New music added - Aug 2009

Just to update those who care to know, I have uploaded four new songs to my ReverbNation player (check the left side of the page). The other songs are still there, just pushed down the playlist a little.

The first song is a medley of hymns that I arranged for performance at a church meeting this past week (entitled "Sunset Valley..."). The second, called "Samuel tells...," is a Christmas hymn that I arranged for a performance at a church meeting last winter (2008). The third, "Atlantis," is a original song that may not appeal to all, but I've included it for those who may find this type of song interesting. The fourth, "Walking Song," was written by me when Jack was first learning to walk--I'd like to say it helped him walk, but I have no evidence to prove it. All of the songs are not in their finished, professional condition, but I thought it would be nice to add a variety of new music to the player.

Thanks for listening. Comments and feedback are always welcome.
-Adam

Allie's First Two Days of Pre-K

Last week, Allie started pre-kindergarten at the elementary school near our neighborhood. She previously experienced daytime schooling when she attended a 3-hour, 4-day a week type of pre-K last school year.

The first few days of pre-K were only half-days in order to help the children acclimate to going to school every day. This week, however, is full-day pre-K (well, they finish in the early afternoon). Upon arriving home after the first day of class, Allie reported, in typical fashion, "It was boring." The next day was not so boring, but she did indicate that she is "tired of going to school." Later in the week, she did indicate that she is having fun and generally likes her school class. More reports to come, but we wanted to at least post a few pictures.

Allie's first foray into "swimming"

Tonight, Jen had a pool party with the young women from church. The party was at an apartment pool of one of the leaders and it was first come first serve. So, Jen and the kids got to the pool at about 5:30pm to "reserve" space for the 15 or so girls that would be coming later in the evening.

When I showed up to the pool at 6:00pm I saw that Jack and Allie had adhered themselves to a group of two young couples who were lounging at the pool. Allie latched on to a girl named Nicole, although every time she was asked what the girls name was, Allie couldn't remember. Allie was wearing arm floaties to help keep her from sinking under the water. Allie and Nicole played around for quite some time, all along Allie wanting to swim out into the middle of the pool by herself.

I finally wrestled the kids away so that the young couples could continue their lounging uninhibited by our children. The kids and I went to another part of the pool and wanted me to pull them around by their arms so they could be "swimming." I did this for a while and eventually Allie remembered that her new friend, Nicole, had told her to kick her legs if she wanted to swim. So Allie started kicking her legs like she was "riding a bicycle" (her words). She started to trust that the arm floaties would help keep her buoyant and kept kicking her legs. By this time I had let go of her and was sitting on the pool steps while Allie and Jack hung on to the sides of the pool. Allie eventually pushed herself away from the side of the pool, all of the while still kicking her legs and the next thing I knew she was in the middle of the pool..."swimming."

Allie was quite excited and started to swim laps around the pool. Oddly enough, she complained that her arms were tired, but that her legs were not yet tired. A few minutes later I caught Allie jumping off the side of the pool and bobbing back to the surface of the water after temporarily going under. I thought she would take a big gulp of water or something, but she did not. I was a bit surprised at Allie jumping off the side of the pool, but I guess I should not have been. She can be quite the daredevil with her body.

Anyhow, I just wanted to pass on a short story of Allie and her new found swimming technique. The kids are slated to go swimming again tomorrow at a friend's house, so Allie can continue practicing her "swimming."

I want some...

Yes, this was from a couple of months ago...notice the long hair on Jack.

Jen's new church responsibility

Jen has a new church calling (responsibility) as the Young Women's President in the ward. While it was in the works behind the scences for a number of weeks, I had to hold off telling her about it until the official word came down. In fact, her name had surfaced a few times over the past few months for similar callings, but each time it didn't work out.

As Young Women's President, she'll have the opportunity to work with all of the girls ages 12 to 18. Of course, she will help mold these girls into upstanding adults. Then she can come home and work on the rest of us.

Jen is really excited and until recently has been clamoring for a calling in the Young Women's organization for quite sometime. She really enjoyed working with the 8 to 11 year old girls and told me that her days of wanting a calling with the young women were over. No less than a month later she is now working with said young women. Funny how things work like that.

Hi

Just wanted to say hello.

10 hours

Just a little follow-up for Lincoln's sleeping through the night. Last night he went to bed at 7:00pm as normal. I fully expected him to wake up to eat at 11:00pm or so, but other than a little fuss, he did not make a peep until later in the early hours of the morning. He continued to make some peeps here and there and did not wake up until 5:00am! So, there is again hope that he will learn to sleep through the night regularly...

Sleeping through the night

It has taken almost 5 and 1/2 months, but Lincoln finally had his first "sleep through the night" experience. He has been on a pretty regular schedule of going to bed at 7:00pm, maybe waking up to eat at 11:00pm, waking up at about 2:30am to eat, and then waking up at 7:00am for the day. While it has been a nice schedule, it still involves at least one wake-up to eat time. Well, last night he went to bed at 7:45pm and did not wake up again until 6:30am. Wow! What a night.

The night, however, was not full of sleep for the caretakers. About every two hours, Lincoln would start crying in his normal "I'm waking up, so feed me," manner. By the time an adult (Jen) would get up, put on glasses to see, and make it out to Lincoln's bedroom (the pantry), he would be fast asleep.

We don't really expect the sleep-through-the-night routine to last. The past couple of days, Lincoln has been a little more fussy than normal and just not quite himself. So, he could either be not feeling well or experiencing the myriad of other things that babies make babies uneasy (teething, growth spurts, loud siblings). He was really due for a long night's sleep, because his daytime naps have been pretty short or non-existent for the past few days. So, let's hope that (1) he gets to feeling better and (2) continues to sleep through the night (at least every so often).

Jack's first big-boy haircut

It you haven't seen Jack lately, you may remember that he can at times look like a shaggy dog. We were worried that his shagginess would cause him some overheating troubles this summer because he breaks out in a sweat (on his head) after being out in the sun for more than 30 seconds. With his wispy, thin hair, we didn't quite know how to trim it...should we simply buzz it all off or just cut it shorter and less shaggy? Well, yesterday (Wed, June 24, 2009) we enlisted the help of a professional hair stylist from our ward and the results are below.

Before front.


Before back.


Getting ready.


Lincoln trying to get a bottle in his mouth...


and after some help, Lincoln gets the goods.


Prepping the hair.


Making the first cut.


The first locks lost.


Trimming the bangs.


Having a great time.


Not having a great time.


Still not having a great time.


Allie decorating herself with combs.


Inspecting the final cut.

Snailing around

Last week, after all of the rain and cooler weather (mid 80s), Allie went out into the backyard to look for slugs, snails, and any other insects she could find. She proceeded to find every snail and slug in sight. It was really fun for her to make little "homes" for the snails in a bucket of hers. She put grass and rolly-pollies into the bucket so that the snails would feel comfortable. She also enjoyed letting the snails crawl around her arm. Eventually Allie was able to sneak a snail into the house, which she promptly left on the couch--of course, before we discovered Allie's little surprise, the snail started to crawl around on the couch, leaving a nice 4-5 inch snail trail of slime (sorry no picture of the trail).