I’ve been attempting to foster their growing desire for independence by teaching them to do more things for themselves.  Let’s get these guys grown and out of the house already.  Not.  Or at least to the age they can stay at home by themselves.  When [...]]]> My kids are so special.  I know it, you know it.

I’ve been attempting to foster their growing desire for independence by teaching them to do more things for themselves.  Let’s get these guys grown and out of the house already.  Not.  Or at least to the age they can stay at home by themselves.  When is that magical age, by the way?  Is it coming soon?

The latest foray into big-boyhood involved me teaching the boys how to efficiently spread substances on bread.  You know, making sandwiches.  We’ve practiced with things like butter, peanut butter and jelly.

A few weeks ago, they asked if they could make themselves a snack.  I was feeling quite confident in their new sandwich-making abilities and loved that they wanted to do it by themselves, so I gave my permission and waited in the living room. 

I think it was after I heard them talking about mayonnaise that I went to check on them.

Yikes.

I call them Special J’s.

You’ve got your mustard.

You’ve got your peanut butter.

You’ve got your jelly.

You’ve got your mayonnaise.

You’re probably wondering if they actually ate these.

The answer is: oh yeah!

Jude – my pickiest eater – gobbled the whole thing up.

Jett ate a good half of his.  I don’t know why he stopped, but I assume it had something to do with it tasting bloody awful.  That’s just a guess.

Yes, I am – not kind of – I AM a big deal.  You can tell because of [...]]]> Here, just take a look at a picture I took of Emily with my new phone.  My new iPhone.  My new iPhone 4.  Try not to be distracted by my Grandma Bonnie and her “deciding face”.  (Sorry, Gram!)

Yes, I am – not kind of – I AM a big deal.  You can tell because of my iPhone.  Only people who are “big deals” have one.

I have downloaded, like, 4 apps so far, one being Sudoku, obviously.  I’m an intellectual.  Yeah, so, 4 apps in 2 weeks isn’t bad.

I’m not that techy so I really haven’t cared about getting an iPhone or any other “smart” phone in the past.  But, Josh and I were looking for ways to save on our monthly expenses and thought it was about time to get rid of the home phone land line.  Except, that was mostly the phone I used.  I did have a cell phone, too, but I hated that thing.  And I don’t even hate things.  It was the cheapest garbage-clown disaster phone in the history of cellular telephones and I owned it.  I think it was $9.99, but then they gave a $30 rebate or something for buying it because they felt so sorry for you having the worst phone in the world.

I rarely used that phone because it was so awful; I’d lose it every single week because I didn’t care.  Not many people called that phone, and I never had a texting package because I’m cheap and texting would have required touching that terrible thing and pressing it’s buttons.  So, here is what a typical battery cycle of my phone was like: it would sit misplaced and collecting dust in a corner of the house or the car or the diaper bag until the low-battery beep drove Josh crazy enough for him to charge it for me.  Repeat.

So, my solution was to have the home phone number (land line) ported to a new cell phone for me.  When AT&T told me that we had an eligible upgrade to an iPhone 4 on our account and it would only cost $200, I decided to go for it.  To join the rest of the civilized world with their fancy phones and texting packages.

And I’m glad I did.

I also have wanted a point-and-shoot camera for awhile, just for the portability of it and for the unplanned little photo ops that come around every once in awhile when I don’t have access to my “nice” camera.  The camera of the new iPhones are pretty good (improved from the first version) and that was my deciding factor in going ahead and purchasing the phone.  It’ll also replace my Flip video camcorder because there is a sweet li’l viddy camera in it as well.

I have noticed that I’m on the laptop A LOT less since having my iPhone.  I like that, for sure.

And I haven’t lost it once since getting it!  (Not for more than five minutes, anyway.)

Also, I haven’t missed having a land-line phone like I thought I might.  So, that’ll save us about $25 a month now that we don’t have it.  So, after 8 months, this phone will have paid for itself!  Kind of?

