Jack Turns Seven

I know last year I said six was such a wonderful age I wanted Jack to stay six forever.

I was wrong.

Seven is the new six.  I want him to be seven forever.  He has learned so much in school this year.  Addition, subtraction, multiplication.  Learned about the planets and about Australia.  He reads chapter books.  He loves to tell jokes and read joke books. 

His teacher sends out a monthly newsletter, part of which is devoted to a Q and A with the kids.  She will ask them all the same question, and then records their answers for us parents.

Here are a few of Jack’s responses, with the question first then his answers in italics:

The most thankful thing to me is…animals.
For Thanksgiving dinner I want…turkey and dressing and pumpkin pie.
I can help others…by sharing.
In school I am…nice.
and my personal favorite:  My mom…loves me.

This is the odd birthday which in our house means no friends over, no presents (from us, we can’t stop Nona and Papa), and we go on an outing as a family.  Jack chose the Sandy Family Fun Center.  We had never been before, and we really enjoyed it.

We had cake and ice cream.  Jared let Jack help light the cake now that he is seven.

This is Henry singing the “you” in Happy Birthday.

I am so proud of this kid.  So astonished at how grown up he is already, even at seven.  I am just so excited to see him grow and change and develop into a “big kid.”

Soccer

Both Jack and Henry are playing fall soccer.  Admittedly, I didn’t realize what I was getting into as this is the first time I have had both of them playing a sport at the same time.  I could potentially have soccer two nights a week and on Saturday.

Amazingly, both coaches independently decided to hold practice at the same time on the same night.  If that wasn’t lucky enough, they chose side by side lots in a huge park to practice in.

The weather was beautiful for their first game.  Here are shots of Jack’s game:

 

Their first games were at 9:30 and 11 on Saturday.  Not enough time to go home in between.  So we just played at the park.

Then it was Henry’s turn.

Love these boys.

April Fools’ Day

I can only remember one April Fools’ Day growing up.  I was probably about four and my sister and I were at my grandma and grandpa’s house.  My grandpa took a notoriously long time in the bathroom, and since there was only one bathroom in the house, he always asked everyone if they needed to go before he occupied it.

On this particular April Fools’ Day after he retired to the bathroom someone, not sure if it was my sister or my grandma, convinced me to play an April Fools’ Day joke on my grandpa.

So, the three of us huddled around the bathroom door while I knocked and pleaded with my grandpa to hurry up because I had to go so so bad.  Sure enough, he opened the door as quickly as he could to let me in only to hear the three of us shout, “April Fools!”

Last night during dinner, Jack asked us all to name our favorite cereal.  Not favorite cereal ever, just favorite out of the ones we had in the cupboard.  He listened with interest to our answers and then said as nonchalantly as possible “Oh, I was just wondering.”

Then, when Jared was busy and Jack was supposed to be in bed, Jack went downstairs to arrange a little April Fools’ joke he read about in a magazine (wow, the wide world available to the literate).  This morning Jared went down to have breakfast, pulled out the Raisin Bran Crunch and poured Frosted Mini Wheats into his bowl.  Jack had switched the bags of cereal inside the boxes.  He was so proud of himself.

Jared pulled a prank of his own at work, he got half the office involved in convincing his boss he had quit.  Dangerous, you say?  Well, that is the thing about where he works.  You really can do stuff like that and everyone thinks it is hilarious, even the guy at the butt of the joke.

I too read magazines, and I found and entire April Fools’ dinner I wanted to try.  Here it is:

The “meatloaf” is actually coco krispies and marshmallows, the “peas” are green skittles (I was surprised how few green were in each package), and the “mashed potatoes” were scoops of ice cream with caramel “gravy.”

The “cupcake” is the actual meatloaf with mashed potato “frosting.”

Here is the initial reaction:

But, once they actually identified the food, they loved it.  Since they don’t read my blog, I can tell you this, next year I am looking forward to stir fry.

Personality

Most Christians believe we are children of a Heavenly Father who lovingly sent us to earth to gain experience and hopefully return to live with him.

