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July 29th, 2010 | by Jessie |
I just got back from running errands.
One thing I had yet to do was go to our safe deposit box at the bank and get a copy of Jude’s social security card. Check.
The second thing I had to do was take the copy of his social security card and turn it in along with the rest of the forms to enroll/register him for kindergarten. I had turned in some of the forms but not all, so I stopped at the district’s central office today and got everything turned in. Paid the book fee. Check and check.
And just like that, he’s all ready to begin school. From a clerical standpoint, at least.
A couple of weeks ago, after the boys were asleep for the night, I went to Target by myself and bought all of Jude’s school supplies. Jett doesn’t need anything new to start his second year of preschool and I didn’t want him to feel left out because he wouldn’t get to buy anything new so I did things the easy way… alone.
I have to tell you, for as ready as I thought I was for him to start school – in less than 3 weeks now – I did not like getting those supplies. It was a weirdly melancholy feeling. Going up and down those aisles, tracking down the correctly-ounced glue sticks (which I never did find), getting a clueless look when I asked where the audio cassettes were located (finally found them in packs of twelve – only need one), and going over the same section of storage bags for ten minutes and not finding a single one that held 2 gallons (found 2 1/2 gallon bags with zipper closures, which are not recommended, by the way). Well, maybe it wasn’t easy, but it was easier than taking the boys along.
I’m excited for him. I’m a little bit nervous for him. I hope he likes it and gets along well. All very normal feelings for a first-timer [parent] to experience, I’m sure.
July 27th, 2010 | by Jessie |
Our nephew Jackson spent some time at his grandparents’ house last weekend, and we were able to come out for a visit for a short while.
This is probably bad news:
Jett carried Jace over to the jeep and strapped him in. Then Jett got in the passenger’s side and was pressing the “gas” pedal from his side. Luckily, the batteries were about dead so it was only creeping along before it stopped.
And then Jett took Jace out and carried him over to the passenger side.
And Jude the face-toucher strikes again, double duty!
Here’s a picture of the cousins together, but Jace wasn’t having it, so this was the best one:
We had a nice visit with Jackson, he’s just the sweetest little guy.
Side note: Jett has been dressing so warmly the last several weeks. He’ll intentionally look for jeans and long sleeved shirts to put on in the morning. It’s not worth arguing with him; I figure if he gets really hot, he’ll change. He can be so fiercely independent at times.
July 26th, 2010 | by Jessie |
Last week my great-grandpa Clarence died. He was 99 years old; born in 1910 and died in 2010, just 4 months away from his 100th birthday.
Friday we went to his visitation at a funeral home in Marshalltown. We took the kids. It was nice because it was a celebration of his life, a life well-lived. We got the chance to reconnect with family and see friends we hadn’t seen in a long time.
Jude and Jett had a lot of questions about Grandpa Clarence and how he died, questions about death in general.
On the way to the visitation, Jett said in the saddest tone: “He was my most famous guy. He was the funniest guy I met in my life.”
The boys had not seen Grandpa Clarence in about 2 years and when they did, I doubt that Grandpa Clarence made that much of an impression on him. They would have been about 3 and 2 years old.
Jude said, “I’m sad that Grandpa Clarence died, I’m going to miss him so much.”
They were sad that someone in our family passed away. It was sweet.
Saturday morning was his funeral at the church in Conrad where he attended. It was such a nice funeral, very well attended for as old as he was. A lot of family, too.
Grandpa Clarence loved playing the fiddle throughout his life. Part of the service included two of his much younger friends playing bluegrass music – a fiddle and guitar – first a somewhat sorrowful song, then “Amazing Grace” and then “You are my Sunshine”. The congregation was toe-tapping and clapping its hands during the last selection. It was sweet, just what he would have wanted.
When Grandpa Clarence was 95 years old, one of the guys who played during the funeral helped him record a CD of Grandpa Clarence on the fiddle. It was played as the funeral began and ended. Grandpa Clarence attended jam sessions weekly for years – he loved getting together and playing music with others.
He was such a special man who left a lot of people to mourn his passing, grateful to have known him.
July 20th, 2010 | by Jessie |
Lately, we’ve just been laying low… you know, hanging out.
The older boys and I had dentist appointments today and I’m happy to report: no cavities!
It was the first time either one of the boys had been to the dentist, and I honestly didn’t know how they were going to do. I was most concerned about Jude because he can freak out pretty easily. But, he did great! Jett was more apprehensive, but he ended up doing great, too.
Josh met us at the dentist’s office and stayed with the kids while my teeth were cleaned. Jace sat in the stroller and watched me the whole time, not crying or complaining. He was awesome. I got finished with my cleaning/exam just in time to see the last part of Jett’s exam.
I was relieved to get it done and over with, we had been putting these appointments off for, well, since the kids have had teeth. But, did you know it is now some kind of a “law” that kids entering school are required to have a dental screening? Pshhh… whatever. But, it is still nice to have it taken care of, and now the boys are on a 6-month schedule with the rest of us.