1) to celebrate my sister Emily’s birthday, and

2) to listen to our friend Kelly tell about her recent trip to Israel…

- oh ok, three purposes –

3) to eat.

If that doesn’t call for the reservation of their party room, [...]]]> A couple of weeks ago, my family gathered at Smokey Row in Des Moines for two purposes:

1) to celebrate my sister Emily’s birthday, and

2) to listen to our friend Kelly tell about her recent trip to Israel…

- oh ok, three purposes –

3) to eat.

If that doesn’t call for the reservation of their party room, I don’t know what does.

Smokey Row is a coffee house (and restaurant) that has recently opened (alright, within a few years anyway) in Des Moines.  It’s the fourth location, the first one being in Pleasantville, Iowa.  My friend Alisa would often talk of Smokey Row’s Pella location and the fun she had there during her college years, but I didn’t know what all of the fuss was about.  But now I do.  It comes down to atmosphere.  It’s great, it’s chill, it’s inviting.  The food & drinks are yummy, too.

Back to our night.

The girls.  Kelly, Emily.  Kelly and Emily met when they found themselves working for the same employer.  Or employers.  Oh, the stories they could tell of that place!  I wish they could recount those stranger-than-fiction tales here on the blog, but I’m sure it wouldn’t be appropriate.  Des Moines can be a small town, especially when a few very large egos are involved.

But Emily met Kelly there… that’s the point, and we as Emily’s family are sure glad she did.  We love Kelly and the great friend she has been/is to Emily.

Here’s my handsome hubby, waiting for the rest of the party to arrive.

This is my Grandpa Bob.  There is nothing I don’t love about this man.

We must have been listening to Kelly tell about her trip at this point in the evening.  Hence the intense listening.  We’re talking about China now, dear.

Kelly was given the unique opportunity to visit Israel free of charge thanks to the Birthright Israel Foundation.  Basically, because of Kelly’s Jewish heritage (through her father) she was eligible to apply for the special privilege, and after submitting her application including an essay – she was selected.  There were 26,000 applicants.

And there is my Grandpa Chuck looking at the visual aides (ok, pictures) that Kelly printed out from her trip.  It was great to hear about her experiences and see her pictures of  the distant land.

And I’m pretty sure we didn’t even sing “Happy Birthday” to Emily!  But that’s what happens when you get to be 27.  And when you’re the older sister of a 27 year old woman, you tend to forget, I guess.

I don’t even know why I’m sharing this picture.  I don’t particularly like it.  Just keep an eye on my roots, that’s all I’ll say for now.  Oh yeah, and Josh and I got to go to dinner that night without the kids and that’s also why I think this picture is notable.  No kids.  There are times I make little sense.

Sunday afternoon I sent the older boys outside to play.  I thought all was well… until I checked on them.  Gotta remember to do that earlier next time. 

Remember my new potted plants that I put on our front step when we made some improvements around the house?  Well, I ended up killing one of [...]]]>

Sunday afternoon I sent the older boys outside to play.  I thought all was well… until I checked on them.  Gotta remember to do that earlier next time. 

Remember my new potted plants that I put on our front step when we made some improvements around the house?  Well, I ended up killing one of them.  Yes, I suppose it was my fault.  One of my pots evidently wasn’t intended for the outdoors.  When we got lots of rain the last few weeks, the water didn’t drain out, it collected on the top.  I didn’t drain it, and before I knew it, the poor dear was bloomless, colorless and wilting.

The boys picked up on its compromised (dead) state and took the opportunity to relieve it of its soil.  How nice of them.

When I saw what they were up to, it reminded of me of another incident not too long ago…

Seems like they were a little bolder this time with the mud.  It ended up caked all over their bodies and clothing.

They got sprayed with the garden hose before they were allowed to enter the house.  They were lucky it was a warm day.

What I mean is, like, just because I have ONE good idea, don’t go thinking that I have a clean house, or my kids are always well-mannered or that I have [...]]]> Do you promise that if I share a tip with you, you won’t think I’m… I don’t know, like a genius, perfect mom or anything?

