Jams and Jellies

Hey-- What's up?

2010-04-04T22:08:00.000-07:00

Blog-- Hmmm...

Not sure what to write...

Not that my life and the life of my family is boring-- it is the exact opposite. We are busy and life is crazy and exciting. Unfortunately for the last few months it has been hard to take the time to articulate that in a blog post. It has been almost 7 months since the last post. Sorry for all two of you that actually read our blog.

It is hard to believe that April 2010 is here. When I entered into BYU's MPA program two years ago 2010 seemed a long way off. I knew the time would move quickly. I was right about that I just did not anticipate how fast the time would actually go.

I am at now facing the end of the MPA program and graduation is just weeks away. The problem is I still have much to do before graduation. Unfortunately, I have a serious case of "I don't care anymore" syndrome. Okay, I do care, but I am having a hard time convincing my self that I do. Does that make sense?

I have a week and a half of classes left, a few major papers due this next week, final assignments and finals creeping up quickly. I care, but not enough. I need motivation. I need inspiration. I need to get to work. I had planned to get to work and get some use out of the weekend, but alas Fellowship of the Rings was on TBS tonight. I could not forgo that treat! So I indulged and procrastinated the inevitable for a few more hours. It is crazy. I AM crazy.

I am sure I will wish for those few hours later this week. I know when my back is up against the deadline I am sure to be pushing in the next 72 to 96 hours I will regret the time wasted. But for now it somehow feels like a good trade off. Oh well.

I guess that even this post is a cry for help. I'm not sure what help I am hoping for, or why exactly I need help, I just have a feeling that I do. Hmmm. It's kind of funny that I can ignore this once flourishing (ok a little exaggerated) blog for 7 months and now, tonight, have the sudden urge to update.

Yes it must be a cry for help. Help me get motivated-- Help me log out and get to work-- Help me feel the urgency of my situation.

Urgency, YES URGENCY!

IT IS urgent that I get to work... ... ... but for now I am just feeling tired. Maybe I'll go to bed and sleep on the urgency.

Sounds like a plan. :)

Happy Birthday!

2009-09-28T22:13:00.000-07:00

Today was Nancy's Birthday! The main event of our family celebration was up Provo canyon!

We took up our little BBQ and cooked up some fun. My cousin Julie and her husband Allan and family joined us in the little celebration.

Julie made the cake-- and as it turns out the same kind of cake the Nancy's mom used to make for birthdays-- Strawberry sheet cake! It brings back memories. Thanks Julie!

We went to a park above Vivian Park at the end of South Fork canyon.

We really had a lot of fun playing with the kids and eating. We also managed to take a few pictures.

This is Julie and Allen and their family!

Of course this is our little family-- in the trees!

If you do not know already, Nancy is pretty amazing! For those of you that may not know her personally I will elaborate a little in the form of a couple of things that I find amazing about my wife Nancy:

Music-- Nancy is musically talented, she is a gifted pianist and an excellent accompanist. She is also an accomplished flautist. She Loves music, and equally important is passing that love on to our children. Currently Sarah plays the piano, and hopes to start the flute in the near future. Ben played the piano, but now is happily playing the Baritone! I am so thankful that our house is full of Music.

Friendship-- Nancy is a friend! Not just a friend-- she is a good friend. She quite naturally is a listener and loves to talk and listen to people. She is at ease in a group and loves a one-on-one conversation. She truly enjoys people and loves getting to know them. Most importantly-- She is MY best friend.

Advice-- Nancy gives good advice. You might think this is a simple thing-- but there is a lot to it. Nancy values truth, honesty, wisdom, love, kindness, and gratitude, among other things, and I believe her advice as well as her life reflect these virtues. Nancy really thinks about things, she also ponders and prays about them, and is naturally spiritual. I value and appreciate the advise and council I receive from Nancy!

Numbers-- This may sound a little funny-- But Nancy is amazing with numbers! She is our family accountant and she does a fantastic job! But even more amazing is her memory-- she is a walking phone book. She remembers phone numbers and can recall them almost instantly. Besides being amazing it is really quite convenient!

Long-suffering-- This is a biggie! I have to admit that the last few years have at times been difficult. Especially making the decision to leave employment and return to school at the age and stage of our family. We both knew that the MPA program at BYU was the right thing to do. Even so it was still has not been easy. We picked up and left our home, friends, and associations of 12 plus years and moved to Provo. Nancy has been the greatest support to me and has done it willingly and with faith, knowing that in the end it would all work out. We still have faith that it will work out-- Nancy, thank you for your long-suffering and faith in me!

Love-- This one may be my favorite. Nancy loves me-- even with all my faults. I think that is pretty amazing. I want her to know that I love her! I am so thankful for her and all that she means to me. I love the fact that we are married and have a little family. She is the foundation of our family and is committed to each one of us, and I believe that her underlying motivation truly is love. Nancy, I love you-- you have my heart, and all my love!

Happy, Happy Birthday Honey! Hope you had a wonderful day!

Love,

Scott

A New Configuration and last gasp of Summer vacation

2009-08-16T22:54:00.000-07:00

What?!? A New Configuration? Yes-- a new seating configuration. I am of course speaking about long distance car traveling again. We just returned from a trip to NorCal. We had a fun trip, but we did not get to see everyone or do all that we wanted. (If you-- dear reader-- live in the East Bay Area and by reading found out we were in the area and did not visit you-- I am terribly sorry, we just ran out of daylight to do it all. Not to worry-- we will be back to visit again...)

I digress-- a new configuration-- I am speaking of surviving the 750 mile from Provo to Walnut Creek twice in one week. The last blog entry described what we learned from our last trip-- we did learn and this time split up the kids into 4 corners. It worked, Grace in the back with Ben, and Sarah and Emma in the second row. No major fights-- a few skirmishes but nothing serious enough to warrant acting on the threat of "DO YOU WANT ME TO PULL THIS CAR OVER RIGHT NOW!"

We split the trip with an overnight stay in the metropolis of Winnemucca, NV. (By the way-- If you are ever there, the Holiday Inn Express has a killer complementary breakfast, for those who have been to Winnemucca, it is right across from the Mc Donalds play land and the flying J truck stop.)

The stop makes the trip much more manageable, however, I do have to admit an overnight stay does make me feel a bit weak as a former drive straight through kind of guy. I remind myself that I am not a college student anymore-- well I guess that is not quite true. I am a graduate student, I guess I am not as young as I used to be. Dang.

The one tragedy of our trip is we took the camera, but alas we hardly took a picture. What has happened to us? This last trip is comparable to a 4th or 5th child later in life looking at family pictures and noticing the 10 pictures of their first year of life compared to 1,924 pictures taken in the first six months of their oldest siblings life. (All I can say to that real situation is don't worry baby of the family-- you may not have as many pictures of your childhood-- but you will get to go to Disneyland about 100 more times than the oldest kid in the family. I should know-- I am number 4 of 5!)

Anyway-- My message to our little trip to California-- "It is not that we did not love you-- it is just that we haven't been blogging or scrapping as much as we used to and-- well we were just too busy to take out our little camera and record memories...." Just like trying to explain to your 4th or 5th child about their pictures-- it makes perfect sense-- but still sounds kind of crappy when you say it out loud.

Regardless of the dearth of photos, we did have a fun trip. While visiting Phoenix last month we saw Wicked-- we enjoyed it so much we decided to see it again in San Francisco. I took my iPhone and Nancy did snap this photo of me in front of the theater. It was a great show and we had excellent seats. I think we may have been spit on a couple of times-- yes it was that close and yes it was worth it.

We visited with some good friends and they informed us they were getting rid of their "love sack" (a foam filled bean bag for those wondering what a love sack is--) our only problem was transporting it home. The roof was the solution. It worked out fine, but keeping the protective sheets tucked in as we sped through Nevada was a challenge. There may have even been moments when Nancy did not think it was worth the hassle of bringing it home... but it's now in our basement. All the kids have lounged in it as have I, and even Nancy has confessed to curling up and reading a book in the comfortable cocoon of our new love sack. Thank you Eric and Sally and family for sharing the Love!

This was the last gasp of Summer for our family. The kids start school this next week. I begin a week later along with Emma who will also be a BYU student-- at the BYU kindergarten on campus. We are all looking forward to a new school year, but still can not believe that summer passed so quickly. I hope your summer as been as eventful and fun as ours.

In The Car for Hours!

2009-07-17T01:09:00.000-07:00

Lessons Learned:

Don't give Dramamine to Grace-- It may keep her from tossing her cookies-- But it keeps her up (only a half hour of sleep out of 10 hrs of driving!) And also keeps her up a quarter of the night bouncing off walls! AAACK! My bad parent award comment is: "If medicine does not knock your kids out for at least a couple hours-- what good is it?" :)

Fights in the car can be entertaining. Example: Emma and Sarah sitting together. Emma thinks it would be fun to start copying everything Sarah Says! Sound familiar? After quite a few copied phrases-- with Sarah's frustration level increasing along with Emma's elation-- the following was heard:

Sarah: EMMA STOP COPYING ME!
Emma: Emma stop copying me!
Sarah: MOM-- MAKE HER STOP!!!
Emma: Mom-- Make me stop!

We really had a laugh-- not sure if this one is a "had to be there" moment-- but I did have tears running down my face. I never knew I could laugh that hard and keep the car under control. :)

Next lesson

Ben was sequestered in the equivalent of the tail gunner seat. All seats but his lonely single back seat were laid down and packed around him, including the cooler and food box. He was put in charge of the food, and passing it up to the others including pilot and co-pilot was his sworn duty. Unfortunately, the pilots generally had to yell food orders several times to get the message across and then wait for him to search everywhere for the item all the time convinced it was not there... At the end of the day he did a good job, but lesson learned-- put the food box with in reach of the co-pilot-- everyone will be happier.

Another lesson learned-- Now I know why all the snow birds travel North for the Summer-- It is HOT in Arizona!

Sorry I have no current photos of any events written about-- my photographer is on strike and this stock shot taken in May will have to do. Hey Nice hair Scott!

Provo River Trail

2009-06-02T21:13:00.000-07:00

Scott has returned and so has the Fancy Nancy. Some claim that I'm not allowed to blog while the hubster is away. Really? Was I that depressing? I like to call it introspective. In the meantime, as things have been settling back into a routine, a lot has been happening around here. I won't go into all the boring details but I will highlight a super fun thing we did last Saturday--we rode our bikes up Provo Canyon. I felt so organic and earthy.

With Emma on Scott's bike,

me with Grace in tow on the beach cruiser,

and Ben & Sarah each powering it up by themselves (oops no photo proof),

we made it almost 5 miles (the number gets bigger every time I talk about it) from the mouth of the canyon to Vivian Park.

Excepting the pit toilets, Vivian Park was a perfect resting point before returning back down the mountain.

Ben with a gorgeous backdrop.

Grace doing what she does best, finding trouble.

We stopped at Bridal Veil Falls on the way back to play in some super frigid water. Scott's new job as an intern for the city of Sandy's Public Utilities department has brought him a new found understanding of where this beautiful run off goes. He wasn't pleased when he saw dogs playing it. Our incredibly clean humans are okay to play in it.

If you come to visit us, likely you will be offered the chance to join us on this awesome excursion. Just be ready.

Cracking the Case

2009-05-12T09:58:00.000-07:00

A subject has been ruminating in my head for a couple of days now. Since Mother's Day in fact. I had thought I would just keep my turmoil and thoughts to myself until today, I happened upon somebody's Facebook status admitting that she has mixed emotions about Mother's Day. A big shout out to Hilary for liberating me and all those jumbled up thoughts in my head! That's exactly it. I have mixed emotions about Mother's Day.

I'm a good old sport and think it's a cute and well-intentioned holiday and definitely a time to appreciate the mothers in our lives. I don't want to downplay that at all. Moms are a big deal. And let's face it, they are severely underappreciated.

My mixed emotions include the expectations surrounding the day. At the risk of sounding like a martyr, my Mother's Day was all about being a mother and doing all the work that goes along with it. I didn't get a break. I didn't get to call my mom or spend the day with her.

Here's what I did get:

A sweet little breakfast made by Sarah. Minutes later, the group demanded I return the favor by giving them breakfast.
The chance to touch each child at the same time during Sacrament Meeting. With two on my lap, including almost 11-year old Ben on the left knee, Grace on the right knee, Emma hooking elbows while scratching my elbow on the left side and Sarah with her head leaning on my right shoulder.
The Christ-like service of the family in front of us at church who split up their group to help occupy my little peeps who were not feeling inspired to behave on Mother's Day.
The chance to sing a beautiful arrangement of Love One Another with the ward choir. It was so touching, especially during the practice that I was afraid everyone was going to notice that I was near bawling. That would have been embarassing. I just couldn't look at the sweet little lady in the front row with Alzheimer's because it just brought back way too many memories.
Heard a great lesson in Relief Society about persecution whilst Grace was happily in nursery.
An instant message conversation with Scott. His texted wishes were heartfelt.
A great nap. It was heaven and gave me all the energy to get through the rest of the day.
A Sunday stroll with everyone risking being looked down upon by the occasional person for doing such scandalous things on the Sabbath. GASP! I even let the kids ride their bikes.
An opportunity to apologize when I got totally frustrated with one of the kids.
Got a headstart on that blasted 4th grade county report.

The thing is, I didn't expect anything different. It was all good. Do mothers really feel that much better on Mother's Day? Is that all we need? I'm not going to buy that bill of goods. Mother's Day for many can be a day of sadness. It can be about loss, unfulfilled desires, feeling inadequate, disappointment... My good thoughts and wishes go to those who don't talk about that side of it.

Now for some feel good stuff....

Here's Sarah, my personal chef with her gourmet meal. She can cook eggs like nobody's business. Even does only egg whites for her big bro. I asked her, "how did you know how to separate them?" She answered, "I just watched you." The cleverest child. Watching her mother on any cooking task is risky.

The newest Mama horse we know. Cousin Amy's half arabian / half shire horse had a baby a couple of weeks ago. Grace was not afraid of feeding this big girl.

Happy Mother's Day to Peggy, the horse. With all that grass my kids were feeding her, she should be back to her pre-pregnancy weight in no time.

And of course, the bouncing baby boy whose name is coincidentally, Ben.

Don't Fence Me In

2009-05-08T14:58:00.000-07:00

As is obvious, I haven't written a blog entry in forever. I can't totally explain why except for maybe my paralysis from censorship. It's a plague on Facebook, too. I have to be so careful what I write that it stunts my creativity. My sarcastic side can get me into a bit of trouble. I am even on a blog commenting diet because I felt like I was getting into trouble all the time. Only people who really know me, get me. Since Jams & Jellies has always really been Scott's baby, I may just hand over the reigns to him forever. Who knows, maybe I'll start another blog of my very own and truly not care what anyone thinks. It would be for the not-so-faint of heart because let's face it, I feel things pretty deeply and sometimes that's just not so pretty. We'll see.

Oh wait, getting too philosophical, this is the feel good blog still. Okay. Here are some random happenings from the last bit. (I'm on Scott's Macbook--isn't he nice to share with me while he is parading around Ghana? Let me see if I can figure out how to upload a photo...)

Sarah had a birthday. Here she is with the cutest birthday cake I've ever seen made by her Aunt Susie and cousin Anna, cake bakers/decorators extraordinaire! This is beginning to be a Utah tradition I can stand by! (This fab duo made Grace's 1st birthday cake. Here's to hoping they are available for our two birthdays coming up the end of May.)

And Sarah was baptized.

I must pause and share a quick story about Sarah. Last week, she gave a talk in primary and the subject happened to be baptism (how timely). I, as usual, wrote the talk but she didn't have a chance to go through it before her time to give it. She 'sightread' it as we say in the music world. I thought it would be nice if she quoted a verse of a baptism-themed primary song. So, on Sarah's paper it said, "In closing, I would like to quote a verse from the song, 'I Want to be Baptized.'" She looked up at me, had a strange look on her face and then SANG the verse! She didn't know what the word "quote" meant. The brave little soul broke out into an acapella rendition of the song to be obedient to what I wrote. It was just about the sweetest thing I've ever seen. I felt a little bad about the communication breakdown but it all worked out fine.

Grace has been up to her usual antics.

Let's give credit where credit is due. She had a cohort in crime.

And it's been Pinewood Derby time around here.

I was a solo parent on this one and as a bit of background, I don't do well with this event when both parents are around. I was a little stressed but it had a happy ending.

