World's Best Corn-Dogs make "my hangry"

All,

No, you did not read my title line incorrectly.  It is a mash up of several different happenings over this last week.  Let me explain, no that will take too long, let me sum up.

Trev, up until very recently would scold us when we were doing something that he didn't like with the words " ...stop (insert behavior he finds annoying), that makes my hangry."  Of course his cute request only increased the actions he thought were annoying just so his brothers, and maybe sometimes his father, could hear him say that over and over again. Now being hangry is nothing to mess around with.  I get there nearly every day right before lunch.  Which brings me to the next portion of my title: corndogs.

At work there has been a flyer posted on nearly every wall advertising that the "World's best Corndog" truck would be paying us a visit.  Oh how that flyer was mocked.  By me.  By my coworkers.  Many of us feigned mock excitement and there was even one person who created a "countdown" chain for this lunch event.  Well, I was the first person to see the truck arrive, and during a moment of extreme "hangryness" may or may not have been the first person in line for the world's best corndog.  I may or may not have consumed that nearly foot long hotdog battered and fried to celestial perfection.  I may or may not have kicked off a frenzy in my office that resulted in the corndog truck running out of product long before the time they were slotted to leave.  I most certainly paid a very high gastro-intestinal price.  As it turns out, the World's best Corndog, produces the World's worst gas.  Who would have thunk it?

Corndogs have a double meaning our home.  There is the food version, which as has been mentioned, can be a culinary delight, and then there is the kind that has now earned a ban in our household.  I don't know when the word "corndog" took on the meaning of kneeing your brother in the behind, but around here that is its most popular definition.  Well Tracen took it upon himself to use this action every time his brothers, in his words "make my hangry".  He was doling out this punishment by the baker's dozen.  So coincidentally, (or was it?) the very week I consumed the world's best corndog, I also banned all corndogs from my house.  Because, indeed, corndogs were beginning to make my hangry!

We took the boys skiing this week.  The slopes were busy and the cost was astronomical but the skiing was fun.  Tate has mastered the art of bombing the bunny hill.  I tried really hard to get him to turn now and again, but he told me his legs wouldn't obey his mind.  He was popping out of his skis pretty easy, so I thought I knew how to remedy that problem.  After a particularly frustrating bit where he couldn't get back into his skis, and he was whining pretty good about it, I went over and started whacking the bottom of his boot with my pole to get the snow off of them.  I guess I was over-zealous to get the snow off, missed his boot and whacked him pretty hard up the side of his head.  Though it was an accident, I did see an immediate improvement in his attitude and he no longer asked me to help him get his skis on.  

The boys are getting stir crazy.  The weather, though not so bad, has left ice all over the yard making it impossible to play outside for any length of time.  We have had our fill of screen time that's for sure and I am getting really tired of hearing them tell me that there is nothing to do.  We have begun to tell them that this particular phrase will earn them plenty of chores to do.

Tracen and Tyler got served a little humble pie in the sports category this week.  I don't really care if my kids are the best on their team or really what their skill level is, the only thing I could really hope for is that they give it their all and that the enjoy themselves.  Apparently, at least for Tracen, having fun and winning are so closely related that it is hard to have one without the other.  On the way home from his soccer thumping, I gave him some fatherly advice that I am sure was not very well-received at the moment it was delivered.  That's ok.  I am sure that he will either appreciate it in the years to come, or pay it forward to his son.

So, happy birthday last week to Rebecca, my niece on a mission, and Janelle my mom-in-law this week.  We hope to hear from you soon.

Dan

Early Morning Pork

January 19, 2014

Today I woke up at 5 am, not unusual, but I was extra excited to do so as  I knew it was my free day (the one day a week I allow myself to eat treats) and I had a hot date with a box of Krispy Kreme donuts that I had squirrled away the day before in the pantry.  30 seconds and 3 donuts later, I settled in to getting everything ready for our Sunday.  I got a pork roast in the crockpot, made the sauce for the roast, made some cinnamon rolls (Pillsbury), emptied the garbages, emptied the dishwasher, put out a plate and donut for Dee, told her to hurry up about 20 times, forced her to eat said donut before she left for her 7:00 am meeting (to keep me from eating it), and got all the boys curch clothes out... all before 6:50 am.  I was in the groove!  I think that I will get a box of donuts at the ready for every Sunday from here on out.  

