A Year of Jake

 1/1 Jake: Mom, don't worry about me; I'll just be in my room reading books.

1/8 Jake: I look just like an alien except I don't have a green face.

1/12 Jake: I don't need a bath! I'm not dirty; I didn't even toot today!

1/14 Jake: Do you need help cooking dinner?

    Me: Sure

    Jake: Chef Jake is in. The. House. (Puts on chef hat.)

1/15 Jake: Sure means yes and maybe means no.

1/16 Jake: Sometimes kids follow directions and sometimes they don't.

1/20 The lady speaking in church today said she didn't have Netflix or even TV to avoid distractions. Jake looked at me, and with all sincerity and with great sadness said, "She doesn't have Netflix? That's so, so sad!" Who knew he was even listening?

2/22 I was at a restaurant with Jake. When he was done eating, he said, "Now I'm going to walk around and smell all the good smells." And then he did a lap around the restaurant with his nose in the air, sniffing.

2/24 Sometimes lately when I ask Jake to do something, he'll say, "My pleasure!" or "With pleasure!" Lest you think he is always obedient, just as often he'll scream, cry, run away, or do all three. You just never know what you're going to get.

2/29 Jake: Do aliens have Family Home Evening? I think they do.

3/7 Jake: I'm good at messes.

3/19 Jake: I love this song!

    Me: Do you want to dance?

    Jake: Just my head and eyebrows want to dance (bobs his head and wiggles his eyebrows).

3/26 Jake: Where is college?

    Me: They're all over the world

    Jake: I already know where I want to go.

    Me: Where?

    Jake: Auntie Lianna's house. I'll learn to be nice there.

3/27 Jake: Remember that worker? His name was JASON! Like OUR DAD!

    Me: You're right. There are probably lots of people in the world with the same name as our Dad.

    Jake: There ARE?!! ... Wait! Are there other JAKES?!

    Me: Yes

    Jake: (Mind blown)

4/2 Jake to me: I'm glad we're both alive today.

4/17 One of the ways the older kids can earn extra technology time is to play with Jake. I was afraid once he got old enough to understand this that he would feel used or offended. On the contrary, often he will ask the room at large, " Who wants to play with me for extra time?" or rather than ask me to play with him he'll sometimes say, "Mom, do you want to earn extra technology time?" and reminds me to set the timer!

4/22 Jake: All my things are important to me.

    Me: My things are important to me too, but the most important thing to me is my family.

    Jake: The thing that's most important to me is Snowy Toy.

    Me: More important than your family?

    Jake: Well...yes.

4/26 The kids were guessing my age and added ten years to the reality. That lead to a conversation about where they would all be when they were 22, 20, and 15. When we got to Jake we mentioned that he'd be the only kid left at home and he immediately burst into tears. Poor baby! The other three rushed to tell him all the great things that would come with being 15 and promised to visit a lot. See, they do like each other!

4/29 I wanted to remember the way Jake says some of his words: zizzors (scissors), Yogan (Logan), snores (s'mores), McDominos (dominos), and cock-a-dackle-doo for what a rooster says. Also, when he talks, he holds the vowel of the last word he says, like a drawl. He reads so often and so far beyond his reading level that he uses words like" multiple" instead of "a lot " and frequently uses the phrase "for example."

5/6 Jake: I want to look at pictures of me, but not when I was a baby, when I was a human.

5/7 Jake: I want to go places. I'm tired of staying home. Will the Coronavirus EVER be over?

5/18 Jake: I'm exhausted. Do you know what that means? It means I'm REALLY tired.

5/21 Jake to me: I like that you're my friend.

5/23 The fact that Jake has a great duck voice is further proof to me that he crossed paths with his Grandpa Eldredge somewhere up there in the few weeks after Gary passed and before Jake was born.

5/24 Jake (blowing bubbles in his drink): It's like the water is talking back to me! 

6/3 Me: If you get married in the temple you get to be married forever.

    Jake: Ugg, I don't WANT to be married FOREVER!

6/9 Jake cleaning up: I did all the bags and boxes once by a time. I'm like...incredible guy!