I've been playing with a new camera lens. Just a little indulgence in trying to survive while Scott's away.

And a little action shot: Grace saying her new word "go?". She says this whenever I ask her where something is. It makes me chuckle every time she does it.

That's it in a nutshell. The only big project looming before Scott's return is my 4th grade county report. Wait, did I say "MY"? Oh excuse me...that would be BEN'S county report. Of course, he will be doing every last word of it. Now, if I could just find my coloring crayons...

News from Africa

2009-04-27T03:31:00.001-07:00

Hello all-- sorry no pictures yet-- they may not come for a few weeks. I am posting from Accra, Ghana. I will be here for three weeks working on a couple of projects with a group from the BYU MPA program. I will write more later-- I have just arrived and need to sleep.

How to become more domestic....

2009-03-10T11:07:00.001-07:00

...have this view from the kitchen sink. It doesn't matter if it's covered in snow, green or brown. The mountains in their majesty talk to me and whisper sweet nothings to me everyday.

Scratching

2009-02-22T10:57:00.000-08:00

As a Californian, I was inundated with the "whole foods" craze. Now that I'm connecting with my pioneer roots here in Utah, I find myself doing some real life whole food cooking. The results aren't always what I thought they'd be but I feel good for trying. In addition, I've been attempting to recreate some of our favorite things at home from scratch to be more provident shall we say. Let's just call this process "scratching".

Here are some of my scratching projects...

I never buy any premade cookie at the store. Using only whole chocolate chips, and a whole lot of sugar and flour, I make plenty of cookies from scratch.

In lieu of premade chocolate milk, we had been using carnation instant breakfast chocolate packets mixed with milk. To bring it down even more, we started buying cans of hot chocolate mix. Then, I found a recipe to make our own hot chocolate mix using cocoa, creamer, powdered milk and powdered sugar so I sent Scott to retrieve me a can of our never used powdered milk from our food storage supply and whipped us up a batch. The jury is still out on whether this is passing muster with the kids. I gave some to Emma this morning who exclaimed, "this tastes we-od".

The Creamery on 9th Street makes the yummiest hamburgers. Scott was the cleverest one day and watched how they make them. I got him on the job of making some at home. Using an ice cream scooper, put a scoop of raw and unspiced hamburger on the stove. Cook it for a minute, squash it down with a spatula and salt and pepper. After it's fully cooked, serve on a homemade roll. I used a Rhodes roll from my freezer that I had let raise for the prescribed time and baked. It was perfect!

Scott and I have never bought premade maple syrup. We only use mapleine with lots of whole sugar. I don't use Bisquick either. I have the best recipe for waffles and pancakes.

Our microwave still is outside because of the popcorn incident which stunk it up big time so everything gets heated on the stove or in the oven these days. It's very wholesome not having any of those micro-waves breaking down plastic or giving us cancer. This may change when it gets warmer outside. I use a lot of whole dishwashing soap to clean all of the extra dishes this requires.

Speaking of popcorn, we only pop popcorn on the stove now using whole popcorn kernels and whole melted butter on top.

Scott uses only organic grapes homegrown on the vines from our yard (and a whole bunch of sugar) to make jelly. No pesticides people.

Sundays are Cinnamon Roll Sundays around here. I usually buy frozen Rhodes cinnamon rolls from Costco but I decided to give it a try myself. This weekend was my third try at the matter. I'm glad to report that the third time is indeed a charm. Thanks to my cousin with a really good (& easy) recipe along with some excellent tips, it finally worked!

People, hold onto your hats here but I will confess that I have made my own laundry detergent. I'm obsessed with the Duggar family (the ones with 18 children and now a daughter-in-law...yes I keep track and secretly wish I could live with them or have that many children) and in their book recently released (which I highly recommend), they shared their recipe for homemade laundry detergent. We are still studying whether or not this is an acceptable 'scratching' event for us. The cost savings is so huge I'm very hopeful but I want to be sure that the Jacobs family doesn't smell before I can fully recommend the experience to others. I made the mistake of confessing this to a couple of my California friends--the first laughed so hard she couldn't speak and the second said she needed to get me out of here if I'm going to start doing stuff like that.

When we have a true hankering for ice cream, we have homemade it using whole cream, whole milk and pouring melted chocolate chips at the end to make chocolate crackle. It's very wholesome.

Just in case my Weight Watcher friend reads this, please note that just because I make it doesn't mean I always eat it. I do feel it's a major bummer that when eliminating processed foods, I may be healthier but I'm not necessarily skinnier. I still have to eat in moderation. What a jip!

Recently, Scott needed a new picture in order to renew his passport. Remember the days you had to go get your picture taken at like Kinko's or someplace? Not anymore! I took this picture of Scott from scratch.

I'm always up for new "scratching" ideas of anyone wants to share them with me!

Katie Scissorhands

2009-02-20T07:37:00.000-08:00

One of the upsides of being the youngest of such a widespread of ages in my family is that I have the coolest nieces that are closer to my age than my siblings that birthed them. Nothing was cooler than being 10 years old when I became an aunt. These cute girls were the little sisters I always hoped and dreamed for. Now, many years later, it is even more fun to have nieces (and nephews too but there aren't so many of those in the Curtis family) who are awesome, interesting, and smart adults and are truly my friends and teach me so much. How lucky am I?

Katie is the oldest child of my big bro Rich. As my oldest brother, Rich is 16 years older than I and oh how I love this guy. He does stuff like sing Happy Birthday to me in Vern-like style on my voicemail. He and I probably look the most alike with our matching chins although not so much anymore because he is getting skinny. I talk to him regularly. He didn't get the least bit rattled when he called recently and caught me in a mini-breakdown and I couldn't help but bawl on the phone when I heard his voice. He has a wife and four girls, he knows what to do with a few tears. Okay, but this isn't about Rich, this is about Katie. Here is a more current picture of her with Papa. Papa was never happier than eating a greasy treat at a fair of some kind. Mixing in a grandchild to the adventure would only make it more pleasurable to him. He adored his grandchildren.

Oh, right, right...this is about Katie. Here are a few fun things about her:

Katie can scrapbook like nobody's business. She runs circles around me and is my sounding board for all scrapping projects. She is so creative, organized and so caught up that she does albums for other people. I'm glad she will still speak to me even though I've gone mostly digital. She is a truist and must touch the paper still.
One time I e-mailed a recipe to Katie per her request and by accident I made a typo on the oven temperature. It took her HOURS to bake the cheesecake bars. Oooh, I felt bad!
She is the adopted mother to my parent's dog, Toby. He is crazy and she deserves an award for taking him on. This is the same dog who under my watch nearly drowned in my parent's pool. She dresses him up for the holidays and everything.
Not only do Katie and I talk about and analyze books we read, we are really good at talking about blogs and blogwriting as we all know it's just another kind of reading material.
Katie is a school teacher along with five of my other nieces. I would pay a million dollars if any of our kids could have one of them for a teacher. Teaching just runs in their veins.
Katie has a great sense of humor. She has put up with many of our family dinners which can resemble attending a circus. I remember laughing so hard once with her that we could hardly catch our breath. I wish I knew what was so funny that time.
Nobody can pinch a penny like Katie can. I've never seen such restraint. She can seriously go into a store and if it's not exactly what she is looking for at the price she will pay, forget about it!
Katie is so smart plus she is nice enough to not use very many big words that I can't understand. That would make me feel bad. She is so considerate that way.
I love that Katie (along with my other nieces as well) is very talented musically. I love that Granny has left a little bit of her talent and love for music with each of them.

This is not an all-inclusive list but suffice it to say that I think Katie is pretty darn cool. This has been so much fun for me, maybe I'll make this an ongoing series...I could write volumes on my appreciation and love for all of my nieces (and nephews too, of course.).

Go, Dog. Go!

2009-02-06T10:24:00.000-08:00

Many of you (particularly with kids) have heard of the children's book titled Go, Dog. Go! by P. D. Eastman and may have even read it. It is a quick read--

Regardless BYU's theater department presented an adaptation of the book on stage. I took the three older kids and had a fun time. The program consisted of simple sets and six actors. They played Red Dog, Blue Dog, Green Dog, Yellow Dog, Hattie/Spotted Dog, and MC Dog. There was a lot of running, singing, dancing and howling in harmony. The dogs were working, driving, running, eating, sleeping, and of course singing. We had lots of fun-- the kids and dad loved it and had a good time out on the town (if the HFAC is out on the town.) For the non-BYU-Alum the HFAC is the Harris Fine Arts Center. I am continually amazed how many events are available and affordable on campus. We have decided to try to take more advantage of the enriching activities on campus in the short time we are here at BYU. After the show we waited around and got to meet the "Dogs" on stage. The kids thought it was fun to meet the actors-- however having spent their growing up years in the Theater (Thanks to Pam and DCMT (Danville Children's Musical Theater)) and Nancy's involvement with the theater, being on stage was a familiar feeling for them. If you may be wondering about the "dogs" in the picture, they just came from a "Dog Party" so they are all wearing party hats with their ears pointing up, or hanging down. Thanks BYU theater department for a fun night out.

School Volunteer

2009-02-03T15:59:00.000-08:00

I've logged a number of hours volunteering in the school classroom. It's not my absolute favorite thing to do but my sense of duty (thank you Gilbert & Sullivan) helps me to feel rewarded in this endeavor.

I kind of had a "hall pass" for the last 18 months since Grace was born. It's a well-known fact that if you have a newborn, you are absolved of classroom volunteering responsibilities. Does 18 months classify as a newborn still? I guess not. Time to get busy on that but in the meantime, I got caught in a teacher's snare. Before the holidays, Ben's teacher called and said, "were your the parent that was asking about volunteering opportunities in the classroom?" "Ummmm, well...[what in the heck do I say to that? If I say, 'nope, not me' I sound like a jerk. This is a trap, people.] I would be happy to volunteer if you need. What are you looking for exactly?" I took the bait.

(By the way, I have been volunteering at the school for the second grade team. I just am not in the classroom but I exchange books for the kids. My brother said that in California, they call that the library but this is something different I assure you.)

So, simply ignoring the assignment did not work. Indeed the parent I am to share with called me up in January and confirmed we are sharing every other week. Today I went for the first time. I begged and pleaded with Scott to come home and stay with the little girls as they are not invited to help.

It was reading centers. Ack! Please start removing my fingernails one by one to alleviate the torture. The kids are split up into groups, they either go with the teacher or a BYU volunteer (could you not find another one???) whilst I wander the room awaiting a hand to go up or more importantly, I police the children so that they will actually do their work independently.

Wander, wander.. Look like you are doing something. Oh good, a hand goes up. In whispered tones, "Hi. What can I help you with?" "What did Albert Einstein do?" "Well, he was super smart. Umm, he didn't invent the lightbulb. I know that was Edison." Luckily a kid pipes up, "he cured the common cold." Did he really? Well, what do you know. Not but a few minutes later, "How do you spell Donatello? Like the artist? [dumbhead]" Luckily I can spell. Why can't these kids ask me the main characters of Jane Austen's classics? Or how about talk about each of the Bronte sister novels? It's my current fettish. How about Elizabeth Gaskell? Let's talk about her. Any music question? Whatever.

So, then I go about my wandering and notice a child not doing anything. "May I see your treasure journal?" "No." "Ummmm....please may I see your treasure journal." "No, you wouldn't understand it." Probably not, kid. This wasn't the first kid that refused to let me see their written work. After a discussion with the teacher afterwards, I realized this was their number one tactic for getting out of doing anything. Perfect. The highlight was of course seeing handsome Ben who has no qualms about showing his enthusiasm for me being there. That's why I do it.

I can't wait until two weeks!

Inauguration

2009-01-20T11:35:00.000-08:00

Many would say that today is a historic moment. I have had a religious experience in regards to that but not necessarily for the same reason many others in the world would say. With the ending of President Bush's 2-term presidency and the swearing in of the 44th president, Barack Obama, I was moved by the ceremony and traditions our country has to officially render the change. The hype of the world is that Obama is a black man and a democrat. The country seems very happy about both of those things.

My religious experience was related to witnessing the actual process our country goes through to change a president. I couldn’t help but feel as I watched the “end-to-end” coverage on TV how magnificent our country is. I am proud to be an American. It wasn’t completely unlike what happens in the church in terms of callings, oaths and covenants. There are procedures, traditions, oaths, that take place to signify the “blessing” or rather "sustaining" of the new president. It’s not like someone waves a wand but rather the sacred oath takes place with an arm to the square and the other hand on the bible. I'll admit it was pretty neat that Obama chose to place his hand upon the bible of Abraham Lincoln.

Even though Obama was not my choice in candidates, I felt an overwhelming presence that this is an important of the democratic society. The people voted and chose this democrat. I must be a good loser because it’s a part of freedom. We are blessed in this country and God had a hand in its beginning and I believe He absolutely still does. That cannot be forgotten. Even in this wicked day and age, I still felt that spirit that resides in America today while watching the ceremony.

Watching President and Laura Bush be escorted to the U.S. Air Force Helicopter that would take them to Andrews Air Force Base and then off to Texas where they will reside, my heart was warmed. I found it equally cool that accompanying them on this ride was the other former President George Bush and Barbara Bush. People can make all the jokes they want. For me, I will always respect this family for the service combined they have given to our country. And they are Republicans. Enough said.

Of course, I have to do a little name-dropping because I am a Jacobs and that's just what Jacobs do. Senator Bob Bennett along with his wife appeared in all the pomp and circumstance and I've met and spoken with them in person, thank you very much.

The country is in hard times and it appears to be headed into continued hard times. The time is ripe to have a lot of faith and stick close to commandments. I'll be a good sport and support our newly sworn in president and hope he is everything everyone seems to think and believe he is.

As for Ben, I think he wants to be a Scotsman.

A Good Deed

2009-01-12T14:14:00.000-08:00

A week ago Sunday, I was in Relief Society enjoying a moment hands-free without Gracie (it was Scott's turn to wrestle with her as we await the blessed nursery day that won't come soon enough). A sign-up sheet went around that turned out to be for the stake adult women's basketball league. After realizing what it was, I quickly passed it to the newly-married-with- one-child-already-back-t0-her-pre-pregnancy-weight-cute-girl beside me. She turned to me and said, "wouldn't you like to sign-up for basketball?" Ummm, [chuckle, chuckle] yeah right, I don't think so." [raise eyebrows, roll eyes].

I quickly realize this gal is in charge of the adult women's sport for our ward as evident by the follow-up conversation. She says, "really, I think you'd have a good time. It would be a lot of fun. I think you should sign up." Deer in the headlights. I mean really, girl, look at me. My feet are hardly touching the ground and I'm quite certain my right booty cheek is lopping over onto your chair. You can't be serious. "Well...uh....hmmm....I'm just not that athletic. I'm not....really... in the best of shape right now." LOOK AT ME!! I really wanted to explain to her that despite my appearance I do exercise nearly everyday but I'm just not the basketball type and frankly I've been eating too much, because you see I'm really stressed and I eat when I am stressed and food is love and, and, and....No time to have a heart-to-heart excuse session with this nice girl who is trying to magnify her calling. She says back to me "well, the more people we have, the less everyone has to do and I think you'd be surprised how fun it is. You could totally do it." I reply, "when are the games, I would love to come and support. I'm a really good cheerleader." She gives me the details and I tell her I'll think about it.

As I thought about this nice girl during the rest of the Relief Society lesson, I realized what a good deed she did for me. She actually made me feel very good. She didn't take the stereotype and assume. After the amen was said, I turned to her and thanked her for being so kind to me. I got her name and told her she actually just about convinced me to give it a try. I promised, way more sincerely, that I would seriously consider it and get back to her.

I'm not exactly sure of the moral of the story but I do know this totally unknown person to me made me feel good. That is a good deed.

I don't have a picture of me playing basketball or anything bloggy like that but I do have some photos from a recent sledding engagement.

It's all fun and games until someone wipes out...

Semester Grades

2008-12-31T16:51:00.000-08:00

I am pleased to report that Scott received his grades for his first semester. I'm even more excited about his marks to use the Little House on the Prairie venacular.

P MGT 632 Quantitative Decision An A 3.0 Fall 2008 MAJOR
P MGT 662 Communication in Public A- 3.0 Fall 2008 MAJOR
P MGT 684 Administrative Environme A- 3.0 Fall 2008 MAJOR
P MGT 612 Econ Dec Making for Mana A- 3.0 Fall 2008 MAJOR
P MGT 641 Organizational Behavior A- 3.0 Fall 2008 MAJOR
P MGT 642R Executive Lectures in Pu A 0.5 Fall 2008 MAJOR

Hooray for Scotty! Way to go! Now how exactly should husbands be compensated for such good grades? That will take some further thought.

