October 2012

Bond.  Jack Bond.  We were privileged this month to attend the wedding of my cousin Sean to his new wife Kelly Jo (KJ).  KJ works for the FBI, so to honor her super cool career, Jackson wasn’t just any ring bearer, he was a secret spy ring bearer!  He loved every minute, took it very seriously, and developed a crush on the beautiful bride! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And how did the 10 of us (douglas gang, mom, dad, jeff, grandparents) make it up to Smith Mountain Lake, VA?  By RV of course!  Since we had 3 drivers (Scott, my dad, and Jeff), it actually worked out pretty well.  Because Jackson and Tay were missing school, we just took school on the road.  It was my first taste of homeschooling and it wasn’t too bad!  Check out that million dollar smile on Grant :).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Aside from this main event, Scotty is still busting buns on this in-town case.  Unfortunately the kids don’t get to see him much, but he makes the most of his limited Daddy time.  Jackson makes out the best because every morning the two of them watch Sportscenter together before Scott drives him to school.  But most days poor Tay is asleep when they leave in the morning and asleep when Scott comes home.  Therefore, each day Scott sends her a personalized video (via iPhone), which she calls “episodes” and adores.

Speaking of Scott and Tay, a highlight for them this month was ‘Doughnuts with Dad’ at school.  Scott described her as “being on crack” as she showed him around her classroom.  :)  Her teacher said, “Taylor could run this place,” and we believe her!  She continues to be Miss Social, begging for playdates all the time (especially when Jackson is at school).  It makes me really wish we had a little girl in the neighborhood – but we’re stuck with just boys.  Humph.  Our latest struggle with Tay is how much she loves computers.  Maybe it is not a problem, but if she is not with friends, she wants to be playing games on the computer.  Although these are all educational games, which Taylor seems to have benefited from, I don’t like her to spend hours each day on it.  Enters “reading nook,”  15 minutes reading earns 15 minutes computer.  Oh if it worked that well every day…

Jackson completed an undefeated soccer season.  His coach was intense and serious, which is Jack’s style so it was perfect.  But Jackson really had a tremendous season, it makes me a little anxious that we’ll have to make the decision whether to do club soccer soon, which involves a huge time commitment.  Right now we are just enjoying Saturday games!  (We had already switched him to this BYU football jersey because they were playing Tech here in ATL).  And who did Jackson attend the game with?  Hamilton of course!  Hamilton’s dad is a Tech alumni, and was nice enough to bring a little cougar along!  BYU even won!

We are getting good reports from school.  Here is a piece of an email I received this month from Ms. Means: 

“I've been meaning to email you. First, I want to say that Jackson has been
doing a wonderful job with his work. He seems to be even more focused and
dedicated to taking his time and doing his best work. I've told him how
proud I am, but I wanted to let you know. He's been a shining example for
his classmates.”

Love to hear this as a mom!  Thanks for bearing with me :), this blog serves as a journal for our family, so would hate to exclude something that made Scott and I so proud.

And Grant.  How we all LOVE this little guy!  Brother and sister’s favorite activity is to ‘try and make Grant laugh.’  Fortunately for them, he is quick to laugh at every little sound, jiggle, and expression they make.  He is 9 months and pulling himself up and constantly babbling ‘ma, ma, ma, ma, ma.’  I of course assume he is an early talker, and saying Mama :).

 

 

 

 

 

 

Esther has a pretty big crush on Grant herself.  She is always feeding him fun foods, so every time she picks him up, he will jerk her head around, look in her mouth, and determine if there is any food worth begging for.

Then of course there was Halloween.  We did trunk or treat first at church, yes that is Hamilton.  And a few days later we did our typical neighborhood pot luck before pounding the pavement in pursuit of candy.  Taylor cracked everyone up because she kept right up with the older kids.  Even when the younger ones got tired and went home, she went on knocking doors late (for her) into the night!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And my highlight of the month was definitely a spur of the moment trip to Chicago with Scott (while he did recruiting).  My parents came over (thank you again!), and Scott and I headed to the airport early Monday morning.  Upon arriving the cab dropped us off at University of Chicago, and as Scott went to recruit potential BCGers, I went off on a friends tour.  Natalie picked me up from the school and we headed downtown to have a relaxing 2 hours lunch.  We were kid free as we lingered over fondue and caught up on everything! It felt sinful.  Then she dropped me off at a Starbucks where I met up with one of my best friends from my sorority (Meg Nemeth).  Meg and I were attached at the hip in college and she is now an attorney in Chi-town, even running the family practice portion of her firm. Meg has such an energy about her, I left our hot chocolate date buzzing with excitement and feeling reconnected!  Then Meg dropped me off at Garrett’s popcorn (so I could fulfill Jackson’s request), and finally I jumped on a bus and headed down to Hyde Park.  Dianna (Scott’s sister) met me there and we headed back to her place to begin the nesting process—baby girl due in January!  Once David got home, we piled in the station wagon, picked Scott up from school and headed to an a.m.a.z.i.n.g. sushi restaurant.  D and D are great conversationalist and hosts!  After watching a presidential debate we retired for the night and caught the early flight out (Scott even gave me his 1st class seat).  It was the perfect trip.  Hate that I didn’t get pictures of Meg and D!

And that is October in a nutshell.  We are loving the crisp weather and the gorgeous orange, red, and yellow trees.

Finally, October (and April) also brings General Conference. This is where the leaders of our church, speak to the entire church.  It is a series of talks (broadcasted worldwide) by different men and women in the church and it lasts all day Saturday and all day Sunday.  One of the big highlights this conference is when the leadership announced that young men will serve missions starting at age 18 (instead of 19), and young women will serve missions starting at age 19 (instead of 21).  I think this will encourage a lot more female missionaries.  Anyhow, after conference weekend, I always go forward feeling inspired and motivated to be a little better as a wife, mother, daughter, sister, neighbor and friend.  Below is one of my favorite talks, it is about how to live such your life in such a way that you have no regrets at the end.  If you have time it’s a great 5 minute read:

http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2012/10/of-regrets-and-resolutions?lang=eng

As always, lots of love from the Douglas family.