

Dallin searched for a long time, trying to find "the perfect pumpkin." He finally found it, and indeed it was a perfectly shaped pumpkin. Sam was less picky but couldn't be done looking until Dallin was. Once he had found the "perfect" pumpkin, Dallin helped Sam find one. We encouraged Kaylie to look among the smallish pumpkins. She eventually found one that she loved, and that didn't have a stem. I found one that was almost the same shape and size, but had a stem and asked her to put it in the cart. She kept going back to the stemless pumpkin and touching it affectionately. She won and the stemless pumpkin rode home with us.

In the afternoon, while the girls slept, I worked on the lawn and Dallin built a contraption in the garage with cardboard boxes, nails, and duct tape. It began life as an airplane, but then became a rocket ship.

Two Birthdays (Welcome Nathan Robert Jackson!)

10 October 2008, Friday

It was Dallin's 7th birthday today. This morning, I got ready early so I could make him crepes for breakfast. I woke the kids up at about 7:00 and I heard Sam and Dallin arguing about when, exactly, Dallin turns 7. Dallin claimed to be 7 already, but Sam insisted that he wasn't 7 until he blew out all of the candles. After some parental intervention, the matter was settled, and Dallin is officially 7.

I came home a little early to watch the kids while Jana went to the doctor. The doctor had a difficult time measuring her and she was still feeling pretty sore when she got home.

As soon as we were all together, we drove down to Superior to Chuck E Cheese's for Dallin's birthday dinner. We had a very fun time. On the way home, we got a call from Grandma Smith for Dallin and when we walked in the door, we got a call from Grandma Jackson. After he got off the phone, Dallin opened his presents and we had cake and ice cream.

Jana has been contracting all evening.

11 October 2008, Saturday

Jana had contractions all day and had other signs that she was getting close. In the morning she called a friend to ask her if she could watch the kids if we had to go to the hospital.

When we got to the hospital at about 5:00, she was at about 6 cm and a -1 station. They moved her from the triage room to a labor and delivery room. A little after 6:00, Jana got an epidural which caused a pretty severe "spinal" headache. The doctor, whom we really like, came and checked her a bit later and she hadn't progressed much so he broke her water. He then told her to take it easy and headed off to perform a C-section.

Laying down seemed to ease the headache, but that was about all she could do. The nurse checked her and found that she was "complete" and that the baby was crowning. They told the doctor, who had just started the C-section. There was no way for him to make it, so they called his partner to deliver the baby. When he arrived, the baby was ready to come. Two contractions later he was born at 9:09 PM!

He is a healthy baby. His APGARs were 7 and 9. He has a a lot of blond hair and has two stork bites on his eyelids. He has bruises on his nose and forehead from the quick descent. He weighs 6lbs 4oz and measures 20in long.

Initially after birth, he was making a little grunting noise that indicated he was having some trouble breathing. We moved him to the nursery for observation. He and I were there about an hour and a half and he did well and had his bath. I brought him back to Jana. What an amazing woman I married!

At about 1:00 AM I went home to relieve the babysitters and to try and think of a name. The baby wasn't able to stay the whole night with Jana, since he was not keeping his temperature up, so he went back to the nursery for several hours.

12 October 2008, Sunday

After everyone had eaten and had a bath, we drove out to visit Mommy and baby. We decided to call him Nathan, but still hadn't come up with a middle name yet. Jana's headache has really been bothering her. While we were there, the anesthesiologist did a "blood patch" by taking blood from her arm and inserting it into the hole left by the epidural. This didn't have an immediate effect, but her headache got steadily better throughout the day and by evening she was just feeling tired.

The boys wanted to eat at the cafeteria downstairs, but I told them we would go to McDonalds or Taco Bell instead. They immediately chose Taco Bell, so it was decided we would go tomorrow when Grandma flew in from Pennsylvania. After saying goodbye to Mommy and Nathan, we went home to let Kaylie (and Daddy) have a nap.

We came back to the hospital in the afternoon and decided on a middle name of Robert, after Jana's dad. After a while, the kids and I went home to have a quick dinner. A friend came over later to watch them for a little while so I could spend some time at the hospital without corralling kids.

When I got to the hospital, Jana really wanted a rest so I held Nathan while she closed her eyes. No wonder she doesn't get any rest in the hospital. Even without the kids there, someone was coming in to poke and prod either Jana or Nathan every fifteen minutes.