As Latter-Day Saints, we add background to that idea. We believe that before we came to earth we lived for an unrevealed amount of time with our Father in Heaven as his spirit children.  While in Heaven we learned and grew and decided to follow our Savior Jesus Christ.  The spirit that resided in Heaven is the same spirit that now occupies our earthly bodies, and is the same spirit that will continue on after this life, the righteous to eternal glory and the unrighteous to, well, not-so-happily ever after.

This spirit spoken of in religious circles is more commonly referred to as our personality.

It is no shock to anyone that we all have our own personalities.  But I think before I was a mother I might have been under the impression that babies came with a clean slate.  Then throughout the course of their early years acquired the personalities that I saw in my own friends and family.  You know, outgoing, shy, mean, nice, compassionate, motherly, rude, etc.

But, now I know.  I know that each little spirit I have been given the privilege of raising didn’t come as a clean slate, just waiting for me to write wonderful traits on.  Nope.  Each has definitely come with some kind of prior background and experience that effects the kinds of kids they are.

To illustrate, let’s take a look at each of my children at around the age of two.

Jack:

General idea of how life should flow:  The RIGHT way.  If we play a game we follow the rules.  Every toy was used the way it was meant to be used and in no other way.  Books were arranged neatly on the shelf (I wish I could still get him to do that).

General approach to problems encountered in life:  Ask for help.  If he couldn’t reach a ball or find a shoe or draw a circle, he would say, “Help you!”

 

Henry:

General idea of how life should flow:  Ah- Whatever.  We can try it this way, if it doesn’t work, I’ll think of something else- no biggie.

General approach to problems encountered in life: Figure it out.  Henry was always trying to find new uses for ordinary things.  Mixing toys, looking at the world differently.  He was (and is) very hands on, needing to see, feel and touch.

Eleanor:

General idea of how life should flow:  My way.  No exceptions.

General approach to problems encountered in life: If it isn’t working, throw it, kick it, hurt it, but above all, yell at it.

Now, I don’t want you to get the wrong idea about this girl.  She is entirely sweet, thoughtful, and loving.  She makes friends easily, loves her brothers, and has passion for life.  She is just very strong willed.

Yes, more now than ever before, I know we all lived in Heaven with our Heavenly Father.  We were all different and unique then, just as we are now. 

These children were my brothers and sister in Heaven and they trusted me and Jared to teach them correct principles when they got here.  I am learning that because they are all so different, what works for one, won’t work for others.  I need to be creative and prayerful.  For though I have forgotten what they were like before we got here, our Father has not, and he can help. 

Raspberries

The boys really seem to have a lot of fun with Eleanor.  She is just so fun to be around, she is really a “all in” kind of girl.  She is up for anything they want to try.

The other day Henry opened the door and then jumped down to the step.  Eleanor stepped up to the door, took a good long look at Henry, seemed to determine he turned out just fine, and jumped.

This is fine when it is just a foot or two, but I have had the limit the boys from jumping off the arms of the couch or diving head first into the couch.  Not that Eleanor necessarily needs them to dream up dangerous things to do.  She plummets from the couch head first all on her own, heads down the driveway on her bike and dangerous speeds, and slides down steep slides all without being shown how.

These pictures are a bit blurry, but still capture the spirit of things.

Jack and Henry are usually the ones blowing raspberries on her belly- sometimes as helpers when she doesn’t seem to want her diaper changed.  But a couple weeks ago Jack was laying on the floor with his shirt up a little, just scratching or something, when she came over and planted one on him.  Pretty soon the boys were lined up on the floor with their tummies exposed and she was going back and forth between them- much to their delight and hers.

Sledding

Christmas Eve turned out to be a beautiful day in the midst of some terrible Utah inversion.  We took Aunt Denise over to the small sledding hill at the park and had a wonderful time.

Eleanor especially loved it.

Picking Up a New Hobby

While in Washington the boys were introduced to skateboarding by my cousin’s son, Logan.

They LOVED it!! Denise and her fabulous photography skills captured it beautifully.

They now both want skateboards for Christmas. Eleanor probably does too. She generally wants whatever the boys have.