Mmm...cake

I'm not feeling very creative this week, so here's a quick rundown:

Sammy has hives--cause unknown. Also, tonight while eating a bowl of ice cream and brownies, he asked for some carrots. I told him to finish his ice cream first. We expect him to turn orange any day now, based on the amount of carrots he's been eating.

Riley is starting to calm down--a little. He's a little less belligerent and rude, but still refuses to have anything to do with Bruce (usually). He loves his nursery teachers, though, and insists on setting up the chairs for them every Sunday.

Zeke is cute. He's trying to figure out why we've stuck a bottle in his mouth a few times this week. He also thinks it's fun to cry for his binky in the middle of the night. And he has discovered his hands--yum.

Bruce is a spacecase. He didn't notice Christy decorating special Valentine cookies just for him, while he was in the room. He did tune in long enough to eat them. After BYU football, the rest of his mental energy goes to his job. (He just found out they topped $2.5 million for this year's campaign!!!)

Christy is a mental case. Baking is her most therapeutic activity these days, which is not good while Bruce is on a health kick. Tomorrow--chocolate mint creme brulee. Later this week--pistachio cardamom cake. Next week--New York cheesecake with mango topping. After that--chocolate wasabi cake. Anyone who would like to help eat any of these desserts is welcome to visit anytime. Bruce will give you his portion.

We're excited for the Hollywood writer's strike to be over because we've had too much time to do useful things the past few months. Like write silly blog posts.

A House of Heavenly Peace.... I Rent It !

That's a line from a play I was in in high school: Noises Off. Only now can I truly appreciate that line and the title of that play. I wish, as every parent before me, that I had a "Noises Off" button on the remote.

It's Sunday evening after sundown. I used to find this time depressing, mostly because Monday morning and an entire week of work loomed ahead. (What a difference the right job can make.) Now I'm quite content to sit here in the kitchen and listen to the sounds of Christy doing the Sunday dishes (don't get indignant -- I made the dinner), and the occasional squeak of the boys' bedroom door opening, followed promptly by, "Riley, for the last time, shut the door and go back to bed!" Two more things make this an enjoyable evening. First, about an hour ago Christy popped some frozen homemade cookie dough into the oven along with some muffins she's baking for Sammy's preschool class tomorrow. There's a faint aroma of fresh baked goodness left in the air, along with an echo of semi-sweet chocolate in my mouth. This, combined with the soothing sounds of "noises off" (the absence of children's voices IS a sound, I maintain) is a recipe for the kind of relaxation that can only come after our weekly Sabbath day of stress.

Zeke's news of the week is that he's in the Jacobs' baby stage of mild constipation. His older brothers both experienced this rite of non-passage at about his age as well, although Riley's was certainly the more infamous of the two. Who can forget the saga of the soap suppository of aught-five at Wolf Creek Lodge? (Well, luckily for him, Riley can.) Mercifully, Zeke had two episodes today that left him a little better cleaned out. Oh yeah, and he had his first bottle yesterday--administered by me. Now Christy is plotting a Friday night sleep in the basement bedroom, leaving me alone with Zeke.

Sammy is more into books than ever lately, and making us proud by constantly trying to sound out words and, more often than not, getting them right. We're really not pushing him, either -- he just loves words and books. His cousin Tracen is equally impressive with numbers.

Riley, bless him, is struggling these days. He is no longer the baby and finds himself getting less attention and Mama time than he used to. He doesn't seem to have pinpointed Zeke as the cause, thankfully, because he's really pretty good to his brother, if a little over-zealous in the brotherly affection. But he's falling to pieces much more frequently and dramatically than he ever used to, and is exceptionally clingy when it comes to his Mom. As for me, I think he'd rather that I didn't exist. In his defense, I let myself get too authoritarian with him and don't show him quite enough understanding and patience. I'm going to blame Zeke on that one too, though, because it's hard to be gentle and patient when you're always sleep deprived. And I don't even have it as bad as Christy. Speaking of my wife, my hat is off to her for just surviving this long because she gets even less sleep than I do and, unlike me, she is constantly in demand from three little boys (four if you count me). Usually she even manages to maintain control all day, whereas I'm liable to blow my top an hour after getting home from work. So I'd just like to take this opportunity to thank my brother Dan, for showing me that I'm not the only one who buckles under the strain of insanity that only three boys age four and under can instill. Bless you, Dan!

