Pillow Talk

Kim, Bill, Abby, and Aidan joined us this last weekend for a cousin fest. It was controlled chaos but everyone had a really good time. It's been so great of them to fly here to see us so frequently since our move. I love to get the kids together and catch up as they play.

The funniest thing that happened was the little blossoming romance between Jake and Abby. When I put Jake to sleep each night I love the few minutes that we get to cuddle and talk about our day. I usually find out some really interesting things. So...the first night that Abby was here I was putting Jake to sleep and he put his hands around my ear and whispered, "Can I tell you a secret?". He continued- kind of sheepishly- without waiting for an answer, "Did you know that Abby and I KISSED?". I asked, "You mean on the lips?" Jake's reply: "Yeah! We did it lots of times!" When I inquired as to when this little interlude had occurred he said it was while they were hiding during a game of hide-and-seek earlier in the evening. He said, "Mommy, don't tell anyone, but I'm going to marry Abby."Then he got pensive and told me that he still had a crush on Chloe at school. "How do you KNOW which girl to marry, Mom? I want to marry both of them!" he said. I then explained the rule about cousins marrying. That made the decision easier for him. Every time Abby and Jake disappeared to go play, the adults all looked at each other, wondering if there was any hanky-panky going on! In any case, the concern was unfounded as the romance never made it past the first kiss. The next night he was on the outs with Abby for one reason or another so at bedtime he told me, "I AM NEVER MARRYING ANY GIRL!!" I assured him this was just fine, but he could decide for sure when he got older. His next reply? A very worried question: "Mom, I don't want to get married, but I do want to raise babies. Can I do that?" I reminded him about adoption and how his friend Avery at school had been adopted. I told him he could choose to adopt babies if he remained single. That prompted him to say, "I still don't understand that. How do you GET the baby? Do you have to find THEM or do THEY walk up to you?" Priceless. I think all the nights of endless bedtimes were worth it to lead me to this sweet pillow talk. I can only hope he will still open up to me as he gets older!

Happy Easter

After scrambling for candy-filled eggs at our neighborhood Easter party on Saturday, we decided the kids could do without more sugar, so we hid eggs with clues in them to lead each of the kids to a "practical" Easter present. Jake and Tanner had a great time searching the house for eggs, then Jake put his new reading skills to use by unscrambling sentences to figure out where to look for the hidden presents. Faith's clues led the kids to our bathroom where she found a swimsuit from us, a princess towel from Auntie Sue, and a riding truck from Grandma Mary. The boys' clues led them to their own beds where they discovered street hockey sticks from Grandma Mary, towels from Auntie Sue, and shoes from us. Jake got cleats for the upcoming T-ball season and since Tanner has a major shoe fetish, he got some pretty cool Vans with Spiderman on them which he immediately put on and has yet to take off.

Tanner was terrified of the Easter Bunny. He paid a surprise visit at the party on Saturday and he wouldn't go anywhere near him. The rest of the weekend he kept repeating, "Bunny no get me! Bunny no get me!". Jake announced on Easter Eve that he knew the Easter Bunny wasn't real- "it's just a guy in a suit that hops around to houses".

Luckily my prediction of a hockey stick injury within a day of receiving them was unfounded. Although now the pitch back machine that was in our living room has been replaced with a hockey goal.

Hope everyone had a happy Easter Sunday!

Jake's Birthday - Phase 4 of 4

Today is Jake's actual birthday (St. Pats day). He got to pick the meal ("sugar" ham, cheesy rice, and peas) and Grandma got him a chocolate chip ice cream sandwich to serve as a cake. I was going to write a running list of things I want to remember, or things that I love, or things that make me proud of Jake. But this story pretty much says it all for me...

We were playing football in the living room the other day (yep, the living room...), when Jake asked me if Tanner had two kidneys. Now, if you don't know, Jake only has one kidney and knows that he won't be allowed to play football (his favorite sport), or hockey, karate, any kind of contact stuff when he get's bigger. This hasn't been a big deal so far, but my guess has always been that it will be a big deal at some point, so I have always tried to be open and honest and direct with him about it. So I figured this was it, as soon as he figures out that Tanner can play football and he can't, the sh%# will hit the fan, right?

So I answered that, yes,Tanner has two kidneys, and braced myself....Jake thought for a minute and looked up at me and said, "That's good.... so I can go sit in the stands and cheer for him!". I swear to God I almost cried, I'm almost crying again typing it.

I love you Jake, Happy Birthday, you make your Daddy very , very proud!

Jake's Birthday - Phase 3 of 4

Phase 3 was the "family" party. This is where Grandma Mary and Auntie Sue took over the event (this is also why there were no shortage of presents).