6/28 We drove to Mt Rushmore on Friday and then drove home on Saturday, spending 28 out of 40 hours in the car. Here are some of the best things Jake had to say about it:

He told everyone we were going to Mt Everest and was squealing when we got there about how cool Mt Everest was.

When we were only about half way there (about 7 hours in), he said, "I think we've driven all the way around the wold by now!"

When we got home he was telling someone about it and said, "It's these four faces all carved out of stone, and they're all APOSTLES!"

7/10 Jake: I know all about vampires, more than you mom. Actually, I know about ALL monsters. Yeah, I'm a cool kid.

7/22 Jake: Things are getting complicated (His commentary on COVID restrictions).

8/14 Grandma: What animal is this?

        Jake: Oh, I just call that a cantaloupe (it was an antelope).

8/18 Jake: Did you know there are three big boys we can't see of hear? Jesus, Heavenly Father, and Santa.

8/28 Jake: Are you ready to pop out of your eyes (be surprised)?

9/3 Jake: Are you even listening? Do you even have ears?

9/11 Logan: Jake, if you do your writing practice I'll count to 200 for you!

        Jake: How about you just give me $200?

9/17 Jake: Do you want to play a game with me? You can say yes, maybe, or sure.

9/22 Me: That is the dental hygienist.

        Jake: Oh, I get it! The Hi Dentist!

 9/25 Jake: Mom, do you want to play with me? We haven't played anything in like an HOUR!

9/26 Jake: (He's crying and I'm coming to see if he's ok, Jake just stands there) Don't just walk; RUN!

10/7 Jake: Hot chocolate makes me feel good when I feel sad.

10/13 Jake: A week?! A week is like a hundred days, even a million days!

10/16 Jake: Your reflection is like a ghost on the wall in front of you.

10/18 Jake: Grandma and Grandpa Quillen are coming in a week! I am so excited! The Quillens are coming.

That's what I call them, the Quillens. Isn't that funny?!

10/20 Jake: I don't know who's right, but it's probably me.

10/22 Jake's teacher (remote, via chromebook) I have some friends not following directions.

           Jake: I think that's me.

10/31 Jake: Mom, I love you more than skittles, toys and stickers (all of his MOST favorite things!).

11/5 Jake counting something for a math problem:  There are nine

        Me: Try again. I think there are eight.

        Jake: Yeah, but in my imagination I see another one, so that makes nine!

11/6 Jake: I think I discovered what I'm allergic to.

        Me: What?

        Jake: Zombies.

11/15 Jake: This game has only one rule, and here it is: THERE ARE NO RULES!

11/17 Jake was describing a game he played at a friend's birthday where they tried to sneak the dinosaur eggs away from the sleeping mamas. She told them to be quiet so the mamas didn't wake up or they would be "a piece of toast!" (I imagine she said they'd be "toast," but not knowing that phrase, he morphed it into something he did know!)

11/23 Jake: Dad, what do you do for your job?

          Jason: Well, I make sure people are doing what they're supposed to be doing (he's an auditor for a                  bank)

          Jake: Wait! That's what Mom's job is!

11/27 We set up our Christmas decorations today and Jake called all the needles that fell on the ground "tree hairs."

11/28 Jake: People don't really have birthdays once a year! Mine only comes, like, once every TWENTY years!

12/2 As you go about your holiday season, remember that Jake calls candy canes "candy kings."

12/3 Jake: Whatever the very last day of school is, I can't wait for that day!

12/14 Jake had to be sedated for some dental work (LONG STORY), and in trying to prepare him for it we told him the medicine he drank would make him very sleepy and that he might even take a nap while they worked on his teeth. Apparently, he never did fall asleep, but he was chill enough to let the dentist do her work (thank goodness), even interrupting her sometimes to "tell her something" (a very Jake thing to say). Afterwords, he was very woozy and couldn't walk, let alone hold up his head or body very well for about half the day. This was very frustrating to him and he told me, "I think they gave me the wrong medicine! It didn't even make me fall asleep, it just turned me into, like a baby who can't even walk!"

12/17 Jake's class was talking about their favorite toys and someone mentioned light sabers. Jake said, Light sabers?

          Me: That sounds like fun (thinking, great, now he'll have another toy to wish for from Christmas).