In addition, I received my own set of grades. My marks are as follows:

HM MGT 632 Cooking for Scott's team on the fly - A
HM MGT 662 Budgeting - B+
HM MGT 684 Special Editor for Scott's Papers - A
HM MGT 612 Buyer of Proper Snowgear - C-
HM MGT 641 Holding the family fort down in all aspects - A
HM MGT 642R Being Scott's number one cheerleader - A
HM MGT 681 Laundry - D

As you can see, I need to repeat a few courses to pull up a couple of grades. At least I have a few more semesters for that.

When do you call the fire department?

2008-12-16T09:03:00.000-08:00

I wish I could say I was busy cleaning the toilet or something but actually, I was busy at the computer when Emma and Grace decided to pop some microwave popcorn. Grace is the instigator and Emma the "go to" gal. With combined efforts, the bag of popcorn made it into the microwave and the timer set. I got updates from Emma like, "Mom, I pushed the wight buttons!", "I can mell the popcone cooking." Great, I respond, type, type, typing away. Suddenly, Emma runs to me and says "Mom, come he-o quick." I run to the kitchen to see smoke billowing out of the microwave and this number on the microwave screen.

Emma then says, "oh, dang. I pushed the wong numb-o." Don't worry, I say. Good job for trying! Smoke is now stinking up the house, the bag of popcorn is now smoldering in the garbage can outside and all the doors in the middle of a welcomed snowstorm are open. My fire-alarm guard cat, pumpkin, is meowing to make sure I know that the smoke is burning all of our throats and Emma is yelling for me to shut the doors because it's too cold. I don't think anyone can be harmed from popcorn smoke inhalation. The throat burning is dying down, thank goodness. I'm sure it will ultimately be to blame for some sort of cancer I'll get later in life. Nice to have another excuse besides all that eco-friendly stuff I refuse to believe in.

The other thought that went through my mind at the height of the emergency: Oh great, what if I have to call the fire department and there are rice krispies spilled all over the floor! That would be embarassing.

My sweet cohorts...

The Tale of the Twenty Four Pound Tom Turkey

2008-12-02T11:16:00.000-08:00

I chuckled to myself when people would ask me, "are you going home for Thanksgiving?" My mental response usually was, "umm, we've been married for 12 years, home is where we are living which is here." I'm proud to report that I didn't let myself get melancholy once this week in thinking about how many Thanksgivings we've actually spent totally alone as a family. (A majority of them) It's a badge of honor. I love my little family and glad I get to share the holidays with them.

We were pleased to be able to help Scott's cousins adjust to their first Thanksgiving without their parents (Scott's aunt and uncle are on a mission). We are pros. They were kind enough to invite us to their Thanksgiving dinner and our contribution was the turkey. Wait, did I say "OUR", I meant to say SCOTT'S contribution was the turkey. I cannot take credit for the spectacularly cooked turkey Scott pulled off. Did I marry well, or what? Scott is a fabulous chef and he did an awesome job. Don't worry, I contributed in the things I do best: worker bee in the final hours of the meal preparation, setting the table and documenting the day with photos. I'm really good at fawning over those who did cook. Really, it's a gift I have.

Here we go, the pictorial tale of the 24 pound tom turkey:

Preparing the brew to brine the turkey for 18 hours prior to cooking. Thanks "myfoxutah" for the recipe. Think a lot of salt, some honey and spices in a lot of water and broth.

Scott removing the sacred neck and gizzards. When Scott asked for something to hold them in, I responded with, "how about a trash can." No go. The organs stayed. Luckily he boiled them while I was away at Twilight with Becca. I'm also refraining from posting the close-up shot of the turkey neck. You're welcome.

Scott wrestling the bad boy into the oven roasting bag that would eventually hold the brine. When he called me to assist, I did what I do best, "hold on, let me take a picture first." Luckily, the turkey didn't end up on the floor due to the delay.

Onto the next day, THE day. Scott trying the initial roasting pan.

I feel like I'm going to bust out of my britches once in a while too. Have to move on to PLAN B: run home and get the other roasting pan that my dad gave me a few years back. My dad did not chintz on kitchen wares. Thanks Big Vern! We were thinking about you and know you would be so proud!

Unfortunately, an amputation was still necessary. Off the wings came but don't worry, we are provident livers here, the wings got tucked in underneath the bird so they wouldn't go to waste. I mean, really, we have to keep the dumb gizzards for heaven's sake. You think he was going to let the wings go? No way, jose.

All dressed (massaged, spiced, and who knows what else) and ready to go!

After a few hours (and a full choreography of turning the oven up and down, putting on the foil, taking off the foil, stand up, sit down, fight, fight, fight)....

The cook's job is never done. Here he is pictured with the hostess with the mostest, cousin Julie. (By the way, those are construction paper turkey feathers on the door behind Julie, not a special cap she made for the occasion.)

Carving away. Glad a 24-pound turkey can feed 13 adults and 12 kidlets.

We were especially lucky to have Becca and Kyle (niece and her hubby) to share in the turkey glory. They were kid entertainers extraordinaire! Such a handsome couple!

Grace enjoying some mashed potatoes.

With Scott's cousins, we change the song from "grab your partner" to "grab your baby"! We were so lucky to be included with such a festive group.

What I haven't photographed are the ziploc bags full of turkey bones and leftover meat that Scott dreams about making turkey stock and sandwiches with. Although he has made a couple of sandwiches, he is almost up on his turkey stock-making days. I have an internal clock that informs me when it is politically correct to toss them.

Awesome job Scotty! You made one of my least favorite foods so yummy!

Provident Living

2008-11-22T20:24:00.001-08:00

So, I guess my darling child does not inspire comments. So sad. I'll move onto another subject that has been brewing in my head. With this economy combined with being "starving students" now, we, like many others, have had to tighten the belt. Here are a few things that have saved us some pennies so that hopefully the dollars will mind themselves.

1. Do a load of laundry a day. A load a day makes it so that the kids don't need as many clothes. I'm sure an economist out there would say that doing a load a day could be less cost effective on the energy bill but in my house, we just don't need as many outfits, socks, underwear etc.

2. Unsubscribe to retail e-mails. Out of sight, out of mind. I don't think to click onto a retail website unless I get an e-mail first.

3. Don't go out to eat. This one is obvious and self-explanatory.

4. Drive the speed limit. This helps on many levels. Besides avoiding paying ridiculous fees on speeding tickets, I actually do get better mileage. Trust me, I know.

5. Eat in portion control. Shocking that a box of triscuits can last me two weeks if I eat them in suggested serving sizes. Hmmmm....

6. Although food is cheaper at Walmart and Target, all the "extras" that end up in my basket certainly make up for any savings on food.

7. The above applies to Costco except that I have been able to exhibit control and only buy FOOD that we actually do EAT before it expires from Costco at a cost savings.

8. Use the library. Another no-brainer. I just hate borrowing but it's working okay.

9. Throw away the volumes of catalogs that come in the mail especially before the kids see them.

10. Only drink water or milk. Soda speaks for itself and juice just doesn't do anything for us. We're better off eating the actual fruit than its juice.

11. Don't buy cold cereal. Sounds crazy but it's so expensive, increases our milk bill unnecessarily, and unless it's Fiber One or Kashi (or something like it) it's just not that good nutritionally. Everyone is hungry not more than an hour later if eaten for breakfast. Scott's note: Fiber One is colon care not nutritional care.

12. Do Flylady instead of hiring a housecleaner. This one is a bummer and is still not proving to be a replacement but I'm trying. This one is coming back to the budget as soon as I can manage it.

Wait a minute, half of these things are from my "how to lose weight" list. What's up with that? I hate it when things are so inter-related.

This is just a small sampling but I'm amazed that for once in our married life, we are able to stick to a budget successfully. That feels kind of good!

Now What?

2008-11-21T10:48:00.000-08:00

I took this photo in raw, without a flash, played in Photoshop but now what? It's nothing fantastic. Obviously, I have more learning to do.

These are a few of my favorite things....

2008-11-20T12:50:00.000-08:00

Eat your heart at Oprah! Here are my most recent favorite discoveries:

1. The Pioneer Woman...http://www.thepioneerwoman.com/. (Thanks Becca for the tip!) Not only is she so interesting and brings you into her world of modern-day ranching but she is so free with her own hints and tips. Here's what I came up with after searching through her photography section:

Can you tell which is the original? Will I be brave enough to shoot pictures only in raw and never with a flash as she suggests? Oh my!

2. $.17 stamps as well as $.59 stamps. Who needs to mail things these days with e-mail and internet? Well, I do. I've been wasting money on stamps when I'm over one ounce. I've been putting two $.42 stamps. Did you know that each additional ounce over one ounce is only $.17? I'm a provident liver now!

3. Facebook. I love this fast way to have two-way communication with friends and family.

4. Rhodes frozen rolls for homemade pizzas on the grill. Take the frozen dinner roll dough out to thaw for a bit and then anyone (including kids) can stretch it out. Put a little bit of olive oil on one side, cook on the grill to cook that side, add sauce, cheese and toppings to the cooked side and put it back on the grill. Fast, easy and yummy! I've used wheat rolls too...mmmm.

5. Double burner griddle for the stove from Pampered Chef. I leave it on my stovetop and use it for everything. Who knew it would be so handy?

6. The soundtrack for Hairspray. Not sure what turned me back onto this music but I just love these songs. The true question is whether or not it will outplay the Mamma Mia soundtrack. Something to watch for.

7. Scrapbooking on Photoshop. My love of photoshop only increases as I continue to discover all it's potential but scrapbooking on Photoshop is just so fun, I can hardly stand it! I can get caught up on scrapbooking even though I may not necessarily spend the money to print out the pages at Costco yet. My finished pages are just in a queue waiting to be let out. The possibilities are endless!

8. Printing 12 x12 pages at Costco. Obviously related to the above favorite thing. Costco is the cheapest and handiest place so far to print out 12x12's. I'm waiting for the prices to be reduced even more but that hasn't happened yet. The only risk is protecting the pages from being crushed by flats of chicken broth and raw hamburger juices.

9. Having the kids conduct family home evenings (not lead the music but actually conduct). This has brought new life to our FHE gatherings. To hear the kid in charge 'welcoming everybody' and 'turning the time over to so-and-so' is so funny and endearing all at the same time!

I'm sure there are more but I can't think of them right now. On another exciting note, I have to take Ben after school to a recording session where he is singing in a school choir that is recording a new primary song for the church. Why do I think this is so cool that I am almost getting emotional about it? I'll post more details when I hear more.

New Favorite Author

2008-11-13T18:43:00.000-08:00

I rarely recommend books. I love, however, when I am recommended a book that I instantly adore. This is what happened when a good and trusted friend gave me the book Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen. (Can I mention your name trusted friend?) She happens to be friends with the editor who recommended it highly to her. It's a unique tale and truly magical! It's pretty clean and just a sweet story.

Imagine my glee when Sarah Addison Allen's second book, Sugar Queen, was just as delectable if not more so than her first! Oh joy, oh rapture! I can't wait for her next book to come out in May of 2009. Check it out for yourself on Amazon.com or wherever you like to shop for books and see if it's something that would suit your fancy too!

I just tried to "friend" Ms. Allen on facebook. I hope she wants to be my friend. I'm determined to get her to Utah for a booksigning.

In Need of an Actuary

2008-11-12T17:51:00.000-08:00

Isn't an actuary a person who measures risks? I need my risks calculatecd on my chances of getting a speeding ticket. I just got my 2nd speeding ticket in only two months and all in the same city! What on earth is going on? Well, besides apparently I don't know my speed zones, I am starting to believe that Provo Police has me under surveillance so on the rare chance I actually leave my house, they've got me covered. During most of a week, I exist in an area that includes short of a 2-mile radius. What are the chances of getting a ticket when I am on the roads so infrequently?

Just a helpful note, the speed limit on University Parkway between the stadium and the baseball field is 30 mph. I made sure and questioned the schoolboy, allegedly a police officer, who pulled me over about this. Why is it 30 mph when there isn't a house or neighborhood in sight? His answer was that it was because it was a school area. Yeah, a school full of ADULTS you ding dong. Just get your backpack on little boy, hop on your bicycle and scoot along. (Don't worry, I refrained from saying the latter.)

So, if you happen to be behind me getting very impatient as I'm following absolutely every speed limit...TOO BAD! You'll have to take it up with the officer who is likely not far behind me.

Scott, have fun watching the kids while I go to traffic school. Apparently I need it since studying the DMV booklet hasn't seemed to help in the slightest.

Some photos from a day playing in the leaves to end on a good note...

The Sock Round-up

2008-11-04T14:12:00.000-08:00

Today I have spent an inordinate amount of time finally facing that laundry basket that has all the leftover stuff in it. Stuff = mismatched socks, clothes I don't know if should be tossed, doll clothes, etc. As this isn't a favorite task, as indicated by my procrastination of it, my mind went adrift asking many rhetorical questions.

Why....

don't waffle irons have power switches?
does my cute little baby insist on climbing on top of the dining table? Or the piano, for that matter.
is it that when I do laundry, my 4 year-old has 15 pairs of underwear and my 7 and 10 year olds only have maybe 1?
do I think my PC is much easier to use than Scott's mac?
does our cat insist on sleeping in Grace's crib?
am I so excited about seeing a flock of 20 California quail in my Utah backyard?
doesn't it snow already? We are ready!
does Scott drape his pants on a chair only six inches from the closet instead of hanging them?
is Emma so cute when she looks at the rain turn to snow outside and says "the sky is all out of rain"?
is it when I tell Sarah that I wish the laundry lady would come, she answers in a not so nice tone, "THAT'S YOU!!"?
didn't Scott run my photo through Photoshop before posting it on our blog?

Well, there are many more but that about covers it for the moment. Here are some unrelated photos for fun....

Home away from Home

2008-10-28T21:55:00.000-07:00

I am really enjoying graduate school--the only problem is I live in one building. A few weeks ago I actually went to the library. It was nice to get out and see the rest of the "world." I thought I would share some pictures of my home away from home.

Looking up is always a nice reminder that there is live outside of the Tanner Building.

The view from the new addition. Not a bad view I might add! I love Timp.

The inside of the new addition atrium.

Last week the new addition was dedicated by a "distinguished Marriott School Alum" It was a nice dedication and it was fun seeing President Monson as he left the building.

If you want to see something funny...

2008-10-21T09:07:00.000-07:00

take a short trip to http://www.eatingtoadsandsuch.blogspot.com/ and watch Scott learning how to throw a rope from Jack, the expert and Ben running fast! (Scroll down after some very beautiful wedding photos.) Thanks Amanda!

The First Snow

2008-10-16T06:52:00.000-07:00

For a week, Ben has been diligently following the weather report for signs of the first snow. His wish came true on Saturday! Although the snow really didn't stick on the ground, it still ranked as a snow day in the kid's book. They went crazy outside, squealing and carrying on. I'm sure our neighbors were thinking, "not snow already!" but as for us, it was welcomed with open arms.

I decided to take the kids to a Pumpkin Patch in Santaquinn on this same, very fridgid day, to ready us for our Curtis Family Pumpkin Carving Party - Utah edition that evening. What I didn't know was that to get to the actual pumpkin patch, you have to take a hayride about a mile away. Very windy = FREEZING! I tried to talk the kids into just picking out a pumpkin from the bins at the main store, but no, they wanted the real thing.

We managed to thaw enough to carve pumpkins. Thanks to Uncle Scott, pumpkin-cleaner-outer extraordinaire (he, indeed, can clean out the pumpkin guts in less than 2 minutes wielding an ice cream scoop) and the chief Pumpkineer, Uncle Rich, we had a grand time. We were thrilled to have our Roundy cousins and Robyn at the party too!

The next day, Ben noticed that one pumpkin had been cleaned out but not carved. He and Sarah decided to carve a "Y" on it.

Need I say more?

Row B Stands for Birthday

2008-10-07T10:28:00.000-07:00

As per the previous post, I'm taking advantage of all the things available here in Zion (you got it right Liz J...and by the way, I'm waiting for you to "come to, come to us, come to us" a la Oakland Temple Pageant). The one thing I asked for on my birthday was a ticket to see a session of conference which I've never been able to do before. I've stood in line many o' times but have never made it in to either the Conference Center or back in the Tabernacle days.

