For the Birds

March 30, 2014

The Dan and Deanne Jacobs family now has two more members.  They are feathered.  They are colorful.  They are scared out of their minds.  They are parakeets. 

 Their names have changed so many times in the last 72 hours that I cannot say for certain what they will be called.  We are currently calling one of them Skittles and the other one is still being debated.  Tut and Olaf have both been tossed around as possible monikers. Any suggestions for the other bird are welcome.  He is blue.  The boys are already a bit disappointed that they have not been able to teach them to talk yet.  I was surprised to find out that Parakeets are the best mimics of any in the bird family.  Some of them can have vacabularies well into the thousands.  Who knew?  I am scared to think of the words they might learn around here.  Especially if they learn Trev-speak.  I don't know if I could handle another unitelligble language coming from a bird or otherwise.

Our pretty willow tree in the front yard is now mulch at the dump.  A snow storm split it in two this winter and from the split it was evident to see that it was infested with worms.  So we chopped the rest of it up this week.  We now have a largish stump in the front yard.  Too bad I am no sort of a sculptor.  We are now in the market for a couple of good hearty trees that aren't willows or aspens.  Suggestions would be appreciated.

Did I mention soccer?  There is a lot of it going on around here.  Tate played in his first game and true to his prognostications, he dominiated.  He scored 3 times in as many minutes and then was relegated to goalie duty.  It helps to be the oldest and largest at this age.  The same cannot be said when you get past your 30's.  There is no advantage to being larger and older than my current competition in basketball.

Deanne happily volunteered me to watch our neighbors children while she went to the women's conference last night.  I had 8 kids for about 3 and a half hours. 

 My favorite part was when their 18 month old decided that he had had it with me and cried (screamed is a better word) for the last 45 minutes. Deanne had a wonderful time though, and I am glad that she was able to take a break and get out to that meeting with her mom and sister.  While they were out the missionaries stopped by.  I had them come in and we talked to them for a bit.  I then asked if they would share a quick thought and testimony with the kids, which they graciously did.  I was impressed with their spirit and vibrancy.  I was grateful that they would take some time to bear testimony to my children.  I know that they impressed the kids, as they were all riveted.  Even Trev.

Shane blessed his baby, Micah, today.  I was impressed with the spirit I felt in the blessing itself and in the testimony meeting afterwards. I was especially touched by his words that counseled his son to lean on those who leaned on the Lord. I am grateful to those who share and express their testimonies of faith.  I need that in my life right now (actually I always need that) and I am hungry for expressions of faith and hope.

I was thinking of my brother in law Kevin a lot during the meeting.  I would like him to know that we combined our fast, prayers and faith with his and the entire family, in hope for a good outcome for his recent illness.  I know that his prognosis is good and I feel confident all will be well.

We were sorry to hear about Kathryn and Kent's non-cruise fiasco.  I can't imagine how frustrating it would be to travel that far expecting you would shortly be on vacation only to be turned away due to events out of their control.  If nothing else, it will make for a good story in the years to come and now you have a better knowledge of what Galviston TX looks like...

Love to all from the Jacobs.

Dan

March Madness!!

March 24, 2014

All,

Our madness has nothing to do with basketball.  We have the soccer induced insanity around these parts.  This was a successful soccer weekend for all of our boys.  Tracen especially had a good weekend wherein his team both won and he scored 4 goals.  Two of his goals came right off of the ol' noggin as well and were particularly exciting to see.  I am really excited to see how Tyler and Tate will do as they will both start having games this week as well.

So I filled out one NCAA tournament bracket this year.  Just one.  I did not enter it into any contests or put any money down and it would appear that this is a good thing.  I think that I have two teams left out of all my picks.  I am notoriously bad at guessing the outcomes of sporting events.  I know that Warren Buffet offered 1 billion dollars to the person who filled out the perfect bracket... it looks like his $ is safe for this year and probably for any year that he decides to do this offer. 

