First Tooth!

Last Monday Jacob realized that he had a loose tooth-his first loose tooth. He was so excited that I thought he would never calm back down. He spent the next week showing everyone his loose tooth and making me feel it at least twice a day. Jacob finally lost his first tooth Saturday night right before bed. Fortunately, the tooth waited until daddy was home. He then showed the entire ward the next day the new hole in his mouth. I forgot how exciting it is to lose your first tooth!

Daddy is Home!!

Boys love their daddies! This first picture is from before James left for China just enjoying some boy time. They were trying to convince me that they were asleep. I think we should play this game more often.

While James was away Jacob would ask me every day if it was the day to go to Chicago and get daddy! We just did normal things while James was away but on 'the' day to go get him we decided to make a trip out of it. So, we left in the morning and headed into Chicago. We spent an hour in the Art Institute where we got to see some fun things. Michael's favorite (and mine) was Seurat's Sunday Afternoon, Joshua loved the architecture exhibit and Jacob liked the armor. I would definitely not want to wear that armor, it just looks so heavy!

Then, we headed down to the Museum of Science and Industry (free to home schoolers!!!) and had a blast. I am pretty sure the boys could live there and be happy. Jacob loved the wind tunnel with winds up to 80 mph and the other boys had fun standing in a tornado, playing with trains, learning about trajectory and much more. We will definitely have to go back!

Afterwards we picked up James and then spent the night in a hotel which is always a treat! On Friday we headed into the Field Museum where we enjoyed some mummies, Ghengis Khan, animals and more animals. Joshua and Jacob loved the underground adventure where they got to enjoy being less than an 1" tall. It was fun to see what things underground would like like at that size. Michael, of course, loved the animals more than anything!

It was a great trip and we made it home safely. We also got to enjoy some of the fun things James brought home for us. I got a couple of necklaces which I hope to remember to wear because they are beautiful. Michael got some money and a nice paint brush set. Jacob wanted marbles, so he got some 'marbles' on a string which he loves.

Joshua had asked for a kite and after much searching James finally found one. We did learn, however, that it was not meant for flying. Fortunately, we didn't ruin it before we discovered that. So, I think we'll hang it in Joshua's room (I will definitely have to post a picture because it is really cool looking).

After the disappointment of the kite not flying we grabbed a kite at Target and James spent the afternoon teaching the boys how to fly a kite. If you want to see pure joy, it was watching Joshua fly a kite. I am sorry I wasn't able to capture the joy in these pics. But they had a great time and the boys are still at the park playing and flying their new kite. I guess windy Illinois is good for something!

So, it has been a blast having daddy home and the boys are in heaven. Jacob continually stops just to get a hug and will get in between daddy and anyone else if he sees affection going on that he is not a part of. Well, we're off to the park for more fun! This weather is perfect! Welcome springtime and welcome home daddy!

Our little man

For some reason many of Jacob's mannerisms lead him to act like a grown-up, which is super cute in his little 5 year old body. Today I was printing when the timer to the oven went off. He headed off to turn the timer off, or so I thought. It only took me a couple of minutes to finish and head up but by the time I got there he had hot pads in his hand and was ready to take dinner out of the oven. It was SO cute. I am sorry I don't have the camera (it is in China) or else I would have taken a picture for you. I am definitely going to have to keep an eye on that little man.

Snow!!

It finally snowed enough for the boys to go sledding! But apparently all of our sleds are broken, so I headed over to Target to buy some 70% off sleds! I love that the snow didn't come until the sleds were on clearance. Go figure! So, they hit the slopes after lunch, well, until it all melted. This weather is sure not accommodating for little boys who just want to play in the snow!!! But maybe tomorrow they can put on a sweatshirt and play basketball outside in the 60 degree weather we are expecting. I think the weatherman is just rolling dice to see what the weather will be like tomorrow! Lets see what he has in store next!

Happy Birthday!

Today is James' birthday, but for him it is already over. But regardless I wanted to post a big

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

James got to spend his birthday with his brother, Justin, in China! But we couldn't let him leave without celebrating a little! On Monday we had his birthday dinner (this was the only night he was home) of Salmon, rice and lots of veggies! Mmmmmm. . . Then, on Thursday we surprised him with some fun books to read . . . Bossy Pants by Tina Fey and Steve Job's biography. I'm pretty sure the first one got read on his long flight. I hope he enjoyed it!

As for us, we played hard on his birthday. We played Risk, went to the YMCA to play some basketball and are now getting ready to watch Hugo and eat ice cream! So, again, Happy Birthday, James!

News

I got some news, today—supreme news.

At last night's monthly meeting, the Carl Sandburg College Board of Trustees approved my tenure. I'm now a tenured college professor.

Fun New Purchases

James has wanted a crepe pan and finally talked himself into buying one. It took a $10 off coupon and a great price to convince him but I don't think he will regret it. I think it also helped that we bought some crepes the other day and were dumbfounded by the extravagant price. So, we had to put it to use immediately. It is a little funny because we were planning on having fajitas that night anyway, so we just had fajitas on crepes. But the funny part is that we were having French crepes with Mexican fajitas but cooked our vegetables in a wok. It was a great multi-cultural meal! And the crepes were amazing! We did, of course, save some crepes for desert. I just have to say that a crepe filled with ice cream and strawberry-vanilla jam is AMAZING!! Oh, yea, there may have been some bananas in there too.

Our second purchase was a little bigger but a purchase more of necessity than fun. We bought a new MATTRESS!!! Our old mattress has been with us for over 10 years. During those 10 years we learned that there were never springs in the box 'springs'. Who does that? We had taken some extra box springs we purchased with mattresses for the boys beds and put them under our bed for extra support. It was amazing what difference they made-there is a reason there are springs in box 'springs'. But with the boys remodel we had to give them back. :( So, we did some research and found a great deal at Sam's Club. The bed arrived today, so we are looking forward to a great nights sleep in our new bed!!!! And yes, it is super tall which is great because our night stands are tall. Everything lines up perfectly and all without risers! Happy dreams to everyone!