We celebrated Mom and Dad's brithdays this month by going to Sizzler, Dad's choice.  Though the company was good, the service was laughable and the food was tolerable.  Had it not been the quality of those in our party, I would have chalked the meal up as a mini-disaster.  Tracen and Sammy watched the herd at Bruce and Christy's house and we were pleasantly surprised that everything was intact and that no major fights had broken out while we were gone.  I think that we might finally be getting to the stage where we can comfortably leave our children without paying for a babysitter.  Oh, how I have longed for these days.

Sherman  (Dee's grandfather) gave us a bit of a scare this week, but today when I got him up, he appeared to be both in good spirits and clearer in his mind than earlier in the week.  That man is a fighter.  I am impressed by his resilience and attitude for the hand he has been dealt.  As he likes to put it though, "At least I didn't have to push a handcart and sleep outside in the cold."  I would say that those things might be the only physical hardships he has not had to endure. 

Tracen and Tyler both had 2 games of b-ball this week and both of them played very well.  Dee took Tate skiing for a half day and he did very well aslo.  We had a pack meeting where Tracen and Tyler both earned several awards.  Tomorrow, we are planning taking the boys skiing again for at least a half day.  It should be fun, though I wish the snow were better.

It looks like Mom and Dad will start to move later on this week.  Dad has promised that he will let me and the boys help them do so (thanks Dad).  As mentioned before, it will sure be nice to go over to his place to watch BYU games with him only being 10 minutes away.  We look forward to having you so close.

I hope this email finds you all well.  For the record, I wish all of you January birthdays (like 50 family members) a very Happy Birthday, in particular my Dad, and Becca who have had, or will have them in the next couple of days.

Love,

Dan

Midnight Hack

January 12, 2014

All,

The middle of this week Tate had a resurgence of a cough that seems to have been lingering with him to varying degrees for the past couple of months.  He flung himself on our bed sometime close to midnight complaining of his ailment and coughing up a storm.  Tate has always had a very distinct cough.  Even when he was an infant a couple of weeks old, he got this cough that would leave him gagging when he really gets it going.  Nothing has changed.  I volunteered to come downstairs with him to provide what little comfort I could.  I got him a drink of water, gave him some homeopathic "snake oil" (ingredients: dark honey, stew nettle, linamint, and balm of Gilead) and made him as comfy as I could on the couch next to our fireplace.

I sat there in a stupor and felt bad for him as he had a particularly bad coughing fit and wondered what in the world could be done.  I ended up asking him if he would like me to say a prayer for him, which he agreed to let me do.  It was a simple and sincere prayer but when it was done, I felt like there was more to be said.  I wanted to make sure that I wasn't praying for his comfort just so I could get back to sleep (though truth be told that was my initial motivation) so I prayed again, this time silently.  Instead of asking for much, other than that I could make him as comfortable as possible, I thanked God for the time I had to spend with Tate.  I thanked HIm that I got to be his parent and that I had the opportunity to help him.  I thanked him for the love I felt for my son.  It was surprising to me how I felt at that moment.  I truly felt glad.  Not that I was awake.  Not that my son was sick, but that I was able to be there for him.  I felt love for this miserable little man and at that time I was happy to be by his side in the middle of the night when he needed me.  Blessedly, he was able to fall asleep pretty quickly and both of us slept well the remainder of the night.

The rest of our kids have had similar ailments this week, but most of them now are on the mend and thankfully, Dee and I seemed to have dodged the bullet thus far.  Knocking on wood over here.  Actually, it's a laminate countertop.  I hope that is adequate enough to ensure good Karma.

