Tee Ball

In Which a Fever Strikes

Jackson had a fever this week, so he got to skip some school. He seems to feel the worst at the same time we have to decide whether to keep him home, and then he perks right up the rest of the day. But the school has had a lot of illness going around, so they have asked parents to be cautious. On Wednesday, we packed up the boys’ bikes and went to a park where they could ride. Since it was the middle of the week, there wasn’t anyone there, and we really enjoyed the beauty of Florida. We didn’t feel like making dinner so we splurged and went out. Jackson’s favorite thing of the day was “getting to eat somewhere nice.”

Friday night we went to a Dr. Seuss Birthday party at Jackson’s school. They colored a few pictures, and we ate dinner. They showed Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs in the school cafeteria. Jackson was alternately enthralled and terrified. Several times, he squealed at scary parts, so we made motions to leave, only to have him get sucked back in by the movie and sit back down. We ended up watching the whole movie.

Saturday morning we went to the Little League Opening Ceremonies. Jackson got to stand out on the baseball field in his uniform with about 500 other ball players. A few people spoke, the mayor threw out the first pitch, and Brian took pictures of it all for the newspaper.

After the festivities, he had a game. He was running around, jumping, and grinning the whole game. He got a couple of grounders and even got a runner “out” at home plate (no one is ever actually out in tee ball). Once, as he was running back to the dugout, he stopped and blew me a kiss.

Elizabeth turned 4 months old on Friday. We tried giving her rice cereal today, and she wasn’t too happy about it. I think it wasn’t fast enough. Maybe we’ll give it another week or so and try again.

New Car

Lowes Build and Grow

T-Ball Practice

In Which Grant is a Bad Guy

Tuesday Jackson had his first T-Ball practice. Last year he was really small compared to the rest of the team. Everyone commented on how cute he was. But this year he seems to be more evenly matched.

Saturday morning we went to Lowes Build and Grow. The boys each made a car/robot. They had a really great time and did a really good job. They couldn’t hammer in all the nails, but they sure tried.

The biggest news of the week is we finally bought a second car. I’ve wanted to do that since Brian and I got married. But we finally needed one, more than just wanted one. It’s a 2008 Chevy Cobalt with only 5,000 miles on it. We got a pretty good deal and it has already made life much easier.

Brian asked Grant what he wanted to be when he grew up. Grant responded, “A bad guy.” It looks like we have our work cut out for us.

Jackson had a fever this morning, so he, Elizabeth and I stayed home from church. After we’d been home an hour or so, he started to feel better. He felt fine all day and then around dinner time his fever came back. Norovirus (very bad stomach flu) has been a big problem here; they actually closed one of the elementary schools. I really hope that’s not what it is.

Brian got a new calling today. Our Stake is participating in “A Day of Service.” We are putting together care kits for a women’s shelter and for police officers to have in their cars for homeless or in need people they meet. Our ward of 40 active families is making 650 kits. Brian is the coordinator of the project for our ward.

Jackson's 6th Birthday

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.

Ellie 3 Months

In Which a Box Comes

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.