After hinting to Scott to score me tickets, I had to move on to a reliable cousin of his. She was successful in securing me tickets from yet another cousin who has major connections (lots of cousins on
that Jacobs side). In her pursuit of such things, the kind cousin with connections also got us tickets to a fabulous concert at the Conference Center two weeks ago featuring the Utah Symphony guest conducted by Erich Kunzel (of Cinncinnati Pops fame), Mormon Tabernacle Choir and two guest artists presenting "The American Songbook".

At the outset, let me just say this would be a fabulous concert even if we had had seats on the back row. For my first experience ever in the Conference Center, we had tickets for the front row!!! We got all the way down to our seats where we were met by a hostess with the mostest telling us there as a slight change in our seating for the night. President Monson had decided to attend the concert and would we feel comfortable sitting in the second row, Row B. "Ummm, ya." If the prophet wants me to sit in the lobby to hear the concert I will. Our seats ended up to be directly behind President Monson and his daughter. This is going to be one event tough to top. The music was spectacular! Too many favorites to name but its pretty hard not to love the Armed Forces Medley when active and retired servicemembers stand at the sound of their military branch song. "New Words" a song written by Broadway smash composer Maury Yeston is now a new top song in my itunes library after hearing it sung by Brian Stokes Mitchell (Ragtime fame).

These two pictures were sneakily taken from Scott's iphone on the night of the concert.

The kind cousin still gave us two tickets for conference, the Saturday afternoon session. Our tickets were once again on Row B. I kind of feel ownership now. I wonder if you can buy a timeshare on conference center seats? Luckily Scott and his dad only made me meet Senators Bob Bennett and Orrin Hatch. I don't do so well with hobb-knobbing so I'm glad they took it easy on me.

Maybe someday this kind cousin will get me hooked up with her nephew who happens to be a guitarist for Maroon 5.

So all in all, I ended up being able to do lots of birthday celebrating in good ol' Row B. Thanks Row B. Thanks kind cousin.

Since I can't possibly post without pictures, here are some pictures of Gracie on her first birthday....thanks Susie and Anna for the birthday cake!

You know you're in Utah when....

2008-09-27T07:53:00.000-07:00

Your son comes home and says, “wouldn’t it be cool to have a compost pile.”

Everything is so close in proximity you never have to get in the car.

You get angry when you have to drive to Orem because it is just so far away.

Driving to Salt Lake feels like a road trip.

The leaders of the school PTA, to show appreciation for the parent volunteers, say at the conclusion of their announcement over the P.A. system, “sure love ya!”.

You get slightly teary when your son sings the Utah State Song with his school class at a ceremony featuring the Mayor on the steps of the City Library.

You see cars driven around town that you haven’t seen for 20 years (i.e., Honda Passports, Toyota Celicas, convertible Geo Metros, etc).

You get to see fabulous concerts on Temple Square for FREE!

You walk to do your visiting teaching.

When you are at a musical performance on BYU campus and there is a prayer at the beginning, your daughter looks at you and says pointing to the crowds, "do all these people go to church?"
You beg people to come visit.

Random cute photos....

Let the Games begin!

2008-09-02T21:26:00.000-07:00

Well from the last post you know that school is in session for just about ALL of us. As a side note I am loving the MPA program at BYU! So far so good, and it seems like a perfect fit for me.

One of the side benefits to being a full time BYU Graduate Student is getting student season tickets to the BYU Football home games!

Saturday August 30th was the first home game, BYU played the University of Northern Iowa. My Dad was in town and as a TRUE BLUE BYU Fan he nearly jumped through the phone when I invited him to go with me to the game.

This is My Dad and I leaving for the big game. My tickets are in the student section of course and so we really enjoyed the seats my dad has in hand that hooked onto the bench seats.

This was our view of the game.

BYU played a good first game, (including a few hick ups) and UNI played well, however the score does not really tell the whole story, there were a few nail biting moments but the final score was BYU 41 UNI 17.

It has been 14 years since I had season tickets to BYU football. All I can say was that it was really fun being back in Cougar ... oops I mean LaVell Edwards Stadium!

GO COUGARS!!!!

First Day of School

2008-08-28T07:29:00.000-07:00

This a unique year for our family: new schools all around!

Ben on the first day of school last week:

Sarah on her first day of school last week:

Emma's first day of preschool:

And last but certainly not least, Scott's first day of grad school:
Four brave souls!

As for Grace, she is attending the school of making big messes and being as darling as ever. I am just beginning the school of how not to be the hugest mother hen of this brood.

Everything I Need I Can Get at the Wilkinson Center

2008-08-27T09:36:00.001-07:00

Scott is about to start school tomorrow and so I have finally resurfaced as a blogger. Well, sort of...I'll try at least!

The Wilkinson Center on campus is proving to be my full-proof, one-stop shopping convenience location. Here's everything I was able to do in one hour yesterday:

Mailed 5 padded envelopes to my brothers and sister with our family photos DVD at the campus Post Office (Did I mention the workers are so helpful?)

Got my spouse ID at the ID center

Bought Emma a treat at Jamba Juice for being so patient while doing the above

Stopped at the ATM which doesn't charge a use fee

Bought special school supplies for my multiplicatingly challenged boys at the bookstore....

Also found the Crayola Expression Mini-Stampers that Ben's teacher had looked everywhere for....

And my favorite...

And what was everyone else doing at home while Emma & I were so productive at the Wilk?

Scott did shed a few tears about the loss of over 9 inches of Emma's hair. Sorry, it just had to be done. He is the brusher of the rat's nest and he is going to be otherwise engaged starting tomorrow. Emma would have had dreadlocks if it wasn't for this adorable cut. Emma is so pleased that she doesn't have to cry everytime her hair is brushed!

One last look at those golden locks! (Scott, it really will grow!)

4TH of July as promised

2008-08-20T21:47:00.000-07:00

This was our first 4Th of July in Utah. We had a blast. I'm sorry it is now a month and a half since the 4Th, it almost seems like I should just skip it and wait until next year... However I have the pictures and I might as well share, right?

It seems like in Provo that the independence day celebrations last a week or so. For us it all started on the 3rd when we woke up early and saw about 20 or 30 hot air balloons take off. It was spectacular.

On the 4Th they flew the balloons once again, we did not see them lift off, but 3 or 4 landed in the park near our house. The kids and I went to watch and actually helped bring some of them down. It was fairly crazy because a large race was happening simultaneously in the park, so there were thousands of people running, waiting for runners and of course the balloons landing. It was pretty fun.

We then rode our bikes down to center street and joined my cousins and watched the 4Th of July parade street side. This is Nancy and Gracie enjoying the festivities!

I love this picture of the kids standing on the street watching a pipe and drum band go by... Lets hear it for "Scotland the Brave!"

After riding our bike uphill all the way home... we headed over to my cousins house and celebrated the nation's and my cousin Julie's birthday with a fantastic BBQ and cake. Later in the afternoon we headed over to my parents condo and dropped of Emma and Grace while Nancy and I and the big kids went to the Stadium of Fire!

The Stadium of Fire is held at the LaVelle Edwards Stadium on BYU campus and was filled to capacity. Miley Cyrus was headlining along with the Blue Man Group and Emceed by Glen Beck. We were not disappointed.

Here we are waiting for the show to begin.

As the show began 4 F-16's from Hill AFB flew about 1500 feet over the stadium with full afterburners lit. It was like an earth quake it was so loud. After that there were 7 Para-jumpers that jumped from about 10,000 feet and all landed in the stadium. Man it was cool!
There was a great flag ceremony... the flag is being held by service men and women from the Utah National Guard that had served in Iraq and Afghanistan. It was a touching moment.

The Blue Man Group was excellent, I would love to see them again. Miley was ok. I don't think I will jump to see her again. Once it got dark the fireworks started choreographed to music from the movies. I have seen a lot of fire work displays including quite a few in Washington DC and I have to say that the Stadium of Fire was the best firework show I have ever seen. It lasted about 45 minutes and it seemed like there were about 7 or 8 finales. When the finale came there was no doubt it was the last hurrah for the evening.

Pictures of fireworks can be really disappointing and the above one is admittedly disappointing and does not capture the feeling at all, but there it is anyway.

What a fun day we had, and we are determined to go to the Stadium of Fire next year again. It was a long day but very memorable. We can't wait for our second 4Th of July in Provo next year.

Going, Going...

2008-08-11T10:31:00.000-07:00

Going, going, but not quite gone. Of course I am talking about Gracie. I'm sure if it was up to her she would sign up for the Provo canyon half marathon. She is up and walking and even trying to run. For weeks she would take a step or two and then move back to her speed crawl. In the last week those steps turned into a much more confidant spurt of walking, but crawling was still the fastest way to get where she wants to go.

As of today (8/11) walking has become her preferred mode of transport. This little video was taken at Kim and Shirley's house.

Nancy was there for my cousin Emma Lee's bridal shower last Saturday. Click here to check out Emma and Jed's engagement announcement blog.

The kids were excited to see and take a picture with Emma. They were excited because Emma plays the character and voice over for "Foofa" on "Yo Gabba Gabba" It is a fun kids show on Noggin and Nick Jr that the kids love. (I understand that there are some BIG kids that like the show too... Hey Kyle V I'm a fan too!) Emma just returned a week or so ago from Hollywood where they just finished the last episode for their second season. Congratulations to Christian, Emma, Parker and the rest of the crew we can't wait for the next season!

"July she will fly!"

2008-08-02T10:59:00.000-07:00

As the Simon & Garfunkel lyrics describe July did fly! But first things first. I promised pictures from Ben and My trip to the Y.

Going back to June 24th, this is of course Ben at the Y gate at the trail head to the Y.

This was the first view we got of the Y on switchback number 8 out of 10.

WE MADE IT!

This is the view from the top of the Y looking down on Provo and BYU campus.

We took a camel back filled with cold water and a little lunch we ate up at the top. It was a nice hot day, but really fun to spend some good father and son time together.

Next installment "The 4th of July"... hopefully before the end of August!

Cutie Pie

2008-06-28T00:22:00.000-07:00

We have now been in Provo for 3 weeks. Wow how time flies. We are having fun as a family, however in a short 7 weeks the honeymoon will be over and I will be up to my neck in graduate courses. So we are having fun while we can!

It has been some time since I last updated our blog. It is much easier on our computer and especially now we have high speed Internet set up. Yahoo!

I do have some ideas as to what I want to blog, one of those entries will document the rite of passage that Ben and I took part in earlier this week. What was the rite of passage you ask? Hiking Y mountain of course. We made it and I Will blog about it with pictures and all later.

Today I was inspired to blog by a photo I took on my i phone this evening. But first we have to get there. We had lots to do and we got most of it done. But somehow we ended up at University Mall in Orem today. We were on an errand to pick up some cat food (which we did)and started to head home but ended up at the mall. I still think I fell for the old bait and switch deal. The objective of our trip was to complete a task, unknown to me the covert plan was a outing to the mall. Somewhere along the line I must have subconsciously complied with a subliminal message. I must have agreed once we arrived because I knew Sarah needed new Sunday shoes. Excellent that will be a quick trip.

We ended up walking the entire length of the mall, from Mervyn's to Nordstroms with a few stops in between. Sarah, the one child that needed new shoes could not find any, but it turns out that Ben also needed shoes which found along with a new outfit for Nancy. The trip was a success.

Why all the fuss about the Mall? It all stems from the fact that I hate shopping, especially clothes shopping. Sorry that is just the way it is. I think generally I would rather be Mike Rowe's lackey on Dirty Jobs than go clothes shopping.

Well in the end was it all that bad? Not really. I am just glad that there were padded seats strategically placed through out the mall.

Back to the inspiration for all this mess. I had my i phone and while the rest of the gang was inspecting the public rest rooms I snapped a couple of shots of our little Gracie. She is nearly 10 months old and changing so quickly. Isn't she a cutie pie!

The Eagle has landed!

2008-06-16T22:53:00.000-07:00

Well the Eagle has landed indeed. We have officially lived in Utah for one week today. We are almost unpacked (note to self: throw away or burn all belongings before next move!) Really I would rather burn all our belongings than move them again.

Unfortunately our TV / Internet will not be installed until Thursday - Ack! I am updating via my i-phone. More to come when we get totally set up.

We are excited to be here and at the same time missing NorCal.

How Time Flies!

2008-05-19T00:52:00.000-07:00

We've been here, but have not had the time to blog.

Our last entry was about our RV trip, now months old. That trip seems only like a distant memory. We had so much fun and would recommend such a trip to anyone.

Even though our trip IS a distant memory I have some pictures I still want to share.

Our first night we stayed in Paso Robles at a really nice RV resort, they had a heated pool (the heat had just been turned on, so the pool was a bit cold.) Me and the kids wished it was a bit more hot so the cool pool would feel a bit better. (Yes if you must know I DID suck in my stomach!)

Our second night we stayed at Carpinteria State Park. We had some interesting neighbors. The RV section was basically a parking lot right on the beach. We also had train tracks about 25 yards from our site. The freight train goes through around 3 in the morning. Even with that we would probably visit there again. I snapped this shot of Emma at sunset.

Still at Carpinteria, the parents of one of Sarah's new friends took this nice family portrait.

After Carpinteria we headed south to Seal Beach to visit Nancy's Grandparents. Both Grandpa and Grandma are well into their late 90's and will be celebrating 75 years of marriage this year! Grandma's health is poor, but Grandpa is doing well. The kids loved gathering around him for this picture. Grandpa affectionately calls Grace "My Girl!" She of course was her charming self and stole Grandpa's heart immediately!

After a few hours of visiting we headed east towards Phoenix. We successfully navigated through the maze of highways and toll roads of Los Angeles County and hit the 10 going East. We took this picture as we headed towards Indio and wondered how the "other Desert Cities" felt about Indio getting top billing and the "them"getting the shaft on the highway sign. Oh well on to Indio and forget the other desert cities!

This was my usual position as Pilot of the RV. Keep on Truckin!

We arrived in Phoenix on Saturday night and spent Easter with Nancy's Brother and family. We parked our RV outside of their house for the next few days as we visited and enjoyed Rich and his family and the sights of the Greater Phoenix area. Monday Rich drove us down to Tucson. Our first stop was to the Pima Air Museum. Dad Ben and Emma were dropped off at the museum while Rich, Nancy, Sarah, and Grace explored Tucson and searched for "rabbit turd ice" The term refers to the shape not the color or smell of the ice. For those who know and frequent Sonic will know of the special Ice. Ben and Emma posed in front of the SR-71 aka The Blackbird. It is one of my favorite aircraft and I was excited to be so close to this special airplane.

This picture of Grace showcases one of the new tricks she learned on our great RV trip. We had sleeping arrangements rigged up to the inch so we could all be accommodated in the RV. Gracie had just enough room so her pack and play would fit nicely on the floor. While on this trip she learned how to pull her self up and stand. After doing this she would just stand there so proud of her self and bounce up and down. I was sure she would vault her self right out of her sleeping container. Gladly she did not.
As of the date of this posting, Grace is standing up all over the place walking around furniture and crawling like a woman possessed.

I am not sure if these feet are Sarah's or Emma's, regardless I had just cleaned one foot and left the other dirty for comparison. Both of the girls had a hard time keeping any kind of footwear on and consequently were continually filthy.

After 4 fun filled days in Phoenix we once again headed west. This picture is at Corona Del Mar. there we visited Nancy's Aunt and Uncle. Me and the kids took a walk down to the beach and enjoyed the beautiful weather and the water. It was so nice to once again be ocean side with the cool salty breeze on our faces after being in hot and dry Arizona. Don't get me wrong, we loved Arizona, but it is hard to beat a nice day along the side of the Pacific Ocean.

Life continues at a break neck pace even when we are not blogging regularly. So we expect that we may not get the chance to blog about a number of happenings in our lives.

For example, here are a few things that we should blog about but we will probably not get to them in any kind of further detail.

The last week of March I took a short trip to Utah looking at some rental properties. I was able to attend my Mission reunion I met some new friends and renewed some old friendships. Saturday I spent watching conference and looking at rental properties. There were some real dogs, and some nice places. On the Monday I arranged to rent a house for the year starting summer/fall semester. Mission accomplished!

In April we spent a fun week in Monterey. We had invited some good friends from the Ward to be with us our first weekend there. They actually blogged about it here if you are interested in any detail.

On the first Sunday in May as I was released from the Bishopric. It is a strange feeling not to have any early morning meetings to attend Sunday morning anymore. Strangely I think I will miss them. However, after three years on the stand I am looking forward to siting with Nancy and the rest of the family once again.