Trev hates his pants.  I don't know why.  I don't remember having any ill feelings for my trousers when I was a lad, but he really gets mad at his.  Today after Church his carpenter pants really did something to tick him off.  He tore at them in a fury until they were off and in his hands and then he proceeded to pummel his pants rotten.  After their beating he threw them across the room.  I am not sure what he was saying.  I can still only understand about 75% of what comes out of his mouth anyway, but when his knickers anger him he becomes unintelligible.  In his rage his underwear worked down around his ankles and he tripped on them.  That seemed to snap him out of his moment.   

We drove up to see Mom and Dad Jacobs today to wish her a very late happy birthday.  They are mostly packed up and ready for their upcoming move.  We are very much so going to look forward to having them closer than they are currently.  They did off-load one of their paintings they had from when they lived in Italy the first time and they did say (FOR THE RECORD) that we could call dibs on the Rose Painting should they not find a place for it in their new home...  they also let me take Leah's painting of the chickens she did while she was in high school.  I think it was for me anyway, since I have an affinity for that type of bird, but if not, Leah, you are welcome to have it back.

As mentioned, Tracen and Tyler are playing basketball, but in addition to that, Tracen is playing "Futsal".  It is a form of indoor soccer.  For those of you who have never had a chance to see Tracen play, while he is not the speediest of players, his foot-skills are very developed and he is really fun to watch.  Tyler is playing very well in baskeball this year and if he were any sort of aggressive, he would really be a force.  It just isn't his style to be so, unless it it towards Tate or Tracen.

Well the boys are doing their best to injure each other in the family room and I am starting to feel like I either need to referee or jump in and remind them all who really is Alpha Male still in these parts.  I should be able to hold that title for at least the next 3 years... I hope.  Oh man, there went a picture!  Sorry, this party is officially over.  Time to be Big Bad Dad...

Love,

Dan

Remember When...

January 5, 2014

Hello Family,

Once upon a moon... many, many moons ago, the DanDee family used to send a periodic email.  To say we have fallen out of the habit would be a gross understatment to be sure, but we have decided that we would attempt to rekindle that habit again this year. Lucky you!  Unless you find this bit of news to be unlucky; I can't say that I blame you if those are your sentiments. Since I, this is Dan, seem to be the self-appointed spokesperson of this family, I will probably be the one to write this to you more often than not. 

So the holiday season has mercifully passed.  I say mercifully since I can truly echo the feelings of the Christmas tune "..and Mom and Dad can hardly wait for school to start again..."  It isn't that we haven't had a great holiday season, our Christmas indeed Merry and bright (and white) but there is only so much Christmas ballyhoo one can ingest before indigestion sets in.  We were very happy to have spent time with many of you over the holiday season though.  It was nice to spend time with those who are dear to us (if not near).

We had a nice New Years eve by staying at home with just us this year.  We had Beer Rocks (pizza rolls) with Root Beer floats and Tracen's favorite kind of salad... iceberg lettuce.  Iceberg lettuce salad, if drowned in ranch dressing is palatable, but I must say that I have definately become a bit of a salad snob.  Give me kale!  Give  me spinach!  Give me lechuga! (actually that means lettuce in Spanish but I was clean out of names for the other leafy greens).  Thes rest of our evening was spent by our boys besting me at video games (curse you Mario Cart) and us watching "Ghost Busters" on Netflix (that movie is nearly 30 years old!).  When the appointed hour hit, everyone that was still awake (all but Trev) went outside on the front porch and made a racket.  The kids and Dee had their home-made noise makers going while I sang "Auld Lang Syne" at the top of my lungs.  FIrst of all, the top of my lungs is a lung or two above the top of most other people's lungs and secondly, I really only sang the first 6 words to the song and then screeched the tune for the rest.  Nobody really knows the words to the song anyway... I swear it is written in a different language anyhow.  I am sure that our drowsy neighbors appreciated the Jacobs band, and if they didn't, well then they are welcome to put their houses up for sale.

