Jackson Happenings

Ice Storm

2012-01-19T22:07:00.000-08:00

Well, this snow storm has not quite melted as quickly as snow has in the past. In fact, it has not melted at all. It has become an ice storm. This is something new to me. Ice storm? What does it do? Rain ice? That is called a hail storm. I never did understand an ice storm. Until now.

An ice storm is when you have snow and then rain on top of the snow and then a quick drop in temperature, creating ice. Over everything. We went for an ice storm exploration hike in the woods by our house. Here are some of the resulting pictures:

Here, you can see the ice on a bush nearby. I couldn't get good pictures of it, but I saw branches with .5" of ice around them!

We discovered that you could peel the leaves right off the ice and get a sort of "leaf fossil!" Beautiful. We now have a bunch of prize ice fossils in our freezer. Here's our best picture of one:

Those ice fossils are really fragile. It took a lot of concentration getting them off with mittens on without breaking them!

We even were able to pull them off waist high grass, but they kept breaking before we could get a picture of them. Here's a remnant of one of them.

Gone are the days of sledding and snowball fights. There is a 1" layer of ice over everything now. It brings its own beauty, but some of the allure, I admit, is gone. Tomorrow is our 6th day in our house without leaving it. 200,000 people are without power and everything is closed. We've had a really great time. We've spent a lot of fun time together as a family; however, I can see how the situation here could be really serious if you were not prepared. (Don't worry, we've got plenty of food and get water from our own well and have a generator that can run our entire house if our power goes out. We're set!) Living in the rural Northwest is seriously so much fun. Stay tuned for the posts about the promised coming floods!

Fun in the Snow!

2012-01-15T16:38:00.001-08:00

Today we woke up to a phone call from wonderful Lovena Jenkins informing us that due to snow, church has been cancelled. We looked outside, and this is what we saw:

It was so gorgeous! A foot of snow and snowflakes the size of silver dollars. My kids immediately set out for some fun. By 8:00 am my kids were all out looking for the best sledding hill in the neighborhood. They found a great one and built a ramp and a jump to boot. We had such a fun day!

Sammi really got into the snow:

I love snow days around here because since there is no snow removal, everything stops. The only thing there is to do is to go out in the snow as families. You play and play and play and really get the most out of the snow. Then, in a few days, it melts. It stay just long enough for you to enjoy it. Once the joy is gone, it also is gone. It is quite a nice arrangement. We've had such a great family day today. I love snow days.

Everett

2010-08-11T21:52:00.001-07:00

Today Everett just cracked me up all day long. This morning, I was in his bedroom which we had cleaned together earlier and Everett was working hard building something at his tool bench, standing up, his back to me. I looked down and saw a pair of underpants on the floor--suspicious. I asked him if he was wearing any. He simply bent over, pulled down his pants, revealing a full moon, pulled them back up and went back to work. No flinching, no words, no looks, no acknowledgement. Too funny.

Later on, he told me that he is really hungry, but that I shouldn't worry. If he gets hungry, he'll just eat his buggers. He can be tough about that.

None of my other kids have been as excited about potty talk as Everett. I am correcting him all day long on potty talk and he is constantly trying to figure out where I draw the line. I told him that it is ok to say poop or pee pee or underpants or any of those words if he is really talking about them. If he is just trying to be funny, they are potty talk. Now, he always starts his potty talk with "I'm not joking around mom." And then proceeds with serious potty talk: "Cooper poopy pants eats underwear on his bottom!" Then he laughs and laughs.

Today he asked me about all kinds of words: "Is 'Wa' potty talk?"

"No."

"What about kleenex?"

"No."

"Toilet Paper?"

"Probably."

"Bottom?"

"Yes, unless you need to use the word, not just joke around about it."

"What about bottom for breakfast?"

"Yes, that is potty talk."

"Oh man!"

Tonight in his prayers, Everett thanked Heavenly Father that "our salad was so delightful tonight and that we could have so much broccoli to eat. Also, thank you for our bones and lots of sugar!"

He is growing up so fast. Just enjoying the fun of having a 3 year old while I've still got one! They are the best.

A few stories to share

2010-08-07T08:50:00.000-07:00

My kids all just ran upstairs and are playing superheroes nicely, so I thought I'd take advantage of the time to share some recent stories. We'll see how long I get here.

Everett's favorite thing in the world this summer is our vegetable garden. He goes out several times a day to check out how things have grown. He always comes running in the house yelling that there is a tomato on the bush! or there are flowers on our beans! or there are weeds in the corn! I love watching him watch the growing of the garden. There is something so symbolic about it, because I feel like I am watching him grow with the same excitement, enjoying the thrill of realizing he can buckle his own car seat! or he can read the word "sit"! or he is almost ready to ride a bike without training wheels! I love watching all my children grow and learn--especially to watch them learn to help each other.

Well, I'd better go. I've been interrupted about 22 times while I tried to write that last story, and now Everett is standing by me naked and crying, telling me the story of why he is crying (which I am not listening to yet), and Cooper is standing on the other side of me holding a superhero mask that he wants me to wear so I can be the bad guy for their game. Actually, while I was typing that, Cooper came over and asked Everett if he was crying because someone kicked him in the butt, which threw Everett into hysterical laughter because using the word butt because we don't say those words at our house due to a strict rule about potty talk. I thought I might be able to type a little more, but now Everett is back to me asking me to find his mask for him, and Cooper is standing here saying over and over, "When are you going to play with me mom? When are you going to play with me?" and shoving my superhero mask in my face. He has a pouty look. Looks like the mom is being called to duty again!

Our exciting arrival!

2010-08-05T20:58:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, in the middle of the night a 9 week old black lab puppy arrived at our house. She is the cutest thing in the world. Her name is Lucy and she is very loved by my children! The first day she was here, she went to bed for the night at 2:00 in the afternoon! My kids just wore her out! I cannot tear Sammi from her side. Even when she sleeps Sammi is there laying by her. No disasters so far...

You'll notice that there are not any pictures of Sammi with the dog. That is because Sammi is always the one taking pictures of the dog. She thinks that every little thing she does is worthy of a picture, so she is often grabbing my phone to take her picture or take a video of whatever adorable thing she is doing. A dog was never so loved!

Scotti's Schedules

2010-05-29T21:08:00.000-07:00

Lately I have been feeling really pushed around by my kids' schedules. Not their actual ones, which, admittedly, are packed jam full. No, I am feeling beat by my kids' pretend schedules. Especially Scotti's. Each morning he wakes up in the morning and plans out his day: soccer practice in the morning, save the world from an erupting volcano mid-morning, race with his cars at lunch, soccer game in the afternoon, bike riding after the game, and exploring after dinner. He jam packs every day and tells me his schedule during breakfast. I love this about him. He is never bored, and is always thrilled to just stay at home for the day, playing. However, what I don't love about this is that usually this is not the same agenda I have for him. He doesn't just get mad that he can't do these activities, but he feels that they are real and that I am actually making him miss it. For example, when I tell him that today he'll have to play his soccer game after school instead of in the morning, he says that the game is in the morning and he can't miss it, because he's the best on the team! I'm not going to make him let down the whole team, am I? Then, after school, he reports to me that his team lost and that if he had been there, they would have won. Now the whole championship is lost.

Today I gave my kids some options of fun things to do: swimming, bowling, children's museum, go to a movie, have a friend over, and a few other fun things. Scotti wanted to do none of them, because he would miss his basketball game. Bedtime always seems to be a scheduling conflict. There seriously is always a race or something that starts at 7:30 pm.

This wouldn't be that big of a deal, except that Scotti acts like I am really making him miss these events. He has a very strong imagination and sometimes, I think he doesn't know that the event is actually imaginary. That means that he really thinks I am making him miss these things and he is literally always upset with me. How can these imaginary events be causing me so much grief?

Sammi in the Choir

2010-04-11T22:09:00.000-07:00

We have a Stake Women's Choir going on. We perform 2 songs this Sunday and today I thought "Why not bring Sammi?" She has been memorizing the entire soundtrack to Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (ever since her two cousins were in the play and we saw it). She sings every day and has put on numerous musicals for us all. She is the narrator, Scotti is Joseph, Cooper is the Pharoah (the Elvis guy), Ev and I are brothers (which Ev really gets into), and Grant is a sheep. Sammi is constantly trying to get Grant to be a better sheep. She's helping him "baa" and tells him he needs to crawl around and maybe try to be funny or something. (Later I found out that today, while Sammi was giving him a lecture about this, that Scotti came and whispered in his ear that maybe he should just not worry about being a sheep anymore. That he might make a really great goat!)

Anyway, I decided that Sammi would love choir. She did. She walked in there and picked up her own music and then stood there and sang the words, following me for the tune. She just picked it right up! I couldn't believe it. I was so proud of her. She sang out strongly and really tried to learn about the song. She asked me about parts she wasn't getting. She focused for two hours of choir practice. She worked out where she should stand so she could be seen and what she should wear so we could all match. I was just so proud of her. She was so cute. I think ultimately that I love music and sharing something I love with her was so fun. It brought me a lot of joy that she was getting the same joy out of the music that I was. You always hope that your kids will see the same greatness in your hobbies that you do, and when they show interest, it is just so fun. Teaching Sammi how to sing in a choir today was one of the most fun times I've had. I love my Sammi.

35.

2010-04-06T20:59:00.000-07:00

Today was my birthday, and there were just too many fun things for me not to mention it on my blog today. This morning Grant let me sleep in and he got the kids off to school (Tuesdays he goes in to work late and stays late.) While I was volunteering at Sammi's and Scotti's school, he folded the laundry (which he would have done had it not been my birthday and there was a pile of laundry to fold, but hey, I'm giving him birthday credit for it!)

Scotti put together a racing boat made out of legoes and wrapped it up for me. Sammi gave me a special rock out of her rock collection. Cooper made me a pile of pictures of all my favorite things. Ev sang me the loudest Happy Birthday ever. Grant and the kids made me a donut cake which had more sprinkles on it than frosting, and Grant surprised me with one of those leaf blower things for a big gift and a day at the Portland Home and Garden Expo next weekend.

One of the best things about the day was that the leaf blower has one of those handles that you have to pull in order to get it started. When I expressed my excitement over this, Grant commented that the salesperson told him that women usually like the one where they just flip the switch and it comes on, though the leaf blowers with the switches are less powerful. Grant told the salesperson that if he got the less powerful for me because it might be too hard for me to pull that handle that he would probably get in big trouble for not giving me credit and assuming that women would choose laziness over effective tools. I thought this was great, because it is so true. I would have been highly offended if I got the watered down version because I am a woman. It looks like a jet pack, and I can't wait to sport it around my gardens!

When my kids asked me what I wanted for my birthday, I told them that what I really wanted was to watch TV and have my kids put themselves to bed tonight. They tried it, but it was just too hard a task to as of them. Sammi and Cooper were pretty dedicated, though easily distracted, but Scotti and Everett were just so completely distracted by their toys that actually getting something done without someone keeping them on task was just way beyond them. It's ok. It gives me a birthday wish for next year!

