Me and Neil

Probably most of you don't know this. Prepare for a shock. I love Neil Diamond.

No, not the man (Bruce is hard to beat). Just the music. Specifically, the really old stuff, pre-"Comin' to America." More specifically, the really soulful, sappy ballads that were never released as singles, so no one knows them.

Why am I telling you this? Neil is tonight's featured mentor on American Idol, a show I never thought I'd care about. For some reason, I'm hooked this season, and what a coincidence that Neil is showing up, just for me. Anyway, I'm a bit nervous about it. Neil has kind of sold his soul, in my opinion, doing snazzy shows with all his old hits, wearing sparkly shirts, not really doing anything innovative--just to sell tickets to 60-year-old ladies who remember him from the good old days. I know, I've been to see him twice. But he was a great songwriter in his day, and it will be fun to see what everyone sings on Idol tonight. Bruce thinks David Cook will go for "America," and I think Jason Castro will choose "Girl, You'll be a Woman Soon." After the disappointing (BORING) song choices on Andrew Lloyd Webber week, I'm not expecting much. But it should be fun, anyway.

From the mouth of three-year-olds

Riley may not be quite as eloquent as his cousin Tyler of the "doomed underwear" fame, but he's had a few gems lately.

A few days ago Riley came in our room at 6 in the morning and tried to climb in bed for comfort. I really cherish my last half hour of sleep (Zeke usually doesn't wake up between 2 and 8), so I told Riley to head right back to his bed. He burst into tears and cried out, "But there's a chicken leg in my eye!!!" He insisted several times that this was the case, and I promise you he was wide awake, not sleepwalking. So we hugged him and sent him to the bathroom, where it must have fallen out because he went back to bed.

Tonight we were eating dessert when he suddenly put down his spoon and shivered. I asked if his ice cream made him shiver and he replied, "Yeah, it colds my tummy."

Love that kid!

Milestones

This has been a momentous week for the Jacobs boys. Yup, lots of moments, usually happy.

Sammy is 5! (He had a great birthday on Tuesday, except he's been stretching out the royal treatment so it's more like a birthday month.) I can hardly believe he's that old, or that I've been a mom for that long. And while it's been a challenge to raise a little boy, I hear tell that it's harder as they get older. Still, most of it has been full of joy. Sammy has had an unusual interest in scriptures since before he could talk, and he still loves our nightly scripture story (current favorite is Moses). A few years ago he had several Articles of Faith memorized, and recently has relearned them (up through number eight). He is a fabulous big brother to Zeke, who grins and giggles when Sammy is around. He and Riley are great pals too, as long as there aren't any squabbles over toy possession going on. Most momentously of late, he has become an amazing reader. I'm not sure at what point we knew "He can read!" He's been sounding out words for months, and for the past month or two has sometimes been stringing sentences together. In the past three weeks, though, he has taken to reading (out loud) picture books, sentences from "Harry Potter," cereal boxes, billboards. And to his credit, he's not just reciting lists of words. He comprehends the sentences and the story they're in, too. It's a sweet scene to walk in on him reading a story to Zeke or Riley. This has to be one of the most rewarding feelings I've had in my life.

Riley has survived his first broken arm and the cast came off on Monday. He never hit any of his nursery mates with it, but he whacked Sammy's head a time or two. (I almost think Sammy deserved it, though.) We're adjusting to his new haircut, and no longer do a double-take every morning.

Zeke hit a big baby milestone on Tuesday night when he rolled over from his tummy to back. Bruce and I both missed seeing it, so we rolled him over and let him do it again. Bruce looked away at the critical moment and missed it a second time, but Zeke refused to do it any more. Still, soon he'll be rolling, then crawling, then driving us crazy. I can't say I'm excited about babyproofing again.

I don't know if it's a milestone for me or just that I've finally resigned myself to Bruce's travels. After we got through last week's four-day trip so well, his one-night trip this week was hardly noticeable. We missed him, but somehow it wasn't so bad. That's saying a lot for me, because I used to really dread his business trips. Maybe I'm growing up too!

Finally, Bruce has become an official season-ticket holder for the Cougars. Woohoo! No more grumbling about missing the games! As long as they have another great season, he'll be the happiest fan around next fall.

Vegas, Visits, and Marbled Steaks

I flew to Las Vegas today for a four-day CFC workshop. The first day of meetings was pretty boring, really, and since they always seem to start these things on a Sunday, I may just skip Day 1 next year. The most valuable thing was to hobnob with some of my fellow CFC directors between sessions and during the reception. (Incidentally, I don't regret being here for the reception because the food was pretty impressive!)

I just talked to Christy, and it sounds like she had a good day and that the boys have been well-behaved. They sometimes use absent-Dad as an excuse to act up, but not so far. Mom and Dad, thanks so much for helping Christy out today! We owe you.

It's been fun having Mom and Dad around for a couple of days. It's too bad the timing of my CFC trip coincided with their visit, but at least we got to hang out with them for quite a while yesterday. Sammy and Tracen had a joint birthday party at Dan's house, and we took advantage of a sunny, mild day to have the first BBQ of the year. (Dan, those steaks were tender and, I must say, nicely marbled!) Later that evening, after the boys were in bed, Mom & Dad came over and for a change we didn't play cards but just sat around talking. I guess I'm truly an old geezer now because I enjoy "visiting" with family about as much as anything else.

