In Which Jackson Names Trang

Friday, Jackson had the day off of school, so we went to the cheap theater--$2.50 per person. It was pretty ghetto: the chairs were slightly reclined, but only because they had been sat in way too many times. We saw Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs. The boys had been very excited to see it. It had some fairly intense parts, and Jackson kept switching from the front row, by his friends, to the back row by me out of fear.

Saturday afternoon Jackson went to a birthday party, and Brian, Grant, and I went to Toys ‘R’ Us for diapers. They had a great deal that for every two boxes of Pampers you bought; you got a $15 gift card. So we stocked up on little diapers. Grant thought it was a pretty cool store, but luckily he left without putting up a fight. He was excited to recognize the letters on the sign to the store. Then he pointed to the cartoon giraffe in the logo and said it was a lion-cow. Hm.

After we picked up Jackson from his party we went to the Liberty View Elementary School Carnival. The boys loved playing all the silly little games, but wanted nothing to do with the pony rides, or the small amusement park ride. They both got balloon animals, but neither one would go near the clown. In the end they ended up with lots of little prizes and luckily ate no sugar in the process.

Every other free moment this week the boys (Brian included) have been watching the baseball playoffs or football. Jackson keeps making up schedules, and he practices drawing the logos of NFL teams. If you want someone to talk with about sports, he’s your man.

Jackson has been making up a story about a lion and a tiger. At one point the lion and tiger were fighting. Jackson described it, “The lion juked the tiger to escape.” (Juke means to dodge someone in football)

Today Grant was practicing spelling his name, and Jackson thought it would be great to mix up the letters and name a baby brother Trang, which he said was “the best name I’ve ever come up with” and then Omm for a sister. We’ll see . . .

Today Grant said something like “they talk to they chother,” instead of “each other.”

A friend from high school (Cory Chisel) preformed on NBC’s Late Night with Jimmy Fallon Friday night. We taped it and watched it Saturday morning. Grant recognized him from seeing him live in concert over the summer. He got really excited and asked me if I could get him a guitar because he wants to play with Cory.

Love,
the McMillans

In Which Sees Himself in Target

We drove past Chuck E Cheese’s and Jackson blurted out, “Look, it’s Chunky Cheese!” He’s never been inside one, but at least he knows it’s not good for his health.

Brian printed off an NFL schedule for Jackson. So all we’ve heard all week is who is playing whom and when. It’s been getting a little old, so we’ve been working on what city each team plays in and then what state that city is in. Brian even found a U.S. map of all the football stadiums. When Jackson was looking at it for the first time, he kept pointing out the states and he knew what the names were (the map didn’t have any names on it). We’ve done a U.S. puzzle a couple of times and apparently that’s enough for him to remember where Maine and Minnesota are. Now if only I could remember.

Grant has been playing on www.starfall.com this week. It’s a great website for teaching letters and eventually how to read. We were at Target and he pointed to a large “G” on the wall and said, “That’s my letter.” He’s started to recognize a few others as well. In the car one day this week Brian taught him how to spell his name. So he’s been chanting it over and over this week.

I finished our family’s 2008 scrapbook this week! All the pages are done and uploaded so they can be printed in a book. There were so many pages that I had to make two books for the one year. If you want to see it go to http://haileysdigitalavenue.blogspot.com/ where you can see a little version of it.

In Which Loses His Bucks

On Wednesday night Brian, his dad, Jackson, and the other family that lives here all went to a Royals’ baseball game. It was going to be a late game, so Grant stayed home with me. Grant was a little bummed he couldn’t go, but as soon as I said we were going to get Culver’s for dinner he didn’t care anymore. Jackson had a great time and keeps saying that when he grows up he wants to play for the Royals.

Friday evening the boys were a little wound up, so we went to Jackson’s school so they could play on the playground. They ended up playing kickball; it was the boys that live here, Stephen (8) and Nicholas (5), and Jackson against Brian and his dad. Grant played on whatever team he felt like. Grant kept getting confused about when and where to run, but he got a good workout and we had a lot of laughs.

Last night I went to the General Relief Society broadcast. While I was gone Stephen and Nicholas decided to have a garage sale. Grant tried to buy a sand pail full of baseballs. Nicholas said, “Give me 10 bucks,” and Grant replied, “I don’t know where they are.”