Here's to a great year gone by and the promise for another one! By the way, thanks so much to everyone for calling and e-mailing and texting me all day long. You guys are all so great.

X Marks the Spot

2010-04-05T21:08:00.001-07:00

So I have one of those comforters on my bed that you are not supposed to wash, so you put a comforter cover over it. Well, today I took off the cover to wash the comforter. This afternoon, when I went in my room, there was a huge black X drawn over my comforter. I asked Everett if he knew about it. "Too bad," he said shaking his head. "I thought it was paper, and it was really a bed." This kid has a great excuse for every naughty thing he does and I'm getting worried.

Sammi's Party Pictures

2010-04-03T21:10:00.000-07:00

I forgot to publish these. They are from Sammi's birthday party and they are cute, so I didn't want to forget them. I wrote all about them in the previous blog entry!

Spring is here!

2010-04-02T21:43:00.000-07:00

I'm thrilled to say that I'm back on the blog. I've taken a little hiatus, but I think I can get myself back in the pattern of blogging every Sunday night again, so look for it. A brief overview of fun things that have happened since I last blogged: Went to SLC the day after Christmas and had a great time visiting with family and friends. We spent some time in Midway and loved it there. Especially loved all the sledding! The kids loved hanging out in the snow.

In January, we had two fabulous birthday parties for the twins. Scotti took his friends to Chuck E. Cheese and had a great time. I've never seen a kid so excited to wear a blow up crown in my life. He was so excited to win tickets and then go buy himself a prize. I think he valued the tatoo he got from the tickets more than he did any of his birthday presents!

Sammi also had a party. She is obsessed with getting a dog right now, so she had a puppy party. All the guests arrived and immediately were groomed with doggie ears and face paints to be puppies. It was fun. We played all kinds of puppy games and had a little puppy cake. We ended the evening with a puppy talent show. Sammi loved it. By the end of the party, I'd had my fill of puppies! After the party, Sammi tried her own hand at puppy painting on dad.

I'm including a couple of pictures of my kids with their valentines that they made. They worked really hard on them and were very proud of themselves!

Over MLK Jr. Birthday, our family finally built our trail that will lead us down our mountain to the wilderness portion of our yard. Our 2 acres of land is divided in two by a steep hill and a little stream. Our side of the stream is all landscaped and from where the slope of the hill gets steep to the other side of our land, it is all just gorgeous rainforest. We love it. We spent our time out building a trail to take us down the steep ravine so that we could finally have access to both the stream and the wilderness on the other side of it. I can't wait to get using it! We had a fun time together. The kids and I cut away at weeds and dug up the vegetation along the trail while Grant dug stairs into the side of the mountain. Sammi named our stream "Bubbling Brook" and our trail "Wilderness Way." The trail isn't done yet, but we can at least get the kids down to the stream now!

Scotti lost his first tooth this month. He was so excited. It was a fun moment as a parent. The loss of the first tooth. Big time. Kiddos getting bigger. Since Everett's b-day is only a few days away, I'm truly enjoying my last moments as the parent of a two-year-old.

Otherwise, things around here are busy as ever. I just got called to be the Primary President at church, which puts me in charge of all the kids to age 12 in our ward. I'm really loving it so far. I am finishing our kids' room that is really supposed to be the office. I painted it "Lime Ricky" green. I'm excited about it. I can't wait for it to be all done. I also remodeled my garage and had special closets installed where I can put my balls and sports equipment where it won't fall out. I'm so excited about it. Pictures to follow. I also had lockers made. Joe Keith did the work and I highly recommend him to anyone in the area! Also, I just built myself a new vegetable and flower picking garden. I'm so excited about it. I can't wait to start planting in that new bed. It is really fun.

Oh! I can't forget my great news. In fact, I'll end on this. I went out to turn my compost and guess what? I have dirt! I actually made my own dirt out of all the food we didn't eat and all the yard waste and all the cardboard boxes and paper that comes through here! I turned it into gorgeous black dirt that is full of vitamins for all my plants. I can't wait to spread it over my garden. Seriously, that was such a fun moment when I realized that all that actually did turn to dirt like it was supposed to! Now, I'm even more diligent about getting my food scraps and anything else compostable to the composter!

Tonight on the way to bed, Ev asked me when that Easter guy is coming. Seriously, he is so funny.

My Preschool's Auction

2009-11-08T20:53:00.000-08:00

I'm just proud as punch, so I have to publish it. My preschool had an auction last night. Our board thought we should shoot to earn $3,200. We earned well over $5,000. I'm just so excited. Oh, have I told any of you that I am the director? I'm the director of the preschool this year. Don't confuse that with success on the auction because I don't deserve any of the credit. The credit goes to our wonderful Kym Foster (Co-Director) and the amazing parents of our preschool. Every one of them put effort into the auction. It has been so great for me to be a part of this community of people who care about their kids. I just love it here in Elma! Nice job to all my preschool buddies! (I don't have any pictures, but it was pretty classy in the end!)

Masked Marvel

2009-11-08T20:47:00.000-08:00

Scotti is always cooking up ideas for his pretending. I have a hard time getting him to accomplish the things I want him to because he feels that he is so busy with his own things, he doesn't have time. He's always upset with me for making him go pick Cooper up from preschool right in the middle of his soccer game or his cars' race or whatever. I mean do I really expect him to just leave his team (imaginary) in the middle of a game to go pick up Cooper? Mom! You're making me let my team down! He wakes up every morning and tells me about all the events that are going on that day. Today he had a soccer game, a race, and then cub scouts. All pretend. He carries out every one of his plans and that entails some serious thinking and creating on his part. On the day of this picture, for example, he had decided to be the Masked Marvel, but had no mask. He got out the red felt and drew a mask shape on it and cut it out. I doctored it a little around the eyes and this is what he came out with. Not bad!

Halloween

2009-11-08T20:25:00.000-08:00

I completely forgot that I have given no report yet on Halloween! All my kids decided to be Power Rangers this year. They don't know what Power Rangers are, but the super hero costumes looked awesome to them. We did end up getting one book that has Power Rangers in it, but it is really weird and basically my kids are just really confused by it. They just play super heroes in them. Sammi was yellow, Cooper blue, Scotti red, Everett green. We had a Halloween party with friends and it was really fun. Some of the party was still going when it was time to trick or treat in Elma, so here is the picture of all our little buddies in their costumes. Here all of "downtown" (I use that term loosely) Elma accepts trick or treaters for the afternoon of Halloween. The entire community turns up and downtown is filled with everyone I know in full costume and ready to trick or treat. It is just so fun. We had a great time. Sammi changed costumes for trick or treating and was a Snow Fairy Queen. She loved it.

I have loved our Power Ranger costumes. Imagine the fun I have watching my four kids in full costume play Super Friends. My bedroom is headquarters and they each have their own special power: Sammi has pointy elbow power, Scotti has speed, Cooper has the power to roll (isn't that a funny choice?) and Everett has the power to... Well now I can't remember what his power is. They meet in headquarters and talk in super hero voices until one of them declares that there is a bad guy some place in the house. Then they all cruise out of my room and start fighting a pretend naughty guy with such passion, I wonder if they aren't really superheroes after all! Every now and then one of them declares that they are dead. At this point, the other superheroes drag the dead superhero out of the room and lament the death of such a brave fighter until the so-called dead superhero is brought back to life by some miraculous superhero power! It is a stunning performance.

I think Halloween costumes are an investment. when I buy a nice one that will last, my kids get more use out of them than out of any of their other toys. In fact, the only disappointment I had about Halloween this year is that my kids didn't really think it was that special to dress up, even in new costumes, because they basically dress up every day. I'm so tired of getting them changed out of them, I've finally decided they can even wear them in public to the grocery store and the library. What's the big deal anyway? Usually people just think it is cute.

Power Ranger faces

2009-11-08T20:20:00.001-08:00

Yesterday Cooper came and told me about his faces that he uses when he is a power ranger. I took pictures of all of them. The first picture tells the bad guy that he is not afraid of him. The second picture is when he is deciding if he should get the bad guy or not, and the third picture tells the bad guy that he better get out of here before Cooper gets his hands on him!

Buddies

2009-11-08T20:11:00.000-08:00

This week we were in a store and Everett asked me if I would take a picture of him with his buddy. I said sure! Who was the buddy? He replied, "Cooper is my buddy mom! Are you teasing me?" This is the promised picture. Aren't they sweetie pies?

Another couple of Ev stories while I'm at it: I'm always after Everett for playing in the car. This week, I was doing puzzles with the three older kids and Everett was happily playing trains upstairs by himself for 20 minutes or so. Soon, I went up to check on him, and he wasn't there. I had heard him the whole time we were doing puzzles and could still hear him, so I wondered where in the world he went! I opened the garage door to see if he was playing in the garage and there was Everett sitting in the driver's seat of my car. He yelled through the window to me, "You're here! Phew! I almost played in the car!" I told him that it looks like he's been playing in the car for a while and opened the door to get him out. He stumbled a little as I opened the door and said, "Oh my gosh mom! I almost touched that steering wheel!" So smart. So scheming. How could he know to use such intelligent tactics to save him from punishment?

A couple of hours after that incident, Everett came and told me that he wet his pants but not to worry, he already took care of it. He was still wearing his wet pants, so I asked him what he did to take care of it. He said that he "Apogagized." (Apologized.) To whom? To his pee pee apparently. I guess it wanted to get in the potty and he got it in his pants instead.

Everett (and all my kids for that matter) can play a mean game of Uno. He knows all the rules and can play with next to no help. Smarty pants!

Cross Eyed!

2009-11-08T20:09:00.001-08:00

Last week in the bath, we had that thrilling moment when my kids learned to go cross eyed. Here's the proof, though I kept missing them in their best crossed eyes!

Grandma Beck's 90th Birthday Bash!

2009-11-08T20:00:00.000-08:00

We had such a fun time a few weeks ago traveling to Salt Lake City to go to Grandma Beck's 90th Birthday party! It was a weekend of Birthdays, beginning with a birthday party for Cate on Friday (and a tremendous sleepover at her house! Thanks Joni and Jer!), Grandma Beck's party on Sat., Grandma Janet's birthday on Sunday, and Ali's Birthday dinner on Monday. Whew! Lucky us to be there on such an important weekend!

At Grandma Beck's party all the great-grandkids sang some songs in a little program and we loved seeing all our cousins again! It was great to see all of our cousins kids playing with our kids too. Grandma Beck is one of the kindest people I know. She loves people for who they are and never supposes she's in a position to judge others (though I know she most certainly worries about every one of us!) She has such a fun sense of humor and always let me make up my own rules in a game of Uno. I always know that she loves me. What a lucky break for me to get such a grandmother!