13 October 2008, Monday

This morning, the kids and I got up and got ready at our usual time. After breakfast and cleaning up a bit, we drove down to the airport to pick up Grandma Smith who flew in to take care of her little girl. The kids were extremely excited to see her and couldn't stop talking all the way back to Longmont. As I promised yesterday, we went to Taco Bell for lunch. Kaylie surprised me by eating a whole taco (except the "celery" i.e. anything green). Then we went to see Mommy and Nathan in the hospital.

When we got there, Jana told us that she could be discharged at any time. So, after visiting for a little bit and letting Tanya hold Nathan, I drove them home. I cleaned out the baby car seat and got some clothes for Jana, and drove back to the hospital to pick them up and bring them home. We love having our Mommy back home with us!

Ok, Now Jana's on Bed Rest

Jana went to the doctor a couple of weeks ago. They measure all sorts of her anatomy, and yes I know what they all are, but I'll spare you the details. The result is that she's been put on bed rest. I've taken some time off of work to take care of her and the kids. I love it, but I'm exhausted at the end of the day and I've been slacking some of my journal writing. I got back in to it today and wrote down some cute things the kids did this week.

22 September, Monday

I took Sam and Kaylie to Costco and they were incredibly cute. Sam is SO sweet to her and they just chatter back and forth. We stayed for lunch and both of them worked on a piece of pepperoni pizza and some soda. It was fun not to be in a hurry for lunch and since neither of them ate any of the oatmeal I made for breakfast, they were starving and ate very well.

26 September, Friday

While Kaylie napped, I took Sam to the store to buy a gift for his friend's birthday party tomorrow. Dallin's been working on inventing gifts from construction paper all week. He's made a paper car, a little lasso out of yarn, and two paper snow shoes.

Dallin wanted to go camping tonight, so Jana told him he could build a tent in his bed. He hung a sheet from the slats on the top bunk and a blanket over the side to enclose a small area for him and Sam to lay in. Dallin read stories to Sam, while Sam played with his flashlight. They are great brothers and it makes me so happy to see them playing nicely together.

Jana and I watched the presidential debate between John McCain and Barack Obama tonight. When I was putting the boys to bed, Dallin asked who I'd be voting for. He wanted to vote for both of the candidates. I talked to him a little about the war. Dallin's eyes got big and said, "We're in a war!" He was concerned that someone was going to come to our house or that I would have to leave to go fight somewhere else. I told him that I wouldn't be fighting, but that uncle Jeremy would be fighting in a year or so. He was very concerned and both he and Sam asked me if I would die. I said that yes but not for a long time. Sammy started crying that he didn't want me to die. It nearly broke my heart. It was particularly touching after struggling to get them in bed and having them ignore me for about an hour. I guess they do want me to stick around.

28 September, Sunday

Dallin had a talk in primary that was extremely cute. Here is the text he helped Jana to write:

"Once my family had a lesson in Family Home Evening about prayer. We learned that we could ask if the prophets were true. I wanted to do this. So, I prayed. At first, I didn't feel anything so I prayed again. Then I had a warm and toasty YES feeling in my heart. I knew that Heavenly Father sent the Holy Ghost to tell me that the prophets are true.

In the Friend Magazine there is a story about Misti. Misti was 8 years old and deciding if she should be baptized. She thought that if she went to General Conference Heavenly Father would tell her what to do. During the conference President Monson was prompted to talk to a little girl he could see in the Tabernacle. The little girl was Misti. Misti decided that she should be baptized because of what President Monson said during his talk. The answer to her prayer came from Heavenly Father, through someone else, President Monson.

I know that answers to my prayers come from Heavenly Father through the Holy Ghost, the scriptures, and others.

I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen."

No Bed Rest... Yet...

8 September 2008, Monday

Dallin had an assembly today where they sealed a time capsule at the school for 50 years. I asked him if he would be alive when they opened it and he said he would but that I would almost be dead.

After dinner we had family home evening. We talked about the primary theme for the month, something like "I can pray and Heavenly Father will hear and answer my prayers." We talked about Joseph Smith's first vision, and Jana and I shared personal experiences about having prayers answered. Then we read a bit from Alma 34 about when we should pray. Dallin told me, "I just said a prayer in my head, because I'm not sure if the prophets are true. But I didn't get an answer." Jana and I told him that he was doing the right thing to pray about it and that sometime answers don't come right away. We encouraged him to keep praying and to think about the feeling he is getting. He said later than he was getting a little feeling. He is a great kid.