July 15th, 2010 | by Jessie |
Wow.
Had to get the Flip out to capture this magic.
Easy on the neck vein!
Also, the microphone toss/half-windmill move that takes place around the 3:50 mark is with eyes closed, just so you know. It’s more impressive that way, after all.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
July 15th, 2010 | by Jessie |
For as long as I can remember, Jude has pronounced the word pretzels as prenzels. Except, it sounds very nasally when he says it. I hope this is translating well. Are you still there?
I cannot give you a good reason why I’ve let this go on so long, but I’ll try anyway: 1) he didn’t care much for pretzels so it didn’t come up very often and 2) it’s easier not to correct him, I mean, I understood what he meant.
Well, obviously reason #2 is pretty lame – even for my standards – and with kindergarten rapidly approaching in ONE month, I figured it was time for me to straighten up and fly right.
Last week we were eating lunch around the table together, and I got the pretzels out if for no other reason than to fill up the empty reservoir in the three-compartment kids plates. Something about filling up those three trays with three different foods gives me a sense of accomplishment. Feigning a balanced meal, maybe? Yeah, something like that.
Anyway, I wasn’t sure if Jude was going to go for the pretzels but he did. And when he pronounced them prenzels like I was sure he was going to, I swallowed hard and began to correct him.
“Jude, honey?” I said, “It’s actually pronounced preT-zels, not preN-zels. Here, look at the bag. See? Sound it out… no “n” in the word, just a “t” instead.”
“Oh, preT-zels! Then what are prenzels?”
I replied, “What do you mean? There is no such thing as prenzels. They don’t exist.”
“They are extinct?”
“No, they just never were a real thing. Prenzel is just you mispronouncing pretzel.”
“What’s mispronouncing?”
“It’s saying a word the wrong way.”
…after some pensive thinking, he held up a pretzel and asked:
Then what do they call this in Egypt?
***
Trying hard not to end this story with “kids say the darndest things”.
Ooops.
July 14th, 2010 | by Jessie |
We’re selling our house. We’ve lived here for just over 5 years. It’s been a great starter home. We’re ready to move on.
Our house was listed for about a month in February/March of this year. Then we pulled it off the market in anticipation of Josh taking another job. When that didn’t happen, we relisted our house in late April and it still sits for sale today. We’ve had a pretty steady flow of people in to see it, with the exception of some dead periods right after the tax credit expired at the end of April. But we can’t complain… it’ll happen sooner or later.
Last week we had a couple present an offer through their realtor. After three days of steady back-and-forth offers and counter-offers, we walked away from negotiations. The potential buyers had some legitimate concerns about some of the exterior issues with the house. We decided that even though they weren’t offering enough money to make a deal, that we would remedy the concerns anyway, making the house more desirable to the next potential buyers that come along.
One thing that was brought to our attention was this:
I know, right? Eeeek! I say “brought to our attention” because the brick veneer has been that way since we moved in. It hasn’t shifted or become worse; it was no doubt installed that way. It became just the way our house was and we didn’t see it.
All across the top of the brick, the grody insulation peeked through. Not the best impression to potential buyers, I’ll admit!
Yeeesh. Looks a bit problematic, no?
The only thing was, we had no idea how to fix it! So we called my dad.
He came over – actually, gave us his whole weekend – and fixed it up right. I don’t even know entirely how he fixed it, all I know is that it looks awesome now!
After:
Josh still needs to do some caulking, but it looks so much better! The sad thing is, buyers won’t even notice it because it looks the way it’s supposed to look… I wish it carried a bigger impact for as much time and skill Dad put into it. Oh well, we know how great it is.
Hey, Babby!
Cuteness.
Ahhhh, much better. Josh will be fixing/replacing the crapped out gutter/downspout, no need to mention that… he’s got it under control. And while we’re at it, do you see those flowers?
My father- and mother-in-law also gave of so much of their time – all day, really – last Saturday helping us out. My mother-in-law and I went to the local greenhouse and bought some flowers. She helped me plant them in the whisky barrels I’d neglected for 5+ years, and do you know what? They look so nice! It was the first time I’d planted flowers in my adult life. Only after they were in the soil did she mention they need to be watered once or twice a week. Boo! Maintenance! What a raw deal! Oh well, I think I’ll manage. Besides, it sounds like a great project for the boys.
Check it out, suckas! I’m getting to be more of a lady each and every day. Except, I doubt a lady would call her friends ‘suckas’. Oh well, they say Rome wasn’t built in a day…
We also painted the front door and installed a new exterior light:
Back to more of the repairs… we had boards of siding on the east side of our house that were showing moisture, and a window casing that was rotting out (we didn’t even know about that until the people who offered on the house put a hole in the wood while they were inspecting it). I didn’t get any pictures of that, even though that too was an awesome, seamless repair by the guys. Here’s the siding as it is now in it’s primed state (we’ve purchased the house paint and will be tackling that this week):
I can’t even begin to tell you how much help we’ve asked for and received from both sides of our family over the years as it relates to our house. They’ve saved us literally thousands of dollars. We are so grateful! Josh has picked up some skillz in the process of home ownership, too, which can’t hurt.