Here are also some pictures of the kids having a picnic with their cousin Jake and at the Zoo with Grandma Janet and Great-Grandma Hatch. We saw the most adorable baby elephant, tigers, and giraffe! Thanks for the fun at the zoo Grandmas!

Lacy Webs, Pumpkin Patch, and a Nice Dinosaur

2009-10-11T21:47:00.000-07:00

Something wonderful is happening around here. The spiders are thriving all over the place, and the whole town is just covered in their lacy webs. In the morning, when the dew settles on them, they sparkle all over the place like huge snowflakes connecting all my bushes. It is like walking around the yard after the first snowfall. I've tried to capture it with my camera, but I just can't seem to. The picture here is my best attempt. The kids love to throw pine needles and such into the webs and watch the spiders run to get the intruder out of the web and repair it.

We had a really fabulous time this week with Cooper's preschool at the pumpkin patch just outside of Elma. The kids loved the hay maze and hay ride, but my favorite thing about it was visiting with all the other parents of Cooper's friends. There are just such good people around here. I guess there have been good people everywhere I've been. I just like realizing that there are good people to know everywhere.

So today I woke with that daunting Sunday task that has faced me so many other Sundays: getting the kids out the door to church by myself. I don't know why it is so hard. They don't like getting dressed up. They don't even like going to church. (It is so hard to sit still for so long!) They complain about it the whole time. I usually have something else to prepare for my contribution to the operation of church, and I always have to make sure I've prepared lunch and activities for my kids during the Sacrament Meeting portion of church. Plus, I have to get myself ready. All without detracting from the sweet spirit that we want to feel on Sundays: "If you don't get your shoes on by the time I count to three, I'm gonna....!!!"

I've done this tons of times--especially in residency. Today, however, I just couldn't face it. That's when the idea came to me. Puppies. I stood at the top of the stairs that declared that I was going on a walk and that if any puppies wanted to join me, the should get their leashes and meet me at the stairs. You can imagine how my four little "puppies" came crawling and barking. Everett said his name was Biscuit. Sammi was Flower, Cooper was Race Car, and Scotti was Cheesy. I took them all on a walk to Everett's room. That was the park. Then, I told Ev to play dead. As he did so, I tossed toys for all the other puppies to fetch. Brilliant mother that I am, I threw them FAR so that I had enough time to get Ev's pants on while he played dead and the others played fetch. Ev had to "sit!" in order to get his shirt on. Then, we went for another walk to another park. Scotti's and Cooper's room. Same story. Lots of fetch, lots of playing dead. Before I knew it, all my kids were dressed without a single bit of fuss. Am I the best mother in the world or what? (Never mind that all my kids got for breakfast was the picnic Sammi got out for them of green beans, pickles, and yogurt!)

On the way home from church, Scotti and Cooper got in an all out fight. I separated them and put them each in their rooms. I talked to Scotti, and then spent some time talking to Cooper. Here's how the conversation with Cooper went:

"What happened in the car?"

"Well, Scotti hit me, so I hit him too."

"Is it ever ok to hit?"

"No"

"What about if someone hits you?"

"No."

"Let me tell you a little story."

"Is it about a nice dinosaur who takes a little boy named Cooper for a ride?"

"No."

"Is it about a man who hits another man and so he hits back and then they both say they are sorry?"

"Actually, yes."

"I'd rather hear the one about the dinosaur."

Then, later in the conversation Cooper attempted to quote to me his own made up Article of Faith. (In our religion, there are 13 statements that describe what exactly we believe about life. We've been studying them in our family scripture study.) It was pretty incoherent with a lot of big religious words. Then,

"Do you want to hear the second one mom? It's like this: I'm really naughty, so I'm not going to go to God."

"Well I don't like that one at all! Do you know that even when you are naughty you can go to God? You just have to say you're sorry!"

"Well, I'm not going to tell Scotti I'm sorry mom."

"You are right, that is naughty."

"I guess if I see him again I'll tell him I'm sorry, but only if I see him again."

"OK Coop. Let's go find him."

Coop apologized in the end, but I loved talking to him about the problem.

Oh man, one more thing about this week. Soccer is proving to be a defining experience for Sammi. She is just so funny. This week she fell down at the beginning of the game. She stood up and yelled as loudly as she could, "I quit! I'm never playing soccer again!" and then she got in the car and refused to come out for the rest of the game. She is just so funny about soccer. She loves it, but just can't stand it if everyone doesn't do everything exactly how she wants it, so she ends up in the car every game. She's only made it through to the end of the game once (maybe twice?) without having a fit. Sports always teaches us great lessons, doesn't it? The character building is intense here!

New Developments with Ev's Laundry Skills

2009-10-06T10:27:00.001-07:00

Now that Everett knows how to do his own laundry (see my former post), it has created a huge problem. I discovered today that Everett has been peeing in his pants, putting them in the dryer, and then putting them back on. I don't know how many days he has been doing this now, because in retrospect, there have been a lot of intermittent periods where Ev had no pants on that I cannot explain. I caught him doing it today. He must have thought he found a great alternative to using the toilet (which is hard for him because he's not tall enough to reach the toilet yet, though he is potty trained.) Oh my funny kid.

While I'm sharing stories, this week during General Conference, I had a big talk with Scotti about how it is really important to learn about God and about how life works because it will help him make good choices and prepare to be baptized when he's eight and get the priesthood when he is 12 and go on a mission when he is 19 and be a good husband and father one day. He liked the idea of having all those responsibilities a lot. As a result, yesterday he was sent to his room for some form of misbehavior. When I went to get him out of his room, I asked him if he was ok and was willing to make things right about his actions. He told me that when he got in his room he had a really hard heart and he knew he couldn't feel the Holy Ghost because of it. So, he said a prayer in which he asked Heavenly Father to help him like me again. Then he looked at me really happily and said that it must have worked because his heart is softened again and he doesn't hate me anymore. This really took me by surprise, because he was in his room because he kicked Cooper, so I thought he was trying to soften his heart against Coop. The thought that he was up here angry at me that whole time just made me laugh. Anyway, it goes to show that kids are capable of understanding important principles of life like the difference between a hard heart and a soft heart. I'm going to try more to talk to my kids about these kinds of things on a level of higher thinking. I think they can handle it sooner than we think.

This week's happenings...

2009-10-04T17:32:00.001-07:00

So this week I'm busy making dinner and I notice that Everett is walking around with no pants on. Soon, before I can get to it, he comes over to me and hands me his pants and asks me to put them on him. I take them from him and realize that they are really warm. "How did your pants get so hot Ev?" I ask.

"Well, I sat in some water, so I put them in the dryer." That's right. My two year old took off his wet pants, put them in the dryer, turned it on, waited for them to get dry, and then took them out and gave them to me to put on him. Oh I love 2 year olds!

This week was the first time I have ever decorated with my own harvest. We decorated for Halloween and used pumpkins from our own garden (shown here), and corn stalks from our own corn. I love it. I love it so much I might have to grow some hay so I have a big rectangle of hay for next year.

This week we also built our compost area. I'm really proud of it, because I researched what I thought would work best for our big wastes in our yard, as well as how much compost I wanted to put on my yard each year. We'll see how it goes. I'm excited to make some dirt! We've already got one of the bins almost completely full of yard waste, breaking up for us to use in the spring!

General Conference was this weekend, and boy was it a hit. General Conference is when God's prophet and all the leaders of the church come together to address the rest of the world. It is eight hours of inspiration (not all in one sitting!) My kids were so excited about it because we've set up a lot of festivities around General Conference, mostly involving good food and fun activities to help them learn from the talks. It is fun to sit with my kids and explain the answers to their questions about life that come up as they try to understand what they are hearing. I love that God finds a way for me to be inspired by such talks even in the midst of the chaos of trying to get 4 little kids quiet to listen to old people give very dry talks. We've had a fun weekend together.

Cute Ev talk

2009-09-20T20:30:00.000-07:00

Today Ev had a lot of cute talking moments. He told me that he said "in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen" for his owie to feel better. Cute. He is working on memorizing all his favorite books. When he knows the words, he turns around on my lap and puts his hand over my mouth before I can read the page, looks me in the eyes, and says quite seriously, "Don't tell me." Then, he proceeds to try to read the page on his own. It's so fun to watch kids learn our language!

Soccer!!!

2009-09-20T20:22:00.001-07:00

We have lived through our 2nd week of soccer. It is really fun, but now I understand why so many moms always told me they could join my parties after soccer was over. It really takes up a lot of time! It has been so much fun to see how happy my kids are on the soccer field. On the first game, Scotti laughed the entire time he was in the game! His smile was so big it made me smile too. Cooper was thrilled with the whole thing too, and neither one of them can stand to not have the ball. We are going to have to do some work on things like passing the ball, and not trying to get the ball from your own team mate! Sammi, who only joined the team for fear that she would miss some pretty great snacks, was delighted to find out that she absolutely loves soccer. She had so much fun on her first game and kept acting so surprised that it was fun! She loved it so much, however, that she had to be drug off the field at the beginning of the 2nd game and had to spend the rest of the game in the car because she refused to come off the field when it was time to put someone else in. All the way to the car her fit was full throttle, "I'm never playing soccer again! I hate soccer!" I'm not at all worried about her saying she doesn't like soccer though, because this morning when she came down for breakfast I told her to come over and have some french toast for breakfast. She replied that she didn't like french toast and that I needed to find her something else to eat. 30 minutes later, I invited her back over for some french toast for breakfast and she replied, "Yes! I love french toast!" I'm hoping it's just a phase.

Another Ev Story

2009-09-15T22:33:00.000-07:00

Tonight at Cooper's soccer game, Ev kept asking me if I had a snack for him. I told him that no I had absolutely no food at all. Once he was convinced I really had no food, he asked, pointing to a guy (and stranger) down the field, "What about that guy over there? Could he get me a snack?"

Leaf Crowns

2009-09-15T21:54:00.000-07:00

Today Sammi got out her art kit and asked me if we could create something just the two of us from her art kit and nature. I was busy pruning a bush and told her that if she came up with an idea I'd help her in any way I could. She came back to me with some ribbon, leaves, and her little stapler and asked me to staple these leaves on the ribbon to make a crown. Cute idea! Of course, I had to make one for each of the boys too, except Ev who said "No thanks. I don't feel much like being a king today."

By the way, Ev's favorite word is "totally." He includes it as often as he can. Today I served him canned chili for dinner and here was our conversation:

Ev: "Mom, did you totally make this?"
Me: "Yes."
Ev: "It is totally delicious! I totally love it."
Me: "Thanks."
Ev to other kids: "You guys should totally try this delicious dinner. Mom made it herself!"

Note: Last night I made a delightful vegetable soup out of vegetables grown only in our yard and all the kids thought it was gross (except Coop, who usually eats everything but milk.) I guess I need to learn how to make canned chili.