9 September 2008, Tuesday

After school, the boys went over to James' house to play. Dallin and James set up the play date, while Sam was playing on the big toys. Jana didn't know if Sammy was included. She told Sam it was time to go home, and he started to get sad that he wasn't going to play. James and Dallin ran back to get him and included him in their play. James is right between Dallin and Sam, and sometimes Sam gets left out. I'm glad they included him today.

Sam fell asleep while I was reading to him tonight, so Dallin and I postponed our "Roughhouse Night" until Sam could do it with us. Dallin read to me tonight. I got out a handful of Smarties and ate one every time he didn't correct a mistake. He gets going too fast and guesses words by their first two or three letters. After he saw me with the candy, he slowed way down, and his accuracy was close to 100%. Smarties are gross.

10 September 2008, Wednesday

Jana didn't feel well today. She asked me to pick the kids up from school. It was my first time picking them up and I didn't really know what to do and the teachers didn't really know what to do with me. I kept expecting to see Sam in his classroom, but he wasn't there. It turned out that he had a bloody nose and I had to be taken to the office to pick him up.

When I got home, Jana was still having regular painful contractions. She and I dropped the kids off at the Amber's and went to the hospital. We were there for several hours and Jana received two shots and some oral medication. Her doctor came to check everything and she was sent home unsure with a wait-and-see until the next appointment.

We picked up the kids at the Amber's. She had asked the boys what they wanted for dinner, and they told her they wanted spaghetti. When she put it in front of them, they announced that they didn't like spaghetti (what they think they don't like is tomato sauce). She suggested they take a bite and they ate it all.

12 September 2008, Friday

Dallin really didn't want to go to school today. I had to hold his hand all the way so he wouldn't run home. Jana and I think he is just worried about the baby and he doesn't want to miss the fun of having Dad at home all day. I told him he could stay home from school if he wanted to clean all of the bathrooms with me. He jumped at the chance, but when I said he had to put his hand in the toilet to clean the bowl, he decided he'd rather not.

Jana went to the doctor and everything checked out normal. He did not put her on bed rest, to our huge relief, but asked that she reduce her activity.

13 September 2008, Saturday

Today was cleaning day. Dallin helped me with my chores by mopping the kitchen floor. He did a very good job.

I took the boys on a bike ride to get out of the house and let Jana rest. We rode just south of Blue Mountain Elementary school and stopped to look at the irrigation dam. We saw a bunch of snakes sunning themselves on the rocks. They looked lazy, but when they saw us the scattered amazingly quickly. We rode on the dirt road over to Altona Middle School which still had some big puddles from the rain yesterday. I told the boys not to ride in the puddles, but Dallin did. I had to push him out. Sam wanted to next but I convinced him not to. Unfortunately, as he was riding around one of them, the ground became uneven and his training wheel hit a bump and pushed him into the puddle. He was very sad, but was able to keep riding after a little break. We rode to Altona and then back along Clover Basin DR. Along the way Dallin told be about bad people that cut down our trees and that we won't have any air if they keep doing it. How did my son become an environmentalist?

Two Lost Teeth

1 September 2008, Monday

Jana made lunch for us and we all went to the park for a picnic. As we were leaving the house, Jana called Sam "Cutie Face." He replied, "Don't call me names! Just Sam-o and Handsome." Dallin wanted to lead the way and told us not to worry if we got lost because he "knows the neighborhood." He did a pretty good job; we just had to gently remind him a couple of times that he was turning right a little too early. He and Sam are both getting pretty good at looking all ways before crossing at a corner. They get a little over cautious if there's a car moving at all within sight. That makes me a lot more comfortable.

We ate the great lunch Jana had prepared. Dallin wanted some chips and I told him that he needed to eat the five grapes on his plate. He started trying to make a deal with me. "Can I have five chips when I eat my fie grapes." "Yes," I replied. "How about two chips after I eat two grapes." "No, you can have two chips after you eat five grapes." He got pretty upset and threatened to go get lost in the neighborhood. After watching both Kaylie and Sam eat 5 grapes, he was able to choke them down. After we ate, we played pirate ship on the big toys.