We continue to prepare for a major move. We are fixing and mending our house in preparation for rental as we start packing for our next adventure in Provo Utah. I will be attending the MPA program at BYU next fall. (that's why I rented a house in Provo at Conference time.) We were planning an exit and move from CA to UT in July or August. That has been moved up significantly to an early June.

Regardless of our blogging activity life continues to be exciting and challenging! So far not worth trading for anything else.

The Heir Apparent

2008-04-04T23:34:00.000-07:00

Ben is our inquisitive, hands-on kind of guy. Probably his highlight of our RV trip was going to the Pima Air and Space Museum in Tucson.

He is always looking, analyzing or touching something. If not, he is talking about it or asking many questions.

His lowlight from the trip was probably falling off the overhead bed in the middle of the night (not while moving mind you). This is a picture of the bruise over a week later. We're glad nothing was broken...

RV Trip - The Prologue

2008-04-01T20:49:00.000-07:00

Traveling in an RV takes me back to my days of playing with my Donny and Marie camper as a girl. It's a dream come true! I planned our recent trip to Arizona in our rented Winnebago for months. I'd reflected how our last four family vacations have been absolute disasters and so I did my best to apply my past learning in the planning of this trip. It's going to be quite the epistle so we will have to document it in installments.

Here are the rules applied to the vacation:

Don't plan the trip like playing a game of tetris. The kids (nor I) do well with a zillion events crammed into every second. I like the saying "you can't cram 20 pounds of manure in a 10 pound sack."
Vacation while on vacation. Schedule time to just play or read a book.
Only schedule one visit with family per day. The kids can only handle visiting one new household at a time. New households can only handle us once a day too.
Make sure you have your own place to stay (the reason for the RV).
Assure that everyone is well before departure. (Thankfully everyone was but we did purchase the insurance JUST IN CASE!)
Plan a long time to travel between stops. We don't do well with forced marches.

I'm happy to report we had a fabulous time! We can't wait to tell you all about it! Stay tuned.

What's Up?

2008-03-19T23:29:00.000-07:00

Although it has been a week or so since our last post... life goes on. We have been quite busy and I thought I would share a couple of pictures and catch you up on the happenings in our house.

Sarah celebrated her 7th Birthday on the 12th! Sarah's feet show what she and Mom along with a couple of friends went and did to celebrate. I guess it goes to show that you are never too young to start pampering your self on your birthday. The "girls" had fun having a pedicure.

Later we opened gifts. This is Sarah's favorite part of her birthday. Presents!

Grandma Kay and Grandpa Dee came over later in the week and shared strawberry cake and ice cream. Strawberry cake is a Curtis Family tradition that Nancy brought to our marriage. Sarah has embraced the strawberry cake tradition whole heartily!

This short video clip shows our family taking part of a Jacobs Birthday tradition. My dad went on a mission to Sweden, and since then we have always sung "Happy Birthday" followed by the Swedish version "Ya Mon Hun/Han Lever" All I can say is Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!

We have also reached a milestone with Grace. She now is eating real food! She loves and gobbles down carrots, green beans, peas, sweet potato's, and LOVES any kind of fruit. I am sure the bewildered look on her face is due to the fact that I stopped feeding her to take a picture. She was not amused.

This next picture is of the Kids adorned in our families new favorite attire! I believe we will be wearing a lot more BYU issue in the coming years!

The reason for the emphasis on BYU apparel is due to the recent news that I was accepted into BYU's Masters of Public Administration Graduate program!

This of course means many changes for the Jacobs Family. We plan to move to Provo or there abouts this coming August and will be in Provo for the next couple of years as I work on earning my MPA degree. We are really excited, and at the same time sad to leave our family, home and friends here in California.

Nancy and I are also sad having just finished what may be our last Danville Children's Musical Theatre show "Mulan". Nancy has been the musical director at DCMT for the last 13 years, and I have been the set designer and builder for the last 8 of those years. Pam(the director)has been so good to us over the years and we truly feel like we are a part of her extended family. It feels as though the theater has always been an integral part of our family life. For the past decade plus it has alway been there. It is hard to leave and we will miss it! Change is always hard to face. After all it is true what is often said "The only thing constant is Change."

Even so we are looking and moving forward! Returning to BYU and graduate studies fills me with an excitement that at times is hard to contain. Even though we are leaving friends and family here, we look forward to seeing all the friends and family we have at BYU and around and about in Utah. Yahoo! See ya in August!

The Piano Diaries

2008-03-10T17:43:00.000-07:00

The first weekend of Mulan performances is over and I'm exhausted by my piano drama. As you will recall, after the last show, it was reported to me that my trusty steed, the Yamaha piano at the theater would be going away. The Village Theater personnel ripped it from my loins and put it up for auction to be replaced by a digital piano.

At the beginning of rehearsals for Mulan, I arrived one day to see "my" piano gone and in its place, practically a toy piano. It doesn't quite have a full keyboard, it's smaller than me and has a plug-in pedal. I swear I could knock it over heaven forbid I play with too much gusto. I feel very exposed.

I'm a teamplayer. I'm flexible. I've really tried hard to make a go of this dumb thing. Fast forward to tech week. Pam is kind enough to appease me by bringing her clavinova (a much better digital piano with REAL pedals). I hear it took many of her offspring to load it into her car, she had to drive very slowly down the streets of Danville listening to incessant honking for her to speed up and then wait all day for my husband to get there to help move it into the theater. But Pam is good to me and does it anyway.

I sit down to play it, and the pedal is broken. The sustaining pedal doesn't clear so everything is mushy. I feel terrible and fearful to tell Pam that all her efforts have been in vain. Now I have two digital pianos in front of each other and I have to play the dippy one. And you know how superstitious I am about how my piano area must remain as it is from the beginning of tech week throughout the performances.

What a mess! I won't even mention what a difficult time I've had hearing the dumb digital piano. I have to wear earphones because the piano is hooked into the monitors on stage which turn off my piano speakers. In case you didn't know, you use your ears more than you think when you play the piano.

I Love Photoshop!

2008-03-04T10:45:00.000-08:00

I do love Photoshop. It seems the possibilities for great photos is endless. Yes it is true that you must start with a good photo; But It is amazing what can be hidden, changed, faded or completely wiped out. On the surface I am really Okay with this. However, I do have to admit that there is one part of me that feels like I am cheating, changing reality, and in a sense offering a cute photo that did not really exist when the "moment" was captured.

Now for the story. Nancy took the time to take about 10 or 15 really cute pictures of Gracie as she crawled (army crawled) around on the floor. She got some really cute shots including the one I am presenting today. When I first downloaded the pictures I noticed that Gracie had spit up and there remained a residue on her face. My first reaction was what the heck, the pictures were cute but really unusable because really... who wants to look at even a cute baby with spit up on their face? Not me. Nancy's indicated that she noticed the spit up on her face but she really could not "see" in on the view finder on the camera and if it did show up (which of course it did) we could Photoshop it out. This also is true.

This leaves me with only one question. Is is easier to wipe a baby's face or photo shop the crud out of the shot? Hmmmm. Really it is sixes. Six of one or half a dozen of another.

Regardless I love Photoshop.

Gracie... cute and almost crawling!

2008-02-28T21:17:00.000-08:00

Sisters: Grace and Sarah Smiling Grace

Gracie almost crawling

Equal Opportunity Photo

2008-02-23T15:17:00.001-08:00

Just a sunny winter day at the park.

2008-02-23T15:14:00.000-08:00

Snow Trip!

2008-02-16T01:36:00.000-08:00

Last Monday (the 11th) the school district had teacher meetings or something like that so school was out. Yahoo! With a day off the Young Men and Young Women in our ward planned a snow trip to Leland High Sierra Snowplay (a tubing "resort") just past Strawberry. If you are still not sure where that is, it is near Dodge Ridge ski resort. I was asked to drive so I jumped at the opportunity. The total bonus was that Ben could go with us. Ben and I had the GREATEST time together. We couldn’t have planned a more fun trip to share. We can't wait to go back and hit the slick slopes again. I hope you enjoy a few photos and a couple movie clips.

This is Ben on the rope tow. Much better than walking up the hill!

Ready for the First Run!

Waiting in line with some of the Young Women from the ward.

Some of the Youth from the ward demonstrating the initial staging for a "Cluster" or a "Clump". The advantage of a cluster over going down by your self. SPEED!

A cluster going down the hill

Ben and I enjoying the ride!

Me and Ben after a really fun time together! Love the hat hair!

Ben thanks for a Most Excellent Day!

I want Fish!

2008-02-13T23:42:00.000-08:00

About a week ago Nancy came home from the store with some Dover Sole fillets. I prepared a nice Sole Dore that night. If you are not familiar with a Sole Dore, it is prepared by dredging the fillets in seasoned flour, then dipping in egg, then pan frying. It is finished off with a squeeze of lemon or a lemon butter sauce. It actually turned out well. Besides Nancy's favorite fish dish, it turned out to be a surprise favorite for Emma. It was hard to believe with out seeing her shovel down bite after bite and come back for more. I have to admit that I was pleased!

Fast forward to today. Emma came up to me and said "I hungry! I want FISH!" My first thought returned to that wonderful Sole Dore, I figured she loved it the first time so much she was requesting it again. We did not have any sole in the house, so I tried to change her mind by offering her other things. (I really didn't want to cook it anyway, too much effort and too many dirty dishes just to satisfy her desire for fish.) Regardless, I do have to admit I was pleased she was asking for my fish! She took a yogurt and bounced off.

About an hour later she returned and said "I HUNGRY! I... WANT... FISH!" this time she seemed pretty earnest in her desire. As a good father I started to search the freezer for what else? Fish! I found some and figured that even though it was not Sole I could cook it the same manner and it may pass. I grabbed the package and showed it to her seeking her approval.

Her answer when she saw the package of tasty fish was both swift and vehement as she screamed (no kidding she screamed) " NOOOOO!!! THAT NOT FISH!"

She then took me to the cupboard and pointed to the box shown below and reassured me that "That Fish!"

I have to admit I was a tiny bit crushed that she was not interested in My Fish, but I had to laugh at the simple miscommunication I had with my 3 year old. Note to self. Emma really likes fish, but the cracker kind is her favorite.

In the end Emma got her fish and she was finally happy and quit badgering her dumb dad for fish!

By the way Nancy and I had a good laugh over this incident, and for the record she would have gone for the Goldfish the first time.

I guess in the end it is a good lesson on communication that reaches beyond today's 40 year old -vs- 3 year old fish tale. Maybe next time I will listen and try to understand before I decide what Emma (or anyone else) really wants. Lesson learned... again!

Mama Bear

2008-02-05T20:00:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, one of my nightmares came true. I have a pretty high-level of anxiety when it comes to the safety of my kids when they are out of the house. I hate it when my fretting is for good reason.

Emma went to preschool like normal yesterday. At normal pick-up time, Scott left to go pick her up and left Grace and I at home. Shortly after I got a call from Scott saying that the road to her school was completely closed. He was able to cut through a neighborhood but as he would quickly learn, there was absolutely no access to her school because construction workers had busted a natural gas pipe right in front of her school. She attends a preschool that is part of a much larger private school to the eighth grade. They are in the middle of a huge construction project building a huge new building for their facility. Apparently, the gas line was broken during the construction.

I soon received a phonecall at home alerting me that Emma was part of a "shelter-in-place" emergency. There would be no access in or out of the school for who knew how long. Scott, meanwhile, had planted himself at an access street across the intersection from the school. We were in contact by phone, of course. I was giving him all sorts of instruction including storm the place and GET MY DAUGHTER OUT OF THERE! I didn't care how he was going to do it, but I was freaked that my little girl was stuck and we couldn't reach her. The mama bear in me had emerged and was growling! I was thinking of fences he could scale, anything. I was desperate. The school had suggested that the parents go home and await a phonecall as to when their children could be picked up. Can you imagine? "Oh great, free daycare, I'll be at Nordstroms. Hope that gas leak works out alright." I don't think so!

Leave it to Scott's ability to work the crowd. With some patience, he stuck around and then was finally able to learn from a police officer that if drivers would keep their windows and vents closed, they were going to allow cars through to pick up the little ones. Scott was second in line! That's my boy! Emma was the first in her class to be picked up.

I can't explain the emotions of knowing I can't get to my kid and then the absolute joy of knowing she was safe and sound with Scott. She was a bit nervous (she was probably at school an extra 45 minutes) but of course just fine. I'm very grateful for a good ending. Homeschooling is sounding better and better. All my kids could be safe and sound in the nest and never go out. Of course, no kind of a disaster would ever happen at home on my watch!

My Own Thoughts

2008-01-29T12:15:00.000-08:00

If possible to have a "favorite" prophet, President Gordon B. Hinckley would most definitely be mine. I have a testimony of prophets. The belief in a modern-day living prophet is integral in a testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I join the ranks of millions who loved this man both as a mouthpiece of the Lord as well as a person who has lived an extraordinary life. His biography written by Shari Dew describes so well this extraordinary life.

I have to share one of my most treasured memories of President Hinckley. I could actually share thousands of experiences where his words has taught me/changed me so much! However, at this time I want to share just one...

I have never met a general authority in person, let alone the prophet. I have never attended General Conference in person. On occasion, I have attended a regional meeting, devotionals in my BYU days where I would have been in the large presence of a general authority but never had I actually been face to face with one.

Scott's parents were being set apart as the temple president and matron of the Denmark Temple in 2004 by President Hinckley in Salt Lake. I was just a couple of weeks from delivering Emma. Dee and Kay's children were invited to attend this setting apart. With written permission from my doctor to board a plane, Scott and I left the kids behind (a huge hurdle for me) and set off for Salt Lake for the day.

This was just days after Sister Hinckley had passed away. Before President Hinckley's assistant led us into the large conference room he schooled us on what would happen. He mentioned that we should not expect him to shake each person's hand, that he was tired and weary. We entered in through a main door and took our seats. A few minutes later, a side door opened and in walked President Hinckley. It's impossible to recreate with words the spirit that overtook that room. We each stood at his presence. He then proceeded around the entire room and shook the hands of each person there, including mine looking me straight in the eye. I will never forget the power and witness I felt at his presence. The look of the Prophet's eyes will forever be imprinted in my mind. This is an experience I will forever treasure. I didn't need to see the prophet in person to have a testimony of his truthfulness. It was just an exquisite treat to do so.

This picture was taken inside the Church Office Building on the day of Dee and Kay's setting apart.

Here's a quote just for fun that I just read in the Ensign...

"I want to plead with you to keep balance in your lives. Do not become obsessed with what may be called 'a gospel hobby.' A good meal always includes more than one course. You ought to have great strength in your chosen . . . field of expertise. But I warn you against making that your only interest . . .

" . . . Beware of obsession. Beware of narrowness. Let your interests range over many good fields while working with growing strength in the field of your own profession."

An amazing man. Just as amazing will be the day to sustain a new prophet. It's so exciting the church will never be in chaos. We'll have a new prophet to love and listen to. We won't be led astray. This is awesome!

I Love This Baby!

2008-01-24T14:16:00.000-08:00

Can baby number four really be this fun? Grace is the human doll at our house. Sarah plays with her like she might as well be her latest Corolle or American Girl doll. Most of the time I feel like Grace is my dolly too!

I say BOO!

2008-01-15T23:17:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I was home and I went to pick up the kids from school. Emma stayed home with Mama and Gracie. As I was walking out the door Emma yelled "I say BOO!" I asked "What?" "I SAY BOO!" She said this as she was climbing behind the couch. Then it dawned on me what she meant. She was going into hiding so that she could jump out from behind the couch and say "BOO" and scare Ben and Sarah when they got home from school. I thought it was cute and added "you don't have to hide yet, I'll be home with the kids in a bit."

I picked up the kids and on my way home Nancy called and asked if Emma was with me. "No!" She said that she could not find Emma anywhere, and Nancy called for her while I was on the phone. (If she were next door she would have heard.) I asked if the front door was unlocked. (One of Emma's new skills is unlocking and opening the front door. She is quite pleased with her self, I am not so much. Oh well I guess it was bound to happen.) I just hate the feeling when you realize a child is missing or at least unaccounted for. Suppress the panic, suppress the panic, she has to be somewhere! At least the front door was locked. I then cycled through some of her favorite hiding places, and then it clicked. I asked if she looked behind the couch. She looked and the picture shows what she found. We both laughed. Emma is such a funny girl. Panic relieved in a millisecond! Whew!