First Day of Preschool

2009-09-15T21:51:00.000-07:00

Cooper started preschool yesterday and man was he excited! He is going to the school he went to last year, so he feels very comfortable there and told me he was going to help all the new kids feel comfortable there on their first day. He told me that if any of them needs to go potty, he'll show them where to go and how to wash their hands and use a paper towel to dry off with. He was worried that he was going to have to drink milk for snack because he has a new teacher who doesn't know that he doesn't like milk. That cute kid just walked right into school and gave me a kiss and said goodbye. He's just such a sweetheart!

Tumwater Falls

2009-09-15T21:47:00.001-07:00

Last weekend, we hiked around Tumwater Falls. It is a gorgeous park in the middle of Olympia where you follow the Deschutes River over waterfalls and watch water trickle into the river as well. It is so fun to have such beautiful things right in the middle of the city. There are so many sanctuaries like this in Olympia. I just love this city. Also, the Salmon are starting to run, so the river was full of them. That was a highlight!

Budgies!

2009-09-15T21:41:00.000-07:00

We went to the Tacoma Zoo last weekend and had such a great time! The kids absolutely loved feeding the Budgies there, so I thought I'd put their pictures up. I highly recommend getting a pass to the zoo wherever one lives. We never feel that we have to visit the entire zoo in a day, so we get to really sit and appreciate the exhibits they have and find ways to spark curiosity and learning when we go there--not just for the kids, for all of us! We all have more fun. Plus, zoo passes usually get you into lots of other places too. Especially other zoos and aviaries.

Blackberry Festival!

2009-09-15T21:37:00.000-07:00

Over Labor Day, we had a blackberry festival at our house! Our family went to the blackberry patch near our house and picked as many blackberries as we could muster. Then, we went home and got busy making our feast for our friends who were coming for the Blackberry Festival. We served salmon (caught by Grant the day before) with Blackberry sauce, a blackberry spinach salad with blackberry viniagrett, rolls with blackberry butter, and for dessert, what else? Blackberry pie. We had such a fun time putting it all together. It may be the beginning of a fun tradition at the Jacksons! By the way, the blackberries were delicious, but the highlight of the day was most certainly the fun we had with the friends that came that day.

First Day of Kindergarten!

2009-09-15T21:30:00.000-07:00

Yes, that's right. Sammi and Scotti started kindergarten Sept. 1st. I can't believe it. They were absolutely thrilled and Scotti was mad at me because he wanted me to stay in the car and let him walk in to his class by himself. I admit that I was teary for a good 10 minutes after I left them--you know, a good bawl about my little babies and how grown up they are and how I don't even know what is going to go on in their day today and I've know about virtually every thing they have done until now. Then, there certainly was a freedom when I realized that daily life is much easier when you have only two at home instead of four! I can actually go grocery shopping with only two kids now! I can barely take the liberation. I am having to adjust my parenting for the hole left by the kindergartners. I'm starting to find ways to pay back Cooper and Everett for those first years in their lives where they only got whatever attention I could spare them, instead of whatever attention they deserved and needed. Poor boys. Kindergarten is 2 1/2 days a week and I think all parties involved are pretty thrilled with it!

2009-09-15T21:27:00.000-07:00

Sammi is so cute. She has been painting pictures and leaving them up in places around the house where they can best make her family happy. Isn't that sweet of her? Here are her pictures on the door as you go out to the garage and the door the my bedroom. She often leaves little notes or pictures under Grant's or my pillow too. Often, there will be a small treat with the note too: a starburst or a few marshmallows or something.

Whole Hog

2009-09-15T21:24:00.000-07:00

This highly unattractive picture of me is meant to show to you that we have adjusted well to the small town life of rural Washington and have bought ourselves our first pig. That's right. We bought an entire pig (raised by our dear friend Lovena), had it slaughtered, and put it in a new freezer we bought just for the occasion. We now have pork to last us all year. I know you are wondering... Yes. It does taste better than the pork I bought at the store. How cool is it that I own my own hog?

Pony Rides

2009-09-15T21:21:00.000-07:00

We had a really fun time at the Olsen's house a couple of weeks ago getting a pony ride from Cricket. The kids all piled onto the cart and went for a fun ride through the woods that is the Olsen's backyard. It was such great fun! Sammi has been drawing an endless supply of pictures of Cricket ever since! This is one thing I love about living in Elma. It's normal to have a friend who can give your kid a pony ride!

Jacksons Meet: The Jacksons!

2009-09-15T21:09:00.000-07:00

In August, Grant's little brother Jeremy and his family came to stay at our house. We had such a great time! They were such fun! The kids played at our house and messed around Lake Sylvia. It all started with a fascinating couple of days at Mt. St. Helens. All the kids loved seeing how the whole side of the mountain just fell off! It was fun to see them actually understand what happened that day.

Back in Elma, we all went to Lake Sylvia (where the kids got in the water despite the 50 degree weather!) and played at my house. The kids, dirty and cold from their Lake Sylvia adventure, took the biggest bubble bath I have ever seen. They were absolutely covered in bubbles! It was truly unbelievable. Afterward, a little TV was in order in my bed (as per the picture shown here!)

We had a great time combing Rialto Beach and looking for the largest trees in the world (which, by the way, are an unbelievable experience!) We drove around Forks looking for sights from the book and movie Twilight and then rented the movie a couple of days later. It was really fun to see our Northwest highlighted in a movie!

We had a delightful day picking blueberries and cooking them up into a blueberry festival too.

We stayed a couple of nights in a cozy cabin at Mount Rainier to end the trip and we got to hike through all the old growth rainforests and work on Junior Ranger badges. Sadly, Mount Rainier didn't show itself that day, but the wildflowers on its hillside were spectacular! Truly an experience to come back for!

We love Jer and Joni, Cate, Josh, and Heidi. Come back soon!

The Joy of the Youngest

2009-09-15T21:04:00.000-07:00

So growing up I always just thought, "Come on parents! We all know that the youngest child often gets spoiled, so now that we are educated, we can change things for the youngest in our own families!" Well, that was before I had this little darling to dote on. How am I ever going to let this child grow up?

Hiking Club!!

2009-09-15T21:00:00.000-07:00

This summer, one of our favorite things was hiking club, organized by one of our other favorites Kristin Doyle. We hiked (almost) every Tuesday morning with other moms and their preschoolers. We hiked to Mima Mounds, Lake Sylvia, Schafer State Park, Priest Point Park, and lots of others. What a fun thing to do with preschoolers!

24th of July in SLC!

2009-09-14T21:40:00.000-07:00

We had such a fun 24th of July. In SLC, this is Pioneer Day, where they celebrate the day the Pioneers came into the Salt Lake Valley and Brigham Young declared, "This is the place!" for the Mormon settlers to settle. We started with the parade with Aunt Rosemary. The floats and bands were the favorite, along with the no-melt popsicles at Rosemary's afterward. The kids were also stunned by a performance of the cheerleaders from Utah State, which they did just for us in the park!

We ended the night with our first professional soccer game with the Beckstrands and my great friend Stacey Ford: The SL Real. We had such a great time. All the kids loved the game, and though Sammi was traumatized by the fireworks afterward, everyone was on cloud nine when we left. Scotti made me promise to let him go down and stand on the grass where the soccer players were. The game was especially fun to me. I had no idea I was such a soccer fan. The excitement of a goal or a good block was almost more than I could handle. Such a great high for me. I love those things.

Snowbird with Jacksons

2009-09-14T21:33:00.000-07:00

When in SLC in July, we had a fun day at Snowbird with the Jacksons. Scotti did some rock climbing, and we all got to do the alpine slide. Since I was there without Grant, all the kids found loved ones to go with. They had a great time. It was so beautiful up there in the mountains, but since my kids had just arrived to the desert, we all had climate shock! We couldn't take the heat. I seriously never gets to be too hot here in Elma. That desert just beat us that day I tell you! We loved the tram and especially our family.

We also got to stay with Grandma Janet & Grandpa Kelly, which was really fun. Those two have a fabulous hotel, I tell you. We had a great time miniature golfing with Grandma Janet, too. Cooper got a whole in one and was intent on getting another one the rest of our time there. Sammi was more interested in the turquoise water than in finishing the last few holes. Funny kid.

Fun with Grandma Bird in July!

2009-09-14T21:28:00.001-07:00

My highlight of being in Salt Lake City this summer was the time I got to spend with my Grandma Bird. I wish I could have spent a couple of more days with her. A few of us cousins got together at the last minute and went over to visit Grandma when I first got there, and some of us go to have a fun luncheon with her a few days later. Talk about a woman who has blessed my life. I love you Grandma.

Newport Beach with Beckstrands!

2009-09-14T21:08:00.000-07:00

Just thought I'd do a little summer catching up here, and blog about our fun trip to the beach with my extended family this July. Wow, did we ever have a good time. The kids were in absolute heaven with cousins to play with every moment. The boys loved the Razors (scooters) that cousins brought with them and rode them whenever they could. Everett woke up every morning asking for Aunt Ann-Marie (man-ma-me) to take him to the donut store. He woke up and ran in her room and announced to her, while she was still in bed, that he woke up! Sort of like, "Let's go Man-Ma-Me!" Once I told him that I would take him to the donut store and he told me that he didn't want to go with Man-Ma-You, he wanted to go with Man-Ma-Me!!! Funny. Cooper, as always, loved to lay around on the sand. Didn't ever care if there was sand all over the place at all. Scotti's favorite thing was playing football, baseball, soccer, etc. endlessly on the beach. So many sports, so many athletes. So thrilling to Scotti! Sammi loved her big girl cousins. They were the best because they payed her all the attention she could ever want. She also loved the waves.

We also went to Disneyland for the first time. Here is a picture of Grant and the kids on the train there. Our kids loved it. It was especially fun because we did it with the Beckstrands who we just absolutely love to pieces. We never could have survived Disneyland without them, honestly. We all had a great time. Grant loved the time with the kids, and I loved the time with all my brothers and sisters. Such a great family!

Apparently...

2009-08-21T21:58:00.000-07:00

Tonight I put Everett in his crib to go to bed. I wasn't even down the stairs before he was calling for me. He never does this, so I went upstairs to see what was the trouble. When I got in his room, he said, "Apparently, I have to go potty." Funny words from the mouth of a 2 year old. I have so much summer blogging to catch up on. I'll do so in a couple of weeks when school starts! Love to you all!

Cooper's Bloody Foot

2009-08-06T21:57:00.000-07:00

So Cooper came in from riding his bike today with his foot completely covered in blood. Apparently, he opened a scab off his ankle and then watched the blood drip down his foot. When he came in, he told me that it didn't hurt, but that he thought we'd better wipe the blood off his ankle, because it can burn through your skin, and then your muscles, and then your bones until you know what you'd be then--the Holy Ghost!

Terrible Twos Arrival!