Our Lester Leprachaun did make it (barely) to our house!!  We love this holiday and love traditions!

So our entire family was part of that musical program depicting the Willie and Martin handcart companies.  Deanne's parents and grandparents were there along with Leah this time.  I think that everyone in attendance was touched by the spirit.  It is inspiring to feel of the pioneer dedication to the cause of the Gospel and Zion.  There are still lessons to be learned from their experiences.  Our boys did a fine job and really seemed to enjoy their first little foray into the acting world, Tracen especially.  Perhaps the Jacobs will yet produce another generation of thespians.

Deanne's parents took us all skiing this weekend.  All of us but Trev that is.  He stayed back with Leah and Joel (thanks guys).  All of the boys did very well, especially Tate who for his third time skiing, really surprised me.  I don't know if I will ever be able to afford to take the kids up skiing as much as I would like to, but I am glad that they are at least getting the experience a couple of times per year.  Many thanks to Keith and Janelle for making this happen.

I was shocked and saddened to hear of one of my dear friends struggle with his testimony this week.  It would appear that in his attempt to answer the questions of one his co-workers about some of the sensitive early church historical events and circumstances, that he read some anti-LDS literature that sent him reeling.  He and I had a very heart-felt and tender conversation about faith and hope.  Through my tears and sorrow for his aching heart I bore a simple testimony of Christ.  I told him that I believe in our Redeemer.  I expressed my belief in trying to pattern our lives after Him.  I told him that I have hope that there is a life after this that is made possible through Him.  Our conversation seemed to lift his spirits a bit, though I am certain that he has some work yet to do on his testimony.

I don't claim to have even a fraction of the answers to his many sensitive questions, other than simple faith-based ones.  Ultimately, I accept that my faith and hope will have to be enough of an answer for the time being.  I realize that there is nothing scientific about this, and for me that's ok.  I may never have all of the scientific, historical, or archaeological evidence to prove my faith, but if I did, then it wouldn't really be faith then would it?  I have a testimony borne of hundreds of simple spiritual experiences over the course of my lifetime.  I have had truth whispered to my heart time and time again.  I can feel it now as I write this.  I choose to stay the course of my faith in spite of the logic of men.  Does this make me weak?  In the eyes of men it may, but I am less concerned about what men may think of me then what my God thinks of me.  At some point in this life I hope that I can replace my faith with knowledge.  I pray for that time, but even if I never attain it in this life, I will continue on my imperfect path back to my real home.  I pray that my loved ones will follow, allow me to lean on them, and in my weaker moments, carry me there.  This is my belief, my hope and my simple testimony.  I love you.

Dan and Dee

Bicycle Poetry in Motion

March 16, 2014

This is the time of year when soccer takes over our lives.  Between 3 boys in soccer, their practices, and their games, every day of the week is now blessed with soccer something or other.  Not that soccer doesn't encroach on our lives anyway.  Tracen all but has a ball sewed to his foot at all times.  I have semi-seriously threatened to pop all soccer balls in the house as they always seem to be underfoot.

              

Tracen's team scrimmaged against an older girls squad on Tuesday.  They may have won the game and Tracen may have had an amazing bicycle kick for a goal during that match, but the girls punished them physically for it.  A couple of the slide tackles against the boys were down right mean, one in particular where Tracen seemed to skid on his forehead for a few meters.  Tracen said the pain was worth it just so he could fulfill his long-time wish of scoring the goal from a bicycle kick.  That goal was particularly cool-looking.  I had a proud dad moment when all of the other parents were saying "Did you just see that?"  "That was the coolest goal I have ever seen!" and the like.

Tyler and Tate have also started their soccer campaigns and they are both excited for their games this week.  Tate in particular is excited as he has noticed that he is the biggest kid on his team, which to him will obviously translate into pitch domination.  I have tried to advise him not to count his goals before they are in the net, but he will not be swayed.  This is Tate after all.

