"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.