I took the boys down to Google to play and have a little treat while the girls rested. I played pool with Dallin while Sam played the arcade games. Dallin did a pretty good job, once I figured out how to shorten the cue. Then we went upstairs for a treat and played foosball. We came back down and I played pool with Sam while Dallin fussed around with the Xbox and the Wii. I don't know how to use them, but I got Guitar Hero working for Dallin. He didn't want to play that game, so he fussed around some more. When it was time to go, Dallin threw a major fit and told me all sorts of mean things, that he didn't love me anymore, that he was through with me, culminating with "and when I get older, I'm GOING TO SMOKE!" When we got home, Dallin apologized to me for "freaking out." He's a good kid, just going through a fit-throwing phase right now.

2 September 2008, Tuesday

Tonight at dinner, Dallin began telling me about DDT and how it affects mosquitos, which affects fish, which affects Eagles, an endangered species. I'm surprised that they are already feeding the kids this stuff so early. DDT kills mosquitos that propagate malaria, which kills people. The link to Eagles is dubious at best. Anyway, I expressed some doubt and Dallin got pretty angry at me. He told me that I don't know everything. I agreed and told him I would do some research on the subject.

Today, Jana spoke with Sam's teacher and she told her that Sam had picked out the most difficult puzzle, a turtle, and had sat and concentrated over it until he had put it all together. She was impressed that he stayed focused and that he completed it.

3 September 2008, Wednesday

When I got home from work, I heard a little voice say, "Daddy, look for me!" Kaylie was hiding in the pantry. When I opened the door she shouts, "Ta Da!" She likes to hide there lately and usually says something like, "I'm going to work now," and shuts the door. After I found her, she told me that she wanted to go potty on the toilet. I took her upstairs to sit for a while, but she didn't get anywhere.

At dinner, Dallin showed me his loose tooth. I asked him if he wanted me to pull it out and he said yes. Pulling teeth used to give me the willies. However, it wasn't nearly as bad as I had remembered. Dallin's tooth came right out! He lost his first tooth! He was very excited and to celebrate, I made strawberry milkshakes.

6 September 2008, Saturday

Last night, while Jana and I were watching a movie, we heard a cricket in the house. We looked around but couldn't find it. It stopped chirping, so we forgot about it. We were awakened at 12:30 by the sound of chirping downstairs. I went down to try and find it. It sounded like it was near the garage, but it stopped chirping. After waiting a bit it started again, but it sounded like it was coming from the screen door. Not there and then it stopped. I sat on the stairs, waiting for it to start again, but it never did.

At 3:00 we heard the chirping again. This time I went into ninja mode. I crept down the stairs an noticed a small black blob under the door in into the vacuum closet (right between the garage and the screen door). I took one more step and sure enough it moved and stopped chirping. I had it trapped and I knew I would be victorious.

I get a little freaked out by bugs, especially jumping ones. I tried a few times with a shoe, but had to resort to a fly swatter in the end. My heart was going pretty strong by the end and I ended up staring at the ceiling for about an hour. At least I heard the sprinklers come on at 4:00.

7 September 2008, Sunday

Dallin had me pull out his right front bottom tooth, the second one this week. He wrote a note to the tooth fairy that was really cute. It had a picture of him in bed sleeping and the tooth fair taking out the tooth and putting a dollar under his pillow. It said "Dear Tooth Fairy, Thank you for the money." He is an awesome kid.

"To Buys Us WHAT!"

Sunday

I got up early to do some last minute work on the agendas. When I left for church, only Sam and Jana were awake. Jana was looking at baby names. She asked Sam, "How about Tobias?" Sammy replied, "To buys us what?" "No, that would be the baby's name, Tobias." Sam said again, "To buy us WHAT?"

I was sitting in the pew, waiting for the Jana and the kids to arrive. Sister Moreland and Sister Park were sitting behind me. At first, I saw Sam run in and give me a huge hug. I heard Sister Moreland say to Sister Park, "Here they come!" Then Kaylie came in and shouted "Daddy!" and ran to give me a hug. I love it!

I've been trying to teach the boys how to use the toilet without dropping their drawers to their ankles. Sam was doing a pretty good job today, but missed the toilet and peed all over his church pants. He was pretty upset and kept apologizing to me. There really wasn't a lot we could do, so Jana took him home.