Tracen memorized his Lewis Carrol poem  and was the first person to pass it off in his class.  I was impressed with his ability to not only memorize, but put some real infection into his voice when he recited it.  I think that he really enjoyed how silly and random the poem is, not to mention the cadence and meter of it.

Tate had his first brush with the principal the other day.  It turns out that he and another boy got into an argument over whether the road (as in the pavement) is clean or not.  Even though Tate was on the right side of the argument, he was in the wrong to press the issue to the point of yelling.  There was nothing physical about the encounter, but I guess, according to my other boys, there is a no-nonsense ground duty who marched their obstinant quarreling behinds straight to the principal's office.  There was nothing really more that came of it other than Dee and I talking to Tate about arguing and that he needed to find a better subject to argue if he was willing to go to the principal's office over it.

Deanne and I went out with several other couples in our ward this Friday.  We went downtown to an Italian restraunt by the name of Bucca Di Beppos.  We were situated in the "Pope's" room.  The theme was very Papal including a huge bust of Pope John Paul with his hands clasped in a papal blessing over our food right in the middle of the table.  It was a fun night in spite of the creepy Pope staring me down as I slurped up my spaghetti.

Dee has spent the last couple of Saturday's participating in Girl's night out activities.  Last night's event must have been particularly epic as she crawled into bed at 2:30 this morning.  I might be a bit concerned, but she was with other ladies in her Relief Society presidency.  

We hope that Adam had a nice baptism.  We wish we could have been there, but we are grateful that Dad sent pictures of the event.  Happy St Patrick's Day everyone.  We are certain that "Lester"  (our Leprechaun) will pull off some annoying stunt again this year.

Dan and Dee

Sock Monster...

March 2, 2014

I hate socks.  Allow me to clarify.  I hate my kids socks.  They wear them when they shouldn't (taking stuff to the outside garbage in the rain), don't wear them when they should (with shoes) and they leave them all over the house.  I am looking across the floor and I currently can count 3 pairs of socks haphazardly strewn about the couch and floor.  When they do take them off, they forget where they left them and then go and put on a new pair to soil.  This can happen upwards of several times per day.  I know that my sock plight is shared with pretty much every other parent on the planet, but that affords me no comfort.  I wish we could go back to the day when kids went barefoot for 9 months out of the year... actually, no I don't.  Tracen has recently developed feet that smell like road-kill.  Sometimes the only way to knock down the scent is by insisting he put on shoes.  

Tracen's indoor soccer team celebrated a near-win yesterday.  They played one of the top teams in their league and lost 2-3.  They have come a long way as a team.  There were some definite signs of improvement.  They were given no chance of hanging with these kids but just about pulled off a tie.  Thank you so much to Janelle and Dad (Leo) for coming to his game.  He really loves to have them come.

Speaking of sports, I am playing church ball this year.  We are undefeated and are in the semi-finals for region.  Deanne and the kids have come to a few of my games and it has been fun to see Tracen take an interest in his old man's sporting endeavors.  I have noticed that after the games he does a little scouting report on my efforts similar to what I do for him after his.  I guess it is just desserts.

Yesterday we went as a family to see the Lego Movie.  We were very entertained.  I appreciated the humor but I have a feeling if I had been a bit more of a Lego fan growing up that I would have enjoyed the movie even that much more.  I liked lego's well enough, but I was never one to sit down and create anything beyond what the instructions taught me to build (I was not what the movie referred to as a "Master Builder", more like "Mr. Business").  Perhaps that is why I never was very interested in architecture or engineering.  I was hopeful that after the show the kids would immediately want to go and pull out their legos and get to creating... they didn't.

Dee and I went to see Shane and Kenzie's baby, Micah, this week.  He is a handsome young lad.  It was very nice to be able to sit and talk with them in that quiet setting.  When we are all together as a part of the huge group, it is often so chaotic that we have little time to be able to visit.  I really enjoyed the hour we had with them.  They are in for a ride!  A good ride, but one that I don't envy, and one that I am glad we are mostly past at this point.  Good luck kids!  I see more and more why my eldest sister Kim was so keen on watching us enter the child rearing years, you can never really get an appreciation for parenting until you have experienced it for yourself.