That said, we’re all thinking the next house better not need ANYTHING!
July 13th, 2010 | by Jessie |
Jace. Why? Why do you have to grow so quickly? I demand an answer. I will wait patiently for a response. *crickets*
I am a reasonable person (save the previous paragraph). I have been diligently recording the months as they have come and gone. Day in and day out, I’ve been loving and appreciating, yes, even savoring these moments. So, how in the world can it be that in less than a month we will be celebrating this little guy’s first birthday? It doesn’t seem real. Maybe it’s my old age, but I have tears in my eyes now realizing it. Or more likely, I know that this is my last baby and I won’t ever experience these firsts again.
The babby isn’t walking yet, but he sure is stepping. Usually, I have to encourage him to walk to me. He’ll sometimes comply, but he also has no problem refusing, replacing his ever-present smile with a really “sad” face almost saying, “What do you want from me? I’m only a baby.” He promptly drops to his bottom to let me know it’s not happening.
Jace is pictured above with one of his two favorite things: the remote. If you know babies, you can probably guess what the other favorite item is: the phone. Remote controls and phones are universally appealing to all children. All of my children, at least.
Top nicknames as of now, always subject to change:
1) Wacey or Wace
2) Babby or Babbs
3) Tobey or Tobes
His physical growth: I’m starting to think he seems small again. He had a little spurt there a month or so ago, but now he seems little again. His one-year well child visit isn’t until the end of August, so we’ll find out officially then. I’m not concerned enough to take him back to the doctor to be checked, it’s just my observation.
He has a decent appetite. We’re still nursing a few times a day, but will stop when he reaches a year, if not before. Even with a few weeks to go, I can tell my supply is suffering. I’ve begun to give him some of the frozen breastmilk I’ve stored over the last few months to supplement his diet, anticipating that he’ll start drinking whole milk at the year mark. He eats mostly all finger foods now, but since he’s been doing that, he’s also been refusing some of the vegetables that he once liked. He likes about everything else: fruits, breads, cheeses. He’s not that picky of an eater.
I love this photo showing Jett’s genuine affection towards his little brother. This was taken first thing in the morning after Jett (always the last one up for the day) graced us with his presence. I can tell by Jace’s face that he’s bracing himself, not really knowing what’s coming next.
I continue to get asked: “Is he really always that happy? Does he ever cry?” The answer is yes to both. He is almost always happy. He smiles in return of each and every bit of attention paid to him. He also does cry. He’ll cry (whimper) when he wants me to pick him up. He will cry if he wakes up in the middle of the night (thankfully, that’s rare). He will cry if the brothers get too rough with him. He will cry when I take the phone or remote away from him. He is not a robot baby, but he is an easy-going babe with an exceptionally happy disposition. I can’t tell you how thankful I am for that, my friends. It definitely makes my job easier.
Here I am with Jace, my thought was that my happiness would mask the fact that I too had just rolled out of bed for the day, having not showered in about 46 hours. Fail.
So here I am, after coffee and shower, proving to the world that I can clean up and look presentable, even though I am a house-marm with nowhere to go.
July 12th, 2010 | by Jessie |
Cool pool party, la la la la.
The boys and I went to a pool party with some great friends last week.
And I got some good pictures. Of their kids.
Here is Jace, but not my Jace. Our friend Jace, adorable Jace. He’s a few months younger than my Jace, but heavier as scientifically determined by both myself and his mommy Sarah.
And Ali’s twin girls Neve & Frankie:
The girls don’t like getting their picture taken, but I think these are pretty good with or without smiling. They are just the cutest little children… all of ‘em.
Better luck next time, my kids.
July 9th, 2010 | by Jessie |
I often tell Jude, our 5 year old eldest son, I should have named him Zack, Zack, he’s a Lego maniac. And then he gets a confused look on his face.
I remember Lego’s ad campaign using Zack in the 80’s and/or 90’s, do you guys? I’ll refresh your memory:
Kidding aside, Jude is a Lego maniac. A couple of days ago, he spent a solid three uninterrupted hours in his room alone playing with Legos. It was beautiful, actually. And then I wondered if too much of a good thing was a bad thing. I concluded that three hours of Lego time probably wasn’t that bad.
About that time, I heard a shriek come from his room. A mad shriek. I went in there and asked cautiously: “You’re still playing by yourself, aren’t you?”
And Jude said, “Yes, I was just having an argument with my Legos.”
Somehow I didn’t feel any better about the situation.
I did love the little creation he made, though:
Everything he makes is so… symmetrical. It makes me smile.
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