I guess she just got tired waiting for her moment to jump and say BOO! The funny thing is after Ben and Sarah got home Emma walked in and said "BOO!" It did not have quite the impact I think she was hoping for, however she followed through with her plan.

Reviewing this little incident I find it interesting that we have an automatic parental panic button that seems to trigger so fast when the whereabouts of our child/children are not known at all times. It seems like we mirror the homeland security warning. We are always on orange alert. You know the one just under RED ALERT!

I can not help but think that my parents were mostly at level green. (I know that they have been at full tilt RED ALERT a few times like the time I got "lost" at 6 or 7 yrs old at the Roadway Inn in Indianapolis as we traveled across country in our brown Ford LTD wood paneled station wagon. (Ah memories of the 70's) The Roadway Inn was pretty nice but it was full of truckers and other desirable folks. (It was right next to the interstate) I was "lost" for about a half hour or so. My parents did not know that I was perfectly fine watching TV in the lobby. I knew where I was the whole time, I did not understand what the big deal was. Oh well to be a naive kid again.)

Well having illuminated the red alert a few times in my day, the green light was on most of the time. I can remember my mom instructing us kids to have fun and come home for dinner. Ah those wonderful summer days! My mom usually had a general idea where we were, but there were times she did not have a CLUE where I was for hours at a time! The truth is that we always came home, and there was really no need to be that worried. We were always among friends and were considered safe.

I guess we live in a different world where we have to always be at high alert and have a need to know where our little ones are all the time. I guess the good thing is our kids will never know anything different.

Sadly we do... and what fun it was while it lasted.

Christmas 2007 Memories

2008-01-10T12:05:00.000-08:00

It is already the 2nd week of January 2008, however we were so busy this last Christmas we never blogged about it. Well we have some great shots I thought I would share under the guise of Christmas Memories. Enjoy and Happy New Year ... again!

We started out our Christmas Season by inviting our neighbors for a Christmas carol sing along on December 10th. We all had such a fun time singing together so we decided that it may become a tradition. It was a great way to invite the spirit of Christmas into our home.
Pictured are a few of our neighbors and friends that came to "sing in" the Season.

It was also the first time we used Papa's chocolate fountain. We are glad we set it up in the kitchen. Chocolate dripped all over the tile floor which made for an easy clean up. I think the kids were much more excited about the dessert than the singing. Alas sorry no pictures of our treats. I guess I was not thinking of blogging.

On the 15th of the month we had our Ward Christmas party. The kiddos first got to see Santa and then we enjoyed a great roast beef dinner with Ward talent sharing music and fun.

Sarah wins the best photo with Santa this year so she has earned the BIGGEST Santa picture this year! Yea Sarah, good smile!

Emma and Grace were not too sure about the big guy in the red suit.

Ben was just excited to tell Santa what he really wanted for Christmas. In our family tradition they get to ask Santa for one gift. Usually he comes through and delivers, so this was a very important moment. Ben's wish was a Roboquad. I am glad that Santa knows what the heck a Roboquad is because I never heard of it.

One of the musical pieces performed was by Jeff, the Bishop and me (the bishopric). We performed "We three Kings" the Three Tenors we were not, quite impossible in fact seeing that Jeff and the Bishop are basses. We had good practices, but we got off a bit in the beginning of the performance oh well. At least we were able to end on a strong and recognisable note! I think we three were happy when it was done. :)

We spent Christmas Eve with Nancy's sister Susan and her family. We had a wonderful time and loved the prime rib dinner. Yum yum yum. After dinner we had our traditional Christmas story found in Luke 2 read by Uncle Elvin and acted out by our puppeteers. This year with the addition of Emma as a wise man the story took on some funny turns like when the wise men started fighting with each other and then turned on Joesph and Mary. Not the most reverent rendition, but memorable. Thanks to Brian Emily's hubby (playing the angel part) the nativity brawls were kept to a minimum.

After the Christmas story we sang Christmas hymns. This is Sarah with Emily posing in front of the ebony and ivory. Sarah is taking piano and was pleased that Auntie Em (really cousin but Auntie Em sounded more fun.)would let her play a little bit too.

Amy had dish duty after the festivities. You can bet when you can hear water running Emma will be there in a flash. Amy was more than happy to have a helper, however I am not really sure how much help Emma ended up being.

As for me I was just happy Gracie was willing to take a little snooze. There are few things better than a sleeping baby!

The first order of business for the kids when we got home was to jump into their new PJ's. They are really cute jammies. Thanks to Aunt Allison for making matching PJ's! Getting PJ's for Christmas seems to be a tradition for many, we feel privileged to have one of a kind special made PJ's to wear. The kids love them and we appreciate the hard work and love that went into their making!.

Christmas morning... sometime most likely before 7AM... ack. too early, but fair game on such a day. As you can see Santa did come through for Ben. He got his Roboquad, Sarah got her "Wet and Bath Paul" doll and Emma got her (appropriately named) "Wet and Bath Emma" doll.

I hope you had a fun and happy Christmas season like we did.

Skating into the New Year

2008-01-03T12:11:00.001-08:00

December 31st was a lazy day around our house. After nearly a month of begging I finally gave in and took the kids ice skating in downtown Walnut Creek. We had a blast, and I enjoyed the 80's music that seemed to be a theme. Ben and Sarah had fun getting their "skate feet" back.

The first half of our adventure with Sarah was pushing her along or helping her with full support. After a while I let go and wouldn't you know that she could skate on her own! Ice skating was something that she did not think she could do on her own. I was really proud of her for trying!

Ben had a lot of fun and was content to skate by him self and was excited to get out his favorite hat. It is a few years old and possibly a size or two too small. Hmmm you be the judge.

I was of course happy to bring out "my" old skates. They are actually my Dad's skates that he purchased in the 50's and brought back from his mission in Sweden and gave to me. He skated on the Baltic Sea one cold winter when it was frozen from Stockholm to Helsinki. I'm sure he didn't go that far, but I am happy to have his leather Swedish hockey skates.

Nancy and the other girls (Emma and Grace) went to a near by park and had a swing while we carved the ice.

We ended 2007 with a kid party. Sounds crazy but it was fun. We invited over a family from our ward and had a little movie night. A movie was the activity but horsing around was the real fun.

Our neighbors had a little firework display around 8 and we settled down around 10 PM. Not too exciting, but we are looking forward towards a new year 2008!

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Clean Slate

2008-01-01T18:13:00.000-08:00

I love the New Year's holiday. It feels so fresh with a clean slate. In keeping with the perfect day as a start for a perfect year, I'd better get off the computer and read my scriptures followed by a homemade dinner for my family made from ingredients from our year supply followed by a devotional with the kids surrounding the fire in a quilt I made with my own hands from homespun cotton. There will be no unkind word said following which the kids, in their matching leiderhausen, will skip off to their rooms hand-in-hand to have silent reading time. Do you think I can keep this up all year?

I've Had It With You Santa!

2007-12-15T13:35:00.000-08:00

Dear Santa,

I'm writing to tell you that I'm ready to line my kids up and come clean on this whole Santa thing. You know, as well as I do, that I do all your shopping and bidding just like for the rest of the family. I'm good-natured enough to let you have all the credit but the stress is going to kill me! Sarah has been changing her mind for the last three weeks on what she is going to ask you for tonight when she sees you at the Ward Christmas Party. My garage is filled with the items she was going to ask for but has changed her mind about.

Sarah is now very set on a Baby Alive Boy & Girl baby. I've researched it and yes the "Boy" baby is anatomically correct. Little does she know, the boy baby is nearly impossible to find and thus when found, it is very expensive. Honestly, Santa, it would be easier for me to conceive a boy baby than to find this Baby Alive Boy doll. (And that's saying a lot seeing as Scott & I have produced 75% girls.) I've tried to talk her out of it stating that I don't think our sweet little girl should have a baby with a "peeny" to which she giggles and laughs hysterically. She tells me she gets to decide what she wants for Christmas from Santa, "and that's final!" We've discussed this at length. Scott wants to know who set up this tradition that you get whatever the heck you asked for anyway! (I have no sympathy for this comment because he doesn't help me either! He is in the same boat as you, Santa. Gets all the credit with no effort at all.)

After yet more research, I've learned that Corolle has a much cuter boy baby, also anatomically correct, and alas it is available. I've convinced Sarah this is the one to ask for. She had me write the exact name down for her: "Corolle Paul Wet and Bath Baby" which she will take with her tonight when she sees you.

Disaster was averted when Ben's first choice item (the i-coaster, out-of-stock everywhere and a very expensive item on the secondhand market) was replaced by the available Roboquad. Emma luckily doesn't fully get it. I have an assortment from which I can attempt to persuade her to choose from.

Frankly, I will sleep much better tonight after the grand meeting is done. I will be penniless (and Scott too) but I will sleep well knowing that I have not been responsible for undoing the magic of Christmas for my children. Even though I am sorely tempted! I just wanted you to know how I am feeling because I believe in open communication.

Until tonight,

Nancy

By Popular Demand

2007-12-11T11:08:00.000-08:00

Here's the photo referred to in the previous blog.

Wow! What a kick looking for this picture! Thanks for asking Chelsea! I have discovered that I actually have triplet daughters born in a spread of 6 years. Apparently we have one recipe with minor changes in the ingredients here and there.

10 Tips From a Harried Homemaker

2007-12-10T14:33:00.000-08:00

Here's a little diddy I submitted for a ward RS book. Thought it was bloggable so here it is...

When trying to measure up to the in-laws as a newlywed, offer something you know how to do well to help with the Thanksgiving meal like filling the glasses with ice. This will prevent the “deer-in-the-headlights” look of panic when you are asked to mash the potatoes.

At the beginning of the year, buy only belated birthday cards and send them at the end of each month to family and friends.

Keep your house messy so that on the occasion it is clean when someone stops by, they will be pleasantly surprised.

Don’t overmix salad dressing in the blender, unless you are trying to make your own mayonnaise.

Whoever scrapbooks gets to re-write family history from her own favorable viewpoint.

The best way to look thinner in a photo is to learn how to use Photoshop.

Don’t forget to turn the car engine off, take the keys out of the ignition and lock the doors before you go into a doctor’s appointment.

Don’t say anything to your husband when you realize he spends time every night rearranging the dishwasher before turning it on. Go ahead and continue to load it in a most inefficient manner and be grateful that he is so helpful in the kitchen.

Always make sure you have your driver’s license with you if you’re speeding down a residential street on the way to school pick-up and your kids have gotten out of their carseats. When you tell your husband about the incident, be positive. Tell him the police officer was really nice and only ticketed you for just one of your infractions.

When your daughter sprinkles cocoa all over her bedroom, scold her firmly but with kindness and then get your camera and photograph it because someday it really will be funny. This is highly recommended for any garden variety messes that take place.

P.S. Note the chin removal...still perfecting that art.

The "Nancy" Pose

2007-12-06T18:44:00.000-08:00

Oh, I'm so prolific today but I just read a request for the famous "Nancy" pose. Here's a perfect example....

When time for a photo to be snapped, dash behind anyone. This is much more successful when people are sitting but it can be done when people are standing.

When I get desperate, I have been known to use Photoshop.

Follow-Up

2007-12-06T13:02:00.000-08:00

I will be lucky to get the Christmas tree in the house, with lights and ornaments before December 24th. Scotty did not convey the message that he adheres to a strict 20-step program to get the tree into the house. He just described about the first 6 steps. We have a long way to go people! The consolation prize is that we'll get to enjoy the Christmas tree until well into January since the take-down process is a 25-step program...

On a separate note...because she is one of our blogreaders, Happy Birthday to my niece, Emily! I have great memories of growing up with her. We have a number of things in common including we both love to play the piano and at any family "work" party growing up, neither of us could really be found working. I remember the days of trying to measure what percentage of her body were her legs, running after her to try to cut a straggler long curl in the back and hearing comments like, "why are your knees so huge" to which I'd answer, "because I'm 13 years older than you!". Have a great day!

What's in a Tree?

2007-12-05T22:32:00.000-08:00

Finding the right tree is one of the more important Christmas rituals in our family. We used to go to one of those local pop up tree lots. Meaning that they pop up on the corner right before Thanksgiving about as fast as it takes to clear out the pumpkins from the same corner lot after Halloween. This is not a bad thing, however we discovered that this is one of the most expensive options for choosing a tree. (We are standing in front of our chosen tree this year.)Expect to pay $90 to $130 or more for a tree on the "pop up lot". (I'm not even going to discuss flocking ... I've never done it and if I have my way I never will. I am also not going to discuss the fake tree, I know there a lot of believers out there, but after all is said and done what is there to discuss? No scent, no thought, no imagination, no, no, no!)

Eureka! About 2 or 3 years ago we discovered the Home Depot Christmas tree. I have to admit I was a bit weary but I was pleasantly surprised. The trees were fresh and good looking.

(You can tell if a tree is fresh if you take a single needle and bend it in half. If it snaps or breaks in half it is fresh. If it just bends.... find another tree.)

They also have pretty good service (even for Home Depot!)They will give you a fresh cut, and "package" the tree in a nylon netting for easy transporting.

This year we departed from the pop up lot (no surprise) and Home Depot! It came down to time. It would have taken time we just did not have to make to trek to Home Depot and "Find" the tree that belongs to us.

Sidebar... what does "Find" a tree really mean? It means searching the rows of trees looking for that tree that "speaks" to me... er US. I guess you could call me a tree whisperer. At the end of the day I will find the tree that just looks and feels right. That is the only way I can explain it.

Today we picked up the kids from school with the intention to go immediately to find our tree. We passed by Nob Hill Foods and they had set up a pseudo Pop Up Lot. I was of course immediately against the idea, however when I was across from the lot (and when I found out that all the trees were about $35) I heard a tree "speaking" to me. The third tree we looked at we chose. A record for tree whispering.

The Nob Hill pop up lot did not have all the amenities that I am used to at other PUL's like a fresh cut service, a hole already in the base of the trunk, and a wrapped up tree for easy transport. I guess you just have to lower expectations with a supermarket Christmas Tree. Well I am just happy that we were able to find out tree at a very good price and Nancy was happy that we were able to find it quickly. If you think that finding the tree is the end of the story you are sadly mistaken. This is the part of the ritual that drives Nancy crazy. Once we get the tree home we trim it up a bit, and then spray it down with the hose and let it soak in a bucket of water for a couple of days. So the tree we purchased today (Wednesday) will probably not make it into the house until at least Friday or Saturday. It is just one of those things I like to do. No one likes a dirty tree in the house. I am sure that Nancy will be following up this entry with the other view of this most important tradition.

It's starting to feel a lot like Christmas!

Just Because

2007-12-02T23:12:00.000-08:00

Heaven knows I take a zillion photos but I finally got the photo that captures what I see all the time in our cutie little Grace. Where has three months gone? I can't be "done" with a little face like this looking at me all the time. Don't worry, I'm not committing myself either way but a look like this is what it's all about for me.

P.S. Gracie is also getting full face time on the blog because I had to choose a photo for the Christmas Card photo that wasn't her best. The true sacrifice of a mother is having to choose the picture with the greatest percentage of kids looking good even at the expense of one kid not looking as great. Of course, the ultimate deciding factor of a family photo choice is the one where the mom looks good regardless of everyone else. I didn't have to worry about that one this year.

A night with the AQUABATS!

2007-11-30T16:09:00.000-08:00

On November 27th (last Wednesday night) Ben and I went to see the Aquabats! It was so much fun. The put on one of the best concerts I have seen them perform. They played some of their newer music and also some great older songs I haven't heard for years. I was truly FUN! The Bat Commander in my first cousin, so we have followed the band for quite a number of years. It is great seeing them have so much success!

This is the "Bat Commander" during the concert. Below is a stock photo of the band in action. You can tell we are related because we have the same body profile ... I don't feel so bad any more because he is like a super hero!

Christian Jacobs is also a co-creator of the kids show on Noggin "Yo Gabba Gabba!" This is DJ Lance who stars on the show and he was touring with the Aquabats.

Click on DJ Lance to visit GabbaGabba land.

We met Lance and found him to be the nicest person. He was willing to talk to us like there was no one else in the room. Ben was really excited to meet him because he recognized him from Yo Gabba Gabba. Emma wished she had seen Lance because she LOVES "Gabba Gabba" as she calls it. I was really impressed with Lance, a very genuine and friendly person that has not let any of his fame go to his head. This is Ben and Lance right after the concert.