Tuesday

After dinner, Jana went to the PTO meeting. Since Mommy was gone, we had a little roughhouse time tonight. Dallin didn't want me to tickle him at all, so I did my best not to. What am I supposed to do when I catch him, if I can't tickle him. He said, "You can punch or kick instead of tickle." But I told him that Dads that do that go to jail. Dallin is getting pretty hard to catch when I'm on my hands and knees.

First Week of School

Sunday

We came home and had lunch and then I tried to rest for a few minutes while the boys watched a Sunday movie. Then I played "family" with them downstairs. Dallin pretended to be the dad, which meant he made breakfast for us and got to tell us what to do. Sam pretended to be the baby, which meant he crawled around on the floor. He got pretend sick and we had to take him home. Kaylie and Jana came down when they woke up.

Monday

Today was the first day of school. Dallin was up and dressed by 7:00 and was really excited. We had muffins for breakfast and then Jana walked him to school with the rest of the kids. Sam did Owls Eyes at home with Jana and they played Memory.

Tuesday

Last night, at about 12:00 our fire alarm went off for some reason. I jumped out of bed and then just stood there trying to figure out what was going on. It went off after about 10 seconds and by then I had figured out it wasn't my alarm clock, it wasn't the burglar alarm, it wasn't my iPod, it must be the fire alarm. I checked on all of the kids, they were fine, I checked the upstairs and main floor, they were fine. I searched the basement for anything, nothing. I went back to bed but had a hard time falling back to sleep. I couldn't figure out why the alarm went off, and it bothered me.

Today, Jana walked Dallin to his class, and on the way back, Sam grabbed the stroller away from her. She told him to stop, but he ran faster and accidently went over a curb spilling Kaylie on to the ground and he and the stroller landed on top. She had a bloody lip and a bloody nose and was very upset. Sam felt really sad about what he had done, but decided to throw a fit and refused to come home with Jana.

Later, Kaylie went to the Hickens' to play while Sam and Jana went to preschool orientation. Sam spelled his name with stamps and they learned about the routine.

Dallin has started taking showers at night on his own. He does a pretty good job at getting in and out. He sets the timer to 5 minutes and tries to beat it. His favorite part is using the squeegee to clean the glass door.

Wednesday

Sam woke up very happy this morning. He got a good night's rest. Today was his first day of Preschool. At lunch time, when Jana took him, he thought that she would be staying with him again today. He was a little nervous but went into his class. As Jana and Kaylie were walking away, Jana heard someone knocking on the classroom window. Sam was standing there smiling and waving at them. Jana blew a kiss to him and he returned it.

Jana went to the eye doctor with Kaylie. When she had the instrument in front of her face, Kaylie said, "Mom, you look silly Mommy." She sat very well and ate her "lello (yellow) lollypop" and played with her shoes.

When Jana picked up Sam from school, she asked him what he did at his first day of Preschool. He just replied that he was tired. They waited for Dallin and played for a little while on the big toys before coming home.

Kaylie has been pretty cute lately. She likes to hide things different places. Tonight, Jana found a bunch of LEGOs in the pantry and the other day I found all of the measuring spoons stuffed inside of an oven mitt.

Thursday

Sam called me at work today. He read some words in the Owls Eyes. He told me he read, "am at and ash." He was really excited and I'm very pleased too.

Today when I got home, Sam was so excited to show me the box that came for me. My mom sent a large collection of book binding material she got from Sister Lukens who is moving. I'm excited to get back into it. She also sent wallets for the boys and a purse for Kaylie with McDonalds and Target gift certificates. There was also a little tiny monster truck in the box for the boys and Sam was thrilled when he found it.

Before I put Kaylie to bed, she was so excited to show me her books. When I got to her room, I found that she and arranged all of the Sesame Street alphabet books in two long rows. She put her tow index fingers in the air and said "Daa-ta-da!" She was obviously very proud.

Friday

This morning Sam asked me to go down into the basement with him. He was looking something. He said he wanted the blue monster truck. We found it at last and he got to play Daddy and Son with the blue monster truck and the one my Mom sent yesterday.

Saturday

This morning I made a breakfast of crepes and sausage. Jana made pudding and it was a really nice breakfast. Afterward, it was chore time. The boys cleaned up their rooms and Dallin took out the trash. The both wanted to do chores for money, so Jana thought up some more chores for each of them. It was tricky coming up with something for Sam. It has to be pretty simple, but something with visible impact. He picked up the sheets that the boys and dumped into our room and put them in the basket for Mommy.