Don't misunderstand though -- neither Dan nor I are overly physical with the kids -- just a little overly vocal at times. Fight fire with fire, that's what we dads are about.

Leah sang an arrangement of "I Stand All Amazed" in her sacrament meeting today, and Christy accompanied. I didn't get to hear it first-hand, in order to watch the kids at home, but I did hear them practice yesterday and it was really beautiful. You all know what a great voice Leah has (and of course my wife is a maestro on the piano).

Well, until next time... RILEY, GET BACK IN BED NOW!! I'M WARNING YOU... ONE... TWO.... THREE! OKAY, HERE I COME!! ... have a great week.

Love,
The House of Peace

Topping off

This week's post reviews the top events of the past week. Top of what...well, you'll have to decide.





Riley turned three yesterday, and we celebrated in style with a gorgeous (and not very tasty) Candyland cake. Dan and Dee (and kids) and Leah and Joel helped us celebrate and watch the Superbowl, and eat a lot of unhealthful food. (why is this a tradition? healthy food can be good too!) The kids were crazy as usual, but loved picking the candy off of the cake, licking it once, then going back for more. Riley managed to open his presents despite "help" from the other boys, and loved all of the gifts. Mostly his face lit up when he opened the red underwear he'd been requesting for weeks. Sammy, Tracen, and Tyler quickly claimed various gifts for themselves to play with while Riley admired the underwear. The boys had a great time riding Ry's new bike around the kitchen table. Eventually all the toys got broken in, but none have gotten broken, yet. And Riley loves all the toys, so thank you to all who provided. (He did tell me today we have too many toys and should just get rid of them all, though.)



Sammy spent most of last week complaining that his ears hurt, especially the left one. Eventually he felt better, but Friday afternoon the right ear started hurting, a lot. Despite all the pain medication, he cried a lot Friday (midnight) and Saturday as we waited to see if this ear infection would go away like the one in the other ear did. Sunday morning Bruce took him to the doctor (in a heavy snowstorm) where he got antibiotics and a coloring book. He was pretty cheerful by the time Riley, Zeke, and I got home from church (which was not a very fun experience, thanks to a very tired Riley).

Speaking of heavy snow, we've had it dumping down on us constantly lately. The banks of snow in our street and front yard are huge, and it is as high as our top step in the backyard. Last Wednesday I was out shopping with Melissa when I drove around one pothole only to hit another! Luckily, the flat tire occurred right in front of Wal-Mart, so a new can of Fix-A-Flat got me to the tire store, where they replaced the tire for free. Les Schwab has the best customer service!!! Bruce came all the way from Ogden to pick Sammy up from preschool.

Preschool must be bad luck for us, because today I was on my way to pick him up again when we had another snow-related disaster. I went a little too fast on the 3 new inches of snow that the city deemed not enough to plow off the street. I skidded right into a snowbank in front of our next-door neighbor's house and got very stuck. Too bad he wasn't home, because he has a big truck and towing cables. A kind friend picked Sammy up from school. I tried to dig the car out, but with three hungry kids getting bored, it just wasn't happening. So Bruce finished the job when he got home. I think the whole thing was kind of fun, since it wasn't too inconvenient. Probably you just think I need to learn how to drive in the snow...well, I'm learning the hard way!

We had fun with Mom and Melissa last weekend! We're glad Grandma Payne's surgery went so well.

Deanne and I have decided to share our favorite new recipes, to encourage more dinner variety. Too bad the boys wouldn't try a single bite of the African curry I made tonight. Bruce and I enjoyed it, though! Hope you try it and like it too.

Rock on!

I know you've all been anxiously awaiting news of our latest arrival. The day has come! Our family is (for now) complete! Yes, I finally finished reupholstering my rocking chair!