Tracen completed his Science Fair project and was given the 3rd highest score for his entire grade at school.  Deanne did help him design his tri-fold and I spent an hour or two cutting out labels for his display, but for the most part it was not the nightmare I was concerned it would be.  I guess that this year is just to get them prepared for the REAL project that they will do next year in the 6th grade.  Tracen enjoyed working on the project and I was impressed with his level of self-motivation.  Deanne and I didn't have to ride him too hard to get working on it or have to produce it by ourselves - thank you Trace!   I wouldn't say that we have a budding scientist on our hands just yet, but it was nice to see him take some interest.

Deanne had the last of her vein procedures done.  Though we have been assured she will be sporting some nice gams in the future, currently they look like someone took batting practice on them.I don't think, I KNOW that Dee has a much higher pain tolerance than I do.  Other than her first night when she nearly fainted, she has hardly had any complaint and I think that she will be very happy with the results in time.

We hope all are doing well.  We are happy for Bruce and Christy in that they are getting their basement finished.  It looks like they have the framing done now. Nice.  I would also like to wish Dr. Suess  a happy Faffyfifflefimp (my attempt at "Suessing") of a birthday.  Thanks for all the wonderful nonsense you brought into the world.

Dan and Dee

Of Shoes, and ships, and Ceiling Wax...

February 23, 2014

All,

Tracen has been tasked with memorizing the entire Lewis Carrol poem "The Walrus and the Carpenter" for school.  This poem stretches well beyond the small snippets you get while watching Alice in Wonderland.  Speaking of Tracen and academia, he is also in the middle of his science fair project.  He is doing an experiment involving fruit preservation.  I am glad to say that is was 90% his idea and that it has taken minimal parental involvement up to this point.  I am certain that some student will have their parent assist them in building a cold-fusion reactor and get the blue ribbon, but as for me, I am just glad that Tracen is showing an interest in his project and completing it on his own thus far.

Tracen and Tyler had their blue and gold banquet this week.  They both received several awards including the Thomas S. Monson award. I was glad that they wanted to get this once-in-a-lifetime award.  They both took it pretty seriously and seemed genuinely interested in attaining the award.  They had one set of great-grandparents and both sets of grandparents attend the event.  We had your typical Blue and Gold fare along with the white cake with too much blue and gold frosting (I have always loved the frosting part) Thanks to Ben and Eric for talking to them about the merits of Scouting and carrying on after Cub Scouts which was the last requirement they needed for the award.

Trev gave the scripture in Primary today.  You would think that it would be something simple like "Jesus wept" or "We dwelt in a tent" or something easy for a Sunbeamer... not so!  He gave 2nd Nephi chapter 9 vs 13.  It has such un-sunbeamlike words as "incorruptible" and "immortal" and is slightly over 100 words long.  To his credit, he went up there and dutifully repeated the whole thing as it was whispered in his ear.  I think that I understood about 6% of the words he spoke.  It seemed to take about 30 minutes to get through it.

The boys have been soaking up the good weather over the last week.  Tracen and his friends have especially been taking advantage of the warm weather and snow-free yards.  They are constantly playing basketball, football, soccer or a mash-up of the three sports at all times outside.  I am very glad to see that they can entertain themselves beyond the sphere of electronics.  It is good that Tracen has about 10 kids his age to choose from within a stone's throw from our front doorstep.

Our family has been asked to be a part of a short musical representing some of the stories from the Willey and Martin handcart company.  Deanne gets to have a speaking part and sing a duet with me.  She is Eliza Gadd in the play.  She represents an English woman who initally opted to not join the church but followed her husband and children on their trek to Zion.  Well along the way she lost 4 of her 7 children, and her husband.  On a night a few days after her husband passed, she had a vision of him returning to her and encouraging her to persevere.  The duet that Dee and I sing is a representation of that documented experience and is VERY emotional.  More often than not in our practices the song and message reduce both Deanne and I to tears as we sing it. As mentioned, all of our boys also have a small part in the play as well. This production is being put on in preparation for our stake participating in Trek this year.