I took the boys with me to the store while Jana and Kaylie rested. The boys were pretty good, except for when Dallin started hiding from me at the store and Sam got in a huff and refused to look where he was going. Otherwise, we had a great time. They were really cute. I had two older women stop to talk to me about how cute they were.

When we got home, we had a quick snack and then headed to the Stake Carnival. It rained on us pretty hard for a few minutes. Dallin wandered away from us into a crowd of several hundred people, oblivious to why that would make us worried. In the end we had about as many tears and laughs, but they had a good time.

The Costco Trip

Sunday

I played with Sam today, one-on-one. We did the Thomas alphabet cards and then he got out the Magnet School. He was sounding out the three-letter words pretty successfully. It is fun to see kid learning how to read and how excited they get.

After dinner, we talked to Grandma and Grandpa Jackson on the computer. The kids had fun with the video effects for a while. While we were talking, the kids worked hard at destroying the house. Kaylie's favorite way is to get out the Connect Four and then throw the pieces down the stairs. Too much fun.

Jana's had a few contractions today, so she rested while I cleaned up and put the kids to bed. Afterward, we sat and talked for a while until I almost passed out. In my defense, I reminded Jana that I didn't have a nap today. She replied, "I know, but you're the last adult I get to talk to for another week."

Tuesday

Sam and I watered the garden and picked a carrot and a beet to see how things were going. He was totally grossed out by the dirt still clinging to the bottom of the carrot and didn't want to get close until I had washed it off. Funny, since he plays in the rocks a lot. I guess dirt just looks different.

Jana took the boys to the store to get some shoes. Dallin initially picked out some gaudy shoes that he knew he had to have. Jana let him try them on, but was really grateful that he didn't like them after all. She found a nice pair of shoes that looked like hiking shoes (or trail runners) and told him, "Daddy would probably like a pair of shoes like these." That was enough for him to get them. I wonder how long Dallin will respect my idea of cool. Sam got some shoes that light up, his first requirement, and had Spiderman on them, a bonus.

When I got home, we had a nice dinner and then Jana went to the PTO meeting. I cleaned up dinner and the kids played really nicely together. They have really enjoyed playing "space" with the R2D2 and Dallin's LEGOs. When I was done, I played a game of Memory with them. I haven't played it with Sam for a long time. Dallin eventually won, but Sam got as many matches as I did (with a little help, of course). Then I got ready for my temple recommend interview and got the kids in the car. After Dallin put on his shoes he insisted that they were "too big and too weird." I told him that they were a little big because his feet are growing and they have to last all year. I also told him that I thought they were cool and that I would like to have a similar pair. For some reason that resonated with him and he calmed down.

We were pulling out into the driveway as Jana drove up. She raced upstairs, inducing a contraction, and got dressed. We made it to the stake center with 1 minute to spare.

Wednesday

After dinner, Jana and Sam went to the open house for preschoolers. Kaylie hung out with me while I cleaned up the kitchen. She likes to be close to me or Jana even if she's not hanging on to us. She took forever to eat her dessert and then she "washed the counter." While I finished up the dishes

Thursday

Sam woke up this morning at 3:00 crying. I went into his room and he threw off the covers as if escaping from something. Their nightlight had burned out and he had had a bad dream. After I got him calmed down, I noticed that he had a bloody nose too. After we took care of that, he settled back down. I went back to bed a was laying there, trying to get back to sleep when I was creeped-out by a very small sound near the door. Sam was standing there looking in at us. He was still frightened. After a hug from mom, I took him back to bed and rubbed his back for a while. Later today, he told Jana that he had a dream that he was being covered in hot lava.

Jana went to the doctor today. Everything is going well. She is 28.5 weeks and hasn't started progressing toward delivery yet.

When I got home, we had dinner and then I took the boys swimming. Dallin really impressed me tonight. He's getting the feel for heads-up crawlstroke and for backstroke and for bye-bye backstroke. Sam back-floats like a champ and can front float for a few seconds. It is still hard for him to relax with his face in the water. Still, he loves to paddle around underwater, he's just not quite experienced enough to swim in the deep-end on his own. I'm feeling pretty good about our lessons this summer.