Jackson's Kindergarten Pictures

In Which Grant is Naked

Jackson was playing with a toy car of Sarge (from the Pixar movie, Cars) and a board book. He was pretending that Sarge was talking to someone about a book. He said, “I have to get the book published first, but I’m still working on the back cover and it’s not right yet.” Sometimes we think he doesn’t listen, but apparently he’s been listening to something.

I was quizzing Grant on his colors. I asked about Lightning McQueen and various other Cars characters. Then I asked him what color he was. He looked at one arm, then looked at the other; he answered, “naked.”

We opted out of buying prints of the picture they take at school and decided to take them ourselves. Saturday we went to Jackson’s school playground to take pictures. It went pretty well. It’s tough to take pictures of your own kids—they don’t obey like other people’s kids do. But we got some good pictures, probably better smiles than they would have taken at school.

Brian has been called as the 11-year-old scout master in our ward. He was officially handed over all the necessary items today, and his first evening with them is this Tuesday. Hopefully it will be fun.

We’ve been potty training Grant this week. It’s gone pretty well. He fights it a lot but once we remind him that he gets a Starburst if he goes, he usually runs to the potty. Hopefully we can get him out of diapers soon.

Royals Game

In Which Jackson Gets Hives

For Labor Day we went to a Royals’ baseball game. When we were getting out of the car, the parking attendant saw Brian get out his crutches, so he stopped him and said that we could move the car and park closer to the gate, free of charge. When we were about to climb the stairs to the nosebleed section, the attendant there stopped us, too, and told us to sit right by the exit. He replaced our tickets so Brian didn’t have to climb the stairs with his crutches. So we paid $5 for each ticket but got to sit in seats worth $18. The weather was a little warm, but there was a cool breeze, and it was a fun game. After the game, we went to Chick-Fil-A where they were giving out free sandwiches. Then we went to Sonic and got free slushies because the Royals stole a base. It was a great day.

Unfortunately, Tuesday morning Jackson said his neck was itchy. I had him change into a collarless shirt and then lotioned his neck it. Figuring it was just his normal dry skin, I didn’t think anything of it. But that evening he had hives all over his chest and back. After a dose of Benedryl, he was fine. We figured it must have been the fresh, unpeeled limes in his slushie. Whether it was the limes themselves or something they sprayed on the lime (which happened to me with grapes when I was his age) we don’t know. Luckily, the hives didn’t last.

Wednesday I went to my first doctor’s appointment here and I liked the doctor. It’s such a relief to finally have a doctor and at least know who to call if something goes wrong. I did have to wait for 2 hours to see her, but she delivered a baby earlier that day and was delayed.

Friday morning I went to a consignment sale. It was great. I got tons of clothes for our little girl for really cheap. It was at a trade center and had tons of stuff for sale. Apparently, it’s a nationwide organization, and they organize sales all over. After picking up Jackson from school, I went to a playgroup for his kindergarten class and then went to a baby shower for me and three other girls in the ward. I got a super-cute homemade blanket made by my mom-in-law, some cute socks that look like mary jane shoes, and a gift card to Target. After feeding the missionaries and the other people that live here, I was exhausted. But all in all a great day.

In Which Brian Gets Cranks

Tuesday evening at 9:00pm Brian had his first ward basketball game. They had a draft and everything. Brian was really excited. I got a phone call around 9:30 telling me that Brian was injured and I needed to come pick him up. He landed on his knee wrong during the first play he was in for. So we spent the evening in the emergency room. Luckily, we know an ER doctor and he took care of us. It seems that it was just a strain and he has been improving daily. He used crutches for a couple of days and Jackson called them “cranks” and Grant called them “crunches.” Brian is just glad to not have to use them anymore. But he’s still limping around.

I received a calling today. I am on the Enrichment board—which sounds like a very relaxing calling. I also was given the assignment from the RS presidency to layout their newsletter. So I get to plan parties and play on my computer, two of my very favorite things.

I’m down to only 2 more months until our little girl arrives. I’m feeling pretty good, although I’m definitely feeling the effects of having to get Jackson up for school. But I got to sleep in a couple times this last week and it’s amazing how much better I feel after 10 hours of sleep.