This is Ben and Christian back stage after the concert. We got to meet all the band members and as already mentioned DJ Lance.

Sarah has informed me that she will be going to the Aquabats the next time they come to Slims in San Francisco. Personally I can hardly wait!

Oops! This was actually posted by Scotty and NOT Nancy!

Happy Thanksgiving

2007-11-24T08:59:00.000-08:00

We had a somewhat nontraditional thanksgiving this year. We spent our holiday week in Pacific Grove next to the Beach. We had the most spectacular weather with sunny days and temp in the upper 60's. We had fun with Family and friends who came to play for a couple of days.

This is me and my sister Karen. It is fun to have a sibling who is close by and we enjoy their family so much.

I am sorry I do not have a picture of her oldest daughter Christy or her husband Danny. Danny and I had a great day golfing on the Tuesday before thanksgiving. We were paired up with Russ and Mickey, two retired gents who knew absolutely every soul we encountered on the course. A bit intimidating but friendly guys that put up with a couple of amateurs. Later that night Danny and I spent a good amount of time sparing with my new obsession Mashoonga! sabers. Yes Danny, I await our next battle padawan!

Here are the Lucy's, Danny and Christina's Lucy and our Emma Lucy. Cute Cute Cute!

My kids LOVE their cousins, and they are so kind to their younger counterparts. This is me and my kids with their cousins Katy and Becca and Becca's "friend" Kyle.

I took the kids to the Monterey Bay Aquarium and had a blast. Here are the kids next to the main otter exhibit. I swear we did see otters! Unfortunately they did not make the photo.

We had a fun time on thanksgiving day with friends from Church. They joined us on Turkey day as we enjoyed our special meal together. Afterwards we all went and saw Disney's new movie out "Enchanted" I recommend this movie to everyone. It was excellent definitely a 5 star and probably worth another viewing at the theatre!

Our thanksgiving day ended as the sun set into the Pacific.

Wow Christmas is just around the corner! Happy holidays!

Theater Casualties

2007-11-17T22:40:00.000-08:00

My oldest niece got married today in the Salt Lake Temple! Jenny is only 10 years younger than I. We are closer in age than her mom and I (we are 13 years apart). I am so sad I couldn't be there but thrilled that my darling daughter got to go in my place. I do not want to steal Scott's thunder on blogging about it since he was actually there but I was so excited to see the pictures I had to post one immediately. Jenny is an amazing woman and so talented! I am so happy for her! I know she is giong to be so happy with her new hubby, Mark.

Every show I play for seems to have some sort of family casualty. Missing this temple wedding will go on record as a big one for me.

Shhhh...the carrots are sleeping!

2007-11-10T23:44:00.000-08:00

Is it ever too late to go to the grocery store? Good old Safeway is advertised as being open 24 hours a day. I made a late Saturday night run to my local Safeway this evening, about 10:30pm, to pick up a few last minute items before the Sabbath. After running into a friend and colleague from the theater (hey Lenore!), I went into the produce section to pick up my much needed bell pepper. I was bewildered to find that all of the lights were out in the refrigerated section--you know, the part where the sprinklers go off every so often. Does the produce section close? Apparently the lettuce and other various vegetation do go night-night at my Safeway.

One of my other items of purchase was an ice cream pie: a much craved dessert to celebrate after a performance of Guys & Dolls. Going to an establishment to enjoy a treat after the show with all the kids just doesn't work anymore. The very helpful adolescent bagging my groceries happily inquired if someone at my house was celebrating a birthday. My response: "Well, sort of." I didn't want to tell him that I have hidden in my car, a plastic fork so I could eat it on the way home. It's better not to let my friendly bagger think that somebody would buy a Safeway ice cream pie just for a snack.

P.S. Don't worry, I just indulged in one piece...well, at least so far.

Theater Thursday - Words from the Ugly Stepsister

2007-11-01T17:51:00.000-07:00

A huge part of our family is our involvement in the Danville Children's Musical Theater. This great opportunity has grafted us into the Greenberg family. We love our association with them but let's face it, we are Pam's slaves. We definitely work harder than those full-blooded sisters, Celia, Paige, Ellie & Lenore (well, maybe not Nor since she had to choreograph this show). Here's a little glimpse into what it's like for us during theater season.

Our garage turns into a workshop as Scotty works on the sets. (Notice the scooter which holds a story for another blogging day about Ben riding it on a walk with a blanket over his legs...)

Scotty works every spare minute on the sets. He married into this mess and is now a true theater guy because he claims his creative juices don't flow unless he procrastinates until the last minute.

Scotty Jr. helping out. (Notice the protective goggles. A lesson learned from the year Ben's cornea was scratched by flying sawdust.)

Two of our four neglected children during the season.

And me, practicing away, transposing music for ungrateful kids who think I can just do this with the snap of my fingers. Unfortunately, I'm not pictured at my lucky Yamaha piano I play at the theater. I decided photographing it would be very sacrilegious similar to photographing the pulpit of an LDS chapel. I am VERY superstitious about playing for a show. For example, whatever happens to be on the piano at the beginning of Tech Week MUST remain there until the final show. I have been known to have happy meal toys or empty water bottles somewhere on the piano during the entire run because they got left there in the beginning. I get very upset if things are moved. Don't be getting any ideas. Word on the street is that the theater piano is going to be replaced with a digital piano. GASP!!!!! I'm in denial. I may need medication if this comes to fruition. Yes, I have considered purchasing it myself and storing it only to haul it back for each show as part of the sets. Scotty said over his dead body.

Sarah asked me at rehearsal last Monday what was wrong with Pam. I inquired what she meant and she said, "why does she yell like that?" I told her it was just that time of year. She is an equal opportunity yeller except I don't think she ever yells at Scotty. Pam has always been good to me and our family. She even let me have a baby this theater season. We can put up with a little yelling.

Tech week is a trial for everyone but it is all worth it. There is nothing better than playing for a show. I LOVE to play the piano!! All the hardwork is worth seeing those kids shine. Pam does her amazing magic resulting in a show to be proud of! I'm grateful for such a great opportunity to do something I love! It's even better to share it with my whole family! Thanks Pam & pseudo-stepfamily!

halloween Take 2

2007-11-01T17:40:00.000-07:00

Can you say CANDY! Each of the kids filled up their pumpkin! The daddy tax just increased! You may recognize some costumes, and happily Emma chose to actually be a Dog (a some what dressed dog with pink boots sorry you can't see them, but a dog none the less)! Hope your all hallows eve was fun like ours.

Ah! Halloween!

2007-10-30T22:33:00.000-07:00

Halloween is one of those "seasons" that our family usually gets into. We never go over board with decorations, but this year we have had a hard time getting into the spirit of the holiday. I guess you could say that this year we have taken the minimalist approach. We actually put up a Halloween quilt Nancy made last year. It is very cute and it covers all the bases. We may even get a pumpkin on the porch. Oh well.

In the spirit of minimalism I revolted this year and refused to dress up for the Ward Halloween and "trunk or Treat" party. As you can see in the photos I did in the end "dress" up.

After emphatically declaring that I would NOT be in a costume, I decided at the 11Th hour to throw together a make shift something or other. I wore the "get up" that I had to wear in the operating room when Grace was born C section. (Yes I did save it!) Not much imagination for costume but I did finally get into the spirit of the evening. Grace was dressed up as you can see as an M & M. (Thanks to Nancy's Sister-in-Law Allison for the cute costume.)
Ben was going to be a Lego block, but when he found out that Grace was going to be an M & M he decided he wanted to go as an M & M Box. Thanks to Nancy for it's creation. Sarah was excited to appear at the party dressed as Jasmine from Aladdin.
Emma is all talk and no action. She had abut 3 costumes that she wanted to wear but ended up wearing her pajamas with a Mini Mouse printed on it. Oh well, there is always next year.

Our Church party was a lot of fun. Ben had invited all the people on our court to come and one of our Neighbors ended up coming. We all had a great time. We combined with the other Ward that also meets in our building so there were twice as many trunks to visit and get candy.

In our family there is an unwritten rule that Daddy must check out all the candy received, and of course I do take the Daddy tax.When the kids are watching I get the dumb pieces, but when find their stashes, I gets what I want! Yahoo!

Happy Halloween everyone!!

Time For Crossword Puzzles

2007-10-21T07:37:00.000-07:00

I had an experience on Friday that has left me nearly speechless. Allow me to explain: I had a doctor appointment in Concord and brought Grace along, of course. I parked and proceeded to gather my things including Grace and off we went inside. It turns out the appointment was really a class (argh) lasting over an hour.

About two-thirds through the class, I started doing the mental check of where I had put my keys, wallet, baby etc. I realized I didn't quite know where my keys were. Without panic, I started searching various pockets, bags and carseat. I searched my mind but couldn't quite recall what I had done with those keys. Hmmmm. No need to panic. Luckily the class was about over so I started to gather my things hoping at this point, I had just left the keys in the car and hadn't dropped them along the way. That would be bad. Off we go outside, staying calm. I got to my car and noticed the keys were still in the ignition with the engine running. Do the math my friends--my car was running, unattended and unlocked for over 1 hour. I can't believe my little minivan is not on Craig's List as we speak. As our niece and nephew, Christy & Danny, can attest to, the car theft ring is still thriving.

A friend suggested I should start doing crossword puzzles. Thankfully I have already told my kids that they won't get college tuition unless they take a healthcare course in the care of the elderly. Am I too young for Aricept? Maybe just more sleep is in order.

Old Dog New Tricks

2007-10-17T21:14:00.000-07:00

Being the youngest of six kids with a spread of 16 years, I have always felt young. When you have siblings turning 50, being in the 30's feels like a teenager. I am starting to recognize the possibility that perhaps I am getting older as I am in my "late 30's" having a newborn. I look around and notice my baby-making contemporaries. I can't help but see how this old goat compares to all these young hip moms I'm surrounded by. I guess I'm just not feeling so young and spry. Here are some signs that have tipped me off:

- I don't own a Phil & Ted stroller or any cool, compact looking stroller for that matter. I still push around my enormous 4-in-1 stroller.

- Actually, I haven't even been using a stroller at all lately. I just walk around with my cute little bundle in my arms if I heaven forbid have to leave the house. Why bother getting the stroller out anyway? I think it's way more fun to just stay at home.

- I don't own a Baby Bjorn. I do have a Kelty Kids front pack but it's too much of a pain to put on.

- I don't use a real diaper bag. The first couple of trips out with my baby, I carried a diaper and a bag of wipes in my hand. Now that I am forced to carry around a few things, I use one of the kids crafty trick-or-treat bags I made a few years ago.

- After those middle-of-the-night feedings, I have been faced with boughts of insomnia. I figure if I'm going to have to get up in a couple of hours anyway, I might as well stay up and get something done. It would be too painful to have to wake up again.

- I don't use a sling. I just can't imagine being coordinated enough to be able to carry my baby in one of those without having her fall out. I'm way too clumsy.

- I don't swaddle my baby. She looks frustrated to me when I tie her arms down in the blanket.

- I don't have a "hooter-hider". I see them all over the place but I'm happy with a good old-fashioned blanket.

- There aren't really any pictures of me holding my baby. I'm great at taking pictures of everyone else but I don't really like to be in the photos. This is not good. I'll be putting that on my to-do list.

It's actually quite refreshing to hear all the new tricks of the trade from the hip and trendy moms I know. There are a few problems that have been solved finally on baby number 4 due to the young 'uns. The sound machine helps us with the nap/sleep thing. The "Brest Friend" pillow is handier than free-arming it.

Thanks to the trendy moms out there that are teaching this old dog some new tricks. Well, at least being good examples of what's in. There is always going to be a better way than how we used to do it. Whether or not the old dog can actually learn the new tricks is a different story...

10 Things I Have Learned from Celia

2007-10-14T13:15:00.000-07:00

I have a lot of really awesome friends. There is something kind of cool and extra bonding about a friend that you have that you knew when you were a teenager. I mean, really, how many highschool friends do you really keep in touch with? I feel pretty lucky to still keep in touch with and be friends with Celia from my Laurel class growing up. We weren't necessarily the best of friends then but as the church is good at, we were thrown together by associations in Young Womens. We didn't socialize on the same planes as you see, Celia was popular and I was well, let's just say, awkward. No, I was a band geek. Now, twenty years later, I have an awesome friend that knew me when...Happy Birthday Celia!

Here are 10 things I've learned from Celia over the years....

1. It's imperative to have a housecleaner at least every other week even if you must cut something else out of the budget.

2. You may not wear your maternity clothes after you deliver a baby even if they fit and are comfortable.

3. A bottle of formula once a day or more will not kill your baby.

4. Absolutely everything we know about this subculture world of blogging.

5. You must nap every day. Lock the bedroom door and use a sound machine if necessary.

6. Wrap-up verbage is not necessary when ending a phonecall particularly when your kids need you.

7. You can host a luncheon with store bought prepared foods.

8. Only spend time decorating your house one month a year and that's it.

9. Always dress great. It is preferable to start with a fresh new wardrobe every season. You can shop at Target to justify the costs.

10. I can ask her anytime for a book recommendation because she has quite possibly read more books than anyone I know.

The list could go on. To the award-winning blogger, cleverest, funniest, understanding friend...happy birthday Celia! And happy anniversary of the accompanying picture.

Birth Anouncement Etc.

2007-10-08T23:04:00.000-07:00

Gracie's birth announcement is out. Nancy as usual did a super job. I thought I would share it here with you also.

For a larger image see the photos at the end of the "posts".

Here are a couple more updated photos of Gracie at 5 weeks old.

The following photos show the final step started in my post (dated September 18th) titled "The Grapes of Wrath".

I wanted to show you that Emma participated in the Jelly making "ceremony" regardless of her previous injury steaming the grapes. The truth is wild horses could not keep her out of the kitchen. She insisted on helping me. I decided that for her safety she should be posted well away from the hot bottles being steamed, the cooking jelly and the hot finished product. Emma's part was handing the rings that hold the lids down. She was excited to help in any way. She really feels like it is her grape jelly too.

There are two things about this photo I need to make a comment about. First, even with digital photos, eyes are closed at just the wrong moment. Dang!

Second is a bit more serious. If you look closely it appears that our darling innocent Emma is making a rude hand gesture. I promise that our next Family Home Evening we will have a special lesson on the proper use of sign language and how important it is to avoid the naughty gestures. I'll let you know how it goes... ;)

When I grow up I want to be ...?

2007-10-02T22:38:00.001-07:00

It is a fun past time to watch your kids at play. If you observe close enough you may even be able to see your kids begin to develop skills that will help them decide what they will be when they grow up.

Last
Saturday Ben decided to open a shop in his room, he made paper laptops to sell along with a myriad of other little trinkets. All for a dollar, except the laptop. That was $2.95. He showed a lot of initiative and really payed attention to detail. He could easily have his own business one day.

He was determined to set up shop. The question was what to do with his unruly siblings. Include or exclude from his venture. Ben surprisingly decided to include Sarah and Emma. Human resources specialist? Hmmm. Maybe.

Ben drew up and posted this contract on his door and required his new "employee" to sign the contract in multiple places.

Yea, I think he will be a Lawyer, if nothing else he certainly knows what a one sided contract is and he knows how to convince someone to "sine" it. My favorite part is the line that says "Sarah you need to do what Ben says." That sounds like older brother lingo. (Maybe he will be a dictator of a third world country? It's possible.)

This is Sarah, living up to the contract that she signed. I am not sure why she got the position of janitor, but I am sure it was orchestrated by Ben.

As you can see it appears that she is not taking her job seriously.

Dang!

Emma's .
job was to take care of the toys in the shop. Here she is by her table

All in all they played for a few hours at their game. No TV, no real screaming or major interventions needed.

At the end of the play I saw a number of potential things that Ben could do in his future.

Shop owner, future income up to 100K.

Human resources ... 70 to 80K.

Dictator of a 3rd world nation. $$$The sky's the limit, (it may however have a short life span.)

Lawyer ... 100 to 300K.

A few hours of relative peace and quiet while the kids play .... PRICELESS!

Blogging together?

2007-09-29T00:17:00.000-07:00

Blogging together is not the only thing that keeps a couple together.

If you want to know what does, tune in to Dr. Phil or Dr. Laura. They're experts and as an added bonus they fix and entertain at the same time. But I digress as usual...