2009-06-29T20:58:00.001-07:00

That's right. For the last couple of weeks, Everett has been grumpy while his 2 year old molars came in, and they brought bad behavior with them. Take today. When Ev woke up, he was upset because he had a poopy diaper. When I took it off, he got mad because he wanted the poopy diaper back on. When I tried to put a new diaper on him, he refused because he wanted to put his pee pee in the potty. I agreed and took him downstairs with nothing on but a T-shirt.

During breakfast I didn't make his bagel right, and when I served him a bowl of peaches, he had a screaming fit because he wanted the spoon I gave to Cooper (which, by the way, was identical to his own.) Cooper, the little peacemaker, gave his spoon to the two year old. "Here Ev! You can have mine!" Everett broke into an even bigger fit. When asked why he was upset, he said that he didn't want Cooper to be nice to him.

After breakfast, Ev said he needed to go potty, so I took him to the bathroom and stood him on his stool in front of the potty. He had a fit because he didn't want to pee pee in the potty, he wanted to pee pee on the rug! When I told him no, he simply refused to get his pee pee in the potty. Finally, he waited for me to move or be distracted and he got off the stool and peed on the rug, staring straight at me with that "ha, ha, ha!" look. He got in big trouble.

After the disciplining of the pee pee on the rug, I got in the shower. While in the shower, Ev came and left a poop on the rug in front of my shower! Can you believe it? I mean, that is serious cognitive ability! When I got out of the shower, he was hiding, because he knew he was in trouble. He actually did it on purpose.

Later in the day, he got a poop in the potty, and so he got a popsicle. He took the popsicle outside and put it in the sun. He didn't even lick it. He said he wanted it to melt. So I let it happen. Then, when he came outside and it was a puddle, of course, he had a humongous fit! Goodness gracious.

While I was reading a book to Cooper and Ev today, Cooper was trying to turn a page, and Ev wanted Cooper to only turn the pages when Ev said it was OK. Well, he hadn't said it was OK, so he was really upset when Coop turned the page. It was a fight that almost ended up in a ripped book. When I told Cooper that we need to be really patient with Ev because he's just learning, Cooper said, "I know, but it's just no fun Mom!"

Later tonight, when he was praying, he said, "Please bless Sammi and Scotti and Cooper to sleep really well in their sleeping bags tonight!" Then he looked at me and started laughing like he was the funniest thing ever because "they are really sleeping in their beds mommy!" He's just such a character.

Phareses in town!

2009-06-21T20:52:00.000-07:00

Oooh man, we have had a fun week with our dear friends the Phareses. We have missed our Pennsylvania friends so much since leaving them last year. The minute these guys walked in the door it seemed like we were never apart. It was fun to have the kids have a sleepover--5 kids in one bedroom! We loved going to Lake Sylvia with them and kayaking and swimming. We also went to Seattle to Pike Place Market and to the Aquarium where we got to pet Sea Cucumbers and all sort of other tidal life! They also had a giant octopus that fascinated us all. I laughed at myself though, because this day in the city was stressful for me--keeping the kids together, not losing anyone. It ended in me driving home in traffic and realizing that maybe I have become a country bunkin! We spent another beautiful day hiking, swimming, biking, and exploring at Lake Sylvia and then went to the Quinault Rainforest and spent a day and a night in a cabin there on the lake. Wow, it was fun. The Phareses are such good people.

I'm starting to realize that visiting me is not quite what I had imagined. I imagined myself serving up smoothies before bed, delivering delicious dinners and creative breakfasts to my guests. I imagined so much fun in the outdoors that people would get tired of it in the end. I'm realizing that the reality is that anyone who comes to visit me ends up helping ME a lot. I can't help it. I try to have it all together to serve the guests, but ultimately, they end up helping me out a lot. Just too many needs around the Jackson household I guess. If you plan to come visit me, and I certainly hope you do, keep this in mind. It's just the way things are at the Jacksons in this stage of our lives! (I hope when you come, you actually enjoy spending a little time helping and playing with the kiddos anyway!)

Yesterday we went to our friends' house for dinner and they brought out the 4-wheelers. I thought my kids were going to just die. They were so excited about them! They each got to ride for their first time on a 4-wheeler. They thought it was so fun, even though they were only driving 10 miles an hour. One "fabulous" thing about living in the country: everyone has a 4-wheeler. (Now Grant and I have to figure out how to keep our kids safe with all these vehicles around!) Love to you all!

Oh yeah--the above pictures: 1. Coop on his first 4-wheeler! (Don't worry, he didn't ride it alone!), 2. and 3. all the kids on our hike at Lake Quinault, 4. Sammi, Scotti, Cooper, and Zoe on the world's largest piggy bank at Pike Place Market, 5. Sammi and the peonies we bought at Pike Place Market, 6. Sammi and Zoe at Lake Sylvia.

Sammi's and Scotti's Dance Recital

2009-06-14T21:25:00.000-07:00

Sammi and Scotti had their dance recital last night. They are such good dancers. They knew the entire dance and have such great rhythm. On the way to the recital, they were really excited and were chanting, "We love to dance! We love to dance!" Then, they started saying, "If you love to dance, raise your hand" or "kick your feet" or "wiggle your hips!" They are so funny. They loved it. Their dance was called "Bugga Boo" and they were supposed to be bugs. Scotti had a great attitude about his costume. He thought it was really dumb, but said that it was worth it to be able to dance. I loved watching them and was so proud.

Beckstrands are comin' to town!

2009-06-14T21:15:00.000-07:00

Oh man! We had such a fun couple of days with our cousins this week! My brother Jon and his family came to visit us. We had a fabulous adventure to Olympic Mountain Ice Cream Factory outside of Shelton, WA. It was a fabulous little ice cream factory that some people were running out of their barn. They have the best flavors and certainly the best ice cream I have ever tasted. We came home with about 30 flavors of ice cream and had an ice cream pot luck where we all got to try each flavor. It was fabulous and I recommend it to all who live close by. The kids loved camping out in the yard, and you could not get Matt and Scotti to stop playing sports in the yard. The two were so happy that I hardly even talked to either one the entire time. The next day we spent a fun day at Lake Sylvia hiking and then kayaking and playing in the lake. These are some of our favorite people. Lauren, Ali, Matt, Andrew, Jon, Trina. Oh man. They are welcome back anytime. They are all just such great people. Grant and I will be so happy if our children demonstrate any likeness to the Beckstrand kids. These pictures are us outside of the ice cream factory, and at our ice cream pot luck at my house. Trina took all the pictures. I'll post more when I get them from her. She takes such great pictures.

No Training Wheels for Sammi!

2009-06-02T12:10:00.001-07:00

Sammi learned how to ride a bike with no training wheels this week. She was so proud, but her excitement couldn't possibly match Grant's excitement! That is one of his favorite parenting experiences. Now, she is cruising all over the place.

Cooper's 4th Birthday!

2009-06-02T12:01:00.000-07:00

That's right. My Cooper is now a 4 year old. I simply can't believe it. He had a great birthday. He got a pool, slip n' slide and squirt guns, so he was pretty happy, although I think his favorite present came from Dad: a nerf football that he's been sleeping with every night. He was so cute, because Sammi and Scotti and Ev wanted to play with his new toys so much, and in most cases, Cooper let them play with his presents before he even got to play with them! He had a really fun soccer party with all his friends. We ran drills and stretched and scored goals and had snack and cake. He had a great time. I love you Cooper, my four year old!

Grandma Beck is comin' to town!

2009-06-02T10:38:00.000-07:00

We were so excited this last week, because Grandma Beck (Great-Grandma Beck for my kiddos) came to visit with Grandma Carol and Grandpa Richard. It was so fun to be with these three. We had a great time at the Rusty Tractor, where we discovered an old stove that is just like one my Grandma had when she was a kid. We went to the beach, which was as windy as can be. All the adults sort of geared up to face the wind, because the kids all were happy as can be in their swimming suits! They had a great time. When I announced to my kids that Grandma Beck was going to ride in the car, they broke out into a "Grandma Beck" chant. You would have thought she was a hockey player shooting a game-winning penalty shot! We loved going to Mount Rainier and staying at the Paradise Lodge. My favorite thing we did there was to play National Park Memory with Grandma Beck in the lobby of the lodge. Boy that place is beautiful! Mount Rainier is gorgeous, and we hit it on possibly the most beautiful days of the year! My kids loved to hike through the rainforest and especially liked becoming Junior Rangers. It was fun to walk with our Grandparents around the National Park Inn on their trail around the meadows. I was so excited to have my Grandma see my house and my town, and just how my life is playing out. What a lucky person I am to have her come to visit! When I went in to get Everett out of his crib the morning after the grandparents all left, Ev said, "I want Grandma Beck!" I said she was gone, and he said "That's so sad!" What a cutie pie. I made my mom take most of our pictures, so here are just the ones I had! She has much better ones. I love you Grandma.

My Garden

2009-06-02T10:27:00.000-07:00

In classic Bird family fashion, I took a bunch of pictures of my yard recently. I always remember my mom taking pictures of her beautiful flowers. Not all the time, but I always loved the pictures I have of our house. I also always remember looking at all the pictures my Grandma Bird takes of flowers--not just in her yard, but everywhere she goes. If it is beautiful, she has to have a picture of it! In taking these photos, I felt like I was carrying on some sort of tradition!

Washington DC and the Brain

2009-05-17T20:59:00.002-07:00

Last week I had the most wonderful opportunity. I got to go to Washington DC with 4 of my favorite people in the world to attend a conference about the brain and creativity. I learned so much and had such a great time with my sisters and my mom. They are the best people you will find anywhere, and ooooh soooo smart! (And oooooh sooooo fun!)

My favorite take home messages from the conference were that exercise and music and creativity help the brain grow and make connections in ways I took for granted before. I always knew these were good things, but now, I'm signing my kids up for music lessons, and whenever they are being naughty, they are going for a jog. There was also a fascinating lecture about the brain after age 60 and how it actually does continue to grow, and in fact, at a certain age a person begins to use their whole brain to do things (instead of just certain parts) and so their capacity for greatness actually improves! They showed examples of how a huge amount of the geniuses we know today didn't even begin their greatness until they were retired. I thought that was very inspirational. The other lecture I specifically liked was one about how teenagers brains are not actually different from adult brains but are more like the brains of prisoners. The lecturer argued that teenagers needed more time with higher level, adult life, choices and responsibility instead of teen pop-culture. He argued that they should spend more time with adults learning to be adults and that they are actually capable of making adult decisions long before we let them in this country. He looked across he globe and found that most cultures do not have the "teenage rebellion" phase that we have here, and that the more "westernized" a culture was, the more they were likely to have the rebellion phase. I thought it very interesting. Overall, I found that the brain academics is such a new field that everyone disagrees with each other about everything. It was great to hear what all these intelligent people had to offer me as a mother.