I have been reading the biography of my great-great Uncle Heaton Lunt.  It reads like a pretty incredible western.  This guy was a Mormon mountain cowboy from about 100 years ago.  It is hard to imagine that the world was so incredibly different a scant 100 years ago.  I also wonder how it is that we can be related.  This guy basically lived his life camping, hunting, horse riding and doing all manner of outdoorsy living.  I am not sure that he would claim me as kin if he were around today.  I feel incredibly soft, priviledged and sheltered as I read his life story.  I guess that is because I am incredibly soft, priviledged and sheltered.

Dee had some of her vericose veins removed and closed this week.  It looked to be pretty uncomfortable.

 As she unwrapped the bandage from her leg on Friday night, I guess she had been holding her breath, and she just about passed out.  That is a pretty helpless feeling when you see your spouse on the verge of fainting.  What are you supposed to do?  Find a pillow for them to faint on?  Tell them to snap out of it?  I will tell you what I did.   I sat there and kept asking her if she was going to pass-out.  It turns out that this is a very annoying question to ask someone on the verge of passing out.  It tuns out that they don't want to talk about it much.  So if someone you know is looking like they are going to pass out, just hang around in case they do.  At that point you can yell out "give her some air!" to the onlookers and fan her back to consciousness.  In seriousness, she seems to be doing well.

Many congratulations to Shane and Kenzie on their newborn Micah Shane...  I like the name!  I am also amazed at how quick he came.  We started getting the texts about her labor right before dinner and before I could put the last dish away afterwards he was born!  Kenzie is one tough cookie.  She went completely natural!  Just like I did with my vasectomy... (just threw that in for shock value, I am just jealous of her pain tolerance)  seriously though, my best to Shane and Kenz in their new world with two kids.  I am sure that you will do awesome.  I am also sure that in a couple years Cole with look at his brother as more than just another pet in the house.  Tracen dumped a piture of water on Tyler within the first 48 hours. 

I hope this email finds everything well with you and yours.  Sorry to hear that the Palmer family has been so ill this week.  Glad that you aren't closer during your sickness :)

Dan

Of falling off the roof, toddler profanity, BDV and lost molars(2)...

February 16, 2014

Yesterday I was in the zone.  I was a Saturday cleaning machine.  No dirty toilet, or soap scummed tub was safe.  The "honey-do" list was in danger of becoming completely extinct.  My children were both in shock, and awe of what they were witnessing.  That is, until it came to me taking down the Christmas lights...then I fell off the roof.  Literally.

Obviously I am not seriously injured and I didn't die so let's clear up any concern you might have there.  There were several missteps (no pun intended) along the way that caused this event.  I was in a hurry.  Being in a rush is a bad place to be when you are on a roof.  I was in slippers.  This is not roofer-approved footwear.  I was over confident.  Remember how I was saying I was in the zone?  I didn't have anyone holding the ladder.  It turns out this is a pretty good idea.  I had just completed taking down the last strand above the garage,  when I put my first (and last) solid foot on the ladder on my way down.  They ladder slipped off the roof like a slip and slide.  The last thing I remember, before hitting the ground, is grabbing for the gutter.  Apparently I was pretty movitvated to not die because you can see the bow in the gutter from my hands.  When I landed I remember wondering why Tracen, who was playing soccer right across the street wasn't rushing to my aid.  (as it turns out, his friends had said to him "Uh, Tracen, I think you Dad just fell off the roof" but when he inspected the roof and saw that I was no longer there he told them "no he didn't") I guess it didn't occur to him that when someone falls OFF the roof, they will no longer be found ON the roof.  I must have been in some shock because I remember laying there taking an injury inventory as Trev stood above me repeating over and over "Dad, you fell down."  I eventually crawled into the house and callled out to Deanne who checked me out.  I got off pretty lightly.  I have whiplash, a sprained thumb and foot, a scratched up leg from falling on the ladder and scratches on my wrists from my desparate gutter grab.  I am sure it could have been much worse.