Wish there were more exciting things to say about my trip so far. One thing I really DON'T like about Vegas (there are many, but I'll try to limit my complaining) is that smoking is allowed in the hotel casinos. Even though I don't spend any time there, you have to walk through it or by it in order to come and go--even in other areas of the hotel there is often a faint tobacco tinge to the air. It gives me a headache. OK, done complaining now.

The weather here is gorgeous -- mid-to-hight 80's, sunny, with just a slight breeze. Before everything started I was able to grab a personal veggie pizza for lunch and sit out by the pool under the shade of a palm tree. I even dozed off for a while... in fact I think it's about time to try a little more of that, so.... have a good week, everyone.

-Bruce

The big question

I did it. After months of waffling, I cropped Riley's hair. The kid is so handsome he looks great no matter what, but I miss the curls. And boy, did he get lots of compliments on them (when they weren't smashed, frizzed, and sticking straight up from all his rambunctious playtime).


Here are the before and after shots. Please take a moment to let us know what you think--vote in our poll on the right. Results may or may not affect future haircuts.

Weekend news

We're wrapping a good weekend by enjoying a quiet home in which all boys (except me) are asleep. Today was a little hard on Sammy & Riley -- four hours of conference and not single cousin to play with -- just books, puzzles and wooden spoons doubling as ninja swords. Not long after the second session ended, I took them to a nearby park to let them get some pent-up energy out by riding their bikes and playing on the big toy. It seemed to help, and they actually had a dinner appetite, but by 7 p.m. their tired bodies had had enough -- trouble is, their minds weren't convinced and the result was belligerence.

Yesterday we had the Palmers and Cookes over for the first session of conference, and afterwards we were joined by Dan & Deanne's family. Between sessions we ate pizza, salad and had brownies to celebrate Eric's 12th birthday. The Palmers then had to leave, but Dan & Deanne and Leah & Joel stayed for the second session. After that we watched a TV show or two from Joel's iPod and the boys all played around the house, but mostly downstairs. Later that night Dan and I went to chapel for the Priesthood session and the women watched "Dan in Real Life" here at the house. It was a fun day.

A day or two ago, Sammy and Riley came in from outside, excitedly carrying a worm they'd found in the yard. Christy helped them bottle up some fresh soil and they stretched some Saran wrap (with holes poked in it) over the top. The boys named the worm "Harry Potter," which is apt, because he promptly put on his invisibility cloak. Later that day, Christy and I thought we saw a very still worm's tail poking out of the soil--and we fear the worst. Apparently they might have damaged poor Harry a little in their excitement. According to Christy, he looked pretty beat up -- maybe even partly severed around the middle. So I call him "Nearly Half-Gone Harry." It's probably time to confirm his living status, but I just haven't had the time or inclination to go digging for a worm corpse. OK, OK, I'll go check now...

Hooray! Harry is alive! (Sorry, but Dumbledore is still pushing up daisies.) I dug down to the bottom of the jar, and there he was, alive and intact. His wriggle was a little feeble, however. We're hoping our slimy little pet will be with us a little longer.

Have a great week.

Surprises

The past week has been full of surprises, mostly good.



We enjoyed a visit from Grandma Barber and Melissa (not a surprise-we always have fun with them). We even managed to make it to a local performance of "Big River," which was surprisingly good. Best of all was the actor who portrayed Jim--he has a CD out and was definitely the best part of the show. Pretty powerful singing.



We realized shortly before leaving that a live performance is not the place to take a baby (we usually take Zeke everywhere), so we left him home with the babysitter (who had brought a friend). Yeah, well, in the past three weeks he has decided he no longer likes bottles. He refused to eat all night and we came home to a hungry (sleeping) baby and two frazzled babysitters. We're now doing bottle training, every night, but he refuses to eat unless he's distracted by the TV. Evidently it's entertaining enough to make him forget the injustice of eating from a bottle.



Saturday night, Bruce and the boys finished cleaning the basement and sat down to play. Riley can navigate our basement floor fine when it's covered with toys, but wouldn't you know, when there are only two or three toys on the floor, he trips and breaks his arm. He cried for about 10 minutes after the fall, and the arm bugged him just a little that night and Sunday. On Monday it was mostly better but we still took him to the doctor. By the time of the appointment, he was playing with it just fine, wiggling like nothing was wrong. The doctor squeezed and prodded and decided it was probably not broken (Riley didn't even flinch at all this), but said he'd order an x-ray if it would make me feel better. So a few pictures later, Riley had a cast on and the doctor said it was good he hadn't made any bets on Riley's arm. Riley was pretty uninterested in the whole thing, even getting the cast on; all he cared about was getting a lollipop at the end. The cast doesn't bother him and hasn't slowed him down at all. For anyone planning to break a bone, I think Riley's method is the way to go.



Sunday's great surprise was that we had almost the entire choir show up to practice after a week off and with no reminder phone calls! Maybe they're all finally getting in the habit of coming. I have high hopes for their performance on April 20 (another Mack Wilberg arrangement) and we wish everyone could be here to hear.



Finally, Bruce was surprised by the delicious pinto bean pie I made for dessert at our ward Emergency Preparedness Fair last night. Or was it a pecan pie? It was hard to tell a difference...