On another note... Washington DC is about the neatest city I've ever been to. Memorials, museums, and historic sites. I loved being inspired by the great things individuals have done. The theme of my time there seemed to be that all the people who we celebrated there did amazing things. They changed history and their acts of greatness affected my little family and are the reason for the great life I get to live today. What really struck me though, is what a difficult time they each had. The changes they tried to make took great sacrifice and great strength. I think about Abraham Lincoln and how he was so dedicated to the idea of freedom for all people under a unified nation and I think that I might have thought it was too hard for me to handle, so I'll let someone else tackle that problem. These people never thought that. They tackled the problem. What an inspiration. I was truly inspired to let myself be more uncomfortable and to be the change I want to see. I think we all have amazing talents and we are each capable of doing great things in the world. It is a matter of commitment. I've been thinking about what I am committed to a lot since then.

By the way, I cannot over-emphasize how much fun it was to be with my sisters and my mom. The company was the highlight of the trip for me.

As for the kiddos these last couple of weeks, here are the happenings: We took Scotti and Ev to an allergist. We found out that Scotti is seriously allergic to all tree nuts (almonds, walnuts, pine nuts, pistacios, cashews, etc.) and has mild allergies to all sorts of things: grass, wheat, dust mites, feathers. Ev is in the clear except that he is mildly allergic to eggs. Sammi told me that it would probably be a good idea not to feed him chicken anymore either. When asked why, Sammi replied, "Because chickens have eggs in them." I thought that was pretty good reasoning!

Everett has started telling me that everything is "ok". "Sorry I colored on the floor mom. It's ok." "Sorry I hit Cooper mommy. It's OK." He also

Oh, you should have seen Scotti's face when he was presented with his trophy for T-ball this week. All my kids were excited about their trophies, but to Scotti it was the most precious thing he has ever received. T-ball was so fun. Scotti loved it all. He showed up ready to go, and went after every ball. Since he is really speedy, he almost always beat all the kids to the ball and had to learn about taking turns a little! He loved hitting and running the bases as fast as he could. Cooper was really excited about it (and a great player) until he had his first hit and ran around all the bases instead of stopping at first. Cooper, who really gets embarrassed if he doesn't do everything just right, was horrified and refused to run the bases in the subsequent games. He still hit really well though. Cute Coop! Sammi refused to be on the team. I told her I would sign her up just in case she changed her mind. When we showed up for the first practice, she again, refused to participate. The coach asked her if she could just help the coach instead. Sammi liked the idea of being assistant coach, so she agreed to help, insisting that she still was not on the team. She batted and played like everyone else, showing them all how to do it. The only thing she did differently is skip around the bases and wear her frilly skirt. She would not wear a uniform because they were too ugly and we really had to fight to get her to wear a batting helmet!

We have been preparing our vegetable garden. Since it is now just a big plot of dirt, Everett cannot stay out of it. He plays in it for hours, filling his dump truck and then dumping it out. He is so dirty, but he loves it, and I work right along side him. I've put together little digging spots in each of my gardens so that my kids can play by me wherever I am working (since they always seem to be wherever I am!) It is really fun.

I just have to brag about my husband for a minute too before I close. He is the nicest guy I know. That must be why I married him. He takes such good care of me. Here is just one example: today I was sick. Body aches and sore throat. He woke up and told me to go back to bed, made a big breakfast for the kids (which he does whenever he is home in the morning), and got them dressed for church. When I woke up, he greeted me with ibuprofen and a glass for water. Later in church, when we were in the hall, he handed me some Tylenol near the drinking fountain and told me to drink up. After church, he got all the kids in the car and took them home, put the baby down for a nap and got the kids all organized on activities. I read and fell asleep. We were invited to a BBQ at our wonderful friends' house and when it came time to leave, I was still asleep, so Grant packed all the kids in the car and took them, leaving me to get some rest. Isn't he sweet? He also cleaned the whole house and made homemade bread yesterday. Most of these things are not rare events. He does so much around the house that sometimes I feel like the slacker. I could tell you about all the things he did for me yesterday too and the day before that, but it would bore you. I'm lucky to have such a great person with me all the time.

Grandma Beck comes to visit this week! Yaaaahoooo!

Ev's Birthday!

2009-04-20T21:05:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we celebrated Ev's birthday. His actual birthday was on Easter Sunday, but we decided to wait a week and give him his own day, especially since he had no idea anyway! We always have muffins for breakfast for birthdays and put a candle in the muffin and sing "Happy Birthday." We probably had to sing this 9 times for Everett. He loved it. He sang it loudest of all! When we got out the presents, he just thought he was so special. He loved to open the presents and hardly played with any of them in between openings! When I put him down for a nap, he sang himself to sleep with "Happy Birthday," which was adorable. We had a really fun party for him after dinner, where he served everyone up some cake and was delighted to be the center of attention! He is just the cutest thing ever. He thought everything about his birthday was just wonderful.

On Saturday, we all went hiking around Lake Sylvia, on a trail we had never been on before. We saw all kinds of wildflowers, Newts, and birds. We had a great time together. I love that my kids like to do that stuff. Grant and I found a whole bunch of new mountain biking trails on the logging roads behind the lake as well, that we can't wait to tackle!

On Friday, we had our first T-Ball practice. Sammi, Scotti, and Coop are all signed up for the team. Sammi told me from the beginning not to sign her up because she doesn't like sports. Then, we started playing t-ball in the yard, and Sammi is a really good hitter, so I signed her up anyway, just to keep the option open for her. At our first practice, Cooper and Scotti could not have been more excited. Everything was thrilling to them. Sammi, however, politely refused to be a part of the team. Finally, after standing on the sidelines watching her brothers have a great time, she told me that she wouldn't mind hitting, but that doesn't mean she is on the team. She's just hitting for fun, OK? Then, she wanted to practice catching balls too, swearing up and down that she isn't on the team, she's just helping out. She is so funny. Even now, she says she is not on the team. I'll keep you updated on how that turns out!

Saturday was also our big performance for preschool. Sammi, Scotti, and Coop were all monkeys in an adaptation of "Caps for Sale" at our preschool Taco Feed. They were the cutest little monkeys you've ever seen. All the kids were adorable. Scotti had the worst stage fright I have ever seen. He kept coming off the stage, saying he wasn't going to do it. I would take him back to the stage and give him a pep talk. Finally, just when I thought I had him set, the show started and Scotti ran off the stage to me. He felt sad that he didn't stay and finish the show, and directed his friends from the audience the whole time! He's so funny.

A couple of days ago, Sammi, Scotti, and Coop were all outside dressed up. They were being superfriends. Scotti was "Super B" with the power to see inside people's hearts and to sting them with his imaginary stinger. (The stinger was attached to his underpants, which "Super B" always wore over his pants.) Sammi was "Dragon Girl" with the power to fight and to talk to bees, butterflies, unicorns, and something else that I can't remember. Cooper was "Underdog" with the power of stink. (I decided it was better not to inquire further about that one!) They were running all over the yard saving imaginary victims from imaginary foes. They had a great time.

Later that day, Grant went outside to find Scotti on our chain ladder that goes up our playground holding on to the chains with his hands spread eagled and his tummy facing out. He was only in his underwear. When Grant asked him what he was doing, he said that he was Sammi's father and he was dying for her. That's right. He was playing crucifixion. In his underwear.

Everett finds water everywhere in this yard. If I keep him in clothes all day long, he needs an entire new outfit every couple of hours or so. I just let him run around in his diaper nowadays. He loves it. He loves the hose, and our little water pump, and our little wading pool. and our watering can He thinks it is all so great! Tonight, he was playing with the hose and I called him to come to Family Home Evening. He yelled back, "No thanks! Playing hose!"

In the middle of one of our garden beds, we have a pedestal that stands about 1 1/2 feet off the ground. It is for putting a big pot on. Since we have nothing on it, today I found Scotti sitting on it in a yoga resting/meditation position. When I asked him what he was doing, he said he was the king of the garden and that if I wanted him to talk, I had to give him a gift of nature. When I gave him a rock, he looked at me with a sheepish grin and said, "I don't really know what to say!"

Last week, Cooper had a long string of not making it to the potty. We started a chart for him, where he gets a sticker every time he makes it to the potty. He has to get 30 stickers and then he can get a reward. He decided he wanted to go to McDonald's playground. Now, with this goal in mind, Cooper calls me every hour or so to look at his pee pee in the potty so he can get a sticker. I've never seen a kid go to the bathroom so much.

Everett tells me every night in a whisper, "Shhhhh! Hear that? I hear a frog!" Then sits still listening for a few minutes. It is adorable.

Easter Sunday!

2009-04-12T21:41:00.000-07:00

We had a fun Easter weekend. We started off on Saturday with a fun morning at the dog show (which was really fun!), continued at our local Easter Egg hunt at the fair grounds, and ended at a Easter BBQ at our friend/neighbor's house. We had such a fun day! It was windy and rainy, but my kids didn't even seem to care. Today, we woke up to our Easter baskets and put on our new Easter duds. We had our good friends the Beuses over for Easter dinner and it was a great time. We are so lucky to have such great friends. It felt like we were around a lot of friends this weekend--especially at the Easter Egg hunt at the fairgrounds. I just love going to Elma community events and knowing many of the people I see there. It makes me excited about living in a small town.

Let's see...stories about the kids this week. I was working in the garden this week, when Scotti appeared wearing a tuxedo (a costume from his dance recital last year.) "Mom, I'm getting married!" he pronounced in a low adult voice.

"Congratulations! Whom are you going to marry?"

Without hesitation, "Rosalinda."

"Sounds great. What do you do when you get married?"

Pause. Pacing. "I don't know." Pause. Pacing. Scotti returns: "Mom, I think I'll just be the priest."

"OK, but you realize that we don't really get married by a priest, right?"

"Yes mom, but I'm only pretending!"

Sammi, who is always interested in a wedding, came along and told Scotti to close his eyes. When he opened them, he was to stare at her really hard and then exclaim how beautiful she is. He did so, and Sammi replied, "Yes, I am beautiful, but I'm not Rosalinda, and I'm not getting married." Then she ran off. She and Scotti played this game for a good hour or so, Scotti telling Sammi how beautiful she is, Sammi coming up with different ways to dump him. They refined the scene immensely by the end, adding dramatic hand holding and fake crying and such. I couldn't believe I had such thesbians.

Cooper keeps defining words for me. He told me that another name for weeds is "deeds." When I used the word "deeds" in a sentence, "Could you please pull those deeds over there for me?" Cooper looked at me funny and said that I'm not allowed to use that word, only him.

As we were getting ready to go to the Easter Egg hunt, we were all in the car waiting for Cooper, so I yelled up the stairs for him to come down. He kept yelling back, "just a minute!" Finally, when I got fed up and began counting to the dreaded number three (one.... two...) he came out of his room crying telling me that if I could just wait a minute, he would come down. He was putting on his socks. Cooper does not know how to do this yet. I told him that we didn't have time for him to practice right now and to come downstairs and I would put them on him. He told me that he would just be a minute because he asked God to help him get his socks on and God said OK, so I was just going to have to wait! Needless to say, we had a discussion about how sometimes when we want to do something, God helps us get it done by sending helpers. "Mom!" Cooper exclaimed, "you are my helper!" I whisked his socks on and buckled him in his car seat. What a sweetie pie!