Trev has an inadvertant potty mouth these days.  Trev cannot say the word "truck".  The TR becomes the F sound.  This has made for several funny/innappropriate occasions.  The other day he could not stop telling me about his "fire TRuckers" pajamas.  I nearly choke on my mirth when he does this.  Also, the other day as we were having a rare quiet moment in the car with the boys, he took the opportunity to tell me about the two "TRuckers" he saw driving along side of us.  You can only imagine the horror I felt a few Sundays ago when he found a toy "TRuck" in between the aisles... it's fun to have the entire ward hear about the toy "TRuck' he likes to play with.  I have started to become a bit desensitized to the F-word because of the boy.  The funny thing is, he has no problem saying "Trev".  Just "Truck".

In the past I have really hated Valentines day.  I mean, I really really couldn't stand it.  I am certain that I have produced some pretty lousy attempts at the holiday as a result of my distain.  This year, I decided that I could celebrate Valentines day in my own way.  I renamed myself "Big Daddy Valentine" (BDV), doled out the cheesy Valentines day cards, bought flowers BEFORE the holiday, and called Deanne from work multiple times in my "Barry White" voice.  I also dubbed myself the "Freight Train of Luv" and would leave notes around the house with the nothing but the words "Choo...Choo" on them.  I guess I was a bit too loving since Tate would really flip out each time he caught me kissing on Dee.  He told us that it really grosses him out and that if we kept it up he was leaving.  The promise of that threat makes me want to never stop kissing her.  All in all, the actions of the week made for a much more enjoyable experience for me.  On the actual day, Dee and I went to the temple while Tracen babysat.  Now that was a holiday!  I guess if you just go with the flow and make it a bit cheesy, it can be a fun. Not the temple... the holiday I mean.

Tracen had a week of firsts.  He rejected his first would-be girlfriend and he landed his first babysitting gig.  A girl in his class wrote him a note asking him if he would like to go with her...  he said that he laughed and told her out loud "no thanks!" at which point I guess that she said "Fine, be that way".  He asked me what "going" with someone meant.  I told him everyhing I remembered about my 6th grade romance.  I told him that when I "went" with Becky Peterson, that it meant I would look at her from a distance, get sick at the thought of talking to her, write her the occasional stupid note, and have my heart broken every time she so much as looked at another boy.  Tracen said that sounded pretty lame.  I told him I agreed.  His babysiting was much more successful however.  He made money, proved himself responsible, and earned the praise of the parents of the family he tended.  He is a really responsible 10 year old.  Tracen lost a molar, but decided he didn't believe in the Tooth Fairy anymore and didn't want to put the tooth under his pillow not for any amount of money.  We were not about to confess anything and therefore did our best to convince him.  His response, "Mom, come on...don't make this akward!"  The Tooth Fairies response,

Tyler also lost a molar this week. He actually allowed me to help him extract it.  He stood in my bathroom while I pulled, pushed and yanked on the tooth.  Every time I heard the little cracking of the tooth pulling away from the gum, I would cringe.  I swear I was more of a ninny about it than the boy.  Eventually, as all teeth do, it came out.  He was stoked about how rich he was going to get from the TF for the molar.  I guess the going rate for molars is at least twice that of incisors.  The TF struggles around our house though.  She is a slouch.  She often forgets to leave $ on the first night, and more often than not she leaves $ but forgets to take the tooth.  Tyler has had his tooth sleeping with him for the last several night in hopes that she will return and get it from him. Maybe if he keeps believing....he will finally recieve!

Well it's time.  Time for me to help Dee cook the meatloaf.  Time for me to rest my weary sprained thumb.  Have a great week everyone.

Dan and Dee