Friday

After dinner, I walked Dallin down to the Elementary school to meet his teacher. He starts school on Monday. He was pretty excited and kept running ahead of me. Mrs. McNichols seems very nice and he has a nice new room. She had a scavenger hunt set up for us to discover the important places in the room.

Saturday

Jana was feeling well this morning and we went to Costco for our monthly shopping trip. I was pretty reluctant, but she seemed fine. It was pouring rain and I got soaked just walking everyone to the door, which was partly due to Jana's umbrella dumping water on me as I tried to hold Kaylie under it. It is interesting, in a sort of surreal sort of way, to watch the boys at the store. They walk around completely oblivious to other carts or people about to run them over. There weren't any super close calls or anything, but I got my share of stern looks, as if they wanted to say, "Please control your children." What they didn't realize was that I had already told them fifty times, just since we got into Costco, to watch out for other carts, and to stay close to our cart, and that this isn't the park, and that they need to stay close to our cart, and they should not run in to people, and that they really, really need to stay close to our cart. Finally, right before we were about to check out, the worst part of the whole trip, I pulled out my trump card. I promised them ice cream if they would walk right behind me the entire time. They were really cute. Sam even started making train sounds as we walked single file to the check out.

We drove home and had lunch, then the boys and I headed out to run a couple of errands while Jana and Kaylie napped. When we were getting our shoes on, Dallin reminded me that I needed to tie his shoes for him. I figured now was as good a time as any, so I sat down and taught him how to tie his shoes. He did a really good job, and we tied them three or four times together. We did get tears for a little bit, when he discovered that the loops weren't exactly the same size, but he choked them down and we got through it. In the car, he worked on evening out the loops and even at the church, while I was printing out the Home Teaching statistical reports, he kept practicing until he was satisfied. He is actually doing it and I am extremely proud of him.

After while, Crocogator!

Sunday

We talked to Grandma and Grandpa Jackson, to Aunt Lisa and Aunt Jen, and to Aunt Lisa's boyfriend Kurt. Each of the kids like to do a little song or something. Sam was pretty cute. He would start is song, but after the first line, he would be smiling, or laughing because everyone was watching him, he couldn't get any more out. He tried a bunch of times, and got so frustrated, he ran to his room crying. We all felt sad for him, but he came back out and successfully completed the song, after he had some time to cool down.

The kids have a new game where they jump from the landing on the stairs onto the beanbag chairs they put on the ground. I'd never seen that before, but evidently it is something that they've done several times now. Looks pretty fun but a little risky. I'm surprised Jana lets them do it.

Monday

Jana and the kids went swimming over at the Hicken's pool. Sam wanted to swim without his fish floaty so Jana had to keep a special eye on him. Kaylie wanted to jump into the pool a lot but would then say, "Mommy, I need to splash," and she would lay back in the water and kick her feet as Jana towed her around the pool. Dallin is pretty independent, though I still worry about him in the deep end.

In the afternoon, Dallin and Sam went to the Drapers to play. When Jana picked them up, Dallin asked if our TV can change channels. He wants to watch TV, not just the movies we have. Jana explained that we decided not to have other TV channels at our house. Evidently that was not a satisfying answer because he asked me, when I got home from work, if we could buy a TV that changed channels. Evidently his friend "gets to watch any channel that he wants," (which probably means he can watch PBS and Nickelodeon).

Dallin has been reading 40 minutes a day, 20 in the morning to Mom and 20 in the evening with Dad. If he finishes up this week, he'll be able to get another reward from the library for the summer reading program. I'm really impressed with his ability to read. He's moving on to simple chapter books and has a very good vocabulary.

Wednesday

Jana made zucchini bread this morning (the only proper use of that vegetable, in my mind). After dinner, the tornado sirens started sounding and we went down to the basement to wait out the dangerous part of the storm. Nothing happened, but Dallin was pretty worried. I played blocks with Sam and Kaylie while Dallin read to Jana.

Thursday

On the way out the door this morning. Kaylie said, "See ya later Alligator." I responded, "After while, Crocodile." Then she said, "See ya later, Crocogator!"

Jana borrowed the next book in the "Twilight Series" from Alyson Larsen, who borrowed it from Haley Babcock. And she wonders why she is so tired. When I got home, we ate dinner and then I took the boys swimming. Sam made some progress on his front float and Dallin is starting to get his elbows out when he does the crawl stroke.

