The bat, the swing, the bye

Their tops are made outta rubbah

The dangers of catfood

In Which Jackson Sees Angels

Brian took part in NMU’s Celebration of Creativity this week by reading the first 2 sections of a longer fiction story. I left the kids with a friend and went to listen. It was really fun to see how impressed the audience was with his work. I was very proud of him.

Saturday, Jackson went running across the kitchen. He said he could run fast because he had the power of God. He also keeps saying that angels come visit him and tell him things. This usually happens when he’s supposed to be in bed sleeping, so it’s just an excuse to get out of bed. I’m glad to know he’s learning things from us and in primary, even if he is using them against us.

Lately Grant has become more and more obsessed with dinosaurs. If you ask him to say dinosaur, he roars really loud. I’ve checked out some books and rented a couple movies and he just growls when he sees one.

In Which Snow Days Start Getting Old

We were blessed Friday with another snow day, so Brian and the boys went outside to shovel the driveway. Grant loves to play outside. We asked him if he wanted to go out and he ran to the laundry room and gathered up any snow gear he could find, whether it fit him or not. They made three snowmen: a large one for Brian, a medium for Jackson, and a small for Grant. Jackson wanted his to be only as tall as he was, so he stood next to it and measured it, instructing Brian to knock off anything over his head. Ever since Brian’s fell over, Grant has been saying “uh-oh” every time he looks out the front window.

The boys have been playing with their Thomas trains a lot this week. I was in the living room and Grant kept bringing two trains from the playroom out to the living room so I could hook them together using the magnets on the ends. Then Grant held them carefully and walked back to the playroom. At one point, he brought me three of them, and he brought them back with a look of concentration on his face, trying not to drop the middle train that was suspended by magnets in between the other two.

Thursday night I hosted my first Pampered Chef party. It was a great success and we had a good time. It was nice to have an evening without kids and I got a bunch of free stuff too. The cutoff date for ordering is tomorrow, so if anyone is interested…

Jackson hasn’t been staying in his bed at night recently. He will sneak into the playroom and play very quietly. The other night Brian found him sound asleep on the floor curled up in a comforter with a book on his face.

Jackson's Survey

1. WHAT TIME DID YOU GET UP THIS MORNING? 204
2. DIAMONDS OR PEARLS? Pearls because I never got a pearl in like that long.
3. WHAT DID YOU SEE AT THE MOVIE THEATER LAST TIME YOU WENT? Chairs.
3.5 WHAT MOVIE DID YOU SEE? I went with Grandma, and I was watching the Bee Movie.
4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE TV SHOW? Mickey Mouse Clubhouse
5. WHAT DO YOU USUALLY HAVE FOR BREAKFAST? I usually have cereal. Cap'n Crunch.
6. WHAT IS YOUR MIDDLE NAME? Robert
7. WHAT FOOD DO YOU DISLIKE? I don't like cheese, not flowers, and not even phones. Socks. A computer key.
8. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CD? Cars (the soundtrack)
9. WHAT KIND OF CAR DO YOU DRIVE? A race car one.
10. FAVORITE SANDWICH? Toast. Peanut butter and jelly.
11. WHAT CHARACTERISTIC DO YOU DESPISE? No, tell what they do like. When they laugh.
12. FAVORITE ITEM OF CLOTHING? Stripes.
13. IF YOU COULD GO ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD ON VACATION, WHERE WOULD YOU GO? To Colorado.
13.5 WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE COLOR? My favorite color is blue, purple, and green.
14. WHAT COLOR IS YOUR BATHROOM? White.
15. FAVORITE BRAND OF CLOTHING? I like brush.
16. WHERE WOULD YOU RETIRE TO? Texas. I never been to Texas before.
17. WHAT WAS YOUR MOST MEMORABLE BIRTHDAY? Trains. I was four.
18. FAVORITE SPORT TO WATCH? Football.
19. FURTHEST PLACE YOU ARE SENDING THIS TO: GRANDMA
21. PERSON YOU EXPECT TO SEND IT BACK FIRST: I don't know.
22. FAVORITE SAYING? I don't know. I like "g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g I am a child of God."
23. WHEN IS YOUR BIRTHDAY? nine months. February. I want the one that is red and kind of has a 5. It's j-j-j-j-j-j-j-j-j-j James.
24. ARE YOU A MORNING OR NIGHT PERSON? I like morning time better.
25. WHAT IS YOUR SHOE SIZE? 8
26. PETS? I just have one pet. It's a little tiny dog. His name is Toby. But Katie had a fight over there, so they're going to give them to me because they fight over theirs, so they're going to give the gray one to us because theirs has whiskers.
27. ANY NEW AND EXCITING NEWS YOU WOULD LIKE TO SHARE WITH US? I'm not very sure, Dad. Nothing that's fun has happened to me.
28. WHAT DID YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU WERE LITTLE? A man, just like you, Dad.
29. HOW ARE YOU TODAY? Good.
30. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CANDY? Blue lollipops.
31. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE FLOWER? A blue flower. And yellow.
32. WHAT IS A DAY ON THE CALENDAR YOU ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO? I looked and I saw it. April.
33. WHAT IS YOUR FULL NAME? Jackson Robert McMillan
34. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? Cars.
35. LAST THING YOU ATE? A tortilla
36. DO YOU WISH ON STARS? No.
37. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? No color. I don't want to be a color.
38. HOW IS THE WEATHER RIGHT NOW? I'll check outside. It's snowy and cold out there.
39. FAVORITE DRINK? Milk
40. FAVORITE RESTAURANT? Wendy's
41. SIBLINGS? Grant
42. FAVORITE DAY OF THE YEAR? Warm
43. WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE TOY WHEN YOU WERE YOUNG? I'm almost young. My favorite toy when I was Grant's age: the trains that I like.
44. SUMMER OR WINTER? Summer
45. HUGS OR KISSES? Hugs
46. COFFEE OR TEA? Coffee or tea? I like tea.
47. CHOCOLATE OR VANILLA? Vanilla
48. DO YOU WANT YOUR FRIENDS TO E-MAIL YOU BACK? I want to say something. I want to write something. No.
49. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? A few minutes ago.
50. WHAT IS UNDER YOUR BED? It's a drawer.
51. WHO IS THE LONGEST FRIEND YOU'VE HAD? Nobody.
53. FAVORITE SMELL: Flowers
54. WHAT ARE YOU AFRAID OF? I'm afraid of anything.
55. SALTY OR SWEET? Sweet
56. HOW MANY KEYS ON YOUR KEY CHAIN? Three.
57. HOW MANY YEARS AT YOUR CURRENT JOB? Ten
58. FAVORITE DAY OF THE WEEK: Friday
59. HOW MANY TOWNS HAVE YOU LIVED IN? I've lived in one.
60. DO YOU MAKE FRIENDS EASILY? Yeah. I make cousins my friends. That's what I like.
61. WHAT DID YOU DO LAST NIGHT? I just wanted to play so I just got up.

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.