What I mean is, like, just because I have ONE good idea, don’t go thinking that I have a clean house, or my kids are always well-mannered or that I have a hot meal for the family every single night… because I don’t.

Alright, I’m assuming you all promised.  I have a rep to maintain.  You may proceed:

Last week during Jude’s first week of school, I sat down with Jett on my lap, and I recorded myself reading a book to him.

Cool, huh?

Here’s where I got this crazy idea:

About a year ago, Wendy’s was giving away in their kids’ meals an audio book in CD format called Halloween Fraidy-Cat.  The book was written by Abby Klein and is one of a whole series of books called the Ready, Freddy! series; they are chapter books geared toward kids kindergarten age thru 2nd grade.  To date, I believe there are 19 books.

My kids loved this audio book and wanted to listen to it all the time!  They still like to listen to it, in fact.

So last year for Christmas, we bought many (maybe the first 12?) of the Ready, Freddy! books used from an eBay seller.

I thought it would be fun to record our own audio book, so I had Jett choose another book in the series and we got started.

On our laptop, we have a program called “Sound Recorder” – I’m sure this is fairly standard; I know we didn’t pay extra for it.  I opened the program, and hit the record button and began reading!  That’s it!

I decided to make a separate file for each chapter since there were 10 chapters.  I’m glad I did it that way, because it broke up the reading and there were times Jett and I were interrupted and had to begin a particular chapter again.

When I was done recording (I tried to use character voices, which is actually really embarrassing to listen to now), I used Windows Media Player to create a playlist of all of the chapters together and then burned them to a CD, wrote the name of the book on it, and gave it to the kids.

They love it!  They can put in the CD by themselves and follow along in the book so see the illustrations.  Next time, I might even insert my own chime sound so they’ll know when to turn the page.  Jude can read most of the book on his own, but Jett’s still figuring words out, so it’s more difficult for him to follow along. 

And now I NEVER have to read to my kids again!  Muah, muah, muah!  Just kidding, but it does give them some independence to enjoy a book of their choosing whenever they want.  The book that I just recorded – Help!  A Vampire’s Coming! – ended up being just over 40 minutes long.  Talk about some serious quiet time!  They sometimes even like to listen to the book before going to bed (after their standard person-to-person bedtime reading).

I’m sure this would be great for all kinds of books – whatever your child’s reading level or interests.

Dear Emily,

I’m so glad you are my sister.  Who would have guessed after all the knock-down, drag-out fights we had as we were growing up, you becoming ENRAGED when I’d crack my knuckles (even though you did it, too), or fighting over whose turn it was to sing “Part of Your World” (solo-style, of course), [...]]]>

Dear Emily,

I’m so glad you are my sister.  Who would have guessed after all the knock-down, drag-out fights we had as we were growing up, you becoming ENRAGED when I’d crack my knuckles (even though you did it, too), or fighting over whose turn it was to sing “Part of Your World” (solo-style, of course), that we would end up being great friends?

We are alike in many ways, yes, but I love you most for our differences… meaning we compliment each other well, don’t you think?  It’s so easy to get along with you and to fully be myself around you.

I hope this 27th year of your life treats you well.  I’m excited that you still have so many firsts to experience, and that I’ll get to share them with you.

Love,

Jessie

Oh my!

So grown up in his new pajamas with just a touch of bed-head.  Special thanks to his Great-Aunt Tracy and G-U David for this adorable ensemble. 

Who does he look like here?  I can’t quite put my finger on it, but I feel like it’s a glimpse of what’s to [...]]]> Be still, my ever-loving heart.

Oh my!

So grown up in his new pajamas with just a touch of bed-head.  Special thanks to his Great-Aunt Tracy and G-U David for this adorable ensemble. 

Who does he look like here?  I can’t quite put my finger on it, but I feel like it’s a glimpse of what’s to come.