Deanne is nearly into her 4th year of being the RS President of our ward.  As I am sure you can imagine, she does a wonderful job.  Deanne is naturally warm, kind and caring.  I so often see her furiuosly texting with a sister in the ward dealing with some very real and heavy topics.  Being the first man of the ward (self imposed title of the RS Pres's husband) has its drawbacks for sure, but the one that is the hardest is seeing Deanne's heart get broken by the struggles of the Sisters in our ward.  The calling isn't all about that though, Deanne is so very often visiting others, having meetings or praying for the well-being of her beloved sisters.  She seems to enjoy it.

My calling of Ward Choir director turned out being more enjoyable than I expected it to.  I am no Mack Wilberg (Max?) but I put together a program of several songs that I condcucted, a narrative that was only mostly plagarized, and a couple of musical numbers that seemed to go very well.  It was gratifying to see it all come together and that at least a few people seemed to be touched by the message and music.  I have new-found respect for conductors everywhere.  Hopefully I didn't have too much of that goofy conductor booty-bounce going on while I was leading the choir.  I am not that advanced of a director yet.

Tracen and Tyler are both playing basketball and enjoying it.  I am enjoying watching them even if most games end up with baseball worthy scoring totals.  Tracen's game on Saturday had the robust score of 9-7...  He did nearly foul out in the first 5 minutes which made that period of his play rather interesting.  He really is a chip off of the old block in that regard.  I would bet, however, that Tyler will be taller than Tracen, and if he chooses to pursue B-ball that might stand him in good stead. 

Trev and Tate mostly stay home and enjoy/annoy each other.  Trev got a foam padded Thor's hammer for Christmas which is quickly becoming a WMD around here.  In fact,  I was innocently walking down the stairs today when Thor's hammer bounced off of my dome.  When I turned around to see who my attacker was, they were gone...  Did the hammer act of its own accord?? I think NOT!  

I can see that this email is becoming quite lengthy.  Before I sign off I would like to wish my Mother a very Happy Birthday (on the 1st) and my niece a warm congrats on her recent marriage to Spencer Fogelman in the Sacramento Temple.  We were sorry that we were unable to be around for either of those events.

Love to all,

Dan

Dan has started sending out an email each week to our family members, so for record keeping, I am going to copy them onto the blog here. Here are the last few weeks!

We still have a BLOG??

Hello!!!!!

First....I am amazed that this blog is still here!!  Second....I am sorry I ever abandoned it.( Notice the last entry was Trev at 8 months old?!!  He was so darn cute!!!) Third....here is to New Years Resolutions!!    
As a family we have set a few goals that we hope will develop into life long habits.  Last year we set a goal to read the Book of Mormon together.  We did it!!  We finished it in 6 months time and loved it.  So this year, we will read the Doctrine and Covenants.  We are also memorizing the Articles of Faith.  The other habit we are all wanting to develop or rekindle is that of Journal Keeping.  Dan and I both used to be so good at this.  We each have many journals with many a good story and so many cherished memories.  When I began this blog, it became my journal, our family history.  I really enjoyed doing it and printed out 2 years into books.  I have another year written that I plan to print asap. But now.....almost 3 years have past with absolutely no record of our family. So sad.  So much is missed.  My excuses??  Hmm....I have 4 wild boys with very busy schedules.  Between school, piano, competition soccer, basketball, scouts, family activities, friend activities and simply keeping them alive we seem to stay on the move!  I did not even mention our church responsibilities!!  Dan is choir director and the Welfare Specialist in our ward.  I am now starting my 4th year as the Relief Society President.  The start of this calling oddly correlates to the decline of my record keeping, but alas it can no longer be.  We have a pretty crazy awesome family and I want our posterity to know all about us!!!  I want them to feel of our testimonies in Jesus Christ and the experiences that help us learn and grow.  So....here we go!!!!!