I'll keep it short, but I'm thrilled to have it done--I have a place to sit and snuggle Zeke (and his brothers who climb on me whenever I sit down); the mess of various chair parts is out of Zeke's bedroom; the burden of a massive project that's been weighing me down for months is gone. Bruce is glad too, because he won't have to watch the kids any more for lengthy reupholstering sessions.

Thanks to Deanne for all her many hours spent helping me (especially as we undid and redid several sections). Thanks to my friend Marcina and her electric staple gun. Thanks especially to Mom, to Grandma and Grandpa Payne who had the chair before me, and to Great-Grandma Oldroyd who had the chair even before them.

Lonely snow fever

I don't remember much about last week--it's all a blur of stapling and unstapling as Deanne and I worked on reupholstering Grandma's old rocking chair. And as Bruce helped me recover the part we had to redo. We're getting close to done on that project--I hope.

Yesterday morning, Bruce left really early for Washington DC. I told myself if I could survive church and choir practice with the kids, the rest of the week would be easier. (I was wrong.) Church was hard but good, thanks to the help of some friends. We had less than half of our Christmastime choir attend our first practice after church. Hopefully a few more will come next week. At least the choir hosts made soup for everyone, and sent me home with some since Bruce is gone.

Today (I hope) was the hardedst part of Bruce's absence. Riley was up a few times in the night, and stayed up beginning about 5:45. By 6:30 he was cranky. By 8 he was a basketcase. He's a little sick, and seems to have a bit of a fever. The worst of it is that he doesn't even want me to hold and comfort him, which makes me feel helpless. He's just hysterically grumpy. A short nap and Tylenol helped, and he even came out to play in the snow for awhile. Mostly he was cheerful only if there was a movie on or if I was reading to him. Then he fell asleep in less than two minutes tonight. Hopefully he'll feel better tomorrow.

Zeke and Sammy are trying to cope with very little attention, and Sammy has been very helpful (except for when he's been a stubborn 4-year-old). I'm trying to keep Zeke from getting Riley's bug. Oh, and we got about 10 inches of snow today (not stopping until 3 or 4). Sammy was so happy when we left Riley watching a movie to go outside and shovel. I wasn't happy as this was my first time shoveling a REAL snowfall without Bruce's help. (Not counting shoveling a path up our street last week so I could get the van back to our house.) I was getting tired and was not quite halfway through when our kind next-door neighbor saw me and brought out her snowblower and 11-year old son. The three of us finished very quickly. I was so grateful. Luckily I made bread this morning and so we gave them a loaf.

That left me with time and energy to play in the snow with Sammy and Riley while Zeke obliged by napping inside. We needed the boost and had a lot of fun together. We've got moutains of snow everywhere thanks to the plows and all the shoveling--and I was even sinking in almost up to my waist in places. The snowflakes were huge today and the sun was shining just right, so Sammy and I got a close up look at snowflakes--the detail is incredible and it was sweet to see his excitement over their miniature perfection.

After hot chocolate, Riley got cranky again but we managed until bedtime. We're praying he feels better tomorrow so we can play with Tracen and Tyler. Then Wednesday Sammy will have preschool and Bruce will be home at night. After a day of quarantine and being snow-bound with no outside contact, we are excited for a bit of social activity! Hooray for tomorrow! Hooray for good health! Hooray for early bedtimes!

Blurt out the budget

We just got back from a little party at the "other" Jacobs (Dan & Deanne's) home, where Leah & Joel as well as cousin Scott and new wife Naomi and kids were also assembled. Aside from the half-hour hunt for Sammy's lost glasses (we found them), it was a lot of fun. The eight boys (all 4 and under) seemed to have a good time together, with not more than the usual violence and mayhem. Of course, Zeke and Tate didn't really add too much to the chaos, except for the occasional call for food. The adults had a good time talking and playing "Blurt" -- a game of definitions, which Dan won.