Everett's favorite song lately is "Whoop! There it is!" He sings it all the time. He loves music. In the car, we were listening to John Denver's "Thank God! I'm a Country Boy!" In the background, the audience claps to the music. So does Everett. It is so cute. He also sings along to Queen's "I Want to Ride My Bicycle" and loves "Witch Doctor." Just loves music. Sings all the time. Sings when he plays, sings when he goes to sleep. He is just such a sweet heart. Today is his 2nd birthday, although we won't celebrate it until next week. We decided to take away his binki today. We really geared ourselves up for such a move. We were ready to give extra comfort, listen to a little crying as he learned to go to bed without it. Funny thing is, he didn't ask for it once. Didn't even notice it was gone!

Oh yea, Cooper got stitches this week. We got a package and he couldn't get it opened, so he got a really sharp knife and ended up cutting himself. No problem! Grant just sewed him right up in our very own living room. Now that's service!

Also, at our Elma Easter Egg hunt, Scotti got an egg that had a number where you go to a tent to get a prize. Sammi was very disappointed that she didn't get a prize. She just couldn't recover from the disappointment and had to go sit by herself for a little while to pull herself together. Scotti got his prize, a cool game. Then, the lady came running over to him and told him that here was a little package that went with his prize that she forgot to give him. Scotti was really excited because now Sammi could have a prize too! He ran over and enthusiastically gave it to her. I was one proud mother.

St. Patrick's Day Photos

2009-03-23T11:41:00.000-07:00

Here are those photos. I found my phone. The first is Scotti during the Motocross races. The second is our leprechaun trap. The kids lured the leprechaun up the ladder by putting a piece of gold on top. Then, once the leprechaun stepped on the top of the hat, the top fell in and the leprechaun would have been trapped inside the hat. Too bad it didn't work!

St. Patrick's Day

2009-03-22T21:14:00.003-07:00

We had a very fun St. Patrick's Day this year. The kids built a trap (which we found on familyfun.com) for the leprechaun, but our leprechaun was just too sneaky. We didn't catch him. He DID, however, paint with green paint all over our windows, turn our toilet water and milk green, and leave us some green treats. The kids decided that, mess aside, he must be a pretty great leprechaun if he left treats. They had a great time cleaning up the mess from that naughty leprechaun!

This week, I came home from church a little after my family and found Scotti riding his bike with a dinosaur costume and my ski goggles. I'll post a picture of it tomorrow. It was hilarious. He has a new thing called "motocross," which is essentially bike racing. He gets in uniform, which could be any get up you can imagine, with my ski goggles on. Then, he goes out and rides his bike as fast as he can. His opponent is always called "Lucifer", but in recent times, he's been calling him "Luke-cifer" (in honor, no doubt, of his imaginary friend Luke.) His favorite uniform seems to be to wear his coat with a sweater over the top of it, and then a T-shirt on top. He says the coat and sweater underneath make it look like he has pads on, like in football. He also likes to wear his snowpants with normal pants underneath. Scotti also has taken to working out a lot. He made pretend weights out of some blocks, and he spreads his blanket out and does sit ups and push ups and lifts weights. His entire life revolves around sports, race cars (which I guess is a sport), and competition. He loves it. The only break he takes from it is in reading books and watching TV. Obsessed.

Sammi just seems old to me lately. She takes care of Everett and bosses around Cooper and Scotti so well. She tries to put them in time out, and loves more than anything when I give her responsibility. She has been reading words all over the place lately, which makes her really happy. Sammi has been talking like a baby as of late. I'm hoping it is a stage. My current strategy is to just wait it out, but if anyone has any ideas, I'm open to them. Today, Sammi stood on our bed holding a big stick she found outside and has adopted as her own, instructing Grant and Scotti of what to do on their work out: "Ok, good work Scotti, now here's what we're going to do. Ten pushups and then a new exercise which I'll show you later. Good work dad too. You follow what Scotti is doing, and then I'll tell you what to do next. Great work boys!" Sammi has a little cow which she calls "Reindeer Gold" who she keeps on a leash and takes everywhere she goes. She feeds it and gives it naps and gets mad at us if we are not thoughtful of Reindeer Gold's needs.

This week, Cooper and I (and the other kids, but Cooper got into it most), were super heroes rescuing our yard from the naughty ivy. We had to find it, catch it, and put it in the garbage prison. Cooper played this game with me for four days this week, sticking it out with me pulling Ivy until I was finished. The entire time, he talked in his lower super hero voice, and used his "Super Snippers," "Super Trowel," and "Super Gloves!" He loved it. I had a great time too. Who knew weeding could be so fun. I also read in my gardening book that urine can keep the deer out of your yard and away from your spring flowers. Well, my boys were thrilled to hear that! "You mean when we've got to go, we can go outside?" Don't worry, we've got specific rules about where they can go, and have talked many times about how we don't go in other peoples' yards, but we'll see if they stick to it. They have been really funny about it. Cooper hugs and kisses me so much in a day that I sometimes have to tell him, "Cooper, now is the time for reading books. Afterward, we can snuggle all you want." Sooo affectionate!

Everett has been singing like crazy this week. Grant is teaching him to sing "Zip a Dee Do Dah" and he loves it. His favorite book lately is the one about the ocean. He thinks every fish is a shark and screams "Shark!" every time I turn the page. All day long he asks me, "Daddy? Work?" When I say yes, dad is at work, he sweetly says, "OK." He is such a cutie pie. Somehow Everett goes through 3 shirts every day, and his face is always messy. I just can't figure it out. I hate to wipe his face too much, because he has sensitive skin and gets chapped so easily, but what's a mother to do? My favorite is to listen to Everett sing himself to sleep. That is sweet.

I can't find my phone that has my pictures on it. I'll post some tomorrow if I find it!

St. Patrick

2009-03-22T21:14:00.001-07:00

Skiing in Salt Lake City!

2009-03-15T20:49:00.001-07:00

We returned home last week from our fabulous week in Salt Lake City. There, the kids learned to ski for the first time. They absolutely loved it. They stayed most of the time on the "magic carpet" at Alta, which they stand on to take them up the small hill they practiced skiing down. They learned how to take their skis on and off and how to get up by themselves when they fall. I was glad to hear that they learned those skills, because those are two things that are certainly difficult to deal with when you are the adult teaching a kid how to ski! It was exhilarating for Grant and me to see that our kids loved something that we love so much as well. It was fun to think about the years we have ahead of family skiing. While in SLC, we had a delightful time with our family. We got to visit the Draper Temple open house with Great Grandma Bird, Great Uncles Clyde and Bruce, Great Aunt Diane, the Lords (2nd cousins to my kids), and Grandma Carol. My kids had a great time messing around with their uncles, but Scotti told me he doesn't want to go back to another temple because it is so boring there and there is just so much walking! Cooper agreed, but Sammi thought the diamond chandeliers were worth a return trip. On the other hand, this week, Sammi told me she didn't want to be baptized when she is 8. She had just been in trouble and had just received a whole lecture from me about how she really needs to practice making good choices in preparation for when she is baptized, because then she'll have to repent for all her poor choices and it's just easier to make good choices. She told me that it just seemed easier to do what you want and then get baptized as soon as you know how to make good choices. She thought that might happen when she is 9 or 10. We also had a great visit at Grammi's house and Great Grandma Hatch's house. We went to our traditional hamburger joint with Great Grandma Beck, and the kids climbed all over the restaurant. Grandma Beck didn't even seem stressed or upset that they were so wiggly. I was proud of my heritage! Other highlights of our trip included seeing my sister Amy's new house, disco night at the Beckstrand's, a dinner party for Grant's uncle who received an international award for his aid in writing the freedom of religion clauses in countries like Iraq and Afghanistan, hanging out at Grandma Janet's and Grandpa Kelly's, family ski days for both the Beckstrands and the Jacksons, playing at Jer and Joni's house, a pizza picnic with Grandpa Jonathan, and as always, tons of great times with Grandpa Richard and Grandma Carol. Those two work so hard when we come into town. My mom especially did a lot of babysitting this trip, for which I am so grateful. We have the greatest family. We have so much fun when we come into town. I so appreciate how you all take so much time out of your schedules to see us when we come into town. We adore you. We love our family. I love the affect you have on my kids. They feel your influence, even from such a distance. Love you all!

As for the pictures: Sammi is in pink, Scotti in the red coat, Cooper in the blue coat. Jake Hopkins, our cousin, is the other skier in the polar bear hat, and Maggie Driggs, our cousin, in the blond hair and pink coat.

Princess Ball

2009-02-22T21:42:00.001-08:00

I apologize that this week I don't have any pictures posted. I am having technical difficulties. Too bad too, because Sammi and Grant went to the Princess Ball this weekend, and Sammi had the time of her life. She spent the whole week counting down the days. Then, on Saturday, she painted her nails, took a special bath, and I let her wear a little make up and perfume. We curled her hair and sprayed some glitter on her and wow, did she feel special! It was really fun to her to get all dolled up. She loved having her dad as her date too. He dressed up very handsomely as well, and the two were off to the dance. Sammi had a great time. The Princess Ball is a fundraiser that the High School in Elma puts on for all the Dads and their little girls. Everyone in Elma goes, so they have to have 3 different balls! It is a fun tradition that is one small reason we love living in Elma.

The weather was so pretty this week that we were outside all week. The kids were running through the sprinklers, and yesterday we finally put out our birdseed. Today, we were seriously rewarded. The main room in our house has huge windows that overlook our garden, so we can sit on our couch and watch all of our bird feeders. Today we had a flock of 5 Steller Jays picking at our seed as well as lots of other more common birds. It was so fun to sit and watch them. Everett couldn't get enough of them. Grant always says that if you see a Steller Jay it is going to be a good day. You can imagine our anticipation of today after seeing 5 of them! What a fun morning.

I am so excited to start gardening I can hardly keep myself from buying flowers. If there were more for sale, I'd be buying them even if I knew they would frost over. I can't wait to get my hands in the garden again. I'm going to start building my own compost, and have been studying up on how to do it. We are going to plant a big vegetable garden outside of the kids clubhouse and try to do some fun things that the kids will like. I'm going to plant a TeePee, with Sweet Peas growing up the sides for a fun spot for my kids. I'm looking for a fun old chandelier that I could hang in our yard so that we could watch the prisms make rainbows. Anyway, I have plenty of ideas, but little know how, and little time! I can't wait for my garden to be like the gardens I grew up cherishing.

