Jackson and I were checking out at Wal-Mart on Tuesday. We were buying things for his birthday party, and the cashier asked him about it. She then said that someone she knew was looking for stuff for a Ben 10 birthday party. I hadn’t ever heard of it. (I just looked it up and it’s a show on Cartoon Network). I asked Jackson if he had heard of it and he said, “I think it’s a fiction show.”—From the mouth of our kindergartener.
On Friday I put Ellie on the floor on her tummy, and after a few minutes of trying, she rolled over! She hasn’t done it since, but in other news, I put her in her bed awake twice this week for naps, and she soothed herself to sleep. It’s been a big week!
Jackson turned 6 this past Saturday, Feb. 20. He had a party at a local park. We invited a lot of people but due to conflicting parties only one of his friends from school came. Fortunately, one friend from church brought siblings, so it ended up being great. They played with Jackson’s new sand toys and played on the equipment for most of the time. We did cake and presents. It was so windy that the candle kept blowing out. But in the end we got it lit. Luckily he wanted a big “6” instead of 6 candles. After that, we broke out the piñata. As usual they couldn’t really break it open, but still had a great time trying. In the middle of the piñata event, Grant took the bat and ran away with it. The kids all chased him trying to get it back. Grant ran next to the dog park, not knowing there were dogs there. A big black one barked at him and, terrified, he threw the bat in the dog’s direction. We were then able to finish breaking the piñata. We went to Wal-Mart after the party and got the boys each a new bike. They had a blast riding them in the store.
We finished off the day with pizza and watched Cars. Jackson said during dinner that because he was now 6, he found that he was able to eat the pizza hot, rather than wait for it too cool. He also asked Brian to measure how tall he was to see if he had grown up any. The results came back negative.
Sometimes the boys want to tell us a story instead of read one at bedtime. Tonight Grant told us a story about a wolf that couldn’t seem to get back in his body because there was goo on it. We’re not sure where the wolf came from, or why he lost his body in the first place, but in the end he got it back. I wonder if they talked about resurrection in primary.
Tuesday night, Brian went to Sarasota (near where we used to live) for meetings. He learned a lot about what he’s supposed to do as a managing editor and he learned a lot about what I need to do as the layout editor and then came home and taught me. He had a very productive trip but the drive took longer than it should have as he accidently went the wrong way on a road and went 50 miles out of his way. He really needs a GPS.
Ellie laughs more and more every day. She loves to have her feet moved as if she were running and giggles every time you put her toes on her cheeks. She also loves to hear Brian sing to her, but for some reason I don’t get the same reaction out of her when I try to sing. Maybe that means she has an ear for music.
Jackson was drinking soda this week. He was blowing into it and he was sprayed a little bit. He said, “This is a strong drink, a really strong drink. It’s the strongest drink in the whole world.”
Brian received a box from the UPS man this week. Inside were copies of his poetry book! It looks great and we have lots of copies if anyone wants one. They are $10 if you want to order one from us, or you can get them on Amazon soon but they will be more expensive. That basically just covers what we had to pay for them and shipping.
At night we’ve been asking the boys what the best and worst parts of their day was. Lately, Grant has been saying the same thing each night about the worst part of his day: “I didn’t get to go to the waterslide.” Over New Years we went to a pool near my parent’s house where there was a little water slide. Grant was too scared to go on it and spent the whole time in the hot tub.
The biggest news from the past two weeks is that we are finally in our new home in Palm Coast, Florida!
We took three days to drive here. The first night we stayed in Kentucky at the home of a couple from Brian’s mission. Brian taught the husband the discussions. We had a great visit and experienced some southern hospitality.
The hospitality continued upon our arrival in PalmCoast. We stayed for a few days at the home of the publisher of the paper’s in-laws. They were out of town and let us use their condo. When we got there the fridge was stocked and there were snacks waiting. It was really great.
Our truck arrived and delivered all of our belongings, including a few items we accidently stole from Brian’s parents. Luckily they will be coming to visit and bringing a few things that we accidently left there.
Jackson started school on Wednesday. He was excited and has adjusted really well.He now takes the bus which he loves doing and when I asked him what his favorite part of Kindergarten was he said, “Having gym outside.” It’s full-day kindergarten here and he has to take a lunch. I asked him how that went and all he said was that it was really loud, so loud he couldn’t hear the TVs they have there. Bummer.
Grant has adjusted pretty well. Among all the boxes he has been potty-training. He’s doing great and I am thrilled to only have 1 in diapers. He keeps saying that he wants to go to the sledding hill by Grandma McMillan’s house, though. But then I send him outside to ride his bike in our screened porch and all thoughts of the snow disappear.
Brian’s job is going great. He’s meeting lots of people and receiving lots of support from the community. I have started to work as well. I will be laying out the newspaper from home. I’m really excited to have a big project and help bring in a little extra money. I’m not sure that Brian is as excited about playing mom when I’m working, though.
This afternoon we took a walk on FlaglerBeach. It was windy, so the waves were crashing. I really love water. Jackson kept walking up to the water and then running away from the waves and squealing with glee. He stayed dry for a little while, but eventually his rolled up jeans got wet, too. He had a blast. The sand there was really weird. There are lots of broken shells that stick to your feet. You literally have to scrap them off. We’ve heard there are other beaches that don’t do that; maybe we’ll try there next time.
For homework, Jackson has to read a book to us. The first two books were very easy and he read them in about 10 seconds. Friday, he came home with a 54-page chapter book. The assignment was to read 4-5 pages a day and bring it back when he was all done. He finished it this evening. So 18 pages a day instead.