When I started this blog, Nancy was in the hospital with the then un-named Grace, I assumed that once home she would take over. I say that only because it seems like blogging is more in her domain than in mine. I have to admit I was wrong. Not that Nancy is not at home blogging, but that I have found ... lets call it a new hobby. Hobby sound so much better than addiction.

Regardless, I do like the razor analogy Nancy mentioned. I was tempted to buy her her own razor, you know the one strong enough for a man but made for a woman. Well whatever, razors or deodorant, it is all the same in an emergency, Right? Well in the end I didn't get one, mostly because I knew that she really likes my razor better and would use it regardless. Oh well, all I can say is we will continue to share blogging, razors and, on the odd occasion deodorant ... maybe. (Tooth brushes are out!) :)

I really like the wedding photo above. Mostly because we are so skinny and young looking. I also know even though I can't see it, I have lots of hair on top of my head! That is the way it goes and comes over the years, hair by hair and ounce by ounce.

I thought I was in love back then. I know I really was, but now I look back and think it was kids play, meaning our love has deepened and matured over the last 11 years of experience together. Thanks honey for the last 10.75 years and I look forward to the next 10 or so. I'll be your blogging partner anytime!

(I'm waiting for the obligatory and collective "AAAAAAWE" from the audience.)

A Couple Who Blogs Together, Stays Together...

2007-09-25T19:47:00.000-07:00

This blog was created with the intentions of being a family blog. The question is can a couple (happily devoted to one another) really share a blog? It's kind of like a husband and wife sharing a razor--you tolerate it but you would really rather she got her own darn razor to dull. We'll see.

Emma

2007-09-24T22:35:00.000-07:00

From swim goggles and a Sunday dress...

To our little gymnast defying gravity.

Emma is full of life. She keeps us busy and has only two buttons. On and Off. Unfortunately, I have no idea how to work the buttons! She will go 100 miles an hour all day long, and then with out warning she will be out like a light. That quick. What would it be like to be 3 again.

This is what I looked like at 3 years old. I think I was a bit ticked about something. I can't remember what.

But enough about ME.

Emma loves to sing (sometimes with vibrato ... it is really cute) mostly "Jesus wants me for a sun BEAM!" and "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star". She also likes to talk sing songie. My favorite, (but officially it was terrible) was when she would talk sing song after a toot "I Faaaaarted, I Faaaaaaaaarted!" at the top of her lungs. That killed Ben and Sarah. Like I said officially that was a no no, I'm sure I got after her for using the "F" word, but I have to admit I did laugh a bit. No doubt she has been schooled by her older siblings. Shame Shame!

Lately she likes to to bump into things and then exclaim "Ow my arm!" or "Ow my head!" As of late her favorite thing to say after siting down is "Ow my Butt!" That also brings the house down with Ben and Sarah. Tonight in the middle of FHE after a failed somersault she said "Ow my head popped off." She is always coming up with something new and funny to say. Her older siblings wait for the funny and then try to make her say it over and over. Emma usually obliges with such a willing audience.

I (WE) could make a million if we could bottle Emma's energy. I'll leave you with a few pics of Emma at her best! Did I mention she is A HAM! And a bit messy to boot.

Hunt for that special Spoon

2007-09-22T22:05:00.000-07:00

So what is the big deal about spoons? I use forks and knives and I appreciate a real good quality kitchen knife. It is an essential in the kitchen. But I love my spoons. I am really not a spoon snob. I like and use all kinds of spoons, but I love to use a melamine slotted spoon in the kitchen. Melamine is the kind of material the spoon is made of. I know that there are PVC, wooden, and other types of slotted spoons. But I like the melamine type the best.

Now something about me: I would have to say of all the home duties I am most comfortable and enjoy the work in the Kitchen the most. Cooking is sort of a passion for me. I am not the best by far, but I like making good food and probably enjoy others liking my food better.

I learned to cook in my Mothers kitchen. The love of cooking and the method of cooking has it's beginnings for me there in her kitchen standing on a stool watching her make magic. There are a number of things I learned from her, like adding butter or heavy cream to almost any recipe is a plus. I also learned that a slotted spoon was an essential kitchen tool. To me the slotted spoon is the equivalent of "Sandwich Sprinkle" a spice mix found from my favorite mail order spice shop called Penzies. (That will have to be another blog entry.) It is a kind of joke in my family that I use sandwich sprinkle on everything. And they would be right. Well when I cook the tool I reach for more often than not is my slotted spoon.

I have owned a number of slotted spoons but they are hard to find for some unknown reason. When I see a kitchen store I enter and search for that special spoon. I have NEVER found the melamine slotted spoon in the United States. The last one I found was in a store in Denmark years ago.

I use my slotted spoons so much that I have worn them out. In fact, I am down to my last one. (Oh the horror!)I treat it very nicely and I try not to over use it. The one I used before my "last" one (it looked like spoon 3520 in the picture above except mine was navy blue, incidently my favorite shape), was in the dish washer and fell from the top basket and straddled the heating element. My cherished spoon was burned up. (An untimely end!)I almost felt like I should finish burning it and keep the ashes in a little blue and white urn in the kitchen, you know for good luck. If you are worrying about me Don't. The spoon was unceremoniously thrown out. I may be crazy, but I am sane. (What?) Anyway, just like that I was down to one. It looks like 3519 in the above picture. Not my favorite shape but it is my last one.

At last the search is over! Special thanks to Nancy my brilliant wife, (who always gets the best gifts for others, and is always thinking ahead) found a slotted spoon source while surfing the web. What did we do before the Internet? I have included the web address so you too may start your own melamine slotted spoon experiment. Will it make you cook better? I don't know, you will just have to try it out. For me I just feel more comfortable in the kitchen with my slotted spoon in hand. I know it sounds silly. But I stand by my spoons.

http://www.gourmac.com/melmixspoon.html

The Grapes of Wrath

2007-09-18T23:29:00.000-07:00

Yesterday (by the way my 21st anniversary of my entry into the MTC) man I am feeling old.

Well as usual I digress... So on Monday I thought it would be fun to go to my Parents house and harvest Concord Grapes. It was fun! We basically picked all the grapes that were ripe or even acted ripe. The whole idea was to bring them home put them in the steamer and extract the juice. The juice will then be processed into Jelly at some point. (That has not happened yet.) I did this last year and the jelly was such a hit I knew that I had to go for a repeat performance.

Have you ever started a project and wish you had left it for another day. It seems like there are not enough minutes to get everything that needs doing done. Well the grape project was one of these projects. I should have juiced later. The picking went smashingly. All objectives for the outing were met. The kids got out of the house for a few hours and we came home with grapes.

Unfortunately it was the seaming that went awry this time. The product was fine. (I'm sure you are much relieved!)I got 12 cups of juice. (That will make 2.25 batches of the good stuff.) I was multi tasking while Emma was pushing up a chair so she could get involved in the kitchen activities. She usually makes her way to the sink, (which drives me crazy). I was steaming and making dinner at the same time. I had turned my back on Emma's scooting chair and by the time I turned around she had gotten up and reached for a banana on the counter next to the steaming grapes of wrath and burned her little arm on the steaming pot. ACK!

I felt terrible. First because I was in charge of the kitchen and second, I was also watching the kids. Failed on both stewardship's! Of course my first reaction was to let 3 year old Emma know that her accident was a result of not following my precise instructions by keeping away from the hot steamer. After an unneeded 3 second lecture I pulled my head out and got cool water on her arm. Luckily for us the burn was not as bad as I first thought although bad enough. She slept all night and is feeling much better today.

Still I feel sort of jerk like for my first reaction. I guess that is all part of being a father. Next time I will administer first aid first. Everyone knows that there is plenty of time to lecture after the fact. Having said that it is strange I still feel a lecture is needed. I know from experience as a "lecturee" for many years that the "I told you so" lecture really does no good and is actually quite pointless. However, I have also learned that it does make a Father feel better to give the lecture anyway. Hmmmm. Kind of funny and dumb at the same time.

I have to admit the greatest lectures I ever received growing up were the ones I never got (but deserved). I still have to learn to give that one.

Mono thematic?

2007-09-15T23:29:00.000-07:00

For the record we are a family of 4 children now. I realized that nearly all my postings have been leaning towards Grace our newest addition. I hope that for the sake of my other deprived children that the mantra will not become the Brady-esk (if that is a word) "Gracie, Gracie Gracie ... that's all I hear!" I do have to admit that Grace is an easy subject and like most new Born's they require constant attention, therefore naturally become the center of all attention.

Today was the emergency preparedness fair (co-sponsored by the city of Walnut Creek) and I got to take the "Other three" out for a spin so to speak. We had fun. The highlights for the kids, and particularly Ben was the Bomb Squad, complete with the robot, and the favorite Fire truck. I have to admit that there were other "First Responders" there, but some lacked the enthusiasm of the Police and Fire units present. Namely the Red Cross disaster relief mobile unit.

It looked like they were in a modified U-Haul truck. The second owners (after U-Haul and before the Red Cross) must have tried to convert the moving van into an RV in the driveway and after failing sold it to the Red Cross at a bargain price. Unfortunately I did not get photo to share. (I need to start thinking and snapping photos like a blogger!) The people manning the truck looked like they just got off the night shift as they sat on the tail gate swinging their legs waiting for interested people to see what kind of services they offer. I have all the respect for the Red Cross and what they do and stand for, I was just sorry for them. Their faded orangeie reddish and white truck could not compete with the larger than life just waxed all the bells and whistles, uniformed Fire Truck or Bomb Squad. At any rate just to prove I really was there with the kids here are the photos in the Fire truck. We all had fun and Dad enjoyed the tri tip sandwich. Yum. The fair had a good turn out and was well organized. Viva la 72 Hr Kit!

To sleep or not to sleep, Is that a question?

2007-09-14T22:59:00.000-07:00

Have you ever had an experience that was lets say ... undesirable, and after a couple of years go by you think to your self. "That wasn't all that bad." I think we all have selective memory at times and hopefully remember the good things rather than dwell on the not so good things. I think in general that is a good way to look at life.

Well I remembered a lack of sleep with our other children after they were born and determined from my past experience that "it wasn't all that bad before." Well, well my friends all I can say is selective memory in a funny thing. Being tired just seems to be a way of life with a new baby. Nancy of course receives the least amount of sleep between us and I know when she reads this she may want to poke me in the eye for even half complaining about MY lack of sleep.

So what about the question "to sleep or not to sleep?" It seems like when Grace is asleep that is the perfect time to sleep or not to sleep.

On one hand SLEEP! Boy that sounds soooo good. On the other hand, work. At some point you have to keep up with the other kids, the laundry, the dishes, the cats, the dust, spilt milk and crushed crackers on the carpet, bills, emails, thank you cards, etc, etc. (Now when Nancy reads this I am afraid she will poke me in the other eye for insinuating that all these things are on MY list of things to do when not sleeping. I do have to admit I have stepped up my duties in the Kitchen and laundry room, but Nancy courageously tackles all of these things on a daily basis.) (I hope I have saved my eye.)

The only problem with choosing to sleep or work is not being able to do both at the same time. If you do one the other suffers. If you choose sleep, after the well needed snooze it is like awakening to the aftermath of Katrina. Yikes. If you choose to try to get one step ahead of the mountain of work to be done you by default continue to enlist with the ranks of the living dead.

So what ever you do you do, and the things that are not done will just have to wait. From my experience of having been a father of a newborn 3 previous times, I remember that this does not last for ever! That I know I remember correctly! Thank heavens!

Good heavens LOOK at the time. I should be asleep!

Who says Daddy can't nurse?

2007-09-12T21:23:00.000-07:00

Well nurse? I guess in actuality it really should be called pacify. So Daddy really is just a pacifier, a big binky, or what ever you are prone to call it in your family. We call it a binky. I have heard other names, but they all escape me now other than pacifier. Oh well.

In the end, Grace and I had some quality one on one time today. She woke up and hollered for her Mom who was unable to answer the call. I stood by her bassinet and tried to give her a real binky, but she would not have it! Emma was on the scene and EXTREMELY upset that Grace was crying. When she saw me standing there, and from her perspective unable to see the binky dance in and out of Gracie's mouth became frustrated and gave me the "look" and kept saying "Daddy PICK UP! Daddy PICK UP! Daddy PICK UP!!!" I finally picked her up and Emma's concerns returned to her favorite new show "Yo Gabba Gabba" on Nick. Such is the life of a three year old.

So I had this brilliant idea. (Not original however. It also worked on Ben, Sarah and Emma.) At any rate I found that the pinkie trick still works. We were able to look at each other and just relax. Well, I relaxed, and Grace, ... you could read it on her face. It would change occasionally from I am happy and comfy right now, to the look of confusion. I could almost see an imaginary thought bubble over her head saying "Hey I thought I got milk when I did this!" Poor baby daddy is already confusing the situation. She is a doll and oh so soft.

On the subject of pacifiers being so Soft; Sarah and Emma have the habit of sucking their thumbs. Normally Sarah likes to twist her hair or rub her ear lobe. Emma does the same things with the addition of holding her little soft blankie when it is not lost. With Grace now a part of the family there is a newer and softer thing available.

Both Sarah and Emma have been known to suck their thumb and rub Gracie's head. I feel like the farmer that is constantly trying to keep the family dog out of the hen house. The dog knows he shouldn't do it, the farmer is constantly vigilant, but the dog just can't keep him self out of such a cool place and watches the farmer and heads out when he is not looking. Well I have managed to keep the girls from rubbing the hair off of Grace's head, but it is a constant reminder to them from the "farmer". "Stop rubbing Grace's head!!!" I say, "BUT it is soooooo soft."

Well they are right and to tell the truth I like to rub her head a little also. OK so sue me! It is soft and I like it too. But what the girls do not know yet and I will not tell them is that her little neck is just like velvet.

Grace is a kissable baby. Such a doll and a sweetheart! Already it is impossilbe to imagine her not in our family! We all love her to pieces.

Editorial: Where have all the flags gone?

2007-09-11T22:43:00.000-07:00

Today is Patriots day. A day of remembrance. A day to remember those that died, some because they were in the wrong place and they could not get away. Some trying to take control, and others who were in the right place doing their jobs. We remember them and the families of all left behind.

Remember 9/11! In a way it has become the new Alamo, and the new Pearl Harbor. I have heard many tributes today on the radio and television remembering those who perished in the terrorist attacks in New York, Pennsylvania and Washington D.C. Particulary those who gave thier lives as they attempted to save others. The true heros.

The days after the attacks we came together as a country with our colors. Red, White, and Blue flying in solidarity, with honor, and remembrance. The flag blankedted the United States. It was amazing. Something I will never forget. Flying the Flag was beyond patriotic, it was almost an act of defiance towards those who wished ill on the United States. We will not sit back, we will remember! Those were some hard days, the begining of hard questions. But we seemed to be a country united. It was a good feeling. Time has passed, I do not think we have forgotten, but somehow we have become used to it. I wish that didn't happen. Regardless, I must ask the question.

Where have all the flags gone?

Remember.

And the mom speaks...

2007-09-06T13:05:00.000-07:00

Yes, I really was there! I'm feeling great and so happy with my little brood! Gracie is so fun and I want to kiss her until I'm silly.

What's in a Name?

2007-09-04T13:52:00.000-07:00

Introducing Grace Kay Jacobs!!!!

We are all finally in agreement on a name. We were successful in continually pushing off the persistent volunteers at the hospital looking for birth certificate info until this morning when Grace and Mama came home! Yippee!! As first time parents so many years ago it seems we were kind of over come with the pressure to get a name chosen to keep the volunteers at bay, so we felt a bit rushed with our first. This time we were definitely not rushed at such an important decision.

So what is in a name? No pressure on the parents right? It is just the name your child will have for all time, answer to on that all important first day of school and may even determine seating order. Ick.

Well regardless we are pleased to introduce Grace. I was not really "hip" on the name until she was born and I first laid eyes on her, and I immediately thought to my self "this is our little Gracie!" So for me my very distant second choice leapfrogged into the lead with out any problem. The kids were in need of a little bit of gentle persuasion, but we have now all agreed.

As always we appreciate all of you that have sent good thoughts, prayers and messages our way.

Scott

9/1 Birthday

2007-09-03T10:14:00.000-07:00

We are so pleased to have had a new baby girl on the first of September. We are still trying to decide on a name and have narrowed it down to two. The final choice will be forth coming. Nancy is doing and feeling great and our new baby is wonderful. The kids are excied and already love their baby sister!

Pictures pictures pictures. I hope you enjoy our few posted photos. Hopefully more will be comming soon.

Enjoy!