Just kidding.  It’s over 3 minutes long, so if you consider that a wise use of your time, knock yourself out!

I took this video of Jude as I was driving him home from school.  The camera work is surprisingly good, [...]]]> I spent about 2 days trying to get this video uploaded, so you better watch it!

Just kidding.  It’s over 3 minutes long, so if you consider that a wise use of your time, knock yourself out!

I took this video of Jude as I was driving him home from school.  The camera work is surprisingly good, considering.  Just kidding again!  I’m not that reckless.

Josh took the day off from work so we ALL went to pick Jude up from school.  I wanted to get the very freshest impression of school from him, so what you’re seeing is as we’re learning it.

I didn’t worry about him all day, but when I picked him up and he was whining, I thought, “Oh no!  Has he been like this all day?!”

Apparently my expression said as much when I looked at him and then at his teacher, and she shrugged her shoulders as if to say she didn’t know what the sudden pouting session was about.  She said that they’d had a great day.

So, I’m quizzing him as you’ll see in the video, and we finally get to the truth of the matter at the very end… he wanted to ride the bus!  Go figure!

He does tell me about what his favorite part of the day was and about his lunch, which was funny.

How much am I going to love watching this YEARS from now?!  Ah… it’s gonna be priceless.

He was thrilled… really!

He did a great job at the dreaded drop-off.  I did, too!  No tears from any of us.

There is Jude and Jett – Jett insisted in wearing his backpack, too, even though he doesn’t start preschool for another couple of weeks.  He wore it out of solidarity, I guess. [...]]]> Jude started kindergarten yesterday.

He was thrilled… really!

He did a great job at the dreaded drop-off.  I did, too!  No tears from any of us.

There is Jude and Jett – Jett insisted in wearing his backpack, too, even though he doesn’t start preschool for another couple of weeks.  He wore it out of solidarity, I guess.

And there is the last picture I snapped after saying goodbye and taking a few steps towards our car.  I needed one more picture, one he didn’t know I was taking.  He was showing his teacher the Hook Book we worked on over the summer.

I interviewed and took a little video of Jude after his first day.  I’m working on getting that uploaded now so that I can share it later.

Sunday afternoon we had Jace’s family birthday party at my in-laws’ [...]]]> To start things off, here’s a picture of Jace on the day of his birthday, opening the gifts that my mom & dad got for him.  Here he is with new onesies that fit!  (Since Mom always thinks his shirts look too small for him.)

Sunday afternoon we had Jace’s family birthday party at my in-laws’ house.  They recently had their roof extended on the back of their house to cover their existing deck; it was theeee perfect place for a party!  It was such a beautiful day, as well.  After the oppressive temps of last week, the low 80’s felt pretty, pretty good.

Grandma Bev and Grandpa Chuck.  Grandma Bev is still recovering from a recent foot surgery – so it was especially nice that she made the trip down to see us.

Dylan came, too!  And had a great time… obviously.

Jace is enjoying some cuddles with his Auntie Em.

The honoree took a bite of a chocolate chip cookie and then was making goofy faces with chocolate all over his teeth.

And then the gifts were brought out! I felt a little overwhelmed trying to keep everything straight; the older boys were quite interested in what Jace was getting and started taking the gifts out of their packages at the same time I was opening other gifts!  Ahhhhh!

We slowed things down a bit and got it all figured out… I think.

He was soooo tired at this point because he skipped his morning nap, but he was still having fun!

After the gifts, he was still happy, but then…

he started saying “Nigh, nigh…” and cocked his head to the side.

This was kind of cruel.  We put a cupcake down in front of him, but made him wait until we found a match to light his candle.

Making some calls before he eats.

Cousins.  Brothers.  Not brother-cousins.

I’m not sure why, but he had trouble getting to sleep after all this cake!

He was quite a trooper; he didn’t nap until 4:30 that afternoon.  He’s used to having 2 naps by that time normally.

It was a fantastic day.