When we got home I showered the boys. Right before I handed Sam the soap, I told him not to touch his eyes. After working up a good lather, the first thing he did was wipe the water from his eyes, filling them with soap. He screamed so loud that Dallin started crying that his ears were breaking. I rinsed out Sam's eyes the best I could, but he still needed to be washed, so I had to wash him. For some reason Dallin was completely engrossed in watching Sam scream that he wouldn't wash himself either. We finally got everyone out and we all survived, though none of us can hear quite as well.

Friday

Jana told me today that Kaylie has been a little scared when she goes to bed. She asked Jana if there are any monsters, and Jana reassured her that there weren't any monsters in our house. Later that day, she heard Kaylie talking to her Dora doll, "Don't be scared, there aren't any monsters."

Saturday

I worked on carpets again this morning and finished up around 1:00 in the afternoon. Jana read the last bit with Dallin and then took all of the kids to the library for them to turn in their summer reading program charts. They each got a gift certificate to Country Buffet, at picked out a book. Sammy picked out a "Berenstein Bears Save the Planet" book, which I'm thrilled about, and Dallin picked out a knight chapter book. After the library, they went over to Walmart for the boys to spend some of their allowance. Sam bought an R2D2 and Storm Trooper action figure. Dallin bought a "Mission to Mars" LEGO set. They spent the rest of the day playing with their new toys.

Sammy and I went to the grocery store while Jana napped and Dallin played with his LEGOs. Sam was really cute at the store and is fun to take along. He likes getting the free cookie at the bakery and it keeps him occupied for a while. He likes savoring his food and nibbles around the edge to begin with. He eats his sandwiches the same way, eating the crust first (or the edges on bagels and donuts) before eating the center. Dallin on the other hand, has to be nearly starving before he eats his crusts.

This evening, Dallin and I went to the baptism of Elizabeth Brewer. The talks were short and sweet, just the way I like them, and the spirit was strong. It was a lot of fun to take Dallin. I asked him questions about baptism on the way over to the church and he knows quite a bit. He behaved himself very well the entire time.

Elitch Gardens and Chip Lips

Sunday

Since I get into the chapel early, I save a seat for the rest of the family. When the kids get there, they run into my arms (Sam is usually the first one in, but Kaylie is a close second). I love it. Today after Kaylie ran into the chapel yelling "Daddy!" and getting a big squeeze, Kai Larsen said, as he was walking by, "Man, it doesn't get better than that!"

After dinner, we had family home evening. Jana presented situations to the boys asking them how they would solve the problem. She tailored the questions specifically for each kid, questions about things they might have done, or personalizing them a little. They did a really good job at answering correctly. We've been been following the advice of Uncle Miles by putting out a few Skittles for each of them at the beginning of the lesson and then consume one after the first warning. Last week we had a lot of tears, but they got the idea. This week we had fewer tears and they were really good. Sam, surprisingly, sat on the couch and participated the entire time. He's got it in him.

Wednesday

When I got home from the dentist, the family and I drove down to Elich Gardens Amusement Park. On the way down, Dallin told Sam that we were running out of gas. Every time the van stopped, for traffic or for a stoplight, he yelled out "We're out of gas!" in a worried voice. It was hard to convince him that we were just fine until I stopped to get gas in Boulder.

It was 100 degrees today and we all cooked a little. It was my work party, Google provided the tickets and the lunch. We just had to find our way to the park. We stayed on the kid rides in the morning and after lunch. Kaylie was able to go on a little more than half of them.

Thursday

After dinner we all went swimming at the Longmont Recreation Center. Dallin is really starting to get the hang of swimming. He did the bye-bye backstroke and he was staring to get the crawl stroke (without side breathing). Sam can now get onto his back and float and he seems very comfortable in the water, especially with his goggles. When we were done without lesson, I took the boys (and Kaylie once) on the water slides many times and Jana took Dallin and Kaylie on the lazy river.

Saturday

After lunch, Dallin and I headed out to the Service Project, which was to clean up alleys near Lanyon Park. We had clouds the whole time and even a little rain, which was truly an answer to prayer (probably not just my own). Dallin was pretty good and let me stay the whole three hours. Afterward, we skipped the planned barbecue and went to McDonalds for some ice cream. Even though I heard plenty of complaints, Dallin told me, over his hot fudge sunday, that this was the best date we've ever had.