Playing Outside

In Which Jackson Has a 5 O'clock Shadow

I put bubbles in the boys’ bath early this week. When I went to put Grant in, he seemed a little hesitant, but I thought he would be fine. He wasn’t. He wouldn’t sit in the bubbles; he cried when they got on his hands, and he looked at me pleadingly, to get them off. I made him tough it out until Jackson joined him, thinking that if Jackson played in them, Grant would warm up to the idea. No such luck. I had to wash him standing up and then get him out.

Monday afternoon we were blessed with yet another blizzard. It lasted until around noon on Tuesday. I went out in it to mail something and found myself calf deep in the snow near the mailbox—apparently the wind was a little more forceful that I anticipated. I’ve been feeling depressed enough about still having snow and it being cold while the rest of the world is warming up, and then this April blizzard. Luckily, Tuesday afternoon was beautiful. The whole family (Brian had a snow day) went outside to remove the foot of snow on our driveway. Jackson grabbed a garden trowel to help. Grant pulled out a rake from the garage, and then he attempted to push a snow shovel but ended up carrying little handfuls of snow and dropping them on our feet while laughing hysterically.

One day Jackson came up to me, pointed to his cheek and said, “Look Mommy, I’m a man! I have little black dots on my face just like Daddy.” I’ve never heard of anyone wishing they had a five o’clock shadow before.

Jackson got training wheels for Easter, and this week he was finally able to go outside and try them. He was a little nervous at first but after a couple times out he was a little too brave and took a couple of tumbles. We bought him elbow/knee pads and a helmet with Hot Wheels across the front, and that day, he sat at the computer playing reading games in his full safety gear. If you ask him why he is wearing them, he says that he wants to be ready for when he gets to go outside and ride his bike.

While Jackson was riding his bike one day, Grant was playing in a slushy puddle, and Brian started taking pictures of his little footprints. Then Grant slipped and landed face first in the slush. He was very traumatized by the whole ordeal.


We enjoyed a very nice weekend of General Conference. The kids behaved fairly well; we only had a few minor outbursts. But I think we caught the majority of the speakers despite having two little ones. I really enjoyed Elder Ballard’s talk. It’s always nice when an Apostle tells your kid to make his bed and your husband to give you a day off J. I really felt a strong desire to be a better mom and try to enjoy every minute I have with the boys. They grow up so fast.