We decided to do the family party yesterday on Sunday as we wanted to be able to get past the birthday thing and back into a little bit more of a normal week for school on Monday (his real b-day). Also, let's face it, the kid's birthday was starting to rival Mardi Gras in duration.

So when Grandma Mary and Auntie Sue are involved in a party, there are themes, games, presents etc. When they said they were coming out for Jake's birthday, I decided to let go, not fight them on it and let them have their fun. Jake always has a good time when they are around, so he really enjoyed his family party as well. He got a Patriots Jacket, a new Brett Farve jersey, two new board games and a bunch of smaller presents, which I was informed weren't presents, but "prizes" for winning some of the various games. Tanner and Faith both got presents for Jakes birthday as well. Tanner got some new crocs (the boy loves shoes) and he also had a great time playing the games as you can see in the photos above.

Jake had a great birthday and I think was ready for a little bit of a let-down on his actual birthday (phase 4).

Jakes Bithday - Phase 2 of 4

So Phase 2 of Jake's birthday was his "friends" party. We had this at our house on Saturday. Jake made out the guest list, picked the snacks, drinks and desserts, and if you can't tell from the photos, made out the party agenda as well.

We played a backyard game of football, until, boys being boys, it got too rough and we had to move to a pass catching drill (that's Greg @ defensive back). One quick note on the too rough stuff; I supervised this portion of the party (Marisa got the duck-duck-goose section), and I was prepared for it. My poor wife did not understand that 8 - 5 to 7 year old boys in one location (away from school) is the one and only true recipe for barely contained chaos and anarchy. They yell, they scream, they fight, and if someone doesn't get hurt, it's a miracle worthy of note. Anyway, my point was, all of Jake's friends (ALL, not MOST) are bigger than he is. Even when of the big kids didn't want to play football because it was too rough, Jake was at the bottom of the pile, hands on the football every time. The poor kid got killed by all of the bigger kids, but hung in there and took a beating. Okay...proud Dad moment #1 over.

All of the kids were given the opportunity to paint their faces and put on tatoos for all of the games. Jake and Tanner both had a blast painting their faces and we have enough paint left that I am sure they will have it on in their easter pictures and 4th of July photos etc. There were football and baseball cards galore for goodie bags and sports stickers as well.

As Jake does not like cake (that he didn't inherit from me, I singlehandedly polished off Faithy's cake). He picked ice cream sundaes with BSU colored sprinkles for his dessert. This was followed by candy once the pinata was broken (that's my boy in the Tom Brady jersey and the BSU hat!).

Then there were inside games; duck-duck-goose, bowling, and an electronic football passing game up in the boys room, followed by more general chaos until everyone left. I think that all of the kids had a good time and that the party was an overall success. Jake got more footballs, baseballs and BSU stuff for gifts. The weather held which was great, it was supposed to rain/snow, but we were able to play outside and preserve some of Marisa's sanity...

Jake's Birthday - Phase 1 of 4

Smudge was Phase 1. Despite what you have read here, this was not solely my doing. The only thing that I am guilty of is of having had ferrets before, and having liked them. Jake wanted a pet, and to be fair, it was Marisa that decided we would go to the kids fair, where, with Pete as my witness, Zamzows had a booth set up that had several ferrets in it.

Now, Jake wanted a pet for his b-day and I tried to be as up front as I could about how ferrets behave. They are very much like kittens, they wrestle, play, stalk and attack for fun. They know that they are playing so they don't bite hard, but they do bite. I told Jake this up front. Well you know how it turned out, now we have two nondescript goldfish. For the record, I do want it stated that Smudge was a great little ferret, and if I had the time, he would still be here. His only crime was being a ferret.

This was Phase 1 of Jake's b day and his present from Mom and Dad. Therefore, there were no other gifts from us going forward (trust me there was no shortage).

Smudge Bites The Dust

No, he didn't die. But he has returned to the lovely oasis of Zamzow's- the neighborhood pet store.
Smudge was under a 14 day money-back guarantee which I was quite happy to take advantage of last weekend. They took EVERYTHING back- cage, leash (Yes, you can take them for walks), food dish, etc.... We are now the proud owners of two much more realistic and hassle free GOLDFISH named Coconut and Carrot (Tanner named them). Smudge was cute, but he nipped. He was just a kit so he hadn't been litter box trained. Brian soon realized he didn't have the time to deal with him and while he liked the IDEA of owning a ferret, the reality was something a bit different- not quite the same as owning them when you are single with no children. Anyway... Jake wasn't too sad to see him go since he was a bit frightened of him and I think it was actually a bit of a relief. Tanner, on the other hand, is still asking us, "Smudge? Home? Why???"

First Trip Around the Sun

We celebrated a day late due to a bad flu bug in our household but Faith didn't seem to mind.
Grandma Mary and Jake baked her cake and decorated it as I was in bed recovering from above mentioned flu epidemic.