          Jake: No! That sounds DANGEROUS!

12/17 Jake: (With the saddest face you've ever seen, lip quivering, tears in his eyes) I don't want to miss you when I grow up! I don't want to be away from you!

          Me: (All sorts of assurances that such a time is a long way off, that he'll be excited about what he's doing, that he'll have a phone he can call me on...none of which comforted him at all.) You can just choose to live right by me.

         Jake: But how will I know where you live? Will you still be in this same house? Who gets to pick where I live-me?

         Me:...Yes.

         Jake: (Takes a deep, shuttering breath) OK.

12/23 Jake: How does the skeleton inside my body blink?

Temple Trips

Our nephew Ethan received his endowment on December 19, and Jason and I were so pleased to be invited to be there with them. It was such a tender day for many reasons. Of course, the temple has been closed since March so it was so good to be back. It was also sweet to be there with Ethan, a nephew whom we've been blessed to live by most of his life, whom we got to watch grow up and see the wonderful choices he has made and continues to make. It was a vert small session and as I thought of the people who might have been there with him if not for COVID, I felt very strongly that though many couldn't be there, Gary was. It was good to be in the temple again with my Father-in-law.

Being there again gave us the idea of bringing the kids up over Christmas break, just to walk the grounds. The exterior of the temple was redone over the Spring and Summer and so for a long time even the grounds weren't open. But they are again, so we decided to make a trip up.

Touching the temple (or Jesus's House as Jake likes to call it. He was disappointed to hear that He isn't always there, though we assured Jake He could be and that the Holy Ghost always is).

Eli wanted one with him and the spire with Angel Moroni.

A snack before we hit the road.

It was a nice little trip, and the drive up and back were peaceful too!

 

COVID Santa

This was a year of doing things differently, and it turns out seeing Santa was one of those things! Santa was escorted to various Elementary Schools in our area by the fire department! He hopped out for quick photos and then everyone went on their way. Jake thought it was great.

 

Santa's Helpers

Eli was great about telling Jake what they were supposed to wear for spirit week the week before Christmas break. On this day they wore Santa hats and decided they were Santa's helpers and made up some naughty and nice lists for him.

Jake wrote the "nise" list with all the name of our family and his and Eli's friends. Eli took care of the naughty list and included bad guys from their favorite movies and books! 

Tucking in Max

Logan has started coming down before he goes to sleep to make sure Max is snug and comfy in his kennel. He even bought Max a new dog bed recently. 

 

Dental Woes

So, our dentist retired and recommended we move to a certain new dentist. His reviews were fine, so I went ahead and scheduled appointments. Imagine my surprise when they told me Jake had 8 cavities and I had 5, and Jason had 1. Neither Jake nor I had ever had any cavities. In hindsight, we don't think our previous dentist was actually doing a very good job and Jake and I paid the price. I went ahead and finished my dental work with them, but we decided to get a second opinion for Jake an have the other kids just see that dentist. Luckily, the three older kids were all cavity free (maybe they'd had cavities in some of the teeth that have fallen out?) To get my cavities taken care of it was five appointments (each 2-3 hours in the chair!), a crown and a lot of money.

The new dentist unfortunately agreed with the first one on 8 cavities, though they said he could get by with filling 5 and watching the others. They recommended we split the work into two trips, one for each side of the mouth, which made sense. We talked him through it, Jason gave him a blessing the night before, we had an audiobook for him to listen to, and bribed him with dollar store toys if he cooperated. He actually did ok. He got upset about halfway through and I had to hold him down a little so they could finish, but all in all doable. When we went back the next week to do the second half, he absolutely refused to let them do it. We rescheduled for the following week with him doing exactly the same thing. They were very nice about it, but referred us to a dentist that could sedate him to get the work finished. 

I naively thought I could call and make a sedation appointment over the phone, but no, they needed us to come in for a consultation first. And then we had to make an appointment with our pediatrician to have him sign off that Jake was healthy enough to undergo sedation. And then we had a to pay a hefty fee to have the whole office to ourselves so the dentist wouldn't have other patients to attend to during his sedation. And they recommended they fill all the cavities, even the small ones, so we didn't have the same problem in 6 months; with which we agreed, but that sent our high bill even higher. Anyway, it was quite a day, but they got all the work done and said he was a good patient (we weren't allowed to be in the room with him). The medicine made it hard from him to walk or even hold up is head or body very well for about half the day, he slurred his words and had some funny things to say, but we were done!