Enough about me, now about the kiddos: This week, I got a math and a reading workbook for my kids to share. Before I knew it, Sammi had accomplished over half of the math workbook! She just loves that stuff. I let Scotti work in the reading book, and he is just so careful with his writing, that it takes him a long time to write. He really takes his time to make sure that he does everything his best and will not even tackle something unless he can give it time to finish it just right. Cooper spent the week trying to be nicer to Everett. He made a conscious effort to try not to bug Ev and I caught him starting to irritate him and then stopping immediately, as if resisting the temptation to do so. He prayed every night for Heavenly Father to help him. What a sweetie. Ev loves Cooper even though Cooper does bug him for entertainment! Ev has loved being outside this week. He digs in the dirt and then comes inside. Then, he goes back out and tries to ride a bike a little and then checks inside with me. He learned how to crawl on the stools this week, which means he can now get on the counter without any help from me. That is bad news for me, because now nothing is safe! He also refuses to sit in his high chair and wants to sit on a stool like the big kids. Oh, the growing! It is most painful for me, I swear.

Valentines and the Potty

2009-02-15T18:12:00.000-08:00

Valentine's Day was big time at our house. It all began on Tuesday when I was in charge of games at our Primary party, where we made over 100 valentines! The celebrations continued on Thursday at parties for both Cooper's class and Sammi's and Scotti's class. Scotti and Cooper made paper airplane valentines for their friends, and Sammi made butterflies. We made a whole bunch of Valentines at home, which made a big mess, and then made a whole bunch of cookies, which made an even bigger mess. Here are some pictures of the creative process with the cookies. The highlights of the holiday for us were when we went around Elma with the Doyles handing out Valentines to people in the streets and stores and at the senior center. Then, an even more exciting event was delivering plates of cookies to our friends from secret admirers (us.) The delivering required much sneakiness and everyone enjoyed the high of trying not to get caught. (Although, we often did.)

FABULOUS JACKSON HAPPENINGS THIS WEEK:
Big time events at the Jacksons this week: Everett put his first pee pee in the potty. Seriously, I couldn't believe it. Yesterday, he came to me tugging at his clothes, saying "bathroom!" I thought, what the heck, we'll introduce him to the potty. I took off his clothes and stood him in front of the potty. Lo and behold, a steady stream of pee pee made it directly into the potty. I have never seen Everett so excited. The picture below is of Everett pointing in the potty at his pee pee saying "Pee pee mommy! Pee pee! Potty!" He went again several times yesterday. I'm so proud.

I just realized that when Sammi gets her hair done, she thinks I'm working on her "hair-dude" instead of her hairdo. It's so cute, that I just haven't corrected her.

You should have seen Scotti sneak those cookies to people's houses this week. He was so serious, so stealthy, so swift, but then while we were hiding, he could barely hold his mouth hard enough for the laughter that kept escaping. He is such a fast runner too!

Cooper learned about appropriate wintertime dress, and now gets himself dressed every day in either a summer outfit with a winter outfit over it, or a winter outfit with shorts and a t-shirt on top. He loves it that he is always prepared for either season! I love it that I don't have to worry about getting him dressed!

I forgot to mention that last week we had our house painted, lights installed, and countertops put into our cabinets. Our house is feeling like OURS, and I love it here. What a blessing to live in such a nice place.

Cabo San Jose, Mexico

2009-02-08T21:54:00.000-08:00

Last night we got home from our trip to San Jose del Cabo, Mexico. We had such a great time. I think this is by far our best trip we have taken since we have had kids. Our beach was nice and quiet so we had less worries trying to keep track of all our kids. Jumping over waves and running away from them proved to be Cooper's favorite activity. Scotti loved our pool. He could touch and he could stay warm, so he swam and swam until he really learned how to swim well unaided! He also loved building racetracks in the sand for his cars. Sammi mostly loved wearing her new swim suits and sunglasses, but her favorite thing on the beach was to organize the building of some sand project. Ev loved the waves, but would absolutely not go in the water without a grown up holding his hand. There was a hatch of sea turtles on our beach, and we got to watch the babies crawl out to the ocean and try to beat the surf into the ocean. We each got to hold a sea turtle and help them as we were guided by the guy from the Sea Turtle Development Center who was there to make sure the hatch got safely to the ocean. We had a great time, (but unfortunately, I didn't have my camera!) We also got to go whale watching and saw a lot of whales including two parents and their baby. They were right close to the boat, and all the kids were absolutely thrilled. We took a ride on a glass bottom boat and got to see all the fish under the ocean. The kids loved that--especially Ev. Grant and I snorkeled as well. There was so much wildlife. So much to do. So gorgeous. The weather was unbelievable. I'm so sure we'll go back. What a fun week.

By the way, I think we solved our sleeping problem that I blogged about a couple of weeks ago. Our kids were so worn out from all the fun stuff at the beach, that they went right to bed on our trip! I think I just need to wear them out more during the day!

Love to you all!

The Making of Mt. Rainier

2009-02-08T21:31:00.001-08:00

Here are a few pics from two weeks ago when it snowed. I decided that my kids have effectively North-westernized themselves when they decided to build a Mt. Rainier out of snow. (Sammi's idea.) Look closely, and you'll see that it is erupting. (Look for the lava flow!) The pictures of Cooper and Ev were taken right after they each threw a snowball at me. You also see the after-activity of hot cocoa!!!

Bedtime Nazi

2009-01-25T20:28:00.001-08:00

Oh, it is so fun to see that so many of you actually check my blog. It makes it worth blogging to know that people are checking in to see what's going on at the Jacksons. Plus, it is fun to feel like people care what is going on over here. Thanks for keeping tabs on us.

This month has been the worst bedtime month of my life. Seriously. I spent a lot of time over the past 5 years trying to make sure that my kids went to bed when I said it was time for bed. This month, however, I have gone to bed angry at my kids every single night. They stay up until 11:00 and then are exhausted all the next day. I have taken away cars, football guys, hockey guys, shin guards, treats, computer time, and even TV time (something I promised I would never use as a punishment, since it actually punishes me the worst!). That is all in one night. I have yelled and screamed. I have said absolutely nothing at all. I have researched on the internet, and I have tried a whole new program for bedtime and have found improvement. I now put the kids to bed after our bedtime rituals and sit outside their bedrooms reading my book yelling "Shhhhhh" at every movement until they are in bed. They also earned a sticker a day for doing a good job and got to pick something they could have when their sticker chart was full. Sammi was the first to earn her's. She chose a unicorn. She earned it on Friday and we had a fun time on Friday picking out fabric for her for a pillow and a blanket. She made them both herself. I was so proud of her. Here she is pictured with her new unicorn and the blanket and pillow that she made for them.

FAVORITE STORIES OF THE WEEK: We are going to Cabo in Mexico this Saturday, and I bought Sammi two new swim suits. She was on cloud nine. She kept telling me how lucky she was. I teased her that she was spoiled. She then said to Cooper, "Do you know what spoiled means? It means you are really happy!" I thought that very fitting. Ev bumped his head and went into a huge fit of screaming pain. I was comforting him saying, "No more tears. That's enough. Take a deep breath." He stopped mid scream, calmly put his hand over my mouth and said clearly as can be, "Please stop." "OK." I said, and Ev picked up on his screaming and crying right where he left off. I didn't say a word. Scotti found that when he stands on our blocks on our linoleum they make great skates for our hockey games, so now everyone has to put on their "skates" before the games and slide around the floor. The only problem is that it causes Ev, who can't seem to do it, a lot of grief! Cooper has been disappearing all week. I always find him outside on the tire swing in mismatched mittens, and hat, and a t-shirt and shorts. It's warm, but not that warm (40 degrees or so!)

Ev's Photo Shoot

2009-01-18T20:47:00.001-08:00

Oh man, we have had a gorgeous week, and I decided one day while we were out playing on the playground to do a photo shoot of Ev. You see the results here. We have had a fun week, with field hockey, rock painting, playground, bike riding, swimming, and even a picnic. I love good weather. It hasn't been like summer--the high was 50 degrees, but in winter that just seems so pleasant! The flooding here is almost gone. You'd almost never know it happened now except that my kids still play flooding (especially in the bath.)

Grant worked in the hospital for the first time this weekend and things went really well. Much less stressful than Residency! Grant feels like his business is doing really well and he is really enjoying himself.

STORIES OF THE WEEK: I have spent a minimum of sixty minutes each day this week cheering for all Scotti's pretend sporting events: football, hockey, and racing. He comes down the stairs every morning and tells me that I am late for the game and I better get up the stairs. Once we are up there, I watch him move all his action figures around and narrate a game that seriously takes much longer than my attention span. By the end, when my cheering is much less than genuine, he is still as excited as if it were really happening. Cooper always wants me to stand in the hall and watch him run laps around our stairway. I have to do this immediately after the game with Scotti. Sammi received a bunch of beads for Christmas and wants nothing more than to create jewelry for everyone she knows, but Everett keeps finding her and messing up her masterpieces and throwing her beads all over the place. She does a good job being patient, but I feel bad because she hasn't been able to finish one yet. Ev constantly sings while he plays. I'm surprised at how many songs he knows. His favorites are "Twinkle, Twinkle", "Happy Birthday", and "BINGO." He is in the most adorable phase right now where he copies everything I say in that adorable baby talk of his. He thinks everything is the most exciting thing that ever happened to him.

2009-01-09T19:11:00.000-08:00

A couple of farms under water. Look closely at the current. There are actual waves in some spots. Our little Satsop river, normally 5 feet deep, measured in at 50 feet deep yesterday!

Speed limit sign. I love it.

The road going under the water!

A warning sign, barely above water!

Elma's lumber yard, flooded.

The last time we saw our road. Now it is under a couple of feet of water!

Coop and some friends at our road, now flooded.

Ev watching the waterfall the flood has made of our road.

Jacksons' first flood!!!

2009-01-09T18:44:00.000-08:00

Western Washington has been flooding since Wednesday. We've been stuck at home since then. Wednesday and Thursday we could get to Elma (5 minutes away), but now we are stuck at our house and all the roads around us are officially flooded. Luckily, our house is not flooded at all because we are sort of on a hill. Otherwise, when we get to the bottom of our hill, you can pretty much only see water in every direction with trees coming out of it. We went for a walk today down our street (since no cars can come on it), and were astounded by the amount of water. Since there is no land anywhere, all the rodents are in the trees, and they seemed to be all over the streets. In some of our pictures, there is a speed limit sign that you can barely see out of the water. Our river, the Chehalis, crested (got to its highest) today, so hopefully we should be able to drive again by Sunday. The force of the water caused the main bridge that we drive over to get to Elma to crack, so even when the flooding goes down, I won't be able to get to town without a 15-20 minute drive, so that's a bummer. We have had a great time learning about the floods and watching in awe the power of Mother Nature. When I was 14 or so, my dad wouldn't let me cut across Lake Yellowstone to get to our campsite and made me paddle all the way around the lake's perimeter because, as he said, we just don't mess with the weather. Well, I'm learning that all over again!