After sleeping most of the week away, Faith and I both rallied for the party . Forget using hands, she just dove her face right in the cake. She loved it! Her favorite present was a pink "Little People" school bus which she defends just short of her life when Tanner tries to take it. She also got a baby doll and stroller which Tanner immediately usurped. He spent most of the weekend putting the baby to bed, feeding her, and rolling her around the kitchen in her stroller. So far it is OK with Faith, but God help Tanner if she decides she wants it back: She can screech and grab with the best of 'em. Her spring wardrobe is now complete with adorable dresses from both grandmas, Auntie Sue, and her mommy, of course. Even Dad got into the fun, buying her a summer "blouse" and sparkly jeans. As you can see, Tanner took her Easter hat for himself. That's OK.... we couldn't get her to keep it on anyway.

Another first has come and gone. Faith continues to charm us everyday with her good nature, easy smile, and adorable giggles. She is learning to talk and so far we can deduce: "All done!", "Thank you!", "Dada", and "Nana" (for banana). She only has half a tooth- I don't know if this one EVER intends on coming in all the way- and no others are even on the horizon. She's gotten really good at gumming her food. She still pushes her truck around but has not gotten any closer to walking on her own yet. That's just fine with me- she's growing up too fast as it is!

Dear Faith,

Somewhere along the years of growing up you are going to hear that you were "a surprise" or you were "not planned" or you were "an oops". (Probably by one of your brothers- or maybe your Grandpa!). I want you to know, today of all days, that even though you may not have been on our radar screen, that even though you were unexpected , you are the greatest gift I have ever gotten. You are a true blessing in my life and in our family.

I don't know a better way to say it than by putting the lyrics here of the song that was playing the first time I ever held you in the hospital. It's called, "Find Yourself" and it's by Mommy's favorite country singer, Brad Paisley.


"Well you go through life
so sure of where you're heading
And you wind up lost
and its the best thing that could have happened
Cause sometimes when you lose your way, its really just as well
because you find yourself,
yeah that's when you find yourself.

When you meet the one, that you've been waiting for
and she's everything, that you want and more
You look at her and you finally start to live for someone else
And then you find yourself,
yeah that's when you find yourself

-Brad Paisley


Happy Birthday, Baby Girl!

Smudge Joins The Fun

First the tattoo.... now this. What is happening to my good sense?

Smudge, a 3 month old ferret, joined our family this weekend.

No, I am not joking.

We have been promising Jake for months that he could get a pet for his fifth birthday. I kept pushing him toward fish ("Honey, aren't they cute how they pucker their lips like that?"), but he was fairly insistent on a mammal of some sort- guinea pig, hamster, rat, etc... I don't enjoy any of these animals, and out of desperation began pushing reptiles- "How about a frog, Buddy? Frogs are SO cool. No? Ok, how about a turtle? Look how sweet he is with his head tucked up in his shell!"

I even tried to encourage a hermit crab- I found one with a shell painted like a football, sure that this would do the trick.

No. He kept coming back to a mammal, and a ferret in particular. Not without some prompting from his father, of course. Brian owned ferrets before he met me (You all knew he was weird already, so don't act so surprised!) and since our first trip to Tahoe as a newly dating couple he has been trying to get me to fall in love with the furry little creatures myself. It became a running joke- Mom even got him a book on ferret care for Christmas. I insisted (and I quote...) "WE WILL GET A FERRET OVER MY DEAD BODY!"

Well, clearly I am not dead.
Must mean I caved.
Out of the choices of mammals available, I decided a ferret was at least a little more interactive than most and not as yucky to me as the other limited options.

There were, however, some stipulations:

1. All care, including but not limited to: litter box cleaning, bathing, playing with, and feeding of Smudge is Jake and Brian's job.

2. Smudge lives in his cage with supervised playtime each day after school in the boys bedroom with one of the boys or Brian present.

3. Smudge does not get free run of the house*

*except during the day when Brian works from home at which time it is OK if Smudge runs loose around the office with the doors shut.

In any case, Smudge is Jake's pet. And he loves him to death. Having him for one day already has some great benefits: Jake and Tanner have been up in their room playing with him non-stop. Up to this point getting either one to actually PLAY in their PLAYROOM was close to impossible, both of them preferring to play any multitude of sports in our living room.

Tanner loves him, too. Faith, much like her mother, is undecided.

As you can see, Milo is not so sure about our new house guest, either. While I am sure they will be buddies eventually, right now they are in kind of a stand-off.

Stay tuned for details as they arise. I could end up loving the little guy. I am trying to get to know him and give him a chance. On the other hand,
it is possible that a rant on "ferret ownership" is in this blog's future.