To say we're a bit obsessed with Jake's daily dental care now would be an understatement. We went from letting him brush his teeth at least once a day and never flossing, to us brushing for him twice a day with an electric toothbrush, flossing daily and a florid mouthwash daily. Please, please, please let him have no cavities in 6 months!!!

 

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was just us this year, but these people are my favorite so that was ok with me!

 

Family Pictures

Sure do love this family of mine, and appreciate my dad for being our photographer again!

 

Day of the Dead

For a couple of weeks in October and November Downtown Aurora had a ton of businesses "dressed up" for the Day of the Dead with really cool painted murals in their windows and other displays, flags, and posters. We enjoyed one of the last lovely fall days wandering around appreciating the talent of the local artists!

 

Forgetting

Jason texted me this picture one of our first days going back to church at the building, since I was already there for a meeting, which he captioned "It's obviously been awhile since we've been to church!"

 

Excelling in School

It's been an unusual school year, to say the least. The kids have been doing fully remote the whole year. But they are doing such a good job, and aside from learning their course material, they have all become so independent and responsible, and their typing has improved! 

Focusing on Ali and Logan for a moment, their parent teacher conferences were all short and sweet because none of their teachers had any suggestions for improvement and rather wished all their students were like my two! They both have straight As and were both nominated as students of the quarter. So proud.

 

Eli Asleep

I still look in on my kids before I go to sleep and sometimes I giggle at what I find.

Starved Rock

 

We didn't get to do all the hikes we'd wanted to at Starved Rock when we were there camping, so about a month later we went back for a morning of hikes. We brought along a couple of ladies from our ward who had never been and it was fun to share the adventure with them.

Reading

Logan has been reading a lot more lately. He seems go in spurts with reading, but right now he's got a few books he's interested in.

 

Tie Die

Ali made this cute tie die shirt at young women's. I'm so glad they're doing regular activities again!

 

Visit

My parents came to visit in October and this is the only picture I got!! My mom helped to make almost all the treats for our Halloween party.

We also went to Cantigny and had my dad take family pictures, went on a double date to Red Robin for my birthday, went to church and the library...kind of a slower paced trip but we loved having them here!
 

Darts

Logan and Eli were playing darts and Jake was the "dart piggy" who collected used darts for them. Everyone was thrilled with their role and there were no tears! Win!

 

Corn Maze

The kids all earned free passes to a corn maze from a library summer reading program they didn't even know I'd signed them up for:) The weather was in the 70s the day we went (probably the last of that temp we'll see around here for a long time!) and it was fun to be outside.

They had a great play area with tons of playhouses Jake loved. He could have played there all day I think.

Humoring mom for a photo! Gotta have proof of the fun!

 

Fall Crafts

Jake's kindergarten teacher sent home some fall crafts for us to do and Jake had to make this guy right away (and then mimic him for a picture!)

 

Happy Halloween!

We had a really fun Halloween! The weather was pleasant and it was just a nice day. 

We of course carved pumpkins, but it was easier than it had been in years because Logan decided he didn't need to do one, Jake wanted to paint his, and Ali and Eli just wanted simple faces they could do all themselves! Wins all around!

COVID Halloween!

It was fun to see how some people handed out candy while social distancing! 

Halloween Party

We had our annual Halloween party with a few COVID tweaks: fewer friends (and no extra parents), masks, and an adult handing out the treats. I was glad we decided to go ahead with it; while some friends didn't feel comfortable coming and we missed them, we were glad to see others and keep up a tradition!

 

Happy Birthday to ME!

It was fun having my parents here for my birthday this year. My favorite gifts were the homemade cards from all of my kids--they are so cute, sweet and creative!

 

Blanket

Logan stopped wearing long sleeved shirts long ago (I've even stopped buying them for him), but it is a common occurrence (often most of the day) to see him sitting or walking around with a blanket around his shoulders. He insists it's because it's comfortable and not because he's cold. I do like a good blanket...