Yesterday I got to take Sammy & Riley to a "Super Reader" party with Curious George and The Man in the Yellow Hat. It was at the State Fairpark in Salt Lake City and was a lot more fun than I had expected. As soon as we got there I hustled the boys upstairs so we could get near the front of the line to take pictures with C.G. and TMITYH. In less than 5 minutes it was our turn to take pictures with these life-size celebrities of cartoon fame. Unfortunately, both Sammy and Riley were struck with an acute case of paralysis when our moment came, and they wouldn't take another step closer. So alas, I could only take their pictures with somebody else's kids (just to prove we were there). But we still got to see a cool magic show, which both boys loved and (get this) sat still through. We also saw some pretty cool jugglers, got to pose as astronauts, made paper helicopters and kaleidoscopes and lots of other fun stuff. After almost three hours, I practically had to drag them away. By this time Sammy had decided that he wanted another shot at C.G. and TMITYH but unfortunately they line for pictures with them had grown 10 times longer.


It was a good week for me at work because, much to my surprise and excitement, we beat our fundraising goal for CFC! It being my first year, and because we'd intentionally set the goal really high ($2,450,000), I didn't think we'd actually do it, especially since almost every federal agency had reported when the week began. But a few of them came in a lot higher than they'd said they would, so I was ecstatic to find out we'd done it.

Christy's spent many hours this week reupholstering the rocking chair she inherited from her grandma. It's her first time doing something like that, so it's caused her some grief along the way, but it's getting there. She might even get to use it before Zeke's done nursing for good...

Let's see, Christy also found out today that she has more budget than she thought for choir (she'd actually been told earlier that she had no budget), so she's pretty excited to get choir going again this year and has some great arrangements in store for us to sing.

I guess that's it for now. Next week at this time I'll be in Washington D.C. for the CFC Million Dollar Roundtable conference. Christy says I'm going just so I can get three interruption-free nights of sleep, and while I don't deny I'm looking forward to that part, that's not why I'm going! I'll take the camera along and see if I can get some interesting photos to post next week.

So long for now.

Snowy Pink Smiles

We've gotten through our first month with three children and we think we may survive the next few years!

Despite a lack of sleep and occasional grumpy outbursts, we're kind of keeping up with all three of our busy boys. Sammy and Riley still love Zeke and smother him with affection as often as possible. They had a great time this week sleeping over at Tracen and Tyler's house--our big New Year's Eve party. Their dinner that night consisted mostly of chips, then they went to bed and got to stay up talking and giggling. Finally, there was the excitement of waking up at an insanely early hour and realizing they were still with their cousins. Party couldn't have been better for the kids. (Bruce and I foolishly stayed up until midnight watching "Transformers" and regretted it all the next day.)

Zeke has rewarded us with a smile or two this week, and has begun to open his eyes and notice things. Today Uncle Dan got the biggest grin we've seen so far. And speaking of Zeke, the name is now completely official. Bruce blessed him in Sacrament Meeting today and it was really nice. (A ward member said Bruce passed the test because he took the baby "to give HIM a name and a blessing," not to give IT a name and a blessing.) Leah kindly wrote down everything for us. The things that stand out most to me were blessings of a long life; a strong body and mind and intellect, as well as humility; worthiness to serve a mission and joy in missionary work; being a peacemaker.

Bruce has enjoyed almost daily workouts of shoveling snow--this weekend's batch was particularly wet and heavy. We might have to invest in a better snowshovel.... At least he has something to use up his excess energy now that college football season is over.

I'm just happy to have Christmas decorations put away and to have Sammy back in preschool. (He's much happier with a little outside social activity now and then.) Now that I'm pretty much recovered from Zeke's birth, however, it's hard to get into the routine of cleaning, taking care of kids, and making dinner. I think I went at least three weeks without making a single meal. But to my credit, I've made several complete dinners this week. Boy, what an exciting and challenging life I lead, eh?

Life is great in a household of FOUR boys and me. I wear a lot of pink (subconscious habit, I think), and generally just enjoy being everyone's favorite. That must have something to do with all the cookies I bake.

Have a great week!